Chapter 313: Corpse Driver of Star Abyss No. 5

Lin Xian first heard the term "corpse driver" during the bonfire trade fair organized by Jiang Yun in Quan Guan, and after ascending to the high-orbit, he never saw a corpse driver again.

But now, more and more reports describe corpse drivers as different from other dark creatures—truly resembling human forms.

Yet the difference is, it was a giant!

Along with it came countless strange entities it herded—those indescribable unknown beings, bringing boundless terror!

Seeing this scene, Lin Xian recalled the citywide corpse tide and strange entities in Yubei City—likely caused by the arrival of a corpse driver.

At this moment, above the mountain ridge east of Jincheng City, Lin Xian, Kiki, and Lu Xingchen stared at the colossal humanoid shadow advancing toward them like a terrestrial phenomenon, their faces pale with shock!

"What… what is that?!" Kiki's eyes widened; the sight reminded her of the horror she'd witnessed above Jiang City, and her face turned instantly white.

"Judging by this, it must be the corpse driver Grace warned us about!"

Lin Xian's expression turned grim; he didn't need to guess—this thing was at least an S-class or higher unknown entity!

Lu Xingchen stared at the shadow and hurriedly said, "Bad news—its direction is toward us, and below is the outbound track line!"

Hearing this, Lin Xian immediately zoomed in using his power armor's scanning mode, and sure enough, the elevated track line stretched northeast along the mountain range!

Damn it!

If the United Train emerged now, wouldn't it crash straight into it?!

"Brother Shi, Teacher Chen!!"

In an instant, Lin Xian felt his scalp go numb—he immediately pressed his communicator, but the United Train was still traveling underground, and the darkness and distance blocked all signal.

"What do we do?!" Kiki was now pale with panic.

Lin Xian gritted his teeth, his gaze hardening: "Go—we have to draw its attention away!"

He had no other choice; he could only risk everything, gamble on luring the towering shadow away, then use their aerial advantage to escape the Eternal Night.

Lin Xian knew this might be nine deaths and one life—but if the track snapped and the United Train derailed into the corpse driver's feet, that would be true disaster.

The three exchanged glances and nodded firmly.

They had to take the risk!

"Agreed!"

Lu Xingchen took a deep breath: "Good! A true man stands tall under heaven and earth—by my fire, I ignite the great crane's…"

BOOM!!

Before Lu Xingchen could finish his passionate speech, a massive explosion erupted from behind Jincheng City—the three turned to see a colossal crimson fire column surge skyward, triggering a strange crimson energy that coalesced into a blazing white sphere, which then expanded rapidly, fully illuminating the two-kilometer-wide sky-blocking fungal cap. The fireball grew layer by layer until it finally detonated the massive cap!

"Run!"

Seeing this, Lin Xian shouted to Kiki, who immediately raised her psychic barrier, and the three flew frantically in the opposite direction from the corpse driver!

BOOM!

A second explosion followed—the colossal sky-blocking fungal cap suddenly collapsed inward, igniting into a sea of flame. In an instant, a mushroom cloud five kilometers in diameter shot into the sky, its blinding white light turning heaven and earth into daylight!

After the radiation passed, a massive shockwave tore across the earth, instantly clearing the clouds from the sky!

The mushroom cloud's fire tide surged outward; the fungal carpet ignited across the city, erupting like living lava, spewing fire columns hundreds of meters high. When the flames peaked, the entire network suddenly contracted, sucking all oxygen from the city!

BOOMING!

Lin Xian and the others, flying at high speed, were directly struck by the shockwave—flung kilometers through the air like bubbles. Kiki screamed in pain but clenched her teeth, forcing them to stabilize.

All three felt as if their internal organs had been slammed—barely avoiding blacking out and vomiting blood on the spot.

The fire tide spread endlessly; at the center of Puzhong Square, Jincheng City formed a massive annihilation void several kilometers wide, while buildings and streets within ten kilometers collapsed and burned in the direction of the shockwave—everywhere, flames raged, explosions never ceased.

The strange entities beneath the night were instantly reduced to ash; Jincheng City was now a sea of fire, even lighting up the sky.

Meanwhile, the United Train hurtling underground felt a violent tremor—then the ground beneath the tunnel rippled like a winding river, spilling torrents of dust and debris downward!

On the Infinite Train, over thirty crew members were thrown against walls and floors by the blast; other trains echoed with screams and shouts.

"AHHHH!!"

"The tunnel's collapsing!"

"We're done!"

"Don't brake—charge forward!"

"Was that a meteor explosion?!"

"Run!"

Just as over four thousand people thought the sky was falling, the lead train, Longshan No. 1, burst from the ground onto the sightseeing track, roaring through flames toward the city's edge. Fortunately, most had worn gear, preventing worse injuries.

Behind them, trains were buried under collapsing earth—but because the United Train had reached full speed, they were violently yanked from the collapsing tunnels at the last moment!

On the other side, Lin Xian and the others, barely steadied after nearly vomiting blood, stood in midair, staring at the massive mushroom cloud that hadn't dissipated—faces pale with shock.

Lin Xian never imagined the Tian Gu Tower's explosion was this powerful. They were already forty to fifty kilometers from the city—had it not been for Kiki's psychic barrier, the shockwave alone might have killed their three Hyper-Level psychics. This power surpassed a nuclear bomb.

Stunned, Lin Xian immediately worried about the United Train—he scanned the flaming sky for direction.

"Lin Brother, look!"

Fire Brother, shirtless, suddenly shouted.

Lin Xian and Kiki turned—beneath the colossal fire cloud, the corpse driver finally revealed its terrifying true form: a towering humanoid creature with tentacles like a deep-sea octopus, grotesque and eerie under the night.

It stood between mountain valleys, its giant tentacles slowly curling, its skin like dried corpse flesh—resembling an alien demon-god!

As the massive explosion in Jincheng City erupted, the octopus-headed giant seemed to sense a strange signal—it turned, facing the explosion's core, its tentacles thrashing wildly, emitting a deafening hum!

The next instant, it lifted a leg hundreds of meters long and stepped down.

BOOM!

The corpse driver turned away from the United Train's track—each step shook the earth, but stranger still: as it moved, the colossal dark entity gradually became transparent, as if stepping into some strange dimension, vanishing as it walked!

"How… how did it disappear?!" Lu Xingchen couldn't believe what he'd seen—he'd just rejoiced that the monster had changed direction, giving the United Train a chance to escape, yet after a few steps, it vanished into thin air.

Lin Xian and Kiki stared, dumbfounded—no one could explain it.

Lin Xian swallowed hard, every hair on his body standing on end. Through the spreading firelight, he saw a long steel dragon racing along the elevated track far ahead.

"They made it out—hurry! Let's catch up!"

He couldn't explain why, but the strange corpse driver pressed an overwhelming weight upon him—and its mysterious disappearance sent chills down his spine.

He thought of the white giant that had appeared mysteriously in Jiang City—he felt the same sensation now.

Yet he clearly knew these monsters arrived with darkness and Dark Marks—so how did this corpse driver fit? Such a massive body—could it really be invisible?

He dared not dwell on it—he only wanted to rush back to the train and flee the Eternal Night as fast as possible.

With their current understanding, they couldn't comprehend what they'd seen, nor handle such an unknown entity—only escape remained.

CLANK! CLANK!

CLANK! CLANK!

Beneath night and flame, the fifteen-kilometer-long United Train raced at high speed, sparks flying, charging forward with unstoppable force, bursting out of the exploding, collapsing Jincheng City.

Inside the five hundred-plus carriages, countless people were injured—all from the explosion's shockwave and the quake. Many suffered ruptured eardrums and bleeding from underground cavity effects, lung injuries, and severe trauma from collisions—every carriage echoed with moans; uninjured crew rushed to rescue the wounded and clear debris.

On the Infinite Train, all personnel wore protective power armor with built-in shock absorbers—slightly better off, but still battered and bruised. The living quarters were in chaos. The Solar Fleet, Joker Fleet, Queen Mo's Train, and Longshan No. 1 were all similar—just moments ago, the colossal explosion had destroyed an entire city, as if it had blown a hole in the sky.

From the middle onward, the following trains were buried under dust and rubble, as if dug from the earth. Fortunately, the fully armored steel train suffered little damage from the collapsed rocks—the expected derailment never happened. A miracle among miracles.

The United Train raced through the valley outskirts of the city, accelerating rapidly. Kiki carried Lin Xian and Fire Brother through the air, catching up just before the train merged into the northern main track.

Precisely because of the Tian Gu Tower's explosion, the corpse driver and strange entities vanished toward Jincheng City—the United Train narrowly avoided the tidal wave of monsters and plunged directly into silent darkness.

Lin Xian looked back—he could still see Jincheng City's flames, the explosions and hums unceasing—but as they drew farther, the sounds faded.

He exhaled involuntarily—just now had been terrifyingly close. He looked at Fire Brother—his idea to detonate the Tian Gu Tower had miraculously granted the United Train a sliver of salvation. He dared not imagine what would've happened if the train had met the corpse driver and the monster tide head-on.

He also wondered—if Tang Yun hadn't sacrificed herself, causing the Tian Gu Tower to destabilize, would the corpse driver have detected the United Train hidden underground in Jincheng?

"Teacher Chen, Director Ding—we're airborne. Preparing to check our Dark Marks."

Lin Xian's voice came through Chen Sixuan's communicator; her face instantly relaxed. "Good—Carriage 2, open the roof immediately!"

Ding Junyi arrived quickly with Hell Black Chrysanthemum. Kiki flew Lin Xian and Fire Brother back into the carriage. After testing with Hell Black Chrysanthemum and Lin Xian's Asymmetric Cube, all three were confirmed free of Dark Marks—and Lu Xingchen showed no fungal infection.

To be fair, Lin Xian had never told the team about the Asymmetric Cube—but by sheer luck, Fire Brother's blunder combined with Tang Yun's sacrifice had given the United Train its only possible lifeline in a situation of certain death.

"That was too close—what happened? Why did you evacuate from the air?" Chen Sixuan asked, face filled with worry.

Other core members of the Infinite Train gathered around, all noticing Lu Xingchen's bare torso, tattered cloth strips hanging from his neck, looking disheveled, with dark-blue fungal-like patterns staining his skin.

Lin Xian's face grew grim—he was drenched in cold sweat.

"It's all his fault," Kiki sighed heavily.

Hearing this, Lu Xingchen turned ashen, swallowing nervously.

Kiki shot him a disgruntled glance, then reluctantly covered for him: "Fire Brother came up with a plan to blow up the Tian Gu Tower to distract the monsters, so we could evacuate safely."

"Really?" Sha Sha asked, astonished.

"Yes," Lin Xian said inwardly amused but nodded seriously: "We agreed to act together—it was risky. Fire Brother nearly died."

Hearing this, Lu Xingchen's ashen face flushed red. He looked at them with boundless gratitude, his admiration almost bursting from his eyes.

"Whoa!!" Sha Sha's eyes widened as she gazed at Lu Xingchen with awe: "Fire Brother, you did that?! You caused that huge explosion?!"

"Thank you—you saved us all," Chen Sixuan said with gratitude.

"Awesome!" Da Lou raised his thumb in awe: "Brother, you blew up a whole city! That's a sight I'll never forget."

"Incredible!" Shu Qin added.

"Fire Brother, you went alone to blow up the Tian Gu Tower for us? My god!" Miao Lu's face glowed with reverence, tears welling in her eyes.

Lu Xingchen, hearing the praise, seemed to glow with infinite light—but immediately put on a humble facade.

"No matter. No matter. I merely made a small move—and turned certain doom into safety."

Lin Xian and Kiki exchanged glances. Though the plan wasn't solely his, it was indeed his strategy that saved them. They understood—let him have his moment. They wouldn't expose him.

"Enough. The shockwave was devastating. Anyone injured? Let's check the train's condition—we must accelerate to escape the Eternal Night's tidal zone."

Lin Xian immediately ordered, while also contacting other fleets to synchronize the situation.

"What? You blew up the Sky Mushroom Tower? Holy shit, I thought a nuke went off." Shi Di cursed over the comm, but after hearing about the danger the Corpsman had posed, he let out a shaky breath: "Damn it! We almost got fed to that Corpsman?!"

"Corpsman?" Xiang Ningjing said grimly: "It seems the earlier intel was right—Corpsmen usually operate along the edges of the Star Abyss's Dark Tide."

"Team Leader Lin, we're all fine—we all had powered armor on—but the carriages are a mess. Several sections of armor are dented, and many windows shattered." Luo Yang's voice came through urgent and strained.

Hearing this, Lin Xian turned to ask Li Yi, who was pregnant, and who had many children nearby.

Sure enough, as soon as the comm crackled, a chorus of noise erupted from Li Yi's end—children sobbing loudly.

In the rear cars of the Sun Train, former members of the Running Far Camp were busy carrying the wounded and repairing damage, while the logistics women gathered scattered belongings; Li Yi tended to the children in the first carriage.

The children had all been terrified by the massive tremor; many had bleeding heads, but any child old enough to understand, no matter how much pain they were in, bit their lips and held back tears without crying out—only the youngest couldn't help but whimper softly.

Years of fleeing the apocalypse had taught them silence, endurance, and not to scream freely.

"Good kids, no pain, no pain—everyone keep quiet, or the monsters outside will hear."

"Mmm~"

Li Yi, one hand supporting her belly, wiped alcohol over a little girl's bleeding forehead. The sharp pain made the girl flinch, tears streaming down her cheeks, but she clenched her tiny teeth and refused to cry out.

"Team Leader Lin, they're just shaken—no serious injuries yet. Don't worry." Hearing Lin Xian's concern, Li Yi immediately reported the carriage's condition.

"I'm all good here—some buddies got minor injuries, nothing else to worry about." After learning the situation, Qian Dele of the Joker Team took a deep breath. His tone carried no panic—only the calm elegance of a man who believed himself destined to survive: if he was meant to die, he'd have died already. What was there to fear?

"I knew it—following you, Team Leader Lin, never leads wrong. Thanks again for saving my life—I owe you a drink." Mo Nika, in Carriage One of the Mo Queen, heard the comm exchange, grasped the gravity of what had just happened, and found herself growing ever more curious, ever more intrigued by Lin Xian.

In the apocalypse, especially as a woman, one often dreamed of a savior appearing—and in Mo Nika's eyes, Lin Xian was becoming exactly that: entering Xilan City the night before the blizzard, stepping forward in the midst of battle, his presence always surfacing at the brink of despair. Such a man could not go unnoticed.

Words like leader, savior, hero—unconsciously became invisible labels, etched onto Lin Xian by the murmurs of the crowd. Mo Nika was no exception. She swirled her wine glass, gazing at the Infinite Train ahead, and smiled faintly, a touch of allure in her gaze.

After all the teams reported in, Lin Xian finally exhaled. Most injuries were from concussions, bruises, and ruptured eardrums; some suffered internal organ damage from the shockwave, others vomited or had diarrhea, several had fainted—but so far, no deaths had been reported. To survive such a catastrophe with so few fatalities was nothing short of a miracle!

With so many injured, Lin Xian immediately reminded all teams to remain vigilant against Dark incursions. The United Train had successfully escaped Jincheng—that was good news, and must be shared with everyone: they must keep faith in breaking through the dawn!

Clank. Clank.

The black United Train, like a steel dragon, rolled through the hills under the night sky. It had now passed eastward and north of Jincheng, gradually entering the Western Desert. Beneath the eternal night, the moon cast a cold silver sheen over the wasteland. The train rattled over the wrinkled tracks of the hills, their rolling shadows like the sleeping backs of giant beasts. Low ridges, eroded by wind into jagged edges, bore no tall trees—only sparse, dead camel thorns and reed grass. Wind-tossed tumbleweeds rolled silently through the night, dry branches scraping stone, whispering faintly, steeped in loneliness and desolation.

Wind blew from the desert's depths, carrying fine sand over the carriages, scratching faint whimpers against the metal. But after the apocalypse, there were no insect chirps, no water sounds—only the clatter of gravel against wheels, the whisper of wind against rock—a silent nocturne woven through ancient desolation.

The United Train raced on for two hours—two hours spent in frantic activity, tension, vigilance, and confusion within each carriage. As the train entered the desert wastes, the horizon widened, and a sense of utter isolation—ten thousand li without another soul—grew ever stronger. No Strange Beings. No zombies. Only the howl of wind and the rattle of sand.

Everyone grew more certain—they had escaped!

The tension among the four thousand-plus aboard the train finally began to ease. They had begun to recover from the shock of Jincheng's massive explosion.

"Checked—all clear. No Dark marks. We're all in silent mode."

In Carriage Two, Kiki had just flown over the entire United Train with the Hell Black Chrysanthemum and Bai from Longshan No. 1. After double confirmation, Lin Xian finally exhaled. "Good. Rest now. That initial explosion's shockwave must've hit you hard."

Kiki stretched lazily. "Not bad. We were far enough, and my psychic shield held up fine—no real injuries."

In truth, it wasn't just her. After the underground tremor, though many were hurt or unconscious, none had been killed outright—first, because the apocalypse train's defenses were strong; second, because they were far enough from the surface and shielded from direct impact; third—and most crucial—every one of the four thousand-plus aboard the United Train was, to some degree, evolving under the power of the night. Even the weakest among them were now far stronger than any human before the Apocalypse Day. Their adaptability and recovery had skyrocketed. Take little Sha Sha—she could now lift a Roarer Gatling gun with one hand. Enough said.

(End of Chapter)