Chapter 315: Where Did You Get This Chain?

Seeing the changes in the plague plant, Lin Xian's expression turned serious at once; he strode over and said in a low voice, "How long has this change been going on?"

"Within the last 24 hours."

Ding Junyi said, "Clearly, the plague plant grows rapidly during the Polar Night."

Lin Xian replied, "So this is why the plague plant only appears during the Polar Night?"

"Perhaps," Ding Junyi nodded. "Clearly, the plague plant has adapted to some ecological environment within the Polar Night—the most direct being the force of darkness. I've taken both of these plants off the train for environmental observation."

Lin Xian's heart tightened slightly—if so, then the Hetero-Cube's presence was actually hindering the growth of the Hell Black Chrysanthemum and the Silver Dragon One Hundred Thousand Mistakes?

But then he reconsidered—it was unavoidable. He couldn't risk the entire train's safety just to let the plague plants grow, exposing everyone to the effects of darkness. The Unlimited Train's crew had grown faster and maintained better morale than other survivors precisely because of the Hetero-Cube's existence. Without its fear-shielding effect, they would have had zero defense during the previous attack by the Forbidden Object's eerie radio station; if not for his mechanical ability, he'd already been trapped forever in that 1542 frequency.

"Maybe we could try placing these plants in a distant carriage later…"

The Hetero-Cube's coverage was limited. Lin Xian thought for a moment—after Ding Junyi finished her research, he could place them in the rear nuclear-powered carriage for testing.

Thinking of this, Lin Xian turned to Ding Junyi: "Have these plague plants developed any new characteristics since growing?"

Ding Junyi answered, "The black chrysanthemum hasn't shown anything obvious yet—perhaps improved dark energy conversion efficiency. Since leaving Xilan City, I've detected a significant rise in the crew's physical fitness. Once we get the Phoenix Society's ability peak detector, we'll have more accurate data. For now, it's just speculation. As for this Silver Dragon One Hundred Thousand Mistakes…"

She looked at the strange white bud and said, "Since it's bloomed, it must have some corresponding trait—but we don't know what yet. We'll need to wait until the flower fully opens, then perhaps observe its properties under specific conditions."

"Alright."

Lin Xian nodded, filled with anticipation. The power of the plague plants was a vast treasure trove for the entire train—the Phoenix Society itself had listed them as a top research priority. The Polar Night Division of Nightwalkers Unit Two was said to specialize in entering the Polar Night to investigate the Star Abyss and locate plague plants.

Unit Two was also the smallest division in Nightwalkers, yet the most powerful, with the best equipment of any unit—all to maximize survival rates in the Polar Night. Their intelligence and discoveries were tied directly to humanity's fate!

Watching the plague plants' changes, Lin Xian felt more confident. Thank goodness Ding Junyi was handling this research—she'd provided him with invaluable information, crucial to the train's survival rate.

In his original train plan, he'd assigned one expert in plant cultivation to the greenery carriage. Though he hadn't found such an expert, this biology professor with a plant-based ability—cold, brilliant, and aloof—was like divine assistance!

Lin Xian glanced around the research carriage. No damage from the tremors—only a pile of glassware and test tubes on the lab bench had shattered, still uncollected.

Seeing this, Lin Xian's heart lurched—oh no, the plant growth chambers in Carriage 4 were full of glass!

"Damn it!"

Lin Xian's face changed instantly—he turned to sprint toward Carriage 4—but Ding Junyi didn't even look up as she replied calmly.

"Only two small glass containers from the old lab broke. No major impact. Everything you made from polycarbonate is intact."

Lin Xian had already taken a step forward, but hearing this, he stopped, exhaling in relief: "Phew. I thought our vegetable garden was ruined."

"I know what I'm doing. Don't worry."

"Alright, then rest for now," Lin Xian said, sighing with concern.

"I'm not tired," Ding Junyi said, showing no intention to end the conversation.

Lin Xian turned around and saw Ding Junyi with her hands in her pockets, looking at him seriously, a faint, subtle smile on her lips.

He instantly felt uneasy and hurried to say:

"You've been working all night at the Zero-Sum Center. You need rest. We're still in the Polar Night—I'll keep watch."

Ding Junyi stepped forward immediately, looked up at him with her intellectual expression, and said: "I've learned a new technique. Want to see it?"

New technique? Seriously? How blunt can you be!

Lin Xian's face changed—he realized this woman's submissive side was about to flare up again. He quickly said: "Rest first. I'll finish handling the weapons and gear."

It wasn't that he didn't want to—he'd just…

And he really wanted to get the weapon manufacturing and train repairs done as soon as possible. The Unlimited Train was sturdy, but until he'd inspected every carriage, he couldn't relax.

Saying that, Lin Xian turned to leave—but as he took a step, something seemed to block him. He stopped instantly, looked down, and saw a potted pothos on the nearby workbench: one tender green vine had shot out like a living thing, gently blocking his abdomen.

The vine felt alive—and possessed incredible tensile strength, pressing against him like a thin steel wire!

"This is the new technique I meant."

Since Xilan City, Ding Junyi had discovered her plant-based ability had improved dramatically—she could now defy normal plant growth patterns, enabling bizarre growth and even surpassing the plant's cellular structure in properties like elasticity, strength, hardness, and pulling force.

Lin Xian turned around in surprise, seeing Ding Junyi with her hands in her pockets, calm and composed. Above her head, the small flower had bloomed—soft pink, swaying gently—completely contrasting her intellectual, cool demeanor, adding an odd, almost teasing contradiction to her seriousness.

"If you're worried I'm too direct in seeking intimacy with you, I'll reduce the frequency. At any time, in any place, in any way—I will obey you. Whatever you ask, I will do."

Lin Xian's expression grew awkward. He gave a helpless smile, realizing he'd misunderstood her. A strange sense of guilt welled up. Looking into her calm eyes, he took a deep breath, then without hesitation, rushed forward, lifted her up, and carried her toward the rest room.

Ding Junyi, obediently lifted, remained calm. She adjusted her glasses slightly, a faint, smug smile curling at her lips.

Her gaze seemed to say:

My hero, I've prepared your heroic moment.

Are you satisfied?

…

In Carriage 5 of the Unlimited Train, inside a cabin named "Burn Heaven Hall," Lu Xingchen sat on the floor, eyes filled with murderous intent, staring at a tungsten crucible before him.

Inside it were all his thermal underwear.

He intended to burn them all at once.

Does the God of Fire need thermal underwear?

That's a philosophical question.

But Lu Xingchen knew he'd never wear thermal underwear again. It wasn't cool. It wasn't stylish. Most importantly—

Thermal underwear fucking bleeds color!

"Evil artifact, corrupting my Dao heart—how can it be allowed!"

Lu Xingchen clenched his teeth, gripping the voice recorder he'd used to leave a message for Lin Xian.

"Today, this Lord…"

Click.

His grip was too tight—he accidentally pressed the playback button. The "heroic" message suddenly blared through the silent room:

"Brother Lin, Brother Lou, friends of the Unlimited Train—forgive my abrupt departure…"

Lu Xingchen's face turned pale. He frantically found the switch and turned it off.

Then, blushing furiously, he threw the voice recorder into the crucible, sealed the lid, and let out a low roar as he began spewing flame from the opening.

"Burn it all! Burn every last bit!"

Flames roared, instantly reducing the Kelian thermal underwear and voice recorder to ash. Black smoke and a foul stench rose. Lu Xingchen quickly turned on the ventilation, cleaned the floor, wiped the table, arranged everything neatly, then took out his prized ancient-tea-scented air freshener and sprayed it carefully around the small cabin.

Soon, his refined room once again carried the pure, serene scent of cultivation.

"Thus, the inner demon is resolved."

Lu Xingchen was satisfied. He picked up the crucible and walked out, dumping its ashes into the trash bin—when suddenly, a metallic clatter rang out, as if something else had fallen in. Lu Xingchen froze, staring into the bin. Among the ash, a glint of gold appeared.

His gaze sharpened. He pried through the ash with two fingers, lifting the golden object—it was the gold bracelet he'd picked up in the Yijin Bank vault?

He'd impulsively decided, before death, to forge a golden object—perhaps a spirit tablet or a mysterious ring—to leave behind some trace of himself (a final message)…

But the thing wouldn't melt, no matter how long he burned it. It had frustrated him. Now seeing it again, he felt a stubborn defiance.

"I thought my heavenly fire had dwindled to less than ten percent. Now I'll see—what kind of mysterious metal can withstand my heavenly fire!"

Lu Xingchen's Burning Flame Sword could pierce and melt abyssal worms. Gold's melting point was barely a thousand degrees—how could it resist?

Intrigued, he cleaned the crucible and the bracelet thoroughly, then brought them both back to his room.

Under the cold light, the spiral-linked gold bracelet with nine golden flowers was exquisitely crafted. After cleaning, it gleamed brilliantly—clearly a valuable treasure from the vault. But after the apocalypse, gold had lost nearly all value; even currency had become blood essence. This thing was useless except perhaps for some industrial applications.

Lu Xingchen turned on his tea maker, brewed a pot, and carefully examined the bracelet, sipping tea while directing flame from his fingertip at the gold, testing its melting point.

But the longer he burned it, the more tea he drank. Minutes passed. The tungsten crucible's bottom began to glow red and soften—but the gold bracelet showed no change. In fact… it grew even more radiant.

Lu Xingchen's eyes flickered. The tungsten crucible's melting point was over 3, 00 degrees—over three times higher than gold's. How could it not melt?

"Strange, strange. Is this some new material from cutting-edge technology?"

Seeing the crucible nearly melt, fearing danger from the heat, he gave up his curiosity and stopped the flame.

But then—a strange sight. As his flame vanished, the gold bracelet began to slowly twist on the glowing crucible bottom, like a living thing.

Lu Xingchen stared, recoiling as if electrocuted.

"Monster! Monster! Monster!"

…

In Carriage 3, Lin Xian felt refreshed again…

In the rest cabin, Ding Junyi's cheeks flushed. After reaching climax and settling back down, she rose immediately, naked, and methodically began redressing. Aside from simple jeans and a shirt undershirt, she'd grown accustomed to wearing her lab coat—it saved time deciding what to wear. But one rule: all her underwear had to be matching sets, and only black or purple. It was her OCD—and her way of supplementing her feminine identity with sensuality.

Lin Xian watched her movements and said with a sigh: "You're getting ready to research again?"

Hearing him, Ding Junyi turned, looked at him calmly, then—again—began unbuttoning her jeans, a teasing smile on her lips: "If you want to do it again, or hold me to sleep—I'll obey you."

Lin Xian nearly buckled. He quickly grabbed her hand: "Let's save our energy for danger—we're still in the Polar Night."

"Mm." Ding Junyi nodded, pulled on her lab coat, adjusted her glasses, and returned to her cold, detached lab demeanor. Then she strode out with decisive speed.

Lin Xian watched her back, sighing inwardly. The expression of a STEM straight woman was simple, direct, and intense—no pretense, no guessing. When she turned to you, you felt nothing but absolute seriousness—and beneath it, a wild, molten fury ready to swallow you whole.

At that moment, a holographic screen suddenly flashed before Lin Xian—an alert from the Hetero-Cube!

【WARNING: NON-MECHANICAL FEAR ENERGY DETECTED!】

"What?!"

Lin Xian's face turned pale. He leapt up and rushed out. Ding Junyi, seeing his urgency, immediately asked:

"What's wrong?"

Lin Xian didn't answer. He turned to the Hell Black Chrysanthemum—but it showed no change. He turned to Ding Junyi: "Have you noticed anything unusual in the carriage?"

Ding Junyi instantly understood. She stepped out of the corridor, checked the front cars, then turned to look at the rear carriages. Suddenly, her brows furrowed slightly. She whispered:

"Something's wrong here."

Since bonding with the Hell Black Chrysanthemum, Ding Junyi had developed heightened sensitivity to dark energy. The pink flower above her head now rapidly retracted into a bud—as if responding.

Lin Xian didn't hesitate—he followed her immediately. They sprinted from Carriage 3 to Carriage 5. As they ran, Da Lou, who was maintaining his Roarer machine gun, called out:

"What's going on, Xian-ge?"

"Something's wrong!" Lin Xian said immediately.

Da Lou sprang to his feet at the news, swiftly raising his machine gun into a combat stance.

As Ding Junyi was about to run toward Car 6, her steps suddenly halted.

"What's wrong?"

"Not this way." Ding Junyi turned back, moving swiftly on foot until she reached Lu Xingchen's cabin door.

"Fire Brother?!"

"It should be here—if my perception hasn't failed me," Ding Junyi said coldly.

No sooner had she spoken than Lin Xian stepped in front of her and used his communicator to call others over.

Whirring footsteps arrived quickly—several core members of the Wuxian Hao, including Chen Sixuan, rushed over, each armed and standing grimly before Fire Brother's door.

"What's going on?!" Chen Sixuan had already donned her Black Hawk battle armor the moment she woke, moving with lightning speed.

"What's wrong with Fire Brother again?" Kiki said.

Even little Shasha rubbed her sleepy eyes, gripping a large sledgehammer as she stood at the back of the crowd: "What's happening? Is there a monster?"

"Lin Team Leader?" Shu Qin glanced at the sealed cabin door, her expression wary as she looked at Lin Xian.

Da Lou's expression was complex—he had just rested and begun organizing his gear. How had he missed any abnormality from Lu Xingchen?

Lin Xian raised both hands, signaling everyone to step back.

"We detected the presence of dark invasion energy at this location. Stay alert."

Kiki frowned at this and said, "This guy… could it really be…"

She cut herself off instantly, then added, "Everyone, fall back. I'll open the door."

With that, she raised her hand to summon a psychic barrier shielding everyone, then prepared to open Lu Xingchen's cabin door.

But before she could act, the cabin door bearing the sign "Fen Tian Dian" suddenly burst open—and standing there was Lu Xingchen, who had just heard the footsteps outside. Fire Brother's hands were wreathed in flames, poised for battle, his face filled with shock. As soon as he saw the group outside, he shouted:

"Everyone, be careful! There's a cursed object!"

His words sent a jolt through the group. Lin Xian, seeing Fire Brother was unharmed, exhaled slightly in relief. Twenty Lei Sun robots swiftly darted forward and surged into Lu Xingchen's room.

"Fall back!" Lin Xian shouted.

But after scanning the room thoroughly, they found nothing.

The group, all on high alert, exchanged bewildered glances.

"What cursed object?"

"Where?"

"It was definitely here," Ding Junyi frowned slightly. She had clearly sensed unusual energy fluctuations.

But Lu Xingchen now pointed to a crucible on the floor of his cabin and shouted: "The object is inside that crucible! Strange phenomena appeared—look!"

Hearing this, Kiki immediately used her psychic force to lift the crucible out. All eyes turned to it—and there, inside, floated a golden bracelet, twisted into the shape of an infinity symbol, motionless. Its metallic luster surpassed gold, glowing with an ethereal radiance as if infused with divine energy.

"What… is this?" Chen Sixuan said.

Shasha clicked her tongue in amazement: "Why is a bracelet floating?"

"It looks like a product from our world, but its color is more vivid than gold."

"Not just more vivid—it's fused with dark energy," Ding Junyi cut in sharply.

"Dark energy?!" Shu Qin and the others exclaimed in unison.

Kiki instantly realized and cried out: "This… this can't be a forbidden object, can it?!"

"You mean like that weird radio from before?" Chen Sixuan's expression darkened. The radio incident had been one of the most despairing moments aboard the Wuxian Hao—she still shuddered at the memory.

Lin Xian stared at the floating golden bracelet, then looked up at Lu Xingchen. He couldn't believe this guy had somehow brought back a forbidden object again. He demanded quickly:

"Where did you get this bracelet?"

Lu Xingchen's expression was complicated as he recounted the entire story.

"I've been heating it at high temperatures. Since it wouldn't melt, I sensed something odd—then suddenly, the cursed object moved like a living thing, floating inside the crucible."

Lin Xian nearly cursed aloud in his mind. How the hell was this kid so unbelievably lucky? Picking up a forbidden object from mud in the vault?

(End of Chapter)