Chapter 326: Nightfall, Seal the Windows!

Wind-Eroded Valley, a dried riverbed, a 15-kilometer-long heavy rail train sat silently berthed, its 500-plus carriages winding like a dragon, stretching as if to the horizon's end.

18: 0

The sunset's afterglow painted the desert floor a rust-red, sand grains glinting with fine golden scales—until a sudden north wind whipped them into a flowing crimson tide, hurling shattered stones against half-buried abandoned oil drums, echoing hollowly.

On the Union Train, over four thousand people worked tirelessly to prepare for nightfall.

"They say sand ants aren't the same as the ants we know, but for safety, check every crack, vent, even the bathroom pipes!"

In the Infinite's communicator, Chen Sixuan walked swiftly between carriages, reminding everyone.

Lin Xian inspected each carriage one by one, as meticulously as he had once handled snowwater seepage—but he knew sand ants were nothing like snowwater; they might crawl into any crevice. His greatest fear now: whether these ants, like the earlier snow wraiths, could mark humans with darkness.

"Didn't Hu Lushou say the other convoys he contacted had no darkness marks? Those convoys have been in Akesai for days—surely they shouldn't have any?"

Kiki followed Lin Xian all the way to Carriage 3 and said:

"Better to stay cautious." Lin Xian pointed out the window: "I left several rotary drones and pre-set explosives outside, just in case."

"Director Ding," Lin Xian said to Ding Jun, who was conducting experiments on mycelium: "I'll temporarily shut the air circulation channels in these two Cole experimental carriages—won't that harm the plants?"

Ding Junyi looked up at him: "From a botanical perspective..."

"Director Ding." Lin Xian gazed at her with a meaningful look.

"No."

"Good."

Lin Xian nodded, pleased—he greatly admired Ding Jun's concise replies.

He then pressed his communicator and spoke to all train captains:

"Once more: when the sand ants pass, don't panic. No one fires under any circumstances."

"Understood!"

This time, the captain of the Ocean Train responded first.

Though Lin Xian had already shared everything he learned in Akesai about the night with every convoy, he felt it necessary to repeat it again.

Over four thousand people—this wasn't a small number.

Before the Day of Revelation, Lin Xian hadn't even wanted to be a dorm monitor in college—who could manage socks and underwear growing mushrooms on a balcony? Now, the Union Train's people were truly a mixed bag. Though united in purpose and loyalty under his command, he knew there were still plenty of fools, so he summoned every ounce of patience he possessed, hoping to avoid trouble after nightfall.

"Young Lin," Shi Di's voice came over the communicator: "Before you returned, I had everyone check the entire train for darkness marks—nothing else to worry about."

"Good."

"Don't worry, Captain Lin, our convoy has zero vulnerabilities," Mo Nika said gently from Carriage 1 of her Mo Queen Train.

"We're fine too," Qian Dele added.

"Captain Lin, we're clear," came Li Yi and Luo Yang's voices—Li Yi had already secured the children's carriage. They'd faced nightfall many times before: insect swarms, corpse tides—they'd learned to stay silent, still, and obedient.

"Captain Lin."

Shu Qin walked over to Lin Xian: "While you were gone, the Hell Warriors told us a lot—especially about kidnapping psychics. They really traded them to some organization, at a place called Iron Pot Valley. We checked the maps—no such place exists."

"Iron Pot Valley? Is it related to terrain?" Lin Xian immediately thought of something.

"According to him, the place is full of abandoned radio telescope antennas, hence the name."

"Radio telescopes?" Lin Xian frowned slightly: "That must be a star observation station."

"Easy," Kiki immediately pulled out her mobile terminal and searched: "Got it—Bai Lu Beach Star Observation Station, but it shut down in 2056."

"Abandoned for thirteen years..."

"According to map coordinates, they did change routes here before, but the overlap is minimal."

"Because they only go there at fixed times," Lin Xian examined the coordinates and said: "Once we deal with the Akesai sand bandits, we need to check this place out."

Lin Xian had previously overlooked one point—he'd been filtering out areas with low signal overlap to find the bandits' hideout, but now it seemed the trading site was equally worth investigating.

Shu Qin nodded: "Also, their pricing: one Diamond-level gene-evolved person trades for two Level One Blood Essences—but a psychic fetches five. Berserk-level? Fivefold. Annihilation-level? Twentyfold."

"What?" Kiki pointed at her own nose: "So I'm worth twenty-five Blood Essences???"

"Not bad—you're worth two and a half vials of Cold Dark Reagent," Lin Xian teased.

"Hmph!" Kiki sniffed coldly: "I just hope they don't live long enough to collect."

Lin Xian exhaled slowly, his gaze sharp: "Raiding a small convoy of twenty or thirty people might yield only a little loot, a few Blood Essences—but with this human trade, the bandits could get ten or twenty Blood Essences. They might not handle Berserk or Annihilation-levels, but there are plenty of medium and small refugee convoys now—making them far more profitable targets than simple robbery."

Shu Qin said: "Dozens of Blood Essences could last a month—no wonder these bandits are so desperate."

Lin Xian looked at Shu Qin: "Any more news?"

Shu Qin shook her head: "None so far. Big Dong said they're still squeezing them, but one of the seven is already dead. He wants to ask if you can keep them alive a few more nights—they still have dozens of brothers..."

"Let them. Let them."

Lin Xian immediately raised his hand to stop Shu Qin, his face darkening: "These people have no more value to us. Just don't let them escape—do whatever you want."

"Understood," Shu Qin said with a faint, strange smile, and fell silent.

Kiki immediately made a disgusted "Eww!" and stared at Lin Xian: "That's disgusting."

"Don't say that," Lin Xian took a deep breath: "All things in heaven and earth are interdependent and counterbalanced. Isn't this the perfect punishment for men who rape women?"

"Besides—enemy suffering means our allies rejoice!"

"EWWWWWWWWWWWWW!"

Kiki's brow knotted into a deep frown, chin tucked as she glared at Lin Xian: "I don't want teammates like you..."

Lin Xian sighed, then turned to Shu Qin:

"By the way, tell the Windwalker convoy about this."

The Windwalker convoy was the bus convoy that had been raided; now it sat quietly beside the Union Train on the desert. Lin Xian had already informed them of the sand ants—they were now prepared.

"Understood," Shu Qin glanced at Lin Xian, understood his intent, and turned away.

As night approached, Chen Sixuan had distributed food to all carriages. Now, each bottle of water lasted two days. Everyone understood the water shortage—even in the scorching heat, no one dared drink deeply.

Across the wilderness, every carriage of the Union Train began closing its windows and blackout panels; tension rose inside.

Lin Xian shut all corridor gates, then joined Chen Sixuan in the cockpit, gazing through the window at the desert as night descended.

Shhh~

On the desolate desert, only the wind's roar remained, sand grains striking the carriages and windows with dry, rustling sounds.

Lin Xian and Chen Sixuan sat side by side, silently waiting for nightfall. The other convoys' frequencies had fallen silent; all were watching the clock.

"Remember when we first left Jiang City? We waited for nightfall just like this."

Lin Xian looked at Chen Sixuan's cautious face and spoke.

Back then, Chen Sixuan was a university teacher, desperate and panicked, clutching the last straw—bread Lin Xian had given her, curled in a corner of the cockpit aisle.

And Lin Xian held a short knife, listening to zombies scratching outside.

Chen Sixuan glanced at him, then turned away: "No darkness marks, but for some reason, in this open, desolate place, I always feel uneasy."

Her gaze drifted toward the vast, distant wilderness, eyes narrowing.

The world was too vast, the horizon too far. In that empty wasteland, Chen Sixuan felt a suffocating crowding—more oppressive than any city. She didn't know why she felt this, and when she realized it, she startled herself.

Lin Xian's gaze swept across, and he fell still.

Beep. Beep.

The watch's alarm suddenly pierced the quiet carriage—tiny, yet clear as if echoing across kilometers of desert before nightfall.

"Night's coming."

Hum.

Above, a tide-like curtain of light swept across the sky—a veil of stars rapidly unfurling.

The next instant, the world went dark.

The sun hadn't yet sunk below the horizon, yet the entire western desert plunged into night.

The stars above seemed veiled by some chaos, dimmer than before.

The earth fell utterly silent.

Everyone held their breath.

Lin Xian and Chen Sixuan sat quietly in the cockpit, hearing only their own heartbeats.

Then the wind grew louder, and a faint patter of rain began.

"Rain?" Lin Xian frowned slightly.

"No."

Chen Sixuan stared out the dark window, her gaze heavy:

"It's the earth's voice."

In the living carriage, lights were out. The children held their breath, silent.

Duo Duo lay on her pillow, eyes peering through a crack in the blackout panel at the dark horizon. The rain-like sound grew louder—shifting from fine mist to a drumming downpour—but no water streaked the window.

She stared, wide-eyed—then suddenly, a strange insect tapped against the window, scuttling past like a spider with a long tail, no bigger than a thumb, its form indistinct.

She felt it twisting, deforming, yet moving with blinding speed across the glass.

Duo Duo flinched, pulling back.

Next, more black insects crawled over the window, growing dense—and the rain sound surged from downpour to torrent!

Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!

In an instant, the only sound outside the Union Train was this eerie noise—every carriage felt as if a sandstorm's grit was hammering its hull, overwhelming all other hearing.

In the Infinite's cockpit, Lin Xian and Chen Sixuan watched the front window completely covered in dense black insects, instinctively standing and stepping back.

At that moment, all light vanished—the carriage plunged into utter darkness.

Sand ants have passed!

An unbearable suffocation gripped the entire 15-kilometer-long Union Train—no light visible, the torrent-like sound of sand ants raging over every carriage.

Outside the car, on its roof, beneath its floor—every direction, densely packed; the entire world seemed to contain nothing but this sound.

People's hearts quickened; some gripped handrails and weapons, yet none dared move—a complete darkness had fallen, and now, everyone could only pray.

Nothing crawled into the carriage!

In Car 2, Kiki and Shasha huddled together, clutching their ears, while Kiki generated a small psychic barrier to shield them both, terrified that in this darkness, the flesh-tearing, bone-chewing insects might suddenly crawl onto their bodies!

Lin Xian's gaze was grim as he frantically activated his Mechanical Heart, scanning the entire Infinite Train, attempting to overlay its metallic structure.

But the more he did, the more clearly he felt surrounded by billions upon billions of strange creatures crawling over him—his spine prickled with numbness.

This eerie, suffocating condition lasted two full hours before the torrential rain's sound began to fade, then vanished entirely.

At that moment, the windows, once covered in sand ants, cleared again, revealing faint starlight and the horizon's outline beyond the wasteland.

"Phew~"

Lin Xian exhaled deeply, his heart finally easing halfway—just as he reached to activate the communicator and inquire about the other carriages, Chen Sixuan suddenly stepped forward and clamped her hand over his mouth!

"Look over there!"

Chen Sixuan's startled voice poured into Lin Xian's ear; he turned instantly toward where she pointed—and his pupils shrank violently!

Several kilometers away from the United Train, above the desolate Gobi, a thick cloud of yellow sand gathered like thick boiling broth in the sky—and from within that cloud, several enormous, bizarre, jointed limbs slowly descended, their irregular, unnatural silhouettes visible to all.

Those insect limbs, hanging inverted from the sky, drifted lightly across the Gobi, as if unconscious, slowly drifting with the dense cloud toward the heart of the Wurenqu.

Sandstorms surged around them, howling winds whipping against the United Train, producing a mournful wail.

Many survivors who witnessed this scene felt a sudden, icy chill—not merely from fear, but because the dangling insect limbs seemed to emit some strange psychic resonance, carrying an overwhelming surge of dark terror that crashed outward across the wasteland!

【Detected massive dark terror assault!】

Instantly, Lin Xian's vision filled with the Hetero-Cube's alarm screen; the United Train's windows began frosting over with a thin mist. He was utterly helpless—only by holding his breath and staying utterly still could he avoid making any sound. For a moment, every heart aboard the United Train seemed suspended.

As seconds ticked by, the silhouettes of the insect limbs beneath the yellow sand cloud gradually vanished into the depths of the Gobi, and the ancient riverbed finally fell silent.

Whoosh~

The biting night wind swept through, rustling dry reeds and tumbleweeds.

Lin Xian felt warmth returning to his limbs; he turned to Chen Sixuan, whose eyes held equal shock. Their gazes met—both felt dazed, teetering on the edge of terror.

"Thank goodness we don't have a Dark Mark…"

Chen Sixuan's face was pale, her voice trembling with lingering dread.

She and Lin Xian had endured countless horrors—even faced S-class anomalies—but what they'd just witnessed wasn't merely horrifying; it made her truly feel the crushing weight of dark terror's corruption.

Lin Xian exhaled heavily. He'd sensed this feeling the night before, as he fell asleep—this toxic invasion struck human mental energy with absolute, annihilating force.

That's why, on Revelation Day, ten billion people mutated into zombies—while those of us who survived, though we gradually adapted and evolved by absorbing dark energy, remain utterly naive before true darkness.

Thinking of this, Lin Xian immediately activated the communicator.

"All carriages, report status!"

"Rose Carriage: two on the verge of mutation—contained!"

"Triangle Iron Carriage: six showing instability, one already mutated—fight broke out in Car 2, eliminated!"

"Hidden Sect Carriage…"

"Ocean Carriage…"

"Dragon Mountain No. is stable, though many children and women are vomiting and diarrhea—handling it urgently," came Xiang Ningjing's voice.

"Lin, we're about the same," said Li Yi, rushing through the children's carriage with his team; many young children now had ashen faces, vomiting uncontrollably.

On Luo Yang's side, many young people in the carriage trembled involuntarily; Li Guangwen slammed his thigh hard and gritted his teeth.

"What the hell is this? Why are you shaking?"

"I can't control it!" another companion cried, staring at his own trembling hands.

On Queen Mo, Mo Nika watched all team members' vital signs on the monitor, her eyes narrowing, then pressed the intercom.

"Stay calm, Viker—serve everyone a hot cup of coffee."

"Yes, Queen Mo!" a catering crew member replied immediately.

On Joker Carriage, Qian Dele moved swiftly between carriages, followed by Xiao Meng and several trusted subordinates.

He activated the communicator: "Lin, I suggest turning on all lights and heating—drive away the dread."

"Good!"

On the Infinite Train, Lin Xian had the same idea—the Gobi was now silent. He immediately ordered all carriages to turn on lights and heat, to stir activity and counteract the oppressive fear.

Click-click-click~

Instantly, carriage lights flared on; air circulation and heating systems activated—the entire United Train felt as if it had just crawled back from the edge of hell.

Lin Xian and Chen Sixuan moved swiftly—Car 2, Car 3, all the way to the rear living carriages. Thanks to the Hetero-Cube, the Infinite Train was by far the best off.

He checked the Hetero-Cube's data and assessed the team's condition—everyone was pale, chilled to the bone. Chen Sixuan quickly distributed the pre-prepared vegetable juice. Miao Lu, wrapped in a blanket, gulped down the unpalatable but fragrant liquid; as the carriage warmed slightly, her trembling heart eased a little.

Looking around, everyone else was much the same.

Xiao Yuan, recently recovered from illness, still had a pale, slightly chubby face; she whispered nervously: "It's so weird—like something's watching me. My skin just won't stop crawling."

"Exactly!" Lu Chang nodded vigorously: "Like a ghost sitting on your chest—at that moment, even the courage to resist seemed to vanish."

Lin Xian handed Shu Qin a bottle of water: "How are you?"

Shu Qin shook her head: "I'm fine, Lin." Her expression grew complex. "That moment… reminded me of Revelation Day."

Lin Xian nodded: "I didn't expect such intense dark invasion here—we weren't prepared enough."

Shu Qin replied: "Lin, this probably won't happen often—if it did, the people in Aksai wouldn't have stayed so calmly these past days. But since we've experienced it, our team will at least be mentally ready next time."

"Mm."

Lin Xian fell silent. Human feelings toward dark invasion were complex.

It was the source of all apocalypse—but also the source of current survivors' evolution. Everyone walked a tightrope, struggling desperately to survive, just to avoid being swallowed by this force.

At 1 a. ., the suffocating pressure passed; the United Train fell quiet.

Lin Xian went to Car 2, preparing to gather key personnel and all carriage leaders to discuss the Aksai plan.

At that moment, his R&D Center chimed with a notification.

He remembered—he'd been upgrading the G3 Electromagnetic Railgun (Blueprint).

【G3 Electromagnetic Railgun (Blueprint) upgrade completed successfully.】

【Congratulations. You have obtained the Solar Flare K1 Orbital Star-Shatter Cannon (Blueprint).】

"What!?"

Staring at the massive holographic blueprint, Lin Xian's pupils shrank—he gasped in shock.

"This… isn't this the main cannon of an interstellar warship??!!"

"Are you kidding me—can you even mount this on a train???"

(End of Chapter)