Chapter 336: Mimetic Colossus!

Whoosh!

The windless zone appeared for only an instant before being swallowed again by a sky-choking sandstorm; the united train raced wildly along the tracks, and Fire Brother, standing atop the car roof in the raging gales, now clearly saw the distant floating black silhouette—and the terrifying phenomenon of the entire sky darkening.

Boom! Boom!

At this moment, every section of the united train was under varying degrees of attack, shaking violently; the inertial forces from the traction transmitted through all carriages, causing them to hum incessantly and making it impossible to stand steady.

Lin Xian also sensed the monster's gathering black energy, suffused with a destructive aura, and shouted: "Fire Brother, Luo Yang—strike together and stop it!"

"Coming!" Fire Brother yelled.

At that moment, Lin Xian, clad in the Black Eagle battle armor, braved the sandstorm and reached the roof; both electromagnetic railguns fired simultaneously.

Whirrr!

Two beams of brilliant blue energy, guided by electric arcs from high-temperature kinetic rubidium projectiles, exploded against the black humanoid giant's body—but in the next instant, a twisted black beam shot out from the swirling yellow sand, slightly off-target, directly toward the roof of Car 10!

Instantly, Lin Xian and Fire Brother surged toward the central carriage from left and right!

"Inferno Sword!" Fire Brother's flame sword lunged straight at the black beam.

Zzzt! Lin Xian's full battle armor unleashed a high-voltage electric pulse; he thrust his palm forward as an AT force field expanded wildly at its edges!

Puffhh~

In an instant, the black beam was sliced by Lu Xingchen's fire sword; half of it splashed onto Lin Xian's several-meter-wide force field shield, manifesting as a smoky fluid that sprayed outward and upward. On the opposite side of the carriage, wind-eroded rocks struck by the beam began crumbling into powdered streams—terrifyingly so!

Boom! Boom! Luo Yang's pulse eyes fired again, striking the giant's head directly; in an instant, black light erupted like a smoke bomb, shattering along with the sand vortex.

At this moment, a laser beam sliced across the sky from Longshan No. 1, dimming the very space around it.

That's where Ningjing and Bai Ye are fighting fiercely!

Kongsong!

Simultaneously, Longshan No. 1 transmitted a massive lateral force that snapped the coupling hook between the Infinite Train and its rear car.

The electromagnetic cannons and flame projectors on the Mo Queen Train unleashed unrestrained fire into the sky; Mo Nika's Sonic Blade shattered entire hillsides; behind them, the Joker convoy and over a dozen doomsday trains unleashed relentless volleys; from front to rear, every train and vehicle now fought as one chaotic battlefield.

Ughhh!!

After being struck in the head by Luo Yang, the piercing shriek of the dark invasion force echoed again; both electromagnetic cannons kept firing into the sandstorm, roaring continuously.

At this moment, hundreds of silver blades surged upward from Car 2 like a tidal wave; Kiki floated in midair, surrounded by two hundred blades drawn close by the wind: "It doesn't bleed—it's sandy! Blowing off its head won't kill it!"

Meanwhile, Lin Xian's combat radar system rapidly generated a silhouette of a floating humanoid monster in the sandstorm: it leaned forward, its head and chest fragments continuously reassembling; the previous explosions and electromagnetic blasts had clearly inflicted no real damage.

Seeing this, Lin Xian immediately abandoned his plan to use a gravitational lens to neutralize the threat and said over comms: "It must have a vital core—smash everything apart!"

Though continuing to fire would waste ammunition, there was no alternative; firing at least held back the monster's assault. If it unleashed that black beam again against the carriages, the consequences were unimaginable.

"Watch out—there's more!" At this moment, Shi Di's voice crackled over the captain channel from Longshan No. 1.

Boom!

The sound of the Meteor-3 anti-materiel sniper rifle rang out; from the roof of the front carriage, Chen Sixuan, clad in Black Eagle armor, sprinted rapidly toward them; her helmet's holographic visor reacted instantly as she barked:

"Lin Xian, Luo Yang—3 o'clock, 9 o'clock, 11 o'clock!"

Shashasha! A rapid crawling sound rose from the sand; Luo Yang spun around and decisively fired a pulse shockwave into the empty space behind him.

Boom!

To his shock, the explosion detonated just meters away, hurling him violently through the air; his power armor's rapid-response unit activated, enabling him to twist midair and land on the train's armored edge before leaping back.

Only then did Luo Yang notice the foul stench and several strange limbs rolling across the roof—he realized the creatures leaping from the sandstorm were arachnid-like bugs, their abdomens dangling egg sacs, equipped with sharp mouthparts; blown apart by the blast, they tumbled back into the sand.

At the same moment, more of these arachnid bugs began leaping up from all directions across the desert, rushing toward the train's sides and roof; their speed was terrifying, their sharp limbs spinning through the air like cutting blades. After Chen Sixuan blasted two out of the sky, the bugs' egg sacs burst open, releasing countless nail-sized armored insects and black fluid; the tiny creatures flapped their wings and swarmed toward people.

A few of them clanged directly onto Lin Xian's arms; instantly, the armored beetles frantically searched for gaps in his armor, trying to burrow into his body!

Zzzt!

The Black Eagle armor's full-body electric arc resonance erupted, instantly incinerating the beetles to ash.

Seeing this, Lin Xian immediately shouted:

"Anyone without power armor—stay inside! Seal all doors and windows! Watch out for those bugs!"

"The bug eggs are highly corrosive!" Shu Qin shot down one leaping bug with two rounds; seeing the armored roof of the carriage hissing and smoking where the egg fluid had splashed, she warned: "Watch out!"

Duuu!!

Two 1130s and fully automatic Gatling cannons simultaneously unleashed torrents of fire to both sides of the train.

"Fire Fist!"

Fire Brother immediately unleashed a wall of flame, shielding the front and rear of Car 10.

Clink! Clink! Clink!

On the front of the Infinite Train, Kiki spun her two hundred silver blades rapidly, forming a blade storm—a razor array—that shredded every bug that tried to climb aboard.

"All teams, scatter and protect the carriages!" Lin Xian immediately issued the order.

At this moment, Shu Qin, Lu Chang, Miao Lu, Li Guangwen, Amin Luoluo, and dozens of others in power armor had already reached the roof; the two psychics from Liang Lei Building opened the automatic blast doors; everyone divided tasks to guard every carriage.

Wooo!

Twenty Lei Sun drones rotated behind Lin Xian; having activated auto-targeting, they continuously fired electric arc pulses in all directions. Simultaneously, Lin Xian hurled his Black Gun toward the giant, hoping its sensors could scan the monster's energy source.

Lin Xian's Black Gun flew through the air toward the monster—but strangely, the moment it touched the creature, the gun's speed slowed only slightly before piercing straight through, as if cutting through loose sand and gravel.

Dong! Dong! Dong!

At this moment, the giant's shattered head regenerated, and it strode forward again toward the Infinite Train!

Instantly, everyone felt a powerful pressure wave blast through the sandstorm toward them.

"Watch out!"

After retrieving his Black Gun, Lin Xian was deeply puzzled—the monster didn't seem made of flesh and blood, yet it could both fly and run, utterly bizarre.

"Shatter it!"

At this moment, Kiki and Fire Brother both launched into the air and attacked together; the second round of ammunition for the 1130s had been reloaded, and together with the two electromagnetic railguns, all weapons turned toward the same spot in the sandstorm!

"Divine·Emperor of Flame!"

Lu Xingchen spun his Infinite Ring as a surge of blue flame erupted—a shockwave fireball; instantly, everyone on the roof felt a powerful heatwave roll over them; the blazing fireball blazed toward the black shadow in the yellow sand!

A massive explosion roared; the surging hot air once again blew away the sandstorm and the ground's yellow dunes; for a moment, everyone saw the bugs emerging from the earth and the black humanoid giant charging toward them.

"Hey!" Kiki, wrapped in a psychic barrier, her purple hair whipping wildly, eyes glowing, thrust both hands forward; her two hundred silver blades instantly shot out like bullets, slicing through air and sand, their edges glowing red-hot—a torrent of blades piercing through the flames to shred the black shadow.

A nerve-jarring metallic slicing sound rang out; the giant's main torso was obliterated by the blade torrent beneath the fire, compounded by the Infinite Train's electromagnetic railguns and the 1130s' second wave of metal storm.

Boom!

The flame turbulence seemed triggered by the anomaly's energy, igniting explosively in all directions.

Lin Xian and the others immediately activated their power armor's thermal shielding; simultaneously, the battlefield Taishi radar captured numerous black flesh chunks, like gravel, being burned and scattered—the giant had been a pile of black material stacked like flesh blocks, now shattered.

Chen Sixuan, holding the Meteor-3, kept her gaze fixed on the anomaly's remains and fired; the massive bullet's kinetic energy shattered several larger fragments—but suddenly, her enhanced visual senses detected something: the flying black flesh chunks seemed guided by something akin to Kiki's psychic force, retracting instantly after scattering.

Her brow furrowed; she realized something and fired three shots in rapid succession at the gathering core; the bullets pierced through flame and sand, carving thin voids in the air—revealing to Chen Sixuan a spherical organism composed of countless clustered eyeballs, rapidly rotating; the black flesh fragments, as if pulled by invisible gravity, rushed back toward it.

In the mere instant of Fire Brother's fireball detonation, the giant—just moments ago shattered by their combined assault—had already regenerated over half its form: chest, spine, torso, and skin rapidly reformed, mimicking human proportions; flesh condensed from loose matter, growing denser and heavier, appearing grotesque and horrifying.

Seeing this, Chen Sixuan's eyes hardened, and she spoke over comms:

"The monster's true body is inside its chest cavity—a sphere roughly one meter in diameter. The humanoid form is merely its armor!"

Chen Sixuan didn't know why she used such terms—but her words, simple and direct, pinpointed the vital point!

"What?!"

"Damn it!"

"What the hell is this thing?"

"We must first break through its flesh, then strike the core!"

"All units—full firepower!"

The leaders of every convoy, fully engaged in battle, immediately responded.

Hearing Chen Sixuan's words, Lin Xian realized something: the monster's claws possessed devastating striking power—its body's density could not possibly be like sand. It must have a special mechanism to harden and increase its torso density for attack.

The most critical point: Lin Xian noticed the monster could float and move through air, yet after repairing its body, it chose to run—suggesting that such movement consumed enormous energy.

Realizing this, Lin Xian made an instant decision:

"First, break its flesh!"

Poom! Poom! Poom!

The entire Infinite Train erupted in gunfire, suppressing the leaping bugs.

"Kiki, Luo Yang—suppress it! Wait for my third volley!"

The Mechanical Heart activated; Lin Xian waited for the third round of ammunition to load into the two 1130 close-defense cannons; meanwhile, his drones continued slaughtering bugs, and his finger-mounted energy cannon provided cover for Mo Nika's and Joker's caravans.

Wooooom~

A bone-chilling vibration swept through the air; as Lin Xian prepared to suppress the monster again for a breakthrough strike, everyone noticed the giant had not charged forward—black mist spread through the sand, and the anomaly was clearly preparing another black beam!

"Damn it—blow its head off!"

Seeing this, Lin Xian immediately ordered Luo Yang and Kiki to suppress the sandstorm; the two electromagnetic railguns locked onto the target, unleashing repeated bursts of blue energy.

"Captain, that thing knows how to dodge!" Luo Yang fired two pulse shockwaves into empty air, frantically shouting.

Clink! Clink! Clink!

Meanwhile, Kiki controlled her silver blade torrent, spinning it relentlessly through the sandstorm—but she could not lock onto the giant's position, helplessly watching the entire sky darken further.

Didi-didi-didi! Everyone's power armor detected the enemy's position—but the giant kept retreating farther into the air.

"Can't lock on—the monster's retreated farther to gather power."

Chen Sixuan's voice was grim; she fired several shots, but even when the electromagnetic railguns hit, they couldn't stop the black giant from accumulating its beam—the anomaly possessed a degree of intelligence and, after its first beam was blocked, had learned to conceal itself!

"So cunning!"

"Lin Brother!" Fire Brother ran over: "Let me break through this sand curtain—you strike after!"

"Good!"

Lin Xian said without hesitation: this monster hides within the sandstorm and knows how to use the gales to conceal itself—it's an extreme threat; if we don eliminate it quickly, the train won't survive a few more blasts of that black light.

"When you break through, I'll grab it—you guys blow open its chest!"

Kiki cursed and immediately retracted all blades, launching herself into the air to charge forward.

Puhu!

A dull sound rang out—this black beam carried a darker, more oppressive force than before, sending chills down their spines.

But at that moment, everyone suddenly saw vast amounts of black mist spilling out from the sandstorm, accompanied by a piercing, ear-splitting shriek!

Black tides surged; even light within the sandstorm turned utterly dark. Lin Xian's face darkened, and he shouted:

"Attack!"

"Divine·Heaven's Collapse Flame!"

Lu Xingchen shot upward like a fire meteor, then spun at high speed, unleashing a whirlwind of flames across his entire body—a fiery vortex that exploded in midair, its raging crimson flames pouring like heavenly fire, instantly carving a vacuum vortex through the vast sandstorm, layers of yellow sand rising in a column with the hot air straight toward the sky!

At that moment, the massive black form, which had been gathering black light in midair, revealed its true body once more in the wind and sand. Kiki seized the chance, unleashing all her silver blades in a torrent, charging straight at it. Her left hand used telekinesis to pin the giant's flight, while her right hand manipulated the blade storm to shred its limbs and head layer by layer. Under the monster's immense mass pressure, countless silver blades shattered and fragmented, sparks flying everywhere.

Luo Yang and the two 1130s unleashed their firepower instantly, blowing apart the giant's chest cavity. Inside, the ocular core fled rapidly, triggering a strange force to draw the shattered flesh back together, preparing for another surge.

Wu!

At that moment, Lin Xian's black rifle's magnetic propulsion engine precisely accelerated, slicing through the sandstorm like a needle threading silk, quickly locating the ocular core fleeing hundreds of meters away in midair. The black rifle spun through the air and fired—just as it was about to pierce through, countless black tissue fragments surged forward, forming a hardened breastbone to block it. The monster's wounded areas instantly hardened—but the rifle's speed was too great; it punched straight through, tearing off chunks of black tissue before embedding itself deep into the black eyeball!

In an instant, black blood erupted. The ocular cluster tried to flee, but Lin Xian activated the dual-barbed hooks on his black rifle—modified after the Red Light Head incident, specifically designed as a fishing hook anchor!

The dense eyeballs twisted violently, and torrents of black blood poured down.

"Lin Xian, don't let it escape!"

Kiki frantically crushed and suppressed the black flesh surging toward her, while Fire Brother simultaneously acted, shielding her from the monstrous insects.

Seeing this, Lin Xian activated his mechanical heart instantly—two G3 electromagnetic railguns rotated their bases, locking precise aim onto the spherical core, their rail rings glowing in concentric layers!

Wu! Zii!

Two beams of azure energy blasted forth. At that moment, the dense eyeballs on the spherical core sensed the danger—all their compound pupils turned toward the direction of the electromagnetic cannons!

Ughhh!!

Under a strange energy surge, the scattered black flesh fragments surged together, trying to block the attack.

But the electromagnetic cannons' instantaneous speed tore through, creating a massive energy tunnel that annihilated every eyeball. Black blood exploded outward, spraying everywhere. The scattered black flesh fragments lost control and, in an instant, fell by inertia onto the desert floor.

Boom boom boom~

A vast expanse of black flesh, incredibly heavy, slammed onto the sand, kicking up thick clouds of dust. Some fragments continued rolling, then gradually disintegrated—beneath the black tissue, countless different muscle textures emerged, resembling a kind of concrete forged from thousands or tens of thousands of human corpses. A reeking stench rose into the sky!

"We got it!!!"

Kiki shouted. But Lin Xian hadn't even breathed out when a black beam exploded far behind the train—suddenly, a frantic cry came through the headset:

"One of our cars was hit—heavy casualties! The train's splitting apart!!!"

Hearing this, every heart sank. At this speed, if one car broke loose and derailed, the entire rear train could flip over.

"Move fast against it—use layered volleys to suppress it. There's an eyeball inside—strike at the right moment and you can kill it!"

After eliminating the first giant, Lin Xian immediately synced the situation to the entire team. Meanwhile, on the Infinite, the two electromagnetic cannons rotated direction, covering the front Dragon Mountain No. 1 and the rear convoy.

Indeed, after identifying the monster's weakness, Dragon Mountain No. 1 adjusted its firing frequency and unleashed a synchronized barrage—Bai Bai's laser beam pierced the sky!

"Damn it, clever bastard!"

After successfully eliminating it, Shi Di cursed loudly: "The insect swarms are multiplying—we need to speed up!"

"Attention! Sand ants approaching from behind!" Sun Chang, from the Fulu Shou convoy, sat in her vehicle, blasting a spider-legged insect with a pulse cannon, then shouted into the comm.

At this critical moment, an even grimmer warning arrived: a boiling roar from the depths of the Wurenqu drew closer, like a downpour descending.

At this, Lin Xian and all convoy leaders felt their hearts drop. At this point, if sand ants appeared, everyone had to retreat into their vehicles.

"Our convoy's taking heavy losses—we've lost several vehicles!"

"Sand ants! Accelerate now!"

"Our car's torn open—they're crawling inside! Sand ants and beetles—something's crawled into my hand! Aaah!!!"

The entire channel erupted into chaos. The sandstorm's dangers rose and fell without pause. Less than twenty minutes had passed, and the entire united train convoy was in full-blown warfare.

"Lin Xian, look!"

On the Infinite's car roof, Chen Sixuan ran over and pointed toward the desert floor not far from the tracks—yellow sand was surging like liquid, rapidly advancing toward the rails.

"We can't stay outside—we must get inside!" Lin Xian said at once.

Worse still, all vehicle-mounted weapons had to be retracted and shut down—otherwise, the sand ants would crawl in, and that would be disastrous.

"Everyone, get inside the cars!"

At this moment, Lin Xian led everyone on the Infinite back aboard. The electromagnetic railguns, the 1130s, and all anti-air cannons, along with the auto-Gatlings, were retracted. The roof weapon hatches slowly closed.

As the group retreated, the spider-legged insects began occupying the roof, frantically gnawing and biting the train's armor. The sound of metal being chewed filled the air, making everyone inside feel their scalps crawl. Meanwhile, black-brown beetles had already swarmed the exterior walls and windows, searching desperately for gaps to crawl inside.

Zii!

The entire vehicle's arc pulse stringers activated simultaneously, incinerating all the insects outside into ash—long legs and armored shells burned into charred slices, large amounts of charcoal falling to either side.

Thud thud thud!

At that moment, within the sandstorm, another black humanoid giant emerged—this one taller and more grotesque.

"How is this happening again!" Kiki cried out.

"We can't kill them all—what level of anomaly produces this many? Don't they have territories?" Shu Qin's face grew grim.

On Lu Xingchen's wrist, the Infinite Ring spun rapidly. He said gravely: "Brother Lin, we can kill it again."

Wu!

Twenty Lei Sun drones behind Lin Xian powered up. He nodded grimly—under these conditions, only those among them with abilities and powered armor could act.

Just as Lin Xian was about to call on Kiki and Luo Yang to join him, a voice came through the comm: Xiang Ningjing.

"Breakthrough ahead—sandstorm cleared! Everyone accelerate!"

Hearing this, everyone on the Infinite's face lit up.

"Finally out of the sandstorm!"

"Great!"

Those in the other convoys heard the news and seized it like a lifeline.

"Hold fire, get inside the cars—don't let sand ants in! We're breaking through the storm!"

"Close the doors! Close the windows!!"

On the Fulu Shou convoy, pale-faced Hu Lushou shouted: "Hurry, hurry—hold on!"

The Lu Zhao and Xie Guan convoys had also suffered heavy losses. Hearing the news, their entire teams perked up. All vehicles pushed their speed to the limit, ignoring the bumpy road ahead, smashing through the monsters, charging through the sand ants.

Indeed, soon after, the yellow sand's wind strength began to weaken, visibility rapidly improving. Led by Dragon Mountain No. 1, the united train convoy burst out of the endless dust storm—along with it, monsters fell from the roofs and exteriors, sand ants vanished into the haze, leaving only the shattered remains of the fallen insects clinging to the train bodies.

From above, the united train convoy emerging from the blinding sandstorm looked like a black dragon escaping from a hellish mud pit, roaring through the wind, finally charging into the sunlit, uninhabited desert!

(End of Chapter)