Chapter 339: Nightmare

Beneath the dark forest, a bizarre train suddenly appeared amid the mountains and trees, thousands of trees crushed and snapped, metallic groans echoing from every carriage—this massive modern industrial object had materialized here without warning.

Lin Xian tried to use the drone to see the distance, but under the black veil, only silhouettes of mountains were visible; whether due to visual distortion from the thick black mist, the distant mountains seemed to slowly writhe, their shadows dissolving and reforming within the fog—the sky was an eerie deep blue, devoid of stars or moon, terrain indiscernible, directions unidentifiable.

Lin Xian seemed the first to awaken from that state of mental disorientation; when he grabbed Chen Sixuan and used the drone to assess their situation, the others finally snapped out of their terror—or rather… came to their senses.

【Massive invasion of Dark Fear energy detected】

The Heterogeneous Cube's alarm blared incessantly.

Zzzzz

The communicator's internal frequency for Infinite No. finally stabilized; Kiki had rushed to the front carriage, spotted Lin Xian and Chen Sixuan, and shouted loudly:

"Are you okay?!"

"What about the others?!" Lin Xian, seeing Kiki, immediately contacted the other carriages.

"We're fine!"

"We're all okay."

"Rear carriage is secure!"

Instantly, messages poured in from every carriage of Infinite No., the communicator filled with panicked static—clearly, everyone had just emerged from the fear-induced disorientation.

"Brother Shi, how's your side?" After confirming Infinite No.'s status, Lin Xian began querying the other trains.

After intermittent signal disruptions, Longshan No. 1 finally transmitted a response—but the first sound from the communicator was gunfire!

Bang! Bang! Bang!

Meanwhile, gunfire, screams, and roars erupted continuously from other convoys.

"Dark mutation!" someone shouted.

"Old Chen, no!"

"Kill him fast!!"

"Carriage out of control—seal it!!"

Tap-tap-tap! Bang! Bang!

"Snap out of it—it's one of us!"

In an instant, countless agonized wails and shouts flooded the public channel; everyone understood at once: the Dark Mutation had erupted internally!

"Seal all carriages—handle it internally!" On Longshan No. 1, Shi Di led Ningjing and her group sprinting through the carriages, eliminating internal mutations, suppressing panic, and personally shooting dead faces they once knew, loved, and cherished!

Simultaneously, he shouted over the leader channel: "Little Brother Lin, the other convoys—this place's Spirit-Dissolving Value is off the charts. Deal with the internal threat fast—something strange is approaching!"

On Joker's convoy, Qian Dele moved swiftly; a golden flash darted through the carriage, and several mutated subordinates had their necks snapped coldly. For this situation, his speed was unmatched; all watched calmly as their own leader killed his comrades—in Joker's convoy, everyone had long agreed: mutation meant death, but if mutation led to harming your own, that was disgrace.

"We've cleared ours. Now the problem is—we seem to have derailed." Qian Dele stared coldly at the dead chef Lao Zhou, sighing quietly.

Mo Queen No. faced similar problems, but all Mo Nika's subordinates wore powered armor linked to her control system; any abnormal vital sign or heart rate triggered an instant alarm, allowing Mo Nika to lock the armor's functions, disable weapons, prevent attacks on allies, then eliminate the subject.

Yet one of her carriages housed the dozen or so women seized from Old Scorpion—three had mutated, and before Mo Nika could kill them, they had bitten and killed two others…

Mo Nika glanced at the holographic interface showing the train's surroundings and said quickly: "We've found why Boss Hu got lost—Star Abyss must have torn us into another space or region."

On Infinite No., Lin Xian and Chen Sixuan, with Kiki, sprinted toward the rear carriages; Ding Junyi in Carriage 3 was also stunned by this strange force; she followed Lin Xian to the back, looked out through the gap in the window shade, and muttered: "Is Star Abyss some kind of black hole singularity? The nearest forest to Akses' Wurenqu is at least four thousand kilometers away—this is impossible."

"Captain Lin!"

Shu Qin arrived ahead, followed by Luo Yang, Lu Chang, Lao Mo, and Sun Yuzhen.

"Captain Lin, we experienced this exact scenario before!!!" Lao Mo, still recovering from injuries, shouted in horror: "We must leave immediately, or else…"

Boom!

Before he finished, a massive tremor slammed into them—apparently from the rear convoys—dragging all forward carriages violently backward, nearly knocking Lin Xian and the others off their feet.

"What's happening?!"

"Strange entity!!"

Boom! Boom! Boom!

A tremendous assault struck; eerie, scalp-chilling sounds erupted from the dark forest—as if countless unknown creatures were rapidly closing in on the united train.

"The rear convoys are sinking!"

"Sinking?"

"Captain Lin, we're all stuck in a swamp—Sail, Great Victory, Iron Fortress… all trapped. Ocean No. and Parrot No. have already sunk into the lake!"

Zhou Hongqu, captain of Crimson Rose No., stood in the tilted carriage, watching countless grotesque tentacles writhing in the swamp and monstrous forms crawling onto the carriage, and shouted in panic toward the front convoys.

Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!

While the united convoy still hadn't cleared internal threats, the outside had erupted into chaos—alarms and shouts filled the air; all heavy weapons on Infinite No. electromagnetic railguns and the 1130—activated automatically, unleashing a storm of firepower in an instant!

Behind Crimson Rose No., nearly one-third of the trains were mired in muddy swamp; Ocean No. and Parrot No., totaling over thirty carriages, were flooding and sinking rapidly into unknown deep waters.

A vast lake!

The united train's position lay right at its edge.

"Flooded! Help!!"

"What do we do?!"

"Open the doors—everyone swim out!" The Ocean No. captain acted decisively, but the entire carriage was already half-submerged, black water pouring in; even the nuclear-powered carriage was flooding, electrical systems flickering, automatic valves jammed.

He immediately ordered psychics to manually open each carriage door—when suddenly, a massive black serpentine shadow slithered past outside; under the flickering lights, countless dark green scales could be seen, coiling and twisting, stirring violent whirlpools—some terrifying creature beneath the black water.

Klong! A second sound came—the last carriage seemed entangled by some force, collapsing inward, the entire train tilting front-to-back, water surging relentlessly toward the rear carriages; people could no longer stand.

Under immense pulling force, the entire united train kept retreating backward—as if being dragged into the black lake by some unseen creature beneath.

Meanwhile, from the dark forest, shapeless entities surged toward the united train; every convoy's weapon systems roared, gunfire and artillery echoing through this dark, lonely forest.

"We're being pulled backward!!"

"Something's dragging us into the water!"

Zzzzz—each convoy's locomotive screamed at full power, but the rigid iron wheels gained no traction on the swamp and mud.

At once, Shi Di shouted: "Mo, you and I will switch our all-terrain traction units to traction drive—pull the convoy up first!"

"Got it!"

In an instant, the two all-terrain traction locomotives in the united train switched to tracked drive and roared to life—dirt and stones flew, wood splinters shattered—but they barely halted the retreat; the forest floor was entirely soft, deep, organic peat—offering little resistance.

"No good—we need rail traction!"

Lin Xian shouted over the communicator: A train over ten kilometers long, mired in mud and swamp—trying to pull it with just two all-terrain units was absurd. The only solution: lay tracks, guide each carriage onto them, use the train's own weight and rail friction to pull it; if insufficient, lay more track—only then could the traction units' power be fully utilized.

Lin Xian spoke, then immediately discussed strategy with Kiki and others.

"If we lay tracks and guide each carriage onto them, then pull the rear ones back into alignment—would that work?"

"But we'd need a very long track—or traction won't be enough, we'll just slip," Kiki said.

"Right—what if we use car tow hooks?" Shu Qin added.

"No—five hundred carriages stuck—what cable or hook can pull tens of thousands of tons?" Luo Yang shook his head.

Time was critical; relentless attacks came crashing down—no time for prolonged debate—the situation was dire!

Then Lao Mo suddenly said: "Captain Lin, the simplest way to re-rail a heavy train is the forced-rail method—remember the traction platform on the climbing elevator? If you build a non-fixed rail ramp, use the traction platform to pull the train onto it, and the train's own power can auto-realign. You can drive simple piles into this terrain—no need for stability, just half a kilometer of track will hold the train. Once it moves forward, lay more temporary rails ahead!"

Lin Xian instantly understood—Lao Mo, a veteran engineer from Star China Heavy Industry, had hit the nail on the head!

In plain terms: use Mo Queen No. and Longshan No. 1's all-terrain traction units as traction platforms, then lay temporary ramps of bricks or steel plates ahead of the lead carriage to guide it onto pre-piled tracks. Though the traction units alone couldn't pull it, Lin Xian and Kiki could build the track underneath—once Infinite No.'s traction locomotives were on the rails, with four traction units and two nuclear-powered carriages, they could generate immense torque to drag the rear cars.

Thinking this through, Lin Xian explained his plan to everyone; Shi Di and Mo Nika immediately grasped it and approved.

"Do it. Mo, you and Ningjing handle the traction units. Old Qian, you and I hold off the monsters and cover Little Brother Lin!"

"Got it!"

"All units—move out, now!"

On Lin Xian's side, all personnel prepared for combat.

"Lei Zi, protect Captain Lin!" Li Yi shouted to Liang Lei.

Liang Lei nodded, immediately joining Da Lou and Li Guangwen, falling in behind Lin Xian.

"Assault team, mobile team—suppress and cover me!"

"Teacher Chen, your recon team hold the train!"

"Understood!"

"Fire Brother, you know what to do!"

"The Master understands!"

Clang! Clang!

Carriage 21's roof opened; a Fire God mech roared as it leapt down; Sha Sha inside shouted: "Watch me!"

"Fire Fist!"

Boom!

Lu Xingchen soared into the air and unleashed a torrent of fire into the forest, where twisted, dense lifeforms writhed; a massive fireball swept forward, igniting hundreds of trees, flames roaring skyward.

Instantly, all Infinite No. members in powered armor, along with personnel from Longshan No. 1, Mo Queen No., Joker, and other convoys, poured out under the train's cover, unleashing furious fire into the creatures surging from both sides of the forest.

Those shapeless, twisted, humanoid, coral-like, insectile, monstrous, ghostly entities emitted countless eerie odors, eroding survivors' retinal nerves and rational minds.

Deep within the forest ahead of Longshan No. 1, a translucent worm, one meter in diameter, appeared—its length unknown; inside its translucent body, faint blue-green fluorescent reactions, corrosive in nature, glowed.

Far to Infinite No.'s side, a shadow larger than a mist spider darted swiftly past, then vanished—soundlessly, its purpose unclear, like a low-frame-rate creature from a silent film—but each time it appeared, swarms of spherical spiders surged from the trees like a tide.

Chen Sixuan, holding Meteor No. 3, stood atop Infinite No. with Miao Lu and the recon team, firing continuously into the forest; when a faint rustling sound drew near, she spun and fired backward—under the muzzle flash, a towering ancient tree bore a grotesque serpent covered in human hands.

Ahead of Longshan No. 1's headlights, a grotesque humanoid creature darted past with a chilling laugh.

Behind, on Crimson Rose No.'s side, countless shadowy forms slowly emerged from mud and water; within the submerged Ocean No. carriages, survivors were dragged out through broken windows—rescuers, through flickering interior lights, saw terrifying lifeforms growing on corpses.

On Hell's Warriors' side, countless buzzing sounds like bees filled the sky; when Big Dong's flamethrower ignited the forest, vast "hives" formed—fused with human corpses.

Beyond those insect- or beast-like dark entities, most were forms utterly incomprehensible to survivors—only knowing those "things" moved, advanced, and devoured humans…

From the front to the rear of the train, a fifteen-kilometer line had become a bloodbath; deaths and bizarre events erupted nonstop. Since entering Star Abyss, only minutes had passed, yet time felt excruciatingly slow.

Lin Xian and Kiki both wore power armor. When the Infinite Train's automatic explosion-proof doors opened, an extreme coldness rushed toward them.

It wasn't pure temperature—it was a spatial oppression that made the scalp crawl, instantly overwhelming the mind with chaos and psychic shock.

Lin Xian felt his head spin, then without hesitation, he charged forward, stepping on the black humus of the forest.

At this moment, Qian Dele, Mo Nika, and the Longshan No. 1 team also moved out. The Mo Queen Train detached from the Infinite Train and advanced forward, while Longshan No. 1's backup all-terrain vehicle rolled back toward them.

Clank-clank-clank~

The rear cars kept retreating backward—the situation was dire!

Ughhh, hiss!!

More and more rear cars sank into deep water; cries and desperate calls crackled intermittently through their headsets, mingling with eerie shrieks from the dark forest. Horrifying monsters, driving sanity into freefall, drew near. The G3 electromagnetic railgun's hum echoed through the night sky, while two 1130s fired in unison, leveling every tree in sight.

"From here, build a guiding slope first, then lay steel rails—keep the gauge stable with steel frames to pull the Infinite Train up!"

Lao Mo and Sun Yuzhen also jumped off to help. Sun Yuzhen spread her wings and soared into the sky. She gazed far ahead and shouted to Lin Xian: "Set up toward three o'clock—that's a ridge slope zone. The ground there must be hard. Drive into the open area!"

Whoosh-whooosh—Kiki manipulated the Silver Blade Torrent to form a storm along one side of the forest, blocking the shapeless monsters, while simultaneously using telekinesis to lift the Infinite Train's lead car, Whale 03e heavy gas turbine locomotive, so Lin Xian could construct a metal guiding slope beneath it.

Lin Xian's hands unleashed countless materials; sections of rail and steel piles formed and fell into place. Liang Lei and Dali fought fiercely, leading the engineering team to hammer the piles into the ground.

On both sides of the united train, over a thousand combatants in power armor either fired weapons wildly at the flanks or charged into the monster horde under the train's artillery cover.

In less than five minutes, Li Guangwen, Luoluo, Amin, Shu Qin, Miao Lu, Lu Chang, and others all felt their eyes turn red with bloodlust. Lin Xian too felt the intense dark force hammering his sanity. Even in his Black Eagle power armor, sweat poured down him as he frantically poured out materials to lay the rails.

Hummm~

Longshan No. 1's all-terrain vehicle arrived. Together with the Mo Queen Train, they hooked the Infinite Train onto the towing couplings. After Lin Xian laid rails beneath the first three towing cars of the Infinite Train, he handed the rest to Longshan No. 1's rail-laying vehicle. His remaining task: with Kiki, lay temporary guide plates beneath other powered towing cars behind, increasing ground traction so most towing units could output power simultaneously—only then could they pull the entire train forward.

Seconds ticked by. The gap between the Infinite Train and the Joker convoy widened. Qian Dele, leading Xiao Meng, had already fought through hell. Dozens of white humanoid monsters surged into the convoy, claiming many lives. Qian Dele screamed wildly, ordering everyone to scatter and concentrate their fire.

"Xiao Meng, one's hiding behind!"

Boom-boom!

The train's onboard heavy weapon, Metal Storm, had nearly flattened vast stretches of forest. Thousands of trees fell. From the dark shadows, a white monster roared and charged forward. Bullets struck its body, spraying white droplets like shattered flesh—only to twist back into a humanoid form, until overwhelmed by firepower and finally disintegrating, leaving behind a carpet of wriggling white maggots.

Xiao Meng rushed forward, grabbed a flamethrower, and burned every last white maggot clean.

"Watch out!"

"Activate the high-voltage barrier wall!"

"The cars can hold—reverse!"

Longshan No. 1's rail-laying vehicle had arrived. Simultaneously, two all-terrain towing units had connected to the Infinite Train.

"Ready!"

Lin Xian had laid rails beneath roughly ten train towing units. Beyond that lay swamp and shallow water—he couldn't lay rails there even if he tried.

"Shi Da, Mo Nika, Chen Laoshi—prepare to activate!"

"Lin Xian!" At that moment, Kiki, stationed in the middle of the united train, pointed toward the swamp behind and the distant sinking carriages. There, flames blazed. Survivors in the water fought grotesque entities. Above the vast expanse, a mountain-sized creature churned and surged.

Boom!

With a violent tremor, a dark green giant shadow burst from the lake's shallows, sweeping over and swallowing dozens in an instant. Its massive body slammed into the train cars—several carriages twisted and deformed instantly.

It was a lake monster!

Seeing this, Lin Xian took a deep breath and shouted over the comm:

"All trains—ignite your engines!"

Hum! Wooooo!!

Chen Sixuan, now back in the Infinite Train's cab, gradually increased the output power of all four towing units. The electric motors roared furiously. The entire train, along with the temporary rails, sank several centimeters into the ground. Then, with a screech of metal, it finally halted the rearward momentum—and began slowly rolling forward.

Instantly, the two all-terrain towing units, along with over a dozen rail-bound towing units, all exerted force together. The segmented rails beneath them groaned as the train pushed forward. Twisted carriages straightened; coupling joints clanked violently.

The united train moved forward!

"Don't max out power all at once—the drive wheels will slip!" Lao Mo shouted from inside the carriage to Chen Sixuan.

"Understood."

Hummmmm~

Countless towing ropes stretched taut. The united train, under violent assault in darkness, advanced along hastily laid rails. Behind them, the Red Rose convoy, Sail, Great Victory, Iron Fortress, and others realized their trains were being dragged forward from the mud by a colossal force. The immense friction between the swamp and the land carriages made metal joints shriek and crack, with explosions erupting sporadically.

Kiki and Lin Xian, one ahead and one behind, used telekinesis to lift several carriages and secured coupling fittings—finally accelerating their escape.

In the swamp and black lake, as the line collapsed, countless survivors died.

"Lin Xian, under these conditions, even if we escape the lake, we can't speed up enough to leave the dark zone. There's only one way!"

At this moment, Ding Junyi, clad in power armor, flew high with Sun Yuzhen to survey the terrain, while Huo Ge guarded them nearby.

Ding Junyi's voice was icy as she spoke:

"According to territory theory, we can only gain breathing room by staying put and killing everything around us. Running through Star Abyss with markers—our survival chance is tiny."

Without rails, we can't move—or move fast. We must deal with this here.

"But this isn't the worst scenario…"

Ding Junyi stared through the black mist toward distant mountain silhouettes. Those shifting landforms—high above, even a shattered bay!

The bay wasn't whole—only fan-shaped waves from certain angles, deep and shallow seas interwoven, with hollows of pure black void. This place was like… another dimension.

(End of Chapter)