Chapter 342: The Vanished Position!

"Understood!"

"Here it comes!"

"The Master arrives!!"

Along the side of the combined convoy line near Heihu, several key combatants appeared atop the train cars; the three G3 electromagnetic cannons of Wuxianhao simultaneously turned, their fire-control radars locking onto the massive black silhouette winding across the earth from afar in the forest!

"Be careful—its red mist may be like that sea urchin, capable of resisting weapon strikes!"

Ningjing was the first to warn.

Wuuuu! Ziiii!

Before the words were even out, the three rail electromagnetic cannons responded instantly; azure projectile barrages arrived in an instant, illuminating countless sinister tree shadows above the dark forest and striking directly onto the giant green serpent's body.

But there was no explosion, no flash—its immense power seemed swallowed whole by the crimson mist, utterly eerie.

"This isn't resistance—it's consumption, isn't it?" Qian Dele immediately frowned.

Shi Di clenched his fists, grimly saying: "Damn it, even artillery's useless—what the hell is this thing?"

"Let me try—blow away that red mist, and maybe we'll find a way!" Kiki immediately proposed a solution.

"Wait—let Baibai strike first!"

At this moment, Ningjing spoke to Baibai, who nodded and immediately raised his sunglasses toward the approaching dark silhouette in the distance.

Vvvvv!

Black blood veins appeared in his eyes; a deep red laser beam erupted, striking directly at the serpent's head. Intense energy fluctuations generated extreme heat—when Lin Xian's black shadow power armor combat system suddenly detected that the serpent's surrounding red mist was continuously heating up, even turning redder!

"That mist has energy-concentrating properties—and it can explode!"

This scene immediately reminded Kiki of the red mist released during the battle with the giant sea urchin—back then, the mist carried intense heat, melting and consuming Wen Zhuo's metal jets before triggering a massive explosion.

Realizing this, Lin Xian immediately ordered everyone to attack: "That thing can definitely be broken—but we must get it far away from us!"

No sooner had Lin Xian spoken than everyone understood—simultaneously, all types of artillery and electromagnetic cannons on the train opened fire in unison.

"Fire Fist!" Lu Xingchen barked coldly, soaring into the sky and unleashing a massive fireball!

Boom!

As concentrated firepower rained down, the giant serpent suddenly accelerated, rushing toward the train position!

Its crimson mist grew even brighter, beginning to emit a faint glow!

Wuuuu!

At this moment, over twenty Lei Sun drones spun and flew before Lin Xian; alongside his mechanical-energy cannon, dozens of energy beams fired simultaneously!

Finally, the red mist suddenly blazed intensely, its energy fluctuations turning violent!

Boom!

In the next instant, red dust and cold air reacted violently, generating countless cavitation bubbles that rapidly spread into a violent shockwave that exploded thunderously in the forest—this immense blast sent a powerful shockwave rippling across the giant serpent, sweeping through a radius of several kilometers, uprooting towering trees and sending a spherical dust wave soaring across the entire region!

The massive shockwave also engulfed the train camp; heavy train cars rattled and vibrated one by one—but since these hundreds of cars were linked end-to-end and pressed firmly onto the tracks, weighing tens of thousands of tons, the shockwave had little effect on the convoy formation.

Amid the massive smoke from the explosion, Lin Xian's holographic visor screen blared a sharp alarm.

【ALERT: Massive object approaching! ALERT: Massive object approaching!】

"Watch out!"

Kiki used her psychic barrier to shield everyone from the shockwave, but outside, black smoke and dust blotted out the sky—nothing could be seen; everyone only heard the earth-shaking rumble, instantly realizing the giant serpent was approaching!

Sure enough, the moment Kiki unleashed a psychic wave to disperse the smoke, a grotesque giant serpent covered in scales, its entire body a greenish-blue, opened its gaping maw directly above the train formation!

In that instant, the visually shocking maw made everyone aboard Wuxianhao and hundreds of nearby survivors feel their hearts stop for a second—a collective gasp rang out.

Lin Xian's pupils contracted sharply; after the massive explosion, the red dust on the green serpent's body had vanished entirely—he immediately sensed an opportunity and raised his hand, pointing: as all Lei Sun drones fired, the gravitational lens activated instantly!

"Now!"

He didn't know what world this was, nor what effect using the gravitational lens would produce.

Lin Xian had no other choice!

Vvvvv!

A space hum sounded; all noise on the black forest battlefield froze instantly, as if time itself had paused.

Everyone in the combined train formation suddenly felt the light from their firepower dim, as if even color itself had faded—twisted space formed within the serpent's gaping maw, like a swirling vortex of black water, bending all surrounding light in that instant.

In that moment, Lin Xian strangely sensed this gravitational lens was wildly abnormal—not merely warping space like before, but forming a black hole several meters in diameter that devoured even light; violent hurricanes surged around it, and suddenly, everyone—including the train—felt weightless; metal groans erupted from the train as wheels began to derail, and surrounding trees, soil, and earth were violently sucked toward the black hole!

Before Lin Xian could expand the black hole, he felt a sudden chill—dark invasion forces flooded into his body in a torrent; as his consciousness violently trembled, a blurred human figure appeared on his retinas.

Chu Yan!

He couldn't tell where the figure appeared—only saw Chu Yan's shocked expression flash briefly, then vanish; the black hole in the serpent's mouth disappeared, replaced by a massive blood wound.

In that instant, countless trees and soil, propelled by the previous gravitational inertia, shot skyward and poured into the serpent's mouth; simultaneously, everyone beside Lin Xian—including the two 1130s and three G3 electromagnetic rail cannons aboard Wuxianhao—struck instantly: Mo Nika's howling sword, Qian Dele's golden flash, Baibai's laser beam, Shi Di and Ningjing charged toward the serpent's belly!

Kiki and Huo Ge unleashed everything—the silver blade torrent and crimson flame sword surged skyward together…

On Wuxianhao, Car 3, Ding Junyi, urgently observing the Hell Black Chrysanthemum, suddenly sensed something the moment Lin Xian activated the gravitational lens; she immediately turned her head toward the incubation pod where the Silver Dragon Ten Thousand Mist stood silently—on its inflorescence, a small silver-white flower was blooming visibly before their eyes.

BOOM!!!

Outside the car, a torrent of dark invasion surged violently—the entire car shook violently; at that moment, Lin Xian's voice blared over the comm:

"Watch out—it's about to release that red mist again!"

Outside the convoy, Lin Xian hadn't expected the serpent's green scales to be this hard—despite concentrated fire, they'd only shattered half its lower jaw; the blood wound hadn't struck vital organs. Now, after the barrage, the green serpent's coral spines erupted crimson mist in torrents, enveloping itself and spreading toward the combined convoy line!

"Damn it, push it back!"

"Don't detonate it this close—we're all dead!"

Kiki gritted her teeth and prepared to fly straight up—but Lin Xian grabbed her: "What are you doing?"

"I'll drag it away—otherwise the convoy won't hold!"

"Impossible!" Lin Xian roared. The grotesque serpent had yet to reveal its tail; its body stretched from Heihu all the way here—Kiki couldn't possibly move it with psychic force alone; he yanked Kiki back, raised his finger toward the serpent's head, preparing to activate the gravitational lens again.

In Lin Xian's view, only this attack might avoid triggering the red mist, buying the convoy a fleeting chance!

He didn't know why the gravitational lens produced such bizarre effects here, nor why this use—both scale and duration—had dropped by more than half compared to before—but he had no other option: he had to risk everything!

But when Lin Xian tried to activate the gravitational lens again, he suddenly realized—nothing happened. The draining sensation didn't return; instead, he felt a sharp pain along his spinal nerves, nearly losing his balance.

Aaawwwm!

The serpent, spewing massive crimson mist, emitted a strange sound from above—like vibrating scales—not produced by any mouth organ, but more like a rattlesnake using part of its body to issue a threat.

Everyone watching felt a chill run down their spines; below, Ningjing and Shi Di, unable to retreat in time, looked up at the colossal serpent and turned pale.

Everyone aboard Wuxianhao continued firing at the serpent; Shasha's Sally fired full throttle—but aside from making the red mist glow brighter, it achieved nothing.

In that moment, a suffocating sense of despair surged from everyone's hearts.

They had completed their defensive formation—only to fall before this dark behemoth…

"Lin Xian!"

As destruction loomed, Kiki, standing beside Lin Xian, grabbed his hand, gritted her silver teeth, and raised one hand—pouring all her strength into expanding her psychic barrier, wider and wider, trying to engulf them all.

Puh~

At this critical moment, a faint sound, like a popping bubble, echoed in everyone's ears.

The sound was incredibly strange—minuscule, yet as if generated directly inside every mind at once; light as a bubble, heavy as a bell.

In that instant, the cold current within all 3, 00+ souls on the combined train line froze; trembling bodies stilled—and then, a brilliant radiance, like a supernova explosion, blazed across heaven and earth!

It wasn't light, wasn't brightness—it was more like a dimensional ripple tearing through darkness, clearing away smoke; everyone suddenly felt the white radiance before them would blind their eyes, tear their retinas—they reflexively shut their eyes and covered their faces.

Simultaneously, all automatic fire-control weapons on the combined train ceased firing; only scattered gunfire and artillery from surviving individuals remained.

Lin Xian, Kiki, Huo Ge, Qian Dele, Mo Nika, Shi Di, Ningjing… everyone seemed bathed in heavenly brilliance.

Soon, eyes gradually adjusted; everyone opened them, looked up—and saw a shocking sight.

The dark forest, the grotesque entities, the green serpent, the red mist—all gone. All they saw was a withered forest beneath a snow-covered mountain, trampled by war; the combined train rested beside a black lake; surrounding trees had been utterly destroyed by smoke; countless survivor corpses lay along the former traction tracks; the train had carved a trench-like scar through the land.

Above, the setting sun cast golden rays—but strangely, high in the sky, far across the mountains, a deep blue night dome still lingered; the night and the sunset below seemed layered, with inverted bays and shattered space still visible in the air; the entire forest seemed like a luminous world trapped inside a crystal ball, with humanity's gaze fixed on the dark world beyond.

Most terrifying: the twisted, surging mountain range once at Heihu's direction had vanished in that instant—Lin Xian felt his vision jolt—could that mountain have been some kind of dark organism??

This bizarre cosmic spectacle silenced everyone; gunfire ceased, even breathing halted.

Then, before anyone could react, the next second—

Darkness fell again!

The entire world was instantly switched off; Lin Xian and everyone felt the familiar night-blindness after turning off a light—no outlines visible.

A few seconds later, eyes adjusted again—they were still in the dark forest; the sky remained deep blue, distant mountain contours reappeared, twisting and surging within hazy black mist… like living earth.

As soon as darkness returned, everyone's hearts clenched again; adrenaline from battle hadn't faded—but when Lin Xian and Kiki instinctively prepared to defend, something even stranger happened.

The corpses of slain grotesque entities reappeared—but the grotesques themselves, including the green serpent, had vanished entirely; the red mist was gone. Unless the blazing fire ahead of Wuxianhao and the shattered fragments of the serpent's lower jaw littering the ground remained, Lin Xian might have thought it all a nightmare.

"What the hell?!" Qian Dele was the first to react: "Where did all those disgusting things go?"

"This is weird!"

Below, Shi Di leapt onto the train roof, equally baffled.

Mo Nika scanned everywhere with her power armor's detection system—found no trace. She spoke in confusion: "Not an illusion—those things just vanished."

"Brother Lin, did you just use some invincible divine art?"

At this moment, Lu Xingchen landed from the sky, his expression stunned—he immediately looked at Lin Xian.

"Vanished?" Lin Xian was equally bewildered, his face pale: "Impossible—I just…"

He had been unable to activate the gravitational lens a second time—he was certain of that. And he certainly couldn't have enveloped this entire region.

"It really vanished."

Ningjing returned to the train roof with Baibai, her expression stern: "Baibai says—the dark markings on all of us… are gone."

"What?!"

"How is that possible?"

Could it be that we're the result of killing that giant snake?

No, we didn't kill it.

Kiki pointed in one direction—through the burning forest, a vast, deep trench now cut across the ground, clearly the path the giant snake had taken. The trench curved toward the Black Lake, and above it, broken trees slowly toppled, proving the Guimang had only just left!

"This is strange!" Kiki exclaimed in shock. "What exactly happened?"

"Lin Xian." A voice came through the communicator just as everyone was puzzled.

Ding Junyi's face was pale as paper. She cradled the Silver Dragon Ten-Thousand Mist, her chest heaving with rapid, shallow breaths, as if she had just endured some immense shock. Slowly, she pressed the communicator.

"I understand… the nature of the Silver Dragon Ten-Thousand Mist."

Hearing this, Lin Xian felt a thunderclap in his mind. He immediately opened the roof of Car #2 and shouted to everyone: "Wait for me!"

At that moment, inside the infinite Car #3, the air still swarmed with twisted light particles. As Lin Xian stepped in, his Black Shadow Armor's holographic vision began emitting unstable signals, and a strange, prickling sensation washed over him.

"Director Ding!"

Lin Xian looked at Ding Junyi and saw the tiny flower on her head fully bloomed. At the same time, a faint green luminescence glowed in her eyes—clearly, she had activated her ability!

"What happened?"

Ding Junyi set down the Silver Dragon Ten-Thousand Mist, braced herself on the lab table, and looked at Lin Xian with a pale, unsteady expression.

"The earlier explosion was an atmospheric reaction triggered by the first bud bursting."

As she spoke, Ding Junyi realized she couldn't adequately describe the sensation of using her ability to perceive the Silver Dragon Ten-Thousand Mist. If the Territorial Black Chrysanthemum had let her link to the Dark Dimension through dark markers, this plant let her see a layered world.

That world was like a superposition state parasitizing within a sky bubble—something so alien, even as a scientist, she couldn't fully comprehend what she perceived. But one critical point stood out.

At the instant the Silver Dragon Ten-Thousand Mist's bud exploded, this entire area became disconnected from the outside world—not just what was visible, but everything invisible too.

Like the Dark Invasion and the markers!

In other words, the bud's explosion instantly sliced this area off from the Star Abyss, severing even the markers on their bodies.

"I'm not sure what other consequences there might be, but right now, all our markers have been erased. We've entered a silent state."

After Ding Junyi finished explaining to Lin Xian, Kiki frowned. "The power of the Catastrophic Plants? But the problem is—the monsters are still right around us. Even if we cut the connection, we should've been re-marked immediately."

"The monsters have stopped attacking," Chen Sixuan added, walking over. "Just now, it felt like we saw another world. It was truly bizarre."

"That wasn't another world," Lin Xian said firmly. "That was our original world."

"Our original world?" Ding Junyi found his claim curious. "I remember you said the same thing the night before the blizzard at Hengshan Pass."

Lin Xian nodded. "By the timeline, it should be sunset now. What we just saw—perhaps that's the world before the Star Abyss covered it."

Hearing this, Kiki and Chen Sixuan immediately understood.

"So we've isolated ourselves from the Star Abyss?"

"I don't know…"

Lin Xian himself was baffled. He tried to connect to the Heteromorphic Cube—when suddenly, a light screen flashed before him.

【Ding! Non-mechanical force detected. Performing reflection scan.】

【No Dark Fear forces detected within the area. Dark-side intrusion has been blocked.】

"Blocked…"

Lin Xian was stunned. A bizarre feeling struck him. He rushed back to the roof—now, after reconnecting the Heteromorphic Cube, he faintly saw a thin, glowing film spreading from the Infinite Train, covering roughly three kilometers. Most of the train's circular formation lay within this film.

Seeing this, Lin Xian instantly understood. He shouted to Shi Di and the others: "Quick! Everyone stop attacking! Retreat back to the trains!"

He then rushed back to Car #1 of the Infinite Train, removed the Heteromorphic Cube, sprinted to the center of the train formation, and only exhaled in relief once the nearly invisible glowing film fully enveloped the entire position.

Shi Di, Mo Nika, and the others didn't understand his intent, but they immediately relayed the order. Instantly, all combat personnel stationed outside rushed back to the trains, and camp personnel began gathering.

"Come back! Team Leader Lin says no shooting—don't provoke the monsters!"

"Fall back, fall back—stay quiet!"

Thousands of survivors remained unaware of the strange shift. Lin Xian had already mounted the Heteromorphic Cube onto a Lei Sun 2000 drone and placed it at the center of the combined train position, ready for immediate deployment.

Suddenly, the dark forest surrounding the massive circular train formation fell utterly silent. Only the crackling of trees still burning from the battle broke the quiet—but even the firelight seemed filtered through a dark lens, cold and unnatural.

Within the formation, everyone now felt the space had become impossibly clear. The previous chilling dread of the Dark Invasion vanished entirely. It felt like a quiet, cool September evening—breathing itself felt easier.

At this moment, leaders of all the trains gathered toward the center of the camp. Though the battle had ceased, their hearts remained tense. In this strange, dark Star Abyss, no one knew what might happen next.

All eyes turned to Lin Xian. He had built this position, successfully repelled the attack, and—just as he claimed—brought everyone into a silent state.

"Team Leader Lin, are we really in a silent state?!"

"How did you know the monsters wouldn't attack again?"

"That was terrifying! Thank goodness you stepped in—if not, our convoy would've been wiped out."

"Yes, we owe it all to Team Leader Lin!"

At this moment, these convoy leaders felt a near-worshipful urge toward Lin Xian. In this despairing night, having such a leader was undeniably reassuring.

But faced with their fervent praise, Lin Xian only looked helpless. In that moment of danger, his only option had been to form the perimeter and hunt the Guimang.

It was the most stable solution available to these train convoys—but he knew: they hadn't killed the Guimang. The real savior was the Silver Dragon Ten-Thousand Mist, which had been useless throughout their entire escape.

Lin Xian sighed inwardly. If he called it bad luck, then a single Silver Dragon Ten-Thousand Mist had become the key to survival after entering the Star Abyss. But if he called it good luck, he'd endured every horrific calamity along the way.

It was as if, though he carried no dark marker, he'd been permanently branded by some kind of fear.

If every other convoy had been like him, they'd all be dead by now…

Combining Ding Junyi's observations, Lin Xian guessed: the explosion of the Silver Dragon Ten-Thousand Mist's hollow bud had erased all Dark Invasion and markers within the train group's area. But simultaneously, the Heteromorphic Cube's shielding power had rendered this circular camp "invisible" within the dark forest. That's why he'd immediately placed the Cube at the camp's center—to protect the entire train formation.

Even thinking this through, Lin Xian found it absurd. But he had no better explanation. Since no attack had come, no one should risk triggering one by firing first.

Thus, the battlefield that had just been a bloody, furious storm now fell eerily silent within the dark forest.

Quiet.

(End of Chapter)