Chapter 346

On the Infinite, the Lao Mo family, having tidied their bedding and tended to their injuries, were assigned living quarters; for convenience, Lao Mo moved directly into the engineering team's railcar with Liang Lei, while Sun Yuzhen took her two children to live in Li Yi's living car.

Due to the multitude of tasks, Lin Xian had not yet questioned Lao Mo or assigned him work, but Lao Mo was a man of strong character—direct in speech and action, despising weakness—and as a former senior engineer at Star Hua Heavy Industry, his mechanical expertise surpassed even Liang Lei and Luo Yang's; without waiting for Lin Xian's orders, he voluntarily joined the train repair efforts.

In the living car, Sun Yuzhen stared at the secure private compartment Chen Sixuan had arranged solely for her family; even amid the Dark Forest, tears filled her eyes—survival mattered more than anything, and she knew this better than anyone.

Whether facing sand bandits or the darkness, she had always confronted disaster; no matter how uncertain her next moment of life might be, in this instant, she firmly believed she would survive.

Thus, she was deeply grateful for Lin Xian's shelter, having just endured a great battle and now tirelessly assisting Shu Qin and Li Yi with munitions and internal logistics.

But Shu Qin told her Lin Dui had already assigned tasks—munitions and internal logistics were grouped—so Sun Yuzhen immediately sought out Lin Xian, hoping he would give her a duty.

Lin Xian was currently building a relay communicator for Grace; seeing Sun Yuzhen, he recalled her earlier aerial reconnaissance with Chen Sixuan and Ding Junyi, and said:

"You'll join the reconnaissance team with Chen Laoshi. Your flight ability is extremely useful to us."

"Oh! Okay!" Sun Yuzhen's eyes sparkled; she nodded vigorously, then immediately ran off to find Chen Sixuan.

Watching her back, Lin Xian knew Sun Yuzhen desperately needed his approval; so he didn't mince words—he directly emphasized the importance of her ability. Knowing she carried two children, if she contributed nothing, she'd feel guilty; thus, he said no more.

On the other side, in Car 13, Mo Xiaotian, with his sister Mo Xiaole and the children from Car 10, helped retrieve collected shell casings for Shu Qin's team to sort: usable ones would be reloaded with primers, unusable ones set aside for Lin Dui to consume and convert.

Mo Xiaotian moved swiftly and worked with great effort; despite his young age, he carried a fifty- to sixty-kilogram military steel box effortlessly, for ammunition demand was immense, and Car 13 was packed to capacity.

Suddenly, a faint bullet explosion sounded, startling everyone into freezing their actions.

Da Lou and Shu Qin rushed over, finding Mo Xiaotian's hand bleeding as he trembled, staring at them nervously: "Aunt Shu Qin, this… this bullet exploded."

He shielded his sister behind him; his face showed not pain from the bleeding finger, but regret and anxiety for having made a mistake.

"Don't be afraid."

Shu Qin gripped Mo Xiaotian's hand and called out to Miao Lu: "Miao Lu, bandages!"

"Got it!" Miao Lu acted immediately.

Nearby, Da Lou, fearing his tension, whispered softly: "Kid, how did that bullet explode?"

"It just exploded suddenly," Mo Xiaole said for her brother, afraid he'd be scolded, adding cautiously: "Brother picked them up one by one, very carefully."

"Yes, that's exactly what I did…"

To explain, Mo Xiaotian nervously picked up a 7. 2mm assault rifle round; the moment he touched it, a barely visible static arc shot from his fingertip, instantly piercing the bullet—then *boom*, it exploded again!

Those around him recoiled in shock; Shu Qin, having seen it clearly, seized Mo Xiaotian's bleeding hands and said sharply: "Don't touch these bullets anymore—quick, to the medical bay!"

She immediately had Miao Lu take Mo Xiaotian away, then turned to Da Lou, equally stunned, and said:

"That looks like an ability."

"Notify Lin Dui immediately!"

On Lin Xian's end, 100 small signal relays were complete, built using Phoenix Society tech scanned in Xilan City, powered by high-energy lithium batteries with exceptional endurance.

He constructed a metal case, lifted by four PX-05 robots; after Kiki programmed the mission module, he prepared to send Grace out on her "pathfinding" mission.

Chen Sixuan and Kiki, with a group trailing behind, watched the robot with complex expressions, all on combat readiness—if the Weird Ones were disturbed, battle would resume.

【Grace】 stepped gracefully from the car and said: 【I will survey the terrain according to the lowest orbital standard you can manufacture, and relay your commands in real time via the signal relays.】

"If you disturb a Weird One, find shelter and hold position."

【Understood.】

Grace replied in a crisp female voice: "I won't bring threats back to the camp line, but I still hope those ugly things aren't interested in my plutonium-238 nuclear battery array or motor neuron components."

Lin Xian blinked in surprise, not expecting Grace to respond:

【A robot joke, meant to ease your emotional anxiety.】

"Alright, thanks," Lin Xian said with a wry smile.

【You're welcome. Given my pattern-learning from known humans on the Combined Train, you may set me to mimic a specific personality or voice pattern for communication—it might make you more comfortable.】

"Whoa, can be male or female?" Kiki perked up.

"No, leave it as is," Lin Xian said directly—he had no time for DIY; this AI robot had barely been deployed and was already being sent on a likely one-way reconnaissance mission.

For Lin Xian, it pained him—he'd originally planned to use her to solve many train planning issues.

But under current circumstances, nothing mattered more than escaping the Star Abyss; this was the safest plan he could conceive, so he had to try.

【Received. Mission: White City rail path reconnaissance and exploration. Current time: 23: 5. Grace will transmit one data node every five minutes while maintaining signal transmission.】

"Good."

Grace turned and slowly walked toward the edge of the encampment.

At that moment, all weapons on the Infinite had activated fire-control protocols; any anomaly would trigger immediate fire.

As Grace gradually vanished into the darkness, Lin Xian's heart tightened.

*Drip~*

Five minutes later, Lin Xian's mobile terminal received its first data node; seeing the first red light flash against the foggy, dark map, anchored to the train encampment, Lin Xian finally exhaled.

"Got it!" Kiki, holding her own terminal, said: "Though we can't observe it, the signal is clearly clear."

"All relays are fixed at one-kilometer anchor points—this distance should be safe," Lin Xian said.

Beside him, Chen Sixuan, scanning the forest depths with Yuxing No. , added: "No abnormal sounds detected."

"Don't get too hopeful," Lin Xian sighed: "Finding a direction is one thing; whether the path is passable is another. In this deep wilderness, even one large ravine could block rail laying—only direct human intervention can handle it."

Though Lin Xian possessed manufacturing capability—even simple bridges could be built by him, Kiki, and the engineering team—

The problem was precisely this: if large-scale manpower was needed, Grace's reconnaissance lost its purpose.

"I just hope—if Grace reaches White City, it at least proves… we're still on Blue Star," Chen Sixuan said, gazing up at the deep blue night sky and the floating fragments of the Bay above, her tone soothing.

"Lin Dui!"

At that moment, Shu Qin's voice crackled over the comms.

In Car 4's medical bay, Lin Xian, Chen Sixuan, and others gathered around Mo Xiaotian; Lao Mo and Sun Yuzhen hurried over anxiously; Mo Xiaole pressed against the transparent bay cover, waving at her brother lying inside, tense-faced.

"Is my brother… sick?"

"No, Xiaole, don't worry," Sun Yuzhen pulled her daughter close.

Shu Qin, beside them, handed Lin Xian a shattered shell casing: "It might be an ability—Xiaotian hasn't learned to control it yet."

"Whoa, what ability? Made bullets explode?" Kiki exclaimed.

"Xiaotian?" Lao Mo stared in shock from the bullet to his grandson: "No way—Xiaotian's like the other kids, just genetically evolving, stronger, but no ability ever showed up before?"

"Xiaotian?" Old Mo stared in shock from the bullet to his grandson: "That can't be—Xiaotian's just like the other kids, his genes are evolving, he's gotten much stronger, but we've never detected any psychic ability?"

"Unlikely," Da Lou, usually silent, spoke up: "I saw it myself—he released an electric arc when he touched the bullet."

He looked at Lin Xian: "It's very similar to the electric arc ability you used before."

Lin Xian's eyes flickered: "Electrical ability?"

In the crowd, Sha Sha widened her eyes in envy: "No way—such a powerful ability? Can shoot electricity?!"

"We'll know for sure if we test it."

Mo Xiaotian's finger wounds had been healed by the medical bay, but still reddened; Lin Xian opened the bay, reached out to help him up, saying:

"Xiaotian, try to channel that feeling—send an electric pulse toward me. Don't be nervous."

"I'm not nervous, but I'm afraid I'll… hurt you."

Sun Yuzhen glanced at Lin Xian and quickly added: "Lin Dui, maybe let me try instead?"

"Electric arc?" Lin Xian smiled faintly: "Don't worry—I have an electrical ability too."

For Lin Xian, generating surges and controlling mechanical currents was second nature.

Mo Xiaotian looked at Lin Xian with wary eyes, then slowly raised his hand and grasped Lin Xian's finger.

Lin Xian encouraged: "Try it—normal shocks shouldn't hurt me… right?"

The moment he finished, a brilliant arc erupted from Lin Xian's fingertip—powerful enough to make his finger go numb, nearly triggering his AT field shield automatically; instantly, pain shot through his fingertip, and he winced.

The moment he finished speaking, a brilliant arc of electricity suddenly erupted from Lin Xian's fingertip, its power staggering—Lin Xian felt a sharp jolt of numbness, and his AT force field shield nearly activated spontaneously; in an instant, his fingertip burned with pain, and he involuntarily clenched his brows.

Under everyone's gaze, Lin Xian pulled back his hand, blew on his fingertip, then told Sun Yuzhen: "It's definitely some kind of electrical ability—but its full nature still needs observation."

He turned, scanning the crowd as if searching for someone: "Where's Huo Ge?"

"Oh, he's…" Da Lou scratched his head, but Lin Xian cut in:

"Hand him over to Huo Ge—when you have time, train under him, develop this ability. It could become very powerful."

"Really?!" Mo Xiaotian's eyes widened in disbelief.

Lao Mo and Sun Yuzhen were stunned—how could an ability emerge so long after Tianqi Day?

But to Lin Xian, this was good: after the great battle, under the influence of the Black Chrysanthemum and Dark Forces, everyone on the train was evolving; someone gaining an ability wasn't surprising—Ding Junyi was a clear example.

"Wow, my brother has an ability!" Mo Xiaole exclaimed joyfully.

News of Mo Xiaotian's powerful ability spread rapidly across all cars of the Infinite, soon reaching other teams of the Combined Train; only then did Lin Xian realize that five or six new abilities had awakened across the entire fleet. Moreover, many ability users and gene-evolved individuals had undergone dramatic changes—he'd underestimated the scale. This surge was even more pronounced than after the Xilan City battle; many sensed it was tied to their current location in the Star Abyss.

Among them, Da Lou, Shu Qin, Chen Sixuan, Lu Chang, Miao Lu—all had evolved at astonishing speed; Shu Qin herself discovered her skin and bones could now snap steel after accidentally crushing a rifle stock—unbelievable.

Thus, the joy and novelty of evolution and power growth eased some of the oppressive fear under the night; people across the train teams grew more relaxed in the camp, especially after so long without incident; many hearts had eased by half, and team leaders began organizing mass rest periods to prepare for possible changes.

But Lin Xian had no intention of resting—the Heteromorphic Cube was still converting!

Thus, the joy and novelty of evolution and power growth eased some of the oppressive fear under the night; people across the train convoys in the camp began to relax considerably, especially after so much time had passed without any threat—many had finally lowered their guard by half, and the convoy leaders began systematically assigning personnel for rest, preparing for any possible shift in the situation.

With his energy partially replenished, Lin Xian prepared to continue consuming the remaining train cars—two nuclear-powered cars still awaited him; how could he sleep? In this environment, once asleep, he might wake to find the camp blown apart.

Grace was right—Lin Xian was anxious, cautious. He hadn't slept well in weeks—either consuming, manufacturing, or fighting.

After replenishing his energy, Lin Xian prepared to continue consuming the remaining train cars—two nuclear-powered cars still awaited him; how could he possibly sleep? In this environment, once he fell asleep, he might wake up to find the entire camp blown to pieces.

Though the train team was large, thankfully Chen Sixuan, Da Lou, Shu Qin, Luo Yang, Li Yi, and others helped him; now, with senior engineer Lao Mo directly aiding him on train issues, and 【Grace】—Lin Xian had finally freed up much of his mental bandwidth.

Of course, Qiantishi surviving the Star Abyss.

Kiki, knowing Lin Xian wouldn't rest, came to Car 21, holding a mobile terminal to monitor Grace's progress and movements, while also taking a moment to rest herself.

Of course, on the condition that he survives the Star Abyss.

Kiki knew Lin Xian had no intention of resting, so she came to Car 21, holding a mobile terminal to monitor Grace's progress and movements, and took the chance to rest herself.

But Lin Xian knew this little girl said she wanted to rest, but really just wanted to stay by his side.

Because at this moment, Kiki was already curled up on his lap, nearly asleep.

Inside Car 21, the lighting was dim; Lin Xian planned to begin manufacturing the MK-66 roll-on/roll-off missile launcher, Guardian-86 air defense missiles, and the large-scale Storm Eye F12 supersonic airship missile while devouring, a bold attempt—once completed, the Infinite would possess heavy aerial-ground explosive weaponry like the Eagle-class aerial gunship or the Dreadnought-class aerospace carrier, especially useful against troublesome anomalies, potentially helping Kiki and Fire Brother solve their firepower suppression issues.

Kiki now loved being close to Lin Xian, especially in such deserted corners, listening to the rhythmic heartbeat of his devouring and manufacturing—this gave her inner peace.

So when Lin Xian told her to sleep, she simply fell asleep right on top of him…

【Devour successful, Mechanical Source Points +30, Mechanical Devour Skill Proficiency +5】

Inside the carriage, Lin Xian leaned against the corner and devoured another empty Ocean Train carriage; seeing the materials enter the decomposition center, his confidence grew slightly again.

"Lin Xian~" Kiki murmured, half-asleep.

"Mm."

"You know, if you'd been able to devour from afar from the start~ When those bandit convoys attacked us, couldn't you have just made all their vehicles vanish at once…?"

Lin Xian replied without hesitation: "I could do it."

Pfft~

Unexpectedly, Kiki, curled up like a cat on his lap, suddenly burst into giggles; when Lin Xian asked why she was laughing, she said: "I just imagined those bad guys driving along, then their cars suddenly disappear, and everyone tumbles onto the ground—it's hilarious!"

Lin Xian smiled: "If I get the chance, I really want to try that."

"Lin Xian~" Kiki took a breath in his arms and continued: "We're definitely going to survive—you can count on it~"

For some reason, hearing Kiki's words, Lin Xian's previously turbulent emotions calmed slightly; he took a deep breath and said: "Alright."

Having finished speaking, he prepared to continue devouring the carriage, but then remembered that Luo Yang had told him several of the train's arc pulse string oscillators had burned out, so Lin Xian simply devoured them on the spot and created new ones for Luo Yang to install.

【117】 He was about to resume devouring carriages, but suddenly remembered Luo Yang had told him several arc-pulse string oscillators on board were burned out, so Lin Xian simply devoured them on the spot and began manufacturing replacements for Luo Yang to install.

Yet the moment he finished devouring one of the arc-pulse string oscillators, the mechanical heart's interface lit up after a long absence.

A flash of purple light!

【Devour successful, Mechanical Source Points +10, Mechanical Devour Skill Proficiency +3, Congratulations! You've obtained the Magnetic Storm Oscillation skill!】

【Magnetic Storm Oscillation: Emit a 6-meter-diameter megavolt magnetic storm discharge field from your body; skill level and mechanical heart energy tier directly affect the field's radius and instantaneous voltage.】

"Holy shit!"

Looking at the interface, Lin Xian silently cursed—after so long, after devouring so many machines, he'd finally gained a new skill again.

Though not a golden-tier super-skill like Gravitational Lensing, this purple-tier skill was still extremely powerful; if enhanced later with mechanical amplification, the potential was unimaginable.

"Magnetic Storm… looks like I finally got a large-area skill."

Lin Xian's heart surged; besides Gravitational Lensing, his strongest skill had always been the Mech Cannon—powerful, yes, but along this journey he'd faced either massive hordes or S-class or anomalous entities, making it nearly useless; he'd even planned to focus on developing his drone swarm combat capabilities, yet now, because of one arc-pulse string oscillator, he'd unlocked another new skill.

"Skill level affects range—what does 'mechanical heart energy tier' mean? My output power?"

At that moment, Lin Xian recalled his AT Field Shield—when power was sufficient, he could expand the field's size, which sounded similar.

"Hey… if my superstring reactor phase rainbow ring upgrades successfully, wouldn't that mean…"

Realizing this, Lin Xian saw his mechanical heart's development had grown increasingly massive and high-powered—far beyond its early days when he could only fire wind cannons and drive engines to escape.

Lin Xian wanted to test the skill, but decided against it—now wasn't the time to create such a disturbance.

So he suppressed his excitement and resumed devouring Ocean Train carriages, while simultaneously beginning to manufacture the missile launcher inside Car 21.

【Devour successful, Mechanical Source Points +30, Mechanical Devour Skill Proficiency +5】

One empty carriage had been fully devoured by Lin Xian.

【Devour successful, Mechanical Source Points +200, Mechanical Devour Skill Proficiency +50】

One hour later, Lin Xian completed devouring the Ocean Train's locomotive.

At 1: 0 AM, all empty carriages and locomotives of the Ocean Train and Parrot Train had been devoured; only the final two nuclear-powered locomotive units remained.

Meanwhile, on the mobile terminal, Grace's waypoint appeared in the designated area—in the eerie, dark forest, every kilometer along the ground or trees, a small signal repeater glowed faintly, stretching over 80 kilometers; and under everyone's watch, Grace entered an unknown region.

Beep.

At this moment, Grace's signal beacon flashed again, but Lin Xian immediately sensed something was off.

Because starting from the sixth beacon—thirty minutes later—Grace's returned signal timestamps had begun slowing down.

At first, it was only a few seconds; Lin Xian thought Grace might have encountered some issue, but as a high-intelligence AI, Grace couldn't make such an error—now, nearly two hours later, her signal timestamp had stretched from five minutes to five minutes and eleven seconds.

"Grace, reconfirm synchronization: send signal beacons every five minutes."

Grace's voice came through the earpiece, but heavily distorted by signal noise: 【... zz... My timer shows I send confirmation signals via signal repeaters every five minutes—this is correct.】

"But your last signal was five minutes and eleven seconds after the previous one?"

【... zz... According to my motion radar, my current distance from you is 21, 65 meters. Theoretically, information propagation delay between us is 0. 67 microseconds.】

"Then how is this happening?"

【... zz... Two possibilities: First, signals are being interfered with by some anomaly; given the global disruption of radio waves by the Dark Invasion, this is more likely. Second possibility: redshift—gravitational redshift. If your location has higher gravitational potential than mine, my time flows slower; so when I send signals every five minutes by my own clock, your location's faster time flow causes the reception interval to lengthen.】

Lin Xian's face froze in shock.

Gravitational redshift at a distance of 20 kilometers?

Wouldn't the general relativity gravitational time dilation formula just explode?

He immediately ordered Grace: "Exclude analyses that blatantly contradict reality—20 kilometers of gravitational redshift? Are you near a miniature black hole?"

Grace replied: 【Within my limited data, no short-distance high-delay phenomenon has been recorded during Dark Invasion signal corruption. Excluding anomaly or 'psychic' interference, my information-theoretic and physical analysis remains a valid reference. I recommend you observe this phenomenon further.】

Lin Xian took a deep breath: "Keep moving. As long as the signal connects, I'll perform time calibration with you."

"Mm~ What's wrong?"

Hearing the comm voice, Kiki woke up drowsily from Lin Xian's lap; she opened her eyes and saw his expression—strange, tinged with tension.

After disconnecting the comm, Lin Xian turned to Kiki and recounted everything he'd just heard.

"Dark Invasion disrupting signal bands is an old problem, but this short-range delay doesn't make sense."

He looked at Kiki with a faint, bitter smile: "Am I just being overly paranoid?"

"I think…" Kiki sat up, arms crossed, bluntly saying: "In the Star Abyss, nothing follows our old logic. Your caution isn't wrong—so many times we've escaped danger because of your judgment. Maybe there really is a black hole here?"

Lin Xian paused, then his gaze darkened: "You're right. If harbors can fly into the sky, why cling to ordinary logic?"

"Ding Jie also said: without sufficient experimental data, observations have no reference value. Since Grace hasn't been attacked and the signal still connects, let's just wait until she reaches Bai Cheng to verify."

Lin Xian nodded: "But if Grace's analysis is correct, the Star Abyss… is a catastrophe far beyond human imagination."

Kiki looked at Lin Xian with complex eyes, then took a deep breath, wrapped her arms around his neck, and said with bright eyes:

"Think of it this way—our time here is slow, while outside it's fast. If the Phoenix Society predicted a year-long global polar night, wouldn't that mean, for us, it's even longer?"

"You're dumb."

Lin Xian poked Kiki's smooth forehead with one finger: "We're already swallowed by the Star Abyss—what good is more time? Even one night is a huge pressure now; water and food are limited."

"Oh, right~" Kiki wrinkled her nose awkwardly, then huffed: "Ah~ If we could solve the Dark Invasion problem, once we get out, we could upgrade the train to fly into the sky, retrofit it into a starship, add stellar thrusters—this rail system is such a hassle!"

"Not a bad idea." Lin Xian nodded.

The biggest flaw of the Infinite Train Project was right here—so Lin Xian constantly thought of enhancing his mechanical ability, modifying vehicles, and Zaorirangliechechongshangyunxiao ！

【170】 So Lin Xian constantly thought of enhancing his mechanical ability, modifying vehicles, and Zaorirangliechechongshangyunxiao ！

【170】 So Lin Xian constantly thought of enhancing his mechanical ability, modifying vehicles, and getting the train airborne as soon as possible!

Without hesitation, he began devouring the Parrot Train's 140-megawatt nuclear power generator unit, while both he and Kiki kept close watch on Grace's status.

Grace's speed wasn't slow—she was moving at rapid assault pace, averaging about 20 kilometers per hour—but as distance increased, the signal noise and frequency changed.

At 50 kilometers, the time interval of Grace's signal beacons had stretched from 5 minutes 11 seconds to 5 minutes 29 seconds.

At 3: 0 AM

The situation was unfolding exactly as Lin Xian and Kiki feared.

【... zz... I have reached northwest of Bai Cheng. Visual observation confirms a building cluster.】

Grace's voice came through the comm.

At this moment, Ding Junyi, Chen Sixuan, Shu Qin, Luo Yang, and several others had gathered in Car 21.

Everyone stared at the mobile terminal's counter, their expressions complex and grim.

5 minutes 50 seconds.

【5 minutes 50 seconds. Assuming time dilation and redshift exist in the Star Abyss environment, and calculating distance decay proportionally, the time flow difference between the frontline and the outside world is 14. 2 times: one day outside equals 14. 2 days here, and 12 days for my location.】

Grace's words echoed through the comm; everyone's faces turned pale.

"Time flow speeding up? How is this possible?" Chen Sixuan said.

Shu Qin said: "Could it just be signal delay caused by the unique environment?"

"Impossible!" Luo Yang scratched his head: "Even if a black hole—a super-dense celestial body—caused time distortion, the direction makes no sense! Why does time slow down the closer you get to the Star Abyss? Shouldn't it speed up?"

At this, everyone turned their gaze to Ding Junyi, the most knowledgeable person on board.

Ding Junyi merely shrugged: "He's right. From the perspective of general relativity's gravitational time dilation, unless the outside world is a black hole, this phenomenon is nearly impossible to explain."

Hearing Ding Junyi's words, Lin Xian opened the blackout panel and stared toward the deep blue sky above the Star Abyss's center, where the floating harbors drifted—he felt a chill run down his spine.

At this moment, everyone's hearts held only one feeling: eerie.

"Oh, so that's why Old Mo and Boss Hu thought they crossed the Star Abyss in one night—it wasn't one night at all!?"

Kiki said in shock: "According to this, they might have traveled for days!"

"And Old Mo and Hu Lushou's convoy used high-energy battery drives—meaning other oil-powered vehicles couldn't escape at all, because they lacked fuel…" Luo Yang said.

Ding Junyi shook her head, took a deep breath: "Not entirely. If this dilation effect increases exponentially, time might flow slower the closer you get to the Star Abyss's center, and less affected the farther out you are."

"But this is just too absurd."

"Regardless, we must leave this place quickly."

Lin Xian's brow furrowed heavily; he immediately ordered Grace:

【Grace, rapidly survey the original station tracks in Bai Cheng, then return.】

【Grace received. Preparing to enter Bai Cheng area.】

"You're still planning to lay tracks?" Kiki asked Lin Xian.

"No other options." Lin Xian said firmly: "Grace's reconnaissance terrain map matches the original region's map, and Bai Cheng's location is confirmed—our direction and positioning are correct."

He pulled out his mobile terminal and opened the terrain map of this forest range. "Judging by this, we need a full line reorganization—two-pronged approach: abandon some cars to concentrate personnel, then use some vehicles for transport, with train firepower covering us. This will drastically shorten the train length and ease pressure on the tracks."

Chen Sixuan immediately said, "But this only solves the length issue. For those mountain gorges and ravines, we'll need to build bridges over water and carve roads through mountains—only our psychics can handle it. All the engineers and machinery from every convoy must be deployed."

Lin Xian nodded gravely. "So we have no choice but to push forward—and we must wait for Grace's reconnaissance. If the tracks through Bai Cheng won't hold, we'll have to drag the containers."

"Dragging containers" was the simplest solution Lin Xian had previously discussed with other convoys: using the Grace Queen and Longshan No. all-terrain train units, Lin Xian would hastily fabricate tracked truck carriages to carry people and tow them forward, abandoning all other trains entirely—a desperate, last-resort escape plan.

"Regardless, prepare the firepower configuration first."

As Lin Xian was consuming Qi while communicating with the group, Grace's voice came through the communicator.

【I've entered the Bai Cheng zone. My sensors detect a powerful magnetic field effect. Advancing for reconnaissance.】

【Static… Near the central district, no life signs detected.】

【Static… Over an old wastewater treatment plant site, I've found a peculiar anomaly. The object is a man-made statue, approximately thirteen meters tall. Visual analysis identifies it as the former Shicheng landmark: the 'Fish-Tailed Lion.' But its surroundings exhibit extreme electromagnetic interference and light distortion—possibly similar to the Akses Jinjiwu you mentioned. Due to transmission limits, I've sent real-time imagery.】

Upon hearing Grace's transmission, the group waited several minutes before a compressed, blurry image slowly appeared on their mobile terminals.

It was an infrared night-vision photo: above a factory in the dead, ruined city, a massive Fish-Tailed Lion statue floated eerily. The entire image was swarmed with white, twisted noise. Though indistinct, Lin Xian recognized it instantly—it was the same thing they'd encountered during their sprint through the Akses wasteland.

"Isn't that thing supposed to be in the Akses wasteland? How is it here?"

Lin Xian recalled Chu Yan's words: the Crimson World had paid a terrible price to pull this thing out of the Star Abyss. Could it have been teleported along with them?

【Static… Threat detected. Distance: 700 meters.】

Soon, a second blurry photo arrived. Lin Xian and Kiki gasped: in night vision, a humanoid shadow stood at the abandoned entrance of the wastewater plant.

Kiki zoomed in. Beneath the dense noise, the figure wore a strange long coat and a peculiar round-top hat. The attire clearly wasn't a zombie or a weird entity, nor was it typical armored survivor gear—it looked deliberately concealing, profoundly unnatural.

"Is that… a person?" Kiki murmured.

It was unimaginable: in this Star Abyss-ravaged ruin, beneath that unspeakable Jinjiwu statue, a human appeared.

This eerie sight sent a chill down their spines.

Bai Cheng. 3: 5 a. .

Since the Day of Revelation, the Star Abyss had consumed this city for exactly one hundred days.

No sunrise. No dusk. Only eternal night. The lead-gray clouds and deep-blue sky hung like a rotting shroud over the ruins of what was once Shancheng's towers. Once-bustling streets and buildings now stood as hollow frames—skulls with their eyes gouged out, silently staring down the roads.

Wind swept through the ruins, stirring dust and shredded paper into low, mournful whimpers. Streetlights had rusted and died. Thick darkness warped unpredictably with spatial anomalies, like the labored breath of a dying beast.

On the streets, abandoned vehicles had rusted into iron coffins, doors hanging open as if their occupants had vanished one day. Shop windows shattered, shelves toppled, goods scattered. Plastic packaging had become brittle with time, crumbling to dust at the slightest touch.

Thud.

A leaning apartment building teetered. Clothes on the balcony had long since fossilized. Grace landed lightly from above. Her mobility surpassed nearly all gene-enhanced individuals; in this eerie darkness, she was untouched by night's corruption.

Her optical and radar systems continuously locked onto the shadow darting through the wastewater plant.

【Thermal sensors detect nothing. Movement pattern analysis suggests possible human.】

Grace transmitted a signal via relay to the train camp by the Bottomless Lake—but the signal now showed clear time-delay distortion.

At that moment, Grace noticed the mysterious shadow had vanished.

Simultaneously, Lin Xian's command arrived.

"Complete terrain reconnaissance of Bai Cheng train station. Return immediately."

【Understood】

After installing a new relay node on the rooftop, Grace headed toward Bai Cheng train station along the designated coordinates. Her mission: terrain and obstacle identification, plus track integrity assessment.

She compressed all movement footage and continuously transmitted it back to Lin Xian.

As each transmitted image arrived, a grim, dark, abandoned, and eerie picture of Shancheng slowly formed before Lin Xian's eyes.

Unlike previous cities they'd passed through, Bai Cheng in these images didn't look like a ruin from just 100 days after the Day of Revelation. It looked abandoned for thirty years. All human traces had rotted away, dissolved—as if the entire planet had been forgotten, with no sign of life. Isolated towers and shadows were swallowed by thick black mist. Signs, posters, anything colored on walls had peeled and faded, like a silent black-and-white film of a dead city.

Grace raced swiftly across rooftops and alleyways. Three million motor neuron units granted her extraordinary flexibility and explosive power. Though her entire frame weighed nearly half a ton, she moved like a shadow warrior dancing on tiptoes, gliding effortlessly through the fog-choked city.

Grace's radar and sensory systems performed trillions of calculations per second. The next moment, she halted atop a rooftop beside the central square of Bai Cheng train station, standing behind a clock tower frozen at the moment of the Day of Revelation. Her sensors detected an abandoned vehicle defense position in the square.

Dozens of damaged, abandoned vehicles lay scattered across the square—many were high-grade all-terrain tracked vehicles and heavy trucks. The formation still revealed a former defensive line. Around the position, dried, dark red bloodstains covered the ground.

These vehicles sat utterly silent in the vast square before the station. Around them, buildings and streets bore the scars of a brutal battle: craters from explosives, scattered weapons. Yet, strangely, no bodies. No one at all.

Grace's visual scanning and dynamic radar detected no signs of life. She leapt from the rooftop, landing cleanly on the ground, then scanned the vehicles for usable data to transmit to Lin Xian.

【Based on partial item features and vehicle graffiti: convoy members include Fulu Shou, Po Xiao, Akses Brotherhood, Windrunner… others unknown.】

【Survivors: 0. Corpses: 0.】

【Battle time: 13–15 hours ago. Calculated time dilation ratio suggests approximately 17: 5 yesterday—matches Star Abyss consumption timeline.】

Lin Xian hadn't expected Hu Lushou's convoy to appear in Bai Cheng. Looking at the transmitted images, they'd clearly fought a major battle. But strangely, of their hundred-plus vehicles, only twenty-some remained scattered in the square. Not a single corpse.

Meanwhile, Grace at Bai Cheng train station's square began sprinting at high speed, entering the rear rail station.

Bai Cheng's rail line ran along the mountain edge, winding toward distant peaks. Grace leapt onto the tracks, scanned them, and found massive rust and collapse across the steel structures and rails. Parts of the roadbed had cracked open entirely—far worse than anticipated.

【Track condition: unsatisfactory. At least 30% requires major repair. Otherwise, severe safety risks for heavy trains.】

One bad report after another came in. Inside the Infinite No. 1 car, silence was terrifying. Everyone held their breath, waiting for Grace's update. So far, track issues spanned over a hundred kilometers—not just the tracks, but that floating, eerie Fish-Lion statue chilled them to the bone.

【According to Grace's measurements, at least 195 track segments cannot be resolved by rail-laying machines. Recommend alternative solutions.】

All eyes turned to Lin Xian. Everyone now felt a crushing, mountainous pressure.

Just as Lin Xian felt utterly at a loss, Grace's voice sounded again.

【Static… My radar detected a massive artificial mechanical structure at bearing 043°, over 15 kilometers from Bai Cheng train station coordinates.】

Grace accelerated, racing along the tracks toward a valley beyond Bai Cheng's outskirts. As she drew closer, her radar returned increasingly massive echoes. In her night-vision feed, a colossal mechanical construct—like a floating city—appeared on the horizon.

Darkness, thick as tar, drowned the entire valley.

At first, it was only a shadow on the horizon, its massive outline blurred like an extension of the mountains. But as Grace approached, the rectangular behemoth revealed its true form—

A fallen, dead mobile city!

Its colossal body stretched for kilometers. Two rows of skyscraper-sized engine arrays resembled black holes in the night. On either side floated four ring-shaped, space-station-like airborne cities. The entire mobile city sprawled across the valley, blotting out the sky. Had it not been for its sharp, artificial contours, one might mistake it for a mountain fused with the land.

Though equipped with flight engine arrays, its underside bore two rows of colossal tread wheels, deeply sunk into the valley floor. Each tread plate was the size of a house, radiating the awe-inspiring might of human industrial engineering.

Yet now, the mobile city lay utterly hidden in darkness. No engine hum. No searchlights. Not even the groan of metal expanding or contracting. The layered decks and buildings above, once lit with countless lights, were now pitch black. Along the city's edge, three massive characters, shrouded in shadow—

【Silent City】

(End of Chapter)