[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"origin-apocalypse-i-built-an-infinite-train":3,"chapter-apocalypse-i-built-an-infinite-train-apocalypse-i-built-an-infinite-train-chapter-348":6},{"origin":4,"title":5},"chinese","Apocalypse: I Built an Infinite Train",{"chapter":7,"nextChapterSlug":19,"prevChapterSlug":20,"totalChapters":21,"novelImage":22},{"id":8,"novel_id":9,"title":10,"slug":11,"index":12,"content":13,"wordcount":14,"created_at":15,"updated_at":15,"volume":16,"translator":17,"content_hash":18},2262112,4414,"Chapter 348: 『Man』","apocalypse-i-built-an-infinite-train-chapter-348",348,"\u003Cp>Although prepared, the sudden movement of darkness darkened Shi Di’s face; he gazed toward the direction Lin Xian and the others had vanished, their figures quickly swallowed by the gloom.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>At first, the twisted darkness had been mistaken for black mist, but now everyone understood—it was visual distortion caused by short-range spacetime inflation.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In this place, the massive spacetime distortion within several kilometers could be felt with the naked eye, pressing down with a sense that the entire world was unreal.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Prepare firepower!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>On the Infinite, Luo Yang, Shu Qin, and everyone else stood atop the train, the G3 electromagnetic railgun and the 1130 raised, while Shasha piloted the fully loaded Sally ahead of the train line, all on high alert.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The surrounding dark forest quaked continuously, with eerie tides surging, but vision was blocked entirely by the warped black mist; the only thing visible was the distant, massive ridge line.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Look!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>At that moment, someone shouted: “That mountain!!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Instantly, all eyes turned to the strange, colossal mountain range to the west, where the “mountain” had twisted into a solid form, its edges completely severed from the surrounding terrain.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The “mountain” was now clearly not a mountain at all—especially after seeing several enormous, spine-like spikes twist upward into the sky.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Everyone realized: it was a gigantic, unknown dark organism.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In an instant, the train line fell silent; every breath seemed held. Shi Di transformed into his tiger form, his tiger pupils slowly constricting—a crushing pressure swept over them all!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>More spikes emerged, and the massive mountain range’s silhouette slowly rose, revealing a creature with thousands of long limbs, beginning to move slowly in one direction.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Fuck his ancestors, this bug’s bigger than a mountain!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Instantly, someone in the allied convoy cried out in shock.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Did it detect us?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“It… it’s not moving toward us.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Is that direction the Star Abyss center??”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“My god, this is terrifying!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Beep-beep-beep.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Shu Qin’s powered armor radar scanned the surroundings, then quickly spoke over the channel: “Stay calm—no biological signatures detected nearby!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Don’t open fire!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Da Lou and Liang Lei, leading two assault teams, now calmed the group’s rising panic.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Under such extreme pressure, if anyone panicked and fired first, disaster could follow.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Panic spread rapidly through the train line’s various units.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Shi Di’s voice echoed over the public channel: “Everyone hold your nerve—our line is safe. Don’t act rashly. Wait patiently!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The captains of the dozen or so convoys snapped back to focus, each beginning to suppress the panic.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Don’t be afraid! Stay steady!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“We’re safe right now!!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Breathe deep, breathe deep!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After over ten minutes, the chaos across the entire line was finally contained; only after the train line remained unattacked for a prolonged period did Shi Di and the other core leaders exhale in relief.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Our convoy is temporarily secure—Lin, how are you doing?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Shi Di immediately contacted Lin Xian; after a slight delay, Lin Xian’s voice came through the captain’s channel.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“So far… it’s going well.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>On the other side, the reconnaissance team flew swiftly above the dark forest under Kiki’s ability; the spatial distortion from time dilation felt like thickened air being sucked into the lungs, tearing at their skulls—every member’s heart rate had spiked beyond limits on their powered armor diagnostics.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Without the heteromorphic cube’s protection, the intense environmental pressure and dark invasion left them gasping for breath.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Below, in the lifeless forest and terrain, dark shadows surged constantly; Bai, trapped in the center, panted urgently over the channel: “Thirteen o’clock, nine o’clock, sixteen o’clock…”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“So many!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Are we marked?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“No…”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Hurry!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Kiki pushed her telekinesis to its limit, carrying them forward at speed; Ning Jing and the others held their breath. Eighty-five kilometers wasn’t far by flight, but the faster they went, the stronger the discomfort grew.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Except Grace.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>【Current environment poses continuous lethal threat to human physiology. External armor cannot withstand it. Prolonged mission duration not recommended.】\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Amidst the darkness, Lin Xian noticed this too—the same chilling sensation he’d felt since being dragged into the Dark Tide at Akse now pressed against every nerve. He knew the others felt it too.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Hearing Grace’s warning, Lin Xian’s mind raced.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The most critical part of the current plan was the superconducting magnetic anchor array in Silent City and the docking design for the White City rail line. If those two were secured, the allied train line could activate immediately.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>So Lin Xian intended to head straight for the White City rail station—to scout the terrain and, incidentally, look for clues about Hu Lushou’s group. Successfully resolving the rail station’s docking plan meant one-third of the mission was complete.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>As for the strange giant, Lin Xian planned to avoid it; if necessary, he’d send Grace, a non-living entity, to investigate.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The elite team were among the highest-psionic-index individuals among the thousands, yet even Mo Nika, Qian Dele, Ning Jing, and the others wore grim expressions—their bodies’ severe strain was clearly weighing on them.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Grace scanned this path—no dark organisms detected. We’re in silent mode. As long as we don’t make direct contact, it should…”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Lin Xian spoke over the channel, trying to ease the oppressive silence.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Ning Jing replied: “Bai is monitoring us constantly—if we’re marked, we must stop immediately and eliminate the anomaly before it snowballs.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Makes sense. Like before, when thousands triggered a tide—we had nowhere to run,” Qian Dele said.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Humming, twenty-five Lei Sun 2000 drones rotated in a ring behind Lin Xian, glowing like crimson arcs against the black sky. Dressed in the Black Hawk battle armor, his holographic HUD displayed all parameters.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“We’re almost there. Our delay from the train line is now over forty seconds.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>As he flew, Lin Xian deployed relay signalers and drones to link the stretch between White City and Silent City, also for emergency use.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Kiki, holding the telekinetic shield, carried them all swiftly forward. Her mental strength was the strongest among them, yet her small face was pale with strain. She led them over several ridges, and gradually the surroundings flattened—roads and scattered buildings appeared. In everyone’s powered armor radar, far ahead, a small city nestled in a valley, crowded with structures.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“White City.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Wait!” Ning Jing suddenly halted Kiki.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Bai sensed something ahead.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Stop,” Lin Xian said.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Thick black mist obscured the view ahead; abandoned, decaying houses loomed into sight. Kiki immediately slowed and gently set them down.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The black asphalt road wasn’t as chaotic as the ruined cities they’d known; in fact, it was cleaner than most post-apocalyptic towns—only dust and what seemed like mist seeping from the ground, nothing else.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>No abandoned vehicles. No scattered luggage. No corpses.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The entire city appeared frozen at the moment the Star Abyss appeared—all vegetation, all trees, dead and rotted. Standing on the ground, Lin Xian felt an icy chill rise from beneath him. He stared down the dark street, sensing something was there.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“What did you find? Where?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Bai pointed upward: “It vanished again—just above us.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>【My observation system detected no anomalous lifeforms. Should I proceed to scout?】 Grace spoke.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Lin Xian shook his head. If Grace could’ve detected it, she would’ve already done so during her approach. Though her computational power was immense, she couldn’t perceive anomalies or dark auras.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Be careful—we’re not machines. Those things can see us,” Mo Nika said seriously.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Chen Sixuan raised the Meteorite-3 to scan the street’s heights, then shook her head: “I see nothing. But entering directly is risky.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“But if we don’t go in, staying here does nothing,” Kiki crossed her arms. “Do we have any other options?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Xiao Qing, usually silent, stepped forward.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Listen… to Bai.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Everyone turned to look at Bai, in his powered armor.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Lin Xian’s gaze sharpened. He nodded, walked to Bai, and said: “Alright. From now on, we follow Bai’s perception. Unless radar directly detects something, we ignore everything else.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Bai, this human dark aura detector, was even more valuable than Hell Black Chrysanthemum. Hell Black Chrysanthemum only sensed when a mark was already applied; Bai could detect conditions within a certain radius in advance.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The high survival rate of the one thousand-plus at Longshan No. 1 owed much to Bai.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>So Lin Xian now centered their actions on Bai.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Bai nodded: “Strange things appeared and vanished suddenly—not moving, but…” He paused, searching for the word: “Flickering.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Lin Xian gave Grace an order: “Grace, lead the way.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>【Understood.】\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“We follow behind. If we’re not marked, ignore it. Head straight for the White City rail station.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Understood.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Got it!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Everyone understood. Grace activated, tiptoeing forward into the darkness. The others surrounded Bai and followed Grace, entering the streets of White City.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Lin Xian controlled the twenty-five Lei Sun drones, keeping them on the team’s perimeter, ready. As footsteps echoed through the empty, dark streets, silence pressed in—like the entire world had vanished except for them.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Flashlights swept over shops still standing open, but all signs were rotted, paint peeled away, text unreadable. Inside, everything—clothing, goods—had rapidly decayed into gray, filamentous strands.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“This is highly abnormal. Even if time here had passed over ten years, textiles shouldn’t decay like this.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Ning Jing shone her flashlight through a clothing store; row upon row of women’s garments hung as only gray-brown rags. It gave her the illusion that even with the flashlight, the world held no color.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>She immediately checked her own body—and realized her judgment was wrong.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Common sense won’t work here,” Qian Dele said over the comm. “Whatever you see next, you must view it through a lens that shatters all prior understanding.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Beside them, Lu Xingchen walked grimly behind Lin Xian and Kiki. He scanned the surrounding darkness, then felt the Infinite Ring on his wrist. For some reason, since putting it on, he’d heard strange sounds.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Like thick blood flowing. Like rotting esophagi breathing. All of it unsettled him.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Lin brother.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Lu Xingchen was about to tell Lin Xian what he sensed—when Bai suddenly stopped. Everyone halted.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“What is it, Bai?” Lin Xian asked.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Bai stood frozen, glancing left and right in panic, then said urgently:\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Watch out—there’s a monster!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Where is it?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>As they spoke, everyone began to regroup, eyes scanning the surrounding alleys.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But no matter how they looked, the streets around them were only dark, empty voids—nothing at all.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Not even the wind stirred; everything felt as if time had halted.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Lin Xian stood in place, wondering why he had such a thought, then turned his gaze to the timer beneath the Shadow Armor’s holographic panel.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>10:34.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He wasn’t sure if it was his imagination, but Lin Xian suddenly felt that the final second of 59 had lasted far too long.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He stared at the unchanging number 59, pupils shrinking, a chilling, surreal dread crashing over him.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In an instant, Lin Xian sucked in a sharp breath—yet the voices from his comm unit still echoed, each one stretched thin, as if dragged across this single second.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>59.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>59.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>00.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Suddenly, the numbers shifted—the time became 10:35.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>‘Ha…’\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Lin Xian exhaled sharply, but at that moment, every single person—including him—felt their body hairs stand on end, a wave of intense terror slamming into them.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>For now, on the once-empty, dark street where they had stood, suddenly—\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It was filled with people!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Lin Xian, Kiki, Huo Ge, Chen Sixuan, Ningjing, Xiaoqing, Abai, Mo Nika, Qian Dele—all their pupils contracted instantly. Countless figures had appeared around them in that very instant.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In front, beside, behind, in the center, all around—everywhere were people.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>As if every soul who had died in the Star Abyss within Baicheng had risen onto the street: their forms withered, all blood drained, eyes hollow black pits, mouths torn wide in grotesque agony, standing beside them with faces of unspeakable horror!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>A woman with a rotting face stood directly before Lin Xian; through the Shadow Armor’s visor, he could even see the dried, desiccated tissue inside her empty eye sockets.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The entire squad froze, breath held in unison.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Suddenly, the empty street was packed with ‘people’—their clothing long faded to nothing, motionless, utterly still.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>They did not attack. They made no sound.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Then Lin Xian looked down and saw that the ground had been covered with a network of black, vein-like filaments, connecting every corpse. Meanwhile, similar reddish-brown, tumor-like tissues had sprouted along the alley walls—immediately reminding him of what he’d seen in Underground City 9. His heart sank.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>‘Abai,’ Lin Xian asked, ‘have we been marked?’\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>‘No!’ Abai replied at once, voice trembling with fear.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Kiki whispered, ‘What do we do now? These things don’t seem to be attacking us?’\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>‘Burn them?’ Huo Ge asked.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Then Lin Xian remembered something: ‘Grace!’\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>【I’m here.】\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>‘Plot a new route. We’re bypassing this street.’\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Clearly, this situation had only triggered after their arrival—surely tied to them being alive. Lin Xian’s first concern was the Dark Mark.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>【150 meters ahead, turn right.】\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>‘Move out!’\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>At Lin Xian’s command, the group surged forward, following the path synced to their armor’s holographic displays, racing through the sea of eerie ‘people’.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>As they fled, the motionless figures around them turned in unison, all facing the direction they had escaped.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>‘Something strange is controlling these corpses. This place might be the domain of a high-level anomaly!’\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Lin Xian leapt onto a building, then sprinted across the rooftops with the others, scanning the streets below as he spoke: ‘Just now, those things appeared like night falling all at once.’\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>‘That scared the hell out of me,’ Qian Dele said, still shaken. ‘They just showed up like the lights went out.’\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Ningjing replied: ‘Dark Tides—but it’s always night here?’\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>‘Could Dark Tides and night not be the same thing?’ Kiki asked, hovering in midair, tense.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>‘Possibly,’ Mo Nika offered a theory: ‘I wonder—if we combine the current expansion range of Star Abyss No. 5 with the Tide’s timing, could we find a correlation?’\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Lin Xian shook his head: ‘We don’t know what’s happening outside, but it’s a possible explanation.’\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Zeng!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The Black Hawk Armor’s thrusters fired repeatedly, launching Lin Xian up a tall building. He looked down—the dense sea of black corpses had all lifted their heads, their hollow eyes ‘watching’ their movement.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>A chill crawled up Lin Xian’s spine. There was no retreat now—only escape.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>At that moment, Lu Xingchen hovered mid-air ahead, pointing toward another street:\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>‘Lin Brother, I feel something is watching us. Maybe it’s just my imagination.’\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Lin Xian and the others halted on a rooftop, gazing in the direction Lu Xingchen indicated.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>There was a highway tunnel—common in Baicheng, a city built among mountains.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But hearing Huo Ge’s words, Lin Xian instantly grew wary.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>‘Abai?’\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But Abai shook his head: ‘I… I sense danger—but no Dark aura.’\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Everyone stared at the pitch-black, hollow tunnel—it looked like a circular abyss.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Lin Xian’s gaze darkened. He switched on his flashlight, cranked the power—and still, only darkness.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He turned off the light. ‘This place is too strange. We should—’\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>‘Lin Xian!’ Kiki suddenly shouted, cutting him off.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Then she shone her flashlight toward the tunnel.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In an instant, a massive white humanoid figure filled the tunnel—its body nearly blocking the entire passage, its terrifying face twisting like the night itself.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Creak… creak… creak~\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It emitted a horrifying, chuckling sound, then rapidly retreated into the tunnel.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>This sight sent a jolt of ice through every one of them!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>(End of Chapter)\u003C\u002Fp>",2550,"2026-06-19T18:20:06.633Z",1,"Qwen3-Next 80B","537085a731bb9f2ff749c1d81d319d8499bd70d538f70c1bff625db5acf9f25f","apocalypse-i-built-an-infinite-train-chapter-349","apocalypse-i-built-an-infinite-train-chapter-347",541,"https:\u002F\u002Fnovelzhen.com\u002Fimages\u002Fcovers\u002Fapocalypse-i-built-an-infinite-train-cover.jpg"]