Chapter 355: High-Altitude Interception! (120,000, Double Bonus Update!)

In the underground shelter hall of White City Rail Station, the air seemed completely frozen.

Zizizizi!

The lighting system created by Lin Xian flickered eerily, and a crimson hue began spreading across the entire space.

Lin Xian, Chen Sixuan, Kiki, Huo Ge, and Shizhi stood in a line, all tensing up as if facing a deadly enemy.

Countless crimson tentacles slowly grew outward in all directions, centered on a faintly glowing egg sac covered in blood-red patterns, as if filled with some liquid swelling continuously; finally, when this crimson substance expanded to cover an entire wall, its growth halted, yet the smooth red limbs continued to undulate, appearing grotesque and terrifying.

"Lin Xian, should we strike?" Kiki whispered.

Lu Xingchen watched closely, flames dancing in his hands, ready to act at any moment.

Lin Xian adopted a combat stance; the tide was high, and if they were marked, hiding in this sealed basement would be like cutting off their own escape route—they'd be surrounded by endless eerie entities, so he immediately prepared to use the gravitational lens at all costs to eliminate this thing right away.

But strangely, after the crimson substance emerged, there was no further movement—the Soul-Resonance Detector detected no Dark Mark; aside from the horrifying crimson scene, there seemed to be no anomaly.

No attack. No sound.

Everyone only saw the countless tentacles slowly drifting.

Shizhi, standing beside Lin Xian, looked tense and whispered into her comm: "There's a strong Dark aura—and… it's outside too."

By "outside," she meant the passenger hall and the rail station itself.

Thump-thump-thump, clang-clang-clang~

Even through the thick floor slabs, Lin Xian could hear the sound of countless creatures crawling and scurrying above—in the parking lot and rail station—echoing down through the concrete, sending chills down their spines.

Even signals were severely disrupted by the tide; then Chen Sixuan suddenly spoke:

"Lin Xian, something's coming down!"

Lin Xian glanced at the crimson thing and frowned: "We have no Dark Mark—could this thing be attracting them?"

"Kiki, Huo Ge…"

"Lin!"

Just as Lin Xian was about to order the group to attack the crimson object, his earpiece suddenly crackled with the voice of Mochi Shinji; due to signal delay, he finally received Shizhi's transmitted footage and said to Lin Xian:

"That's a Catastrophe Plant—pull it out by the roots immediately, or many eerie entities will sense it; its lure and prey-marking are just as potent!"

Upon hearing this, Lin Xian and the others all paled—Catastrophe Plant?

How could this possibly look like a plant?

Shizhi, upon hearing Shinji's words, suddenly realized: "Yes! We encountered one on the third night in Star Abyss—though it was different, it grew along the bunker corridors; Lan pulled it out and collected it; we still don't know its properties, but it was definitely a Catastrophe Plant."

She pointed at the massive crimson egg sac: "Remove it first—it'll attract too many eerie entities."

"Kiki!" Hearing Shizhi, Lin Xian didn't hesitate—he ordered Kiki to act immediately.

Kiki nodded, gritted her silver teeth, stepped forward, and used her telekinesis to seize the crimson object clinging to the wall, covered in countless tentacles, then yanked hard.

Sssshhh!

In an instant, everyone heard the sound of wall plaster and biological tissue being violently torn apart; under Kiki's telekinesis, the crimson object seemed startled—countless tentacles thrashed wildly—but the next moment, its entire body was ripped from the wall by her overwhelming telekinetic force, spraying torrents of red blood Jiang, peeling off plaster; under the flickering light, dense shadows of writhing tentacles twisted and swayed wildly across the entire shelter hall, a horrifying sight.

Kiki muttered a low curse, pulled her right hand back, and finally tore loose the giant, anemone-like crimson object; instantly, half the hall's floor and walls were stained with the "blood Jiang," and at that moment, the flickering lights ceased—the countless tentacles on the object stopped moving after detachment.

Lin Xian and the others instinctively stepped back; then the commotion above gradually faded, and the crawling sounds deep underground abruptly stopped.

Chen Sixuan scanned the surroundings, holding her breath; she saw the detached crimson object's tentacles rapidly fading, withering, and dissolving into a pool of brownish-red sludge on the ground, while the large glowing egg sac twisted, its inner light shrinking and vanishing—finally, the membrane ruptured from within, leaving only sludge on the floor, and from the center, a crimson blood-vine emerged, bearing a few sparse leaves, looking like a young sapling.

"It really is a Catastrophe Plant!"

Chen Sixuan's face was filled with shock—they had never before seen a Catastrophe Plant grow like this; yet this didn't look like a plant at all—it was clearly some eerie entity parasitizing a plant and triggering its mutation.

Seeing this, Lin Xian's expression turned grave; he raised his hand and created a plant growth chamber identical to the one previously used for the Territorial Black Chrysanthemum; out of caution, he ordered Kiki to use telekinesis to bring the blood-vine over.

Kiki flicked her fingers—the blood-vine, no thicker than a thumb and barely ten centimeters long, twisted through the air and flew toward him, then was sealed inside the closed plant growth chamber; only then, upon closer inspection, did they realize its surface resembled the smooth skin of the earlier crimson tentacles—were it not for the leaves, it wouldn't look like a plant at all.

The shelter hall fell completely silent; their powered armor detected air contamination, but fortunately, each of them wore full-coverage battle armor, granting them significantly higher resilience to harsh environments.

The group retreated to a clean corner and waited quietly for the tide to recede; Lin Xian assigned Grace to patrol the perimeter of the shelter, monitoring for any subtle movements; once they confirmed the shelter hadn't been attacked, everyone finally relaxed.

"You're lucky."

At that moment, Mochi Shinji's voice came through; he stood in the main control room, watching the transmitted footage of the blood-vine, and said:

"Catastrophe Plants, Forbidden Objects, and human psychics share similar traits—all are mutations caused by Dark Force's influence on Earth's lifeforms. But plant mutations are exceedingly rare, and non-human life has nearly gone extinct. In my view, humans have never truly seen what exists in the Dark."

Lin Xian replied: "You mean even S-rank eerie entities are?"

Mochi Shinji smiled faintly at Lin Xian's words, uttering a thought-provoking statement:

"As a sentient being, you cannot describe something that fundamentally doesn't exist. Everything you can name has a prototype within human cognition, doesn't it?"

Lin Xian unconsciously pondered—and froze. Shinji's words struck directly at a long-standing doubt in his mind.

From the beginning—the White Giant, the Crimson Centipede, the Three-Headed Spider, later the Atmospheric Mica, the Cloud Black Spikes—all seemed to be horrific mutations of Earth's natural creatures; only after seeing the Mother Nest did Lin Xian gain a new understanding of eerie entities, yet this also confirmed Shinji's point.

Lin Xian now stared at the blood-vine in the growth chamber, wondering—if he brought it back to Director Ding, she'd surely identify its original plant family.

This thought made Lin Xian realize: humanity's understanding of Dark creatures might have been wrong from the start—or perhaps their current knowledge was still zero.

"Oh, by the way." Mochi Shinji turned, his expression calm, and said to Lin Xian: "I've always believed that psychic powers, Forbidden Objects, and Catastrophe Plants—these energy forms tainted by Dark Force—are 【deconstructing】 our world. This deconstructive force destroys the world yet grants us certain 'benefits.' But fundamentally, we don't need these 'benefits.' Heh, except for those fanatics who want to build a new civilization…"

"So whether it's Catastrophe Plants or psychics, the more concentrated they are, the stronger the 【deconstruction】. Maybe I'm overcomplicating it—simply put, Dark Force doesn't belong to us, so it's a double-edged sword. My personal view, and that of the Phoenix Society, differs slightly: the Phoenix Society bets on both Dark Force and human technology to preserve human civilization; I only study Dark Force and oppose enhancing psychics. Humans are, after all, just humans."

"A profound insight." Lin Xian offered no opinion.

At that moment, a message from the Infinite arrived after a delay.

"According to… description, likely a… Thorns Vine genus. If mature, I can… determine its properties."

"Lin Xian, Silver Dragon 100, 00… has grown a second inflorescence."

The sender was Ding Junyi; far away at the United Train Defense Line beside the Bottomless Lake Dark Forest, she stood in Car 3 of the Infinite, her eyes slowly activating a peculiar psychic glow as she made contact with the Silver Dragon 100, 00; her control over her psychic power was deepening, and her research into Catastrophe Plants was beginning to bear fruit.

"It seems Catastrophe Plants grow faster in Star Abyss, but this can't really be called 'growth'—it's more like…"

She wanted to say more, but the message suffered massive delays; even Lin Xian's replies came back fragmented and unclear.

"Explain when you return."

In the underground shelter, Lin Xian caught only one thing from Ding Junyi's message: Silver Dragon 100, 00 had sprouted a second inflorescence—an absolute boon, meaning the United Train Group now had another chance at "clearing."

Though this Catastrophe Plant's power was extremely valuable, Lin Xian hoped never to use it; after leaving Star Abyss, its growth slowed—keeping it meant an extra life-saving trump card.

After thinking it over, Lin Xian returned to his thoughts and handed the blood-vine to Chen Sixuan.

"Chen Laoshi, same as before—five minutes after the tide recedes, we go out. You take the high ground on the bell tower."

"Understood."

"Kiki, Huo Ge—you guard east and west respectively. I'll build the docking equipment in the rail station. Next tide, we return here five minutes early."

"Shizhi, stay by my side."

Shizhi nodded. Kiki then asked: "Aren't these things supposed to attract eerie entities? Why are we carrying it?"

"Should we throw it away?" Lin Xian smiled. "Nothing's happened now—meaning its influence is limited after removal. Don't you remember back in Rain Town? That fake human only detected the Territorial Black Chrysanthemum after boarding the Infinite. That's why I'm having Chen Laoshi carry it."

Chen Sixuan wore the Black Hawk battle armor and had exceptional reconnaissance ability—she was the best choice Lin Xian could think of; if any monster approached, she'd react first.

"Don't worry, leave it to me." Chen Sixuan took the small plant growth chamber, studied it, and said: "This thing looks stranger than our previous two Catastrophe Plants—I wonder what it'll do."

"As long as it has no side effects," Lin Xian said calmly.

He'd heard Shinji's words too. For the Infinite, there were now three Catastrophe Plants, three Forbidden Objects, and eleven psychics—not to mention elite evolvers like Chen Sixuan, Shu Qin, Lu Chang, Miao Lu, and Shasha. Combined with Lin Xian's high-energy weapons and unlimited ammunition, the Infinite's combat and survival power was immense. Shinji's implication was clear: the negative effects of concentrating these Dark Forces.

But Shinji didn't know Lin Xian's Catastrophe Plant and Forbidden Object were Territorial Black Chrysanthemum and the Heteromorphic Cube—protective artifacts that largely neutralized the Dark's harm to the entire group.

Lin Xian now watched the footage from his surveillance cameras left in the rail station, his face grim as he waited for the tide to recede.

At the passenger hall entrance, outside the rail station, beside the square—the surveillance feeds were filled with snow-like distortions from Dark Force, murky green-black images occasionally showing various eerie entities prowling; in the distance, countless eerie entities surged toward the city's outskirts; White City was in full chaos under the Dark.

13: 5

The Dark Tide receded; instantly, the "chaos" vanished. According to Shinji's theory, these eerie entities stitched from the Mother Nest were stretched by space along with the tide's rise and fall, pulled to the distant Dark edges of Star Abyss.

Perhaps at the edge of Star Abyss, perhaps in the Eternal Night Zone, or in shadowed corners beyond the reach of the Eternal Night—whispering eldritch things, lying in wait, hunting fleeing human survivors.

Lin Xian and the others all felt the heavy pressure lift from their bodies; checking the time, they reopened the blast-proof door of the underground shelter and returned to the lifeless White City Rail Station.

"Split up!"

Lin Xian moved quickly to the pre-marked location—a rail segment along the eastern line toward Wangshan Pass, open terrain; if the United Train flew over from above, this was the ideal docking point.

But "ideal" was a last resort—the rail here was extensively decayed; Lin Xian had to partially demolish and rebuild it, or even with electromagnetic buffer arrays, a tens-of-thousands-ton high-speed train crashing down would shatter the track.

At this moment, drone-hung electromagnetic buffer array arms began precise loading; Lin Xian activated his creation with both hands—countless materials flew out, and two new arms began forming.

To ensure precision, Lin Xian had Grace assist with fine-tuning; Kiki, Huo Ge, and Chen Sixuan guarded the surroundings.

The girl named Shizhi occasionally helped Lin Xian purify minor Dark Invasions, restoring his energy slightly.

Lin Xian knew Shizhi was transmitting footage of his mechanical construction to Mochi Shinji, but he didn't care—her psychic power genuinely gave him immense help. Earlier on the Infinite, he'd worked through the night because of the Heteromorphic Cube's protection and the Territorial Black Chrysanthemum's purification; now, alone in Star Abyss, Kiki and Huo Ge could focus on maintaining sanity—he had to split his attention fully to activate his Mechanical Heart; without Shizhi's aid, the pressure would've been crushing.

Hum!

Every so often, Shizhi activated a green light curtain—suddenly, Lin Xian felt a refreshing warmth spread through his body, his focus sharpening.

Lin Xian checked the squad's vital signs on the holographic panel—he noticed Shizhi's heart rate spiked every time she used her ability, forcing her to pause briefly before continuing; clearly, this psychic power drained her heavily.

"Thank you," Lin Xian said to her.

"Ah…" Shizhi was startled he'd spoken to her; after a moment's surprise, she politely replied: "You're welcome—we're teammates. This is what I should do."

In the underground fortress's main control room, Mochi Shinji stared intently at Lin Xian's mechanical construction footage, his nanomechanical pupils contracting and expanding as he murmured:

"This is the most fascinating creativity I've seen since the Day of Revelation."

"Looks like that annoying merchant was right—this world has indeed given me another thing to be interested in…"

On Lin Xian's end, with Shinji's information and technical support, aside from the initial encounter upon entering the rail station, the docking device's construction proceeded smoothly; Qian Suxun and Ningjing encountered some eerie entity troubles, but they were resolved quickly; this precise control explained why this core team could have hidden here for two months.

The only unsolved problem was Dark Invasion—no matter how much Shinji's wisdom was concentrated, this core team couldn't survive long; that's why he planned to evacuate within two weeks.

But Lin Xian's arrival disrupted his plan—and might also solve Shinji's biggest problem: the United Train's thousands couldn't wait two weeks; the escape from Star Abyss had to be accelerated!

19: 5

The inner tide surged again; Lin Xian and the others retreated into the underground shelter.

"The docking device is complete. From now on, we wait here for the Crimson World's transport vessel to appear."

A flash of green light passed, and Kiki and the others exhaled in relief; she gasped for breath and said to Shizhi,

"This environment is suffocating—I can't imagine how you've managed to stay here so long."

Huoge also nodded: "This body also deeply dislikes days without sunlight."

Shizhi then said: "We've stockpiled plenty of supplies and spend most of our time in the bunker; besides the protection of the Blood Jade Orchid, we drink vegetable juice every day, so…"

Lin Xian looked at her and said: "The hundreds of people in the bunker must all be maintenance and armed personnel from Silent City."

"Only a small portion," Shizhi explained. "Our main force has already escaped through City No. 2 and is currently anchored in Luling Forest."

"Waiting in place?" Chen Sixuan asked. "Ten thousand people will consume a massive amount of supplies."

"With so many people, how can you hold things together without your core members present?" Kiki also asked.

"This…" Faced with this question, the girl clearly had no answer.

Lin Xian did not press further; after installing the docking device, he had already sent the route data to the United Train position via Grace. All that remained was for Genji Mochi to remotely activate the Silent City's superconducting magnetic anchor array. That would allow the train to accelerate along the track and enter the magnetic field path. There might be risks—such as cabin rupture or injuries to those with mechanical prosthetics from strong magnetic pulls.

Although Lin Xian had already had Grace perform precise calculations, for a 15-kilometer-long train composed of carriages spontaneously modified by survivors—hundreds of units with hidden flaws in performance and quality—it was impossible to guarantee zero risk. But if they could get the train from that dark forest onto the Baicheng track, half the plan would succeed.

19: 0.

Zzzzt!

Just as the tide had passed halfway, all communication devices in Lin Xian's group suddenly erupted in static—the voice came from Ningjing's squad at Baicheng Hospital; on the holographic screen, Team No. 2 instantly went offline across the system.

Lin Xian's expression changed; he immediately tried contacting Ningjing.

"Ning-jie, Qian Dele, Mo Nika!"

No response.

At the same time, Qiansu Xun's voice came through the comms: "They encountered a Red Man Wraith. We'll move in immediately after the tide recedes. Lin, hold your position—the Deep Red World may be lying in wait!"

Lin Xian drew a sharp breath. The others all tensed.

"Five minutes left!" Lin Xian said.

Chen Sixuan frowned: "Is the Red Man Wraith really that powerful? Ningjing's team shouldn't have no chance to resist at all, right?"

Kiki shook her head: "No—this feels more like some kind of electromagnetic shielding effect!"

Qiansu Xun added: "Yes, this isn't the first time. When the Red Man Wraith mobilizes, it means the Deep Red World's transport ships are also moving."

This situation was not unfamiliar to Silent City's people. From Qiansu Xun's reaction, it was clear he had prepared for it. Lin Xian stayed calm and said to Kiki and Huoge:

"The transport ships aren't slow. If they've detected our path, we must intercept them in the sky first, Kiki."

Kiki nodded: "I know."

"Lin, stay alert. The Deep Red World's grasp of conditions inside the city is twelve times faster than ours. They've already been maneuvering against us in previous intercepts. Be careful—those replicants aren't stupid." Genji Mochi's voice came through as well.

Lin Xian stared at the screen. After the tide receded, they had one hour. The Deep Red World had one hour too—they could easily escape by deploying aircraft at any cost toward the Star Abyss.

The Deep Red World had rehearsed this death protocol countless times; their efficiency was horrifying. Due to the time differential between inside and outside, if Lin Xian failed today, he might have to wait six days—or longer. Genji Mochi, as an AI, didn't need to worry. But for Lin Xian and the United Train, waiting that long was impossible.

19: 0.

At this moment, Qiansu Xun and the others in a subterranean facility beneath the central square stared at the clock. Above their heads, the massive hive roared, as if the earth itself trembled.

Qiansu Xun, however, watched the monitors calmly while operating multiple micro-drones moving in the shadows.

"Corpse qi erupted at Baicheng Hospital—the signal's been jammed. It's definitely that Red Man Wraith again."

"This time, we kill it," said Long Zhijie from behind, voice low.

"This one's more troublesome than before—higher consciousness, faster movement," said Lan, clad in high-energy battle armor, arms crossed, eyes fierce.

Qiansu Xun said: "No. Killing the Red Man Wraith isn't the main objective."

On his monitor, in the massive wastewater pool of the treatment plant, water parted to either side—beneath it lay a large aircraft lift platform. Two glowing transport ships slowly rose from underground.

Seeing this, Qiansu Xun frowned: "Two ships… they're splitting up…"

"And that means there's more than one Red Man Wraith in the city!"

At Baicheng Rail Station, Lin Xian and the others stood fully armed at the entrance of the shelter hall, waiting for the tide to recede before opening the blast door.

Then, Qiansu Xun's voice crackled over the comms: "Lin, be careful!"

Boom!

The moment his voice ended, a massive impact rang outside the blast door. The two-meter-tall circular blast door caved inward, forming a deep crater. A severed alloy bearing behind it shot straight at Lin Xian!

Lin Xian stood motionless—the broken bearing froze unnaturally before his power armor's faceplate.

Kiki's eyes glowed; she hurled the metal fragment to the ground. Lin Xian said grimly: "Prepare!"

Before Qiansu Xun's warning, Chen Sixuan had already sensed the disturbance outside—and all of them had readied themselves.

Between breaths, Lin Xian realized the blast door couldn't withstand another strike. He used his Mechanical Heart to forcibly rip it open.

Boom!

The next instant, a massive axe flew from the corridor outside the blast door, swinging down with crushing force toward them.

Kiki immediately used telekinesis to snatch the axe mid-air. Then, a towering black silhouette stepped into the hall, clad in strange black leather, wearing a tall hat, eyes blazing red. The creature radiated boiling corpse energy, its aura fluctuating violently—making the Spirit Disturbance detectors flash incessantly.

"Lin, two transport ships—one is directly on your path!"

"Understood!" Lin Xian replied coldly—and dozens of pulse beams from his drones fired instantly!

The towering Red Man Wraith suddenly swung its left arm forward. The air rippled with silver-scaled waves, as if warping reality. The drones' pulse beams exploded violently—but the next moment, the Red Man Wraith charged forward, unharmed. Everyone saw: beneath the hat was a humanoid figure resembling a blackened corpse. Its red eyes glowed like mechanical devices. Its hands emitted a faint gray-white light as it lunged forward, fists aimed straight at Lin Xian and the others.

Boom!

In an instant, an eerie corpse energy mixed with violent energy surges blasted toward them.

But the explosive force struck an invisible shield covered in hexagonal patterns—all airflow diverted around Lin Xian and the others.

The Red Man Wraith's mechanical eyes paused, scanning the scene with hesitation.

"Shield, huh? So do I." Lin Xian's body crackled with electricity; the AT force field shielded everyone behind him. As the Red Man Wraith hesitated, a powerful force seized it and hurled it like a bullet into the distant wall. Concrete cracked, dust and debris exploded outward.

Kiki struck first; Lu Xingchen joined the assault.

"Demon beast! Taste the Divine Fire of the Dao!"

He levitated and shot forward, hands gathering flame, then thrusting backward—two crimson fire columns erupted like molten ribbons.

"Zhou Lian!"

Whooosh! Instantly, the entire shelter hall erupted in searing fire. Boiling hot air blasted outward. The twin white-hot fire columns slammed into the Red Man Wraith. Just as everyone thought the monster was melting, Chen Sixuan suddenly noticed gray-white corpse energy spewing from the center of the flames, silver-scaled ripples trembling violently. She shouted:

"It's still alive!"

Lin Xian saw it too. He checked the time—the tide hadn't ended yet. This violent disturbance triggered a strange hum from above the building. He immediately ordered Grace:

"Grace, block the stairwell!"

【Grace understands】

The tide was ending soon. He needed to prevent the squad from being marked before the horde flooded in—to minimize pressure as much as possible.

At that moment, a green light enveloped everyone—Shizhi activated her purification ability.

Kiki used telekinesis and warned Lu Xingchen: "Be careful—it can block your fire."

"Then increase the burn!" Lu Xingchen had been cooped up in darkness all night—he was already frustrated. If it were a wraith, fine. But this human-turned-monster could resist his divine flame? Then his title of "Fire God" was a joke.

No sooner had he spoken than a concrete block shot through the air and smashed into his power armor helmet. He went blind, flew backward, and his flames vanished.

"I'll f***—" His curse died mid-sentence as he crashed into the wall. Luckily, his armor held—he'd have been crushed without it.

Kiki hadn't even reacted—the monster had thrown a rock? She looked: the wall was glowing red, molten. But the monster had vanished.

The next instant, a powerful gust came from the side. Chen Sixuan sidestepped and fired an armor-piercing round into the shadows. The bullet thudded home. A guttural, hoarse scream echoed through the air. Kiki seized the moment, unleashing a telekinetic wall that slammed into the shadows—yanking the Red Man Wraith into the open, lifting it into the air.

Through the hall's lighting, everyone now saw the Red Man Wraith's leather suit had been completely burned away. It was a 2. -meter-tall, massively built "human" with skin like corroded, proliferating charred iron. Most horrifying: its abdomen, shoulders, spine, and occipital region were embedded with mechanical devices, crudely stitched together with metal. Gray-white corpse energy continuously leaked from it, causing Lin Xian's systems to glitch constantly.

"This thing is strong!" Though Kiki held it with telekinesis, she felt immense resistance—forcing her to use both hands.

Zzzt! Zzzt! Zzzt! Silver-scaled ripples surged around the creature as it emitted a bizarre roar, struggling violently.

Lin Xian stood still. He noticed: the Red Man Wraith's red eyes never left him. They all wore full-coverage armor—this creature was scanning them.

"Scanning? Then you don't need to."

Lin Xian's gaze sharpened. He reached out and swallowed a segment of the energy transmission device embedded in the creature's spine. Instantly, its crimson eyes dimmed. Its violent struggles ceased.

"Dead?"

"Not yet." Lin Xian directed 25 Lei Sun drones to hover directly above the creature's head, all targeting it.

Now deprived of its suppression, the Red Man Wraith suddenly reopened its eyes—its entire body convulsed violently.

Shhh! In the next instant, countless pulse lasers fired simultaneously before it could react—high-energy pulses instantly erased its head.

The fully dead Red Man Wraith emitted a burst of black smoke, finally falling still.

"Ssshh~" Huoge, rising from the ground, walked over, frowning: "This demon's ability is so strange—it blocked my fire?"

"It's likely an energy-based ability, but can't sustain defense constantly," Lin Xian said, staring at the blood-red hole in the creature's chest—made by Chen Sixuan's bullet. It proved that with proper timing, eliminating it wasn't too difficult.

Kiki exhaled, dropping the corpse to the ground: "Not as strong as they made it out to be."

Her words made Huoge's face flush. The girl Shizhi said: "It must've expended massive energy to block the flames."

Lin Xian nodded: "If this thing weren't mechanical, it'd be trickier to handle."

He glanced toward the distant corridor—where explosions and howls echoed. Grace was engaging wraiths there.

This trouble came from the Red Man Wraith—it could move in darkness, a major advantage.

Hearing Lin Xian and Shizhi's words, Huoge's expression eased slightly. He said: "This body was careless. Even a lion uses full strength against a rabbit. I should've used my divine killing technique from the start…"

Lu Xingchen hadn't used his ultimate technique—he always tested first. Also, the confined space limited his mobility. Still, being hit in the head by a rock stung his pride.

Lin Xian paid no mind. Suddenly, a sensation of spatial lag passed through him—he looked at the time.

19: 5

Tide receded!

"Chen Laoshi, protect Shizhi. Kiki, we intercept the transport ships. Huoge, clear the corridors!"

"I'd welcome it!"

Lu Xingchen, holding back a surge of qi, shot forward like a fiery meteor streaking straight out of the passage. Here, Grace had been holding off a flood of strange entities alone, the ground littered with her torn-apart corpses; as Lu Xingchen rushed in, Grace was being bitten in half by a giant insect, trying to crush her.

"Fire Fist!"

Seeing this, Lu Xingchen unleashed a blazing punch that instantly charred the giant insect's upper body. Grace landed lightly from the air, unharmed except for the splatters of blood across her body.

After the tide receded, most of the strange entities inside the passage and above the passenger station vanished instantly. The few remaining low-level ones were cleared by Grace and the arriving Huo Ge and Kiki, who then lifted Lin Xian, Grace, and Huo Ge into the sky. Below, Chen Sixuan brought Shi Zhi to the rooftop of the rail station to provide cover.

Every second counted. Instantly after the tide receded, Silent City's surveillance detected two transport ships from the wastewater treatment plant accelerating rapidly toward the southeast. Kiki used her telekinesis to continuously climb higher while adjusting their trajectory through Silent City's surveillance anchor points, aiming to lock onto the ships' course and altitude before they reached supersonic speed—if they were to intercept them.

This was entirely new to Lin Xian and Kiki's group, but the situation left no room for hesitation—the enemy clearly had preparations of their own.

Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!

As they ascended at high speed, Lin Xian felt the air and twisted black mist around him grow denser. A deathly, oppressive weight hung above his head. Looking down, the dark silhouette of Baicheng had vanished; all around was a black void, as if they drifted within a black hole in space.

"Three seconds—target approaching!"

Lin Xian turned to Huo Ge behind them: "Kiki, Huo Ge—if Grace doesn't grab it, blow that transport ship to pieces."

All Lin Xian needed to do was capture the escaping clones and control their brain-machine interfaces before they triggered memory self-destruction. This was second nature to him.

The Red Man Strange's full-body mechanical suppressors had been incredibly complex—if he scanned them himself, it would take time. But to disable them, he only needed to melt their power supply units and shut them down instantly.

For machines, Lin Xian was their natural antithesis—even when he dealt with Grace in Jinyin City, he'd merely seized control of its power module to claim the quantum brain.

But now, the transport ship's speed at this distance had likely exceeded Mach 1. The instantaneous overload from interception would surpass 30G—even in his Black Eagle battle armor, Lin Xian couldn't withstand it.

Grace carried a circular adhesive bomb—Wangyue Shinji's planned interception method. When detonated, it would instantly disable the ship's propulsion and electrical systems.

Still, for safety, Lin Xian had arranged Kiki and Huo Ge as a secondary contingency.

"Understood!" Huo Ge replied immediately.

The group floated in midair, Kiki's expression grim.

3

2

1

No sound. In the dark void ahead, a flash of light pierced the black mist. Instantly, a large silver-black human transport ship appeared before them. In that moment, all sound in the world seemed to vanish.

Kiki grunted, using telekinesis to wrap Grace and slam her down onto the top of the transport ship, while simultaneously forming a telekinetic wall to slow its forward momentum.

In an instant, Kiki felt her entire body jolt—her telekinesis snapped. But in that fleeting moment, Grace had already driven into the ship's hull like an iron nail.

BOOM!

Inside the transport ship, over a dozen individuals clad in uniform attire, their bodies modified with prosthetics, all felt a violent jolt—as if they'd collided with an immense air current.

Men and women alike, they appeared young in face, yet each wore a strange, rigid expression, their eyes heavy with the weariness of age—like forty-year-olds trapped in youthful shells.

After hearing a metallic clang, a young man, seemingly in his twenties, rose to his feet, his gaze cold as he stared upward.

"What was that?!"

【EXTERNAL INTRUSION DETECTED】 The transport ship's internal alarm blared.

At once, the dozen or so individuals turned pale. One woman immediately shouted:

"It's them—activate the self-destruct protocol!"

"No, no—could it be we hit a strange entity?" muttered a middle-aged man, his face dark with fear. His posterior neck was nearly covered in fungal filaments. Each person's occiput bore a dark-gold brain-machine interface, thick white mycelia crawling over their skulls.

"The Red Man Strange has deployed—surely we can escape…"

The woman stood abruptly, her eyes icy, speaking in a voice utterly unfitting her age: "Dr. Zhao, your personality shows severe cowardice. Organizational secrets are sacred and inviolable. Even if you survive, you'll be 'retrieved'!"

"No, no, I didn't mean that—I just meant—"

BOOM! HISS!

As he spoke, a massive explosion erupted. Instantly, the ship's interior lights went dark. With propulsion gone, intense weightlessness surged through the cabin.

Woooo~

The next second, the ship's emergency systems activated. The cockpit's autopilot had failed; alarms blared across all systems.

【ALTITUDE DECREASING—DANGER ALERT】

【PROPULSION SYSTEM OFFLINE】

【FLIGHT CONTROL SYSTEM OFFLINE】

The entire craft began its plunge.

Inside the ship, the dozen clones immediately sensed the crisis. The woman who had spoken lay dead on the floor, her neck twisted by a cable, her severed head rolling on the ground—still calm, issuing orders.

"Deep-3056 batch researchers: prepare for shutdown."

"Self-destruct sequence initiated. Deep-3056 batch: this command will not be repeated."

"Thank you for your dedicated cooperation in the creation of the Crimson Civilization. Farewell…"

Beep-beep-beep-beep.

Simultaneously, every brain-machine interface behind their skulls emitted a buzzing red glow. Sparks exploded from their occiputs, one after another—then all fell silent.

At that moment, the top of the plummeting transport ship was suddenly torn open by iron hands—Grace ripped through the hull. Lin Xian's mechanical scan surged in, locking onto the latest-activated frequency. Without hesitation, he used his mechanical devouring ability to erase the self-destruct module within the brain-machine interface.

"Kiki, second from the left!"

The man the woman had called Dr. Zhao stared in shock—his self-destruct sequence had halted. Simultaneously, an invisible force yanked him out of the ship.

Amid the gale, he saw several figures in powered armor grabbing him. He instantly understood his fate. As Lin Xian seized him, his terrified expression twisted into wild laughter.

"Lin Xian, Mechanical Ability, Infinite No. the Crimson World will not—"

SNAP.

Lin Xian ripped a rectangular memory module from the man's brain-machine interface.

"Got it!"

Kiki raised her hands, lifting Lin Xian, Grace, and Huo Ge to hover in midair as the transport ship plunged into the dark depths.

Lin Xian studied the memory module in his hand, exhaling a quiet breath of relief. Close call—but it was secured.

Just as Lin Xian thought the mission was over, a voice crackled through his communicator: Qian Shuxun.

"Lin, hurry to Baicheng Hospital—we've intercepted a second transport ship!"

(End of Chapter)