Chapter 360

Luling, located east of the White Sea Basin, is separated from the basin by the massive Hengduan Mountains; beyond the Haiqu River lies the primal Luling Great Forest.

But after the Day of Revelation, darkness enveloped this forest, as if time itself had frozen here.

Towering trees loomed, their trunks twisted like dying giants, oozing thick black resin from peeled bark—like congealed scabs. The endless forest was shrouded in eternal night, all plant life extinguished, danger and strangeness lurking in every shadow.

Above a rotting fallen tree canopy, a rustling sound suddenly arose; the air trembled, then a brilliant beam of light, accompanied by the roar of machinery, swept low across the forest—a trio of slow-moving armed transport ships, flying in a triangular formation, slowly heading east.

On the rear transport ship, a small drone shot out—not an ordinary drone, but a flying device carrying a manned capsule; beneath it, a man was imprisoned in a special metal cage, his limbs bound, the cage like a mummy's sarcophagus, with a transparent window left at the head. Inside, the man wore a device resembling an instrument of torture, forcibly stretching his eyelids wide open.

The man could not move, his eyes bulging, as if injected with some sedative; only a bubbling, agonized sound escaped from deep in his throat.

From the transport ship's communication frequency came several cold voices.

"Seventh traction plan, Subject 1652, ready for deployment."

Hum!

At that moment, all armor on the transport ship sealed shut, while the drone rapidly accelerated backward.

The man, dangling beneath the drone, filled with terror, watched as a colossal floating statue's silhouette slowly expanded in the dark mist—and as the drone drew near, the eerie statue seemed to turn its gaze directly upon him!

"Wuuu!! Aaaah!!"

The man screamed in terror, sensing imminent death, struggling desperately—but to no avail. Beneath the drone's light, a terrifying lion-headed colossal statue spun into view, radiating crimson mist; in an instant, the man's eyes were flooded with blood-red veins, his skin visibly turning gray-white, and the drone's energy system began emitting erratic, stuttering pulses.

"Observed. Pull back." A cold command came from the transport ship.

The drone sped eastward; during this, the man's heart rate surged, his brainwaves and breathing grew chaotic…

At that moment, the eerie giant statue floating above the dark forest vanished without a sound, reappearing kilometers behind the drone; by then, the man's eyes had leaked thick fluid, his body dead, transformed into a zombie.

Clank~

The cage opened, and the zombie man was dumped like trash into the dark forest below—as if finally freed.

"Subject 1652, traction distance 1400 meters. Subject 1653, ready for deployment."

The next second, from another transport ship far away, another drone rose again…

…

Bottomless Lake, Dark Forest, United Train Position.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

A furious battle raged in thunderous roar; vast forests burned into seas of flame. Outside the train position, along a hundreds-of-meters-long track, molten golden metal streams poured like rain in both directions; iron rain, like scythes, had flattened entire forests. Rocket launchers, incendiary rounds, howitzers, arc pulses, high-energy beams erupted in succession—the battle escalated to white-hot intensity in moments.

Lin Xian stood atop a high point, watching a monstrous silhouette approach with earth-shaking force; on his powered armor's holographic screen, alarms and radar images flashed alternately—he knew this was surely the Strange Serpent from Bottomless Lake.

The ramp behind him was still unfinished; he had to rally others to hold back this monster.

On the Infinite, Car 21, the specially reserved MK-66 roll-on/roll-off missile launcher rose swiftly, guiding out the Storm Eye F12 supersonic airship missile.

This was what Lin Xian had prepared for it; besides this, he had only the gravitational lens left.

"Come on—I knew you'd show up!"

The air roared; Lin Xian fixed his gaze and pointed. Under the cannon's glow, a hundreds-of-meters-long green Strange Serpent coiled forward, its head adorned with hundreds of crimson eyes arranged from large to small, radiating chilling cold light; instantly, everyone felt a crushing wave of dark terror press upon them.

But just as Lin Xian prepared to activate the gravitational lens and fire the missile in desperation, a sonic boom shattered the eastern sky—a golden fire meteor tore through the dark heavens, arriving instantly above the line: it was a massive white missile!

The missile flew to the high airspace ahead of Lin Xian, then unleashed a vector pulse directly downward; instantly, six petal-like energy focusers unfolded beneath it, the central core rotating and emitting blinding white light. This was no flame, no explosion—it was a pure torrent of energy—as if a piece of the sun's corona had been ripped off and vertically slammed into the Strange Serpent!

Boom——————!!!

No shockwave, no mushroom cloud—only a cylindrical beam of blazing white light piercing heaven and earth, its outer edge ringed with layers of ionized plasma blue arcs. In an instant, the entire dark forest within kilometers was illuminated; distant mountains and hills glowed in its radiance. A violent heatwave, charged with intense ionization, surged outward, forcing every defender to stagger backward, shouts and screams erupting everywhere.

"Damn it, what the hell is that?!" Shi Di yelled.

"This… this is Hyperion Directed Constraint Cannon!" Guo Lao, repairing the ramp, raised a hand to shield his eyes.

"Holy shit—space-based weapon?!" Luo Yang froze in shock.

Lin Xian was stunned too; after the massive ionization shock, he stared—and saw the ground beneath the beam glowing red, sand and soil instantly melted and solidified into crystalline dust. Beneath the light, the green Strange Serpent had been cleanly severed in half; perhaps due to its speed, the creature hadn't even released its crimson mist—it was split cleanly, only a sliver of skin still connecting the two halves, each end a rounded, melted, charred wound glowing with dark red flame. The power of a space-based weapon was truly terrifying!

Boom! Boom! Boom!

The severed head and tail of the Strange Serpent writhed wildly, spewing crimson mist; the earth trembled, crushing many smaller strange entities beneath its thrashing body.

Seeing this, Lin Xian froze for a moment; before he could react, a delayed message crackled over his comm.

"No need to thank me, Lin."

Mochi Shinji!

Of course—upon hearing Mochi Shinji's voice, Lin Xian wasn't surprised. Only a behemoth like Silent City could afford such an expensive, one-time space-based weapon.

In the Xishan Bunker, every sector was in emergency evacuation; personnel prepared to withdraw, yet Mochi Shinji remained calm in the command center, monitoring all incoming data.

He knew Lin Xian had returned alone to the train line, leaving the main force behind in Baicheng; if trouble arose, he might not be able to assist in rebuilding the track—so he'd prepared an emergency option.

Lin Xian stared at the twisted serpent head, his expression grim: "Thanks. But now it's even more chaotic…"

The tremors from the writhing serpent and the massive energy surge from the space weapon seemed to awaken the entire valley. Far across the deep blue sky, a mountain-sized black silhouette stirred slowly, heading toward the valley; the entire dark forest boiled—ground, lakebed, unknown creatures stirred awake.

"Either way, it would cause a stir—what's another uproar?"

Mochi Shinji watched the sky-screen feeds from Silent City and Baicheng; his calm eyes narrowed, nanoscopic pupils contracting.

In Baicheng, streets and buildings echoed with the shrieks of strange entities; colossal strange bodies trudged through collapsed streets, smashing walls; a crimson, millipede-like entity, large enough to coil around an entire building, writhed with thousands of fine legs; in the black fog above, distorted, indescribable atmospheric beings twisted—entire city now like a night of a thousand demons.

On the other side, atop Wangshan Pass, the artificial city—over fifteen kilometers in diameter—began emitting a low hum; its main fusion reactor activated, plasma confined within a powerful magnetic field, blazing with blinding white light like a man-made sun ignited in the abyss.

Instantly, countless light bands ignited along the city's edge; secondary thruster arrays, densely packed along the floating city's curved outer wall, began spewing pale blue ion trails, illuminating the surrounding darkness.

Simultaneously, massive tracked devices on the ground activated; these metal tracks, over a hundred meters wide, originally embedded deep in the crust, now roared to life.

The sky began to warp!

Silent City's main engines surged in power; the energy stream vaporized clouds for kilometers around; entire hillsides collapsed; massive heat fins fully deployed, blasting scalding air; boulders crushed by the ground tracks rolled down relentlessly—the entire city was rising!

Ahead of this colossal mechanical city, four disc-shaped smaller floating cities—each hundreds of meters in diameter—slowly lifted; their city lights flickered on, each capable of independent operation.

Yet as this colossal city activated, the earth beneath the dark sky began to tremble.

Thunder cracked across the heavens; in a flash of lightning, a terrifying colossal silhouette erupted from the ground, rising straight to the sky!

The earth seemed to scream!

At Baicheng's rail station, Kiki and the others instantly felt a crushing pressure, as if a titanic, sky-obscuring entity now hovered above them in the dark heavens, writhing and hissing.

Chen Sixuan frowned upward; the more her senses evolved, the more she felt the terrifying biological pressure—far worse than what they'd faced in Xilan City or Underground City 9; it felt apocalyptic, overwhelming even before its form was seen, filling everyone with the despair of ants.

It was a presence beyond human comprehension or power to measure or describe—sending chills down the spines of every squad member locked in desperate combat.

Beside her, Bai Bai shrank his neck, trembling uncontrollably, whispering: "So… so scary… up there…"

Kiki, hovering mid-air in battle, stared at her shaking hands, puzzled:

"What's wrong? Why is my heart racing so fast?"

"Fire Fist!"

On the other side, Lu Xingchen blasted a fireball, wiping out a crowd of strange entities; his face grew grim: "I feel… something incomparable—a supreme heavenly demon hangs above us!"

"It's definitely a Star Abyss Beast!!" Below, Ningjing and Xiaoqing coordinated to slaughter the advancing foes.

Shhh!

Behind the rail station, a sonic sword slash cleaved a giant moth-like strange entity from the air, spraying thick, burning ichor.

Mo Nika's face, rarely so pale and stiff, murmured: "It's like a nightmare—no one has the courage to even look up."

"Then don't look!"

Golden light flashed; Qian Dele skidded to a halt, gritting his teeth: "We just have to hold out until our train arrives!"

In the Xishan Bunker, aside from Silent City personnel orderly boarding the base vehicles, Hu Lushou, Lu Zhao, Xie Guan, and their teams were in chaotic panic; many trembled, colliding while hauling supplies and gear, every face pale—though battle hadn't even begun, all had already sensed the overwhelming pressure.

Hu Lushou climbed into his armored truck, wrapped himself in double-layered bulletproof vest, even donned a sturdy interstellar military helmet—but still, he couldn't stop shivering, his heart rate inexplicably soaring.

"Shit, we've definitely angered some world-class monster—my heart's gonna burst!"

Sun Chang, driving, glanced ahead at the Silent City base vehicles already lined up and ready to depart, murmuring: "We just follow them out. Life and death are fate."

"Easy for you to say!" Hu Lushou's teeth chattered, trembling: "I've escaped death how many times? They say 'survive disaster, gain fortune'—with my luck, I'll survive this too!"

He grabbed his radio and shouted to his team:

"Everyone, snap to it! Follow Silent City and the Infinite—we won't die!"

"Yes!!"

…

At Butuo Lake, the United Train Line was engulfed by a tidal wave of strange entities. After eliminating the Strange Serpent, Lin Xian immediately turned to constructing the elevated track; materials flew wildly, and soon, a launch ramp rising dozens of meters was built. At its far end, just ahead, glowed the first array of blue-purple arc superconducting magnetic anchors; the intense electromagnetic field made the newly built track hum with metallic strain, pulling up surrounding metal fragments and bullet casings, sucking them in like a black hole.

"Done! Prepare to activate—fall back!"

After completing the final track segment, Lin Xian alerted everyone.

"Fall back!"

"Get back on the trains—prepare to depart!"

"Don't linger!"

Instantly, the deployed line contracted into a circular train position; Shi Di and Lin Xian led hundreds of elites in a fighting retreat toward the trains. Though the strange entities showed no interest in the metal structures, everyone knew they had to draw fire toward the train line—otherwise, if some monster destroyed the newly built track, they were finished.

"Protect the track!"

At this moment, every member of the United Train seemed united as one; some even saw massive strange entities approaching the track and deliberately broke formation to lure them away, sacrificing themselves in the horde.

"You fucking bugs, come at your grandpa!"

"Pull back! Pull back!"

"Blow it up!"

Intense firepower rained down; Lin Xian leapt onto the roof of the Infinite. Suddenly, a chill ran down his spine—he spun around and saw, far across the blackness of Bottomless Lake, a colossal "mountain" blotting out the sky; countless tendrils of black mist were swept aside—he saw countless towering, spiked limbs rising like the spine of the earth into the heavens!

"Shit!"

Lin Xian's gaze sharpened—it was that twisted mountain he'd seen before. Now, that 【mountain】 was crawling toward them!!

He rushed back onto the train, recalled the anomorphic cube from the camp center; nearly everyone was already aboard. A tidal wave of strange entities slammed into the train's armor—climbing, tearing, screaming, cannon fire erupting everywhere. Before he reached the cockpit, he'd already activated the train!

Whoosh!! Boom!

The engine of the Whale 03e Heavy Gas Turbine Locomotive roared like a furious lion, a massive traction torque slammed forward, instantly shaking each carriage behind it in sequence, causing the entire train to jolt violently.

The locomotive's roof was now completely covered by a dense tide of monsters, their claws and spines frantically attacking the Infinity's armor.

Under the surging traction, the train's iron wheels began to move along the sunken steel rails.

Vrrrrr! All twenty locomotives of the train chain fired simultaneously, unleashing over a million terawatts of power, propelling the fifteen-kilometer-long iron dragon into a frenzy—iron wheels erupted in brilliant sparks, the twin-screw carriages twisted and crushed each other, tearing apart the grotesque bodies covering them.

【Carriage Armor Integrity: 98%】

【Original track subsidence is severe; traction reduced】

Beside him, Grace's voice came through.

【Detected giant organism 12 kilometers out; movement speed…】

"Charge, you bastards!"

Lin Xian gritted his teeth, his mechanical heart spinning wildly—the Whale 03e's icebreaker shield sliced through the charred earth, then shoved the dense tide of monsters forward, its mechanical force crushing them underfoot; bones shattered, shells cracked, the sounds never ceasing. Behind, every carriage rained gunfire—everyone fought to the death!

Wooooo!

The train accelerated. As the lead car, the Infinity entered the newly constructed metal-surfaced acceleration track, bursting free from the sunken humus ground. Its immense weight crushed the wide metal surface into thunderous vibrations, streaking forward in a blaze of sparks and lightning.

Speed was building!

【500 meters to superconducting magnetic levitation aerial track】

Lin Xian's pupils contracted—if they entered now, the massive magnetic penetration force would instantly accelerate the train, yanking it clean out of the swamp-like tide. Though this high-speed overload would inflict severe metal stress deformation on the carriage connectors, all carriages had already undergone emergency reinforcement—precisely for this moment!

At this moment, the Infinity's locomotive suddenly tilted upward, surging onto the ascending ramp. The ramp was crudely built—merely meant to lift the train vertically. As the Whale 03e charged up, the entire track and its metal supports beneath groaned and shuddered.

Simultaneously, the grotesque bodies clinging to the locomotive and sides began falling off in droves. The entire combined train, like a long dragon crawling with monsters, rained down creatures in dense clusters to either side.

"Cease fire! Seal the windows! Hold on!"

Immediately after entering the ascending ramp, Lin Xian alerted the entire convoy.

At that moment, Luo Yang and the others from Shuqin Building ceased fire and sealed their firing ports. Others across the convoy slammed shut their windows, lowered iron grates, and locked armored lattices. Thousands frantically found their designated positions—some grabbed ropes, others clung to handrails, some fastened pre-made safety harnesses!

Aaaaaaahhh!!

A colossal sound from the heavens shook the earth. One of the mountain-sized black creature's limbs stepped into the abyssal lake behind, instantly hurling up a tidal wave. Vast quantities of black water spilled out, flooding the marsh and forest.

Meanwhile, only half the circular train formation had cleared the launch zone—the lead cars had already surged onto the ascending track.

50 meters!

At this moment, the superconducting magnetic levitation tunnel ahead shimmered with unstable blue-purple arcs. He shouted:

"Grace!"

Grace instantly turned and gripped the copilot's handle.

Now, the Whale 03e locomotive, as the lead car, had left the rails—its iron wheels airborne, hurtling toward the center of the magnetic channel. Every metal object inside the locomotive was being pulled from all sides, as if the entire train would be torn apart. In that instant, Lin Xian activated the distributed coil power circuit.

Vrrrr!

Instantly, the arc-shaped coils mounted on the train's exterior blazed with intense electrical arcs. Lightning bolts pierced the air, connecting with the levitation array. The tearing force vanished. Iron filings and metal dust floated up inside the carriages.

Magnetic field stabilized!

Then the train leapt into it!

Lin Xian felt as if the train had been swallowed by a black hole—a powerful back-pressure slammed him into his seat, nearly blanking his mind with overload. The next second, the Infinity plunged into the magnetic tunnel.

The immense traction tore a sharp metallic shriek from the connection points of the Dragon-class carriages, then dragged the second, third, fourth carriages—over five hundred carriages total—in a blazing acceleration!!

"Aaaah!!"

Everyone behind felt the crushing acceleration. Every carriage vibrated violently. Faces turned deathly pale. Many collapsed unconscious for seconds, then gasped awake in air thick with suffocation.

After that moment of blankness, Lin Xian's vision returned. Ahead in the darkness, blue arcs flashed backward—like entering a high-speed black hole!

At this moment, the entire combined train shimmered with electrical arcs, roaring into the levitation tunnel. Under this high-energy acceleration, the grotesque bodies clinging to the exterior rained down like petals scattered by a goddess. This iron dragon had truly taken flight, accelerating straight toward Baicheng.

Magnetic levitation leap!

Lin Xian felt the air inside the carriage thinning—he struggled to breathe, gripping the handrail tightly as his power armor calculated speed and distance.

The combined train now neared commercial airliner cruising speed. Intense air resistance and turbulent airflow forced the stabilizing conductor coil hydraulic struts on the carriage exteriors to operate frantically, maintaining stability. Every carriage shook violently; the shrieking sound of tearing air caused constant tinnitus.

Meanwhile, many external structures began showing signs of detachment under this speed and wind pressure—armor plates, grates, fragments clattered down. Alongside the falling monsters like a mountain collapse, the rear superconducting magnetic anchor arrays began toppling and destroying themselves, one after another like dominoes, their lights vanishing across the forest.

Yet the darkness of the forest grew thicker with monsters. No one knew whether these grotesques were drawn by the combined train's markers or driven by the colossal creature behind—now surging like a tidal wave toward the collapsing magnetic arrays.

After the combined train passed, every device, as if completing its duty, was toppled by debris and the grotesque tide.

Lin Xian watched the accelerating train and immediately ordered Grace to adjust parameters.

"Grace, reduce speed! If we keep accelerating like this, we'll break apart!!"

Though the train's armor was strong, it didn't mean the connections between carriages wouldn't be torn apart by sonic shockwaves. These modified end-of-days trains clearly lacked supersonic capability.

【Speed control in progress. Estimated arrival at Baicheng rail station: 4 minutes 36 seconds】

Boom boom boom!!

Lin Xian couldn't see ahead—only darkness. He gritted his teeth, letting Grace take full control. After acceleration, they'd need to decelerate to dock at Baicheng's rail. Otherwise, with this speed, even Baicheng's decaying rails couldn't bear it—and the train's own momentum would smash them like a crashing plane.

"Everyone, report status!"

"Captain Lin, we're all fine!" came the voice from Shuqin Building.

"Safe!" Luo Yang and others shouted.

"We're okay too," said Li Yi and Sun Yuzhen from Carriage 10, surrounded by a group protecting a full car of children. Everyone huddled tightly. Mo Xiaotian clung desperately to his sister, one hand gripping the bunk's handrail.

"We're fine too!" Shi Di's voice came through: "Damn, that was awesome! I never thought I'd ride a train that could fly!"

Soon, responses came from other convoys—everyone seemed temporarily alive, but none were unscathed. Many carriages echoed with moans of pain. Vast numbers vomited or fainted. Some ordinary carriages twisted and deformed, roofs and floors cracking open.

"One minute to deceleration—hold on tight!"

Lin Xian shouted. In his vision, only darkness ahead—nothing but the glowing arcs of magnetic levitation. All operations were handled by Grace.

He could only pray that no grotesques stood in Baicheng's streets—otherwise, it would be like a meteor hitting Earth. The scene would be horrific.

The feared scenario did not occur. After thirty seconds, the airborne magnetic levitation train abruptly decelerated. Lin Xian lurched forward. Outside the windows, countless building silhouettes appeared. The frenzied cries of grotesques, mixed with howling wind, shrieked against the carriage exteriors.

At that moment, bright flames appeared ahead. Lin Xian looked up—it was Brother Hu, fighting in the sky!

On the clock tower, Chen Sixuan swung her gun's aim, spotting the high-speed approaching combined train. She declared sharply: "They're here. Form up quickly, Kiki!"

"I know!" Kiki immediately flew toward the rail station's docking apparatus. If there was any deviation, she could use her telekinesis for last-minute adjustments.

Boom!

Mo Nika leapt from a high-rise, slicing through waves of grotesques with sonic blades. She turned back—saw an enormous train flying through the air, bizarre and surreal. Its orange-red headlights pierced the dark, soaring directly over the passenger station building toward the rail.

Here, over a dozen mechanical-arm-like docking devices generated deceleration magnetic fields to receive the train's landing.

Vrrrrr! Khhhh!

A massive sensation of weightlessness vanished instantly. Lin Xian gritted his teeth as the entire train's iron wheels slammed onto the rails, shaking the earth. Sparks erupted along the tracks. A sharp, groaning metallic cry rang out—the Infinity's twenty-plus carriages landed safely on the rails, followed by the rest of the train.

At this moment, Lin Xian had already handed control to Grace. He opened the door and leapt out, pulling the electromagnetic rifle from his back. Without catching his breath, he aimed at the distant wastewater treatment plant.

Kiki's telekinesis drifted slowly before his eyes. Watching Lin Xian's desperate moment, her brow furrowed. Between breaths, she shouted loudly:

"Lin Xian, you better come back alive!"

Boom!

The silver bullet shot out at high speed. Lin Xian vanished from the spot.

"Get everyone on board…" Lin Xian's voice echoed with delay.

At that moment, Kiki used telekinesis to snatch every squad member—including Mo Nika, Qian Dele, and Xiang Ningjing—and hurled them all onto the Infinity. The entire combined train, after landing on the rails, didn't pause—it accelerated again, racing straight out of the city!

Behind them, grotesque tides surged from beneath the passenger station and over the rooftops, like a receding tide. Giant centipedes coiled around buildings lunged at the train. Humanoid giants smashed the clock tower, advanced into the rail station plaza, reaching up to grab the carriages still airborne behind the train.

With the levitation arrays collapsed, dozens of rear carriages now plummeted like free-falling objects, crashing through the steel roof structure behind the station, igniting fires, detaching layer by layer.

Fortunately, the pre-installed securing devices between each carriage prevented them from flipping. Under the immense forward traction, these derailed carriages, amid screams from their occupants, were yanked back onto the rails.

The tide's retreat had lasted forty minutes!

Only twenty minutes remained.

At this moment, dozens of base vehicles, transport ships, and over a hundred survivor vehicles from Hu Lushou's convoy had emerged from the forest, heading along the highway toward the gathering center at Wangshan Kou Plain. This vast steel flood raised clouds of dust in the darkness.

To the east, the silent city of darkness floated like a suspended metropolis. Beneath its lift engines, massive transport treads roared, shaking the earth, advancing with overwhelming pressure toward the gathering center.

On the transport ship, Wang Yue Zhenji, accompanied by Qian Su Xun, Tian Ye Lan, Long Zhijie, and Shizhi—the core backbone of the Silent City—watched the holographic sand table, grimly tracking the progress of the three converging columns.

Meanwhile, countless radar alarms blared incessantly. Standing beside Wang Yue Zhenji, Qian Su Xun gazed through the viewport at a massive shadow appearing in the clouded sky, his expression stern:

"It came…."

"The Abyss Demon!"

"Xun."

Wang Yue Zhenji, sleeves still draped, spoke calmly.

Qian Su Xun nodded: "I know. I'll conduct observation with Long Zhijie. Shizhi will support Lin."

Wang Yue Zhenji's gaze sharpened slightly.

"Don't let him die. That man's madness can surpass the darkness."

Hearing this, the others behind stiffened. Qian Su Xun looked up at the sky with deep meaning.

"Understood."

The earth roared!

Baicheng, the Dark Forest, Wangshankou—terror waves drawn by three columns of forces were closing in like a ring, converging on the plain west of Wangshankou, leaving no room but to fight to the death!

The United Train roared, the steel convoy thundered, and Jingcheng charged forward!

Countless propulsion arrays were accelerating this massive city, smashing through the warped sky, racing toward them!

On the Infinite, Car 3, Ding Junyi gripped her injured, bleeding arm from the leap, as if numb to pain, her eyes locked on the Silver Dragon Ten Thousand Errors before her; she had pushed the bud to its limit—she needed only Lin Xian's final command!

Baicheng, wastewater treatment plant.

Lin Xian stood on the rooftop where Chen Sixuan had been, watching the terrifying colossal figure floating in the distance; before its front turned toward him, he slipped silently into shadow.

He leaned against the corner, reloading his flicker bullets, watching the time, calculating trajectories.

At this moment,

The world seemed to hold only him.

Five minutes remained until the rendezvous, yet his dark mark had drawn countless strange entities; beneath the floorboards, skittering claws crawled, and whispers slithered from every street.

At this moment, Lin Xian was nearly spent—flicker bullets consumed far more than he'd expected; relentless dark invasion forces seeped into his mind, amplifying the horrific voices in his ears.

BOOM—lightning cracked across the sky; in that instant's flash, Lin Xian's pupils shrank violently.

He saw the most terrifying sight yet: a colossal serpent, swallowing heaven and earth, its head and tail unseen.

Only its mountain-sized body twisted and coiled between ground and sky.

As if all of Baicheng…

No—as if the entire Fifth Star Abyss was its body!

Sovereign of the Abyss!

"You fucking—"

Seeing this, Lin Xian's face froze; he could not speak of fear, even felt a strange urge to laugh.

After cursing, he drew a deep breath, staring at the colossal shadow gliding across the sky, murmuring to himself:

"Wait… hold on for a few more minutes…"

Lin Xian's lips were pale white; he gazed at his labored breathing, and amid the whispers of the strange entities, he seemed to see the faces of every crew member aboard the train.

Chen Sixuan, Kiki, Fire Brother, Daliu, Shasha, Director Ding, Shu Qin, Lu Chang, Miao Lu, Xiao Yuan, and the newcomers Luo Yang, Li Guangwen, Amin Luoluo, Old Mo, Sun Yuzhen, Li Yi, Liang Lei…

An icy dread threatened to snuff out his inner flame, but he knew he could not give up.

For at this moment, on the plain dozens of li east of Baicheng, a desperate flight was unfolding in the dark…

A grand escape!

(End of Chapter)