Chapter 423

18:35.

It was dark.

The originally deathly silent Haiyan Island seemed to be submerged by the deep sea. The air was filled with the salty, fishy smell of seawater, mixed with the scent of rust and decay, like the breath of some ancient creature, slowly seeping into every inch of space.

This atmosphere of despair seemed even more terrifying than on land, as if the entire island had suddenly sunk into the bottomless deep ocean, full of fear and suffocation.

Outside the orbital station, on the originally empty streets, rustling sounds suddenly came, and countless eerie whispers arose, like countless wet limbs dragging on the concrete floor, or like some sticky liquid slowly seeping out from the sewer opening.

"Drip."

A drop of black liquid fell from the station ceiling, hitting the tracks, instantly corroding a wisp of green smoke.

Immediately following, a second drop, a third drop...

The entire city seemed to have been "awakened" by some indescribable existence.

On the sea in the distance, darkness surged like a tide, swallowing the last trace of daylight. Under the sea level, countless twisted black shadows slowly surfaced. They had no fixed form; sometimes they looked like people, sometimes like some kind of arthropod, or perhaps just a mass of wriggling black flesh, covered with sticky liquid, shining with an eerie oily luster under the moonlight.

"Lin Gege, cackle..."

A low sound, like bones rubbing together, came from all directions.

The streetlights outside the orbital station suddenly flickered, and then "pop," they went out. In the darkness, something was climbing along the wall, its sharp claws scraping against the metal surface, making a harsh sound.

The Infinite's engine was off, no lights were on, and all the carriage window shutters were lowered.

"They're here."

Vanessa's voice was low and tense. She looked through the gap in the shutter at the platform outside the orbital station. In the quiet orbital station, countless sounds also began to arise all around. On the platform in front, a "person" slowly stood up—if that could still be called a "person." Its limbs were twisted out of proportion, its head hung low, and its neck was tilted backward as if it had been broken, revealing a face without features.

The next second, it suddenly raised its head, its hollow "face" staring straight at the train.

A chill rushed straight toward them. The bulletproof windows of the Infinite suddenly began to be covered with a layer of frost. A hand pressed on Vanessa's shoulder, moving her away from the window.

Since coming out of the No. 5 Star Abyss, Lin Xian hadn't felt this kind of fear of the coming night for a long time. This time, he also felt an eerie sensation that made his expression solemn.

"Back up."

Inside the carriage, all the team members had somber expressions, and even their breathing was much more suppressed. Chen Sixuan felt this chill and spoke in a low voice:

"It's practically like a Night Parade of a Hundred Ghosts. How can there be so many, and... they seem to be in a hurry?"

Clang!

Just as Chen Sixuan finished speaking, suddenly, the entire Infinite carriage shook violently. Some creature seemed to have climbed onto the outside of the carriage, emitting a dull, heavy sound, and the entire carriage shook with a "boom."

The breathing of everyone in the carriage suddenly froze. Lin Xian frowned, raised his hand to signal everyone to be quiet, and prepared to counterattack at any time.

Lin Xian's heart was extremely anxious at this moment. Viola's cleanup work at the East Sea Port hadn't been completed yet, and going out to sea in the dark was also extremely dangerous. He didn't want to start the Infinite and flee in the middle of the night unless it was a last resort. Looking at the grand spectacle of the Night Parade of a Hundred Ghosts outside, he feared it wouldn't be that easy for them to retreat.

Lin Gege, cackle...

The vast orbital station seemed to have returned to a "crowded" spectacle at this moment. Eerie sounds came from every platform and passageway. On the platform next to the Infinite, there were even large numbers of black shadows passing by. Countless harsh scraping sounds rang out on the carriage's armor, making one's hair stand on end.

But at this moment, the movement outside the carriage grew louder and louder. It seemed that more monsters had climbed onto the Infinite. Rows of eyes slid across the armor plates outside the carriage. Everyone held their breath. Just at this moment, the Mexican-American girl who had been rescued raised her hand and made a "hush" gesture to Lin Xian, and the black woman also signaled for everyone to remain calm.

Immediately, she pointed to her wrist for Lin Xian, where a small screen displayed a countdown.

5, 4, 3, 2, 1

The moment the countdown on Gadi's wrist ended, the anomalous entities in the orbital station outside the carriage seemed to suddenly become restless. Squeaking and eerie roars were constant, and the movement began to grow louder and louder, as if they were all accelerating toward a certain direction.

In the darkness, the people on the Infinite looked at each other. Listening to the dense sounds outside, no one dared to breathe loudly. Shasha stood next to Kiki and pinched her nose, and Mo Xiaotian on the side also didn't dare to breathe loudly.

Lin Xian noticed this anomaly, slowly released the gesture that was about to have everyone launch an attack, and also calmed down.

Sure enough, after a burst of intense restlessness outside, it quickly became quiet. Although there were still eerie sounds in some dark corners, there was absolutely no sign of the dense hunting formation from just before.

Seeing that the surroundings had quieted down, Lin Xian's eyes flickered. He looked at the black woman and asked:

"What did you do?"

"Lure agent."

The black woman introduced herself at this time: "Gadi. This is Vanessa. Thank you for your intervention, allowing us to enter your shelter."

"Lin Xian."

Lin Xian reached out to shake her hand. Who would have thought that upon hearing the name, Gadi's expression would change drastically. She gripped Lin Xian's hand and said:

"Lin Xian, the Infinite?!"

"Yes, do you know me?"

"Are you really Lin Xian?" The young girl named Vanessa also stood out, slowly took off her hood, and carefully examined Lin Xian.

"It's me. Is there a problem?!" Lin Xian asked back.

Vanessa and Gadi exchanged glances, then revealed smiles of disbelief.

"My God, we actually met the Sword-Wielder."

Upon hearing this, Lin Xian immediately understood that under the Phoenix Society's global broadcast, his identity was no longer a secret. He had originally gotten used to it, but after stepping onto the Ocean segment, he now began to feel that he might need to keep a low profile. After all, the Phoenix Society hadn't cleared out all the Descender factions like the Deep Red World, and there was no guarantee he wouldn't be targeted by someone.

"Let's talk about the situation first." Lin Xian lowered his voice at this time: "How can there be so many anomalous entities here after nightfall, and what's your situation?"

"Many? This is still a very normal situation." The woman named Gadi said calmly at this time: "These anomalous entities all 'walk' from the seabed. Even if it's not dark, they can move in deep water, and after dark, they will appear in concentrated numbers on the island's land. So the quantity is very large; it's both a march and a hunt."

"No wonder..." Lin Xian said in a deep voice. He remembered those indescribable anomalous entities under the water at the Taku Deepwater Port. It turned out that various anomalous entities were already spread out beneath the sea surface, just like hidden under a layer of snow in a blizzard. As soon as it got dark, Haiyan Island was already surrounded by a tide of anomalous entities.

"Did those monsters discover some target?"

At this time, Monica keenly detected that the sounds outside all seemed to be gathering in one direction, and she immediately said in a low voice:

"Is it the effect of the lure agent you just mentioned?"

"Yes." Vanessa spoke at this time: "After nightfall at sea, the number of anomalous entities is too dense. Many times, even without a dark mark, it's very easy to be discovered. So we all use a kind of lure agent, synthesized from cold-dark reagents and biological active enzymes. To a certain extent, it will produce a higher mark fluctuation than people without dark marks. Just a little bit is enough to trigger attacks within a very large range."