Chapter 440: Under the Prison (End-of-month request for monthly votes)

Darkness swallowed the entire city like a tide; waves surged along the coastline, and undercurrents churned.

The Infinity train sat quietly docked in the maintenance section of the air-raid shelter. Its engines were dead, all lights extinguished, and everyone on board deliberately lowered even their breathing. Inside the carriages, only the faint red glow of the instrument panels flickered occasionally, illuminating the tense faces of the passengers. Even Ding Junyi cooperated by stopping her movements, standing in place with her hands in her pockets, waiting for the darkness to respond.

This moment was often the most dangerous.

Chen Sixuan stood before the cockpit's observation window, peering through night-vision goggles into the depths of the tunnel, where the main track passage lay.

"Something is coming." Mo Mo Nika activated her sonic ability, keenly capturing the eerie sounds emanating from deep within the tracks. Chen Sixuan's gaze sharpened; her sensory evolution had also greatly enhanced her auditory acuity. Though not as monstrous as Mo Mo Nika's ability, she could still hear a multitude of rustling sounds approaching from afar.

"Everyone, prepare to engage," Chen Sixuan said in a low voice over the communicator, her expression taut.

Rustling sounds echoed in the tunnel, like some multi-legged creature crawling on the rails, occasionally interspersed with low, guttural roars, as if their throats were stuffed with rotting flesh. As the sounds grew more numerous, the Infinity crew tightened their fists. Hearing Shu Qin and the others rested their fingers lightly on their triggers, waiting to open fire.

Just then, Chen Sixuan and Mo Mo Nika watched through the night-vision goggles as several eerie figures darted past at high speed, rushing toward the distance accompanied by roars, seemingly unaware of the Infinity's presence.

"They're heading toward the bait!" The footage from Luo Yang's drone showed a group of Red Bones sprinting along the main track. Their skeletons glowed with an eerie phosphorescence in the darkness, as if driven by some force, frantically charging into the depths of the city.

"It's not just what we released; there's also that big guy released by the Holy City organization earlier. The darkness must have focused its attention in that direction!" Qian Dele analyzed at this moment.

"How strange, these monsters... are they fleeing?" Shasha stared at the screen, her voice barely a whisper.

"No, not fleeing." Long Zhijie's telekinesis fluctuated slightly as he sensed the energy flow in the distance: "They are being driven by something."

Boom—at this moment, a series of slight earthquake-like sounds came from the tunnel. Dust fell continuously, causing the Infinity, hidden in the maintenance section, to feel a rumble. Everyone's expression changed slightly upon feeling this movement.

"A large creature is coming..."

Chen Sixuan's expression was solemn: "Everyone, keep your cool and act according to the situation!"

Luo Yang operated the drone with extreme caution. Cold sweat broke out on his face as he began to carefully withdraw the drone, saying, "It should be the same ones Lin Dui and Ning Jing saw on the coast and in the sea, and what Ryan and the others mentioned—those massive creatures approaching Haiyan Island. They are at least A-rank or Special-rank, and it's very likely there will be S-rank ones."

"S-rank? Isn't that too exaggerated?" Lv Chang asked nervously.

Hearing Shu Qin was calm: "That Giant Ocean God has already appeared; S-rank or whatever is not strange at all."

In the cockpit, Mo Mo Nika and Chen Sixuan watched the pitch-black passage in silence. Mo Mo Nika then turned to ask Chen Sixuan:

"If we are discovered, do we have any other options?"

Chen Sixuan took a deep breath, looked ahead, and said: "If we were going to be discovered, we would have been attacked when it got dark, so..."

"I mean, what if." Mo Mo Nika's gaze was like a torch.

Chen Sixuan paused, then responded calmly: "Then we kill. It's not like we haven't experienced bloody battles throughout the night."

Mo Mo Nika said softly: "Taking life and death lightly is also quite good."

Chen Sixuan looked at her, seemingly detecting a different nuance: "Do you have any thoughts?"

"It's not that I have any thoughts." Mo Mo Nika crossed her arms and let out a long breath, a curve forming at the corner of her lips, and said: "It's just that after getting to know Lin Xian, he always gives me the illusion that there is still hope in despair."

"Isn't that a good thing?"

"In my view, he isn't the kind of leader who can lead a large fleet, but he always gives people a feeling—a sense of security? No, it's more like a kind of irrational brilliance that makes people downplay or reduce their rational fear of the Dark Civilization and the Apocalypse. In reality, objectively speaking, everything we encounter, including the future of our survival, looks incredibly desperate." Mo Mo Nika turned to look at Chen Sixuan and said flatly: "This kind of despair is actually more terrifying than the dark invasion, isn't it?"

Chen Sixuan was silent for a moment, then said: "Lin Xian and Professor Ye Lan believe that another civilization exists within this catastrophe. This might be an opportunity for humanity to survive, so Lin Xian attempts to explore it using his mechanical ability and his identity as a Sword Bearer. I understand his perspective. The information on the Nantian Sect photovoltaic wing, the retreat of the Dawn City Star Abyss—as long as the deterrence concept proposed by the Phoenix Society still exists, as long as these anomalies haven't been truly confirmed, and the Dark Civilization hasn't destroyed the world before the next dawn, then for Lin Xian and Professor Ye, it is all correct."

She looked at Mo Mo Nika: "This is what Lin Xian insists on. Although it is all speculation without a shred of evidence, it is precisely because he insists on this point that he keeps himself in this seemingly irrational state."

"In fact, from this angle, he is very rational." Mo Mo Nika nodded: "It seems my understanding of him is still not deep enough."

Chen Sixuan's gaze was faint: "Not deep enough..."

Boom—the earth trembled, and their conversation was interrupted. The entire underground tunnel seemed to be shaking violently. Large amounts of sand, stone, and fragments of the walls fell, hitting the Infinity's body with a clattering sound.

At this moment, the night was like ink. On the coastline, the seawater surged, and massive shadows emerged from the deep sea.

First were the tentacles—black, thick as buildings, slapping against the reefs and kicking up waves dozens of meters high. Then came the torso—a mountain-like tumor slowly surfaced, its surface covered in wriggling holes. From each hole, a rotting human head protruded, their eyes glowing with a ghostly blue light, silently scanning the city.

The giant starfish that surfaced, the curled giant skeletons drifting above the water, and a bizarre floating island drifting from afar accompanied by a storm...

In the city ruins, Split-tail Humans, Red Bones, and even deformed creatures never seen before crawled out of sewers, subway entrances, and collapsed buildings. As if summoned by some invisible signal, they slowly gathered toward the abandoned urban area and the collapsed West Track Station. Chaotic roars echoed through the streets. The empty residential buildings on the coastline collapsed under the impact of the giant starfish. That terrifying black shadow drifted over the city like a cosmic ghost.

"I wonder how Lin Xian is doing..." Chen Sixuan said, listening to the terrifying commotion outside, her eyes filled with worry: "In this situation, they shouldn't be able to approach us tonight."