Chapter 472: Dark Energy Outburst

Lin Xian closed his eyes, exhaustion washing over him like a tide; compared to his earlier self when he’d first left Jiangcheng, fleeing zombie threats aboard the Infinite Train, his mind now felt heavy and dull.

From the Celestial Giant Corpse to the Sky Mushroom Tower, from human grotesque transformations to dark invasions.

To this day, humanity still does not know what enemy it faces.

On Revelation Day, endless zombie tides, invasive mutations, dark tides, eternal night, grotesque entities, then gradually the expansion of the Star Abyss, S-class consciousness, the mysterious inscriptions on the Southern Heaven Gate’s photovoltaic wings—Lin Xian had once believed that as escape and war progressed, humanity would gradually uncover everything hidden in the dark.

Like discovering the Dark Mark, Cold Dark Particles, Dark Energy Synergy, mycelial brain-machine interfaces…

Just when humanity thought it was about to lift the veil of terror, the next night remained filled with despair.

What unsettled Lin Xian this time was the dimensional entity black hole of Silver Dragon Ten Thousand Errors; after witnessing the dimensional lines of time, he felt his worldview and optimism had been severely shaken.

Because he realized destruction was not an inevitable outcome—destruction itself, at a higher dimension, was merely an event manifestation. This idea might not be absolute, perhaps still debatable, yet it sent a chill down his spine.

If time is a physical entity, then does the countdown in his eyes mean he is already on a fixed event path, and all his current actions and efforts will ultimately lead to this same outcome…

Lin Xian dared not think further, yet just moments ago, he had indeed altered the team’s fate of disaster.

“Should I talk to Director Ding about Silver Dragon Ten Thousand Errors and that countdown…”

Lin Xian thought for a moment, then dismissed the idea—better to sleep first; perhaps at dawn he could try contacting Chu Yan and the Phoenix Society.

…

Gloop, gloop~

The muffled pressure of water in his ears made Lin Xian feel like a canned meal simmering in a pot; the oxygen generator and air system kept the carriage filled with a fresh scent tinged with steel and metal, tricking him into thinking the train was racing across vast grasslands beneath a gentle breeze—but Lin Xian guessed that right now, the Infinite Train was surely still thousands of meters beneath the Pacific Ocean, drifting like a ghost.

Opening his eyes, his vision showed only dim, faint indicator lights glowing in the dark bedroom; Lin Xian lay flat on his back, no clatter of wheels on rails— the train’s smoothness felt like floating on clouds. If not for the deep-sea pressure, he might have mistaken this for waking in the middle of the night back in his own bedroom.

Quiet, cool, comfortable—so long as he didn’t think about the ten-thousand-meter abyss beneath the carriage, it was almost pleasant.

Beep, beep.

The watch’s alert sounded; Lin Xian immediately frowned, lifting his hand to look at it.

8:00

He’d slept nearly nine hours!

“Damn…”

Overslept!

Lin Xian immediately tried to roll over, but as he sat up, he realized someone was lying on top of him. He raised a finger, lighting the room—and saw Shizhi sprawled across his stomach. The girl looked utterly exhausted, not wearing her power armor, just curled on his belly, one finger extended toward his chest, still in the posture of activating her ability.

“This girl… didn’t she release her ability all night?” Lin Xian’s eyes flickered. He gently lifted her forehead and found she was fast asleep, her face slightly warm, her hair pressed into sleep-wrinkles against her skin.

Seeing this, Lin Xian sighed softly: “No wonder I slept so long.”

Shizhi’s ability was exceptionally effective for spiritual healing; in the Fifth Star Abyss, facing violent dark invasion forces, she had helped everyone purify and recover. A rare ability system. After being cared for by her all night, Lin Xian now felt his entire body—no fatigue remained, every limb felt clear and open, even his focus sharpened.

“Thank you.”

Lin Xian whispered, then rose and carried the girl to a nearby sofa chair, draping a blanket over her.

Having finished, he stepped out to head for the cockpit—but when he opened the bedroom door, he found all the carriage lights had been turned off, leaving only faint corridor lights glowing, enough to outline the carriage and hallway.

Lin Xian frowned, walking into the cockpit, and saw Chen Sixuan slumped asleep in the pilot’s seat, while Viola stood upright before the console, arms folded behind her, steadfast at her post.

“Why is everyone asleep?” Lin Xian’s expression was puzzled. “And have we left the current? Why didn’t anyone wake me?”

【Rest assured, I have executed your plan. Current conditions are normal.】

Viola turned to Lin Xian, her tone calm: 【Our navigation group entered the radial dispersion zone south of the Queensland Islands at 5 hours and 32 minutes. This area averages 3,300 meters in depth. After analysis and reconnaissance, Ms. Chen Sixuan approved my proposal to proceed at low speed and silence toward the Republic Islands. For safety, I set the cruise speed to 15 knots and maintained a depth of 1,500 meters—sufficient to deploy unmanned submersibles for surveillance protection.】

Lin Xian said, “So we’ve been cruising toward the Republic Islands for five hours?”

【Yes. After exiting the danger zone, crew members began resting gradually. Perhaps the escape from Lidao drained too much energy—most passengers are now in deep sleep. I consider this a beneficial form of protection and recovery, so I dimmed all vehicle lighting to allow everyone to rest quietly until dawn.】

“It’s not that they’re exhausted—it’s that Hell Black Chrysanthemum released too much pure dark energy!”

Lin Xian turned back toward the nearly opaque green energy filling the carriage, frowning softly: “So much… how?”

He didn’t understand why, with no grotesque entities slain, Hell Black Chrysanthemum had absorbed so much dark energy. He walked toward the rear carriage, and as he went, the dark energy grew denser—immediately, a thought surfaced in his mind.

Absorbing too much dark energy—could it have side effects? So many people falling into deep sleep felt… off.

But as Lin Xian returned to Carriage One, a light screen suddenly flashed before his eyes.

【Non-mechanical energy converted. Gained 1,000 mechanical source points.】

“Of course—Mechanical Cube has converted more mechanical source points for me…”

【Non-mechanical energy converted. Gained 1,000 mechanical source points.】

One more step forward—the screen flashed again.

Lin Xian stopped. The Mechanical Heart’s screen now appeared like delayed chat messages, popping one after another, freezing him in place.

【Non-mechanical energy converted. Gained 1,000 mechanical source points.】

3,000…

4,000…

As the screens kept flashing, Lin Xian watched his Mechanical Heart’s experience level numbers climb relentlessly, the notifications pouring in without pause.

5,000…

7,000…

10,000…

【Non-mechanical energy converted. Gained 400 mechanical source points.】

When the final source point notification appeared, Lin Xian realized—his Mechanical Heart’s level had surged from 22,220, after devouring the damaged Dreadnought-class unit, straight to 39,800!

17,580 points!

“What the hell? Did Hell Black Chrysanthemum take a wrong pill?”