Chapter 503

Waikiki Island, downtown Honolulu

A rotting palm slapped against the giant neon sign of “Sunshine Hawaii,” leaving a greasy smear; beneath the sign, a female zombie clad in a tattered bikini, her torso reduced to half, turned her milky-white eyes aimlessly—her hollow gaze swept across the silent streets, past the crushed piles of Tonglei inside the tilted tour bus—suddenly, the bright sunshine turned pitch black.

The howling wind grew fiercer; the zombie and other shambling undead on the streets turned their heads toward the Honolulu mountain range, where the sky had been replaced by a “wall”—a wall stretching from heaven to sea, swallowing all light; it was not pure darkness, but a churning mass of thick, viscous crude oil, seething with sickly crimson radiance that slowly consumed the mountains.

The darkness swallowed the Diamond Head Lighthouse, the once-famous Hollywood sign where countless tourists took photos, then the tunnel piercing through the mountain; the crimson-black tide surged like a solid flood, crashing into the tunnel entrance, instantly drowning the abandoned vehicles, skeletons, billboards, and several shambling zombies trying to crawl out.

The crimson washed over the white sands of Waikiki Beach, swallowing countless zombies numbly—but after being engulfed, their forms began to twist in uncanny ways: bodies arched violently, emitting inhuman, bone-cracking “cracks.” Their eyes swelled like balloons, first gray-white, then bursting, twisting into sludge-like masses; their shadows devoured and fused together, mutating into grotesque creatures beyond description.

Aaah!!

Strange shrieks rose in chorus, accompanied by black shadows writhing like mad demons in the crimson—within moments, the city became a hell of inhuman horror.

Those crimson bodies twisted and deformed beyond description; Lin Xian’s surveillance equipment lost signal the instant it was swallowed by crimson—but through the fragmented residual footage, he still sensed an abnormality far beyond expectation.

On the Skytrain, Lin Xian watched the anomalies across the island, his expression darkening; this time, directly sensing the crimson’s descent was far more terrifying than through the consciousness link; merely a few scattered images made him understand the crimson’s power—without a vehicle or full-body power armor, no adept could survive within it.

Although everyone aboard the Infinite was equipped with Lin Xian’s interstellar-grade power armor, they were still an extremely rare minority; even within the Interstellar Army, only elite units carried power armor above the Dark Wolf class; most regular soldiers had only partial or auxiliary armor; both the Phoenix Society and the military were like this—let alone ordinary survivors.

Booom!

A piercing sonic wail sliced through the main bridge, like an invisible wavefront instantly turning the sky full of monstrous fish into a continuous crimson mist—its power rivaled that of ten 1130s firing simultaneously; Lin Xian turned toward the tower—Mo Nika stood with one hand on her hip, calm and composed, her sonic sword piercing straight through the bulletproof window and electrostatic field without a trace, needing no exposure to the outside; on the other side, Qian Dele’s Divine Speed Kick, originally a martial art, now fired high-energy golden beams—clearly, both their abilities had undergone a qualitative transformation after activating the lattice!

Lin Xian watched the faintly visible dark energy currents swirling in the cold air—this power was profoundly mysterious, enabling Shu Qin to turn a single firearm into artillery-level firepower—utterly incredible.

“All our Dark Markers are lit—monsters within at least five kilometers of sea around us are converging on us!”

Sha Sha, seated at the comms station, said while watching the radar panel: “There are aerial ones too.”

At this moment, the Pacific’s waves surged, white bubble zones stretching like a line across the northern and southern horizons—like a shockwave radiating from the Star Abyss’s core toward the sea, charging forward with ferocious force.

The Skytrain raced along its track, synchronized with the white bubble zone below; one glance revealed the entire ocean had turned into a boiling sea of white foam, countless bizarre sea creatures swarming en masse toward the train.

Lin Xian looked up at the sky—now everyone had activated their lattices, all Dark Markers lit, dark clouds loomed overhead, more flying monsters pouring in; one look told him instantly: within those clouds, terrifying atmospheric creatures must exist.

“According to this speed, we’ll hit the tsunami in thirty seconds!”

Sha Sha turned back to Lin Xian, her small face tense: “Lin brother, ready to ascend?”

Lin Xian was about to reply when his headset suddenly crackled with Ningjing’s voice.

“Lin team leader.”

Boom!

On the intercontinental train’s roof, a violent shockwave exploded through hundreds of meters of air, punching a vacuum zone seven to eight meters wide through the swarm of monstrous fish, spraying crimson mist; at the shockwave’s origin, Ningjing—towering like a miniature giant—roared with lattice power, still frozen in the pose of a sharp punch; her brow furrowed—after channeling lattice energy, she suddenly sensed something; dark energy rippled around her, and her body visibly shrank before their eyes.

Realizing this, Ningjing exhaled slightly in relief, but didn’t dwell on it—she looked upward and continued through the comm: “We can’t fly too high—if we get a Level Four marker from a Special-Class entity, given the current density of aberrations in the spreading zone, trouble will be immense!”

“Yeah, there’s already too many!!”

“Watch out! Watch out!”

Beside Ningjing, Lu Chang and Miao Lu were already overwhelmed under the train’s automated fire support, facing a deluge of attacks; they hadn’t undergone lattice evolution—their combat power was only around four thousand; even now, with no higher-level aberrations appearing, if A-Class or Special-Class entities erupted in the sky, they’d have to retreat inside the train and fight from within.

“I know.”

On the main bridge, Lin Xian understood their situation perfectly—the Skytrain’s firepower was strong, and the monsters surging from the crimson were manageable for the few who’d evolved their lattices; but under this massive Star Abyss disturbance, they must avoid raising the concentration of Dark Markers too high—he feared it would snowball out of control; they were fleeing, not fighting a full-scale battle.

“Prepare for takeoff—everyone, stay alert. I’ll control altitude; there may be other dangers beneath the wave crest. Mo Nika, Qian Dele—watch the water. Long Zhijie, Lu Xingchen—watch the sky!”

Just as Lin Xian finished speaking, Lu Xingchen’s voice suddenly crackled over the channel.

“Lin Xian—wait.”

At the train’s front, on the elevated platform extending from the Sky Bridge, a figure stood bathed in the eerie crimson glow cast by the Star Abyss storm behind him—strikingly vivid; Lu Xingchen had removed his power armor helmet, letting the wild wind tousle his messy black hair; he hovered serenely several meters above the train, arms crossed behind his back, robes snapping in the gale, facing the apocalyptic tsunami wall.