Chapter 4: The Mysterious Girl

"Ugh—ah!" A spine-chilling shriek echoed. Watching the scene unfold, Lin Xian's expression darkened. The girl was still so young. Even though he had witnessed countless tragedies over the past few days, he couldn’t help but feel a twinge of pity. Just as Lin Xian thought the girl was about to be devoured by the zombie and the monstrous insect, an invisible shockwave suddenly erupted from her body. It roared outward with a deafening boom. Before Lin Xian could react, the door in front of him, along with himself, was blasted away by a powerful gust! Boom! In an instant, all the glass in the room shattered, and the furniture splintered into pieces. Lin Xian was thrown into a state of shock as he was flung by the shockwave and crashed hard against the iron grilles of the living room window. His ears buzzed loudly, rendering him momentarily disoriented. Thankfully, his body had been enhanced;otherwise, he would have passed out on the spot. The sudden upheaval shook the entire apartment building. Almost immediately, a cacophony of howls erupted, and swarms of zombies began flooding the hallway. "Damn it!" Struggling to his feet, Lin Xian cursed silently. At that moment, the zombified Uncle Li, controlled by the monstrous insect, had already stumbled into the living room without him noticing. Switching on his flashlight, Lin Xian was horrified to see "Uncle Li" crawling on all fours. The zombie suddenly leapt from the floor with a strange, guttural cry and hurled its foul, putrid body straight at him. Lin Xian gasped sharply, his blood pumping wildly. He instinctively retreated a few steps and raised his hand to unleash a Wind Cannon! Whoosh! Fueled by panic and rage, Lin Xian poured every ounce of strength into the attack. A rapid wind spear shot out with explosive force! "Argh!!!" In an instant, black blood splattered everywhere. The grotesque corpse took a direct hit to the face. Half of its head was blown apart as it rolled to the side, scattering chunks of rotten flesh on the ground. Shaken but not hesitating, Lin Xian grabbed his short blade and charged forward decisively. He plunged the blade straight through the black insect! Squelch! Screech—!! The black insect let out an eerie shriek, its numerous legs convulsing madly. Lin Xian gripped the short blade tightly, not daring to let his guard down. Unexpectedly, the black insect twisted its body and severed itself from the blade. It then quickly scurried into the shadows. "Are you kidding me? This thing is that smart?!" Lin Xian cursed under his breath. The commotion had drawn a horde of zombies charging toward his once-safe haven. With no time to lose, he grabbed his backpack, stuffed it with whatever supplies he could, and looked toward the corridor. The girl was lying motionless on the ground. Even after causing such a massive disturbance, she was still unconscious? Lin Xian's mind raced. It wasn’t hard to guess—this girl was likely an Ability User. But why had she sought him out? Unable to figure it out, he gritted his teeth, deciding to save her first and deal with the questions later. Scooping the girl into his arms, Lin Xian bolted down the emergency stairs. With his shelter destroyed, he had no choice but to charge into the underground tunnels. Behind him, countless zombies swarmed the stairwell, relentlessly pursuing him as he ran. Splat! Splat! Along the way, Lin Xian repeatedly used his Wind Cannon to take out several zombies. Finally, he reached the Infinite Train. Placing his hand on the train’s body, the Mechanical Heart activated, opening the cockpit door. Lin Xian quickly shoved the girl inside before climbing in himself. Bang! The heavy cabin door shut, and the corridor lights flickered on. Leaning against the steel wall, Lin Xian let out a long sigh of relief. "Ugh—ah! Ugh!" The zombie horde surged forward, surrounding the train in mere minutes. Countless claws scratched against the train, producing ear-piercing screeches. What the zombies didn’t understand was that the massive steel behemoth in front of them weighed several hundred tons. Even its thinnest armor plate was at least 40 millimeters thick. Regular bullets couldn’t even leave a dent, let alone the rotting claws of zombies. Wiping sweat from his brow, Lin Xian moved to the first carriage and pulled up one of the blackout shades. The train's interior lights illuminated the grotesque, rotting faces of the zombies outside. Snap. He pulled the shade back down. Fortunately, he had managed to complete the train’s armor installation earlier that day. Just to be sure, he performed a quick inspection before turning off all the lights inside the train. Afterward, he headed to the cockpit and retrieved a black remote control. On the other side of the tunnel, he had set up a large remote-controlled speaker as a decoy, just in case he was ever besieged by a zombie horde while trying to start the train. Beep— A booming sound echoed from afar, immediately drawing the zombies away in a frenzied rush. Within moments, the sound of scratching against the train’s exterior gradually faded into silence. Inside the train, Lin Xian let out a breath of relief. Turning on his phone flashlight, he began examining the girl’s condition. To his surprise, the girl didn’t have a single external injury. The blood on her body didn’t even seem to be hers... This girl... there was definitely something strange about her. Lin Xian gazed at the sleeping little girl, feeling a sense of helplessness. Her sudden appearance had completely disrupted his plans. The most critical issue was his gut feeling—this girl definitely possessed some kind of special Ability. Otherwise, there was no way she could have survived unscathed, running through the perilous night and ending up outside his door without so much as a scratch. Taking a girl like this with him was undoubtedly a potential liability—a ticking time bomb. After a moment of deliberation, Lin Xian grabbed some rope and securely tied the sleeping girl’s hands and feet. Then, he carried her to the No. 2 Carriage, placed her on a blanket, and let her lie down. After finishing everything, he returned to the No. 1 Carriage to figure out his next steps. Furrowing his brow, Lin Xian reopened the map and began searching again. "If I start the train tomorrow and head along Line 3 to find Teacher Chen, wouldn’t that be a shorter route?" The idea was bold. If it worked, he could reduce much of the danger along the way and simultaneously test the locomotive’s capabilities. Sure enough, after checking the map, Lin Xian realized that the residential complex where Chen Sixuan lived was less than 300 meters from the nearest subway station. "Heh~" He smirked and said, "What a prime location, Teacher Chen. You really nailed it with this property..." It was a sleepless night. For the first time, Lin Xian spent the night on the Infinite Train. Although the steel fortress he had built with his own hands provided him with significant security, the night’s upheavals still left him unsettled. This was his first encounter with the “Eerie” of the night. Although it had been just a single monstrous insect, the thing was utterly disgusting. Not only that, but it was clearly much smarter than the zombies. On top of that, now there was a mysterious girl lying in his train carriage—how could he possibly sleep soundly under these circumstances? At 2:00 PM, daylight came an hour later than expected. Lin Xian remained in the subway tunnel, surrounded by pitch-black darkness, but his watch indicated that it was already daytime outside. Sitting in the Infinite Train's driver’s seat, a faint glow flickered in his eyes as he seemed to connect with the enormous machine's aura. Vroom— The turbocharger roared to life. The crankshaft and connecting rods emitted sharp metallic clinks as the horizon gate system opened. Clack! The amber-orange headlights instantly illuminated the dark subway tunnel, making it as bright as daylight. Lin Xian’s gaze sharpened. "It’s time to go, my friend." Clang! Clang! The steel colossus, dormant for decades, roared back to life. Dust and iron filings slid off its frame as the Infinite Train, dragging three armored carriages behind it, slowly merged from the maintenance track onto the main subway line. Devouring the black mist ahead, it charged forward with an earth-shaking roar!