Chapter 51: The Mutual Aid Bonfire

Jiang City had already been engulfed by the polar night, having lost long-wave signals more than twenty days prior. To acquire the latest world intelligence and escape the eerie encroachment of the endless night, he had no choice but to flee eastward by any means necessary.

Although his Mechanical Heart possessed immense potential, its functionality initially far outweighed its combat capability. Take that giant bug for instance—if Lin Xian had been driving an ordinary car, he would have perished in some desolate mountain wilderness long ago.

"Hey, I think you're a bit more capable than I expected."

At this moment, KIKI suddenly spoke up.

Lin Xian gave a wry smile. "You should go get some rest. I'll need you to take the second half of the night watch."

"Got it!"

KIKI smiled, turned to walk away a couple of steps, and then suddenly looked back.

"By the way, besides trains, can you drive other types of machinery?"

"Probably. What are you referring to?"

"Like mechs—I mean those fully intact mechs, the Guardian II and Guardian III series light assault types, or perhaps the Destroyer heavy military siege type. If we could get our hands on big rigs like those, wouldn't you no longer have to worry about fighting those giant bugs?"

Lin Xian's gaze flickered slightly. "I'd love to, if the opportunity arises..."

How could he have never imagined such a scenario? If given the choice, who would want to hack away at bugs with a blade?

Who wouldn't want to pilot a humanoid mobile suit?

Let alone those heavy-duty equipments, even some higher-tier mechanical combat components would suffice. However, he rarely even laid eyes on such items, let alone blueprints.

Hum~

At that moment, the sound of a motorcycle engine broke the silence of the wilderness. Lin Xian and KIKI shifted their expressions and turned simultaneously.

In the distance, a glaring beam of headlights flickered continuously, the engine roar growing louder. Hearing the commotion, Teacher Chen and the other two hurried over from a distant carriage.

"A motorcycle? What are they up to?" KIKI stepped back closer to the rear of the armored vehicle.

Lin Xian narrowed his eyes, noticing that only a single vehicle was approaching, and did not immediately halt his devouring process.

With the building and KIKI around, he wasn't feeling overly panicked.

At this point, the motorcycle's headlight suddenly flashed twice, paused for a moment, and flashed twice more.

Two shorts and one long—the strangers were using light signals. Lin Xian frowned and immediately said, "They seem to be showing friendliness, but let's not lower our guard just yet."

He made a hand gesture toward Teacher Chen and the others at carriage No. 5, signaling them not to stick their heads out.

"Hey~~ Don't shoot!"

When they were still a few hundred meters away, the person on the motorcycle began to shout. Before long, the motorcycle plowed through the snow dust across the wilderness and entered the illuminated perimeter of the train.

Screech~

The motorcycle executed a sharp, elegant drift, coming to a halt right below the track ramp. There were two people on the bike: a man and a woman.

The man stopped the motorcycle and removed his helmet. He looked to be in his early thirties with light stubble and somewhat handsome features. The woman was dressed in leather jacket and trousers, with two handguns holstered in leg rigs, her expression rather cold and aloof.

Lin Xian gazed at the two of them with guarded eyes. "Who goes there?"

The man raised both hands with a smile.

"Don't be nervous, no hostility here. Let me introduce myself—Jiang Yun, captain of the Chasing Wind Convoy. This is my second-in-command, Ren Huiyan. I've had my eyes on you ever since you crossed Beiwan and entered the mountains."

Jiang Yun's gaze swept past Lin Xian and KIKI, then shifted toward the tall building near the entrance of carriage No. 5, a look of astonishment crossing his face.

"It seems my guess was right. There really is more than one esper here."

Hearing this, Lin Xian and the others turned slightly solemn, wondering who on earth this man was and how he could instantly identify espers at a glance.

"What do you want?"

KIKI squinted at the two of them and asked directly in a clear voice.

"Of course I have business." Jiang Yun raised a finger to point further down the tracks. "A little over thirty kilometers ahead is Quguan City. More than a dozen convoys are stationed there, all gathered from the 7th frequency band. I initiated a mutual aid bonfire there, and I was wondering if you might be interested."

"A mutual aid bonfire? What's that supposed to mean?"

Jiang Yun smiled and said, "It means nearby survivors gathering together to exchange supplies, information, and the like. In this world, who hasn't run into a bit of trouble?"

"Oh~ You guys can actually light bonfires and gather like that? Aren't you afraid of running into monsters?" KIKI looked astonished.

"Sorry, I'm not interested." Hearing this, Lin Xian refused outright.

"Don't be so uptight, friend." Jiang Yun looked at Lin Xian with a scrutinizing gaze, speaking with a composed demeanor. "Judging by your appearance, you've encountered plenty of trouble along the way. Train armor, huh? Well, the main railway sections are still operational because the Federal Phoenix Society is still conducting various combat maneuvers. If you have electric-type or bio-symbiotic-type esper abilities, that train is a pretty good choice, though."

"Right." At this point, Jiang Yun pulled a small object from his upper pocket and placed it in his palm. Upon closer inspection, it was a dark red small glass bead. "The Phoenix Society calls this thing a bizarre blood essence, but we wanderers usually just call them red beans. If I'm not mistaken, your radio probably hasn't been receiving any signals, otherwise you should be able to pick up the 7th frequency band and the Phoenix Society's long-wave frequency. Wrap copper wire around this, connect it to your radio antenna—this thing possesses energy that resonates with the dark anomalies, and you can pick up ion signal waves from it."

"However... you must also be careful." Jiang Yun tossed the red bead in his hand, his expression complex. "Using this thing doesn't just let you pick up signals generated by humans..."

"Ah?! So you guys actually receive long-wave frequencies!" KIKI looked amazed. "Where did these red beads come from?"

At this moment, the cold-faced woman on the motorcycle finally spoke up.

"Any anomaly in the dark night. Kill them, and you'll get them."

"That's right." Jiang Yun nodded, his gaze turning slightly sharp. "It seems you really didn't know. The Phoenix Society broadcasts a lot of vital information on the LW01 long-wave frequency, while we wanderers primarily focus on using the AM07 and AM09 frequency bands. The information on these is relatively friendlier, but you still need to exercise caution. In the apocalypse, there are plenty of people harboring malicious intentions."

He put his helmet back on and looked at Lin Xian. "Don't be nervous, friend. It's just an invitation; coming or not is entirely voluntary. If you have needs, you can come take a look to get news about the nearby area—food, water, weapons, supplies, equipment, esper evolution, dark items... whatever you can think of, you might just find someone trading it. Besides, where we hold the mutual aid bonfire, we usually conduct soul-ripple value testing, so the chances of encountering anomalies or bizarre events are somewhat lower, though it might still attract zombies. If you do come, make sure not to bring trouble with you."

Hum~

Without any further chatter, the man twisted the throttle and rode off into the distance.

"Wow, so survivors can gather like this. It seems some people have already acquired equipment capable of detecting soul-ripple values." KIKI looked at Lin Xian with a surprised expression. "Are you interested?"

"Of course I am."

Lin Xian's expression settled slightly. Jiang Yun was right; he had indeed been a bit too tense.

Ever since leaving Jiang City, it had been trouble all the way with hardly any breathing room, which was why he had rejected Jiang Yun's invitation without a second thought.

However, hearing this now, he felt that attending the mutual aid bonfire was a necessity.

"What a pity, we didn't properly search for these red beads on that giant bug or that big spider earlier." KIKI wore a look of deep regret.

Lin Xian glanced at her. "Your intelligence files didn't even mention this?"

KIKI pouted. "Didn't I tell you that was an early initial report? The situation changes every day now, and there are plenty of things we know that the authorities might not. For example, that special fog we encountered in Beiwan wasn't in any official collected data."

"That's true as well."

Lin Xian nodded. "We need to find a way to get one of those red beads. Besides, I'm also concerned about the soul-ripple value detection he mentioned, as well as... information on esper evolution."

Food and water were currently not the primary concerns for Lin Xian; marching forward blindly in the dark due to a lack of crucial information was the real hazard.

"Teacher Chen."

Lin Xian called out to Chen Sixuan at that moment. "Let's start up the electric locomotive and head over to Quguan Station to check it out. KIKI, Building, Shasha, you guys stay on high alert."

"Got it." Chen Sixuan nodded and immediately set to work.

"Awesome!" KIKI smiled excitedly and hurried back toward her information center.

The siblings from the building also raised their guns and took up guard.

Hum!

The "Infinity" in the dark night suddenly gave a heavy jolt and slowly began to move forward.