Chapter 58 Preparation

...

Over on Lin Xian's side, the three of them drove back to the platform, reloaded the jeep onto the train, and returned to the carriage. Immediately afterward, they started the train. With a low roar from the engine and the rumble of rolling wheels, the train began to pull away from Quguan Station.

"I thought you guys would be staying there much longer," Chen Sixuan asked on the train, seeing Lin Xian get moving so quickly.

"We can't afford to stop for long..." Lin Xian exhaled a breath, looking at the dense, impenetrable darkness outside the train window. He now needed to seize the time to devour the captured vehicles and that heavy locomotive.

He glanced at the firearms on the floor and looked at Chen Sixuan with a surprised gaze. "Are you learning how to use a gun from Shasha?"

Chen Sixuan's expression froze for a moment, then she nodded nervously. "Most of the time I can't be of any help. I saw that Shasha is so young yet knows how to use a gun, so I wanted to learn too."

Lin Xian nodded. In the apocalypse, learning more ways to protect oneself was always a good thing. Now that they had acquired plenty of weapons, Chen Sixuan didn't want to remain a useless vase holding everyone back, so she had started learning firearm knowledge from Shasha.

Although Lou Shasha was also an amateur, the little girl was exceptionally smart and mature far beyond her peers. Initially, she had learned from Da Lou, but over time she had become increasingly proficient.

Normally, she didn't care much for pistols or rifles, wandering around all day carrying a grenade launcher. However, her stock of VOG-25 40mm grenades was down to just a few pieces. Although Lin Xian had scanned the blueprints, he lacked many of the raw materials for the ammunition—especially high-energy explosives like poly(nitrogen) anions—so he couldn't replenish her ammo supply right away.

"Bad guy, hurry up and get that radio working!" Kiki urged eagerly.

Lin Xian nodded, took out his radio, opened his mechanical manufacturing interface, and built a simple frame device following Jiang Yun's instructions.

Very soon, Lin Xian sketched out the blueprint while applying a layer of hard plastic material to the exterior.

*Hum~* A flash of white light appeared in his hand. The copper sheet materials and black plastic flew out from the disassembly space and were swiftly manufactured into an outer peripheral frame for the radio. Right after that, he produced the dark red, eerie blood essence.

The others watched in wonder, their gazes shifting back to the red orb.

"Is this the thing left behind after a night monster dies?" Lou Shasha asked with a face full of apprehension.

Kiki picked it up and inspected it. "It's ice-cold, and it feels like some kind of energy is flowing inside."

"Be careful," Lin Xian warned. "Since it doesn't belong to humanity, we must maintain a high degree of vigilance. Right now, the Phoenix Society is publicly advertising only the functions and benefits of this thing, but who knows if there are any side effects?"

Hearing this, Kiki stuck out her tongue and hastily returned it to Lin Xian's palm as if trying to avoid a plague. "You're right. Then you'd better get the radio sorted out first."

Lin Xian took it back and immediately plugged the eerie blood essence into a slot he had designed in advance. Then, under everyone's watchful eyes, he turned on the radio.

At that moment, a strange wave of energy seemed to flash past, sending a chill down everyone's spine.

"Static..."

"Static..."

"Federal... Federal Radio YB Regional Report: Strong fluctuations in spirit-wavering values have occurred in the northern foothills of Mount Daluo. Survivor convoys traveling along routes G1523 and X556 toward Yubei and Fengcheng are advised to detour. This message is provided by the Federal Phoenix Society rescue organization..."

"Wow, it really works!" Kiki exclaimed.

"Static... Static... City Warning Report: Port No. 1 of the Yubei City Huanxing Ring has ceased operation, and a large number of survivor convoys are blocked there. All survivor convoys are urged not to gather inside the city. There is a massive horde of corpses and eerie entities roaming within the city, which is extremely dangerous. A detour is strongly recommended!"

Beside him, Chen Sixuan wore a surprised expression, covering her small mouth as she said, "Lin Xian, the railway section of Jiangyu JY3365 seems to pass right through the northern foothills of Mount Daluo, and there are several tunnels along the way."

"I know," Lin Xian nodded.

"By the way, Brother Lin, if the climbing passage at Port No. 1 of the Huanxing Ring has stopped operating, won't our train be unable to use magnetic traction to ascend to the high-altitude tracks even if we lower the horizon traction gates?" Shasha asked with a hint of worry.

The Huanxing Orbit was a planetary-scale human engineering project constructed by the federal government on the Blue Star. It was not merely a simple railway track, but a super-project encompassing marine, terrestrial, and high-altitude infrastructures. Sections like the high-altitude corridors featured not only multiple tracks but also traction elevators for vehicles to climb, serving as short-cut lanes for rapidly crossing the Wanyuan Canyon and the Dashan Mountains.

"Don't worry," Lin Xian said, his gaze burning as he looked at Chen Sixuan. "I took that into consideration long ago, so we don't need to worry about how we'll get up there. On the contrary, the risks in the northern foothills of Mount Daluo might be much more troublesome for us."

Shasha looked at Chen Sixuan with curiosity, noticing that her expression was somewhat tense, though she still nodded back at her.

Chen Sixuan naturally understood what preparation Lin Xian was talking about, because she knew that this Blue Whale 03E heavy gas turbine locomotive had been originally designed specifically for the Huanxing Orbit.

Lin Xian activated his Mechanical Heart. *Wuu~* The power turbine at the front of the Blue Whale 03E heavy gas turbine locomotive began to slowly rotate for self-inspection. This design, once considered crazy at the time, was primarily intended to cope with early high-speed corridors or complex sea conditions. Later, as electromagnetic traction systems gradually matured, these gas turbines were gradually phased out.

Hearing this beast-like sound resonating from beneath their feet, Shasha and Da Lou looked at each other, seeming quite astonished by Lin Xian's planning.

"Bad guy, listen to this..."

At that moment, Kiki urgently hushed the others. She had tuned into the AM07 frequency mainly used by the Wanderer Alliance, which Jiang Yun had mentioned, and a man's hurried voice was broadcasting from the radio.

"This is the Iron Fortress convoy. A warning to everyone in the eastern directions of Quguan, Yuchi, Pingahu, and Congshan: We have spotted traces of the Black Crow Four-Person Syndicate in Hengxi Village. All survivors here have been massacred by them. Convoys in the vicinity must be extremely careful. Reconfirming: four modified mountain off-road vehicles with green and black graffiti, tires with rolling spikes. These individuals are all violent thugs, and three of them are supernatural beings. Please be extremely careful, please be extremely careful..."

"Gosh, four people, four vehicles, and three supernatural beings?!" Shasha made an astonished expression. "Total scumbags!"

Hearing this, Lin Xian's gaze darkened slightly. He looked at Kiki.

"If we're going to this District 9 Underground City you mentioned, it looks like we're in for some major trouble."

"Then you've guessed completely wrong!" Kiki seemed to have anticipated Lin Xian's reaction. She buried her head in her phone, swiftly swiped across a map, and showed it to Lin Xian. "Look, this is a branch line section branching off from Yuchi, bypassing Mount Daluo via the southern route from Pingahu, but it cuts off right here on the map with no clear markings further on. Meanwhile, between Yuchi Station and Yubei, there is a large freight marshalling yard, and there's also a branch line running from east to south here. Guess why that is?"

Lin Xian frowned and turned to Teacher Chen beside him for guidance.

"This kind of situation is very common," Chen Sixuan said upon hearing this. "If it's unmarked, it's usually either a military strategic location like North Bay, or internal railway merging lines for certain enterprises or mines. But Mount Daluo doesn't seem to have any mineral deposits... Could it be..."

"No need to guess," Kiki stated directly. "District 9 Underground City must be located near Mount Daluo. It's possible the former federal government hollowed out the entire underground of Mount Daluo, and a massive project like that would definitely require railway tracks as a transport tool. So if it's a new route that was left unmarked or intentionally hidden by the federal government, that makes total sense. What's more..."

She looked at Lin Xian as she spoke. "If we take this southern route around Mount Daluo, won't we bypass the exact area reported by the federal radio? As for whether that place is District 9 Underground City, with an engineering project of that scale, a brief scout will tell us immediately."

"Oh?!"

Lin Xian's eyes lit up, and he instantly understood Kiki's intention. To take a step back, even if that route turned out to be a dead end, he could simply turn back. That stretch was at most one or two hundred kilometers of driving. If things turned out as Kiki said, with a bit of luck they could scout out District 9 Underground City while avoiding the eerie zone reported by the federal radio.

This was a brilliant plan!

Lin Xian knew that once they subsequently entered the Huanxing Orbit, they would encounter many different track zones—high-altitude corridors, deserts, primeval jungles, no-man's-lands, deep oceans, and starry abyss regions. Steel tracks alone could not solve every problem, so he had to consider upgrading the entire train's power and drive systems.

To achieve this step, the Mechanical Heart was the foundation, but mechanical scanning and manufacturing were the keys. If he couldn't come into contact with those cutting-edge technology systems to scan them into blueprints, he would be reduced to hand-crafting firearms and small household appliances, which were utterly useless.

Just as Kiki said, those power source systems, high-energy weapons, self-repair armor, and propulsion systems—although Lin Xian had never seen them before, just hearing about them made him eager to scan a complete set of blueprints right away!

Therefore, he had to find a way to scout out this federal government's District 9 Underground City!

"I agree as well," Chen Sixuan said at this point. "However, the track conditions on unknown sections could be very complex, so I suggest we traverse that section during daylight."

Lin Xian nodded. Without further ado, he slowly brought the entire train to a halt, parking the *Infinity* out in an open wilderness.

"It's settled then. We'll rest for tonight and stick to the previous arrangement—Teacher Chen, you'll take the first half of the night watch."

If they were going to divert from Yuchi onto an unknown route, it was best to observe the road conditions and travel during daylight. Meanwhile, Lin Xian planned to devour that final freight electric locomotive first, which might take a considerable amount of time and physical energy. The 7F Huanxing electric locomotive didn't have that much reserve power, so rather than marching blindly into the dark, it was better to devour those trailing burdens first, conserve their energy, and set off along the unknown southern route around Mount Daluo when dawn broke.

With everything arranged, the group began to divide the labor. Those who needed to rest went to rest, while Chen Sixuan and Shasha neatly arranged the swapped food cans before turning off the carriage lights. Lin Xian walked directly to the rear hatch of Carriage No. 5, arriving at the location of the final freight electric locomotive, ready to begin devouring this hundred-ton behemoth!