“I know. Let’s get the train moving first!”

Whoooom— Overhead, Lin Xian’s drone buzzed in tight circles, red pulse beams flickering rapidly. While watching the train lurch forward, he and KIKI sped back toward the Infinite Train. That giant serpent was stirring up massive waves in the Black Lake. If they didn’t act fast, the entire convoy could be dragged underwater by the weight of the Dragon Mountain No. 1 track-laying machine.

He had to go back and keep laying track.

At this point, the communication channel had gone dead with Hu Lushou, Lu Zhao, and the other motor convoys. Lin Xian had no idea what had happened to them.

Along the way, the devastation across various teams was brutal. Lin Xian’s heart pounded—he worried not only about his teammates’ safety but also about a horrifying decision he might have to make: under such extreme conditions, he might need to abandon the rear military cars.

All the convoy's couplings had been built by him. If he wanted to, he could instantly decouple any segment. The most likely candidates were the cars still bogged down in the lake or marshes.

Watching the train creep forward, he calculated his options. If that giant serpent surfaced again, he might have to burn through his remaining energy to activate the Gravity Lens and attempt a kill. But for now, the top priority was laying track. No one knew what other monsters lurked beneath that black water.

“Where the hell even are we?” KIKI darted along with him as they flew, taking out small creatures along the way to relieve pressure on the embattled convoys.

Lin Xian glanced at the spinning compass on his watch and shook his head. “No idea. This place is even weirder than Yijin City during Polar Night. The mountains don’t look like mountains, the water doesn’t behave like water... I’m not even sure we’re still on Blue Planet.”

It wasn’t just a feeling—his armor’s optical system showed shifting mountain shapes, floating shards of seascape overhead, and a deep-blue sky so twisted it looked unreal. No stars, no moon. If not for the soil and trees, Lin Xian would've sworn they'd crossed into another dimension.

“Watch out!”

Suddenly, a swarm of dark shadows burst from the black mist above. Lin Xian’s suit blared alerts as KIKI reacted instantly.

WHISH—WHISH—WHISH! With a flick of her hand, a stream of silver blades shot upward, crashing into the swarm with explosive force.

Lin Xian looked up and saw a tide of twisted flying insect monsters—blindingly fast, like hummingbirds. They caught one team completely off-guard, snatching people in a blitz. The creatures drove abdominal spikes into their victims, injecting some unknown substance.

KIKI’s silver blade storm shredded the attackers near them, scattering sparks through the air. Their exoskeletons were surprisingly tough.

SCREE! Twenty-two Thunder Falcon Drones shot skyward. Pulse beams rained down, suppressing the swarm’s charge.

[WARNING: High-speed object approaching from left!]

His Black Hawk Power Armor reacted instantly. Lin Xian raised his AT Field Shield by reflex.

THWACK-THWACK-THWACK! Dozens of black spikes slammed into the shield. A foul black mist hissed upon impact. KIKI immediately repelled them with a telekinetic blast.

“Back to the front!”

The attacks were intensifying. Lin Xian’s gut sank—casualties across the convoy were likely high. All he could do was accelerate the train.

Soon, he reached the head of the convoy again. The Dragon Mountain No. 1, the Infinite Train, and the Monica Queen section were engulfed in fire and chaos. Maybe it was because they had the highest energy output or because they were deep in the forest—but all kinds of Eerie Entities were swarming them. Even veterans like Shi Diyuan, Qian Dele, Monica, and Ning Jing were overwhelmed.

Infinite Train’s 1130 CIWS had just finished two full rounds before retreating to reload. Eight electromagnetic cannons and several Gatling guns continued roaring in every direction.

Enemies everywhere. Defensive lines everywhere.

Shasha’s Sally unit was on a rampage, spraying napalm with one hand and wielding her Flame God Mecha Gun with the other.

“More tiny spiders?! I hate those things. Let’s see how they like this!”

She spotted a slow-moving spider among the trees, pressed a button, and fired a plasma bundle cannon. A low-voltage guiding cable lashed out and struck the spider’s abdomen—BOOM! Blue fire erupted as it detonated from within, spraying viscera.

“Hell yeah!!” she shouted triumphantly.

Elsewhere, Xiao Lou and Liang Lei led two assault squads—seventy people on each side of the Infinite Train—holding off waves of pale monsters surging from the woods. They waded through gore, hacking and slashing relentlessly.

The mobile unit—Shu Qin, Lü Chang, Li Guangwen, along with Lolo, A Min, and twenty others—were agility specialists in power armor, darting through the battlefield to hunt down fast-moving threats.

On the train roof, Chen Sixuan led a recon team, using anti-air guns, sniper rifles, and electromagnetic weapons to defend against airborne enemies. Explosions filled the skies, every flash of light reflecting a desperate fight for survival.

Most major convoys were now concentrated around the Infinite Train and the locomotives in a last-ditch defense.

“Lin, we’re not getting out of here at this pace!” Shi Diyuan, in his tiger-beast form, crushed a bug underfoot and shouted over comms, “This goddamn place has no sense of direction! We don’t even know where to run!”

WHOOSH! A sonic blade swept through the woods, slicing trees and monsters alike. Monica’s expression was ice-cold. “This isn’t Polar Night. We might be inside the Abyss. Look at the sky—physics itself is breaking down.”

“Where are the motor convoys? Didn’t Boss Hu break through already? Why aren’t we just charging in one direction?” Qian Dele asked.

“Charge, my a*! This is a train, not a car!”

Shi Diyuan snapped. “You think you’re still behind the wheel?”

“It’s not like we don’t have vehicles,” Qian Dele shot back. “We’ve got two all-terrain traincars, ten base vehicles, and a bunch more rides. That’s room for at least 300–400 people to make a break for it. Better than everyone dying!”

Shi Diyuan scowled. “No way. If the other teams hear that, our entire line will collapse. Pull the train out first.”

Lin Xian and KIKI arrived just then. Lin worked furiously to lay track ahead of the two all-terrain locomotives.

“You’re right,” he said. “It’s not yet time for a mass evacuation. If these thousands stick together, we still have a chance.”

If morale broke, the monsters wouldn’t even need to attack. Despair alone would cause dark mutations and internal collapse. Already, many had fallen to it.

The United Convoy wasn’t like Old Mo’s or Hu Lushou’s smaller teams. Their backup vehicles lacked serious weapons. Abandoning the trains would almost certainly lead to infighting and disaster.

Though Qian Dele’s idea wasn’t wrong—saving hundreds was better than total annihilation—saying it aloud would only hasten that very doom.

Lin Xian’s mind raced as he laid more track. No one could’ve predicted that the first crisis after nightfall would be the complete disappearance of train rails—paralyzing the entire convoy.

Unless, as Ding Junyi once said, they could kill every Eerie Entity in the area... But even then, their Dark Marks would just reappear. The cycle would repeat until their eventual collapse.

Compared to that fantasy, Qian Dele’s plan was far more practical. Escape might be possible. There was precedent with Old Mo and Hu’s success.

But how long could they keep fighting? Ammunition was limited. Many had already fallen. Once their supplies ran out, and despair set in, the infection would spread—and no one would be left to drive even the last truck.

As more locomotives rolled onto newly laid track, the mobile frontline shifted deeper into the forest. Speed increased. The Infinite Train became the new lead, while Dragon Mountain No. 1 remained behind, offering long-range fire support from three kilometers away.

Rose Convoy and others had finally made it out of the marshes. Their wheels were caked in black sludge, leaving deep trenches in the cursed soil. Fallen trees served as makeshift ties under the grinding wheels.

Qian Dele ran fast, cutting through multiple monster lines. His power gave him extreme mobility, but poor defense. He avoided deep incursions into the tide.

He landed beside Monica, who was slicing through fanned waves of monsters with her psychic blades. He glanced at her with a half-serious look.

“Your Monica Queen has the best escape route here. You really didn’t consider my plan?”

Monica shot him a glare. “What, regretting trading your cars for trains now?”

Qian Dele grinned. “Doesn’t matter. In this broken world, dying anywhere’s fine by me. But you—not saying anything? That’s not like you.”

Monica snorted, then spat a howling blade into the sky. A ripple tore through a swarm, showering shredded flesh.

“You think I’m some coward who only cares about herself?”

“No, I just mean—rationally—your teammates probably have opinions too,” he replied seriously.

Monica’s gaze hardened. “They’re short-sighted. I’m not. Just because Hu got lucky doesn’t mean we all will. Right now, sticking with the main force is our only shot. Running blindly with Dark Marks is suicide. I’m not a gambler—but if I were, I’d bet on him.”

“Him?”

Qian Dele followed her gaze toward Lin Xian, still laying track. He raised an eyebrow. “Oh? Hero worship? Don’t tell me you’ve got a crush on the guy? Or think he’s the chosen one?”

Monica turned away, continuing to fight the tide.

“No… it’s just a hunch.”

She remembered the desperate moments at Xilan City, the narrow escape from Yijin, and now, another crisis. If Lin Xian hadn’t roused everyone at Akesai that night and kept the convoy on alert, things would be far worse. No one saw the mutation coming during daylight. If they’d been slower—if that sandstorm hadn’t hit—maybe they could’ve outrun the Abyss expansion.

Monica was both emotional and rational. And she had her pride.

If she fled now with her team, the entire convoy’s morale would collapse. She refused to be the one who tore everything apart for the sake of survival.

A queen on the run... wasn’t worthy of the name.

Although Monica stayed calm, the other convoys were already in chaos. The comms were filled with voices of despair.

“What do we do?! The Dark Invasion here is too strong! The mutations—we can’t stop them!”

“There are too many monsters!”

“There’s no track! We’re not getting out of this one…”

“Screw it, just fight! Don’t cower now!”

“Captain Lin! Captain Shi! Please save us—!”

“.....”

Boom boom boom!

All around the traction train groups, the fighting had grown more savage. In the Dark Forest, waves of endless monsters were pushing everyone’s sanity to the breaking point. Many died not from the monsters alone, but from unknown attack methods and sudden mutations in their own teammates.

Seeing this, Lin Xian knew the top priority was to stabilize morale. He immediately turned to Shi Diyuan.

“Brother Shi, what if we reroute the tracks to circle around the woods, spiral the entire United Train into a few loops, and form a temporary defensive perimeter?”

Shi Diyuan was sweating hard under pressure. Casualties on Dragon Mountain No. 1 were rising fast. Hearing Lin Xian’s suggestion, he replied at once.

“You mean… hold the line?”

Lin Xian shook his head. “I spotted a giant blue serpent in the lake earlier. I think it might be the dominant creature in this area. We’re in unfamiliar territory—if we form a ring defense, we can reduce casualties and catch our breath. If the serpent makes a move, we take it out. Who knows, it might...”

Lin Xian’s plan wasn’t ideal, but the current linear formation was leaving them exposed on all sides. Unlike vehicle convoys, the train couldn’t split quickly into a defensive pattern.

So, looking at the temporary tracks under construction, Lin Xian thought—if escape was impossible, they might as well forge the track into a spiral arc. That would compress the battlefield, concentrate firepower, and minimize casualties. It would also allow ability users and top fighters to regroup more effectively.

This idea came from their experience tightening the battle circle in Xilan City. Plus, the train’s armor was solid—looping two rings for defense could shrink the battlefield to under two kilometers. With the heavy weapons and troops on board, that might give them an edge.

As for taking out that blue serpent, Lin Xian had no confidence—not in the kill, and not in what came after. But he had no better plan. Like Shi Diyuan, he couldn’t support abandoning the train.

For these people, the train was their sanctuary. If they gave it up now, never mind survival—their morale and spirits would collapse. After experiencing the true terror of the Dark Invasion, Lin Xian fully understood what the mutated survivors had gone through.

To him, the Dark Invasion wasn’t just a threat. It was the very cause of humanity’s downfall.

Shi Diyuan nodded solemnly. “It’s a strategy. Better than what we’ve got now.”

Once Shi agreed, Lin Xian shared the plan with Qian Dele and Monica. They approved. Lin Xian then announced the “hold the line and kill the serpent for survival” strategy to all convoys.

The reaction was immediate—hope surged through the ranks.

In a moment like this, having someone step up showed that the core leadership wasn’t panicking. Lin Xian’s plan addressed two critical issues: creating a tight defense ring to reduce losses and boost firepower, and presenting a clear target—the serpent—as a symbol of hope.

Everyone could accept and understand the defensive circle. It also demonstrated the unity and resolve of the convoy’s elite teams, greatly boosting morale.

But morale alone wasn’t enough—thus the serpent hunt.

Whether it would work or not didn’t matter. For the thousands present, it meant there was a goal. They had all survived Xilan City, escaped the peril of the Black Thorn in the Clouds. If Lin Xian said so, they were inclined to believe.

With a plan and a way forward, hope was reignited.

And when people have hope, their will to fight returns!

Sure enough, as the plan spread, the faltering defenses across the convoys began to burn hot with renewed strength. Survivors clung to that glimmer of life and exploded with newfound power. Team leaders and squad commanders gritted their teeth and started reshuffling their lines and firepower. More trains were escaping the marsh, more carriages back on the rails—and the will to live, once crushed by the dark horde, began to blaze again.

“Divine: Brahmafire!!!”

Lu Xingchen, after entering Starfield, seemed like a different person. Facing the dense darkness and endless monster tide, his flame-type ability skyrocketed. The Infinity Ring spun wildly on his wrist. In a flash, a massive white-hot fireball grew in the sky above the Dark Forest—like a miniature sun.

“If the heavens never birthed me, Lu Xingchen—then the Polar Night shall never see dawn!”

He soared through the air, winds howling around him. He once again shouted the words he had declared when joining Infinite Train, then hurled the colossal fireball down.

lBOOMl!

The blazing orb ignited violently, even forming flaming fluid on its surface. Below, countless convoy members saw it and their pupils contracted, stunned by its overwhelming force.

“Holy sh*t!”

“Unreal!”

“Divine fire descending!!”

“Badass!!”

BOOM!

A wave of heat exploded outward like a shockwave, consuming a half-kilometer radius in an instant. Scorching flames blasted outward, incinerating countless Eerie Entities. Oil gushed from burning corpses!

Crackkk!

On the traction train side, hundreds of silver blades spun around KIKI like a storm of swords. Wrapped in a psychic barrier, she charged straight into the horde. In seconds, trees and monsters alike were sliced apart.

A massive translucent worm twisted its body and fired glowing green fluid at her, but her psychic shield blocked it all. Her spinning blades sliced the worm into thirds. The green fluid inside exploded, becoming a glowing fireball that splattered across nearby monsters. Screams and sizzling filled the forest.

Vzzzt!

A Bai’s laser rained across a wide fan-shaped area. Xiao Qing’s blade flitted through the forest, reaping undead. Li Guangwen’s shockwave punch blasted a trench in the ground. Luo Yang’s pulse eye exploded among the airborne swarms.

In mere moments, the panic that had overwhelmed the United Train was gone. In its place—order, counterattack, and the courage to survive. Thousands of survivors tapped into their potential, unified by the will to live.

Lin Xian seized the moment, accelerating track construction. He ditched the track machine and instead grabbed the prefabricated rails prepared in Yijin City by Dragon Mountain No. 1 and the vehicle convoys.

At the same time, he used his Mechanical Heart to build more tracks on-site. Fortunately, he had absorbed many carriages earlier, giving him enough materials. Rail manufacturing was easy—his pace only got faster.

Infinite Train regained speed. Monica Queen moved back to its rear. Trains that had derailed were now back on the rails and adding traction power. Bit by bit, order returned.

Finally, Parrot and Ocean emerged from the lake. Many who hadn’t drowned had jumped in to escape. In the pitch-black waters, dozens of survivors swam frantically, the air thick with fear.

Because every second, someone was dragged underwater by something horrific.

The surface was full of flashlight beams and gunfire. Survivors scrambled back to shore, shouting:

“There’s a snake in the water—a huge one!!”

“Must be S-Class!!”

“RUN!!!”

“Help! Some people can’t swim!!”

Onshore, members from the Wind Sail and Rose Convoys were covering the retreat. Just then, as the last few carriages of the Ocean train were being dragged out, everyone on shore saw something terrifying.

A massive blue-scaled serpent tail slithered over a carriage—thicker than the train itself. No one could tell how long it was.

The sight immediately reminded them of the Abyss Worms from Xilan City.

But snakes were primally terrifying to humans. And this monster came from black, unknown depths.

A convoy dragged out a white boat, several people carrying it to the water. They started the engine and rescued seven or eight survivors. As they turned back toward shore, a flying ability user shouted from above:

“RUN! The serpent is coming!!”

“Where?!” the people on the boat cried, engine roaring at max speed. They fled while staring behind them—but the water was calm. Nothing in sight.

Then, the airborne ability user yelled something bone-chilling:

“It’s… it’s right beneath you!!”