Including Lin Xian, no one aboard the Infinite or the Falcon Sea Group likely imagined that a train could shuttle through the seabed thousands of meters deep like an interstellar spacecraft.

Under the Pacific Ocean, 2,650 meters beneath Haiyan Island to the east, all light was swallowed by the deep water. Yet in this pitch-black, gloomy sea filled with the vast aura of death, a current of light like a ribbon of starlight wound its way through—the under-ocean ridge’s ring current. Driven by intense heat flux differences and water pressure disparities, this water flowed at incredible speed, like a high-speed highway beneath the ocean.

Normally, such a terrifying underwater dark current was a death zone before Doomsday for all but a few microbes and fish. For human submersibles, it was considered perilous sea conditions, and hardly anyone imagined making use of it like this.

At this moment, illuminated by geothermal microbes along the ring current, a train and a nuclear submarine were swept forward by the powerful current, cutting through the dark sea.

On the Infinite and North Wind 09, although no gunfire or explosions had occurred, the cabins looked like they’d endured a brutal battle. The main structures were twisted, portholes cracked, and shattered supplies littered everywhere. The air reeked of blood, countless survivors bore head wounds and bleeding, fainting from bumps and bruises was common, and broken bones and punctures were everywhere.

The horror just now was like being tossed inside a high-speed centrifuge. In mere minutes, everyone felt as if years had passed, walking the edge of the underworld countless times. Had it lasted longer, no one knew how many would have been torn apart alive.

If conditions inside North Wind 09 were dire, the Infinite was even worse. Such a long train converted into a submersible had not been ripped apart in this extreme vortex only because Lin Xian used sturdy materials back at Yongcheng Port. Its pressure-resistant hull employed special starship-grade steel. Plus, Lin Xian and KIKI patched and repaired it in tandem, barely keeping this massive underwater iron rod from breaking or tearing.

Carriages 8 and 7 were the worst off. Nearly all the dozens of Falcon Sea Group members were injured. On the Infinite, Ryunosuke and KIKI were injured and unconscious. The others mostly suffered light wounds. They all wore Lin Xian’s stellar-class power armor, which was much safer compared to the Falcon Sea Group’s ordinary protection. Yet even so, the tremendous overload left Miao Lu, Xiao Yuan, Lü Chang, Mo Xiaotian, Sun Yuzhen, and including Shasha and Luo Yang violently nauseous and delirious, their faces ghostly pale.

Vanessa was relatively better off and was now assisting Shu Qin, Daluo, and others in tending to the wounded.

Monica removed her power armor and walked over from the rear carriages, forcing calm despite her obviously pale expression. Her ability had been overloaded, and being in the last carriage made this by far her worst experience since Doomsday.

“You’re still standing? Not bad,” Qian Dele leaned against the sofa in carriage 6, exhausted. He had just acted as the cabin’s firefighter captain, dashing repeatedly in golden flashes to rescue people and put out fires. It had worn him out completely. Out of the entire train, his condition was the best. As a super-speed ability user, such extreme loads were nothing to him.

“Might as well be dead.”

Monica walked over, resting one hand on the sofa’s edge, scanning the scene. Ryunosuke lay resting on the sofa, still masked even unconscious. Shasha had an ice pack on her forehead, rolling her eyes continuously. Sun Yuzhen was applying ointment to Mo Xiaotian and Luo Yang’s bruises. The only one standing was Xiao Qing, her expression unchanged but brow deeply furrowed, staring fixedly in one direction. Lu Xingchen sat in the sofa corner, clutching a trash can, heaving violently every few moments, his face ashen—completely devoid of the flamboyant aura of the "Fire God."

“Lin Xian, how are they?” Monica asked.

Qian Dele lifted his chin. “Shiori is treating them. Lin Xian, I don’t know what crazy stunt he pulled again, but Shiori said he’s so drained even his mental focus is gone. Shouldn’t be too bad though—our captain’s no weakling. He’s tough.”

“Tough indeed,” Shasha said, rubbing her swollen head, voice low. “I was scared to death. Just now, I thought we were done for.”

“Not quite,” Ning Jing sat on the sofa, massaging her brow. “Worst case, if the train hull cracks, our power armor should let us break to the surface.”

Qian Dele shook his head with a smile. “That’s optimistic, Captain Ning.”

“In conditions like that, even if you didn’t have stellar-class power armor, a few could still survive,” I said, pointing to Ryunosuke. “Like him, and the big KIKI. Maybe Xiao Lou, that blood-energy user, might hold on too. For the rest, it’s almost impossible. Gradual ascent and sudden burst are different, especially outside this terrifying vortex.”

“Too pessimistic. You really underestimate Little Hai’s power,” Ning Jing replied.

At that moment, Monica looked out the porthole and exclaimed in surprise, “The light’s dimming.”

Everyone rushed to the window to see the current, once like a glowing light belt, now darkened considerably. The seawater grew deeper and gloomier, and the brilliant blue lights gradually thinned out.

Monica’s eyes flickered anxiously. “More cold-loving microbes. That means we haven’t yet left the undersea volcano cluster.”

The limited train’s carriages showed no visible deformation yet. Inside, it was twisted like a wrung rag, but the pressure hull had no tears. The twisting was caused by Silent Abyss Whirlpool’s ruptures being patched but unable to fully reset, resulting in hull distortion.

For Luo Yang, this meant one thing: if the hull cracks, repairs must be swift.

Inside the carriages, multiple pipelines had burst. The science carriages 4 and 3 were in chaos, with damaged research equipment and broken experiment tables.

Outside the medical cabin, Chen Sixuan, Ding Junyi, Daluo, and Lin Xian gathered. KIKI lay outside, with the full medical pod conducting regression scans.

“Same as Ryunosuke. No major injury, but mental overload has caused physical strain,” Ding Junyi said, pulling two thermal dark reagents from a box and handing one to Daluo. “One for Ryunosuke, and one for KIKI. It’ll help them recover quickly.”

“Also,” she said to Miao Lu, “bring the Hellish Black Chrysanthemum to carriage 6. Its energy dispersing now is strong—probably absorbed and converted after the offshore island explosion and the Oceanic Titan’s appearance. Placing it there will speed everyone’s recovery.”

“Understood,” Xiao Yuan and Miao Lu responded.

Seeing KIKI’s condition stabilize, Chen Sixuan immediately headed to the cockpit. Lin Xian sat in the driver’s seat, drinking water and watching the dark current ahead. The searchlight pierced the abyss but revealed no end—only endless seawater.

Shiori sat nearby, raising her hand seriously to cast mental purification ability on Lin Xian, the space glowing faint green.

“We’ve escaped that sea area. At least a hundred or two hundred nautical miles,” Lin Xian said without turning as Chen Sixuan entered.

Chen Sixuan looked at Shiori, then cast a complex gaze forward. “We still don’t know where this current leads. It’s already night. If we encounter other monsters, it’ll be trouble.”

“Not for now,” Lin Xian closed his eyes slightly, expression relaxing. “So many big monsters gathered on Haiyan Island, even more lively than Dawn City. They must have been drawn within hundreds of nautical miles around. The rest are either small Calamari or S-levels. We’ve been unlucky enough—we probably won’t meet any more.”

Chen Sixuan smiled faintly, looking at Lin Xian strangely. “First time I’ve seen you so optimistic.”

Lin Xian sighed with a ‘what’s the point’ look.

“Doesn’t matter anymore. I have no strength left. This current flows east. Though it deviates from the main ocean route, it shouldn’t collide head-on with monsters. Wherever it takes us is fine, right?” He looked at Viola.

Viola stood with hands behind her back, like the Infinite’s brain and helmsman. All cabin controls and sensors were calculated by her.

[According to data, this Silent Abyss Whirlpool mainly flows northeast along the East China Sea continental shelf, spreading east after the Queensland Islands. If we follow this stable flow, we might reach the Queensland sea area in about three hours, about 1,100 nautical miles from the Republican Archipelago in a straight line.

My analysis is that unlike other currents and warm streams, due to special formation reasons, this vortex’s flow speed is fast, width and vertical thickness small. Abnormal entities won’t appear in this flow. Combined with our high speed, except structural concerns, it should be much safer. But after entering the East China Sea continental shelf, the vortex will spread out and slow down.]

“At that stage, it’s best to leave the current and surface, or... stay underwater and wait for daylight.” Lin Xian shared his plan.

Chen Sixuan nodded, staring into the dark abyss with a stern expression. “Didn’t expect us to survive such a terrifying vortex.”

“Thanks to KIKI and Ryunosuke,” Lin Xian breathed a long sigh. “Without two telekinetics, we’d be dead for sure.”

Then Lin Xian suddenly stood, catching everyone off guard.

“I’m going to sleep. Viola, I’m leaving it to you.”

“Sleep?” Chen Sixuan looked at Lin Xian. Though worried about his fatigue, with the Infinite in ruins and deep underwater currents outside, someone like Lin Xian would usually stay alert. Why suddenly want to sleep?

Lin Xian rose and walked toward carriage 1’s bedroom. “There’s a volcano eruption behind us, the Oceanic Titan hunting, and the Star Abyss tides outside spreading oddly. Ahead is the unknown. Since it’s all like this, might as well take this chance... and get some rest.”

He hadn’t closed his eyes in days and had just collapsed mentally moments ago. Now he watched the countdown in his eyes.

14:19:11

A complex mix of feelings filled his heart. This countdown seemed relentless no matter what happened, like an omen hanging overhead. Lin Xian even wondered if the countdown would still exist if he died, or maybe there was one possibility—that he couldn’t die before it ended.

The thought made him break into a cold sweat, so he decided not to dwell on it. He believed the best way now was to go with the flow. This Silent Abyss Whirlpool was like an underwater expressway—safer than running wildly. Surfacing now wouldn’t find land, nor allow flight by sky. Better to let things happen naturally. That was the best strategy. Exhausted, with no casualties aboard the Infinite or North Wind 09, he felt some relief and planned to sleep.

Lin Xian’s heart grew heavier. Despite the fathomless abyss outside, he was sure he could fall asleep.

Unexpectedly, as Lin Xian headed to carriage 1, Shiori hurried after him with small steps, like a nurse carrying an IV drip, continuously using healing abilities to aid his recovery.

After two steps, Lin Xian stopped and turned back.

“I’ll rest a bit. Shiori, you help the others.”

Shiori shook her head. “No. I sense something wrong with your mind. My intuition says I must fully repair you.”

“Mental problem?” Lin Xian frowned and glanced at Chen Sixuan. “Do you think something’s wrong with me?”

Chen Sixuan showed worry. “Viola and I will watch here. You should listen to Shiori.”

Lin Xian looked at Shiori, who wore a determined expression. He said nothing and left the cockpit, entering carriage 1’s bedroom. He removed his power armor and collapsed onto the soft bed, sighing as he stared at the ceiling. The bedroom had a stardust glass porthole. Looking outside, he saw no more glowing blue plankton—only pitch darkness, the cabin’s lights shining inside.

Silent and soundless, yet inside the massive high-speed current, outside was a bottomless abyss with no fish or shrimp.

Lonely, deathly still, suffocating, endless unknown, deep-sea terror.

Shiori followed him into the room and sat on a stool beside the bed. Though tired, she kept healing continuously without a word.

“Did you ever imagine riding a train into the deep sea?” Lin Xian said, seeming to speak to Shiori or perhaps himself.

Shiori nodded, unseen by him, as if no answer came.

“Shiori, there’s danger everywhere outside. Are you scared?” Lin Xian looked out the porthole into the darkness and asked.

“No,” Shiori whispered.

“Why?”

“Because...” Shiori thought a moment. “Shinji said before, even if Blue Star is gone, the atmosphere gone, the oceans gone, Silent City will fly into space, and he’ll build a safe shelter, taking us to explore the stars. We can resist all dangers because Silent City is our home. That feeling... is good.”

Lin Xian was silent for a moment, then muttered, “Yeah, sounds nice. I’ve thought that too.”

Building a sturdy steel train fortress with living carriages, supply cars, medical, planting, energy, production—fully armed, unstoppable—escaping along the 320,000-kilometer orbital network eastward from the Polar Night. Even if it stopped mid-journey, its fortress-like military armor could fend off tidal waves and abnormal attacks in the darkness!

Romantic enough, and crazy enough!

Looking back now, Lin Xian felt Shinji’s vision deeply moved him. Perhaps his mechanical supernatural power should pioneer in this direction.

For example...

That thing in the Research Center...

Planet Titan?