Apocalypse: I Built the Infinite Train-Chapter 337: Silent City

On the Infinite Train, after tidying their beds and tending to their injuries, Old Mo and his family were finally assigned living quarters. For convenience, Old Mo moved directly into the engineering crew’s carriage where Liang Lei and the others were staying, while Sun Yuzhen took the two children to the living carriage where Li Yi resided.

Due to the chaos of ongoing events, Lin Xian hadn’t yet asked Old Mo and his family to take on any responsibilities. But Old Mo wasn’t the kind to sit idle—straightforward in both words and actions, he despised passive types. As a senior engineer from Xinghua Heavy Industries, his mechanical expertise was even more extensive than that of Liang Lei or Luo Yang. Before Lin Xian could assign him anything, he had already taken the initiative to help with the train’s repairs.

Back in the living carriage, Sun Yuzhen looked at the secure private room that Chen Sixuan had arranged for her family. Even though they were deep in the Dark Forest, her eyes welled with tears—staying alive meant everything to her. More than anyone, she understood this truth.

Whether it was facing Sand Raiders or surviving the darkness, she had been through disaster after disaster. Life and death might be uncertain in the next moment, but right now, she firmly believed they would survive.

She was extremely grateful to Lin Xian for taking them in. Despite just coming through a brutal battle, she was already back to work, assisting Shu Qin and Li Yi with the armory and logistics.

But Shu Qin told her that Captain Lin had already assigned tasks and separated the teams for armory and logistics. So, Sun Yuzhen immediately went to find Lin Xian and asked for a task of her own.

At that moment, Lin Xian was building a relay communicator for Grace. When he saw Sun Yuzhen, he remembered she had just joined Chen Sixuan and Ding Junyi on an aerial reconnaissance mission. He said, “You’ll join Ms. Chen in the recon team. Your flight ability will be a big asset.”

“Ah! Got it!” Sun Yuzhen’s eyes lit up, nodding eagerly before running off to find Chen Sixuan.

Watching her leave, Lin Xian understood that Sun Yuzhen needed his affirmation more than anything right now. That’s why he didn’t hold back and directly acknowledged the value of her ability. After all, she had two children with her—if she didn’t contribute, she’d never feel at ease. So Lin Xian didn’t say much more.

Meanwhile, in Carriage No. 13, Mo Xiaotian was helping carry collected shell casings back with his sister Mo Xiaole and other kids from Carriage No. 10. Shu Qin’s team was sorting them—usable ones would be reloaded on-site, while the unusable ones were saved for Lin Xian to use as devourable conversion materials later.

Despite his young age, Mo Xiaotian was quick and efficient, effortlessly lugging a 50–60 kg iron ammo case. With the demand for ammunition so high, Carriage No. 13 was packed with people.

Suddenly, a small popping sound rang out—an ammo casing had exploded. Everyone froze.

Shu Qin and Daluo rushed over. They found Mo Xiaotian’s hand bleeding, trembling as he held it out to them and said nervously, “Aunt Shu Qin, this... this bullet exploded.”

He protectively shielded his sister behind him. His expression wasn't one of pain from the injury—it was remorse and worry for having done something wrong.

“Don’t be afraid.”

Shu Qin quickly took his hand and shouted, “Miao Lu! Bandage!”

“Coming!” Miao Lu sprang into action.

Seeing him so shaken, Daluo knelt beside him and asked in a low voice, “Kid, how did the bullet go off?”

“It just exploded,” answered Mo Xiaole from behind, as if scared her brother might get blamed. She cautiously explained, “My brother was really careful, picking them up one by one.”

“Yeah, I was just—” Mo Xiaotian started to explain, nervously picking up a 7.62mm rifle round to demonstrate. But as soon as he touched it, a nearly imperceptible arc of static electricity flashed from his fingertip, piercing through the bullet—and boom, it exploded again!

The people nearby jumped back in shock. Miao Lu, having seen it all, immediately grabbed Sun Yuzhen’s bloodied hands and shouted, “He shouldn’t touch those bullets anymore—move! Get him to the medical pod!”

Li Mei quickly took Sun Yuzhen away while Miao Lu turned to Xiaolou and said grimly, “This looks like some kind of ability!”

“Inform Captain Lin, now!”

On Shu Qin’s end, they still hadn’t completed the batch of 100 heavy-duty signal repeaters. They were based on Phoenix Society tech scanned from Xilan City, using low-power lithium batteries with long endurance.

She had constructed a metal box to be transported by four PX-05 robots. Before KIKI had even finished programming the mission module, Ding Junyi was already set to depart for the scouting mission.

Lin Xian and KIKI led a group alongside it. Everyone had tense looks—they all knew that once the recon bot triggered any eerie entities, another fight would erupt.

【Li Meicheng】 gracefully stepped onto the carriage and said to Shu Qin, 【You’ll scan the terrain based on maximum rail-laying standards and relay conditions via the signal repeaters in real-time.】

“If you encounter any eerie entities, find cover and wait for backup.”

【Understood.】 Grace replied in a cool female voice, “I won’t bring any threats back to the camp line. Though, I do hope those ugly things won’t be interested in my Pu-238 isotope nuclear battery array or my motor neuron modules.”

Lin Xian raised a brow in surprise. 【A robot joke. Just trying to ease your tension.】

“Well... thanks,” Lin Xian gave a wry smile.

【No problem. Based on behavioral models from the United Train, you can set me to mimic a particular personality or voice for more comfortable interaction.】

“Whoa, male or female?” KIKI perked up at the suggestion.

“No, just leave it,” Lin Xian cut her off. Now wasn’t the time for DIY customization. This AI brain robot was being sent on what might be a one-way mission.

To Lin Xian, it felt like a loss. He’d hoped to use Grace for more strategic planning on the train. But escaping the Abyss Zone was more important. This was the best option they had.

【Acknowledged. Mission commencing: White City rail route reconnaissance. Current time: 23:15. Grace will transmit a data node every five minutes as long as the signal holds.】

“Good.”

With that, Grace turned and slowly walked into the darkness beyond the perimeter.

Back on the Infinite Train, all weapon systems had already activated fire control mode. Any anomaly would be met with instant firepower.

As Grace disappeared into the shadows, Lin Xian’s heart tightened.

Beep—

Five minutes later, Lin Xian’s terminal lit up with the first data node. On the dark, misty map, a red light blinked at the train's position—he finally let out a breath.

“There it is!” KIKI held up her terminal. “Still no visuals, but the signal’s stable.”

“All relays are fixed at one-kilometer intervals—should be safe enough,” said Lin Xian.

Chen Sixuan, observing the forest with the Meteor-3, added, “No strange noises so far.”

“Let’s not celebrate just yet,” Lin Xian exhaled. “Finding a direction is one thing—whether the path’s passable is another. One deep ravine and no track-laying machine will help. It’ll need human hands.”

Even though he had the skills to build a temporary bridge—especially with help from KIKI and the engineering crew—the real issue was scale. If too many people had to go, Grace’s pathfinding mission would lose its value.

“I just think… if Grace can make it to White City, then at least…” Chen Sixuan looked up at the deep blue night sky and the floating fragments above the dome. “At least we’ll know we’re still on Blue Planet.”

“Captain Lin!”

Shu Qin’s voice came through the comms.

In the medical pod of Carriage No. 4, Lin Xian and the others were now surrounding Mo Xiaotian. Old Mo and Sun Yuzhen had rushed in anxiously. Mo Xiaole lay across the transparent pod cover, waving at her brother inside.

“My brother… is he sick?”

“No, Xiaole. It’s okay.” Sun Yuzhen pulled her daughter close.

Shu Qin picked up a shattered casing and handed it to Lin Xian. “It might be an ability. Xiaotian can’t control it yet.”

“Whoa, what kind of power? Bullet detonation?” KIKI looked amazed.

“Xiaotian?” Old Mo looked in shock at both the bullet and his grandson. “That can’t be right. Xiaotian’s the same as the other kids—his genes are evolving, sure, but we’ve never noticed any powers.”

Sun Yuzhen nodded. “Could it be a mistake?”

“Doesn’t seem like it.” Daluo, usually quiet, finally spoke. “I saw it myself—his finger released an arc of electricity when he touched the bullet.”

He looked at Lin Xian. “Looked a lot like your old arc ability.”

“Electric-type ability?” Lin Xian’s eyes narrowed.

Shasha, hearing this, widened her eyes in envy. “No way! That powerful? He can discharge electricity?!”

“We’ll know for sure with a test.”

By now, Mo Xiaotian’s hand was mostly healed by the medical pod, though still red. Lin Xian opened the pod and reached for the boy’s hand.

“Try to release electricity the way you just did. Don’t be nervous.”

“I’m not nervous, I just don’t wanna hurt you…”

Sun Yuzhen quickly offered, “Captain Lin, maybe let me try instead?”

“An arc?” Lin Xian smiled. “Don’t worry—I have an electric ability too.”

Controlling voltage and mechanical current was second nature to him.

Mo Xiaotian hesitated, then placed his hand in Lin Xian’s. Lin Xian encouraged him, “Go ahead. A normal shock won’t hurt me… probably.”

Just as he finished speaking, a brilliant arc exploded from Xiaotian’s fingertips. The surge was so powerful it nearly triggered Lin Xian’s AT Field Shield. His finger throbbed painfully, and he grimaced.

“You’ve got some juice in that spark.”

Under everyone’s gaze, Lin Xian shook his hand and blew on his fingertips. Then he turned to Sun Yuzhen, “Looks like it really is an electric-type ability. But we’ll need to observe further to understand its traits.”

He looked around. “Where’s Fire Bro?”

“Oh, he’s—” Daluo scratched his head, but Lin Xian cut in,

“Have him train with Fire Bro when he’s free. See if we can develop this ability further. Might be something big.”

“Really?!” Mo Xiaotian’s eyes went wide with disbelief.

Old Mo and Sun Yuzhen were both stunned. How had this power only just appeared, so long after Apocalypse Day?

But Lin Xian took it as a good sign. After the recent battle and exposure to the Hell Black Chrysanthemum and dark forces, many aboard the train had undergone evolutionary benefits. It wasn’t rare for powers to emerge—Ding Junyi was a prime example.

“This is amazing! My brother has a power!” Mo Xiaole beamed with joy.

For a while, news that Mo Xiaotian had awakened a powerful new ability spread throughout the carriages of the Infinite Train, and even quickly reached the other convoys in the United Convoy. It was only then that Lin Xian realized—there were already five or six people across the convoy who had awakened new powers. Not only that, many ability users and genetic evolvers had undergone significant changes. His initial estimations were far too conservative. This was even more obvious than what they'd seen after the great battle at Xilan City. Many had sensed it—this had to be related to them currently being inside the Abyss.

Among those rapidly advancing in strength were Daluo, Shu Qin, Chen Sixuan, Lü Chang, Miao Lu, and others. Shu Qin, in particular, accidentally crushed the grip of a rifle and only then discovered that her skin and bones had grown strong enough to snap steel. It was almost unbelievable.

As a result, the novelty and joy of evolving and growing stronger helped dispel some of the fear and tension brought by the dark. People across various convoys started to relax within the camp. Especially since so much time had passed and the camp remained safe, many finally let go of their tightly held nerves. The convoy leaders began arranging rest shifts for their members in bulk, to prepare for possible changes ahead.

But Lin Xian wasn’t planning on resting—because the Eerie Cube was still transforming!

【Non-mechanical energy converted. Acquired 1000 Mechanical Source Points.】

With a bit of energy replenished, Lin Xian was ready to continue devouring the remaining train carriages. Two nuclear-powered carriages were still waiting for him. He had no time to sleep. In this environment, if you let your guard down, the camp might be blown to bits by the time you wake up.

Grace was right—Lin Xian was anxious, extremely cautious. He hadn’t slept well for a long time. If he wasn’t devouring, he was building. If not building, then fighting.

He was constantly desperate for more power, and for security.

Thankfully, even though there were many people in the convoy now, he had help from Chen Sixuan, Daluo, Shu Qin, Luo Yang, Li Yi, and others. The engineering team now had a senior engineer—Old Mo—who could handle many technical problems. With Grace, Lin Xian had managed to free up a lot of his energy.

Of course, that was assuming they survived the Abyss.

KIKI knew Lin Xian didn’t plan to rest either, so she ran over to Carriage 21, holding her mobile terminal to help monitor Grace’s progress and movements—and maybe sneak in a nap herself.

But Lin Xian knew this little one wasn’t really there for that. She just wanted to stay close to him.

She was already curled up on his lap, nearly asleep.

In the dim light of Carriage 21, Lin Xian was devouring while preparing to start building the MK-66 Roll-on Arm Missile Launcher, the Guardian-86 Anti-Air Missiles, and the large Eye of the Storm F12 Hypersonic Airship Missiles. This was a bold experiment—if successful, the Infinite Train would finally possess burst-type firepower comparable to a Warhawk-Class Aerial Gunship or a Dreadnought-Class Aerospace Carrier. Especially when facing some of those tricky Eerie Entities, this kind of firepower could really help KIKI and Fire Bro gain the upper hand.

KIKI really enjoyed sticking close to Lin Xian, especially in these quiet, private corners. Listening to the heartbeat-like rhythm of his crafting and devouring put her at peace.

So when Lin Xian told her to sleep, she just straight-up slept on him.

【Devour successful. +30 Mechanical Source Points. +5 Mechanical Devour Skill Proficiency.】

Inside the carriage, Lin Xian leaned against a corner, having just finished devouring an empty Ocean Convoy carriage. Seeing the materials flow into the Disassembly Center, he felt strangely reassured.

“Lin Xian~” KIKI mumbled sleepily.

“Mm.”

“You know… if you’d been able to devour things remotely from the beginning, then when those bandit convoys came at us, couldn’t you have just poofed all their vehicles away?”

Lin Xian answered without hesitation, “I could’ve.”

Pfft!

Curled up on his lap like a cat, KIKI suddenly giggled. Lin Xian asked what was so funny, and she said, “I just imagined those b*stards driving along, then suddenly their cars disappear and they all roll off onto the ground. Hilarious, right?”

Lin Xian chuckled. “If I get the chance, I really wanna do that.”

“Lin Xian~” KIKI snuggled into his arms and breathed in. “We’re gonna make it through this. You’ll see~”

For some reason, hearing her say that helped soothe the tangle of thoughts in Lin Xian’s mind. He took a deep breath and replied, “Okay.”

Just as he was about to continue devouring the next carriage, he remembered Luo Yang had mentioned several Arc Pulse Resonators on the train were burnt out. So Lin Xian casually devoured one of them and planned to make a new one for Luo Yang to install.

But the moment he devoured one, the Mechanical Heart's screen lit up for the first time in a while.

A flash of purple!

【Devour successful. +10 Mechanical Source Points. +3 Skill Proficiency. Congratulations! You’ve acquired: Magnetic Storm Shockwave!】 【Magnetic Storm Shockwave: Emits a 6-meter-radius megavolt-level electromagnetic discharge field. Skill range and voltage scale directly with Mechanical Heart's energy level.】

“Holy sh*t!”

Lin Xian silently cursed in shock. After all this time, after devouring so many machines, he had finally gained another new ability.

It wasn’t a gold-tier special skill like Gravity Lens, but this purple-tier one was still extremely powerful. If he enhanced it later through Mechanical Augmentation, the results would be insane.

“Magnetic Storm... finally, a wide-area skill.”

His heart surged with excitement. Aside from Gravity Lens, his strongest skill was the Kinetic Cannon. But with the kind of massive monster tides, S-class and special-class Eerie Entities they’d been facing, that move was already falling short. He’d originally planned to shift focus toward drone swarm warfare, but who’d have thought one Arc Pulse Resonator would unlock a brand-new skill?

“Skill level affects range… and Mechanical Heart energy level? As in, my output power?”

That got him thinking of his AT Field Shield. As long as the power was high enough, he could expand the field. Sounded pretty similar.

“If… my Superstring Reactor Phase Halo upgrade succeeds, doesn’t that mean—”

At this point, Lin Xian realized his Mechanical Heart development was getting more large-scale and high-output than ever. Compared to his early days of just firing wind cannons and running engines, this was a whole different level.

He wanted to test the new skill but decided against it. Not the right time for something that flashy.

Suppressing his excitement, he resumed devouring the Ocean Convoy’s train carriages and began constructing the missile launcher in Carriage 21.

【Devour successful. +30 Mechanical Source Points. +5 Skill Proficiency.】 【Devour successful. +200 Mechanical Source Points. +50 Skill Proficiency.】

An hour later, Lin Xian had finished devouring the Ocean Convoy’s traction locomotive.

At 1 a.m., all empty carriages and locomotives from the Ocean and Parrot Convoys had been devoured. Only two nuclear-powered locomotive sets remained.

At that moment, a location ping from Grace appeared in a designated area on the mobile terminal. In the ominous Dark Forest, a small signal relay would light up every kilometer—soft glimmers of signal stretching over 80 kilometers. Finally, under everyone’s anticipation, Grace had entered an unknown zone.

Beep.

Then, the signal base from Grace flashed again—but something immediately struck Lin Xian as off.

From the sixth relay point onward—around 30 minutes in—Grace’s return signals started taking longer. At first it was just a few seconds, so Lin Xian assumed maybe she’d encountered something. But as a high-intelligence AI, Grace wouldn’t make that kind of mistake. Two hours later, the delay had gone from 5 minutes to 5 minutes and 11 seconds.

“Grace, re-sync your transmission timer. One base signal every five minutes.”

Grace’s voice came through the earpiece, but it was riddled with static:

【Bzzt... My timer shows I’m pinging you every five minutes via the relay. That’s not an error.】

“But the last signal came 5 minutes and 11 seconds after the one before?”

【Bzzt... My radar shows I’m currently 21,665 meters from your location. In theory, that distance only causes a transmission delay of 0.067 microseconds.】

“Then how do you explain this?”

【Bzzt... Two possible causes: First, interference from Eerie Entities. Given the global wave disruption caused by Dark Invasion, that’s likely. Second possibility: Redshift—Gravitational Redshift. If I’m in a stronger gravitational field than you, then my time would flow slower. So, even if I transmit a signal every 5 minutes by my clock, you’d receive it later, because time moves faster in your zone.】

Lin Xian froze for a second.

Gravitational redshift from just 20 kilometers?

Wouldn’t general relativity completely break down at that scale?

He immediately told Grace, “Drop those pseudo-scientific guesses from your response queue. You’re saying there’s a mini black hole just 20km away?”

Grace calmly replied:

【Within my current knowledge, no records exist of short-range high-latency behavior from Dark Invasion signal infections. But I derived this conclusion based on informational and physical pattern analysis. You may treat it as one possible interpretation. I recommend continued observation.】

Lin Xian exhaled deeply. “Keep going. As long as the signal holds, I’ll keep calibrating the clock.”

“Huh? What’s going on?”

Hearing the comms, KIKI stirred awake on Lin Xian’s lap. She blinked sleepily at his uneasy expression.

After disconnecting, Lin Xian told her everything.

“Signal interference from Dark Invasion is old news, but near-field delays like this? That’s a first.”

He looked at her with a bitter smile. “Am I being too paranoid?”

“I think…” KIKI sat up, arms crossed, speaking casually, “In this Abyss, none of our old logic applies. Your caution isn’t wrong. Most of our close calls were thanks to your judgment. Who knows? Maybe there really is a black hole in here.”

Lin Xian paused—then his face grew dark. “You’re right. The Bay flew into the sky—what logic is left?”

“Sister Ding said it too—without enough baseline experimental data, there’s no point trying to compare. If Grace makes it to Baicheng safely and we still have signal, we can verify things then.”

Lin Xian nodded. “But if Grace’s analysis is right, then the Abyss... it’s a disaster beyond human comprehension.”

KIKI looked at him, eyes deep. She took a breath, wrapped her arms around his neck, and grinned.

“Look at it this way—if time’s slower here and faster outside, then the year-long global polar night the Phoenix Society predicted... we get to stretch it out longer!”

“You dummy.” Lin Xian tapped her smooth forehead. “We’ve already been swallowed by the Abyss. Longer time means more pressure. Supplies are still limited.” freёnovelkiss-com

“True~” KIKI wrinkled her nose, then huffed. “Ugh, if only we could solve this Dark Invasion mess. Once we get out, we’ll just level up and fly the train into space. Upgrade it into a starship, slap on some Starry Sky Propulsion, and be done with the rails!”

“Not a bad idea,” Lin Xian nodded.

The biggest flaw in the Infinite Train Project was exactly that—hence why he constantly pushed his Mechanical Ability, modifying vehicles, trying to someday send the train into the skies!

Without further delay, he began devouring the 140MW nuclear generator from the Parrot Convoy, all while monitoring Grace’s signal with KIKI.

Grace’s pace wasn’t slow—she moved at about 20 kilometers per hour. But as she moved farther away, both signal noise and delay kept increasing.

At the 50km mark, her signal delay had stretched to 5 minutes 29 seconds.

3 a.m. Things were heading exactly where Lin Xian and KIKI feared.

【Bzzt... I’ve arrived at Baicheng, northwest side. Visuals confirm building clusters.】

Grace’s voice echoed through the comms.

At that moment, Ding Junyi, Chen Sixuan, Shu Qin, Luo Yang, and others had gathered inside Carriage 21.

Everyone stared at the timer on the terminal, faces grim.

5 minutes 50 seconds.

【5:50. Assuming time dilation and redshift effects exist in the Abyss environment, calculations suggest that the time differential between your current position and the Abyss’s edge is 14.02x. That is: 1 day outside the Abyss = 14.02 days where you are;12 days where I am.】

As Grace’s voice came through the comms, everyone's expression changed drastically.

“Time speeds up? How is that possible?” Chen Sixuan asked.

Shu Qin chimed in, “Maybe it’s just this weird environment messing with signals?”

“No way!” Luo Yang scratched his head. “Even if a massive object like a black hole caused time distortion, wouldn’t time slow down the closer you get? Why is it slower here instead?”

Everyone turned toward the most knowledgeable person on the train—Ding Junyi.

At that moment, Ding Junyi just shrugged and said, “He’s not wrong. From the perspective of gravitational time dilation under general relativity, unless the Abyss is actually a black hole, there’s really no other explanation for this phenomenon.”

Hearing this, Lin Xian lifted the blackout panel and looked west, toward the deep blue sky over the center of the Abyss, and the floating bay above the dome. A chill ran down his spine.

Right now, everyone could feel only one thing—eerie.

“Ohhh, no wonder Old Mo and Boss Hu thought they crossed the Abyss overnight—turns out it wasn’t just one night at all!?” KIKI’s face was filled with shock. “At this rate, they could’ve been running for days!”

“And Old Mo’s and that Hu Lushou’s convoys are powered by high-energy cells,” Luo Yang added. “Which means all those fuel-powered vehicles couldn’t have made it through because their energy wouldn’t have lasted...”

Ding Junyi shook her head and took a deep breath. “Not entirely. If the dilation is exponential, time might pass much slower near the center of the Abyss, and the farther you are, the weaker the effect.”

“That’s just... unbelievable.”

“Whatever the case, we need to get out of here. Fast.”

With a deep frown, Lin Xian immediately gave a command to Grace: [Grace, begin rapid recon of the original White City station track layout and return.] [Received. Preparing to enter White City zone now.]

“You’re still going with the track-laying plan?” KIKI asked Lin Xian.

“There’s no other option,” Lin Xian said firmly. “Grace’s recon map matches the original terrain almost exactly, and now we’ve confirmed White City’s location. So the direction and coordinates have to be correct.”

He pulled up the terrain map of the forested mountain range on his mobile terminal and said, “Looks like we’ll need a full-line reorganization, go at it from two fronts—abandon some carriages, consolidate the people, have some move in vehicles with train firepower cover. That’ll greatly reduce the train’s length and ease the burden on the track.”

Chen Sixuan immediately spoke up. “But that only solves the length issue. For the ravines and mountain paths, we’ll still need to build bridges and roads. That means we’ll need not just us ability users, but all convoy engineers and machinery to mobilize.”

Lin Xian nodded gravely. “So we’re going all in. But first we need Grace’s recon. If the tracks in White City are a bust... we’ll have to drag the boxes.”

“Dragging boxes” was the simplest emergency plan Lin Xian had discussed with other convoys earlier—using the Sally and Dragon Mountain No. 1 all-terrain trains, plus some temporary tracked carriages he would build to transport people. Everything else—every other train—would be abandoned. A desperate, all-out escape.

“No matter what, firepower setup comes first.”

As Lin Xian continued issuing instructions while absorbing energy, Grace’s voice came through the communicator: [I’ve entered White City. My sensors are picking up strong magnetic field activity. Approaching for closer recon.] [Zzzzt... Nearing Central Street. No signs of life detected.] [Zzzzt... I’m hovering over an old sewage treatment plant. Found a peculiar sight—an artificial statue, about 13 meters tall. Based on surface scan, it resembles the former Lion City landmark: the Merlion. However, there’s intense electromagnetic interference and light distortion in the area. Possibly related to the Aksai Forbidden Item you mentioned. Due to signal constraints, I’ve sent back a compressed image.]

Everyone fell silent as the image slowly loaded on the mobile terminal—blurry, compressed multiple times over.

It was a night-vision infrared shot. Over the decayed ruins of an old factory in the dead of night, a massive Merlion statue floated eerily in the air. White noise warped the image all around. Though it wasn’t clear, Lin Xian instantly recognized it—this was the same grotesque thing they’d encountered during the chase through the Aksai Dead Zone.

“Wasn’t that thing in the Aksai Dead Zone? What’s it doing here?”

Lin Xian remembered what Chu Yan had said—Crimson Pharma paid a heavy price just to extract this thing from the Abyss. Could it have been transported with them?

[Zzzzt... Detected hostile target, distance: approx. 700 meters.]

Another blurred photo came through. Lin Xian and KIKI gasped as they saw—at the entrance of the sewage plant, under night vision, stood a humanoid shadow.

KIKI zoomed in. Amidst the grainy static, the figure wore an odd trench coat and a bizarre round-top hat. It didn’t look like a zombie or Eerie Entity. Nor did it resemble a fully armed survivor. It looked like someone deliberately covering their whole body—deeply unsettling.

“Is that... a person?” KIKI whispered.

Hard to believe that in a city devoured by the Abyss, under the shadow of an unspeakable Forbidden Object, someone was just standing there.

It sent chills down everyone’s spine.

Day City, 3:35 AM. Since Apocalypse Day, the Abyss had swallowed the city for exactly 100 days. No sunrise. No dusk. Only eternal night. Lead-colored clouds and a deep-blue sky hung like a rotting burial shroud over the mountain city's remains. Once-busy streets and buildings were now empty shells, like skulls with their eyes scooped out, silently staring into the streets.

Winds moaned through the ruins, lifting dust and scraps of paper. Streetlights rusted and dead. Thick darkness warped and pulsed with spatial anomalies—like the breath of some dying beast.

Rusty cars littered the roads like iron coffins. Doors hung open as if the people inside had evaporated. Shops were shattered, shelves collapsed, merchandise scattered and crumbling at a touch.

Thud. A slanted apartment building groaned. Clothes on the balcony had long weathered into fabric ghosts.

Grace landed silently atop the high ground, her movement system superior to nearly any gene-evolver. The night didn’t affect her one bit.

Her visual sensors and radar remained locked on the shadow that flitted through the sewage plant.

[Thermal sensors unable to track. Motion pattern suggests possible human.]

Grace relayed a signal to the Infinite Train camp near Bottomless Lake. But the signal lagged noticeably, as if time itself was misaligned.

And then—the shadow vanished.

At the same time, Lin Xian’s voice came through: “Complete the White City track station recon, then return immediately.” [Understood.]

Grace set up a new relay node atop the building, then sprinted toward White City’s train station. Her task: assess terrain, identify obstacles, inspect the tracks.

Every frame of her journey, compressed images were sent back to Lin Xian.

As they loaded, the haunting image of a ruined mountain city unfolded on Lin Xian’s screen. Unlike other cities they’d passed, White City didn’t look 100 days ruined—it looked abandoned for thirty years. All traces of human life had decayed. As if the entire world had been forgotten.

Shadows clung to ruined buildings. Signs, posters—anything with color—had peeled away. It looked like a faded black-and-white film stripped of its cast.

Grace darted through the streets above the rooftops. Her three million neuro-fiber actuators granted her speed and grace. Despite weighing nearly half a ton, she moved like a dancer through the misty dark.

Her radars and sensors ran quadrillions of calculations per second. Then she stopped—on a rooftop near the central plaza beside White City Station. Behind her stood a clock tower frozen since Apocalypse Day.

Her radar picked up something strange in the plaza—a vehicle defense line.

Around twenty damaged vehicles lay scattered in chaotic formations. Many were high-grade all-terrain trucks and heavy transports. Clearly, a defensive perimeter had once stood here. Dark, dried blood stained the ground.

Yet no bodies. No people. Only signs of brutal combat—craters from explosions, scattered weapons—and an eerie, absolute silence.

Grace scanned the area. No life signs.

She jumped down and began scanning the vehicles.

[Based on vehicle markings and graffiti, convoys identified include: Fu Lu Shou Convoy, Dawn Convoy, Akesai Brotherhood, Windwalkers Convoy... Others unknown.] [Survivor count: 0. Corpses: 0.] [Estimated time of battle: 13–15 hours ago. After accounting for time dilation, approx. yesterday at 17:35. Matches Abyss swallowing time.]

Lin Xian hadn't expected Hu Lushou’s convoy to appear here. But the strange part—only twenty vehicles remained of a convoy that should’ve had over a hundred. And not a single body?

Now, Grace sprinted into the train station behind the plaza.

White City’s railway line curved along a mountain road toward the distant hills. But as Grace landed on the tracks and scanned—disaster.

The entire steel infrastructure of the track station had rusted and collapsed. Even the foundation had cracked in places.

[Track status: poor. Over 30% requires repair. Unsafe for heavy train traversal.]

One bad report after another. In Carriage No. 21 of the Infinite Train, silence reigned. Everyone was holding their breath, awaiting Grace’s update.

The track issues stretched beyond 100 kilometers. And that floating Merlion statue—that thing—was worse than they could’ve imagined.

[From an engineering perspective, over 195 segments are too damaged for track-layering vehicles to handle. Alternative plan strongly recommended.]

Everyone looked to Lin Xian.

The pressure was crushing.

And just when Lin Xian was at a loss—Grace’s voice returned:

[Zzzzt... At White City Station coordinate azimuth 043°, distance over 15 kilometers, my radar has detected a massive artificial mechanical construct.]

Grace activated full speed and rushed toward a valley outside the city.

As she approached, radar echoes grew. In night vision, a massive structure emerged—like an airborne city.

Darkness thick as ink drowned the entire valley.

At first, it was just a shadow on the horizon. Its vast silhouette blended into the mountains. But as Grace drew near, its features became clear:

A fallen mobile city.

It stretched across kilometers. Twin engine arrays towered like skyscrapers—black holes in the night. On both sides floated four ring-shaped sky stations.

This aerial city lay sprawled in the valley, blotting out the sky. If not for its angular man-made shape, one would’ve thought it was part of the mountains.

Though it had engines, its base rested on two rows of massive treads, each tread plate the size of a house—monuments to industrial might.

But the city was dead. No engine hum. No lights. Not even the groan of contracting metal.

The decks above, once blazing with life, were pitch-black. And on the edge of that city, obscured in shadow—three colossal letters:

【SILENT CITY】

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