Chapter 58: Preparations

…

On Lin Xian’s side, the three of them drove back to the station, reloaded the jeep, and then returned to the train car. They then started the train directly. The train engine rumbled low, the wheels rolled, and they began to leave Quguan Station.

“I thought you guys would stay for a long time.”

On the train, Chen Sixuan asked when she saw Lin Xian starting up so quickly.

“We can’t stop for now…” Lin Xian let out a breath, looking at the dense blackness outside the window. He now needed to hurry up and devour the several vehicles he had seized and that large train.

He looked at the firearms on the ground and then at Chen Sixuan with a surprised look.

“Are you learning to use a gun from Shasha?”

Chen Sixuan was stunned for a moment, then nodded nervously. “I can’t help much most of the time. I see that Shasha is so young and can use a gun, so I wanted to learn too.”

Lin Xian nodded. In the apocalypse, it was always good to learn more self-preservation skills. Now that they had obtained a lot of weapons, Chen Sixuan didn’t want to be a useless burden, so she started learning about firearms from Shasha.

Although Lou Shasha was also a novice, this little girl was very smart, wise beyond her years, and much more mature than her peers. She had initially learned from Dalou, and later became more and more proficient on her own.

She usually didn’t like to use pistols or rifles, preferring to carry a grenade launcher all day. However, she only had a few of these VOG-25, 40mm grenades left. Although Lin Xian had scanned the blueprint, he lacked many of the materials for the ammunition, especially the high-energy explosive called all-nitrogen anion salt. He couldn’t replenish her ammunition for the time being.

“You bad guy, hurry up and get that radio working.”

KIKI said eagerly.

Lin Xian nodded, took out his radio, opened his mechanical manufacturing panel, and then, following the method Jiang Yun had described, made a simple frame device.

Soon, Lin Xian had drawn the blueprint and also covered the outside with a layer of hard plastic.

Buzz~ A white light flashed in his hand. Copper sheets and black plastic flew out from the decomposition space and were quickly manufactured into a peripheral frame for the radio. Then he took out the dark red Anomaly Blood Crystal.

Everyone looked on in amazement, then at the red bead.

“Is this the thing left behind after a dark monster dies?” Lou Shasha’s face was full of fear.

KIKI picked it up and looked at it. “It’s cold. It feels like there’s some kind of energy flowing inside.”

“Be careful.” Lin Xian reminded her. “Since it’s not something that belongs to humans, we must be extra vigilant. What the Phoenix Society has announced so far are the uses and advantages of this thing, but who knows if there are any side effects?”

Hearing this, KIKI stuck out her tongue and put it back in Lin Xian’s palm as if avoiding it. “That’s true. Then you should get the radio working first.”

Lin Xian took it back and directly inserted the Anomaly Blood Crystal into a slot he had designed in advance. Then, under everyone’s gaze, he turned on the radio.

At this moment, a strange energy wave seemed to flash by, sending a chill down their spines.

“Zzz…”

“Zzz…”

“Federation… Federation Radio YB area announcement. Strong Ethereal Fluctuation detected in the northern foothills of Mount Daluo. Survivor convoys heading towards Yubei and Fengcheng along the G1523 and X556 routes, please detour. This message is provided by the Federation’s Phoenix Society rescue organization…”

“Wow, it really works!” KIKI exclaimed.

“Zzz… zzz… City warning announcement. The Circumstellar No. 1 port in Yubei City has ceased operation and is congested with a large number of survivor convoys. All survivor convoys are advised not to gather in the city. There are a large number of zombie hordes and anomalies in the city, which is very dangerous. A detour is recommended!”

Chen Sixuan, at the side, looked surprised and covered her mouth. “Lin Xian, the Jiang-Yu JY3365 railway line seems to pass through the northern foothills of Mount Daluo. There will be several tunnels.”

“I know,” Lin Xian nodded.

“By the way, Brother Lin, if the ascent passage of Circumstellar No. 1 has stopped working, even if our train lowers the horizon traction brake, can we still use the magnetic traction to get onto the high-altitude track?” Shasha also asked with some concern.

The Circumstellar Railway was a planetary-level human engineering project built by the Federation government on Blue Star. It was not just a simple railway track, but a super project that included sea, land, and high-altitude construction. For sections like the high-altitude corridor, there were not only multiple tracks but also traction elevators for cars to ascend, used for short-distance travel to quickly cross the Wanyuan Gorge and the Dazhu mountain range.

“Don’t worry.” Lin Xian’s eyes burned as he looked at Chen Sixuan. “I’ve already considered this. We don’t need to worry about how we’ll get up. On the contrary, the risk in the northern foothills of Mount Daluo might be more troublesome for us.”

Shasha looked at Chen Sixuan with curiosity and saw that her face was a little nervous, but she still nodded to her.

Chen Sixuan naturally understood what Lin Xian meant by preparations, because she knew that this Giant Whale 03E heavy gas turbine locomotive was designed in the early days for the Circumstellar Railway.

Lin Xian’s Mechanical Heart activated. Whoosh~ The power turbine at the front of the Giant Whale 03E heavy gas turbine locomotive slowly began to rotate for a self-check. This design, once considered crazy, was mainly used to cope with early high-speed passages or complex sea conditions. Later, as the electromagnetic traction system gradually matured, this gas turbine was gradually phased out.

Hearing the beast-like sound coming from under their feet, Shasha and Dalou looked at each other, seemingly surprised by Lin Xian’s plan.

“You bad guy, listen to this…”

At this moment, KIKI eagerly hushed everyone. She had tuned to the AM07 frequency that Jiang Yun said the wanderer alliance mainly used. At this moment, a man’s hurried voice came from the radio.

“This is the Iron Fortress convoy. A reminder to those in Quguan, Yuchi, Ping’a Lake, and the eastern direction of the mountains. We have found traces of the Black Crow four-man group in Hengxi Village. All the survivors here have been slaughtered by them. Convoys nearby must be careful. Reconfirming, it’s four modified mountain off-road vehicles with green and black graffiti and spiked wheels. These people are all thugs, and three of them are ability users. Please be careful, please be careful…”

“Oh my god, 4 people, 4 vehicles, and 3 ability users?!” Shasha made a very surprised expression. “What bad seeds!”

Hearing this, Lin Xian’s expression darkened. He looked at KIKI.

“It seems there will be a lot of trouble if we go to the Underground City No. 9 you mentioned.”

“You’re wrong about that!” KIKI seemed to have guessed Lin Xian’s reaction. She was now buried in her phone, quickly scrolling through a map, and then showed it to Lin Xian. “Look, this is a branch line that diverts from Yuchi. It goes around the southern line of Mount Daluo from Ping’a Lake, but it breaks off here on the map. It’s not clearly marked after that. And there’s a large freight terminal between Yuchi Station and Yubei. There’s also a branch line here that goes from east to south. Guess why?”

Lin Xian frowned and looked at Teacher Chen with a questioning gaze.

“This situation is very common,” Chen Sixuan said. “If it’s not marked, it might be a military strategic point like North Bay, or an internal railway line for some enterprise or mine. But there don’t seem to be any mineral resources in Mount Daluo, so could it be…”

“No need to guess.” KIKI said directly, “Underground City No. 9 must be near Mount Daluo. Maybe the former Federation government hollowed out the entire underground of Mount Daluo. And such a huge project would definitely need railways for transportation. So if it’s a new line, it’s plausible that it wasn’t marked or was deliberately hidden by the Federation government. What’s more…”

She looked at Lin Xian as she spoke. “If we take this southern line of Mount Daluo, won’t we be able to bypass the area reported by the Federation radio? As for whether it’s Underground City No. 9 there, with such a large amount of engineering, we can find out immediately with a little exploration.”

“Hmm?!”

Lin Xian’s eyes lit up. He immediately understood KIKI’s intention. Taking a step back, if that line was a dead end, he could completely turn back. This section was at most a one or two hundred kilometer journey. If it was really as KIKI said, with good luck, they could both explore that Underground City No. 9 and avoid the anomaly zone reported by the Federation radio.

This was a great plan!

Lin Xian knew that after entering the Circumstellar Railway, there would be many different track areas: high-altitude corridors, deserts, primeval forests, no-man’s lands, deep oceans, and Star Abyss regions. Simple rail steel alone couldn’t solve all the problems. So he had to consider upgrading the entire train in terms of power and drive mode.

And to achieve this step, the Mechanical Heart was the foundation, but mechanical scanning and manufacturing were the key. If he couldn’t get access to those advanced technology systems and scan them into blueprints, he could only hand-make some firearms and small appliances, which would be useless.

Just as KIKI said, those power source systems, high-energy weapons, self-armor, and propulsion systems—although Lin Xian had never seen them, just hearing about them made him wish he could immediately scan a set of blueprints!

So he had to find a way to explore this Federation government’s Underground City No. 9!

“I agree too.” Chen Sixuan also said at this moment. “But the track conditions on an unknown section might be very complicated, so I suggest it’s best to travel that section during the day.”

Lin Xian nodded. Then he slowly stopped the entire train, parking the Infinity on an open plain.

“It’s settled then. We’ll rest tonight. We’ll stick to the previous arrangement. Teacher Chen, you’ll take the first half of the night watch.”

If they were to divert from Yuchi, and it was an unknown section of road, it would be best to observe the road conditions and travel during the day. Lin Xian planned to first devour the last freight electric locomotive. This might take a long time and a lot of stamina. The Circumstellar 7F electric locomotive didn’t have that much reserved power. Instead of risking traveling in the dark, it was better to first devour the burdens behind them, conserve their energy, and then take the unknown southern line of Mount Daluo after daybreak.

After arranging everything, the group began to work together. Those who needed to rest rested. Chen Sixuan and Shasha put away the traded supplies and canned food, and then began to turn off the lights in the cars. Lin Xian directly opened the tailboard of car 5 and went to the last freight electric locomotive, preparing to start devouring this hundred-ton behemoth