Chapter 111: The Locomotive

“Lin Xian… what… what do we do?”

Lin Xian took a deep breath. He could hear the fear in KIKI’s voice. It wasn’t just KIKI; he himself was filled with shock at this moment.

He looked at the collapsed tunnel and the half-exposed wall in front of him and fell silent.

The collapsed distance wasn’t far, about seven or eight meters. Using the inner side of the pit’s mountain wall, he could directly forge tracks and support frames, and with KIKI’s help, secure the tracks here.

The two had already traveled over a thousand meters. If nothing unexpected happened, the freight terminal of the 95th sub-level was not far ahead.

But at this moment, if they turned back, it meant that this trip into the underground city, apart from saving three irrelevant people and a pot of flowers of unknown use, would have been for nothing.

“Wait, let me take a look first.”

Lin Xian observed the silhouette in the darkness, hiding in the shadows with KIKI. Perhaps he was overthinking this action, but he was truly unwilling to give up now. They had already come this far; it would be too much of a pity to give up just like that.

Originally, he had planned that if he successfully obtained the nuclear-powered electric locomotive and had enough time, he could also search other areas of this underground city, like the military整備区, the industrial zone, or even take the reserve energy or the city’s night sentry system.

But now, forget about searching. He was even starting to worry if this carload of people could even drive out of this several-hundred-meter-deep underground pit. If they went back, they definitely couldn’t take the elevator. This meant the two of them would have to climb from the 95th sub-level back to the freight loading and unloading platform on the 65th sub-level along the tracks.

Lin Xian first created a section of track, then had KIKI gently place it over the broken section.

KIKI looked nervous, carefully using her ability to place it.

Clang~

A soft sound made both of them jump.

However, nothing happened.

“No reaction.”

“What do you think?” KIKI looked at Lin Xian.

“Let’s go over first. We’ll see about the locomotive.”

Having made up his mind, Lin Xian didn’t waste any more words. He raised his hand and began to create track steel and support pillars. Seeing this, KIKI quietly glanced at Lin Xian, then no longer hesitated, raising her hand to activate her ability and help Lin Xian repair the track.

Clang, clang, clang!

Soon, a temporary suspended track appeared before them. Lin Xian placed iron plates in the middle to maintain stability and allow the two of them to pass.

Thump, thump.

The moment the two stepped onto the suspended track, their hearts leaped into their throats.

Beside them was the open wall of the underground city, and below was a bottomless abyss of unknown depth. The two of them were now almost completely exposed to the dark creature below.

“Be careful. That big thing probably hasn’t noticed us.”

A few steps felt like a long time. Finally, the two walked into the tunnel ahead, and the light was once again swallowed by darkness.

Both of them breathed a sigh of relief.

“Quick, let’s hurry.”

Turning on the flashlight, the flesh tissue in the tunnel became more and more numerous.

Lin Xian and KIKI’s tense hearts finally relaxed a little, and they couldn’t help but speed up.

After walking a short distance, a few more instances of tunnel misalignment and fractures appeared, but none were as severe as the previous one. To be safe, Lin Xian and KIKI repaired them as they went.

Finally, the slope of the track flattened, and they began to enter a wide underground freight platform.

Beep, beep, beep.

The Geiger counter began to alarm. Lin Xian picked it up and saw that it already showed 127.46 μSv/h, a severely excessive level.

“We have to speed up.”

This platform had completely lost power, but it wasn’t as dark as expected because the city wall on one side of the platform had completely collapsed, exposing the reinforced concrete frame. A huge, broken elevator shaft hung in the air, with a few steel cables still dangling quietly inside.

“This place collapsed too…”

Lin Xian’s heart sank. He shone his flashlight and quickly scouted ahead. This platform had five straight tracks and loading/unloading platforms. The space was huge, and there were even gantry cranes with tracks on the ceiling for lifting large cargo.

The hole in the wall here was even bigger. At a glance, Lin Xian saw that the side profile of the huge creature at the bottom of the underground city pit seemed to have a huge head, but its torso was completely unclear.

“Lin Xian, don’t you think this flesh seems to be flowing?”

KIKI shrank her neck, shining her light on the brownish-red flesh spreading on the wall. Looking at it as a whole, it seemed that a lot of flesh tissue was constantly flowing inside.

It was as if it was absorbing nutrients.

Lin Xian saw it, but he was in no mood to consider these things at the moment. All his attention was focused on finding that Gemini 11R nuclear-powered electric locomotive.

Beep, beep, beep.

At this moment, the Geiger counter began to alarm frantically. Lin Xian was a little surprised. He slowly picked up the Geiger counter and moved it closer to the flesh. The numbers on it jumped wildly, exceeding 300 in an instant!

What was even more frightening was that as he moved the probe towards the flesh waterfall, that is, in the direction of the huge black shadow outside the wall, the numbers continued to rise.

“The source of the radiation is over there!?”

Lin Xian was dumbfounded. Logically speaking, the No. 1 core reactor was on the 100th sub-level and had been completely sealed. How could a large amount of radiation be coming from outside?

“Lin Xian, look, there!”

At this moment, KIKI discovered something. She shone her flashlight towards a backup platform. In the light, a streamlined train head appeared, revealing the outline of a huge industrial creation in the darkness, which made Lin Xian instantly overjoyed.

Found it!

The two immediately ran towards the platform. As they got closer, a black and purple, technologically advanced electric locomotive appeared in their sight.

With the great migration of the underground city, this Gemini 11R nuclear-powered electric locomotive was like an industrial beast slumbering in the abyss. Lin Xian couldn’t wait to walk up, place his hand on it, and begin to operate his Mechanical Heart.

[Mechanical Heart – Scanning]

[Mechanical Heart – Covering]

[Scan Complete: Target Gemini 11R Nuclear-Powered Electric Locomotive]

[Condition Check: Main Structure Integrity 100%, Comprehensive Power System: Good, Microstar 152 Micro-Nuclear Power DRX Generator: Cooled, Auxiliary Power Group: Good…]

“How is it?”

“All aspects are intact. The nuclear reactor has cooled down, but I can try to activate the auxiliary power group first and perform a system self-check.” Lin Xian didn’t relax for a moment and immediately began to try to start the primary system.

For a mechanical equipment group of this scale, it was extremely difficult for him to completely cover and drive it. He had to rely on the train’s system for control. What Lin Xian could do at the moment was only to activate and control the energy transmission switch. As for the system, that needed to be handed over to KIKI.

Whirr~

As Lin Xian started the primary system, all the subsystems of the entire locomotive also began to operate. The headlights slowly lit up, and in an instant, the full, stunning view of a nuclear-powered electric locomotive appeared in Lin Xian and KIKI’s sight!

“Wow, this thing is so cool.”

Lin Xian’s eyes shone with eager desire. With this thing, the energy problem on the train would be completely solved. Heating, water circulation, driving, etc. The 290-megawatt thermal power of the micro-nuclear DRX generator was enough for Lin Xian to completely let go and charge forward, no longer relying on his ability for propulsion. He could also free up more energy and time to strengthen the defense and internal mechanical construction, and at the same time, enhance his own strength!

The only problem was that he had to provide absolute protection for this locomotive. Its durability was far from comparable to a powerhouse like the Whale 03E heavy-duty gas turbine locomotive.

“Let’s go, let’s go up and see first.”

Lin Xian looked at the Geiger counter in his hand, his expression grim. He looked at the train in front of him, knowing that its shell material must have used extremely high-standard radiation-resistant metal. Right now, it was safer for them to hide on the train.

Not only was the reactor cooled, but there were also many mechanical parts waiting for Lin Xian to inspect one by one. He couldn’t be so foolish as to work in a high-radiation area.