Chapter 114: Ascent

Whirr!!!

The motor horsepower of the Gemini 11R nuclear-powered electric locomotive was significantly stronger than the Infinity’s original Star-Ring 7F electric locomotive. It quickly picked up speed, letting out a whirring sound as it sped through the empty tunnel.

Lin Xian was fully concentrated, not daring to relax for a moment. Not far ahead was the track he and Kiki had temporarily repaired. If the earlier earthquake had collapsed it, he would have to brake immediately.

Kiki nervously gripped the handrail of the control console, constantly observing the situation inside the tunnel.

Soon, the collapsed section of the outer wall appeared in their line of sight.

“Ahead!”

Kiki shouted, looking as if she was ready to use her ability at any moment.

Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh!

At the location of the cavity, a hurricane was madly rushing in. It was obvious that some huge existence outside was moving closer!

Lin Xian looked over. The track he and Kiki had repaired at the suspended, broken section had not been destroyed by the earthquake. His heart tightened, and he accelerated the Mechanical Heart again.

“Charge through!”

A fluorescent light flashed in Kiki’s eyes. Her ability had already begun to cover the entire train, helping Lin Xian maintain stability.

Swoosh!

Sparks flew as the train sped past the temporary track, directly crushing several iron plates and even twisting some of the load-bearing steel pillars.

In that instant, as the train passed the cavity, Lin Xian and Kiki’s gazes almost simultaneously caught a glimpse of the outside.

In the darkness, a row of giant eyes stared at the train that was rapidly shuttling through the tunnel.

It was like glimpsing some terrifying deep-sea behemoth in the dark ocean; that row of eyes was like giant brownish-red wheels!

Just a single glance made Lin Xian and Kiki feel the air freeze in an instant.

“Ah!!”

Kiki screamed, her small face pale with fright. “Heavens, what is that thing!!!”

“Who the hell knows!”

Lin Xian gritted his teeth, a cold sweat breaking out from the scene just now. A suffocating feeling of near-death rose madly from the bottom of his heart!

The Mechanical Heart operated at its peak, wishing he could make this nuclear-powered locomotive fly right now!

Above Underground City No. 9, the light of the brilliant moon shone down. Below the deathly silent square pit, the tip of a massive black iceberg slowly revealed itself at the bottom.

Its brownish-red body was covered in scales. In the black shadow, several strange feet, like skyscrapers, grew on the fish-like body. Countless flesh and blood continuously gathered on it, forming a bizarre, giant human head, like some kind of geocentric monster that had crawled out from the depths of the earth.

ROAR!!!!!

A huge, dull roar echoed between heaven and earth. Countless layers of snow on the surface of the underground city instantly avalanched and fell.

The giant subterranean creature lifted one of its strange feet and smashed it down towards one side of the underground city’s wall!

In the next instant, a section of the entire tunnel, from top to bottom, vanished with a boom.

Boom!

In the ascending tunnel, a huge tremor and shockwave shot up from the passage behind, causing the fast-moving Infinity to jolt violently. The wheels shook, sparks flew, and the entire tunnel was shaken by the shockwave, causing rocks and sand to fall wildly. Everyone on the train was nearly thrown to the ground.

“Ah!!!” Zhao Yan and Xu Wen screamed.

Shasha fell directly to the ground. Chen Sixuan gripped the handrail tightly. Dust and smoke filled the rapidly receding tunnel, but she still couldn’t see the lights of Lin Xian’s train.

“Lin Xian, Lin Xian!” she pressed the transponder.

K-k-k-k

The communication was cut off for a moment, then quickly restored.

“Teacher Chen, how much reserve energy is left!?”

Lin Xian’s voice came from the transponder. Chen Sixuan’s brow relaxed. She looked at the driving screen and immediately replied to Lin Xian, “15%, but the power consumption for climbing is too great. It’s already running at full load!”

“Wait for me to come up!”

Boom!

At this moment, a few kilometers behind the Infinity, a black and purple train burst out from the sand and dust. The view ahead was almost completely obscured by the dust caused by the earthquake.

“Where are you? Did the earthquake just now startle that subterranean creature?”

Ding Junyi’s voice showed no trace of fear, as if this woman naturally lacked emotional color. Even at such a thrilling moment, her tone was calm as she asked Lin Xian on the other end of the transponder.

“I don’t know, we should be close to you. That big guy found us. Maybe it wants to climb up!”

After speaking, she lowered her head and called up the subsystem, beginning to operate something quickly.

Lin Xian was drenched in sweat. The life-or-death moment just now had tensed his heart to the extreme. Although they were separated by the tunnel wall, he and Kiki could feel a huge presence outside.

It was like a demon from the abyss. This underground city, built of reinforced concrete, was like an anthill in front of it, easily peeling away the outer walls.

Boom!

Before the dust and smoke had cleared, a scorching wave of flame suddenly rushed from the side of the train. In an instant, the firelight illuminated the passage.

“It’s that thing!”

Kiki’s eyes flashed. In an instant, she used her ability to stabilize the train’s posture. Looking up, a red, strange shadow appeared in the tunnel ahead. It was the human skeleton that Lin Xian and Kiki had encountered on the 89th sub-level. It was unknown where it had drilled down from, but it was now climbing down the tunnel with a stooped figure, breathing fire at the train.

“Ram it!” Kiki shouted.

“Don’t let it breathe fire again!”

This Gemini 11R nuclear-powered electric locomotive was not yet armored. Although the train’s own shell material was very hard, Lin Xian was worried that the human skeleton’s flames would damage key components. If the train broke down at this time, it would be completely over.

“You!! Hello!!!”

The crimson human skeleton made a strange human voice, its bone spurs rising all over its body. Its scorched, fleshy arms lunged towards the train.

Flames erupted from its mouth again.

“Hello your head!” Kiki was furious. Gritting her silver teeth, she directly raised her hand and waved. An infinite telekinetic force pressed the human skeleton directly against the outer tunnel wall. The flames from its mouth were also blocked, and the fire vented wildly around its face.

BOOM!!!!

The fierce fire burned, even turning the wall red!

ROAR!!!!!

That huge, dull roar between heaven and earth sounded again. Lin Xian sensed danger and drove the train past the human skeleton. “Throw it back!”

Lin Xian shouted.

Kiki reacted and waved her hand back.

Boom!

The entire section of the tunnel behind them instantly disappeared. The crimson human skeleton, which Kiki had suppressed against the tunnel wall with her telekinesis, was instantly torn to shreds by the abyssal behemoth.

“Yaaah!!”

Kiki let out a startled cry. Lin Xian thought she was injured, but the girl was anxiously activating her ability, dragging something towards the front of the train.

Lin Xian glanced sideways and saw that the huge red skull had now broken off from its neck and was actually being grabbed by Kiki and pulled back.

“You breathe fire, I’ll let you breathe fire!”

“What are you doing?!”

“How can I let this thing off easy?” Kiki gritted her teeth, completely ignoring the fact that their train was narrowly escaping from the claws of the abyssal behemoth. Her small hand squeezed in the void, constantly applying force. The red skull was also squeezed under the immense pressure, its flesh and blood separating.

Bang! Black energy surged, and a medium-sized red blood crystal floated outside the cockpit’s glass window.

Kiki ran over, opened the small window, and grabbed the anomaly blood crystal.

Lin Xian was dumbfounded. “You did that on purpose?”

Kiki shook her head. “No, its head was just in my hand. I thought I might as well take it…”

Lin Xian: …