Chapter 193: The Mark

In car number 5, the Roarer K23 electric rotary machine gun in Da Lou’s hands had long since run out of ammunition. The barrel was red hot, and he picked up his original M556 light machine gun and continued to fire.

Lu Xingchen stood in the middle of the car, opened a crack in the automatic door, and continuously sprayed flames outwards, igniting a large area of trees along the way!

In the cockpit ahead, Lin Xian, KIKI, and Chen Sixuan were all puzzled when they heard Ding Junyi’s words.

“Stop? Why?”

Ding Junyi didn’t beat around the bush. She directly picked up her mobile terminal and showed Lin Xian the changes in the Hell Black Chrysanthemum that she had just recorded.

“It’s still unclear why those parasites are attracted to the No. 1 Blood Calamity Plant, but I think I’ve found the reason for the change in the red light on it.”

Lin Xian’s eyes narrowed. At this moment, he saw on the screen that the red light on the Hell Black Chrysanthemum had intensified dramatically at a certain point, visible to the naked eye!

Ding Junyi said urgently, “Since the No. 1 Blood Calamity Plant was recorded in the laboratory, it has undergone three brightening changes and one weakening change. And the three times it turned red were when we escaped from Underground City No. 9, from Yubei Spaceport, and from Rain Town just now!”

“Although this sampling standard is not enough to draw a rigorous experimental conclusion, since it’s a matter of life and death now, I’m boldly making a guess based on the group hunting effect. That is, these dark creatures will put some kind of mark on the prey they haven’t killed that we can’t see. And the red light reaction on the Hell Black Chrysanthemum is the embodiment of this mark. It’s like the smell of blood in the forest, which will make us the target of more Aberrations in the dark.”

“This mark may be the way dark creatures communicate. There is also another possibility, that is, the larger the Aberration, the deeper the mark it will give us. If Yubei City can be explained by the group hunting effect, then when we came out of Rain Town just now, we didn’t increase our personnel. As soon as we left the territory of Rain Town, the red light of the Black Chrysanthemum changed, and at the same time, we were immediately besieged by a large number of dark creatures. So I think that if we keep escaping, when this mark reaches a certain level, we may all encounter the situation that the Fireline convoy encountered… total annihilation!”

Ding Junyi finished in one breath, her eyes flashing slightly. With her rigorous personality, it was very difficult for her to make such a conclusion with a lot of subjective tendencies. And she also knew that if her argument was wrong and was adopted by her teammates, it would very likely lead to the destruction of the entire train!

After listening to her, the three of them had even more solemn expressions on their faces. Lin Xian frowned directly and said, “So you think the role of this Hell Black Chrysanthemum is to remind us humans?”

Ding Junyi said, “Not entirely. It’s just that this plant can absorb dark energy, which is enough to show that the No. 1 Calamity Plant has the ability to perceive dark energy. Based on this, the mark of dark creatures must also be one of the energies. But this is only one aspect. Its other functions may have to wait for me to take samples and…”

“Director Ding!!”

Lin Xian’s expression was grave. He suddenly shouted and stopped her argument. “Cut the crap, just give me the conclusion!”

Outside the car, the sound of gunfire was endless. Countless Aberrations swarmed up. The armor plates of the entire train were constantly being subjected to severe tests. Lin Xian was already frantic. Under such circumstances, he had no patience to listen to Ding Junyi’s analytical logic.

Lin Xian’s angry shout made Ding Junyi tremble. She looked at Lin Xian with a surprised look and opened her mouth. Then her brow furrowed, and she said quickly, “There are two methods. The first is to stop the train and solve all the Aberrations around the train, kill them all and clear the mark. The second is to go back to Rain Town and solve that big parasite and other parasitic Impersonators. I suggest we choose the second option. Because from a biological point of view, creatures that need to use traps are usually not strong in defense or escape from natural enemies. They are particularly vulnerable in nature, so they need to increase their chances of survival through traps or camouflage. That big parasite needs to hunt through fission reproduction and Impersonator deception, and it has a fixed territory. That means its immediate combat threat to humans is not necessarily higher than the Aberrations in the night. And the troubles we are encountering now are still endless. Compared to this, the success rate of the second option will be higher. I’m done!”

After listening, KIKI and Chen Sixuan both had looks of disbelief on their faces. They quickly looked at Lin Xian and saw that his expression was also extremely grave.

As the leader of the team, every choice would directly affect the life and death of the team. And Ding Junyi’s deduction at this moment, while bringing a glimmer of hope to the team, undoubtedly also gave Lin Xian an almost crazy choice.

Lin Xian’s brain was spinning rapidly at this moment. His intuition told him that Ding Junyi’s deduction about the [mark] was nine times out of ten correct. This not only explained the group hunting effect, but also explained the change in the Hell Black Chrysanthemum after leaving Rain Town. More importantly, Lin Xian had always had such suspicions.

The white giant monster from Jiang City, the crimson centipede that chased them from Yushan to Beiwan, encountering the sky jellyfish after escaping from Underground City No. 9, and being immediately besieged by the whole train after escaping the siege of the Aberrations in Yubei!

Including the Iron Guard Brigade, that giant, mountain-like atmospheric mica had chased them all the way from Daluo Mountain to Yubei Spaceport.

Hunter, mark, the crimson light of the Hell Black Chrysanthemum became concrete at this moment, and it seemed to make perfect sense!

He even remembered that when he was chatting with KIKI last night, she had also unintentionally mentioned that the team could only run away. The more they ran, the more monsters there were, and the stronger they were, as if they were being targeted, as if the monsters in the night had put a bounty on them…

The expansion of the team was just a superficial phenomenon. The bigger hidden danger was this [mark] on the team, which was constantly amplifying the danger in the night. If this theory was followed, the best way to be safer in the night was to solve the monsters encountered and then enter a silent state.

This was actually very counter-intuitive. Many people would not think in this direction at first, or have no chance to think in this direction, that is: dark creatures have the ability to communicate with each other.

And this communication is the hunter’s mark!

Screech!

In an instant, the Infinity suddenly braked hard. Many of the Aberrations that had crashed into the train fell off due to inertia. The tide-like offensive began to attack from the side of the car.

Everyone held on tightly to the car body around them. Chen Sixuan looked at Lin Xian. Stopping the train at this moment meant that Lin Xian had already made a choice.

Vroom!

The motor engine roared. Before everyone could catch their breath, the train had already started to move in the opposite direction!

“Lin Xian!” Chen Sixuan shouted.

“We’re going back!” Lin Xian looked at Ding Junyi. “I think Director Ding is right.”

Ding Junyi’s eyes were hot at this moment. She didn’t speak, just nodded at Lin Xian, and then turned and walked towards car number 3.

As a scientific researcher, the only support she could provide was information and knowledge. And as a member of the team, this was what she had to do.

The entire train suddenly moved in the opposite direction, which was unexpected for everyone on the train.

At this moment, Lin Xian’s voice came from the intercom in the car.

“Everyone get ready, we are about to return to Rain Town. Don’t save ammunition. Kill all threats encountered!”

“Roger.” Shu Qin didn’t know Lin Xian’s intention, but she had no doubt about Lin Xian’s arrangement.

“Okay, Brother Lin,” Shasha’s voice also came.

“Understood. Do we need to open the door and fight outside?” Lu Xingchen’s voice came. It seemed that he was not having a good time fighting.

“We’ll see how it goes,” Lin Xian said decisively. At this moment, he urged the train to run at full speed and broke through the obstacles behind. Fortunately, he had specially built a double-layer armor on the head of the Gemini 11R nuclear-powered electric locomotive. Its protection was not weak. Except for not having an ice-breaking shield, its impact was still very strong.

Although he didn’t know if the biological theories of Blue Star were applicable to those dark creatures, since he chose to believe Ding Junyi, Lin Xian did not hesitate at all. He already had a plan in his heart at this moment.