Chapter 159: Dawn Will Eventually Arrive

Clank, clank~

On the Sky-Corridor, a tsunami of cheers erupted from the thousands of vehicles.

Some roared in anger, others cried out in astonishment.

Some wept bitterly, others gasped for breath.

The one thing they all shared was the shock from the incredibly perilous ascent!

At this moment, the four traction trains did not stop. They were being pulled by the mechanical traction devices on the track to merge onto a single line. The rear hitches were finally released, and the yellow traction platforms, laden with survivor convoys, were driven by the system into the electromagnetic acceleration sequence channel.

“Captain Lin, thank you,” Jiang Yun’s voice came through the walkie-talkie.

On the Infinity, Lin Xian was drenched in sweat, on the verge of collapse. In that last burst, he felt for the first time that his Mechanical Heart was about to overload and explode, and he almost passed out.

The power turbine of the entire Whale 03E heavy-duty gas turbine locomotive was now making a hollow cooling sound, and waves of heat emanated from the engine block.

He gasped for breath and looked up at the dense convoy of vehicles ahead. Among them, he saw Jiang Yun, Shu Qin, Xu Jin, and Old Mo in his heavy truck, all acknowledging him through their windows.

“Captain Lin, we’ll wait for you in Jiazhou,” Shu Qin said excitedly from her car as the traction platform passed the Infinity and moved slowly forward.

“Thank you, Captain Lin. We would have been finished this time without you. We’ll definitely repay you if we get the chance!” Xu Jin said with emotion.

“Thanks, young man named Lin. See you again if we get the chance. Remember to upgrade your train’s drive system, the tracks ahead won’t be easy…” Old Mo advised.

“Goodbye, and good luck to you all,” Lin Xian replied into the walkie-talkie, looking at the crowd.

Everyone expressed their gratitude to Lin Xian as the thousands of vehicles began to move. Many members on the Silver Star and Dragon Mountain One waved from their windows.

Whoosh~

Metal windshields rose at the front of each traction platform. The tractors, under electromagnetic acceleration, sped off into the distance. The near-vacuum environment inside the Sky-Corridor was enough to accelerate these vehicles to incredible speeds.

On the Iron Guard Brigade’s military intercontinental-class train, Bai Shuang watched the rows of departing cars with a look of relief on her face.

“Team Leader Bai, we succeeded…” Wei Kexue, covered in cold sweat, leaned back in his chair with a complicated expression, wiping away the sweat with a look of lingering fear. “This is definitely the most thrilling thing I’ve ever done in my life.”

“It’s not over yet. Quickly get the other trains separated onto their tracks,” Bai Shuang remained calm.

Wei Kexue nodded and immediately snapped back to attention, beginning to operate the system for dispatch.

So many people had not yet successfully passed through the sky tunnel. Making it up was only overcoming the first hurdle.

Beep.

Soon, all the traction platforms had entered the electromagnetic acceleration channel and sped away. The spaceport’s dispatch system began to guide the four trains onto different tracks, disengaging the limiters and notifying them that they could proceed freely.

At this moment, voices from the other trains came through Lin Xian’s walkie-talkie.

“Lin Xian, on behalf of the entire Silver Star, I thank you. I owe you one.” Jian Xuwei’s cold voice carried a hint of approval. She hadn’t expected Lin Xian to be so decisive in that life-or-death moment, and it seemed he had already prepared such a backup plan.

This forced her to re-evaluate this man. A mysterious mechanical Esper, proposing the ‘Project Traction’ to save everyone, and at the critical moment, using that heavy-duty gas turbine locomotive to salvage that crucial bit of ascent speed, buying precious time for the other trains’ systems to restart.

This person was not simple.

Behind Jian Xuwei, Jian Zeyang sat on the floor, his face pale with terror, as if he had just survived a catastrophe. He muttered in horror, “A gas turbine… how is that possible, it’s unbelievable…”

“Thanks, you guys were a big help too,” Lin Xian replied from the Infinity.

The Silver Star, along with the Dragon Mountain One, had been the absolute main support in both the resistance and the traction plan. It would have been impossible for him to achieve it with just the Infinity alone.

“See you on the Circinus Line.”

“See you.”

Whoosh~

The Silver Star’s sci-fi-like engine lights lit up, and carrying more than three thousand passengers, it sped off into the distance.

“Good lad, I, Shi Diyuan, will remember you. If we meet again on the Circinus Line, I’ll definitely buy you a drink.”

Shi Diyuan’s hearty voice also came through. Lin Xian had a strong impression of this man. In this apocalypse, he was one of the few people he had seen who would step forward without hesitation. Besides Jiang Yun, he was probably the second.

“Safe travels!” Lin Xian replied.

The Dragon Mountain One, a massive mobile castle, also began to accelerate, rushing forward. Its dozens of cars soon disappeared.

The Silver Star and the Dragon Mountain One did not delay. They quickly entered their track lines and began to accelerate with their own engines, heading into the distance.

“Captain Lin, thank you for your assistance in this evacuation. I will report the situation to my superiors. If you need anything, you can seek help from our Phoenix Society rescue organizations anywhere. The spaceport is about to fall, please evacuate immediately.”

On the other side, Bai Shuang’s voice came through, along with Wei Kexue’s: “Captain Lin, good luck, see you again if we get the chance!”

“Okay!”

Lin Xian immediately replied. The two trains separated onto different tracks and began to accelerate.

Without the electromagnetic acceleration of the traction platforms, the four trains could only use their own engines to travel on the Sky-Corridor’s tracks. Although the speed would be slower, it was a trivial issue compared to life and death.

The speeds of the trains were different, and everyone was worried that the Atmospheric Jellyfish in the sky would attack the Sky-Corridor, so no one delayed. They all accelerated to top speed, fleeing Spaceport One of Yubei City at an extremely fast pace.

Among them, the Infinity was the slowest. Before long, the three trains ahead had all disappeared at the end of the Sky-Corridor.

As the train continued to move, Lin Xian finally breathed a sigh of relief.

“How are you?” Chen Sixuan walked over anxiously, seeing that both Lin Xian and KIKI were exhausted and drenched in sweat.

Lin Xian stood up. “Is everyone okay?”

“We’re all fine.”

“That was so close just now.” KIKI fanned herself with her hands, a look of lingering fear on her face. “I really thought the train was going to fall.”

If the Horizon Braking System had shattered in that instant and the train’s engine had also died, the fate of these twenty thousand people would have been incredibly tragic. Falling from a height of several thousand meters, the consequences were unimaginable.

“Don’t talk about it. We’re not out of danger yet. Teacher Chen, use the Gemini to get the train to top speed.”

“Okay!” Chen Sixuan immediately nodded.

Lin Xian’s face was pale, and he felt dizzy, but he had no time to think about resting. That giant Atmospheric Cloud Jellyfish was still in the sky. With the strange siege formation tonight, those countless aerial monsters could attack the Sky-Corridor at any time. Although the current energy could support the anti-air weapons outside the Sky-Corridor, everyone was now 4,800 meters in the air. How could he rest easy?

Just as Lin Xian was regulating his breathing, preparing to activate his Mechanical Heart again to accelerate, a low rumble came from the air.

Thud!

Everyone on the train felt a numbness on their faces, as if some kind of shockwave had hit.

In an instant, everyone turned to look out the side windows of the train.

Inside the passage, a humming sound rapidly approached from the distance.

“What’s happening?!”

“An earthquake?”

“No, it’s an explosion!” Lin Xian’s pupils contracted sharply, and he immediately shouted, “Everyone, hold on tight!”

At the same time, he once again urged his Mechanical Heart, making the Infinity accelerate.

Boom!

A massive shockwave instantly washed over the train, causing the entire Sky-Corridor to shake violently.

“Ah!!”

Chen Sixuan and Shasha immediately cried out in alarm. Everyone dropped to the floor. Inside the huge Sky-Corridor, it was like a cruise ship tossed on a stormy sea, constantly rising and falling.

As the violent shockwave hit, Lin Xian felt the train’s engine pushing forward frantically. His strength began to fail him severely. In an instant, it was as if time began to slow down.

He could almost hear the sound of his own breathing and heartbeat. His lips were numb, and his vision swam.

“Accelerate…”

“Hurry up and accelerate…”

…

In the high sky in front of Spaceport One of Yubei City, the Atmospheric Cloud Jellyfish and countless Sky Jellyfish floated. Millions of zombies swarmed, and the strange ‘Corpse Driver’ stood in the center of the city, gazing east. A sapphire-blue sphere of light suddenly lit up in the high sky. This light was incredibly dazzling, like a newborn sun blooming on the earth. Its brightness was enough to pierce one’s eyes. In that instant, the entire Yubei City was reduced to a vast expanse of white.

Immediately after, a massive shockwave radiated outwards in a ring from the center of the explosion. Wherever it passed, the earth trembled, and dust was thrown high into the air, forming a dust curtain that blotted out the sky. The air seemed to be instantly ignited, emitting a deafening roar. This sound was like ten thousand giant drums being beaten at the same time, or like a thousand thunderbolts exploding between heaven and earth.

Then, a huge mushroom cloud began to slowly rise. The base of this mushroom cloud was wide, and its top was like a giant, open umbrella. It continuously rolled upwards and expanded, its color changing from the initial grayish-white to black, as if it were a demon’s flower rising from hell, carrying an endless aura of destruction.

Under the massive shockwave, millions of zombies were instantly vaporized. The Sky Jellyfish were also immediately swallowed by the dazzling sphere of light. The Atmospheric Cloud Jellyfish in the sky let out a strange, trembling cry, but no one could hear it.

Its mountain-like bell began to burn, and its countless giant tentacles shattered and disintegrated like rocks.

“General, will we win?”

On the central high platform of Area E in the spaceport plaza, behind Zhang Dingzhong were countless fallen Iron Guard soldiers. The last dozen or so survivors surrounded him. He looked at the giant humanoid black shadow in the city center. The black shadow also seemed to be gazing at him.

“The anthem of humanity is an anthem of courage. No matter how dark the sky, one day it will be illuminated.”

Voom.

The sphere of light exploded, and everything was swallowed by the blinding white light.

At the edge of the Starry Abyss No. 3’s polar night, which covered a range of thousands of kilometers, a light shone, burning the lurking Aberrations in the darkness to ashes.

On the Sky-Corridor, thousands of survivor vehicles sped along. Four trains roared through the aerial corridor. Nearly twenty thousand people were desperately rushing forward!

On the Infinity, the dark radio crackled with static. Lin Xian, his face weary, walked over, surrounded by his team members.

Chen Sixuan, KIKI, Da Lou, Shasha, Ding Junyi, Lu Xingchen—everyone looked at the radio with grave expressions.

A voice sounded from the radios in all the survivor vehicles.

“Phoenix Society global announcement. According to the latest Starry Abyss investigation and analysis, the night is undergoing a tidal expansion under the influence of the Starry Abyss. Its coverage speed will continue to slow down depending on the distance from the center of the Starry Abyss. According to the Phoenix Society’s calculations, Blue Star will enter a global night in 1 year and 96 days. This polar night may last for more than 571 years. For the sake of the flame of human civilization, the Phoenix Society hereby announces to all survivors worldwide: Please all survivors plan your route according to the furthest point from the Starry Abyss and flee east towards the dawn.”

“No matter where you are at this moment, please, you must survive. Believe that dawn… will eventually arrive!”

(End of Prologue)