Chapter 161: Corpse Crows

Jiazhou City was an edge city of the Yunjian Plain, bordering the Great Pillar Plateau to the west, and also a major transportation hub. From here, heading northeast would lead to Xilan and Quancheng, with the Xidi Gobi, devoured by Starry Abyss No. 5, further northeast. To the southeast was the Haidong Starry Abyss No. 7. The Circinus Line happened to pass right through the middle zone between Starry Abysses No. 5 and 7, crossing Jiazhou City, Hengshan Pass, the Wei River, Longjiang, and spanning the Palma Steppe to reach Jinhai and Star City.

The Jiazhou City Circinus Line station was a large structure built on a hillside, overlooking the entire city from above.

Because it wasn’t shrouded by the dark tide, the weather here was clear. Without the blizzards and low temperatures of the Great Pillar Plateau, the climate felt very comfortable.

Whoosh~

The Infinity slowly pulled into the station platform. This was a passenger transport center. Normally, it should have been overrun by zombies, but when Lin Xian and his team cautiously entered, they found the passenger platform completely empty. Not only that, but they didn’t see a single corpse.

If not for the scattered luggage, the large patches of dried, coagulated blood, and the buzzing flies, Lin Xian would have thought this place was just as it was before the apocalypse, before opening for the day.

“Strange. We only arrived a few hours late. With so many survivor vehicles, didn’t anyone want to rest and reorganize in this city? How come we don’t see a single person?” Chen Sixuan said with a frown.

Lin Xian also found it puzzling. He remembered that Shu Qin’s group had planned to wait for them here, but the current situation was诡异 in every way.

It was too quiet.

“Where are Da Lou and Lu Xingchen?”

“They were on watch all night. They’re still sleeping.”

“Wake them up,” Lin Xian said in a low voice. “Everyone, stay alert.”

When things were this abnormal, there had to be something wrong. The fact that none of the numerous survivor convoys were here was highly unusual.

Normally, being temporarily far from the polar night of Starry Abyss No. 3 and having just endured a brutal night at the spaceport, they should have stopped to rest and regroup.

“Jiang Yun and the others should have arrived a few hours before us. It probably wasn’t light out here yet,” Chen Sixuan analyzed. “Could they have encountered some kind of Aberration?”

“That’s possible,” Lin Xian nodded.

Kaka… kaka.

Just then, the walkie-talkie suddenly crackled to life. Lin Xian was a bit surprised; this was still the frequency used for communication during the traction plan at the spaceport. Could there be other people from the spaceport here?

“Captain Lin, Captain Lin, can you hear me?”

“Is that Shu Qin!?” Chen Sixuan said in surprise.

Lin Xian immediately pressed the talk button. “I can hear you. Where are you?”

“Captain Lin! Be careful, don’t open the doors or windows, this place has… *kaka*…”

Caw, caw~

Caw, caw…

Before Shu Qin could finish, the sharp cry of a bird suddenly sounded in front of the train. Thud. A black crow landed on the windshield, cawing incessantly while peering into the car.

Everyone held their breath. The crow’s eyes were empty, bloody sockets from which several thin, black tentacles grew, writhing like some kind of parasite.

The crow seemed to sense the people inside. It turned its head and suddenly pecked hard at the windshield.

Thud!

The force of the peck was immense, producing a crisp, light sound.

“This thing has been infected by the night,” Lin Xian frowned. KIKI stepped forward and raised her hand, preparing to deal with it. But the crow suddenly went berserk and began to peck violently at the window.

Thud, thud, thud!!

Like a machine, its beak began to break after a few pecks. Countless thin, black tentacles started to extend from its smashed head, attaching to the glass and making a grating sound.

Then, from the sky above the platform, more and more crows descended, a dense black mass. Some circled in the air, while others landed on the platform’s roof. As the first crow continued to ram itself against the window, the flock began to descend upon the Infinity.

Thud, thud, thud, thud…

In an instant, a sound like falling rain began to drum on the roof of the train. The people inside started looking around.

With a thought, Lin Xian immediately closed all the sunshades. At the same time, the ventilation system was completely shut down, temporarily turning the car into a crudely sealed environment.

“These things… are so disgusting…”

Lin Xian turned his head and looked at Ding Junyi. “Have you seen this thing before?”

Ding Junyi’s gaze swept around, her hands in her pockets. “Never. There are too many types of mutated creatures from the night’s infection. Our biology lab receives new samples every day. Their infectivity, aggression, and attack methods are completely unpredictable. But there isn’t a single zombie in this place. It’s highly likely that some kind of biological outbreak has occurred.”

Biological outbreak…

Hearing this, everyone’s expression changed slightly. What kind of biological outbreak could make it so that not even a single zombie could be seen?

“Kk…”

“Captain Lin.”

Shu Qin’s voice came through again. “Can you hear me?”

“Loud and clear. Where are you?”

“We… *kaka*… we’re currently hiding in a train maintenance warehouse… *kaka*…”

“Over there!” Hearing Shu Qin, Chen Sixuan immediately pointed Lin Xian toward a large black warehouse in the distance, on a branch line of the platform. Outside the warehouse, there was a gantry crane, and several abandoned, rusty old-fashioned gas turbine locomotives were parked there.

The voice from the walkie-talkie continued, “Last night, many survivor convoys were attacked by unknown creatures… *kaka*… they were everywhere in the sky… *kaka*… as long as they hear a sound, it will attract…”

“Sound?”

“Look!” Chen Sixuan pointed to the sky above the city streets in the distance. There was a black cloud that, upon closer inspection, was slowly moving. “That’s not a dark cloud, it’s all birds!”

“Holy crap, that’s a lot of birds.” Lu Xingchen walked over with dark circles under his eyes, looking outside in astonishment.

“It looks like a swarm of mosquitoes,” Shasha’s small face scrunched up, unable to help but feel alarmed by the sight.

Thud, thud, thud, thud!!

The dense drumming sound continued to ring out. Lin Xian immediately raised his hand, making a hushing gesture to everyone. He then looked around and noticed an old metal water tower for freight trains not far from the platform. An idea struck him. He turned to KIKI, pointed at the cylindrical water tank on top of the tower, and then made a rolling motion.

KIKI saw this and nodded quickly, understanding Lin Xian’s meaning.

She then stepped forward and raised her hand, trying to control the water tank with her psionic power. Fortunately, it wasn’t too far. Under the influence of KIKI’s ability, the water tank on the high tower suddenly began to twist. The metal support frames broke one by one with a series of loud bangs.

This sound immediately attracted the attention of many corpse crows. A large flock of them flew over from the sky and the roof.

Seeing that it was working, KIKI began to apply more force, twisting the metal water tank off with her psionic power and then throwing it down the hillside.