Chapter 50: Soaring into the Sky!

[Scan complete. Blueprint acquisition failed. Target’s core power source does not exist. Unable to generate blueprint information.]

“As expected…”

Lin Xian turned on his flashlight, looking at the giant humanoid machine before him, his face filled with regret.

“A pity. I can only devour it. But the materials recycled from this thing should be pretty good.”

Unable to repair it, unable to scan its blueprint, the best option was for it to become nourishment for the growth of his Mechanical Heart.

He turned off the flashlight, stood up, and observed the dark wilderness around him. After confirming it was safe, he sat down and began to focus on devouring this big guy.

[Devouring progress 1%]

[Devouring progress 3%]

Lin Xian looked at the progress bar, estimating in his mind that this thing would probably take several hours to finish.

The long night passed, bit by bit, and it was finally done.

[Devour successful. Mechanical Source +100, Mechanical Devour skill proficiency +40. Additional rewards: Strength +2, Speed +1, Defense +1!]

At that moment, a purple light suddenly flashed before his eyes!

[Congratulations, you have received an additional skill reward: Flash Step!]

[Flash Step (Rare): Utilize the wind to perform a rapid forward thrust. Upgrading this skill can significantly increase speed and thrust distance.]

“Holy crap, a rare skill! But the name sounds like it’s…”

Lin Xian was overjoyed. It was the first time he had obtained a rare skill, and it seemed to be some kind of movement and positioning skill, which would greatly increase his mobility.

“I wonder how powerful it is…”

He then opened his decomposition space and looked at the metal materials inside, his eyes lighting up even more.

[Decomposition: You have obtained Tungsten-Titanium Alloy Type I *5, High-Manganese Steel *10, Forged Inner Armor Steel *3, Titanium Alloy *3… from Mechanical Devour.]

“Tungsten-Titanium Alloy Type I… you don’t see this stuff in the civilian sector.”

Lin Xian was greatly shocked. This kind of military-grade material could only be found on advanced military-grade armor. You wouldn’t find it on ordinary firearms.

Thump, thump, thump~

Just then, the crisp sound of footsteps echoed in the darkness.

“Who’s there?”

“It’s me.” KIKI walked out slowly from behind a car, smiling at him.

Lin Xian was just about to devour the tank. Seeing her, he immediately asked, “What’s up?”

“Uh…” KIKI looked a little unnatural. “I came to find you… to say thank you.”

Lin Xian raised an eyebrow and said with a faint smile, “And?”

“Thank you for letting me have car 2, and thank you for saving me before,” KIKI said in a small voice.

“It’s nothing.” Lin Xian walked over to the heavy TFV600 twin-barreled tank, placed his hand on it, and began to activate Mechanical Devour while speaking to her. “Whether it was that giant bug or this time at the military outpost, we would have been dead for sure without your help.”

Lin Xian hadn’t expected KIKI to come and say these things to him. He felt a sense of relief; he had indeed been quite conflicted before.

On one hand, KIKI’s ability had been a huge help in their two escapes. On the other hand, he was still wary of her incredibly powerful ability.

But KIKI didn’t know what Lin Xian was thinking. Hearing his words, a hint of joy appeared on her face. She suddenly extended her hand toward him.

“Then… this is for you.”

Lin Xian saw a small, silver object in her hand. He took it and saw that it was a miniature portable hard drive.

“What’s this?”

“The initial data for ‘Project Angel.’ I have copies of everything. Also, I found a blueprint for a GK03 Electro-Blade in my old files. I see you always like to carry that broken blade. Since you can manufacture things, want to give this a try?”

“But the materials for this thing might be a bit troublesome. It needs a high-frequency current transformer or something…”

Lin Xian was slightly stunned. Although with his mechanical ability, using a blade was purely out of necessity, the moment he heard the name…

Holy cow, a GK03 Electro-Blade?!

This was absolutely good stuff!

He had seen it on military forums before. It was a standard-issue close-combat weapon developed by Kehua Heavy Industries for the Star Force Iron Guard Brigade. Very few were issued, but it was once criticized for its energy consumption and practicality issues, and the project was eventually shelved.

But it had to be said, this thing was seriously cool. It could be used for fighting, and with some modifications to its electro-blade principle, it might even be of great use to his train!

Seeing the eager look in Lin Xian’s eyes, KIKI couldn’t help but tilt her head and look at him. “So, are we… reconciled?”

Lin Xian found this a bit amusing. He took the portable hard drive, weighed it in his hand, and looked at KIKI. “Are you talking about you stealing the bread?”

“And ambushing you.”

KIKI giggled. “And also, I don’t think your plan is boring anymore. I think it’s a genius plan!”

“Oh?” Lin Xian frowned and said meaningfully, “Aren’t you the heir to a level-two investor in the Dawn Project? Why do you agree with my plan now?”

KIKI took a deep breath. “I know you must think I’m lying to you again, but the Dawn Project is real, and so is my identity. My… father and I took a helicopter to the Mount Daluo area, which seems to be Underground City No. 9 of the Dawn Project. But after the first polar night, the Federation government collapsed, and the Dawn Project must have been affected. Besides, if it were me, I wouldn’t want to be buried underground, waiting for those monsters to come knocking every day.”

“That sounds sincere.”

“It’s true!” KIKI looked helpless. “I’m not lying to you this time, I swear.” She raised three fingers as she spoke.

Lin Xian nodded. “Then do you know why I designed this train project, even with all the problems you’re worried about?”

“Isn’t it because of your mechanical ability?” KIKI asked tentatively.

“That’s just a subjective factor, not an objective one.”

Lin Xian tapped his finger on the tank, his expression grave. “You might think I’m delusional. I’ve heard the Apocalypse Federation’s analysis of the dark tide on the doomsday radio before. My view is that we might all be unable to escape the darkness’s encroachment in the end.”

After the Federation government collapsed, the new Apocalypse Federation was formed, an official organization that united the remaining national powers of Blue Star. At that time, many survivors could still receive a lot of rescue and defense information through long-wave radio. But after the polar night, perhaps because they were too close to Star Abyss No. 3, they could no longer receive such long-wave radio messages.

“Can’t escape? Then why are you building this train?” KIKI looked confused.

Lin Xian’s expression was stern. “The Jiang City advance team could escape the dark tide by heading east, reaching dawn earlier. This is a correct piece of reference information. But the problem is, what if the source of the polar night isn’t just a normal nightfall, and the dark tide isn’t what people imagine, that you can escape just by going east? Let me give you an example. We started from Jiang City. For every 300 kilometers, we can advance the next day’s dawn by an hour. So here’s the question: for those 3,000 kilometers east of us, do they not need to run? According to the initial observations of the polar night, if it’s because of the Star Abyss, then for the people in Mo City, 15,600 kilometers northeast of us at Star Abyss No. 4, should they go west, or east?”

KIKI’s eyes lit up when she heard this. “Oh,” she said, “so you want to take the Circumstellar Railway because this line is far away from all the Star Abysses, or on their edges!”

“Correct,” Lin Xian said directly. “Then let me ask you, assuming Star Abyss No. 3 is expanding its dark tide from the direction of Dingzhou at a rate of 300 kilometers per day, how long would it take to cover the entire Blue Star?”

Hearing this, KIKI frowned. “Let me calculate.”

“No need. 1066 days.”

“That long?”

“Long?” Lin Xian’s eyes were grave. “Have you forgotten that there are… 13 Star Abysses on Blue Star!”

“Oh, right~” KIKI’s brow furrowed upon hearing this.

Lin Xian’s gaze hardened as he said in a clear voice, “The Circumstellar Railway is fixed. Ultimately, we can’t escape being covered by the Star Abysses. So this is the first stage of my plan. With my mechanical ability, I don’t just want to race along the Circumstellar Railway. I want this train to break free from the constraints of the tracks. Or maybe one day… we’ll make it fly!”

As soon as he said this, KIKI’s eyes widened. She stared blankly at Lin Xian, her pupils filled with shock. Lin Xian’s bold vision instantly made her mind go blank.

She couldn’t imagine what it would be like to see a fully armed heavy train soaring into the sky!

Seeing her silence, Lin Xian continued, “I may not be very clear on the specific situation, and no one can know the true cause of the polar night. We will definitely enter polar night regions during this escape. So if we don’t want to just sit and wait for death, we can only outrun the dawn, or…”

“Conquer the night!”