Chapter 81: Dual

…

Inside the dark prison cell.

“They’re just annoying people…” 4-year-old Kiki mumbled softly, her hand over her heart. “But it hurts right here, in Eunki.”

Lin Xian was about to say something, but he saw the little girl had already turned and walked away. Then, to his astonishment, she walked up to the 8-year-old Kiki and, from her hands…

Took the pistol!

Lin Xian’s face paled in shock. This was bad. He prepared to stop her.

But in the next instant, the Kiki in the corridor outside the iron bars had already stood up. She made a gun shape with her small hand and slowly walked toward the end of the corridor.

There, the woman’s departing figure had not yet gone far…

The sounds of children’s laughter and joy drifted in from the open ground outside…

“Wait!”

Lin Xian shouted, gripping the iron bars with both hands. He pushed his Mechanical Heart to its limit, but he couldn’t open the gate.

He immediately reached out and began to fabricate, thinking of creating a machine to saw through the bars.

But building a cutting machine was time-consuming and difficult. Even at his full speed, he wouldn’t make it in time.

“Damn it all!”

Lin Xian roared. He turned around and immediately unleashed his Wind Spears at the monster in the shadows!

Swish, swish, swish!

The Wind Spears seemed to hit an invisible wall, doing no damage to the terrifying anomaly.

Lin Xian was aghast.

That’s not right.

If the white monster he saw earlier was the culprit behind Kiki’s gradual corruption, he had clearly already killed that monster.

Where did this thing come from?

“Ah!”

The three Kikis from different time periods screamed, their eyes filled with terror.

“Fear? No, it wasn’t fear just now.”

“Fear is…”

Lin Xian’s expression froze.

He suddenly realized that the monster before him and the white corrupted fiend on the train were two completely different things!

Fear, damn it! That silver antenna!

“Where is it?”

Lin Xian looked at his hand. Didn’t he remember holding it?

But why was his hand empty now?

Huh?!

Lin Xian’s head snapped up. He saw the terrifying monster in the corner, and then he suddenly strode forward, plunging his hand directly into its grotesque, bloody maw!

“Still trying to scare me!?”

He was certain now. Back in the train car, the monster that had been grabbing and devouring Kiki was the real corruption!

And now, he was inside Kiki’s corrupted world, surely passed out on the floor. This other terrifying monster before him was a trick caused by that silver antenna!

As expected!

As his hand plunged into the bloody mouth, he immediately felt himself grab a cold, metallic object.

In an instant, the ghostly shadow vanished.

At that moment, a ‘beep’ sounded, and the iron gate suddenly swung open.

Lin Xian paused for a second, knowing his guess was correct, then immediately turned and rushed out.

Pat, pat, pat…

Lin Xian sprinted down the long, dark corridor. A bright light shone in the distance.

As he ran closer, the light grew blinding, and he had to shield his eyes with his hand.

Finally, he ran out. Under the dazzling sunlight, Lin Xian felt the stinging in his eyes as he slowly opened them.

Outside was the grassy field of the orphanage. The surrounding fences and greenbelts had long been demolished. The solitary orphanage stood in a desolate wilderness, looking somewhat out of place against the backdrop of distant skyscrapers.

There was no bloody slaughter, no fields of corpses.

A dozen or so children were playing freely, laughing.

In the courtyard between the buildings grew a massive, ancient banyan tree that blotted out the sky. Beneath it, Lin Xian saw a small figure.

She sat quietly on the grass, holding a small bear, her gaze fixed on a small path in the distance. Amidst the surrounding laughter, she looked lonely and forlorn.

On that path, a woman with disheveled hair was walking further and further away.

It was the back of her mother, leaving.

“Hey…”

A familiar voice sounded from behind him. Lin Xian turned to see the Kiki he knew standing not far away, her expression light and her smile like a blossoming flower.

“Thank you, Lin Xian.”

…

16:45

The snowstorm intensified. In Car 1, Chen Sixuan and Shasha anxiously watched over Kiki. For some reason, after the bleeding incident earlier, Kiki’s condition had suddenly improved significantly.

Her breathing began to stabilize, and some color gradually returned to her face.

“She looks like… it’s not so serious anymore,” Chen Sixuan frowned. She really couldn’t understand it. Kiki’s condition fluctuated between good and bad, making it hard to grasp.

The events that had occurred on the Infinity since last night were too strange and bizarre. She was still shaken.

But now that there was a clear improvement, the group could breathe a small sigh of relief.

“But since a while ago, I haven’t heard those footsteps anymore…” Shasha looked up and down the car’s corridor, her small face grave.

Thump, thump, thump!

Just then, the sound of heavy footsteps approached.

The two women looked over and saw Dalou walking toward them with a decisive stride, his face heavy. “Over there, there’s a train!”

Chen Sixuan and Shasha were startled. The three of them quickly ran into the cockpit. Sure enough, on the railway section northwest that merged with the Jiangyu JY3365 line, a black train was gradually approaching.

However, that train was not on the same track as the Infinity. It would merge with their track far ahead, and its direction of travel was clearly toward Great Luo Mountain.

Clang, clang~

As the train drew closer, the three of them got a clearer view. It was actually an Interstellar Army intercontinental-class train!

At that moment, a dull roar came from the tracks in the distance as the Interstellar Army’s intercontinental-class train sped past.

“The military? It’s the Iron Guard Brigade!” Shasha seemed to recognize the insignia on the black train and exclaimed in surprise.

The train was transporting a large number of heavy tracked armored tanks, as well as the ‘Iron Guard 3’ military assault armors that Shasha and the others had seen at Outpost T34. There were even three ‘Destroyer’ heavy military siege-type mechs. At the very end of the train, it was even towing a gigantic mobile railgun that looked like a modern marvel!

Rumble, rumble.

Meanwhile, in the sky ahead of the train, countless gunships and aircraft streaked across the sky like a dark cloud. The roar of their engines and sonic booms made the car windows rattle incessantly.

“So many heavy weapons, are they all heading for Great Luo Mountain and Yubei City?”

Chen Sixuan’s face showed unease. “It’s probably related to the high-danger anomaly zone and the great anomaly we heard about on the radio. It looks very dangerous. We must take the southern route to bypass it.”

“I don’t know how Brother Lin is doing, and the radio is unusable right now…” Shasha watched the heavily armed forces pass like a black cloud, a look of amazement on her face. This was the first time she had ever seen such a large-scale mobilization of Federation troops.

“It’s alright, we’ll keep waiting.”

Chen Sixuan took a deep breath and looked at the other two.

“Here’s the plan. Dalou, while it’s still light out, you go down and check the train’s condition. Shasha, you take the bike and scout the southern route ahead. I have a feeling that whether we take the south or north route, getting into Yubei City won’t be easy. I’ll stay here to look after Kiki and keep an eye on Lin Xian’s situation. It’s getting dark soon. Tonight, we’ll remain parked and on the defensive.”

Shasha nodded. “Okay, let’s hurry.”

…

Lin Xian opened his eyes and found himself lying in the corridor of Car 1. It was pitch black all around.

The white corrupted fiend was gone, and Kiki had also disappeared. The entire train car was still empty.

“Damn it, how am I still here.”

The darkness was constantly devouring his spirit.

He turned his head to look at the cold object in his hand, that section of silver antenna.

Lin Xian frowned, knowing this thing was strange.

But he didn’t dare let go. The moment he did, endless fear would wash over him again. But if he didn’t let go, his mental energy and willpower were rapidly draining away.

His head felt dizzy, and his vision began to go black.

“What kind of cursed thing is this!”

Lin Xian climbed up from the floor and sat on the sofa. He picked up the radio and looked at it. It was already turned off.

Click. He turned on the radio. It was still on frequency 1542.

Lin Xian tried to adjust the frequency, but he found that no matter how he turned the dial, the orange numbers on the display didn’t change at all. It was permanently stuck on 1542.

“This…”

Lin Xian frowned. He had clearly checked it just now; the radio wasn’t broken. Why were all the frequencies 1542?

“Holy crap!”

His pupils suddenly constricted. “Don’t tell me I’m trapped in a frequency?”