Chapter 317 At night, close the windows!
In the wind-eroded valley and dried-up river channel, a 15-kilometer-long heavy rail train is quietly parked, with more than 500 carriages winding like a dragon, as if extending to the end of the horizon.
18:00
The afterglow of the setting sun dyed the gravel beach in the Gobi Desert a rusty red. The sand appeared like fine golden scales in the afterglow, but was blown into a flowing red tide by the sudden north wind, carrying gravel into the half-buried abandoned oil drums, making a hollow echo.
On the combined train, more than 4,000 people were working non-stop to prepare for the night.
"It is said that sand ants are not the same as the ants we understand, but for safety reasons, all gaps, vents, and even bathroom pipes should be checked!"
On the Infinity communicator, Chen Sixuan walked quickly between the carriages, reminding everyone.
Lin Xian also checked each carriage one by one, as carefully as he had dealt with the snow water leakage before. However, he knew that sand ants were definitely different from snow water. These creatures might be able to get into any cracks. What he was most worried about now was whether these sand ants would be able to mark people with darkness like the snow monsters before.
"Didn't Hu Lushou say that the teams he contacted didn't have dark marks? And those teams have been in Aksai for a few days. Logically, they shouldn't have dark marks, right?"
KIKI followed Lin Xian all the way to carriage No. 3 and said.
"It's always a good idea to be more careful." Lin Xian pointed out the car window: "I have reserved a few rotary-wing drones and prefabricated explosives outside, just in case."
"Director Ding." After saying that, Lin Xian said to Director Ding who was conducting an experiment on mycelium, "I will temporarily close the air circulation channels of these two Cole experimental carriages. It shouldn't have any impact on the plants, right?"
Ding Junyi looked up at him: "From a botanical perspective..."
"Director Ding." Lin Xian looked at her meaningfully.
"Won't."
"good."
Lin Xian nodded happily. He really liked Director Ding's concise and clear words.
After that, he pressed the communicator and said to all the train captains
"I'll tell you again, don't panic when the sand ants pass through, and everyone is not allowed to open fire."
"clear!"
This time, the captain of the Ocean was the first to respond.
Although Lin Xian informed all the teams about the situation at night that he had learned in Aksai as soon as they came back, he still felt it necessary to repeat it again.
More than 4,000 people, this is not a small number.
Before the Apocalypse, Lin Xian didn't even want to be a university dormitory head. Who could manage a group of rough men who had mushrooms growing on their socks and underwear on the balcony? Not to mention that the people on the United Train were a real mixed bag. Although everyone worked together and obeyed Lin Xian's orders in terms of situation and camp, from a management perspective, Lin Xian knew that there were still many fools, so he took out the greatest patience in his life, hoping that there would be fewer incidents after nightfall.
"Brother Lin." Shi Diyuan's voice came from the communicator: "Before you came back, I had someone check the dark marks on the entire vehicle. Don't worry about anything else."
"good."
"Don't worry, Captain Lin, our convoy has no loopholes." Monica said in a gentle voice while sitting in carriage No. 1 of her Queen Mo.
"We don't have to worry either." Qian Dele also said.
"Captain Lin, we have no problem either." The voices of Li Yi and Luo Yang were also heard. Li Yi had already made arrangements for the children's carriage. They had encountered situations in the dark many times, such as strange woodlice and zombie tides. These children had already learned to be quiet and concentrate, without making any noise or making any noise. They were very well-behaved.
"Captain Lin."
At this time, Shuqin came over and said to Lin Xian, "When you were away, the people from the Hell Warriors told us that the group had revealed a lot of information, especially about kidnapping people with special abilities. They did trade them with a certain organization. The trading location was a place called Tieguo Valley. We checked and there is no such place on the map."
"Iron Pot Valley? Is it related to the terrain?" Lin Xian immediately thought of this.
"According to his description, there were many abandoned radio telescope antennas in that place, so it was called this name."
"Radio telescope?" Lin Xian frowned slightly when he heard this: "That should be some kind of starry sky observatory."
"That's easy." KIKI at the side immediately took out his mobile terminal and searched for it: "Got it, the Bailutan Star Observatory, but it stopped operating in 2056."
"Abandoned for 13 years..."
"According to the directions on the map, they did have variations of this path before, but the overlap was minimal."
"Because they only go there once at a fixed time." Lin Xian took it and looked at the direction and said, "We have dealt with the bandits in Aksai, so we have to go here to take a look."
Lin Xian had overlooked one point before. He had been excluding areas with low signal packet overlap in order to find the lair of the sand bandits, but now it seems that the transaction location is also worth exploring.
Shu Qin nodded. "In addition, there is their transaction price. According to them, a diamond-level genetic evolver can be exchanged for two first-level blood essences, but if it is a mutant, it can be exchanged for five, with the violent level increasing by 5 times and the destructive level increasing by 20 times."
"What?" KIKI pointed at his nose: "So I'm only worth 25 blood sperm???"
"Not bad, two and a half tubes of cold dark reagent." Lin Xian joked.
"Humph!" KIKI snorted and said coldly, "I'm afraid they won't survive to take it!"
Lin Xian took a deep breath and said with a stern look, "If they robbed a small convoy of 20 to 30 people, they might only get some supplies and a few blood essences. But with this human trade, the sand bandits might get more than 10 or 20 blood essences. Although they may not be able to deal with those violent and destructive level characters, there are many small and medium-sized convoys in the fleeing team now, so they are targeted. This is much more profitable than the previous robbery."
Shuqin said: "If we exchange dozens of blood essences for supplies, we won't be able to finish them in a month. No wonder these sand bandits are so crazy."
Lin Xian looked at Shu Qin: "No news yet?"
Shuqin shook her head. "No more at the moment. Brother Dadong said they are still squeezing them, but one of the seven has already died. He also wanted me to ask you if you can keep them for a few nights and not kill them first, because they still have dozens of brothers..."
"Let them, let them!"
Lin Xian immediately raised his hand to stop Shu Qin from saying anything, and said with a dark face: "This group of people is of no value to us anymore, just don't let them go, just let them go."
"Okay." Shuqin showed a strange smile and didn't continue speaking.
When KIKI heard this, she let out a long "eh" with a disgusted look on her face, and looked at Lin Xian with a click of the tongue: "Really, this is too disgusting."
"You can't say that." Lin Xian took a long breath: "Everything in the world is mutually reinforcing and mutually restraining. Isn't this the best punishment for a thug who likes to rape women?"
"Besides, the enemy is in pain, but our teammates are happy!"
“Eh!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!”
KIKI frowned and looked at Lin Xian with his chin tucked in: "I don't want a teammate like this..."
Lin Xian smiled helplessly, then turned to Shu Qin and said.
"By the way, tell the people from the Wind Walker Team outside about this news."
The Wind Walker convoy was the bus convoy that had been robbed. It was now quietly parked in the Gobi Desert next to the joint train. Lin Xian had also synchronized the situation of the sand ants with them, and the convoy had also made corresponding preparations.
"Okay." Shu Qin looked at Lin Xian, understood what he meant, and then turned and left.
It was getting dark, and Chen Sixuan had already arranged for food to be distributed to everyone in the car. Now each bottle of water needed to be consumed for two days, and everyone was aware of the current pressure on water resources. Even though the weather was hot, they did not dare to drink water in large gulps.
Every carriage of the Union Train on the wilderness began to close the windows and sunshades, and the tense atmosphere in the carriage began to rise.
Lin Xian closed all the passage gates of each carriage, and then went to the cockpit with Chen Sixuan. They looked out through the portholes at the Gobi Desert outside where night was about to fall.
Rustle~
In the desolate Gobi Desert, it seemed that the only sound between heaven and earth was the sound of strong wind blowing sand. The yellow sand particles hit the carriage and the portholes, making a dry rustling sound.
Lin Xian and Chen Sixuan sat on either side, quietly waiting for the night. The other convoys of the joint train in the communication band also fell silent at this time, and everyone was looking at the time.
"I remember when we first came out of Jiang City, we were waiting for the night to come like this."
Lin Xian looked at Chen Sixuan who was standing aside with a cautious expression and couldn't help but speak.
At that time, Chen Sixuan was still a university teacher who had just grabbed a life-saving straw in despair and panic. She curled up in the corner of the cockpit aisle, holding the bread given by Lin Xian in her hand.
Lin Xian was holding a dagger and was on guard as he listened to the scratching sounds of the zombies outside the car.
Chen Sixuan glanced at him sideways, then turned away: "Although there is no dark mark, I don't know why, I always feel uneasy in such a desolate and open place."
As she spoke, she looked into the distance into the vast wilderness, her eyes slightly fixed.
The world was too big, the horizon too far, and deep in that empty uninhabited area, Chen Sixuan inexplicably felt that it was more crowded than in a town. She didn't know why she had such an idea, and after realizing it, she was shocked.
Lin Xian glanced over and also held his breath.
Beep, beep.
The reminder sound of the watch suddenly sounded in the quiet car. The sound was obviously very small, but it seemed that it could be heard clearly in the wilderness several kilometers before the night fell.
"It's getting dark."
Buzz.
Above the sky, a curtain of light like a tide swept across, and then quickly opened like a curtain covering the stars.
The next moment, the world turned off the lights.
The sunset has not yet fallen into the horizon, but the entire Western Gobi Desert has already entered darkness.
The starry sky seemed to be obscured by some kind of chaos, appearing less transparent.
The earth was dead silent.
Everyone held their breath at this moment.
Lin Xian and Chen Sixuan sat quietly in the cockpit, as if they could only hear their own heartbeats.
At this time, the wind suddenly began to get louder, and the sound of drizzle gradually began to be heard.
"It's raining?" Lin Xian frowned slightly.
"No."
Chen Sixuan looked out of the dark porthole and said with a serious look.
“It’s the voice of the earth.”
In the living carriage, the lights had long been turned off, and the children all held their breath, not daring to make any sound.
Duoduo lay on the pillow, looking at the dark horizon outside through the gap in the sun visor. The sound of the rain seemed to be getting louder and louder, from a drizzle to a heavy downpour, but there was no trace of water on the car window.
She stared outside with her eyes wide open, when suddenly, a strange insect crawled onto her car window and moved quickly past, like a spider with a long tail, but it was no bigger than a thumb, so her actual appearance could not be seen at all.
She only felt that the little bug seemed to be constantly twisting and deforming, but at the same time it was climbing over the car window at a very fast speed.
Duoduo was startled for a moment, then immediately retracted his neck.
The next moment, more black bugs crawled over the car windows, gradually becoming denser, and the sound of rain gradually changed from showers to torrential rain!
Wow! Wow!
In an instant, it seemed as if this strange sound was the only sound left outside the entire united train. The people in all the carriages only felt as if the sand in a sandstorm was hitting the outside of the carriages. The sound was so dense that it overwhelmed all hearing.
In the cockpit of the Infinity, Lin Xian and Chen Sixuan looked at the porthole in front of them which was completely covered by dense black insects, and subconsciously stood up and took a step back.
At this moment, all the light seemed to be blocked, and the carriage was pitch black.
Sand ants crossing the border!
An extremely suffocating feeling enveloped the entire 15-kilometer-long joint train, because no one could see any light, and outside the carriage, the sound like a rainstorm continued to sweep the entire carriage.
The sound was so dense on the sides of the car, on the roof, under the car, and in all directions that it seemed that this was the only sound left in the world.
People's heartbeats quickened, and some held onto handrails and weapons, but no one dared to act rashly at this moment. In the complete darkness, at this moment, everyone could only pray.
Nothing climbed into the carriage!
In carriage No. 2, KIKI and Sasha snuggled together and covered their ears. At the same time, KIKI created a small telekinetic shield to protect the two of them, for fear that in the darkness, the flesh-tearing and bone-eating insects would suddenly crawl onto their bodies!
Lin Xian's eyes were solemn at this time, and he was madly operating his mechanical heart to check the entire Infinity train, trying to cover the metal texture of the Infinity train.
But the more this happened, the more clearly he could feel that he was surrounded by billions of strange creatures crawling around, and his entire spine was numbing.
This strange suffocating situation lasted for two hours before the sound of the pouring rain began to gradually weaken until it disappeared.
At this time, the car windows that were originally covered by sand ants became clear again, and the faint starlight and the outline of the horizon could be seen in the wilderness outside.
“Huh~”
Lin Xian heaved a long sigh of relief, and his heart, which had been hanging in the air, was finally half relieved. Just as he was about to press the communicator to inquire about the situation of other convoys, Chen Sixuan suddenly took a step forward and covered his mouth!
"Look over there!"
Chen Sixuan's surprised tone came into Lin Xian's ears, and then Lin Xian looked in the direction Chen Sixuan was pointing, and his pupils shrank suddenly!
Just above the desolate Gobi Desert a few kilometers away from the joint train, a thick cloud of yellow sand gathered in the sky like a sticky boiling soup, and from the thick cloud, several huge and strange arthropod-like feet slowly poked down from the cloud, and everyone could see the irregular and strange outline.
The insect legs hanging down from the sky dangled in the air, gently sliding across the Gobi Desert, as if unconsciously moving slowly towards the depths of the no-man's land along with the gathering thick clouds.
Sandstorms rolled up from all directions, and strong winds blew against the united train, making a whistling sound.
Many survivors who saw this scene felt their whole bodies go cold. It was not just out of pure fear, but the insect legs dangling under the thick clouds seemed to carry some strange spiritual shock force, wrapped in extremely concentrated dark fear, and rushed towards the wilderness in all directions!
[A large amount of dark fear power impact was detected! ]
In an instant, the alarm light screen of the Heterogeneous Rubik's Cube appeared in front of Lin Xian's eyes, and a thin layer of ice mist began to condense on the windows of the joint train. Lin Xian was completely helpless at this time. He could only concentrate and hold his breath to prevent himself from making any noise. For a moment, the hearts of everyone on the joint train seemed to be lifted up.
As time passed, the outline of the insect's feet under the thick yellow sand clouds gradually disappeared into the depths of the Gobi Desert, and the entire ancient river beach finally returned to silence.
Woohoo~
The cold night wind blew, making the dry sedge and tumbleweeds rustle.
Lin Xian felt his hands and feet beginning to warm up. He looked at Chen Sixuan, who also had a horrified look on her face. When their eyes met, they both felt a sense of daze, as if they were on the edge of fear.
"Fortunately, we don't have the Dark Mark..."
Chen Sixuan's face turned pale, and she said with some fear.
She and Lin Xian had experienced a lot together, and had even seen an S-level strange body, but the scene just now was not only shocking, it also made her deeply feel the heavy depression brought about by the invasion of the dark and fearful power.
Lin Xian let out a deep breath. He had already felt this feeling when he fell asleep last night. The toxicity of this dark invasion was absolutely devastating to the human mental strength.
This is why on the day of the apocalypse, hundreds of billions of people turned into zombies overnight. Although those who survived gradually adapted and evolved by absorbing dark energy, they were still immature when facing real darkness.
Thinking of this, Lin Xian immediately pressed the communicator
"All teams, report the situation!"
"Rose Team, the two people were on the verge of mutation, and they have been controlled!"
"Triangle Railway Team, six people are currently in an unstable state, one has mutated, and a fight broke out in car No. 2, and they have been wiped out!"
"Hidden World Team..."
"Ocean Fleet..."
"The situation at Longshan No. 1 is stable, but many children and women are suffering from vomiting and diarrhea, and they are being treated urgently." Ning Jing's voice came.
"Captain Lin, it's almost the same here." Li Yi and his men were busy in the children's carriage. Many young children had pale faces and were vomiting madly.
On Luo Yang's side, many young people in the car were shaking unconsciously. Li Guangwen slapped his thigh fiercely and gritted his teeth.
"What the hell, what the hell is going on?"
"There's no way to control it!" another companion said hurriedly, looking at his shaking hands.
On the Queen Mo, Monica looked at the vital signs of all the team members on the monitoring screen, her eyes slightly fixed, and then she pressed the in-car call button
"Everyone calm down, Wicket, and get everyone a cup of hot coffee."
"Okay, Queen Mo!" A subordinate in charge of catering responded immediately.
On the Joker convoy side, Qian Dele moved quickly between the carriages, followed by Xiao Meng and several capable subordinates.
He pressed the communicator: "Captain Lin, I suggest turning on the lights and heating in the whole car to drive away the bad air."
"good!"
On the Infinity side, Lin Xian had the same idea. At this time, there was no other movement in the Gobi Desert. He immediately notified all the teams to turn on the lights to keep warm and make the team more active to resist the feeling of fear and oppression.
Rub rub rub~
In an instant, the lights in a train car were turned on, the air circulation system and heating system started working at the same time, and the entire joint train seemed to have traveled through the edge of hell.
Lin Xian and Chen Sixuan also rushed all the way, from carriage 2 to carriage 3, all the way to the living carriage at the back. Because of the existence of the heterogeneous Rubik's Cube, the Infinity carriage could be said to be in the best condition.
He checked the information of the heterogeneous Rubik's Cube and looked at the situation of the team members. Everyone felt a chill on their backs and their faces turned pale. Chen Sixuan quickly distributed the vegetable juice that had been prepared in advance. Miao Lu wrapped herself in a blanket and drank up the vegetable juice in one gulp. The juice was not very tasty but had a refreshing fragrance. As the temperature in the car warmed up a little, her trembling heart finally felt a little relieved.
Looking around, everyone else was in the same situation as her.
Xiao Yuan had just recovered from a serious illness. Her chubby face was a little pale. She said nervously, "It's so strange. It's like being stared at by a ghost. I can't stop feeling creepy."
"Yes, yes, yes!" Lu Chang nodded vigorously. "It was just like sleep paralysis. At that moment, I seemed to have lost even the courage to resist."
Lin Xian handed Shuqin a bottle of water: "How are you?"
Shuqin shook her head: "Captain Lin, I'm fine." She said with a complicated look: "That moment just now reminded me of the day of Apocalypse."
Lin Xian nodded: "I didn't expect that there would be such a strong invasion of darkness in the Gobi Desert. We are still not fully prepared."
Shuqin said, "Captain Lin, this situation shouldn't be very common, otherwise the people in Aksai wouldn't have stayed there peacefully for so many days. But since we have encountered it, our people should be more mentally prepared in the future."
"Um."
Lin Xian groaned for a moment. Humans had complicated feelings about the invasion of darkness.
That seemed to be the source of all doomsday, but it was also the source of evolution for the survivors now. Everyone was maintaining balance and trying their best to survive, just to avoid being swallowed by this force in the end.
By 1 a.m., the suffocating feeling had passed and the Union Train began to return to calm.
Lin Xian came to carriage No. 2, ready to call together key members and teams to discuss Aksai's plan.
At this moment, a prompt sound suddenly rang out from Lin Xian's R&D center.
He then remembered that the G3-Electromagnetic Railgun (blueprint) that he was developing and upgrading must have been successfully upgraded.
[G3-Electromagnetic Railgun (Blueprint) upgrade research and development is successful. 】
[Congratulations, you have obtained the Prominence K1-Orbital Star Cannon (Blueprint)]
"WHAT!?"
Looking at the super-large blueprint in the holographic vision, Lin Xian's pupils shrank and he couldn't help but exclaim in horror.
"Isn't this thing... the main gun of the Interstellar Force's starship?!"
"Can this be loaded onto a train????"
Ask for monthly ticket~
(End of this chapter)
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