After crafting the last batch of bullets, Lin Xian felt it was almost enough. He stood up and stretched, this batch of ammunition was sufficient to last through 1130 rounds, which allowed the convoy members to get through four or five clips.
"I have to make all the ammunition myself, and my two hands are a bit tied up."
Lin Xian sighed as he looked at the large amount of bullets and ammunition before him. The materials in his decomposition center’s reserves were also considerably consumed.
"If only I could set up a bullet factory on the train..." Lin Xian had this thought but quickly dismissed it.
Bullets may seem simple, but different calibers and different manufacturing processes involve more than just one or two pieces of equipment. Setting up multiple production lines just for bullets doesn’t seem like an ideal development path. It might be more reliable to consider electromagnetic guns and energy weapons later.
Once the entire carriage was prepared, and the ammunition was mostly ready, Lin Xian walked to the front cabin, started the train, and spoke into the communicator:
"Everyone, attention, this time it’s a Level 3 Dark Mark. Once we enter the night, we might encounter the situation where we were surrounded by Abnormal Bodies as in Jiazhou City and Rain Town. We might also face large Abnormal Bodies, so be mentally prepared in advance!"
The Infinity advanced along the northern line.
After speaking into the communicator, Lin Xian sat in the driver’s seat, took the food Chen Sixuan had given him, and began to eat. He needed to take a short rest to regain some strength to deal with the situation after nightfall.
After entering the northern track, the Infinity began speeding through, with the golden afterglow of the sunset pouring over the silent abandoned city, the long shadows of the buildings sweeping across the train’s carriages.
In carriage No. 2, KIKI was pulling Sha Sha, introducing her to an image of the mecha’s interior on a computer.
"This is the emergency valve, essential for disengaging the limit above the chamber in critical moments to evacuate from the back of the mecha."
"Avoid using the flamethrower lightly, as burning Abnormal Bodies from a short distance generally isn’t effective. If they get too close, figure out a way to break the distance~"
"Got it, Sister KIKI."
"You don’t know anything, remember that clearly."
In carriage No. 5, Da Lou, Shu Qin, and Lv Chang were loading ammunition into the firearms.
"The machine gun can’t fire for too long, we better use crossfire to sustain suppression." Shu Qin tossed a clip to Lv Chang: "Heard that? You don’t have a Superpower, so unless Captain Lin instructs, don’t charge ahead with a knife, thinking you’re like Brother Lou, invincible due to Superpower?"
Da Lou cleared his throat, focusing on loading the clip: "Still could die, it’s quite painful."
Meanwhile, Lu Xingchen was lying in a deck chair, wearing a shading mask, seemingly resting to restore energy for the fight.
In carriage No. 3, Ding Junyi had installed numerous sensors and monitoring devices for the regional Black Chrysanthemum and some plants to monitor the energy at night and changes in the Dark Mark. Once everything was complete, she carried a small potted Plant Cultivation Chamber back to the rest area. Inside the container was a vine-like green plant, which she placed on the table, then began trying to focus, aiming to sense the plant and test changes in her Superpower.
In the living carriage, every teammate was armed and prepared, with the corridor and bunks filled with clips, the air saturated with tension.
In the cockpit, Chen Sixuan was intently watching the road conditions, with Lin Xian resting beside her.
"The temperature’s dropping too fast, but thankfully, we’re prepared."
Chen Sixuan glanced at the thermometer; the carriage’s temperature was now only about 6~7 degrees.
Lin Xian squinted his eyes slightly, speaking softly: "The dark tide is alive, these disasters are not natural changes. Survivors need more than simple perseverance to survive."
"What if there’s no track left?"
Chen Sixuan suddenly looked at Lin Xian: "Now that we’ve left the main orbital ring, these branch rail systems don’t have Federation and Phoenix Society’s maintenance. The chances of track foundation damage might be high."
Lin Xian opened his eyes, shook his head, and somberly spoke:
"There’s no way. Currently, the Infinity’s drive system can only run on tracks. Short distances are manageable, we can repair them ourselves, and KIKI can help as well. But if it’s extensive, we’ll have to stop and reroute before the dark tide arrives."
Detaching a train from the tracks is no easy task, even with Lin Xian’s Mechanical Heart Superpower, he can’t alter the train’s drive wheels out of thin air.
The difficulty of making the train fly is also considerable; flying isn’t just about having propulsion engines. Technically, a train is just a moving iron bar with almost no structure related to flying nor any aerodynamic design. Even if every carriage were equipped with flight engines, there’s no flight control system, making such an upgrade not a simple task.
Feeling increasingly troubled, Lin Xian closed his eyes again.
Initially, after finally advancing the Mechanical Heart to Level 4, and the Infinity also gained quite a harvest, it was supposed to be a time for nurturing and preparation. However, the looming [Dark Mark] kept everyone’s nerves on edge.
Seeing that Lin Xian seemed a bit anxious, Chen Sixuan moved over, placing her hands gently on his head, pressed softly, and said:
"Alright, don’t fret, try thinking from a different angle. In the past, every time night fell, we didn’t know what would happen. The night was endless fear for us. But now, we can foresee some possible events in advance. If we can solve them, coupled with the Soul Swinging Value Detector, we can find safer conditions in the night. Moving from uncertainty to relative certainty is already an improvement."