[PS: Thank you to the alliance leader for the reward during the New Year, originally there should have been an update for them, but since I was out during the festival with no drafts, I owe the boss for now. I’ll make it up later. Many thanks again!]
At the rear section of the Dragon Mountain No.1 train, the carriage door opened, and seven or eight fully armed personnel rushed out. In the snowfield, those who were dragged out by KIKI also struggled to get up from the snow, while the woman who was fighting Shu Qin on the roof of the train stopped as well.
The three formed a standoff and looked at the group. Lin Xian’s gaze focused as he looked at the woman leading them, feeling an instant familiarity.
"Don’t make a move, it’s a misunderstanding."
The woman wore a thick white down jacket and a high-tech cold-proof mask. Her figure was tall and upright, giving off an extraordinary aura. She sternly stopped her subordinates and looked at Lin Xian, saying, "Captain Lin, I’m Ning Jing from Dragon Mountain No.1. We met before at Yu Bei Airport."
Both sides were now wearing cold-proof clothing and helmets, and Lin Xian really didn’t recognize her at first. But after hearing her, he remembered she seemed to be the woman who was previously following Shi Deyuan, the deputy on the Dragon Mountain No.1 train, who showed considerable skill during the airport defense battle.
Lin Xian exhaled inside his cold-proof mask, then waved at Shu Qin on the roof and KIKI by his side. The two retracted their stances, and KIKI let go of the young man in her grasp, pushing him back into the snow as she said, "Oh, I remember you. But these two people look unfamiliar. I thought your train was taken over by others."
"These are our new teammates," Ning Jing explained to Lin Xian. "It was my oversight earlier; we didn’t receive your reply. By the time we realized, the fight had already broken out."
"Ah Bai, Xiao Qing," she looked at the girl on the train and the young man below, saying to KIKI and Shu Qin, "Is everyone alright?"
The girl named Xiao Qing on the train shook her head silently, while the young man thrown into the snow by KIKI hurried to straighten his sunglasses and nervously said to Ning Jing, "Sister Jing, it’s fine, I’m fine..."
"This guy’s eyes can shoot laser beams. Your new teammate is quite impressive," KIKI clapped her hands and said.
On the train, Shu Qin also silently glanced at Xiao Qing. This girl didn’t rely on power armor but had an advanced stage of body technique evolution, which made Shu Qin feel some pressure in their exchange. However, Shu Qin knew her operation of the power armor wasn’t very proficient, somewhat limiting her performance.
Lin Xian scanned the opposite side and straightforwardly asked, "What happened to you guys?"
The rear carriage was empty, and there was no response from the answering machine. Combined with Ning Jing’s somewhat heavy expression, it wasn’t hard to guess that something had definitely happened on Dragon Mountain No.1.
Ning Jing looked towards the distant Infinity, seeming to have a relieved expression for some reason.
"Captain Lin, if it’s convenient, let’s talk on the train where it’s warmer."
"Okay." Lin Xian nodded.
Ning Jing, seeing Lin Xian agreeing, then spoke to the girl on the train and the young man below, "You two get on the train quickly. They’re on our side."
The tense atmosphere subsided, and Lin Xian, KIKI, and Shu Qin followed Ning Jing into the rear carriage of Dragon Mountain No.1. The temperature inside wasn’t high, with Lin Xian’s power armor system indicating only 12 to 13 degrees, but compared to the outside temperature of over minus 50 degrees, it was already very warm.
Taking off his cold-proof mask, Lin Xian looked around. The carriage, once bustling with people, was now empty, barren, even the air carrying a frosty scent.
"Have you been stopped here for many days?" Lin Xian immediately asked upon seeing this condition.
"Almost two days," Ning Jing brought the three to the rest area of a living compartment, where a few Dragon Mountain No.1 team members quickly served several pots of hot water for them to drink.
"It’s not that we didn’t want to leave, but we underestimated the size of the blizzard. When we arrived here two days ago, there wasn’t this much snow."
The middle-aged man standing by Ning Jing, named Lu Yong, was also a familiar face to Lin Xian. He said, "The current situation is that we can’t start at all. The tracks are iced over, the train is too big and long, and it’s impossible to speed up. Most crucially, one of our drive motor units is malfunctioning, and we’ve been trying to fix it for the past two days."
"What? Can’t move? What about all of you?" KIKI asked in surprise. Both she and Lin Xian thought that Dragon Mountain No.1 had suffered some massive attack or change, but they hadn’t expected it was just that the train couldn’t move.
"And what about Shi Deyuan?" Lin Xian immediately asked a crucial question.
"He led a team northeast towards a place called Trakama Ice Valley," Ning Jing stated. "Two days ago, we received a high-frequency rescue signal from the Phoenix Society in this area. Lao Shi decided to take a team over for rescue, while we were to wait here for six hours. The original plan was, if they hadn’t returned after that time, we would proceed to Xilan City by ourselves to await news."
"But the Extreme Cold Vortex came too quickly, interrupting all communications, and we faced substantial attacks from snow demons. The lead engine experienced a failure in addition to the icing and deep snow, so..."
Ning Jing sighed, "We’ve been completely stranded here."