Shi Deyuan’s voice came through the communicator, just in time to interrupt Lin Xian’s thoughts.
Upon hearing this, Lin Xian immediately turned around, his eyes flashing with mechanical light. Instantly, all the blackout panels in the Infinity’s carriages opened, revealing a barren land of hard soil Gobi desert outside the windows, covered with yellow sand. The entire Joint Train meandered across the land, and through the windows, a small town in the midst of the sandy no-man’s land gradually came into view.
The scorching sun evaporated visible heat waves on the wild desolate Gobi, and the distant town resembled the corpse of a camel dried by the wind. The rib-like utility poles were slanted between the dunes, and the broken wires trembled slightly in the heat haze. Looking far away, fields of fruit and vegetable greenhouses littered the wilderness; their black tarps long dilapidated, looking like systematic scars on the earth.
The platform at the station was an old-fashioned open-air platform, with rusted iron panels bearing the words ’Rob Station’ as if they were relics from the last century. The railway passed through this small place firstly because it went via Quan City, and secondly due to the abundant production of melons and other fruits, although at this time it was virtually impossible to find such rare fruits.
The Joint Train was too long, and before entering the station, Dragon Mountain No. 1 prematurely began notifying for a slowdown and braking. After slowing down for half a kilometer, the entire train finally stopped amid the screeching sound of iron tracks.
Lin Xian and Shi Deyuan discussed for a bit, deciding that a few teams from the front car should send people to check around. In a small place , there was no need to linger too long; if no water source was found, they should hurry to the next area and aim to reach Akse before nightfall.
After the train stopped, Lin Xian arranged for the eager Brother Huo and had Shu Qin lead Lv Chang and others, with two groups respectively searching the town from the sky and the ground, while Dragon Mountain No. 1 had Ning Jing lead Little Qing A Bai’s group together.
With Ah Bai, Lin Xian didn’t need to consider sending Director Ding or Hell Black Chrysanthemum, enjoying the leisure of waiting for his teammates to explore on the train.
Lin Xian manufactured ten or so communication posts and gave them to Shu Qin and others, instructing them to place one within every 2 kilometers to avoid communication disruption. KIKI also deployed drones to search the surrounding airspace and scout the vicinity.
Beneath the glaring sun, the automatic door of carriage No.5 opened. Before Lu Xingchen and Shu Qin had exited, a wave of dry, stifling heat crashed into them. Fierce winds swept across the Gobi Desert, sand hitting the skin like knives, and the air was filled with the taste of grit.
The Power Armor wasn’t fully enclosed but had an individual anti-toxic mask kit. Finding it cumbersome, Lu Xingchen put on a stylish windproof mask directly. Then, fire burst from his fingertips, propelling him out swiftly.
Shu Qin also donned the Power Armor, jumped down wielding a gun, leading her team off the train.
The grinding sound of stones and yellow sand hard soil echoed, while around the distant platform and a few derelict houses, several zombies, resembling dried husks, began lurching towards the train with guttural moans.
A spinning Flying Blade swiftly shot out, slicing the heads off the zombies in a blink. Lv Chang retracted the electric knife, then quietly followed Shu Qin to explore the town. Follow current novels on novel⦿fire.net
Other train convoy teams followed suit, some opened their windows to observe through binoculars, while others deployed drones. Once the train stopped, the survivors fell silent, waiting for feedback from the vanguard’s exploration.
In carriage No.2, KIKI operated the drones, with Lin Xian and Chen Sixuan standing behind. On the screen in the information center, the town called Rob was desolate as if forgotten. Only 100 days after Apocalypse Day, the unmaintained sandy town seemed to have accumulated a thick layer of sand. Withered wild grass was everywhere, crumbling storefront wooden doors hung off their frames, swaying like mournful cries in the wind.
Beneath the scorching sun, only those dried-out zombies remained standing, still able to pounce, clad in faded, weathered clothing, slowly wandering about.
The drone’s rotor noise attracted the attention of some zombies; they lifted their heads, seeking the sky with those decayed, pale eyes.
"This place doesn’t even have water, you can’t even find a worthless vehicle for you to devour."
KIKI peered at the surveillance screen, deftly maneuvering the joystick.
Lin Xian remained calm: "It’s just a small stopover, once they’ve scouted the area, we’ll leave immediately."
Upon hearing this, Chen Sixuan glanced at Lin Xian: "By the way, after exiting Extreme Night, some convoy teams proposed to keep the Joint Fleet united continuously, but after I told Brother Shi we might change routes later, their idea was disproven."
"They’re all aiming to chase the Dawn Center along the northern line, aren’t they?"
Chen Sixuan nodded: "Certainly. After going through so much, everyone wants to catch up with the Phoenix Society’s main force, as it’s safer for them."
"I can understand that,"
Lin Xian said: "If it’s truly the same route, moving forward united isn’t a problem. There’s strength in numbers."
"Hey, uniting is okay, merging is not~"
KIKI turned around abruptly: "We honestly can’t manage so many people, and there are some convoy teams that are really just..."
Hearing this, Chen Sixuan frowned, somewhat puzzled: "Which convoy teams?"
Seeing KIKI’s expression, Lin Xian immediately understood, chuckled, and explained to Chen Sixuan: "Dragon Mountain No. 1 has investigated all convoy teams except for us, which formed this Joint Train. Brother Shi and they worked very thoroughly in this regard."