Apocalypse: I Built the Infinite Train

Vroom!

The orange-yellow headlights of the off-road vehicle cut through the darkness as it headed toward the city.

Lin Xian sat in the passenger seat, inspecting the automatic rifle in his hands. He had already scanned its blueprint; building an automatic rifle posed less challenge to him than crafting a crane. The only issue was ammunition.

His firepower insufficiency syndrome was acting up again.

If he could solve the problem of gunpowder and explosive materials, Lin Xian could mass-produce bullets and shells, even build vehicle-mounted turrets and machine gun platforms to combat monsters from a distance. That would eliminate the need for melee combat on the train roof.

Luo Ye glanced at Lin Xian’s peculiar expression and said in a low voice, “Brother Xian, I can cut through any monster.”

Lin Xian gave him a surprised look, then smiled. “The monsters we can cut are fine. If we can’t beat them, we can run. I’m more worried about ghosts.”

“Ghosts?” Luo Ye pointed to the machine gun and steel-slaying greatsword in the backseat. “Can’t they be cut?”

“I don’t know,” Lin Xian replied, his tone heavy. “Some people claim to have seen them—supernatural beings that can’t be killed…”

Lin Xian gazed at the city silhouette cloaked in darkness and said, “There are all sorts of bizarre things out here at night. Better to err on the side of caution.”

Luo Ye nodded quietly.

Before long, the off-road vehicle reached a main city road near the pedestrian street. The engine noise and headlights attracted hordes of frenzied zombies. To avoid being surrounded, they both exited the vehicle.

“Head upstairs. Wait for my signal,” Lin Xian instructed, tossing a walkie-talkie to Luo Ye.

The two split up, with Luo Ye heading to the second-floor observation deck of a nearby mall, machine gun in hand. Meanwhile, Lin Xian sprinted down an alley toward the plaza.

In the darkness, Lin Xian’s enhanced vision allowed him to detect lurking zombies ahead. Left hand gripping his Wind Cannon and right hand wielding the Electric Blade, he moved like a shadow slicing through the night.

Argh!

A cold gleam flashed, and a few zombies lost their heads before they could even turn around.

Woof! Woof!

The barking of corpse dogs echoed in the alley. They chased after Lin Xian, only to be met with a volley of Wind Cannon shots that exploded their heads.

Pausing briefly, Lin Xian took out a small remote control and pressed a button.

🎵 Happy Birthday to You... Happy Birthday to You... 🎵

A loud, eerie tune echoed across the dark plaza, shattering the silence of Yuchi City’s night.

Click. Bright floodlights illuminated the circular plaza, piercing the darkness.

Lin Xian had cobbled together the setup with whatever materials he could find. The speaker’s mechanical, distorted rendition of the song gave it an unsettling tone.

Emerging from the alley, Lin Xian quickly climbed onto a hidden platform shrouded in shadow. From there, he and Luo Ye, positioned a street away, watched the plaza.

🎵 Happy Birthday to You... Happy Birthday to You... 🎵

Click.

“Luo Ye, any movement?” Lin Xian tested the walkie-talkie.

“Nothing yet,” Luo Ye’s voice came through.

Lin Xian felt relieved and glanced at the time: 2:45 AM. There was still an hour and a half until dawn. If they didn’t encounter anything, they would leave once the sun rose.

Sheathing his Electric Blade, Lin Xian took out his automatic rifle, staying alert in the shadows.

As minutes passed, the loud music attracted waves of zombies from neighboring streets. Sensitive to sound, they swarmed into the plaza, their rotting eyes searching aimlessly for prey. They snarled and clawed at the air, surrounding the speaker.

2:50 AM...

More zombies poured in.

By 3:05 AM, the circular plaza was crammed with zombies, corpse dogs, and ghouls controlled by black centipede-like creatures. If any survivors were still hiding in the city, the commotion would surely terrify them.

“Luo Ye,” Lin Xian called.

“Nothing, Brother Xian. If those black centipede monsters are here, I don’t see them,” Luo Ye replied.

Lin Xian frowned. “They’re probably not. Those things, while eerie, don’t seem to drop the red beads or emit black mist. They’re not what we’re looking for.”

“Should we wait a bit longer?”

“Yeah, let’s wait,” Lin Xian said quietly.

3:15 AM...

The music continued to play in the plaza. Lin Xian remained focused, scanning the scene from the shadows.

Suddenly, the speaker’s music began to distort.

🎵 Happy... Birthday... to... You... 🎵

The once-clear tune slowed and deepened, becoming ominous and eerie. It sounded like a little girl’s voice, stretched and distorted, chilling enough to make the hair on one’s neck stand up.

“Luo Ye, stay alert. Something’s wrong,” Lin Xian warned through the walkie-talkie.

But after a moment, there was no response.

Lin Xian frowned and pressed the button again. “Luo Ye...”

As Lin Xian looked down at the walkie-talkie, he noticed the signal light emitting a faint red glow—completely disconnected.

That’s strange. It was working just a moment ago. Did something happen to Luo Ye?

The realization struck Lin Xian like a bolt of lightning, sending a shiver down his spine.

Immediately abandoning the stakeout, he decided to rush to Luo Ye’s location.

However, just as Lin Xian stood up from the shadows, a sudden chill crept over him, as though he was being watched.

He instinctively looked up.

Nothing.

Clicking on his flashlight, he swept the beam across the alley walls and rooftops.

Still, nothing.

“Was it just my imagination?” Lin Xian murmured, but his unease only grew. A cold sweat beaded on his forehead as a familiar dread crawled up his spine—the same primal fear he felt when the Pale Giant had locked its gaze on him back in Jiang City.

Acting purely on instinct, he turned and fired a burst from his automatic rifle into the air, accompanied by several Wind Cannon blasts.

Da-da-da-da! Boom! Boom!

Gunfire and wind blasts illuminated the dark alley.

And then he saw them.

Three terrifying skeletal faces emerged in his view, clinging to the walls above. Moments earlier, the flashlight had revealed nothing, but now, in the muzzle flashes, the grotesque creatures became unmistakably visible.

These abominations looked like melted zombies fused into a single body, with spider-like legs and ghastly grins plastered across their distorted faces.

How long had they been watching him?

The creatures seemed equally surprised that Lin Xian had discovered them and attacked without hesitation. Bullets tore into their flesh, splattering black blood that hissed and sizzled as it hit the ground, releasing acrid fumes.

“You can be hit?” Lin Xian muttered in surprise.

When his flashlight revealed nothing earlier, he’d assumed the creatures were intangible. But as the firelight revealed them, the bullets proved effective, ripping into their skin.

The creatures let out a collective, deafening roar of rage.

One of the heads lurched forward, its mouth opening unnaturally wide to reveal rows of jagged teeth, and spewed a jet of black blood toward Lin Xian.

“D**n it!”

Sensing the deadly danger in the oncoming blood, Lin Xian reacted in an instant, activating Backlash.

Instead of charging forward, he sidestepped rapidly with near-blinding speed, dodging to safety.

Hisssss!

The black blood splashed onto the platform where Lin Xian had just been standing. It emitted a sizzling, acrid stench as it corroded the metal, white fumes rising in waves.

That stuff is no joke, Lin Xian thought, heart pounding as he crouched in the shadows, recalibrating his strategy.

The situation had taken a drastic turn, but one thing was clear: the creatures weren’t invincible. If he played this right, he might just make it out alive.