Apocalypse: I Built the Infinite Train

[Devouring Progress 15%]

In Silent City, inside the engine room of the Long-Class Freighter docked at Berth 24 on Deck 3, Lin Xian was devouring the nuclear-powered engine core while watching the meeting between Mochizuki Shinji and the people from Dawn City. KIKI floated nearby in a cross-legged position. When Jian Xuwei appeared, she immediately said,

"Isn't that the woman from the Silver Star? I heard she's been looking for you?"

"Fing Group is one of the largest operators and contractors on the orbital network. They have a long cooperative history with Jin Hai Zhongche Group, with factories worldwide. Even after the apocalypse, their resources and production capacity remain immense." Lin Xian's gaze was fixed on the holographic screen showing Mochizuki Shinji shaking hands with Zhou Mingyuan and others as he said, "The Silver Star is meant to gather group resources through the orbital network straight to the poles. Now suddenly cooperating with Dawn City—that's somewhat strange."

"Do you think Jian Xuwei is being coerced?" KIKI crossed her arms. "But it's not unusual for Fing Group to cooperate with the Federation. She's still by Zhou Mingyuan's side now. I wonder what her purpose is."

"I remember she has a younger brother?"

"Yes, his name is Jian Zeyang."

"What do you think she wants from you?" KIKI asked with interest.

"How would I know?" Lin Xian smiled.

Lin Xian noticed that besides Dawn City's Vice Chairman Zhou Mingyuan and Jian Xuwei, there was a slightly overweight middle-aged man in a gray suit with a buzz cut, thick eyebrows, and a square face walking silently behind Zhou Mingyuan. A team of guards in advanced tactical power armor followed behind him.

"I know that guy too." KIKI's eyes brightened. "Lin Xian, guess who he is?"

"His surname has to be Wen." Lin Xian blurted out.

"Exactly. He's Wen Dong, Tang Yun's husband from the Zero Element Center. I haven't been in the Wen family long and have only seen him a few times."

"What's he like?" Lin Xian asked.

"Ha, a smiling tiger—greedy and lustful. Just from the recent close contacts in his phone, there are seven or eight women. What kind of guy do you think he is?"

"You know all that?!" Lin Xian was shocked as he looked at KIKI. KIKI shrugged nonchalantly and said lightly, "He was the one who provoked me first. Besides, do you think the Wen family is simple? I'm just protecting myself, just in case."

She looked at Lin Xian, narrowing her eyes with a smile. "Know yourself and your enemy;
a hundred battles, a hundred victories. Any questions?"

Lin Xian smiled helplessly. His gaze returned to the screen, which changed to show Mochizuki Shinji leading Zhou Mingyuan and the others to the Cloud District, but not to the courtyard where Lin Xian's group had dinner before—it was a much more formal reception hall.

The silver-gray alloy door silently slid open. Dawn City Vice Chairman Zhou Mingyuan and Mochizuki Shinji walked in side by side, followed by Wen Dong of Linglong Group and Jian Xuwei. On Mochizuki Shinji's side were Qian Suxun and Amano Ran.

Zhou Mingyuan wore a perfectly measured look of concern and nodded slightly. "Mr. Mochizuki, it's worrisome that Silent City got caught up in the Star Abyss for this period. After detecting one of your floating cities lost in Luling Forest, Dawn City immediately dispatched three rescue fleets. Unfortunately... Dawn City suddenly faced an S-level abnormal entity gray mist attack, plus the strange tidal wave from the Qilian Mountains, leaving us besieged on both sides."

"You surviving the Star Abyss with a hundred thousand people is a miracle!" Wen Dong's voice was loud as he sat down and directly asked Mochizuki Shinji, "Chairman Zhou rushed here overnight out of curiosity about this matter. All the major urban alliances are now in the same boat. Experience in dealing with the Star Abyss is critical to us."

"Oh, is that so?" Mochizuki Shinji calmly looked at Zhou Mingyuan. "Thank you for your concern. However, our Second City has been docked in Luling Forest and got caught in the Star Abyss. From their reports, it seems they never received support from Dawn City. Instead, several scout teams have been monitoring. Those probably... aren't from Dawn City, right?"

The atmosphere suddenly became awkward. Lin Xian and KIKI, watching the holographic screen, hadn't expected Mochizuki Shinji to speak so bluntly and immediately paid close attention to Zhou Mingyuan's expression.

But the Dawn City Vice Chairman instantly showed a surprised expression.

"Second City has been in Luling Forest all this time?"

Zhou Mingyuan's eyes showed concern. "Our intelligence said it was paralyzed, and the main city disappeared. So the survivors were all there?"

"Yes, before getting caught in the Star Abyss, the main city and Second City had already detached." Mochizuki Shinji's expression was calm, not exposing Zhou's charade.

"So you escaped the Star Abyss with just a few people?" Wen Dong asked immediately.

"Not exactly a few." Mochizuki Shinji corrected him. "There were other survivors trapped in the Star Abyss who joined us. We also discovered some truths about the Star Abyss, such as a large number of low-level abnormal entities being stitched together through some kind of factory-like 'mother nest' and then spreading out from the Star Abyss. We also found a time dilation effect inside the Star Abyss, which made me realize the Star Abyss might be an infection extension of another dimension into our world..."

"Furthermore, we found the Sanctum organization Crimson World building secret bases inside. They abduct ability survivors and use parasitic technology to create clones, then mass-deploy them as human test subjects in the laboratory for research computing power. This technology also produced a kind of human horror with partially controllable minds. Chairman Zhou and everyone here should be familiar with it. Now, major organizations and survivors call them..."

"Red Human Ghosts."

The temperature in the hall seemed to drop several degrees instantly. Zhou Mingyuan silently sipped his tea, the cup tapping crisply on the table.

...

"Wow, they say politicians lie without blushing. Turns out they're really good at it." Inside the Long-Class Freighter, KIKI clicked her tongue, amazed at Zhou Mingyuan's expression.

"Strange." Lin Xian frowned upon hearing this.

"What's strange?" KIKI asked.

"Second City has been parked in Luling Forest for so long;
the outside world can't possibly be unaware." Lin Xian looked meaningfully at the middle-aged man on the screen and said, "How does Wen Dong know we escaped with a hundred thousand people?"

"Right." KIKI nodded. "Second City wasn't caught in the Star Abyss."

Lin Xian frowned further because from Mochizuki Shinji's words, it didn't seem like he intended to have a friendly talk with Dawn City.

Cloud District, Reception Hall.

"After breaking into this secret evil laboratory, we obtained very detailed research data." Mochizuki Shinji crossed his sleeves and continued calmly, "Through analyzing these data and intelligence, I believe this former Crimson Pharmaceutical Group, now an anti-humanity organization, is conducting consciousness parasitism research based on digital life technology but transferring life carriers to zombies, human horrors, and abnormal entities. Using this technology, they treat numerous survivors as expendable lives to achieve their goals."

Slap!

Zhou Mingyuan slammed his palm on the table and coldly shouted, "Absolutely inhumane!"

"We know well about Crimson World's widespread abductions of ability users. Bandits in the northern west desert and violent gangs in the southern forests are attacking survivors everywhere, causing massive disappearances. Even inside Dawn City, incidents of Red Human Ghosts robbing ability users happen frequently. We dispatched the Seraphim Ability Unit and the Chi Xiao Assault Team, along with major survivor organizations, for thorough investigations and found all these linked to the Sanctum's Crimson World. Unexpectedly, their experiments on abducted ability users are so cruel!"

"Indeed cruel." Qian Suxun spoke up. "But we've already destroyed that research institute."

"Oh? Any findings?" Zhou Mingyuan asked with concern. "If we can catch their key figures, funding sources, and research locations, we can uproot them quickly and solve this man-made disaster under the apocalypse!"

"Unfortunately, none of that." Mochizuki Shinji replied calmly. "Only some research data, but no significant breakthroughs yet."

"Too cunning." Wen Dong looked disappointed.

Zhou Mingyuan's eyes turned sharp. "However, we suspect Crimson World might be cooperating with some high-level officials in our major organizations!"

"Oh~" Mochizuki Shinji looked at him with interest. "Vice Chairman Zhou, have you found something?"

Zhou Mingyuan shook his head. "Still investigating. But judging from our contact with Crimson World, their operation requires massive resources. This can't be supported by survivor groups' supplies alone, so there's likely official backing."

"Phoenix Society?" Qian Suxun immediately asked.

Zhou Mingyuan waved his hand. "That's just speculation from our intel. No confirmed judgment yet. But to support such a vast network deployed globally, it's definitely beyond ordinary organizations. Even inside Dawn City, there might be involvement. This isn't alarmism. We're already struggling against the darkness, and we must be more cautious facing these Sanctum groups."

Lin Xian watched the holographic screen and couldn't help but sneer inwardly. Zhou Mingyuan was a crafty old fox, speaking of Dawn City but clearly hinting at the Phoenix Society. If Lin Xian hadn't known Wen Dong was the one colluding with Crimson World, an ordinary person might be fooled by this righteous-sounding argument.

In the reception hall, Mochizuki Shinji smiled slightly and turned his tone directly to Zhou Mingyuan.

"We are honored to have Dawn City's concern. Now, with abnormal entities rampant at night, Vice Chairman Zhou personally risking a night journey is truly commendable. I wonder what Silent City can do to help?"

"The briefing already explained our purpose." Zhou Mingyuan got straight to the point. "We urgently need to cooperate with Silent City to build a batch of Long-Class Freighters, Ray-Class ships, and Stellar-Class starships. This concerns millions of survivors' livelihoods. Mr. Mochizuki, can your side provide such production capacity?"

He glanced at Wen Dong, who quickly added, "Currently, Dawn City, Linglong Group, and Fing Group have fully implemented modular division of labor. Across Jin Hai and Dawn City, there are sixteen starship ports: one 500,000-ton berth, three 300,000-ton berths, and twelve 100,000-ton berths, all operating at full capacity. In Zhongche Group's workshops, a 'Sky Dome-Class' interstellar train is under construction. It's a space-floating transporter designed by Xinghua Heavy Industry and Fing Group for the orbital network, intended for material transport around the Mochizuki planetary ring. We plan to build it as a key transport solution to break through the Sky Veil Barrier…"

"I've heard of this, the earliest orbital train project." Mochizuki Shinji looked at Jian Xuwei and said.

"Yes." The Fing Group leader Jian Xuwei finally spoke. She glanced at Zhou Mingyuan and Wen Dong and said, "The earliest orbital network was built along the Karman line as an interstellar transport project. But due to technical and cost constraints at the time, it was divided into the current orbital network, ascension channels, and space elevator categories."

"That was quite a bold vision back then." Zhou Mingyuan tapped the table calmly. "A star orbit around Blue Star can instantly increase human space transport capacity from hundreds of tons to tens of thousands, exceeding the space elevator's capacity by an order of magnitude. If completed, the Mochizuki planetary ring's construction period could be shortened by at least ten years."

Mochizuki Shinji didn't focus on this but suddenly asked Jian Xuwei, "I'm curious why Miss Jian chose to cooperate with Dawn City. Isn't the Silver Star a Phoenix Society allied organization?"

At this, Wen Dong's expression changed immediately, but Zhou Mingyuan just smiled at Jian Xuwei. "Fing Group is optimistic about Dawn City's Far Star Plan. With human civilization facing an existential crisis, all ideologies are just survival factions. Humanity is in the same boat, so cooperating with anyone is the same. Right, Xuwei?"

His smile was warm, but Qian Suxun and the others felt no warmth in it. On the contrary, they sensed an invisible pressure from Zhou Mingyuan's smile, as if any deviation from that agenda would twist the smile into a terrifying demon's gaping maw ready to swallow them whole!

Wen Dong's gaze turned scrutinizing as he stared at Jian Xuwei. As everyone's eyes gathered on her, a black mechanical spider silently crawled out from Wen Dong's sleeve and quickly slipped under a teacup, vanishing.

At this moment, Jian Xuwei remained composed and looked at Mochizuki Shinji. "In the apocalypse, cooperation's essence is survival. Dawn City's Far Star Plan and research on the dark invasion have advanced rapidly. We must unite and strive. Silent City has vast production capacity;
it's best not to break ties."

After Jian Xuwei finished, Mochizuki Shinji raised his eyebrows and looked at Zhou Mingyuan, who still wore a gentle smile.

Zhou Mingyuan said solemnly, "Mr. Mochizuki, Silent City has immense production and computing power. In information and mechanical engineering, you hold great influence in this world. The 'Sky Dome-Class' construction, including breaking the Sky Veil Barrier and resisting dark invasions, we at Dawn City hope to join forces with Silent City. This is not about politics or interests but humanity's coexistence!"

"Makes sense." Mochizuki Shinji replied calmly. "Silent City will approach Jin Hai tomorrow. We can advance cooperation negotiations then."

"That's great." Zhou Mingyuan stood up, shook Mochizuki Shinji's hand, and said with satisfaction, "You're very welcome. I will arrange garrison troops to escort your safe entry."

After the meeting, Zhou Mingyuan declined Mochizuki Shinji's invitation for dinner and prepared to leave without delay.

Mochizuki Shinji smiled and accompanied the guests out.

Soon, the group arrived at the Cloud District flight deck where Dawn City transport ships were docked. Zhou Mingyuan and two others quickly headed to the armed transport ship under heavy guard.

"Oh, right."

At this moment, Mochizuki Shinji suddenly spoke from behind. "There's one very important matter I forgot to discuss with Vice Chairman Zhou."

Zhou Mingyuan stopped and turned. "What matter?"

Mochizuki Shinji clasped his hands behind his back. "Inside Crimson World's secret research base in the Star Abyss, we did capture a key person. This person supervised the research institute's main control room and was the only living person there. According to him, Crimson World seems to have collusion with a certain high-level official in Dawn City."

Zhou Mingyuan frowned deeply and asked in a low voice, "Who?"

"Standing right beside you."

At that moment, a clear voice came from behind Mochizuki Shinji. Everyone turned their gaze and saw a young face in power armor slowly walking out from another corridor.

Without turning his head, Mochizuki Shinji smiled. "Let me introduce. This is the captain of the Infinite armored train, which destroyed Crimson World's research institute in White City, intercepted their core data, and helped Silent City escape the Star Abyss—our partner."

"Vice Chairman Zhou, hello." Lin Xian spoke calmly.

Zhou Mingyuan and Wen Dong both stared intently at Lin Xian, while Jian Xuwei stood silently behind the crowd, watching him.

"What do you mean by that just now?" Zhou Mingyuan looked at Lin Xian with neither doubt nor surprise but directly asked.

"Isn't it obvious? He means the person colluding with Crimson World is standing right beside you."

KIKI walked out from behind Lin Xian, smiling at Wen Dong.

Wen Dong's eyes suddenly widened, pupils contracting instantly, looking almost unbelieving.

"Wen Qi?!"

"My surname is Zhao, not Wen..." KIKI crossed her arms and said, "Your Wen family has even joined hands with Crimson World. Don't drag me into this."

Upon hearing KIKI, Wen Dong glanced malevolently at Mochizuki Shinji. "Mr. Mochizuki, what do you mean by this?"

Zhou Mingyuan's gaze fixed on Lin Xian, silently waiting for his explanation.

Lin Xian took out a recorder and pressed play in front of everyone. Immediately, Zhou Lei's voice was heard.

"At that time, I was locked in an iron cage. Before boarding the transport ship, I saw a group of people get off another ship. Among them was Wen Dong, former general manager of Jin Hai City Investment Company. I'd know him even if I turned to ashes. Since Wen Dong is from the Wen family and second-in-command of Linglong Group, now that Linglong Group has sided with Dawn City, many know that Wen Hui became a new Federation council member. Wen Dong appearing in Crimson World's territory must mean collusion!"

"Nonsense!"

Wen Dong's face changed as he glared at Lin Xian. "Using one recording to accuse a senior Federation council member? Lin, how old are you? Have you watched too many cartoons?"

"The person was caught in Crimson World's research institute. The accusation came from them, not us." Lin Xian smiled at Wen Dong. "No need to get so tense..."

Wen Dong was speechless. He turned to Zhou Mingyuan, then reined in his anger and said to Mochizuki Shinji, "Then who is this person? He says I colluded with Crimson World. When exactly and in which Crimson World territory did he see me? There must be an explanation."

"There isn't." Lin Xian shook his head seriously. "He can't provide any details. We strongly suspect it's false."

"Then why are you spreading lies?!" Wen Dong exploded.

"Wasn't Chairman Zhou wanting detailed information? We just brought this up for discussion." Lin Xian's gaze swept Jian Xuwei's face and then Zhou Mingyuan's. "Isn't this to show our sincerity in cooperation? By the way, Mr. Mochizuki hasn't introduced my name yet. How do you know my surname is Lin?"

"You!" Wen Dong's pupils shrank as he saw Lin Xian's smile and suddenly realized something. He fell silent and ignored him further.

Zhou Mingyuan's expression darkened as he looked from Mochizuki Shinji to Lin Xian, then said nothing and turned to the transport ship.

The group boarded the transport ship and slowly ascended, cutting through the wind.

"Lin Xian, cooperating with Dawn City will make the path easier."

Jian Xuwei glanced at Lin Xian and the others, then turned and followed them away.

...

"Their attitude clearly shows they want to oppose us!"

On the transport ship, Wen Dong's face was displeased, his eyes flickering constantly.

"I never planned otherwise." Zhou Mingyuan held a mobile terminal showing information about Lin Xian and the Infinite team. His expression was calm as he said to Wen Dong, "What about Wen Qi?"

"My brother found a mistress somewhere." Wen Dong closed his eyes and spoke quietly.

"In the Federation database, she's still listed as the first in your family's inheritance order." Zhou Mingyuan threw the mobile terminal on the table. "A telekinetic ability user. According to the Seraphim's evaluation, telekinetic and psychic abilities are rated super S. There have been very few cases so far—extraordinary. Too bad Julius didn't catch that group."

"Do you think they gave the Corrosion Cells and core data to the Phoenix Society?" Wen Dong asked.

Zhou Mingyuan shook his head, leaning back in his chair. "It doesn't matter. The Phoenix Society can't change anything now. We just need to prepare ourselves."

He then raised his eyes slightly. "Go check on Jian Xuwei."

Wen Dong nodded and halfway walked before saying in a low voice, "Silent City's tough stance might be related to the Phoenix Society. If I had known this, I wouldn't have brought this woman here just to put on a show."

"We must have an attitude."

Zhou Mingyuan said seriously, "Silent City has over a hundred thousand people, with hundreds of cooperative organizations and close networks. If Mochizuki Shinji listens, we'll have fewer troubles. But it looks like we'll have to take Silent City ourselves."

Wen Dong's eyes flickered as he turned and left, heading to the outer cabin compartment. Outside the compartment stood two soldiers holding pulse rifles. He looked through the window at Jian Xuwei sitting alone inside, then told the guards,

"Don't let her out until we reach Dawn City."

"Yes." The guards responded.

...