Apocalypse: I Built the Infinite Train

1:45 a.m.

Footsteps echoed hurriedly through the hallway of Dawn City. Archangel Division Chief Luo Ming rushed into the Federal President's office, where a small meeting was in session.

Chu Zhaonan was seated at the head of the conference table, discussing the progress of the Far Star Project with several senior members of the Parliament. When he saw Luo Ming barge in so abruptly, he immediately frowned.

"What's wrong?"

"Something's happened!" Luo Ming waved his hand, and the war room screen switched to a video. Everyone in the room, including Federal President Chu Zhaonan and Senate Speaker Xu Yan—who also oversaw the Underground City Committee—turned their attention to the footage. It showed a scene from Silent City, where Vice President Zhou Mingyuan was being received.

"Vice President Zhou?" Xu Yan said with confusion, "Wasn't this yesterday? Why's the video only coming through now?"

Luo Ming's expression turned grim. "It was transmitted from Silent City, relayed all the way from Jinhai to Dawn City via a high-power synchronous flight information repeater. The survivors have already shared it everywhere!"

"Is there... a problem with it?" asked Su Jin, the 42-year-old head of the Far Star Project.

"Just watch."

As the holographic footage played, the temperature in the office seemed to plummet. The expressions of the senior leaders turned dark. At the head of the table, Chu Zhaonan's grip on his holographic controller tightened, the metal letting out a faint creaking sound.

When the image of Chu Zhaonan's wild laughter echoed from the video, Su Jin waved her hand and signaled Us to stop the playback. Her face grew stern as she turned around sharply and barked,

"The video is fake!"

"Fake or not, it's already been decrypted by the tech department," Tu Ling said immediately. "And you haven't cut the city's network to stop it from spreading."

"Then get the debunking announcement out there already!" Luo Ming looked like he thought it was a minor issue.

"You haven't even pushed out the official clarification after shutting down the network. But it's already too late. The Old District hasn't erupted yet," Us said. "Right now, departments like population control, city defense, security, and night patrol are all mobilized. The situation's starting to spiral."

"What about Vice President Zhou?" Tu Ling asked, then looked over at Zhou Mingyuan. "We need President Chu to come out personally and refute the rumors—calm things down first."

At the head of the table, Tu Lingrong's face was a storm of emotions. Her eyes locked on the frozen image of Chu Zhaonan laughing maniacally. She then asked in a low voice,

"Us, is Chu Zhaonan planning to strike Silent City?"

"Yes, we were planning to use the Crimson World to paralyze it."

"And now Mochizuki Shinji turned the tables?" Zhou Mingyuan said.

Su Jin took a deep breath. "What about Silent City? Any updates from the outposts?"

"You're not gonna like what I'm about to say."

Tu Ling's expression grew tense as she spoke,

"Five minutes ago, a relay station reported that Silent City had activated its floating mode. It's now slowly cruising toward Jinhai!"

"Jinhai?!"

"They're launching a surprise attack on Jinhai?"

"What about Lu Tianye's side?"

"General Lu's Jinhai defense corps had deployed part of its force to support Qilian Mountain's outpost. One of the small convoys got stranded."

"Mr. President, this is bad!"

The room erupted into chaos. Chu Zhaonan closed his eyes. Despite the commotion, he remained calm, fingers tapping rhythmically on the table. After a moment, he spoke in a deep voice.

"Su Jin, notify Jinhai immediately. Have all completed starships moved and docked at Dawn City Starport. Luo Ming, take the Archangel Division to Jinhai right now. First, contact Lu Tianye—make sure no conflict breaks out with Silent City. Second, negotiate directly with Mochizuki Shinji and find out what he wants."

"Yes!" Su Jin and Luo Ming quickly left with their teams.

"Why such a big move? We just need to clarify the rumors and suppress the unrest. This won't stir up anything too serious," Xu Yan asked, frowning, once everyone else had left.

Chu Zhaonan's expression was calm. "Old Xu, think about it—why would Silent City suddenly accelerate toward Jinhai at night?"

Xu Yan exhaled slowly. "First, they leak info that Zhou Mingyuan is colluding with the Crimson World and planning to strike Silent City. Then they fly straight to Jinhai. Obviously, they're trying to make us hesitate. In this situation, if either the Crimson World or we attack them, it'll confirm the narrative that Dawn City is conspiring with the Descensionists against humanity. Silent City has over 100,000 people—100,000 mouths. Even a nudge could start a tidal wave."

"Exactly. Zhou Mingyuan's plan was to get the Crimson World to do the dirty work, but they turned it back on him with a small trick. If Silent City really gets into trouble with the Crimson World now, no rumor control will help," said Chu Zhaonan.

"Zhou Mingyuan tried to kill with a borrowed knife. Now the blood and blade are both in his hands."

"So we just give up on Jinhai?" Xu Yan asked. "Moving forces around like this—it looks like we're panicking."

"I'm not giving up on Jinhai."

Chu Zhaonan tapped the table lightly. His gaze shifted to the timestamp on the holographic display and he said quietly, "Ye Lan's Skybreaker Ship is arriving in Dawn City in an hour. Isn't that just too convenient?"

"You think Silent City is colluding with the Phoenix Society to stir things up?" Xu Yan asked.

"Whether they are or not, the Crimson World key has reached the point where we have to use it." Chu Zhaonan stood up slowly. "The moment I chose to cooperate with the Linglong Group, I knew this day would come."

He took two steps and gave a quiet command.

"Bring Wen Hui to me."

"Yes." A guard hidden in the shadows silently stepped forward and quickly left the office.

He had apparently been standing there all along, but no one had noticed his presence.

Chu Zhaonan looked out the window. In the massive shaft of the underground city, orbital cranes were moving heavy equipment, covering entire districts in shadow.

Clack, clack.

Soon, Wen Hui appeared at the door. "President Chu, you asked for me?"

"Wen Hui."

Chu Zhaonan turned around. "Tell Julius Litt—I'm ready to launch the Vanguard Initiative."

Wen Hui's pupils trembled. Her face paled for a split second. After two seconds of silence, she finally said,

"Understood. You have our full support."

With that, she turned and left.

Xu Yan watched her back as she departed, his expression darkening.

"So it's come to this... and sooner than we expected."

"Time was never on our side," Chu Zhaonan said coolly. "One year, one month, one week…"

The reflection on the office's floor-to-ceiling windows showed the heavy expression on Chu Zhaonan's face. "Old Xu, remember when I took office as Federal President?"

Xu Yan was silent for a moment.

"643 days. I might be the leader who's suffered the most losses in human history. 11.6 billion dead, 85% of our main cities lost. At this point, I don't care about population, resources, right or wrong, morality or justice. I don't care how others see me. Let them curse me, spit on me. But this spark…"

Chu Zhaonan's eyes narrowed. "Must not die in my hands!"

Dawn Underground City, Core Administration Hall.

Smash!

An exquisite ceramic teacup shattered on the ground. The Dawn City leadership, led by Zhou Mingyuan, was in an uproar.

"How could such a low-grade rumor make it into the main city's network?!"

Zhou Mingyuan had never been this furious. His face flushed, nostrils flaring, even his eyebrows stood up.

"Don't we have speech control? What the h*ll were you all doing?!"

"The other side used high-power synchronous flight repeaters. Every resident could receive the signal directly. Our internal network didn't even react. We found it was hacked—likely an inside job from Silent City," one official reported, sweating profusely.

"Find them! Now!" Zhou Mingyuan roared. Meanwhile, two secretaries rushed to get him dressed for a formal appearance. He had just issued a citywide lockdown and was preparing to hold a press conference to clarify things.

"We've got the evidence and speech draft ready. President Zhou, should we post the clarification first to start guiding opinion before the conference?" a female official asked.

Zhou Mingyuan waved her off and shouted at the crowd.

"Wen Dong!"

Wen Dong stepped out from the group, looking conflicted. "President Zhou."

"You... get the word out now." He pointed. "Make sure Jinhai ensures Silent City's safety. Take the support team over there—and make sure the public hears about it too!"

Wen Dong's eyes flickered, understanding his meaning. He nodded. "Understood."

Then he turned and left.

After assigning Wen Dong, Zhou Mingyuan prepared to head to the press conference. But just halfway there, a subordinate whispered something in his ear, and he suddenly stopped.

"What is it, President Zhou?"

Zhou Mingyuan's eyes flickered rapidly as he mulled something over. Then he waved his hand. "Cancel the press conference. Record a video statement instead."

Soon, he recorded a stern, formal declaration with the help of his assistant. After it was done, he dismissed everyone and went to walk by the clear pool alone.

"Mochizuki Shinji… why would he make a move like this?"

Zhou Mingyuan's eyes were filled with fury. He hadn't expected Silent City—just a small floating city—to strike first in such a lowly way and catch him completely off guard.

Now, with the apocalypse still ongoing, Dawn City was overcrowded and full of discontent. Millions just wanted to survive. Even if taxes and labor demands were rising, things had stayed relatively stable.

But now, with mass kidnappings fueling hatred toward the Crimson World, a rumor about collusion with them was like a nuclear bomb detonating in the city. No matter how many tricks Zhou had, he hadn't expected them to throw down a fake card so boldly and blow the roof off the place.

"Looks like the Phoenix Society really is involved."

That thought crossed Zhou Mingyuan's mind too. His face shifted between emotions. The news about Chu Zhaonan's actions had just reached him, and he realized how grave the situation was.

"Chu Zhaonan must've figured something out and decided to go all in."

Then Zhou Mingyuan's gaze turned steely. He walked toward a wall, placed his hand on a hidden panel, and triggered a palm-print scanner. A metal door slowly slid open, releasing a blast of icy mist.

Inside were over a dozen cryo-pods—his personally selected backup bodies.

"What's the point of these? If I can't escape, it's still the end."

…

Jinhai

This city was once one of the busiest hubs along the orbital ring and a key industrial cluster of the Dragon Nation. But after the Day of Apocalypse, major strongholds surrounding Dawn City—Jinhai, Qingbo, Zhanguan, and Tianwei—were all devastated during the first Polar Night. The once-prosperous Jinhai now resembled a gutted mechanical behemoth sprawled across the earth.

Most of the city lay in ruin, burned and decayed. Massive craters, toppled skyscrapers, and torn-up ground had become its dominant features. However, under the night sky, faint artificial lights could still be seen shining from the central area—once the city's industrial core. There, a towering starship port tilted toward the sky. Dawn City's garrison and groups of survivors had cordoned off a large area into a semi-temporary "safe zone." The streets leading to it were either blocked off by composite armor walls made of rebar, concrete, and steel plates, or walled by survivor convoys using abandoned vehicles and welded scrap metal.

Because Dawn City had heavily guarded the industrial production lines here, many survivors who couldn't enter Dawn City—or had fled from elsewhere—chose this place as a temporary refuge. These people were scattered around the outer edges of the zone, as the inner zone was sealed off by the garrison with high-voltage iron fences. Inside were several vital factories, including a Jinhai starship manufacturing port and a large military-industrial machinery plant.

In the Jinhai Starship Port, a 300,000-ton stellar-class starship was under construction. Other construction docks were busy with automated production of various Long-class freighters, dreadnought-class aerospace battleships, and different aerial vehicles.

Inside the military-industrial plant, the assembly lines never stopped, working 24/7 to produce weapons like the "Iron Guard 3" military assault units, the T8-Z Vulcan heavy assault variant, and the Altair heavy integrated armor systems—providing firepower for Dawn City's defense infrastructure.

After the Day of Apocalypse, almost all of humanity's industries had collapsed. Those once-symbolic markers of prosperity—finance, culture, entertainment—were buried in the darkness. Only the forge fires of the factories still roared. Each clang of their press hammers was civilization's counterattack, every stream of molten steel a war cry written by humanity to the apocalypse.

Whooooo—whooooo—

Suddenly, sharp alarm sirens rang out across the quiet industrial zone. Engineers and security staff sprang into action.

"Release starship slots 3, 4, and 6 from standby—prepare for bridge docking!"

"All personnel report to launch pad D-12 and prepare to board transport ships!"

"Load all batches of mechs into freight train cargo bays—move, move, move!"

"Transfer all weapons!"

The starport and freight rail station buzzed with sudden activity under the dark sky.

West of Jinhai—

A massive airborne structure surged forward, trailing violent winds. Even the clouds were blown apart. Silent City was bearing down on Jinhai with unstoppable force.

It had traveled over 400 kilometers in a straight shot. Now, only ten to twenty minutes remained until arrival.

Lin Xian and Mochizuki Shinji had already entered the main bridge hall. Alongside them were dozens of core personnel from both the joint convoy and Silent City. All had just been briefed on the current operation.

Only now did everyone realize—in just one day, Silent City had gone head-to-head with Dawn City. The signs of a looming battle were unmistakable!

"Holy cr*p. No wonder we took off suddenly in the middle of the night—I thought some monster was coming for us," Shi Diyuan exclaimed in disbelief. "So you're saying we might clash with Dawn City's garrison when we get to Jinhai?"

"It's possible, but unlikely." Lin Xian nodded. "They gain nothing by fighting us. It'll only worsen internal unrest. So ironically, the closer we get to the city—to Jinhai—the safer we are."

"But the Crimson World is a wildcard. They're not the reasonable type," KIKI chimed in.

"And that's exactly why we have to come to Jinhai." Lin Xian turned to KIKI. "Don't forget what Zhou Lei said—Jinhai is very likely the Crimson World's main base."

"If there's going to be a fight, then better to start it on their turf. That puts us on the offensive." Qian Suxun nodded. "Makes sense. The Crimson World's people are still people. It's the freakish monsters we should worry about."

"If we stir up a bunch of dark creatures in Jinhai, there's no escape—but neither is there for the Crimson World's core!" Qian Dele added with a touch of excitement. "D*mn, that's some mutual-destruction-level strategy."

"Honestly, it's a good one."

Monica glanced at Lin Xian with interest. "This forces Dawn City into a corner. They can't risk taking action, and it pins down the Crimson World as well. If a battle breaks out in a big city like Jinhai and Dawn City refuses to step in, it's practically a betrayal of humanity. Now that the Phoenix Society is involved, they're pressured from both sides. Let's see how they play it."

Mochizuki Shinji, with his sleeves folded, stood at the back of the crowd and spoke calmly,

"Ten minutes until arrival. No matter how I calculate it, there's a high chance of combat. I've already ordered Silent City to open all-frequency communications. All residents and survivors can only leave once we dock at Jinhai—but they likely won't leave now. So everything that happens in Jinhai... Dawn City will know. There may be a slight delay, but it doesn't matter…"

"Whoa, full open-mic mode?"

"Interesting."

"Then we'd better brace ourselves. We're in for a hell of a night!"

"How long do you think the fight will last?" Shi Diyuan looked at Mochizuki Shinji.

"If we make it till dawn, that's a win." Mochizuki replied calmly. "The Skybreaker Ship has already entered Dawn City. The 83rd Iron Guard Brigade from Eternal City Port is moving out. The storm is closing in around Dawn City. After dawn, it won't be our turf anymore."

"Don't be so sure about that."

It was Lin Xian who spoke, drawing everyone's attention.

"You all forget—how battle-hardened Jinhai is?"

…

At that moment, deep in an underground research facility, Julius Litt sat in his office chair, stirring his coffee slowly with a spoon. On the holographic screen were four shadowed avatars, their voices digitally altered.

"Looks like Chu Zhaonan's preparing to launch the Vanguard Initiative early, probably thanks to the Phoenix Society. That's good news for us," Julius said, tapping his spoon on the rim of the cup before taking a sip.

Unit One: "As far as I know, Ye Lan hasn't even met with Chu Zhaonan yet. Is that what triggered it?"

Unit Two: "The trigger doesn't matter. It won't affect our experimental timeline."

Unit Three: "We need to quickly draft a plan for receiving Dawn City. Julius, as the head of the Asia-Pacific Region, it'll be your job to hold the line there until the new world arrives."

Unit Four: "What's the status of Subject 03? We need a reliability test before deploying the Corrosion Cells."

"The board can rest easy. Chu Zhaonan has already had Wen Hui reach out to me personally. The Phoenix Society can't stop this anymore. Everything is proceeding according to plan," Julius said, pausing for a beat. "Though I admit, Silent City launching early tonight was unexpected. Probably something Ye Lan set up. But they're small players—they won't change anything."

"If the Sky Veil Barrier breaks, world-class disasters could be disturbed. We need to accelerate the evolution process across the Crimson zones."

"Everything will proceed according to the Master's will—no surprises." Julius smiled. "The Phoenix Society's actions were triggered by a North American Alliance unit obtaining intel from me. But it won't matter. Humanity's evolutionary fate can't be stopped. It's just a matter of days… or weeks. The new era…"

"Is coming."