My Apocalypse Territory

Green Shadow, the station.

Maintenance area, where several trains were parked.

The outer armor was smeared with dried and solidified colorful liquid. In the joints of the carriages and the gaps in the armor, there were chunks of flesh stuck, and the air was filled with a nauseating odor.

This was already cleaned.

Every evening when the train returned to Green Shadow, the maintenance crew had to start repairing the damaged areas of the train.

At the same time, they cleaned the train armor. Some of the Demonized Beasts that were wrapped around the train were still warm, and the guard team casually killed them.

It had been five days since the Holy Domain incident. The influx of people into Green Shadow from the Holy Domain space had begun to slow down, and the Green Lin Line had resumed its schedule of twice a day.

Even so, each journey, the train inevitably suffered damage. If not regularly maintained, minor damages would accumulate into major ones, impacting train performance and possibly leading to destruction and death in critical moments.

No one dare take it lightly; sometimes repairs continued from the evening until early the next morning.

At four or five in the morning, it was still dark, and the wilderness in the distance was terrifyingly dark.

The Source Power Lights at the train station shone brightly.

Zhao Ming greeted his comrades stationed at the train station and, with his five teammates, walked out of the station, continuing along the tracks, passing the outer city area, soon disappearing into the darkness with only a few points of light flickering faintly.

The piercing cold wind blew, bringing a bone-chilling iciness.

The weakest among them, only at the third layer of Awakening, shivered and wrapped his coat tighter around him, exhaling a cloud of warm breath.

The expressions of Zhao Ming's five people remained unchanged; they wore tight-fitting combat uniforms with just an overcoat that looked thin. But for the five who had undergone Body Refining, it was enough.

They were the railway maintenance team.

Zhao Ming and his five came from the Guardian Corps, belonged to the frontline experts, with strengths ranging from the seventh to ninth layers. They followed the railway for hundreds of kilometers, passing through some third and fourth-level danger zones, hence their team was highly capable to ensure no mishaps.

Another person was an Awakener from the railway department, belonging to the team as a "specialist".

Within ten kilometers of the Sanctuary, it was basically a safe zone, with Demonized Beasts almost hunted to the point of being protected animals.

As the distance increased and they moved into areas less frequented by Awakeners, the number of Demonized Beasts suddenly increased.

With a swoosh—

Zhao Ming decapitated a Demonized Beast with his sword, skillfully cut open its skull to extract a Source Crystal, then kicked its body off the tracks.

He wore a tactical helmet, like a miner's hat, embedded with a Source Power Light which could adjust its power, emitting light that wasn't very bright. It ensured the visibility for Zhao Ming and his men without attracting too much attention from Demonized Beasts.

In railway maintenance, this wasn't their first time on this task. Zhao Ming led the way, two teammates positioned on either side, and the two others at the rear, maintaining a speed that was neither fast nor slow.

The specialist rode a wolf-like Puppet, positioned in the middle of the team, his flashlight illuminating the tracks where the flesh chunks of Demonized Beasts crushed by the train were distinctly visible.

As time progressed, streaks of dawn began to appear on the horizon.

Thumping noises came from ahead, and a dirt wall appeared in their view.

This was a forward outpost under construction, close to the railway line. Once completed, it would serve as a foothold for Awakeners, a supply point, and better facilitate the clearing of nearby Demonized Beasts. In future, when establishing the "Green Shadow Defense Circle," this outpost could also be converted into a transfer station, continuing its role.

After passing the outpost, the journey was about halfway done.

Zhao Ming and his teammates advanced while calculating the time.

Demonized Beasts generally didn't tamper with the railways, but occasionally some with bad temperaments would crush them, requiring a stop for repairs. Thankfully, with expertise from before the apocalypse, combined with some universal magic developed by the Magic Research Institute and various fitting tools, most minor problems were easily resolved.

"Captain Zhao, there's a problem with the tracks up ahead."

The specialist, who had been keeping his eye on it, spotted the issue immediately.

They walked a few more meters forward to the problematic section, and found that segment of the rail was already broken, the break was not smooth, and the broken ends stretched over a meter.

It was quite a serious issue.

The train on this line needs to be delayed today.

Zhao Ming frowned, took out his spiritual communication crystal, and reported the situation to the Sanctuary. He lamented that his morning off was definitely ruined and had no choice but to concentrate and observe the broken tracks.

"This fracture doesn't look like it's been bitten by demonized beasts, nor does it appear to be trampled or clawed at, rather it seems to have been brutally torn apart by a tremendous force."

He thought and warily looked around.

The tracks were infused with special metals, reaching D-grade alloy standards in hardness and toughness. Damaging them was not difficult, but if they had been torn apart... Zhao Ming was not even sure he had that kind of strength.

But then he felt something was off.

If it had been torn by a great force, the tracks on both sides of the break should have been scattered in a snake-like mess, but actually, the cross-ties beneath the track were still intact, only the broken section's ties and gravel were somewhat scattered.

It made Zhao Ming feel utterly confounded.

...

This matter was first reported to the railway department.

After some investigation, it was reported to the Municipal Department. Upon learning of it, Chen Haiping relayed the information to Tang Yu.

Three breaks were found in the Green Shadow-Huiyang line.

They looked similar.

However, it was not only this line; other lines exhibited similar issues, including the Green Lin Line, which has the highest safety level. Theoretically, demonized beasts active in this area were extremely rare, as the surrounding two or three Abyssal Rifts had already been subdued.

But still there was a break.

He couldn't afford to overlook it.

One of the breaks was located within his territory.

Tang Yu meticulously studied it and soon speculated, "Is the land beneath our feet expanding in range, thus causing the tracks to stretch and break?"

In other words, was the earth expanding?

Origin Star in its prime was very large, Tang Yu had studied and believed some of its space had been folded, and it had shrunk due to dormancy. Now, with the resurgence of Source Qi, Origin Star was gradually getting closer to its former state.

It should be considered a good thing.

That day, with the opening of the Holy City, the concentration of Source Qi on earth rose again.

If the concentration of Source Power on a normal planet is 1, then at the onset of the apocalypse, it was about 2.5, and it had kept increasing to about 7 or 8, and in the past few days, it had reached around 11 or 12.

The once dormant elves would gradually awaken.

Tang Yu had already pinpointed some potential locations where elves might appear, and from time to time, he dispatched the Investigation Corps to scout, hoping to find one or two elves to affiliate with his territory.

Some rare materials might also gradually appear on Earth.

However, with the earth expanding, inspections of things like tracks and walls must be intensified.

...

The train was delayed until eleven o'clock before it finally departed.

The impact was not significant.

Unlike a few days prior, the train was no longer as crowded as a can of sardines. Those traveling on the train were mostly senior adventurers who had accepted commissions, whereas the awakeners who had arrived in Green Shadow not long before stayed continuously inside the sanctuary, not venturing out.

They all carried a good amount of Source Crystals in their pockets, bought a full set of rune equipment, attended free classes at the Martial Arts Hall, entered training camps for cultivation and combat... they were tireless, feeling stronger every day.

Perhaps when they had spent all their Source Crystals, reached a plateau in their strength, they would suddenly realize they needed to enter a money-earning mode... and then be harvested once again.

But they were willing participants.

(There's a dinner party tonight, so the author is feeling wilted...)