Chapter 212: Chapter 207: Clear Marks

One second, two seconds, three seconds…

The person in Car No. 5 tightened their grip on their gun, Lu Xingchen stood with arms crossed and eyes closed, looking like a sage, while the tea boiler in front of them hummed with steam.

Chen Sixuan looked tense, staring ahead on the track, fearing that a terrifying monster might leap out in the next second.

One minute, two minutes, five minutes.

Ten minutes passed, and the train continued to travel quietly. A wide track appeared in front, accompanied by the clatter… clatter of the merging tracks.

Infinity once again returned to the main track.

“Lin Xian…” Chen Sixuan frowned and looked at the silent Lin Xian beside her.

At this moment, Lin Xian slowly exhaled, his expression changing: “It seems… the [Dark Mark] is real, and all survivors are the prey chased by the mark.”

He clearly remembered that during the past two nights, when they were not within the range of Rain Town, the strange Abnormal Bodies appeared outside Infinity almost instantaneously.

It was as if Infinity was a dazzling lighthouse in the dark waves, attracting a massive amount of monsters, waiting for the moment when the light would extinguish to pounce collectively!

But now, everything around was quiet, so quiet… that Lin Xian felt it was almost unreal.

Chen Sixuan covered her small mouth in disbelief, staring into the night ahead.

“How terrifying, we thought we had dodged them, but in fact, we’ve always been in their sights.”

Lin Xian spoke, “There should be some safe zones, or perhaps without this mark, we find ourselves in a kind of silent state, relatively safer.”

Squeak~

After driving for another ten or so minutes, they had completely left the valley of Rain Town and reached an open forest. Lin Xian stopped the train.

“Aren’t we proceeding?” Chen Sixuan asked.

“No need, since we’ve confirmed this, let’s take advantage of the current silent state to rest. No need to hurry on through the night,” Lin Xian said.

He didn’t want to just remove one mark only to attract a new one.

Now that safety is confirmed, it’s best to stop and prepare, restock ammunition, and gather supplies.

“Okay, we haven’t finished inventorying what we collected from Rain Town.” Chen Sixuan sighed with relief at Lin Xian’s words and said to him, “You mentioned there’s an S-level Abnormal Body on the Palma Prairie earlier. Should we change our route?”

Lin Xian nodded: “Definitely, we cannot provoke an S-level Abnormal Body now. If we can avoid it, we should; if marked by an S-level Abnormal Body, we might face a similar situation to Yu Bei City…”

Chen Sixuan nodded: “Alright, we can head to Hengshan Pass and then decide on our next route based on news from the Phoenix Society.”

Lin Xian rubbed his hair, feeling totally relieved: “It’s rare not to be attacked by zombies and Abnormal Bodies.”

Then he looked at Chen Sixuan: “What do you think about the route?”

Chen Sixuan pondered slightly: “I remember you mentioned before ascending the passage that we might need to avoid large cities. In that case, we’ll have to detour through some sections off the Ring Star Main Path, like Longjiang, Jin Hai, and Star City, which are unavoidable if we stick to the Ring Star Main Path.”

“If we don’t go through the Palma Prairie, when we reach Hengshan Pass, we’ll decide whether to take the northern or southern route. The northern route passes through the Western Desert and Tagan Desert, nearing Star Abyss No. 5. The southern route is through Qingshui, Lancheng, and Yunlan, heading towards Star Abyss No. 7. If we want to go to Star City, we need to reroute back to the main path before Jin Hai.”

Lin Xian nodded: “Whether crossing the sea or going through the northern continental shelf across the Qionggu Strait, we need to upgrade the train’s drive system and prepare supplies and ammunition in advance. Star City is the best choice.”

“Moreover, time is a bit more plentiful than before. Let’s first go through Hengshan Pass and assess the situation on the Palma Prairie before deciding. Before passing Hengshan Pass, we can change directions; according to Phoenix Society’s intelligence, their closest outposts to us are Xilan and Jin Hai, and other task groups do not disclose their coordinates to outsiders. We need to contact Phoenix Society quickly and hand over the research data on the [Dark Mark].”

Chen Sixuan replied: “We found a radio from Jingang Team, probably the one used to lure us into Rain Town before. With this, why not directly broadcast this information to the outside, maybe the Phoenix Society will find us.”

“No way.”

Lin Xian shook his head, saying gravely, “You’re oversimplifying it. The information on the survivors’ channels is too chaotic; everyone is struggling to survive. If you directly tell them not to run, that it’s safer after killing encountered Abnormal Bodies, will they believe you?”

“Even the Phoenix Society needs Director Ding’s detailed research data synced with them; they will certainly conduct tests first. And not everyone has Hell Black Chrysanthemum; we can’t send it out with the information. Only after Phoenix Society conducts concrete experiments will they announce it. This even involves Phoenix Society’s operational mode. Once confirmed, many survivors may think fleeing is a dead end, causing greater panic and despair, and potentially adding fuel to the Old Federation Government’s Underground City plan…”

Essentially, Phoenix Society and the Old Federation Government differ in survival philosophy and resistance mode. Due to the Extreme Night, most survivors support escaping the darkness, but the [Dark Mark] inevitably accumulates certain risks in escaping, affecting the survival choices of many survivors.

“Then what should we do?”

“Do what we should, leave the changes in the situation to the leaders to decide.” Lin Xian took a deep breath, knowing that the most he could do was pass on useful information he obtained, not changing anything beyond that.

“Alright, Teacher Chen, have your team inventory the gathered supplies and prepare dinner. We’ve been fleeing for so long, and with a hard-earned victory, it’s time for a celebration feast.” Lin Xian exhaled deeply, releasing pent-up frustration.

Chen Sixuan nodded, fully supporting Lin Xian’s decision, her complexion brightening: “Alright, there are several skilled cooks among the girls in the convoy, and the dining car now has an oven, a frying pan, and such. Let’s have a great meal tonight.”

The dark night, the secluded forest is tranquil, the night is silent.

In a valley dozens of kilometers outside Chuyu Town, the over 400-meter-long “Infinity” train quietly stops in the deep forest, its heavy cabin doors tightly shut. The warm yellow light shines through the windows onto the darkness of the carriage, bringing infinite safety to the passengers inside.

Since arriving in Jiang City, Lin Xian was eating with so many people for the first time, and it was also the first time he had a feast with stir-fried dishes.

Chen Sixuan and several skilled female team members were busy for more than an hour, using the oven, frying pan, soup pot, and grill all for the first time to create a mouth-watering feast.

Tomato beef soup, fragrant roasted meat jerky, stir-fried noodles, sweet soup boiled with honey and canned fruit, and the centerpiece was a big pot stew made with braised pork, beef, salted fish, and canned dried vegetables!

Chen Sixuan also brought out the red wine to celebrate everyone’s rebirth after the calamity.

“Wow, having a dining car makes all the difference, even stir-fried noodles are here.” KIKI and Sha Sha arrived at the dining car, seeing the food on the long table, couldn’t help but look intoxicated.

Sha Sha pouted, her eyes shining: “I can’t take it anymore, my mouth is about to water.”

Gurgle~

After a busy day, Dalou walked in from the back, his eyes seeing the food on the table, the craving in his stomach starting to call.

“Bro! I heard it, keep your stomach’s voice down.” Sha Sha said disdainfully.

“Hehe.” Dalou smiled honestly, a bit embarrassed: “Fought several battles today, indeed a bit hungry.”

In the apocalypse, a sumptuous meal might just be everyone’s glimmer of hope in the desperate night.

“Hmm, not bad.” Lu Xingchen walked to the central spot, swept his gaze around, and approvingly said: “The dining car is clean and hygienic, the food is aromatic and enticing, truly delights me.”

Having busied herself for hours, Chen Sixuan rolled her eyes at him: “Then why don’t you find a place to sit, waiting for me to invite you?”

“Hehe, here we come.” KIKI eagerly found a nearby seat and sat down.

Lv Chang brought in a few people after patrolling around, and now walked in, excitedly shouted: “Oh my God, a feast! Is today New Year’s Day?!”

His words caused everyone to be slightly taken aback, the term New Year’s Day seemed both familiar and strange in everyone’s hearts; no one expected that such a holiday would be mentioned in the apocalypse.

“Right, right, today is our Infinity train’s New Year.” Lin Xian rare showed a relaxed expression, came in invitingly calling everyone to sit down.

“Shu Qin, you sit too.”

Lin Xian saw Shu Qin walk in, still a little reserved, immediately said: “There’s a Sentinel System onboard, no need to guard for now.”

Shu Qin opened her mouth, wanted to say something, but swallowed it back down, sighed and smiled at Lin Xian: “Okay, Captain Lin, it’s been a long time since we’ve eaten like this.”

Ding Junyi silently walked into the dining car, stood in the corner, noticed Lin Xian’s gaze on her and slightly nodded as a gesture.

Given her personality, food was not a high priority, nor was she skilled in socializing, but now, her eyes carried a warmth as she swept her gaze over everyone, finally resting on Lin Xian, quietly looking at him.

“How does everyone find tonight’s meal, rich enough?” Lin Xian smiled as he spoke, by this time everyone was present, in the No.6 dining car, a group of over thirty was eagerly looking on.

From the kitchen area, Chen Sixuan, Miao Lu, He Fang, Zou Yunyao, and several other women who helped cook were looking over as well.

“It’s extremely rich!”

“Fantastic.”

“So fragrant…”

“Haven’t had such a sumptuous dinner in a long time.”

Over thirty people chimed in one after another, the atmosphere lively and cheerful.

Lin Xian chuckled: “Then we must thank these beautiful ladies for their hard work in the kitchen.”

After saying that, Lin Xian stood up, his smile slightly fading, his gaze sweeping over everyone.

“Everyone, after enduring the fierce battles of the past two nights, we’ve already become inseparable comrades and partners. From now on, this train is our survival home. Now that we know about the [Night Mark], possibly we won’t always be running away in the future, we will attempt to counterattack like today, striving for hope of survival…”

“Our next target is to synchronize this message with the world through the Phoenix Society.”

“You might ask, why are we risking to deliver a message…”

Lin Xian raised his wine glass, his gaze sharp.

“For every soldier of the 52nd Brigade of Iron Guard of the interstellar army and Yu Bei Airport Guard Corps who sacrificed for us.”

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