---
At 1 p.m., in Jiang City, the darkness finally receded, giving way to sunlight that began to shine once more.
I was still on the floor, finishing the last of my push-ups. I had been exercising for an hour straight to earn a few strength points and prepare myself in case Lin Xian wanted to go out later. That way, I could take advantage of the opportunity to train my speed as well—because running laps inside the confined space of an apartment was not a pleasant experience.
"Hey, you're al—what are you doing?"
He asked, clearly surprised to see me awake and exercising without needing to be called.
"I'm training. Not everyone can gain strength by dismantling things," I replied, stopping my workout after earning a strength point, bringing my stats to:
[Strength]: 43/50
"Anyway, since you're here, you must want to go somewhere, right? Out with it, let's go."
"Then let's take advantage of the fact that you woke up early for the first time in a long while and go check on the train and give the final updates. After all, the days are only getting shorter, and we only have five days left before the eternal polar night reaches the city."
I nodded, putting on tear-resistant clothing underneath and a bulletproof vest over it, then organized my gear.
We left through the balcony, zigzagging through the apartment until we reached the entrance to the Civil Defense underground tunnel that connected to the University Town section of the subway.
When we arrived, the beam of our flashlight illuminated the massive, heavy locomotive stopped at the station, with three modified carriages attached.
"Check the brake pads, the drive shaft, and the power turbines…"
I saw him muttering to himself as he touched the locomotive, clearly using his abilities to scan it. Soon after, he moved to open the third carriage, where the tools were stored.
I began moving steel plates into position as he instructed. When I stepped inside, I saw him fabricating a new armor plate—1.5 by 0.9 meters. I picked it up and installed it where it belonged.
We repeated this process, adding armor and reinforcing the train's windows. While I waited inside for him to fabricate more plates so we could continue, the phone he kept for maps and critical information received a call.
Not being close enough, I only heard parts of the conversation.
"I'd like to participate in the Infinite Train Project…"
"You're still in Jiang City?"
As Lin Xian answered her, she quickly asked another question that I couldn't hear clearly, but I guessed she was asking whether we could pick her up. Soon after, she asked:
"Would it be possible for me to come to you…?"
"Do you have any supplies or a superpower?"
I heard him interrupt her. I knew exactly what was going through his mind—either you're useful, or you don't get in. In the future, that part of his personality would improve, I hoped. Even with my influence, if it didn't, we might end up alone.
Lost in thought, I didn't hear her response clearly, only that she answered honestly and said she had nothing.
"I'm sorry, Ms. Chen. My resources are limited. If you want to participate in my plan, you must contribute something of value. Material needs mean nothing to me."
What followed was silence on the line. She didn't know how to respond or what to appeal to. Lin Xian soon spoke again.
"Then goodbye, Ms. Chen. Good luck."
"Wait!"
Her urgent voice came through the phone, making sure he heard her before she continued with a scientific explanation.
"The planetary orbital railway was built starting in 2039, spanning 126 countries and 34 regions, crossing nine continents and four oceans, and passing through all 13 of the current Abyss Devouring Zones. The total length of the railway exceeds 320,000 kilometers! My father was a Level-1 maintenance engineer on the planetary railway, and I know the location of all 1,266 stations and 625 maintenance segments along the line!"
"Additionally, I know several languages. I can act as a translator if we encounter foreigners. I'm very familiar with the railway system. I can eat very little—just enough to survive. I—I'll do anything."
Her voice trembled with desperation as she spoke. I looked at Lin Xian and knew he had already agreed. His response only confirmed it.
"Tell me your location. I'll come get you."
Chen Sixuan felt dizzy as a sudden wave of hope, relief, and anxiety washed over her, her thoughts spinning. Snapping back to reality, she shouted frantically:
"I-I'm in Building 3, Unit 901, Yushui Gardens, Jiangzhou Street!"
After finishing, she waited for confirmation—but heard nothing. She tried speaking into the phone again, only to look at the screen and realize the battery had died.
Frustration, anxiety, fear, and hope surged through her all at once. Her emotions swung wildly as she stared at the phone she had moments earlier thrown against the wall in a burst of anger, furious that it had shut off before she received confirmation.
Yet she knew—her only hope now was for Lin Xian to arrive and rescue her.
---
"You don't need to say anything. I heard it. You want to go get her, but there's no more time today. There are only forty-five minutes left until sunset."
"You're not even going to question my decision?"
He asked, raising an eyebrow.
"If you agreed, there has to be a reason. You must trust her. Besides, you're the commander here—you make the calls. But since you want to talk about it, go ahead."
He rolled his eyes, as if I were acting like a child.
"She's my university professor. We knew each other before the apocalypse. I can vouch for her—she's trustworthy. More importantly, she knows the railway system extremely well. I'd rather have a human who understands the routes than rely on a cold map, especially if something unexpected happens and improvisation is needed."
Beep—Beep.
A soft alarm sounded from my watch, marking 6 p.m. Only forty-five minutes remained before sunset and the arrival of darkness.
I looked around at everything we had accomplished today: installing armor panels, reinforcing the windows until the train felt like a tank. Inside, there was a sense of safety now. At the very least, we were no longer stuck in one place, waiting to be swallowed by the dark tide.
I checked my status and noticed my gains—two points in Strength and one in Agility, bringing me to:
[Strength]: Lv.1 XP: 45/50
[Agility]: Lv.2 XP: 13/600
A clear sign of how much physical effort I'd put in today, carrying armor plates back and forth and holding them in place. I glanced to the side and saw him lost in thought.
"What is it? Overthinking again? Worrying about everything that could go wrong?"
"It's nothing. I was just thinking about everything we'll need to furnish the train—what's missing. Things like a water purifier, generators, heating equipment, refrigerators, an advanced monitoring system, beds, games… that sort of thing."
"On top of critical systems like automated weapons, radar systems, and other defensive mechanisms."
He said it as if those were easy things to acquire.
"It's pretty unusual how you lump unimportant things together with vital ones."
He just looked at me, as if saying, Do you think I'm stupid?
"I know you already have most of those things. But unless you want to expose yourself and become a target for other groups—which we definitely don't want—we'll need ways to 'store' those supplies. Whatever you can, you should retrieve before anyone else joins the convoy."
"Yeah, I know. I'm not stupid enough to reveal that so casually. A large portion of it, I do have. But heating systems, advanced surveillance, water purifiers, and proper heating aren't in my stockpile. The rest I probably have, but it's better to leave that for another day if we're heading back to the apartment. Besides, most of those defense systems you mentioned—I don't have them, and I don't even know where to get them unless it's from military bases or something. I never really thought they'd be useful, and even if I did, it'd be hard to take them without being noticed."
I said this while glancing at my watch, realizing we had already spent five minutes talking. I paused, waiting to see what he would decide.
"You know… since the apocalypse began, this is the first time I've thought about games and entertainment instead of just survival and what we need to do next."
I looked at him and nodded.
"Yeah, you're right. It was always about surviving, never about living. You had a good idea with this armored train. At least it lets us rest a bit psychologically—gives us some space to be entertained, to relax, without being on constant alert."
I said this while touching one of the armored windows we had installed today.
"Let this be the beginning of truly living a life worth living. Cheers."
"Cheers."