Under a clear sky over the sea, several small aircraft skimd in at low altitude, stirring ripples across the water before hovering above it. In the bridge of one aircraft, an information officer stared toward the distant dark storm canopy, checked the current teorological radar data, and said, "Less than 200 nautical miles to the Doomsday cyclone. No targets detected within the area."
Knock knock knock.
Chen Yanxiu strode quickly to the main window, his gaze sweeping the sea ahead with heavy seriousness;
anger darkened his eyes.
Beside him stood a young man wearing a hood, his gaze sharp. He lowered his voice and said, "No death trail. That group probably headed north. Given their thods, they still have a good chance of handling the Doomsday storm. Looks like they're planning to go to Hawaii and then move on to South Arica."
After speaking, he glanced at the grim-faced Chen Yanxiu and said, "Your Black Gear probably can't be retrieved anymore."
This man was the sa person who had a brief encounter with Lin Xian in Aksai and had drunk at the Black Rose Bar before—Sacred Revelation operative code-nad Moonshadow, responsible for reconnaissance.
!
Stunned!
Chen Yanxiu suddenly crushed a small electronic device in his hand;
it shattered, the fragnts scattering and drawing sidelong looks from everyone on the bridge. After sensing the cold fury emanating from Chen Yanxiu, they quickly averted their eyes.
"A strange radio, levitating wristband, Flickering Bullet plus a No.1 disaster plant, No.16 Silver Dragon Ten Thousand Mistakes, and a clearly proliferative Blood Vine. I can't understand why this Lin Xian could survive a subspace collapse from the Gear," Chen Yanxiu said, closing his eyes and inhaling deeply as he tried to puzzle out what he had missed.
"No.16 is a dinsional-type disaster plant, but it doesn't have spatial-crossing ability. It should be impossible to escape a collapse and its mark!"
"Who knows." Moonshadow shrugged. "According to reliable intelligence, Lin Xian has already displayed so kind of space black hole-like ability more than once in Xilan City and Dawn City. Also, his team contains electrical-type and super-speed-type ability users…"
Chen Yanxiu gave Moonshadow a hard look and said coldly, "Forget the super-speed. That electrical-type is just a kid of around ten;
in Dawn City he hasn't even developed combat capability. Are you saying in such a short ti he suddenly gained the ability to carry the whole group across dinsions?"
After saying this, his face darkened further. He murmured, "Who knows how many unknown developnts there are in that Lin Xian's chanical ability. One mont he uses electricity, the next a black hole. There's no way to deal with him head-on. I left a submarine for him, and he still escaped from the Oceanic Titan and a subspace collapse. What other trump cards does he have?!"
"He's a Sword Bearer. Ye Lan, to protect him, might have handed him quite a few life-saving favors from Night Stalkers and Xinghua. Otherwise I can't imagine how he crawled out alive from the hunting grounds on Haiyan Island," Moonshadow sighed, then turned to Chen Yanxiu and asked, "Can you still sense the Black Gear?"
Chen Yanxiu shook his head. "We can't catch up."
Moonshadow gave a short laugh. "Looks like Hua Xiaoling was right again."
"No matter. It just ans I lost one Forbidden Artifact."
Chen Yanxiu took a long breath and stared at the distant dark canopy, then turned and walked away. "The more they worship the Master's power…"
"…the closer they get to the New World!"
...
The Hawaiian Islands sit in the middle of the Pacific. Once an internationally famous tourist destination, the islands had a highly developed tourism industry, with over 2,000 square kiloters of urban area and a population exceeding a million. After the Doomsday, however, the place was quickly forgotten and beca an isolated island chain.
At 7:12 a.m., sunlight poured over the white sands of the Hawaiian beaches. The sky was a brittle, slightly impure clarity of blue;
the fierce light struck every surface unimpeded and reflected off as blinding white.
The coastline of Oahu wound gently. The sea was still a shocking, pellucid blue, clear to the bottom—colorful coral beds visible beneath—but the picturesque scene of waves kissing golden sand had been annihilated. Under the beach, the sand had beco a rotting graveyard where the living dead stalked freely. Corpses not yet fully decomposed and sun-bleached cadavers lay everywhere.
Cold vapors rose;
the air clung with a viscous miasma mixing nauseating rot and the sick saltiness of seawater. The sea breeze rcilessly tossed the beach’s detritus: postcards printed with cartoon palm trees lay trampled to pulp, bathing suits stained dark red wound around dead palm trunks, and a deflated flamingo pool float half-buried in sand showed a faded pink now coated in white mold.
Where once sunbathers had stretched across the sparkling sand, a shifting, crawling shadow of undead bodies now writhed in various poses.
Wooo!
In the distance on the horizon, the roar of an otherworldly craft shattered the island's silence. A giant train, four kiloters long, approached and cast a vast shadow on the shoreline. The train swept from the deep-blue sea onto the beach in an instant, enveloping a large mass of zombies. Armor on the ship's hull reflected cold tallic light under the harsh sun;
battle scars from storms, shrapnel dents, heat-deford tal, and scorch marks from an overloaded Electrostatic Field Generator were visible in many places. Fortunately, the vessel had not taken direct hits, and the hull showed no serious structural damage.
The living dead seed startled by the enormous sound and shadow. Their sluggish motions halted;
their murky eyeballs all turned toward the sky.
They lifted their rotten faces and emitted a tighter, more frantic series of hisses. As the Sky Do train descended further, its powerful downwash blasted downward, carving a huge depression in the sea. The edge waves boiled and exploded into white foam. Sand on the beach billowed into the air, whipping garbage and decay into choking sandstorms.
The zombie horde seed shoved by an invisible hand;
rigid bodies were knocked off balance and toppled. So already missing limbs were blown flat by the gusts. Golden sand hurled by the wind slamd into decomposing flesh and crumbling remains with a staccato of sharp impacts.
Swoosh!
A sharp telekinetic impact sounded. The dense mass of zombies looked up to see a dark silhouette hovering at the prow of the giant train. Takahashi Ryunosuke raised his hand and unleashed a blade of force, cutting through the bank of zombies along the shore and erasing swathes of them. Only then did the Sky Do train slowly reduce altitude and stop on an open beach near the coastal street.
At the sa ti, countless drones from the ship sward out like a hive and stread toward the city's urban area, beginning a carpet search.
On the main bridge, Lin Xian and the others looked out at the beach city, their expressions solemn.
Qian Dele spoke first: "Arrived smoothly, and ahead of schedule. Flying really is faster."
"But it's dangerous," Ning Jing frowned, wiping sweat from her brow after their narrow escape. "If every flight is like this, it's not a good idea."
Luo Yang nodded in agreent. "Our orbital train is more reliable."
Lin Xian stepped forward and sighed. "If ti wasn't an issue, there was no need to rush into such risky flights."
Chen Sixuan then said, "There is a rail spur on this island that connects to the Panama transport line. From there you can land on the Caribbean coast, and then we could travel along the liberation tracks straight through the heart of South Arica to Ushuaia. That route avoids the ocean’s largest No.13 Star Abyss and keeps us out of the paths of North Arica's No.2 and No.10 and Atlantic No.11 Star Abysses. It's a relatively safe plan."
"Will it go that smoothly?" Monica looked to Lin Xian.
Lin Xian smiled helplessly. "I don't know. The European Storm Alliance, the Dawn Center, and Noah are all heading toward the Storm Strait. We should be able to make it."
"Lin Xian." KIKI flew over and asked, "Do we et up with our convoy in South Arica?"
Lin Xian nodded. "The train convoys will all take the liberation tracks. At our speed, we should arrive early. For safety, we'll keep the convoys on the tracks and avoid taking off unless absolutely necessary."
"Our Sky Do train is amazing!" Shasha exclaid. "It can fly supersonic and actually ca out of that storm. Aweso—and it's so spacious!"
At that mont, reconnaissance drones that had scattered returned data through the network node and consolidated it at Viola.
Viola, hands behind her back, told Lin Xian, "Preliminary scans detect a large number of zombies and so partially evolved human horrors. This city doesn't look like it suffered a massive invasion. Based on preliminary comparisons of the undead, they are tourists and city residents. We haven't detected survivor convoys or ard personnel."
"What do you an?" Chen Sixuan asked. "You an, after the Doomsday, no one has been here?"
"That's likely." KIKI tapped on a mobile terminal. "Leaving this island can only be done by transoceanic flights, ocean liners, or that rail spur. The first two are impossible now. If Sanctum-style sea-based groups didn't land here, then the only possibility is the Panama rail spur—and that would be very hard. If there are no other survivors, that line is probably cut off as well."
"So nobody has 'searched' here?" Qian Dele folded his fan with a smile. "That's rare. No hostile forces, just these cute, friendly zombies. We can sleep well tonight."
"Captain Lin," Shu Qin said, "it's still daylight. Should we go out and search for supplies?"
"I was thinking the sa," Lin Xian replied.
He checked his watch and relaxed slightly. "Judging by the distance, we're at the intersection of diffusion from Star Abyss No.8 and No.13. There should be a double Dark Tide, but it's far enough away that effects should be limited. Otherwise this island would have many more human horrors. For safety, everyone must be back by 18:00."
"We also still have a Level 1 mark that must be cleared before nightfall," Chen Sixuan added.
"Alright. That’s the plan."
At 16:45, the crimson sun sank low, sketching clear dusk lines along the coastline. The Sky Do train's hatch opened. Ning Jing stepped onto the decayed ground;
A Bai and Xiao Qing followed like shadows, along with several engineering drones responsible for moving supplies and relaying information. "Move quickly and try not to make too much noise," she ordered.
At the sa ti, two other squads dispersed. Qian Dele's signature floral shirt flashed in the shifting figures. Behind him, Luo Yang operated four powerful drones and said repeatedly, "Finally on land. Otherwise these guys wouldn't have a chance to do anything!"
"Heh heh, using these chs on zombies is overkill," Lü Chang followed, laughing. "But they help carry stuff. We've shared so supplies with the Falcon Sea Group;
crossing South Arica might leave us short."
"No need to worry," Qian Dele shrugged. "We're only twenty-so people. Once we et up with the main force, supplies won't be a problem."
Shu Qin was more cautious. "Still, it's better to stock up. There's plenty of space on the Sky Do train, and in the apocalypse no one says no to food. Reaching South Arica might not go smoothly. The Dawn Center crossing North Arica might face heavy battles."
Qian Dele nodded. "You remind of my Xiaong. I miss her—when she's around I worry less."
Monica climbed into Daluo's off-road vehicle. Shasha piloted the Flying Peach while Takahashi Ryunosuke flew low behind them. After learning the situation in the city, Chen Sixuan set out with Sun Yuzhen, Mo Xiaotian, Xiao Yuan, and Miao Lu to help. Sun Yuzhen's flight ability made her invaluable for searches;
Xiao Yuan and the others, long deprived of outdoor activity, were eager to move.
"Wow, so beautiful. Back in school I dread of coming to Hawaii—didn't imagine it would be under these circumstances," Miao Lu said excitedly from the back seat as she gazed at the clear sea.
"Careful. There are lots of zombies out there, and we still have marks on us," Xiao Yuan warned anxiously.
Chen Sixuan sighed. "It's okay. We've been suppressed so long;
it's ti to relax a bit. The drones scouted the path;
as long as we stay cautious, don't be too restrained."
"I'll watch from the air," Sun Yuzhen said, briefly assigning Mo Xiaotian and then beating an affirmative signal to Chen Sixuan before launching into the sky.
As the squads set out, the Sky Do train slowly lifted again. Under Lin Xian and Viola's control, it headed to another direction’s spur station to rest and serve as a rendezvous point.
Two people remained aboard: Fire Bro and Ding Junyi.
Ding Junyi was imrsed in researching a new idea. Fire Bro, after the train docked at the station, leisurely climbed to the roof of the skybridge with a sun umbrella and a lounge chair. He opened the umbrella and basked in the sunlight—his duty was guarding the vessel, and Lu Xingchen appreciated such restful monts.
Bang!
At the back loading door of a large supermarket in the city, Takahashi Ryunosuke and Monica sent waves of incoming zombies flying back. Daluo, clad in black-dragon armor, ripped open the warehouse door and charged forth amidst a foul stench. Shasha tossed in a few small illumination drones;
as the lights revealed towering shelves several ters high, the team entered with mixed surprise and excitent.
Shasha exhaled and widened her eyes as she looked at the huge supermarket warehouse, murmuring, "We hit the jackpot…"
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