Chapter 177: Chapter 177: Next Stop, Apocalypse Chapter 177: Chapter 177: Next Stop, Apocalypse The subway system of the United Federation was very old. In 1863, Ingra established the world’s first subway in its capital, Luodun Town, and within the next forty years, this mode of transportation had spread globally.
The subway in Opportunity City was first built in 1920, initially comprising only four lines. After three major renovations, four additional lines had been added during the process.
Building subways in this world was not a simple matter.
In 1914, the Dunweizhi Drilling Company of the United Federation discovered a door to the Great Void, enclosed in the rock layer 2000 ters underground during an oil well drilling project.
The drill bit had fallen straight in, and a monster in the form of a spiritual body followed the drill hole to the surface, resulting in over 200 worker casualties. This was also the first direct encounter with the Great Void shortly after the establishnt of the Administration Bureau.
Without digging, no one would know how many undiscovered doors were beneath their feet, so any “digging down” project in this world involved the Spiritual Ability Administration and research institutes.
At noon, there weren’t many people in the subway, empty with only four or five people per carriage, which was completely different from the situation Chen Ke knew in his ho country.
No matter when, if you take public transportation in first and second-tier cities in his ho country, unless it’s a particularly remote place, don’t expect to find a seat.
This might be due to the lower population density in the Western world. Opportunity City, including permanent and transient populations, had barely 4 million people. To his ho country, this could only be considered a small city.
Opportunity City’s subway ticketing system supported coin insertion and card swiping, and since he did not carry firearms, Chen Ke had comfortably passed the security check even with the Holy Diamond in his possession.
However, he always felt that in larger places like airports, there must be equipnt for scanning Holy Relics, considering even postal workers had handheld devices for scanning spinal spiritual energy.
There were not a few people with spiritual power in this world, and although they all held public office, they also posed potential threats to other countries.
For example, in the Fei Huang Republic, the spiritual power industry was completely banned. Personal involvent was illegal; hence, they would undoubtedly be extra cautious about spiritual personnel from other countries.
Chen Ke and Diana were seated near the door. Since Chen Ke was always alert, he had no inclination to rest with closed eyes, and he just blankly watched the electronic station signs.
Next to him, Diana picked up a jar of caviar from her bag and examined it ticulously. Chen Ke didn’t know what she was studying; perhaps she was just bored.
Outside the window, the dark tunnel sporadically flashed with brightly lit advertising boards, mostly advertisents for various spiritual energy products focusing on beauty skincare and health products.
A station wasn’t far, and after sitting silently for seven or eight minutes, the subway finally reached the station.
The lighting on the white platform wasn’t as bright as inside the carriage, making it seem slightly darker outside. The construction tis of the various station stops in Opportunity City varied greatly to the extent that so stations lacked digital announcents.
Chen Ke also researched line number 7’s route, comprising 16 stops with connections to lines 2, 4, and 6 at three stations. The starting point was in the Deep Anchor District of Opportunity City and the terminal stop at the outskirts of Raffi Road.
Diana had two more stops before alighting. She put the caviar back into her bag, pulled out her phone, and scrolled through Facebook, huh… she was using a red Nokia 5800.
A few people sporadically entered the carriage, then the doors shut and the train continued onward.
“Do you really like caviar that much? That stuff isn’t cheap,” Chen Ke suddenly asked.
“My dad really likes it. Actually, I rarely eat fish. I don’t even like things related to fish. Why do you ask?” Diana shifted her gaze from her phone and replied.
“Don’t get wrong, I’m just really bored,” Chen Ke scratched his head.
“What’s your Facebook ID? Let’s be friends,” Diana said with a smile.
“I don’t use Facebook,” Chen Ke confessed awkwardly; he couldn’t use it back ho, and now there was no chance to start.
“Oh, I see, you’re one of those people who reject online social networking,” Diana acknowledged.
“Yeah, you could say that, I don’t like putting too much of my information online,” Chen Ke said.
“That’s okay, everyone has their concerns, but honestly, even if you leave no trace online, it’s still easy to find you,” Diana said with a mysterious smile.
“You sound a lot like the County Police,” Chen Ke replied.
“Hehe… I know so places where even if soone hides, no one can find them, or rather, wouldn’t want to,” Diana laughed.
“Oh? Is it that powerful?” Chen Ke raised his eyebrows slightly.
“You know about the Black Box Space available all over the city, right? If you dare hide there, basically no one knows where you are unless you send a signal yourself,” Diana laughed.
“Would hiding there really an no one could find you?” Chen Ke was skeptical.
How could that be possible? Chen Ke had been there before; that place was under strict surveillance by the Administration Bureau. It seed that civilians, like Diana, only had a superficial understanding of the Black Box Space.
“Once you hide there, your landlord, creditors, boyfriends, girlfriends, salespeople… they wouldn’t dare bother you again… It seems this joke isn’t funny,” Diana continued speaking, but noticing Chen Ke’s expression hadn’t changed at all, she felt a bit embarrassed.
“Hahahaha,” Chen Ke laughed politely four tis.
As they spoke, suddenly there ca a piercing noise of tal grinding at high speed, causing everyone in the carriage to shudder, their facial features cramped together.
Chen Ke and Diana also showed frantic expressions, but thankfully, the noise only lasted for two seconds. It was probably because the train was on a curve at that mont. Subways and light rails always made such torturous sounds when turning sharp corners.
Diana didn’t speak, pulling out her phone to continue on Facebook. But she furrowed her brows, finding she had no internet connection.
Chen Ke leaned back in his seat and tried to rest, but the mont he closed his eyes, he always felt like he was a corpse.
Because normally when people close their eyes, in a quiet environnt, they can hear their heartbeat or so echoes within their body. But when Chen Ke closed his eyes, there was dead silence.
“ 5 minutes”
“ 5 minutes”
“ 5 minutes”
“ 5 minutes”
“ 5 minutes”
“ 5 minutes”
“ 5 minutes”
“ 5 minutes”
“ 5 minutes”
“ 5 minutes”
“ 5 minutes”
“ 5 minutes”
…
In the pitch-black field of vision in the upper right corner, rows of prompts rapidly appeared at a rate of about a dozen per second.
A massive cloud of intense killing intent was absorbed by Chen Ke; every second only added 5 minutes, indicating that the newcor was weak, but the frequency suggested the number of newcors could be exceptionally large.
Chen Ke abruptly opened his eyes, anxiously looking around. Inside the subway carriage, there were still just a few passengers, all sitting in their seats, resting with their eyes closed.
These passengers did not have red outlines around them, proving they were not the source of the killing intent. Diana was nearby, once again reviewing the ingredients and production dates of various foods; it wasn’t her either.
What’s going on? He stood up and walked over to the window to peer into the pitch-black tunnel.
“Chen Ke? What’s wrong?” Diana noticed Chen Ke’s unusual behavior.
Chen Ke didn’t respond to Diana because his gaze was captured by a large group of red outlines in the darkness. They looked like a large crowd of people stationed at the next platform.
Chen Ke subconsciously touched his holster; it was empty…
“Chen Ke, you look very anxious. What’s happening?” asked Diana.
“Diana… I think maybe we should move back a bit,” Chen Ke said.
The group of red outlines, still unknown, likely weren’t assassins sent by the consortium, because they wouldn’t send such low-level fighters after him.
From their positioning, they were gathered together. If he could move back to the rear carriages, perhaps he could avoid them.
Diana did not understand Chen Ke’s intent, and that cool, skeptical expression returned to her face.
Chen Ke didn’t know how to explain, and for a mont, he considered leaving Diana behind and walking away alone.
But the subway car offered him no ti to ponder; it was already pulling into the station.
The platform outside the door flashed with red lights, looking completely different in structure from the previous station. The subway continued to pull in, but everyone inside had already sensed sothing was off.
On the platform stood a large group of red, humanoid figures, seemingly like clay figures on the verge of lting, staggering and pressing their bodies against the platform’s partition walls.
Chen Ke sensed the light change behind him; the white lights inside the car also suddenly went off.
Among the other passengers, a lady, terrified, began to scream, pushing others’ sanity to the brink.
The train slowly ca to a halt, and the mud figures outside had already spotted the living people inside the car, pressing against the transparent partition wall, leaving behind streaks of red bloodprints.
Just as Chen Ke was about to turn around, Diana suddenly grabbed his shoulder with her right arm and earnestly said, “Chen Ke, don’t turn around, don’t look.”
Chen Ke saw a kind of courage in Diana’s eyes, the kind found in those who face monsters and battle with them.
“Don’t look, just sit down slowly and close your eyes,” Diana soothed. She slowly stood up, pulling out a large caliber revolver from beneath her jacket.
Chen Ke was dumbfounded.
“Everyone, don’t panic! I am from the Spiritual Ability Administration, CPA Agent, Diana Prince! Everyone close your eyes, stay calm, and think about the happiest thing in your life,” Diana shouted to everyone in the car.
“Holy shit…” Chen Ke then realized that Diana was actually an agent of the Administration Bureau.
“Everyone don’t panic, cluster together, stay away from the doors!” Diana said while holding her gun and walking toward the front of the car.
At that mont, with a clang, the doors of the car opened.
Reviews
All reviews (0)