---
Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep.
Lin Xian raised his hand and silenced his wristwatch.
16:00.
His expression showed clear exhaustion—dark circles hung under his eyes like a panda's, and his mind felt heavy, sluggish after two sleepless nights.
"Hmm… it's daytime… but already afternoon."
He slapped his cheeks lightly to wake himself up.
"We've got about two hours and forty minutes of light left… maybe a bit more. But who knows what could happen—we should assume less."
He stood up, stretching stiff muscles, then walked over and kicked Drakkon's crossed legs.
"Wake up, lazy bastard. It's already daybreak. Every minute counts."
He kicked harder this time before turning back toward the freezer door.
"Seriously… I don't know how you managed to sleep after last night. Wish I had that ability."
"I wasn't sleeping," I replied calmly.
"I was meditating."
Of course, that was only half true.
I hadn't been able to sleep at all.
So I distracted myself by improving my chakra control.
"Yeah, yeah. Whatever you were doing, let's move. It's daytime—we can't keep wasting time if we want to follow the plan."
Lin Xian raised his hand.
A compressed blast of air formed—
And slammed into the iron chain wrapped around the freezer door.
Clang!
The chain snapped loose.
---
The moment we stepped outside, our attention was immediately drawn to the second freezer.
A massive hole had been torn through its thick stainless-steel door, mixed with composite materials.
The metal around it was twisted, crushed, and peeled open.
Blood stained everything.
We moved forward cautiously.
I cut down two approaching zombies in quick succession.
Then we saw it clearly—
Four zombies crouched over a corpse, devouring it.
From the tattoo still visible on the torn flesh…
It was one of the Huang family.
"Tch. Trash like that deserved this ending."
I spoke coldly.
"Too bad he died too quickly."
This had been the first time I nearly died without even understanding how.
Surviving had been pure luck—
Their aim had been terrible.
"Heh. I always knew you were a bit of a maniac. This just confirms it."
Lin Xian glanced at me, trying to sound indifferent.
But I caught the slight upward curve at the corner of his lips.
He wasn't exactly unhappy about their fate either.
"Either way, they got what they deserved."
I exhaled slowly.
"They didn't even try to fight those monsters… but specialized in setting traps to kill other survivors."
"In a world like this? That's worse than the monsters."
I paused.
"When I came to this world… I thought I knew everything. That I'd be the protagonist."
My gaze hardened.
"But I almost died to something like that."
Maybe…
My memories weren't as reliable as I thought.
Or maybe stress and time had blurred them.
Either way—
I needed to get stronger.
I couldn't rely on luck forever.
---
Lin Xian picked up the walkie-talkie.
"Professor Chen, are you okay? Is the train intact?"
Static crackled.
Then her voice came through, slightly distorted.
"Y-Yes… I'm fine… What about you? Did you hear those horrible sounds last night?"
"We're fine. We'll talk later."
His tone sharpened.
"Right now, we need to use the remaining daylight. We're going to connect the electric locomotive and put distance between us and the Polar Night."
"Understood. I'll prepare on my side."
Her voice steadied.
Lin Xian put the radio away, and we headed toward the warehouse entrance.
---
Peeking outside—
Zombies.
A lot of them.
Still scattered, but clearly drawn here by last night's chaos.
"How long will it take to connect the train and get moving?" I asked, eyeing Warehouse No. 1 further away from the tracks.
"If everything goes smoothly? About ten minutes."
He narrowed his eyes.
"Why?"
"I'll draw them away."
I rolled my shoulders slightly.
"I'll lure them to Warehouse 1 and start a massacre there. That way, you won't be disturbed."
"You sure?"
He looked at me seriously.
"There are a lot of them. It could turn into a horde real fast."
"I'm sure."
I met his gaze.
"And I won't get stronger by hiding."
"They're manageable. When will I get another opportunity like this?"
I turned and began moving.
"Just call me on the radio when you're ready. I'll run back."
---
Inside Warehouse 1—
I activated Chidori briefly.
Just two seconds.
The sharp, chirping crackle echoed loudly.
Then I canceled it.
Two shadow clones appeared beside me.
Each carrying 25% of my chakra.
We took position.
And waited.
---
They came.
At first, only a few.
We moved.
Close combat.
Efficient.
Precise.
Heads crushed.
Bodies dropped.
As their numbers increased, we slowly retreated, maintaining formation.
Then—
A special zombie lunged at me from above.
Fast.
Unexpected.
But my reaction speed had improved.
I ducked just in time—
Its claws slicing the air above my head.
A kunai flashed.
Straight through its skull.
+1 XP
"Fire Style: Great Fireball Jutsu!"
All three of us spoke at once.
But instead of launching fireballs—
We controlled the output.
Turning it into a sweeping wave.
Like flamethrowers.
Fire surged forward.
Burning everything in its path.
The flames spread—
Consuming zombies in layers.
Front to back.
Creating a blazing exclusion zone.
+1 XP
+1 XP
+1 XP
---
Boom…
From afar, Lin Xian heard the explosions and the growing chorus of undead.
"I need to hurry…"
He muttered.
"At this rate, he'll pull zombies from everywhere."
---
Soon—
He reached his target.
The electric locomotive Huanxing 7F.
Using his mechanical heart, he activated its systems.
The doors unlocked automatically.
With careful control, he disengaged the connections and began moving the massive machine.
Unlike the heavy Whale 03E—
The Huanxing 7F moved smoothly.
Quietly.
Almost silently.
With Chen Sixuan's help, he detached the passenger cars from the Whale locomotive.
Then repositioned everything:
1. Whale 03E (Front)
The heaviest, most armored—ideal as the shield against impacts.
2. Huanxing 7F (Middle)
More fragile, less armored—temporarily placed in a safer position.
3–5. Passenger Cars (Rear)
Living quarters, supplies, equipment.
At first glance, it didn't make sense to place such a large locomotive in the middle—
But durability mattered more than size.
The Whale could endure punishment.
The Huanxing could not.
And in this world—
One mistake meant total destruction.
---
"Everything's ready. Get back here—we're leaving."
Lin Xian spoke into the radio.
---
I received the signal.
Time to go.
My clones held the line while I retreated.
Quick glance at my system—
---
[Drakkon Uchiha]
[Uchiha Bloodline]: Lv.1 (400 / 500)
[Strength]: Lv.2 (0 / 500)
[Speed]: Lv.2 (201 / 600)
[Defense]: Lv.1 (25 / 50)
---
[Skills]
[Great Fireball Jutsu]: Lv.2 (440 / 500)
[Shadow Clone Jutsu]: Lv.1 (70 / 900)
---
[Passives]
[Chakra Control]: Lv.2 (395 / 700)
[Sharingan]: Lv.1 (10 / 300)
[Chidori]: Lv.1 (1 / 500)
---
51 special zombies in ten minutes…
The rest were normal.
Grinding levels purely through zombies?
Not viable.
I'd run out of energy long before making real progress.
Still—
My biggest gains came from technique usage.
Fireball improved the most.
Then clones.
Then chakra control.
Just as expected—
Shadow Clones consumed too much and leveled slowly.
After a few seconds of thought, I snapped back.
Focus.
I left the clones behind as distractions and ran.
---
Lin Xian spotted me approaching from afar.
He opened the door.
The moment I entered—
He blinked.
"Did you walk through a forest fire or something?"
Before I could answer—
BOOM!
A distant explosion.
My clones had detonated their remaining chakra.
"Something like that," I said with a faint smirk.
Cool.
Mysterious.
…Until the train suddenly lurched forward.
I grabbed the wall instantly.
So much for the cool entrance.
---
We moved into the first passenger car.
Chen Sixuan stood there, holding a logbook.
"Up ahead is the Jiangyu line. We're heading east toward Beiwang Station."
She pointed at the map.
"The terrain between them is relatively flat. No tunnels. Just watch for debris or damaged tracks."
Lin Xian nodded.
He increased speed.
80 km/h.
With the added weight, the strain became noticeable.
"If something happens… I can still stop in time at this speed."
Chen hesitated.
Then asked quietly:
"And… that family from yesterday… they…?"
"They're dead."
I answered plainly.
"No need to sugarcoat it. And they deserved it."
Her face paled slightly.
She wasn't used to this yet.
Lin Xian stepped in.
"He's right. We caused it—but they earned it."
"They hunted survivors. Set traps."
"At that point… they're not people anymore."
"They're beasts."
He wasn't gentle.
But he was trying to help her adapt.
---
"Hey, we're leaving the city," I said, walking toward the radio.
"We should turn it on. No idea when we'll get signal again."
Static filled the cabin.
Then—
Fragments of broadcasts.
---
"Zzz~ This is convoy [Oasis]. Final warning. If you have supplies, weapons, or special abilities, join us. Unity is survival—don't cling to false hope…"
"Zzz~ Highway Route 312 is completely blocked. Only detour is the forest road. Massive zombie horde forming in the eastern district…"
"Zzz~ [Jiang City Bunker] welcomes ability users and… beautiful women…"
"Zzz~ Apartment A-1304… safe zone… only women accepted…"
"Zzz~ Patrol report… Yancheng and Fengcheng have fallen… large-scale emergence of unknown creatures…"
"Zzz~ Volcano collapse detected… possible anomalous activity…"
"Zzz~ University report… Abyss expansion… traveling 200–300 km may grant one extra hour of sunlight…"
---
The signal degraded.
Static swallowed most details.
Still…
It was enough.
"Shame we couldn't understand everything," I said.
"But if that's accurate… traveling 200 to 300 kilometers gives us one extra hour of sunlight."
"At 80 km/h… that's about three hours."
"If the info is correct…"
Chen's voice held a hint of hope.
"We could reach Beiwang… and tomorrow the sun might rise at 16:30."
"That's the best-case scenario," Lin Xian cut in.
"We maintain max speed, sure…"
"But once it gets dark, we stop."
His tone was firm.
"I'm not driving blind at night. Too risky."
"And I need energy reserves in case something happens."
He paused.
Then added:
"In the future… we'll need drones. Radar too."
"We can't rely on sunlight forever."
"I have a few drones," I said.
"But they're civilian-grade. No night vision, limited range."
"For now, they'll help during the day—checking damaged tracks."
Lin Xian nodded.
"But eventually…"
"We'll need military-grade equipment."
---