Leaving Jiang City behind at a constant speed of 80 kilometers per hour, the train continued steadily eastward along the railway.
As the city disappeared into the distance, silence gradually swallowed everything.
Only the rhythmic metallic sounds of the wheels grinding against the rails remained—
Clang… clang… clang…
The three of us unconsciously looked back one last time.
Above Jiang City, the dark cloud formation still hovered in the sky.
Unmoving.
Undispersed.
Completely unnatural.
No matter how much time passed, the clouds neither scattered nor drifted away like normal storm clouds should.
And deep inside—
Whenever we looked at them, an indescribable sense of dread surfaced.
A primal terror.
Something fundamentally different from zombies or monsters.
Those creatures were horrifying…
But this?
This felt like something our instincts themselves feared.
As if buried inside that endless black mass…
Was a horror beyond understanding.
No one truly knew what existed inside those clouds.
Most survivors were either hiding inside shelters or desperately fleeing farther away.
Only a tiny number of researchers and workers from Jiang City had chosen to remain behind to study the anomalies and creatures surrounding the Abyss.
Everyone knew those people would most likely die.
But they still stayed.
Trying to leave behind as much information as possible for humanity.
One of the greatest mysteries was precisely that cloud formation.
Many speculated a gigantic stratospheric creature resided within it.
But no proper investigation had ever been conducted.
There simply wasn't enough equipment.
Not enough manpower.
And more importantly—
No one dared approach something they couldn't even comprehend.
Humanity's research efforts were currently focused almost entirely on survival:
How to kill the creatures.
How to fight them.
How to survive the Polar Night.
Very few people were left studying phenomena near the Abyss itself.
The risk was too high.
So humanity's knowledge remained pitifully small.
All they truly knew was this:
Those clouds…
Were not natural.
---
Outside the city, the scenery gradually changed.
Burned streets disappeared.
Wrecked vehicles vanished.
The smoke-filled roads, ruined buildings, scattered corpses, and bloodstained urban chaos slowly gave way to open farmland and rolling mountains covered in dense vegetation.
The contrast felt surreal.
As if the apocalypse simply…
Didn't exist here.
A false illusion of peace.
A world pretending everything was normal.
Even though everyone knew it wasn't.
---
We had assumed finding survivors out here would be rare.
This region was sparsely populated to begin with.
But at that moment—
On a dirt road running parallel to the railway—
Vehicles began appearing.
One after another.
A convoy.
Mostly off-road jeeps, though several overloaded sedans struggled to keep up.
All of them were packed with luggage and supplies stacked almost to the roofs.
Every vehicle was clearly pushing its maximum safe speed.
The people inside looked exhausted.
Desperate.
And armed.
One of the leading jeeps lowered its window.
A middle-aged man leaned his head outside and stared at the passing train with wide eyes.
"My God… a train."
"Holy shit—that's awesome!"
At the front of the convoy, a heavily modified jeep with hand-painted markings opened its roof hatch.
A young man with short hair emerged, gripping an AK rifle.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
He fired three shots into the air to get attention.
"HEY!!"
"Train crew! Do you have food or water?! Join our Oasis Convoy! If you hand over your supplies, we'll protect you!"
He shouted with all his strength toward the moving train.
---
Inside the cabin—
Lin Xian completely ignored the commotion outside.
His full attention remained fixed on controlling the train.
Meanwhile, Chen Sixuan studied the railway map, already planning future routes and possible stations ahead.
Since I had nothing else to do…
I turned toward the convoy.
Then raised both hands and gave them the middle finger with a smile full of contempt.
The short-haired teenager instantly exploded in anger.
"You sons of bitches!!"
His face turned red from rage before he climbed back down into the vehicle.
"Brother Yong… should we inform Brother Liu Wei ahead?" asked a yellow-haired youth nervously.
"What for?" Zhang Dayong scoffed.
"Those idiots clearly won't stop or join the convoy, much less share supplies."
The yellow-haired boy stared at him for a moment.
Then sighed helplessly.
"Brother Yong… that's a working train."
"Trains have huge fuel tanks."
"Even if it isn't full, it could supply the convoy vehicles for days."
Zhang Dayong froze.
Then slapped his thigh hard.
"Damn! You're absolutely right!"
He immediately grabbed the walkie-talkie.
"Brother Wei! Brother Wei! There's a huge train moving along the Jiangyu railway!"
"A train?" a rough voice replied through the radio.
"Working?"
"You sure?"
"Yeah. Huge one too. Five cars total."
"It's probably carrying lots of fuel, food, and water."
"At its current speed and direction, it should reach Yushan Station in around ten minutes."
A pause.
Then:
"You want to do something about it, Brother Wei?"
The voice on the other side turned cold.
"I'll block it at the station."
"You approach from behind and cut off any escape route."
"Understood, boss."
---
Ten kilometers ahead—
Another convoy moved along the roads.
Smaller.
But made up of much higher-quality vehicles.
At its center was a heavily modified Ford Raptor pickup.
Inside the back seat sat Liu Wei.
Square-faced.
Broad-shouldered.
Muscular.
With a permanently severe expression that intimidated everyone around him.
A heavily made-up young woman clung tightly to his arm while he stared coldly ahead.
"Third Brother, take the next exit."
"The large road leading to Yushan Station."
"We're setting up a blockade."
"Understood, Brother Wei."
Inside the convoy—
Liu Wei's word was law.
Before the apocalypse, Liu Wei had been nobody.
Just a market salesman from Jiang City.
Someone the upper class wouldn't even notice existed.
But the apocalypse changed everything.
Especially after he awakened an ability.
Using cunning and ruthlessness, he quickly established power.
Within days, he gathered over twenty loyal followers—
Mostly men capable of fighting.
He offered protection in exchange for supplies.
And his influence only grew larger.
Women who once ignored him now threw themselves at him for safety.
And now—
Hearing that a massive train had passed through his territory without "paying tribute"…
Not only wounded his pride—
But threatened his reputation.
Besides…
He had already planned on robbing survivors leaving Jiang City.
This was simply the perfect opportunity.
---
Back on the train—
Lin Xian subtly increased speed.
"That should be the Oasis Convoy," Chen Sixuan said while looking behind us.
"Their location matches the radio broadcasts from earlier."
She paused.
"They also mentioned their leader has an ability… though nobody specified what kind."
"I heard that too," Lin Xian replied.
"But they're traveling on roads and we're on rails."
"We should be able to avoid conflict."
Though from his expression…
He clearly wasn't fully convinced.
"If they're smart, they'll stay away from us."
I snorted.
"But I doubt they're smart."
"Seriously—what kind of good people fire rifles into the air?"
Chen Sixuan sighed softly.
Then spoke seriously.
"We also need more people."
Her gaze shifted between us.
"We can't keep this train running with only three people forever."
"And if groups start attacking us, things will become dangerous no matter how strong your abilities are."
"This train is both transportation… and a giant target."
Somehow…
I had the feeling parts of that speech were directed specifically at me.
"You could show your ability," she continued toward Lin Xian.
"If people understood what you can do, they'd trust your plan more easily."
"I know."
His answer came instantly.
"But quality is better than quantity."
"If I reveal my ability, people won't join because they believe in survival."
"They'll join because they think they can use me."
"Or force me to drive for them."
His eyes hardened slightly.
"I'd rather keep the team small than let just anyone aboard."
"Everyone currently on this train is either useful… trustworthy… or personally approved by me."
The final part sounded strangely specific.
Chen Sixuan's cheeks immediately reddened.
I instantly interrupted.
"Hey, hey. No flirting in front of me."
"And you definitely included me in that last category too, right?"
The atmosphere instantly shattered.
Exactly as planned.
I still wanted to sleep peacefully at night.
---
Clang. Clang. Clang.
The train crossed the plains alone for another seven minutes.
Then—
Something caught my attention.
Far ahead.
Tiny dark shapes near the approaching station.
I narrowed my eyes.
Then activated the Sharingan.
The world sharpened instantly.
Vehicles.
Blocking the tracks.
Armed people positioned on both sides.
An ambush.
"There's a blockade ahead."
I pointed forward.
"Told you those weren't good people."
Lin Xian's expression instantly turned serious.
"Miss Chen—go to the back. Right now."
Without hesitation, she ran toward the rear of the first car, hugging the unconscious girl tightly while gripping the wall with her other hand.
---
At Yushan Station—
Liu Wei and his men were already waiting.
Weapons drawn.
As the sound of the approaching train echoed louder and louder, Liu Wei slowly raised his hand.
"Make those bastards stop."
"They owe me an explanation for not paying tribute."
Then his eyes narrowed.
The train showed no signs of slowing down.
Not even slightly.
"Fire."
Without hesitation—
More than a dozen armed men opened fire toward the train cabin.
Bang! Bang! Bang! BANG!
Bullets slammed against the armored windshield.
Inside the cabin—
I saw Lin Xian ducking behind the control panel while increasing the train's speed even further.
His expression practically screamed:
I'm turning all of you into pancakes.
I stayed standing calmly near the side wall, gripping a metal handle tightly to maintain balance.
"Seriously, stop hiding."
I glanced at him.
"If a few bullets could break this glass, how exactly did you expect this train to survive anomalies?"