Since they were still inside the main urban area, Lin Xian deliberately slowed down the speed of the train, concerned about the chaotic order within the city. He worried about the clogging of the railway and also strove to avoid making too much noise that could stir up unrest.
Merging from the light rail line into the Jiangyu main line, the road gradually broadened on both sides, with occasional Zombie creatures roaming between the tracks, which he crushed directly as he went.
Soon, multiple turnouts began to emerge ahead, opening up into a vast area with various freight trains filled with different goods parked all along the branch lines.
Among them were several container-only trains, but without exception, the doors of the containers had all been opened, and all types of goods had already been looted empty by the survivors, leaving nothing but cardboard packaging and plastic bags scattered around.
Apart from these, the rest were mostly mixed cargo trains, including Less-Than-Truckload (LTL) shipments, flatcars, tankers, etc., all mixed together, but it seemed they too hadn't escaped the chaos, with several carriages tipped over on the tracks...
The branch line was connected to a loading platform and a crane workshop in the distance, evidently the railway freight loading and unloading center in Jiang City. Such facilities were usually set up before the passenger stations in cities. Lin Xian stopped the Infinity at the double-track railway entrance, observed the route, then opened the door and stepped beside the branching line's switch machine, placing his hand on it, driving the motor!
Squeak!
The turnout was changed under his manipulation. He then returned to the train and drove the Infinity onto the loading branch line, stopping in front of a platform marked with "Loading Platform No. 4".
"Keep the walkie-talkie with you, even if it's me, do not open the door, because I can open it myself," Lin Xian instructed, shouldering his backpack and taking up a Short Knife, advising Chen Sixuan, "As long as you don't open the door, no one can do anything to you."
Chen Sixuan nodded; she now knew that Lin Xian's Superpower was to operate trains, so she obediently remembered his instruction.
"Then you... be careful," she also responded with concern.
Hiss~ The cockpit's hatchway door opened. Aside from the control cab at the front of Infinity and the tailgate of carriage no. 3, all other living quarters doors had been welded shut and reinforced with steel plates. Inside, one would be completely safe from ordinary people or Zombies as long as they didn't encounter the bizarre White Giant Monster from the previous night.
Lin Xian exited the train and closed the hatchway door, just as a piercing cold wind assaulted him upon touching the railway tracks.
He glanced at the shining sun above and immediately felt how messed up this apocalyptic climate was.
With his speed attribute enhanced, Lin Xian's movements became much more agile. Holding the Short Knife, he darted across several railways, looking toward the front and back of each train to find a suitable locomotive.
He planned to settle the electric locomotive issue while it was still daylight, and if that was unattainable, to scavenge for some supplies here before driving a few kilometers away into the central station of Jiang City to search further.
Lin Xian swept past one train after another, until he reached the front of the container train, where he saw a silver Star Orbital 7F electric locomotive and his eyes lit up.
The Star Orbital 7F electric locomotive was 60 meters long, predominantly silver with blue lines, and its streamlined body appeared incredibly sci-fi. Known as the "Star Orbital Strongman," it boasted a high power of 58,800 kilowatts and was a standard Star Orbital freight locomotive.
This big guy needed to be connected to the railway grid to be powered up. After the apocalypse, this industrial giant lost all its value, doomed to lie dormant on the railway tracks, gathering dust. With no gas or water, its vast exterior belied a cramped interior; hardly anyone bothered with it.
The Star Orbital 7F was twice as long as the Giant Whale 03E heavy gas turbine and was a true electricity monster. Its internal structure was sophisticated, with not only a drive motor but also advanced kinetic energy recovery and energy storage systems, making it an excellent temporary battery for the Infinity.
"It's you."
Lin Xian reached out and touched it as the Mechanical Heart commenced its scanning process and found the overall condition of the electric locomotive to be good and very new.
This was indeed a treasure trove.
Due to his unique Superpower, what was overlooked by the other survivors was a precious find in his eyes.
Just as Lin Xian was about to start this giant and disengage the carriages, a sporadic voice suddenly came from behind.
He immediately turned around cautiously; the noise was coming from inside a warehouse above the platform.
Therefore, Lin Xian crouched and squirmed through the linkage gap of a freight carriage on the inner track, following the sound, and found it was coming from inside a warehouse marked with the number 14.
Thump thump thump~ thump thump thump~
A series of knocking sounds, coherent and not at all like the unconscious movements of the Zombies.
Lin Xian climbed onto the platform and then approached from one room to the next. At this time, the knocking sounds grew louder and louder, and faintly, he could even hear someone's shouting.
"Help! Is anybody there!!"
The voice was muffled, seemingly blocked by some kind of soundproofing facility.
Lin Xian arrived at the entrance of Warehouse No. 14, peering slowly through the slightly ajar door, only to discover that this warehouse was a cold storage facility containing two large white cold storage units. However, since Jiang City had long lost power, the warehouse was filled with an indescribable stench of decay. Lin Xian sniffed, nearly vomiting the canned meat he had just eaten.
Only when he entered did he finally see, through the isolation window of one of the cold storage units, two women; one of them was frantically banging on the door.
The woman looked to be in her thirties, her face red with exertion, while the other was an old lady in her fifties or sixties, sitting on the ground, seemingly breathing less and less.
The moment Lin Xian stepped inside, the woman immediately spotted him and cried out pleadingly,
"Please, help me open the door, my mother is nearly dying!!"
However, hearing this Lin Xian's gaze sharpened, sensing trouble and instantly leaping forward.
But in that split second, a gunshot sounded from behind him.
Bang!
It was an ambush!
He almost immediately saw through the other's ploy—a random woman shouting inside a freezer was just too conspicuous.
Her aimless shouting would only attract zombies; it was clearly meant to catch his attention on purpose.
Bang bang bang! The first shot missed, followed by a burst of gunfire.
From start to finish, Lin Xian didn't pause for a second; he reacted quickly, dashing towards the other freezer and slamming the door shut behind him.
Bang bang, bullets struck the freezer door, sending sparks flying.
"Damn, this kid is fast!"
"Don't let him escape."
"This dumbass crawled into the freezer, haha..."
At that moment, two men quickly followed, each holding a weapon—one long, one short.
The leader, who looked to be in his forties with a sullen face and a large tattoo on his neck, kicked the freezer door only to find it had surprisingly been locked.
"Hey, that's strange!"
The other, slightly skinnier, looked through the window at Lin Xian who was on high alert inside and also tugged at the gate latch, finding it unmoved.
"How can we not open this damn door?"
The doors to the large freezers were specially designed. To avoid condensation forming on the metal handle due to the low temperature and subsequently freezing, preventing the door handle from functioning, the handle could only be opened from the outside. But for safety, there was an alarm button on the inside.
However, what was strange was that once Lin Xian was inside, the door apparently couldn't be opened from the outside.
"Damn it."
The lead man immediately lifted his gun and fired two shots at the freezer's observation window, creating a huge echo inside the warehouse. However, he was unaware that the observation window was 200 millimeters thick, designed for insulation, making the entire freezer akin to a heavy fortress.
"Shit!"
At that moment, the man cursed.
Then, the door to the first freezer opened, and the woman and the old lady, who had previously pretended to be in distress, walked out one after the other. The group surrounded Lin Xian, wearing malicious expressions.
"This kid is quite shrewd..."