Apocalypse: I Built the Infinite Train

Chapter 108: The Passage

“There! That’s it!”

Before she even reached the emergency door, KIKI had already used her Ability to rip it right off its frame. The thick metal door groaned and twisted before being yanked away, leaving the passage exposed.

Lin Xian barely had time to react. “You’re way faster at opening doors than me!”

“Less talking, more running!”

CLANG! CLANG! CLANG!

Behind them, the red skeletal horror emerged from the corridor, its elongated limbs and jagged bone spikes scraping against the walls with a sharp, grating noise.

“NGAHHH!”

It shrieked again.

Lin Xian didn’t hesitate. He grabbed KIKI and leaped into the stairwell—simultaneously constructing a metal barrier to seal off the passage behind them.

Was that the stairwell was insanely steep.

“AHHHH!!!”

KIKI barely had time to react before she instinctively wrapped her arms around Lin Xian’s waist. Her eyes glowed with Ability energy, and their freefall abruptly slowed midair.

Even so, they still tumbled down at least ten meters before rolling to a stop at the bottom, landing in a painful heap.

BOOM!

The steel door Lin Xian had just created was suddenly blasted off its hinges, soaring over their heads and slamming into the stairwell wall with a deafening crash.

The impact bent the door out of shape, turning it red-hot as steam hissed from its surface.

Lin Xian’s spine went rigid. Holy sh*t.

This thing didn’t just breathe fire—it had ridiculous destructive power.

“Ugh… ow…”

KIKI groaned, sitting up while rubbing her sore ass and head.

If she hadn’t cushioned their fall with her Ability, they’d probably be half-dead from that tumble.

SCRAAAATCH!

A blood-red clawed hand suddenly reached through the narrow stairwell entrance, its charred flesh twitching as it scraped wildly at the air.

“Fk!!”

Ignoring the pain from their fall, Lin Xian grabbed KIKI and yanked her backward, just in time to dodge the creature’s frenzied grasp.

The grotesque hand flailed wildly for a few seconds—then, as if realizing it couldn’t reach them, it slowly retreated.

Lin Xian exhaled sharply, his heart still hammering.

This was nothing like the Pale Giant he had encountered before.

This thing was covered in muscle-like tissue, steaming with unnatural heat.

And then—

It spoke again.

“You! Hello!”

A few seconds passed before their flashlights revealed a blood-red skull slowly peeking through the stairwell entrance.

Its empty eye sockets stared at them, glowing like hollow blood pits.

It watched them.

Like a hunter observing its prey.

“Holy sh*t, it breathes fire, AND it talks?!”

KIKI’s eyes went wide as she instinctively jumped backward. “What the hell is wrong with these things? They’re getting nastier by the minute!”

Lin Xian panted as he backed away from the stairwell, an unsettling thought creeping into his mind—

This thing…

Was looking more and more human.

And the moment he realized that, a chill crawled up his spine.

“Do you think it’ll come in?”

“No idea.” Lin Xian shined his flashlight down the stairwell, scanning the endless darkness. His voice turned grim. “But if it’s blocking the entrance, we won’t be able to go back the way we came.”

“I don’t wanna go back anyway.” KIKI scowled, shuddering.

If this had been just another Horror Entity, it wouldn’t have felt this disturbing.

But this thing could speak.

And that inhuman, chilling mimicry made her skin crawl.

“Let’s move. It probably can’t fit through.”

Lin Xian took a deep breath, then grabbed KIKI’s wrist and led her downward.

As they descended into the stairwell’s abyssal darkness, the last thing they heard was—

“You!... Hello!...”

The words echoed from above, distant yet unnervingly clear.

Lin Xian felt cold sweat bead on his forehead.

Hello, my ass.

This was the first time he had ever encountered a Horror Entity inside a building.

And compared to the ones in the wild, this one felt far more terrifying.

THUMP. THUMP. THUMP.

With their flashlights cutting through the dark, they continued down the stairwell.

Soon, a yellow emergency door came into view.

“This is it.”

Reaching the landing, Lin Xian stopped KIKI. “No using your Ability to open doors anymore.”

Even though KIKI had reached the Evolution Level, she couldn’t waste energy recklessly. They had no idea what other threats lurked below.

Lin Xian placed a hand on the door’s handle, activated Mechanical Heart, and—

Click.

The lock disengaged instantly.

Whoosh!

The door swung open, a cold gust of air rushing past them.

Their flashlights illuminated what lay ahead—

A subway-like underground tunnel.

Pipelines and maintenance corridors lined its walls, relatively new-looking, as if it had been recently built.

But the entire passage reeked of decay.

“We’re really walking along the tracks?” KIKI asked.

“It’s about six floors down. We’ll need to run at least half a circle around this underground city,” Lin Xian replied, checking his Geiger Counter.

56.66 ?Sv/h.

Radiation was higher than the surface, but still within safe limits.

KIKI groaned behind her gas mask. “Great. More running.”

Beep. Beep.

KIKI’s mobile terminal lit up, and Ding Junyi’s voice came through.

“Did you enter the railway passage?”

“We’re in.”

“Good. The total distance from Level 89’s passage to Level 95 is 2,620 meters. The vertical distance to Core Reactor No. 1 on Level 100 is 62 meters. If radiation levels exceed 100 ?Sv/h, abandon the mission immediately.”

Lin Xian took a deep breath and glanced back toward the stairwell.

“Let’s go. If we fail, we’ll either have to backtrack or climb up another tunnel.”

“No way.” KIKI waved a hand, still catching her breath. “I am not running into that thing again.”

“Then let’s keep moving.”

Lin Xian adjusted his flashlight beam, widening the illumination radius as they started down the tunnel.

The newly built ceiling already had leaks, with water dripping down. Some areas even showed cracks—

Just as Ding Junyi had warned, the underground city’s structure was collapsing.

RUMBLE!!!

They had barely taken a few steps when—

A massive tremor shook the tunnel.

Debris and dust rained down, sending a wave of dizziness through them.

The entire ground trembled violently.

“An earthquake?!?!”

Lin Xian and KIKI staggered, barely staying upright as they grabbed onto the metal railing.

“AHH!” KIKI yelped.

The shaking intensified. Lin Xian instinctively pulled KIKI close, shielding her head while constructing a barrier to support the ceiling.

Just when he thought the quake was about to worsen—

It abruptly stopped.

Sand and dust trickled down as the tunnel slowly fell silent again.

Beep. Beep. Beep.

Lin Xian’s mobile terminal rang.

Chen Sixuan’s urgent voice came through.

“Lin Xian! Are you okay?!”

“We’re fine.” Lin Xian exhaled in relief. Then, his face darkened. “Ding Junyi—”

“Is this normal? Do these earthquakes have anything to do with the underground creatures?”

Ding Junyi’s voice came through calmly.

“Yes. For the past two weeks, these quakes have been happening every night.”

Lin Xian froze.

Then, slowly—

His entire body went cold.