Apocalypse: I Built the Infinite Train-Chapter 291: Fire Book

“Dazed.”

Just as the word left his mouth, a mycelial human head in the corner began to swell in an eerie way. That twisted face ballooned like a grotesque balloon.

Lin Xian’s expression changed instantly. He turned to KIKI and shouted, “KIKI, wrap it up!”

“Got it!”

KIKI instantly wrapped the swelling mycelial head in a psychic barrier. As expected, the next moment, the head exploded with a loud pop, spraying rotting, bluish-white brain matter and a thick brown spore mist. The psychic barrier held it all tightly inside.

“That’s disgusting!”

At the same time, more mycelial heads began swelling, rolling toward them at high speed.

“Move!”

Realizing the danger, Lin Xian didn’t hesitate. KIKI grabbed everyone with her psychic power and shot up into the sky.

Boom! Boom! Crack! Boom!

A series of muffled explosions echoed behind them. The street they’d just been on was now completely swallowed by thick spore fog.

“What the h*ll is this? Spore bombs?” Ning Jing asked, her expression a mix of shock and dread. She didn’t fear monstrous enemies—but this parasitic spore mist made her feel powerless. Thankfully, they had someone like KIKI on the team. Otherwise, this would’ve been a nightmare to handle.

“Head to that Auto City—two blocks away. Let’s move fast,” Lin Xian said firmly. This place creeped him out, and he didn’t want to stay a second longer.

Whoosh~

Above Yijin City, the air was thick with the musty smell of mold. KIKI held a transparent psychic shield over the group of seven and flew rapidly toward Auto City.

Soon, a stretch of low-rise streets appeared, and beyond them, a vast open parking lot. Hundreds of abandoned, broken-down cars lay scattered across the clearing. Every vehicle was covered in fungal mats and bioluminescent mushrooms, giving it all a dreamlike glow... if you didn’t know that beneath those glowing caps lay foul, rotting mycelia.

“Any drivable vehicles are probably long gone,” Luo Yang muttered with a frown.

“It’s fine. I’m not here for the cars,” Lin Xian replied.

At that moment, Ning Jing noticed that A’Bai looked troubled. She asked, “A’Bai, what’s wrong?”

“Sis Ning... I just feel like... we’re being watched by monsters from every direction...”

Ning Jing’s eyes scanned the area. The city was dead silent under the dark sky, fungal mats spreading everywhere. Other than the humanoid mycelial figures on the streets, there didn’t seem to be any movement.

But she knew A’Bai’s instincts rarely failed. She turned to Lin Xian and gave a subtle nod.

Lin Xian nodded back. “Let’s make this quick. There’s definitely some Eerie Entity here. If we get marked, we have to go all out and eliminate it. Otherwise, we won’t make it out of this Polar Night.”

“Right.” Ning Jing nodded solemnly.

So far, none of the human-fungus hybrids or those mycelial heads had marked them, not even the giant rats they encountered earlier. So despite how weird things were, they pressed on to search for devouring materials.

“Hey, Lin Xian, look!” KIKI pointed toward the center of the auto complex. “That looks like a convoy camp!”

Everyone looked in the direction she indicated. Sure enough, among the chaotic clusters of cars, there was a circular formation—clearly once a survivor encampment. Around the perimeter were over twenty heavy-duty trucks forming a defensive ring, and inside were a mix of utility vehicles, off-roaders, trucks, buses, fuel tankers, and solar-powered vehicles—at least 50 in total, making it a mid-to-large-sized convoy.

But now, the camp was lifeless, dark, and completely covered in fungal mats and glowing mushrooms. It looked like a giant fungal flowerbed in the middle of the parking lot.

“This convoy’s gone. No signs of life at all,” said Ding Junyi, clad in her Black Hawk armor.

KIKI gently descended with her psychic power. Just then, both Lin Xian’s and Ning Jing’s red Phoenix Tokens started beeping.

Beep-beep-beep.

They reacted instantly.

“Someone left a Fireletter message pack!”

“Was this a Phoenix Convoy?”

“Not necessarily. Could be from the Nightwalkers.”

Lin Xian pulled out his Phoenix Token and opened the transmission—an audio signal crackled to life.

“Th... this is Nightwind Convoy... I’m Deputy Liu Zhong... we can’t evacuate... the city’s suffering massive fungal spore contamination... the zombies...” “The spores invade the brain fast... cause hallucinations... firearms are useless... the infected are drawn to sound and light... do NOT shoot, do NOT get out, do NOT turn on the lights... we’re trapped... the city’s fungal network is alive... it’s alive!” “We’ve been holed up for three days... the Captain took a team to Deep Crimson Pharma’s underground facility... they were studying the Polar Night and the mycelium... they destroyed the roads and bridges to trap people in the city and use survivors as test subjects for fungal experiments... we engaged them, but it’s too late... anyone hearing this—if you’re a survivor or from Phoenix, you must wipe them out! These fungal strands are worse than any virus—they’ll destroy humanity!” “We... can’t get inside their lab... it’s under that building! AAHHH—something’s growing inside my head!! AAHHH—”

Click.

The message ended, and the air went cold.

“Deep Crimson Pharma? Them again?!” Ning Jing’s brows furrowed.

“You know the group?” Lin Xian asked.

Ning Jing nodded and glanced at A’Bai. “They’re backed by a cult called the Crimson World. Very secretive. A’Bai and Xiao Qing were taken by them once...” She paused, words catching in her throat as she looked at A’Bai.

Everyone turned to A’Bai, who looked utterly terrified.

On the side, Lu Xingchen also had a dark expression.

“Deep Crimson...” KIKI quickly searched on her phone. “Yep—here it is. No. 223, South Dae East Road. Deep Crimson Pharma, Yijin Branch. Used to be a top research company here.”

“So they’re the ones who destroyed the roads and bridges? Those b*stards!” Lin Xian's face darkened. He tried to send the message back to the train using his comms, but the signal was completely dead. All the relay poles were covered in fungal mats and ruined.

“Trouble.”

“What now, Captain Lin? Should we fall back?” Luo Yang asked cautiously.

Lin Xian shook his head. He glanced at the humanoid fungi in the shadows. “No point retreating. Without tracks, we can’t leave Yijin. If those things latch onto the Infinite Train, we’re all done.”

“This pharmaceutical group is one of the top in the global medical field,” Ding Junyi added. “Not only are they filthy rich, they’re also leaders in genetic research and cancer treatments. Based on the message, they clearly have means to continue experimenting here—which means they likely already have defensive protocols, maybe even a way to fight this fungus. If we find them, we might find a solution.”

“Makes sense!” Lin Xian nodded. He glanced in the direction of the train’s rail junction and said in a low voice, “Let me finish gathering track materials here first. Then we head straight to Deep Crimson Pharma. If those people are still alive, we either wipe them out or squeeze out a cure. I’ve got a bad feeling—even if we fix the tracks, we might not be able to leave so easily.”

To repair the track, they’d have to go through the city—a long and slow process, with unavoidable noise. Even with Lin Xian’s Mechanical Ability and remote track-laying support, covering over 20 kilometers and clearing debris was nearly impossible without attracting the fungus.

Realizing this, Lin Xian decided to shift their strategy.

“You’re saying we should go find the pharmaceutical group and try to get the fungal cure from them?” Ning Jing asked.

“Isn’t it possible they’re already watching us?” Luo Yang added.

“Mycelial networks can transmit information and hunt. Biologically speaking, the whole fungal system could act as a single organism. In fact, the world’s largest living being is a fungus,” said Ding Junyi. “So yeah, it’s entirely possible we’re already under surveillance.”

“Then we have even more reason to act fast,” Lin Xian said urgently. “And hard. If these things attack our train, we’ve got no countermeasures.”

He pointed to the nearby heavily armored Doomsday Truck.

“That convoy wasn’t defeated by firepower.”

They looked at the now-corroded survivor convoy—dozens of vehicles buried under fungal mats, everything rotting. Lin Xian’s heart sank. The fungal spores and human-fungus hybrids posed a serious threat to the Infinite Train. They couldn’t even fight back properly.

Ning Jing and Luo Yang both nodded grimly.

“He’s right. With a train this long, a chain reaction would spiral out of control,” Luo Yang said.

“Then let’s go meet those people,” Lu Xingchen said coldly. “We’ll be doing the human race a favor.”

Ning Jing’s eyes flickered with hesitation before she sighed. “I didn’t think these things would be this much trouble. They’re even worse than Eerie Entities.”

“No need to get too pessimistic,” Ding Junyi said. “At least for now, the fungal network hasn’t shown extreme aggression. As long as we stay quiet, there’s still room to maneuver.”

“Yeah.”

Lin Xian and the group landed in the parking lot. Wasting no time, he began devouring the heavy trucks.

[Devour successful. +20 Mechanical Source Points. +10 Mechanical Devour Skill Proficiency.] [Disassembled: Acquired High-Manganese Steel ×10, Hot-Rolled Forged Steel ×10, Cold-Rolled Dual-Phase Steel Plates ×5, Ordinary Carbon Steel ×20, Non-Metallic Foam Material, Composite Non-Metal Materials…] [Devour successful. +15 Mechanical Source Points.]

While Lin Xian focused on devouring, KIKI and Ding Junyi scouted the convoy. They were stunned—there wasn’t a single body left.

“Where is everyone?”

“They probably all turned into human-fungus hybrids.” Ding Junyi looked across the massive parking lot. All around them in the dark stood shadowy figures—each one grotesquely shaped, sprouting strange fungal growths. Tendrils from their legs were rooted into the ground, all interconnected.

Staring down at the dense mycelial network underfoot, Ding Junyi murmured, “I remember a study using Physarum networks to design subway systems. Their root structures transmit information—basically a living neural net. Yijin City’s layout is just like that…”

“Wait, are you saying... every human-fungus hybrid is like a sensory terminal? Like monster feelers? Monitoring us?!” Luo Yang exclaimed.

“If the fungus has a collective consciousness, then yes,” Ding Junyi replied calmly.

The group felt a chill run through them.

Lu Xingchen, annoyed, stomped on one of the fungal tendrils. He felt energy flowing through it and grumbled, “Wish I could just burn it all down.”

“Hey! You trying to blow us all up?!” KIKI snapped. “You’re not here to mess around. Don’t touch anything!”

“Alright, alright…” Fire Bro muttered, raising his hands.

Suddenly, A’Bai stepped back closer to Ning Jing.

“What’s wrong, A’Bai?”

He pointed at the abandoned cars around them. “They... they’re all watching us.”

Everyone looked up. Shockingly, the number of humanoid fungi had multiplied. From the dark came a faint click-click-click—soft movements drawing closer.

“They’re surrounding us?”

“We didn’t even turn on the lights…”

“It’s not just light. Our body heat and bio-signatures—they already see us as prey.”

“Fungus?”

“That would be best,” Ding Junyi muttered, frowning. “If it’s just instinct, we might still manage. But if not... we’re in real trouble.”

Still devouring at full speed, Lin Xian said, “Nobody move. If they keep closing in, we’ll devour from the air!”

“Duh... duh... duh...”

The clock ticked past 8:10 p.m. The atmosphere grew increasingly tense. More and more humanoid shadows gathered in the dark, their joints creaking eerily, closing in on the convoy camp.

The team formed a defensive circle around Lin Xian, eyes alert.

Clatter-clatter—

Vehicle after vehicle disintegrated under Lin Xian’s remote devour ability. Items inside spilled to the ground as the car shells collapsed into empty fungal husks.

As he devoured, Lin Xian noticed something disturbing. The survivor convoy vehicles looked like they had aged ten years inside—even though the distress message was only days old. The implications for Infinite Train were terrifying. If the fungus got on board, it’d be a disaster.

“They’re getting closer!” KIKI warned urgently.

“Up we go!”

Lin Xian called out. KIKI immediately lifted the seven of them several meters into the air. Moments later, their former position was swarmed by the hybrids.

Lin Xian had now devoured most of the convoy vehicles. The Disassembly Center’s inventory was growing fast. His mechanical source points and devour skill were also rapidly increasing.

It had been a long time since he devoured this much. Under better circumstances, he could’ve consumed every last car in the parking lot.

“Lin Xian!”

KIKI pointed below.

Looking down, Lin Xian saw a dim red glow spreading through the tangled fungal network beneath the humanoid hybrids. Like blood, the glow pulsed and flowed, illuminating the ground.

Everyone saw it. The red light became brighter and more concentrated, flowing like a vascular system. The fungal network seemed to be... breathing.

Sensing the danger, Lin Xian stopped devouring and turned to tell KIKI to fly higher. But just then, out of the corner of his eye, he saw something floating toward him—a glowing fungal umbrella, soft white and pink, as delicate as a feather or dandelion.

His eyes narrowed.

“Lin Xian, watch out!” KIKI cried.

She instantly raised a massive psychic barrier, enveloping the group. The floating umbrella burst apart midair, scattering thousands of tiny glowing spores like a misty, sparkling cloud.

“Above us!”

Looking up, they saw a rain of white and pink fungal umbrellas descending from the black sky. They shattered against the psychic shield, releasing clouds of spore dust onto the hybrids below.

In an instant, the hybrids began to mutate violently. White fungi burst from their bodies. Their limbs exploded. Their heads rolled to the ground. In their place grew massive, one-meter-tall mushrooms covered in grotesque tumors. From their necks, fungal threads formed gorgeous mushroom caps that shimmered in the wind, releasing a flood of spores.

Lin Xian’s face went pale. “Those spores mutated them... in under a minute.”

“It’s weird—those spores are only falling above us!” Luo Yang shouted.

Lin Xian looked up. Sure enough, only this area was under the spore rain.

“KIKI, get us out—now!”

Whoosh—

KIKI flew them several kilometers away. The spore rain thinned significantly.

Looking back, they saw the entire sky above Auto City now blanketed in glowing spores like a storm, while the rest of the city was eerily still.

Ding Junyi stared at the pulsing fungal mats on the ground and said, “Just as I thought. This whole city’s mycelial network is a massive living system. We stayed in one spot too long, and it responded.”

Soon, the spores began drifting toward their new position.

“What now?”

“We go to Deep Crimson Pharma. If we go back to the train, we’re dead.”

“Agreed!”

Having devoured over twenty heavy trucks, Lin Xian had acquired a solid stash of materials—but still short of what he needed for track repairs. As they flew toward Deep Crimson Pharma, he had KIKI grab abandoned cars midair for devouring.

His instincts were right—Yijin City was now fully alive. The fungal mats below flashed blood-red as they passed overhead. From the shadows, mycelial heads rolled, and glowing mushrooms began releasing thick spore fog. What once looked like a glowing, serene city was now covered in brown-yellow mist.

Seeing this, Lin Xian told KIKI, “Go! Fly faster!”

“Yes!”

Luo Yang looked panicked. “What if the train’s under attack by now?!”

“Nothing we can do. Just hope they stay quiet—no light, no sound.”

Back on the train, Shi Diyuan and Chen Sixuan stared at the rising fog in horror.

“Turn on internal air circulation! Seal every connection between the carriages!”

“Use wet towels!”

“Cover the bathroom vents and waste pipes—don’t let any spores in!”

“We’ve lost contact with Lin Xian’s team!” Shu Qin said.

“They’ll figure it out. For now, we follow Lin’s orders—no sound, total blackout!”

“Roger that!!”

“Everyone, masks on! No skin exposed!”

Chen Sixuan and Shu Qin checked everyone’s gear. Though the train offered shelter, they took no chances. People even wore snowfield gear from earlier.

Over 4,000 passengers moved in silence, sealing every possible gap. The Infinite Train fell deathly silent, like even air itself froze.

Minutes later, the brown-yellow spore fog engulfed them like a tidal wave. The windows were quickly coated in a yellow film.

Meanwhile, as fungal umbrellas continued to fall from the sky, KIKI carried Lin Xian and the others across the high-altitude airways. Soon, they reached the city’s industrial district and spotted a massive triangular building occupying an enormous plot of land.

Its original perimeter walls had been transformed into towering barriers wrapped in electrified wire mesh, bristling with spiked fences and gun towers every few dozen meters—clearly a defense setup for the zombie crisis. Now, those sandbag bunkers had collapsed, the sand mixed with fungal mats into a honeycomb of fleshy growths. A heavy machine gun’s barrel was twisted into a fungal spiral, and unspent bullets on its belt had sprouted black fungal umbrellas like tree fungus.

The massive triangular main building was entirely covered in glowing mycelium and mutated fungi. It looked like a monstrous incubation hive. Countless dark purple and black fungal growths clung to the structure. The glowing membranes were semi-transparent—and up close, they could see humanoid silhouettes inside: zombies in security gear and researchers in lab coats, all wrapped in thick fungal strands. Atop the building, the name “Deep Crimson Pharma” was barely visible—only the words “Deep Crimson” still shone faintly.

“What kind of fungus is this?! It eats people?!” KIKI exclaimed, her face twisted in revulsion.

As the group hovered closer, the entire scene became more grotesque. The fungal network resembled pulsing internal organs—absolutely nauseating.

“The density of the fungal growth here suggests we’re near the core of the network,” Ding Junyi noted, staring at the thick, rising fog of spores. “And these spores are flammable. We must be careful.”

The city was now fully covered in the fog. If anything sparked an explosion, the result would be catastrophic. Even with Lin Xian’s AT Field-type defenses, he doubted he’d survive such a blast.

Just then, something caught Lin Xian’s attention.

“KIKI, get closer.”

“Where?”

“There!” Lin Xian pointed toward the base of the main Deep Crimson building.

He had spotted several unusual black experimental vans half-buried under the fungal mats. KIKI flew them down and ripped away the mats with her psychic force, revealing a strange emblem on one of the vehicles.

It was a triangular symbol.

Both Lin Xian and KIKI immediately recognized it—it was the same mark they had seen back when they left Hengshan Pass. It was on the strange metal box given to them by Uncle Wu from the Big Eagle Convoy, containing the Silver Dragon’s Ten-Thousand-Error Ash Plant.