Apocalypse: I Built the Infinite Train-Chapter 292: Giant Bacteria

“It’s that symbol!”

KIKI immediately remembered. “So the research convoy Uncle Wu’s group ran into before was from Crimson Pharma?”

“It’s likely Crimson World,” Ning Jing corrected. “That’s not Crimson Pharma’s logo, but it definitely belongs to their organization.”

“Director Ding, run a scan. A’Bai, see if anything seems off.” Lin Xian gestured toward the main building.

“Nothing. The fungal carpet outside is too thick—we can’t detect anything inside.” Ding Junyi replied. A’Bai also shook his head.

“This place’s already been parasitized like this... you really think there’s still anyone alive in there?” Ning Jing frowned. The entire building was wrapped in a fungal blanket. If not for its shape, it would’ve looked like one massive fungal organism. Mushrooms, spores, and bulbous fungal growths covered it all, looking downright eerie.

“Better safe than sorry.”

Thud thud thud!

Without hesitation, Lin Xian created two drones on the spot. He could now control them remotely without any equipment. The small drones zipped forward as Lin Xian led the group into the main building.

Above them, white feathery mushroom caps floated down from the sky, blending with the brownish-yellow spore mist surrounding them. Visibility dropped fast. The revolving door at the main entrance was completely blocked by fungal filaments. Even the automatic glass doors had fused shut. KIKI grabbed them telekinetically and ripped the entire entrance clean off.

“Quick! Get inside! Don’t touch the spores!”

As they rushed into the dim lobby, sizzling sounds erupted from behind. Spores that had landed on the fungal tumors clinging to the building triggered an eruption of white filaments. Inside, zombie corpses began writhing as if awakened, howling mournfully. Tumorous fungal sacks burst from their skin as it peeled away piece by piece.

Inside the outer lobby, Lin Xian created a large floodlight that rose up and lit the space. What once was a majestic grand lobby now looked like a battlefield—fungus-covered people frozen mid-run or mid-climb. As the light came on, the fungal humanoids started twitching and staggering toward it.

“Find their lab. Make it quick!”

“Got it.”

Lin Xian had no time to worry about whether the movement would draw attention. He kept creating lights to guide the way as the drones darted down corridors, scanning for threats.

“These pharmaceutical labs usually have core research centers, covering a bunch of disciplines. Finding the right one might take time.” Ding Junyi kept pace behind him. Mold had spread across the “dust-free” hallways, with signs of rot everywhere. Using her Black Hawk exosuit’s visual system, she quickly scanned and mapped the building. “C Block. Use the central elevator to go down.”

Zzzzt.

Electric arcs flared from Lin Xian’s palm. As they advanced, the hallway lights flickered in sync, forming a temporary lighting system.

The deeper they went, the more overrun the place was. Some corridors had been completely overtaken.

Boom!

Ning Jing smashed through a wall of fungal roots, clearing the path. Explosives were too risky, so she and KIKI handled the cleanup while A’Bai and Fire Bro—whose abilities were explosive—could only follow quietly.

“Something’s coming!”

A’Bai and Ding Junyi spoke almost in unison. The team halted in a narrow hallway. Lin Xian’s Mechanical Heart illuminated only their path—everything else was cloaked in fungal filaments and darkness.

Tick tick—

A rapid skittering echoed eerily. Lu Xingchen gripped a fireball, but Lin Xian held out an arm.

“Don’t. If anything ignites, none of us are making it out.”

“I’ll handle it.” Ning Jing stepped forward, staring into the darkness. Only she and KIKI were safe to act.

Suddenly, the sound cut off. Total silence. Only the twisting filaments under the lights moved.

“Did it run?”

Grrrrggg—

A rumble behind them. Lin Xian waved his hand, sending the drones flying both ahead and behind. The sound's source quickly revealed itself—rolling toward them down the hallway were grotesque fungal heads, faces rotting and tangled in filaments.

“Move!” freēwēbnovel.com

Lin Xian led the charge. Though the swarming creatures converged, their speed was slow—no real threat.

As they passed a lab area, Luo Yang suddenly saw a black shape rushing from a side corridor.

From the darkness sprang a clawed, hunched fungal zombie still wearing a sterile lab suit.

“Aaaaagh!”

The creature lunged like a beast, its claws tearing up the ground. It reeked of antiseptic. Luo Yang instinctively readied his ability, but Lin Xian stepped in front, shouting—

“Watch out!”

Buzz!

An AT force field bloomed in front of Lin Xian. The charging corpse slammed into it, spraying blackish-gray matter that clung to the walls and started wriggling like spiders, splitting into sticky mold that spread rapidly.

“Hey!” KIKI launched a telekinetic wave that blasted the creature into a cloud of dark mist.

“Don’t touch them! Ning, don’t act either!” Lin Xian growled. No matter how strong his team was, these things were beyond bizarre.

“Its uniform… looks like it was an experimental subject.” Ning Jing frowned.

“Too many fungal types to classify. With our current intel, reckless moves are dangerous.” Ding Junyi glanced at her HUD, filled with air quality alerts. “We need to find the Crimson World people. They’ll know more.”

“If there’s even anyone left alive.” Lin Xian pressed on. According to the map, the upper floors were mostly admin and business areas—the real prize was the underground cryo labs, accessible via the central elevator.

“It’s right ahead. KIKI, shield up. Ignore everything else!”

But the weirdness escalated—fungal filaments thinned out the closer they got to the atrium, as if suppressed by something.

Lights brightened on their own. The once-filthy floors and walls turned spotless.

Suddenly, they were walking through a pristine, luxurious pharmaceutical complex. Holographic screens displayed Crimson Pharma’s branding.

A bald man in a suit and smart glasses beamed from the screen:

“Crimson Pharma redefines life through gene editing. With AI-driven quantum nucleotide folding, we don’t just edit genes—we fix them…”

Then came a quote from Professor Warren, a Federal bio-leader:

“Humanity is nature’s prime template. Disease and disasters are evolutionary byproducts. But when our therapy lets a mother watch her daughter run for the first time… is that taboo? Or brilliance?”

As Lin Xian stepped into the atrium, it looked like a high-tech corporate lobby.

Countless drones zipped overhead.

In front of the central glass elevator stood a woman in uniform—beautiful, smiling, seemingly a lobby manager.

She looked right at him.

“Hello.”

But no one else was around. Lin Xian turned. His entire team had vanished.

Clack clack clack—

His eyes sharpened. The Mechanical Heart spread its sensors.

“You must be tired,” the woman said gently. “So much running, danger, death. Now you’re somewhere clean, bright, modern. Maybe it feels like a hallucination.”

Clack. Clack.

His abilities expanded outward.

“But what if your idea of death is wrong?” she continued. “If everything you sense is free from the apocalypse... then what is life?”

Suddenly, footsteps echoed. Dozens of naked, perfect human figures—men and women—emerged from all directions.

Then the men faded, leaving only women—hundreds of them. Their features slowly shifted... into the faces of Chen Sixuan, KIKI, Ding Junyi, Monica.

They surrounded him, seductive, glowing with sexual allure. Some held platters of fine cuisine, others wine, sweets, or just posed in submissive stances.

More men appeared on the outskirts, kneeling, faces full of reverence.

It was a twisted orgy of desire—pure sensory overload.

Clack.

Lin Xian’s Mechanical Heart finally latched onto something. He raised his hand, summoned an AT shield, and clenched his right fist—

BOOM!

The illusion cracked. The woman’s face twisted. The surrounding women’s limbs bent backward, distorting like glitched AI. Some grew extra arms, misaligned genitals—flesh hellscapes.

“Living forever... is the final answer to life’s reproduction. I understand... you’re tired... don’t be afraid…” the woman muttered incoherently.

BZZZZ!

The elevator groaned under Lin Xian’s power. It slowly opened—like something was being torn.

The hallucinations vanished.

The real world stank of mold. His drones had crashed on a grotesque fungal mound. The elevator was wrapped in pulsing, flesh-like fungus.

White filaments were climbing up his body. His TRP suit alarmed:

[Heart rate anomaly detected]

[Neural signal anomaly detected]

“It’s hallucinogenic! Gas masks are useless!”

Snap!

Ding Junyi rushed over and ripped the filaments off him. “You’re awake?”

“How long?”

“Two hours.”

“What? It felt like five minutes!”

“Your brain was running at 200% load. All your dopamine and senses were hijacked. The armor’s vitals told me.”

“How’d you know that?”

“Black Hawk armor’s sensors. If you feel dizzy—or wet yourself—that’s normal. We don’t have time for new pants.”

She turned and began freeing the others. They all stood dazed, eyes closed, fungi crawling over them.

Lin Xian pulled the filaments off KIKI first. She was unharmed. He leaned close as she mumbled:

“Bow before me and say you’re wrong!”

“Sing me a song, Lin Xian!”

“Call me Queen, not chick!”

“Chen’s not here—give me a kiss!”

“Take your pants off for your Queen—”

“Wake up, d* it!”** He pinched her nose.

KIKI yelped, eyes wide. “Wha—? I thought we made it back to the train!”

“You okay?”

“Y-yeah…”

As she blushed, others groaned back to awareness. Fire Bro looked especially regretful.

“The illusion... had me become a god. Ugh. My obsession got me again…”

“Everyone, focus. Gas masks won’t help. Stay alert!” Lin Xian warned.

“Is that thing alive?” KIKI hissed, eyes on the fungal core. She ripped it apart with her telekinesis—

Gurgle gurgle—

Fungal heads rolled in. Root tendrils slithered closer.

“Go! Kill the big one, and more will come!”

“KIKI, rip the carpet open!”

She did. Spores burst into the air.

At the same time, Lin Xian used his Mechanical Heart to pry open the elevator.

“Get in!”

The team piled in. Outside, a tide of fungal heads surged in, red light pulsing in their cores.