Doomsday: I Build an Infinite Train.

Chapter 314 Tolls

Bang!
The steel cage was opened, and dozens of survivors captured by Brother J regained their freedom. Half of them were members of the bus convoy that had been hijacked. Basically, all the combat-capable members of the group had been captured.

of course.

Even if a woman is capable of fighting, she will still be "played" by this group first.

"father!"

The girl on the bus got off and rushed toward the middle-aged man whose shoulder had been slashed.

"Thank you!" The middle-aged man was pale, and seemed to have just recovered a little from his despair.

Out of some sympathy, Lin Xian had Shu Qin return their vehicles and the stolen supplies to the convoy. Some other train convoys also sent them some things, as a form of mutual assistance during their post-apocalyptic journey.

The remaining people were survivors from other convoys. Judging from their condition, they had been locked in this caged vehicle for at least two or three days. Now that they were released, they were all extremely excited. Among them were people with superpowers, some of whom were wearing helmets and leg irons. Lin Xian discussed with the other convoys and some of these people joined some of the smaller train groups of the United Train, while others joined the bus convoy. Otherwise, these people would have been left to rot in the wilderness.

However, these people are not weak in combat, and even the Ocean is eager to take them.

Lin Xian picked up one of the anklets and discovered that it even had a remote-controlled high-voltage discharge device, specifically used to restrict some low-level superhumans. In addition, the Crimson Vulture Gang's convoy of more than forty people actually had two vehicle-mounted arc pulse cannons and 20 standard rocket launchers, as well as various types of explosives, ammunition, and even self-destructing drones. It didn't seem like a spurious operation at all, which made Lin Xian and the others realize that something was unusual.

At the same time, the Joint Train Corps also obtained a lot of useful information from the group of prisoners.

The most important information is about the Desert Iron Alliance that Brother J mentioned. It is said that this Iron Alliance is a bandit alliance that has emerged in the western Gobi and Tagan Desert areas in the last month or so. In a short period of time, it has become notorious for its ferocity and plunder. Although the various survivor alliances and even the interstellar forces in Phoenix Society bases such as Jinhe have been constantly besieging and suppressing it, strangely, this force has not only not been wiped out, but has continued to grow stronger.

With this mad dog alliance model of provoking one person to invite an attack, the fleeing survivors would avoid it at all costs. When the members of this iron alliance encountered the weak, they would rob and kidnap them. When they encountered large caravans, they would take advantage of the vast uninhabited terrain of the Gobi Desert to escape, and then organize more mad dog caravans to counterattack.

Unless it's a very large alliance caravan, even a caravan of several hundred people can't do anything about this group. In fact, to avoid trouble, some alliance caravans even consider offering some supplies as a toll. But that doesn't guarantee peace of mind. They might bribe one bandit group, but they might encounter another one before nightfall. In this apocalyptic world, thugs and bandits don't care about morality.

After all, the survivors' goal was to escape, while these bandits were nothing more than extreme post-apocalyptic thugs, building secret strongholds in the Gobi Desert, resembling a post-apocalyptic carnival.

"You...you're going to pass through Aksai next, right?"

Just as everyone on the joint train was tidying up and preparing to depart, the young man with sunburned skin on his face spoke up in their direction.

“Yes, do you know anything?” Shi Diyuan replied directly.

The young man hurriedly said, "I know some information, I don't know if it will be useful to you. There is a large caravan stationed in Aksai. The leader of the caravan claims that he knows a secret route that can bypass all the sand bandits and reach Quancheng directly. He wants us to buy this secret from him at the price of one level one blood essence for five people..."

"What?" everyone exclaimed.

"Five people, one blood essence?"

"Does anyone actually believe this? It's a lie, isn't it?"

"Announce it to the outside world?" Shi Diyuan sneered, then spat and cursed, "What kind of dog is this, dreaming wildly! Is that bandit an idiot, or is it that the bandits can't hear or see this message to the outside world? Why should they let people pass?"

Lin Xian, however, sensed something unusual and asked the young man, "You mean, you were attacked because you didn't pay the toll?"

The young man nodded quickly and explained, "Actually, we didn't believe it at first, but the people in the caravan said that they had negotiated with the sand bandits and that most of the blood essence was to be handed over to the Iron Alliance, so it's not really a route, just a toll."

"Now I understand," Qian Dele stared at him and said, "After all that talk, that group of people is actually in cahoots with the sand bandits."

"Hey, if they're bandits, why don't they just rob them all? Why go through all this trouble?"

"So it must be a lie..."

The young man, his face dark, shook his head and said, "I don't know if it's true or not, but I know this caravan has been stationed in Aksai for two weeks and hasn't been attacked by bandits. Because of the Dark Marker, they don't allow other caravans to stay overnight in Aksai. Many of the caravans that were with us at the time were afraid to venture deep into the Gobi Desert for fear of encountering bandits, and they were also worried about the darkness, so they chose to camp around Aksai and stick together. But there are a lot of zombies at night, and there are also strange creatures appearing, so everyone either had to pay tolls or take a detour. Our caravan took a detour, and then..."

"Interesting," Lin Xian said with interest. "The bandits form an alliance, and one move affects the whole situation. Even the Phoenix Federation can't wipe them out. After spreading their notoriety, they found an agent to collect tolls, which both prevents the convoys from launching a desperate counterattack and allows them to collect tolls without firing a shot. They've really got a knack for it..."

Everyone turned to look at Lin Xian, and upon hearing his analysis, their expressions became somewhat complicated. This bandit alliance seemed to be much more troublesome than they had imagined.

"This alliance idea is truly outrageous."

Qian Dele clicked his tongue and said, "They're allowed to bully others, but no one is allowed to mess with them. They even demand tolls. How arrogant!"

"Hmph! That's because they haven't run into us yet." KIKI snorted and crossed her arms. "These guys are awful. If they dare to mess with us, we'll crush them all!"

“This method is acceptable, and I wholeheartedly agree.” Lu Xingchen, who had been silent until now, couldn’t help but raise his eyes slightly upon hearing this and responded in a stern voice.

Ning Jing frowned and said, "We are indeed worried that they might sabotage the tracks."

Lin Xian looked at her with a helpless smile: "The troublesome thing about humans is that when evil people want to kill you, you don't get to decide whether to cede territory or pay reparations. Since they are bandits, the only solution is to kill them."

"That's right!" Shi Diyuan shouted sharply, "Robbery or tolls, I'll see this time. The monsters of Xilan didn't scare us, so a bunch of sand bandits can skin us alive? We'll fight them out!"

"that is!"

"These scumbags can't handle the supernatural entities, so they only dare to mess with their own people."

Everyone nodded in agreement. They had all just emerged from a mountain of corpses and a sea of ​​blood, and they knew that worrying about this situation was pointless. It was better to make thorough preparations.

Lin Xian, through his mechanical abilities, temporarily turned this crisis into an opportunity, which turned out to be a chance for them.

Just like Shi Diyuan said, why not become a desert bandit? This way, they can take the initiative to solve problems and also have the opportunity to acquire resources. Right now, their joint convoy is strong and well-equipped, and they are in dire need of resources. They have all kinds of people from all over the country. How could they be intimidated by a group of desert bandits?
*Sizzle, whoosh!*

At 13 p.m., the joint train, which had stopped in Lop Town, set off again, aiming to reach Aksai before dark!
In carriage number 2, KIKI was using J-Brother's signal device to copy the device Lin Xian had created for data analysis. All the key members of Infinite were also gathered here to discuss the situation. Even Luo Yang and Li Yi were called over by Lin Xian to get the team working together in advance.

Lin Xian had already created an additional analog signal and placed it in a corner of Rob Town, while the one on Brother J had been shut down. These seven people were then handed over to the eighty-odd strong men of the Hell Warriors team to 'keep a close watch' on.

Lou sat on the sofa at a distance, holding a gun, while Lu Xingchen next to him played with an Infinity Ring in his hand. They usually didn't talk much; they just listened quietly.

“Captain Lin, I think this band of bandits isn’t just about looting.” Li Yi, heavily pregnant, was on Lin Xian’s Infinite for the first time. She was still a little reserved, but she still spoke her mind: “We’ve encountered similar convoys of thugs before. They’ve done everything from burning and killing to looting. They’re wicked, but they’re not stupid. They’ve set up a big cage to capture people. They must have some purpose.”

“That’s what I think too.” Chen Sixuan nodded and said, “That specially made hood and hinges aren’t things that ordinary car convoys can get their hands on. It means that when they attacked the car convoy, they were already prepared to kidnap those superhumans.”

"Human trafficking?" KIKI sat in her swivel chair, resting her chin on her hand, and analyzed, "What's the purpose?"

"Could it be sold to those Adventist organizations?" Shu Qin replied seriously, "Like the Foundation and Crimson World before, weren't they using superhumans for biochemical experiments?"

“That makes sense!” Luo Yang adjusted his glasses and replied earnestly, “That’s why they have a constant stream of resources to support them, and they’re becoming more and more arrogant!”

"Then why do they charge tolls?" Lü Chang asked.

KIKI said, "That's simple. Just because they collected the toll doesn't mean they can't rob a second time. It's just to lull people into a false sense of security. In this kind of environment, who would really believe the bandits? If you ask me, the easiest thing to do is to wipe them all out!"

Lin Xian sat on the far side, observing the dark gold hexagonal life information device in his hand, his face ashen.

"Hey, Lin Xian, have you figured out anything?" KIKI said, leaning her head back and looking at Lin Xian.

At the same time, everyone's eyes fell on him.

"This thing looks small, but the ingenuity of its internal design is no less than that of the Phoenix Token we obtained."

Lin Xian let out a breath and said, "So you were all right. There must be a powerful organization supporting this group of bandits, rather than them forming an alliance on their own."

"But I'm also a bit confused now, especially about the Aksai team, what kind of strategy do they have..."

If a powerful organization were to unite bandits and exchange them for benefits, allowing them to commit murder, robbery, and kidnapping in the western Gobi Desert, it would be relatively easy to understand.

But the toll fee seems somewhat contradictory.

So, listening to what KIKI said, the most reasonable and most likely explanation is nothing more than a trick of both cunning and forceful seizure.

"So, what useful information did we manage to retrieve?"

Lin Xian felt his thoughts were a bit scattered, so he focused his attention on analyzing the information packet that came with the Iron Alliance Token.

“Not so fast.” KIKI pointed to the screen: “This thing is essentially a mobile shortwave transmitter that incorporates environmental radio wave storage technology. But we don’t have satellite positioning, so we can only locate this kind of information packet by moving and direction finding. I’ve already used an omnidirectional antenna to scan the target frequency band, locked onto the area with the strongest signal, and searched for reflected signals. Moreover, we can only search for the area with the highest overlap. Currently, the signal is still very weak, and we need to move it a certain distance before we can know its location.”

She turned around and said, "If we go in the wrong direction, we won't be able to get it right. But if we can find more, it will be easier to remove duplicate information."

“It won’t be the opposite,” Lin Xian said. “Their lair will only be in the opposite direction during polar night; it will only be undetectable once it exceeds the range of the antenna.”

"Lin Xian, our route will definitely pass through Aksai. What do you think?" Chen Sixuan looked out the car window, her brows furrowed slightly. On the Gobi Desert south of the train tracks, more than a dozen vehicles belonging to the survivors were speeding alongside the joint train. This was the same convoy that had been attacked earlier, and it seemed they were also trying to follow behind, seeking some shelter.

“We’re lucky to have encountered this small convoy,” Chen Sixuan said coldly. “Judging from the arrogance of those thugs, they’ve definitely done this before.”

Lin Xian pondered for a moment and said, "Let's not go into Aksai yet. Let's stop early and scout out the situation first." Before the situation became clear, Lin Xian decided to proceed cautiously, especially in some towns where there were already many zombies and strange creatures. In addition, there was a group of unknown origin entrenched there, so they couldn't just rush in recklessly.

The combined train sped along the open tracks, constantly accelerating in order to reach the area near Aksai before nightfall.

Around 15 p.m., the train passed through a salt marshland area and entered a dried-up ancient riverbed. The track meandered eastward along the weathered riverbed. Wind and sand cut sedimentary rocks into mushroom-shaped stone pillars, forming reddish-brown wind-eroded yardang landforms. According to the distance traveled, the train should be less than two hours away from Aksai region at this time.

At this moment, all the convoys' dark radios received a radio signal from the survivors' civilian frequency band, which was coming from the direction of Aksai!

"Buzz, Aksai notification: All convoys seeking a safe route to Quancheng, please proceed to the Black Rose Bar in Aksai city before nightfall. Note: convoys and armed personnel are strictly prohibited from entering the city. Only the leader and a select few are permitted to enter lightly equipped. Those who lack sincerity or are not afraid of death may detour. Unauthorized entry into the city will be subject to their own consequences...buzz."

"Holy crap, they're actually charging tolls on the radio! That's outrageous!"

On the Infinity, everyone who heard the voice on the radio was immediately incredulous.

"Don't let the convoy into the city yet..."

"Lin Xian, why don't we just charge in and blow them all up!" KIKI was furious when she heard this on the radio. They're trying to extort money from Infinite! Is the electromagnetic cannon not hot enough or is the 1130 rate of fire not fast enough?

"Don't rush," Lin Xian said calmly. "We have too many people and too many vehicles, making us too conspicuous. There are definitely bandits around Aksai. To avoid alerting them, we didn't plan to enter the city anyway. It's safer to spend the night in the open."

The incident in Luobu Town did serve as a wake-up call for the United Train Regiment: the area was rife with bandits, and they had formed a massive alliance with a complete chain of interests and arms supplies, making them a force to be reckoned with.

In this situation, their train, with more than 500 carriages and a length of 15 kilometers, would easily become a target. Although the nomadic bandits might not be able to compete with the joint train in terms of firepower, the trouble of flies and mosquitoes is still trouble. The joint train faced two concerns: one was the lack of water, and the other was the strange creatures in the dark.

Therefore, Lin Xian and Shi Diyuan unanimously decided not to rush into the town blindly. They now have drones, flying ability users, and even a hypersonic aircraft from Night Voyage Star. They can use these to scout out the situation and plan their moves carefully. Compared to the previous team exploration of the city, they have many more options. In any case, the expansion speed of Star Abyss No. 5 is very slow now, so they don't need to worry about the coverage speed of the polar night for the time being.

"And then?" Chen Sixuan asked.

Lin Xian looked at everyone and said, "Don't you guys think the voice on this radio station sounds familiar?"

"what?"

"familiar?"

"Who is it..." Everyone looked puzzled.

Upon hearing this, KIKI frowned and turned up the radio volume again, at which point the broadcast started again.

"Buzz, Aksai reporting, this is the Fulu Shou convoy. Anyone seeking a safe route to Quancheng..."

"Fu Lu Shou?!"

"It's that guy with the big gold tooth!" Sasha exclaimed.

"Good heavens, that scoundrel has come here?!" Miao Lu's eyes widened.

The people on the Infinite had a deep impression of this person.

“It’s that convoy from Hengshan Pass!” Even Luo Yang and Li Yi had dealt with them before at Hengshan Pass.

"Who do we have here? It's this guy." KIKI frowned. "How did this guy end up with the bandits?"

Lin Xian said in a deep voice, "Let's stop the car later and go with a few people from the convoy to check out the situation in Aksai. Maybe we can meet this... 'old friend'."

Upon hearing that lazy yet somewhat shrewd businessman's voice on the radio, Lin Xian immediately thought of the guy from Hengshan Pass who had bought a truckload of automatic rifles from him. This guy had previously given him a lot of useful information, and the two had even talked about cooperating.

At this moment, this person inexplicably appeared here and got involved with the sand bandits again. Since the joint train had to pass through Aksai, Lin Xian decided to take people to investigate the situation in Aksai. He now has various drones and many flying ability users, including KIKI. Even without entering the city, he can get a general understanding of the situation.

Half an hour later, the train stopped in a vast, deserted Gobi desert. Apart from the foundation stones beside the tracks, there were no human buildings in sight. In the wilderness, there wasn't even a single zombie in sight, only yellow earth, sand, and withered grass.

A gust of wind blowing across the Gobi Desert can stir up rolling dust waves, and the screeching sound of brakes from the iron wheels brings the long black steel dragon to a stop on this sweltering wilderness.

As the Union train came to a stop, the convoy of buses carrying the survivors pulled up beside it.

Since everyone recognized the train convoy, the other train crews didn't say anything and let them follow along.

At the same time, two large off-road vehicles were driven off Longshan No. 1. Their armor was not very strong, but their advantages were high chassis, powerful engines, and desert camouflage, making them very suitable for driving in the Gobi Desert.

Besides Ning Jing, Xiao Qing, and A Bai, Qian Dele from the Joker racing team also came along.
KIKI is going with Lin Xian. Shi Diyuan originally wanted to go personally for Longshan No. 1, but his injuries have not fully healed. Lin Xian also wants him to stay behind and take charge of the overall situation. So, Ning Jing will accompany him with Xiao Qing and A Bai for Longshan No. 1 this time.

Ah Bai, this mobile hellish black chrysanthemum with laser eyes, can help Lin Xian solve many problems. Although it is broad daylight and the sun is shining brightly, it is always good to be cautious.

"I thought we were going to fly over there in a plane," Qian Dele said with a puzzled look as he walked over and saw the two off-road vehicles.

“Not for now.” Ning Jing said seriously, “Although the spacecraft is very fast, and this distance can be covered in one minute with the speed of the Night Star spacecraft, the terrain here is open and cloudless. The sound of the hypersonic spacecraft breaking through the air cannot be concealed at all, and it will definitely alert the enemy.”

"We won't enter the city yet; we'll just scout the outskirts first and then decide what to do based on the situation," Lin Xian explained.

Although these people could all be carried by KIKI's telekinesis, in order to keep the train hidden, the current location was still more than 100 kilometers away from Aksai. It was really inconvenient to rely on KIKI to carry them for the entire distance, so they drove there, which was more flexible.

"I see," Qian Dele said.

He had just finished speaking when he suddenly noticed an unexpected person walking over, seemingly preparing to join him.

Monica.

Qian Dele saw the woman in the Ghost Wolf armor with a graceful figure walking over and said with some bewilderment, "Oh, when did you, Monica, have to personally go and scout the way?"

Monica gently pressed her ear, and the visor on her head opened. She glanced at Qian Dele, then looked at Lin Xian seriously and said...

"As the team leader, I am also responsible for the team. In addition, staying in the car for a long time makes me want to get out and move around, which also helps to improve my supernatural mental strength."

Lin Xian's gaze sharpened slightly: "We are just..."

"I can hear sounds from a kilometer away."

Before Lin Xian could finish speaking, Monica smiled slightly and said to him with a confident expression.

"Get on the train!" Lin Xian smiled upon hearing this and, without further ado, directly invited the train queen to board the train.

Qian Dele glanced at her with an expression that said, "I know what you're thinking," then took out a bottle of moisturizing spray from the inside of his trench coat and sprayed it on his face. He was originally going to get into Lin Xian's car, but he simply went to get into Ning Jing's car in front.

So the two vehicles set off one after the other into the depths of the Gobi Desert, their wheels kicking up a cloud of sand.

KIKI was driving, and Lin Xian was sitting in the passenger seat. He glanced at Monica in the back seat through the rearview mirror. It was hot, so he took out a bottle of water, took a sip, and then broke the silence.

"Monica, how come I've never heard of you having this ability before?"

Monica leaned back in the back seat, her legs crossed, and looked at Lin Xian with a smile: "My superpower is a sonic blade, so it's normal that I'm sensitive to sound vibration frequencies. But I never tell anyone, otherwise my teammates probably wouldn't dare to secretly call my name and masturbate at night anymore."

puff!
Before he could finish speaking, Lin Xian sprayed a mouthful of water directly onto the windshield. Even KIKI, who was focused on driving, immediately blushed and muttered through gritted teeth, "Disgusting..."

When Monica does speak, it's always unexpected.

Lin Xian wiped the water from the corner of his mouth, feeling a little sorry for the wasted water. At the same time, his expression became strange. This Monica was really making a shocking statement. If what she said was true, then she would know everything he said and did on the Infinite.

As if she had guessed Lin Xian's thoughts, Monica spoke directly.

"But you can rest assured that using my superpowers is extremely energy-consuming. Unless there is a conflict of interest or it is for a reconnaissance purpose like this, I have no penchant for eavesdropping on other people."

Monica wasn't lying. Using such an ability was equivalent to her using superpowers. For her, eavesdropping on her subordinates was one of the ways she controlled the entire vehicle. Monica actually had their private thoughts under her control, but she didn't have a penchant for spying on the privacy of anyone other than Queen Monica.

Lin Xian coughed lightly: "Your superpower is much stronger than I imagined..."

"Thank you."

Although Monica wasn't lying, her words didn't explicitly respond to Lin Xian. As for whether Infinite had any vested interest in her, only she knew.

In the reflection of the rearview mirror, Monica looked out at the vast fields, a faint smile on her lips.

Lin Xian's heart stirred slightly; he couldn't figure out the woman's intentions. Normally, if others knew about this ability, they would be wary of her, but she had so bluntly told Lin Xian...

Whether it was an expression of sincerity or had another purpose, he did not know.

However, Lin Xian knew that he had underestimated this woman.

(End of this chapter)