Doomsday: I Build an Infinite Train.

Chapter 381 Operation Crescent Moon (8K)

Aside from leaving and entering the city, the internal supervision of Dawn City is not very strict. After all, there are too many apocalyptic refugees. The Federation's jurisdiction over the city is limited to energy, public safety, food supplies, and the investigation and control of dark invasions. In addition, the Federation uses blood essence as the currency anchor for transactions. Apart from these, all other behaviors are uncontrolled as long as they do not involve public safety.

Entertainment, commerce, including armed forces and superpowers—you can do whatever you want without anyone interfering. Rather than a city, it's more like a large gathering place for disaster victims. The federal leadership isn't worried about regime issues; they only focus on city defense and resources.

After all, in the apocalypse, there is no future to be seen, and everything is growing wildly in order to survive.

Lin Xian didn't know what kind of place Dailiyou was, but when the SUV entered a street full of pink bar lights and densely packed with scantily clad women, he roughly guessed it.

This is a lawless zone.

A light rain was falling, and women on both sides of the street held up umbrellas. Their revealing clothes were accompanied by firearms for self-defense. Here, you could see all kinds of women. Although their clothes were different, all of them seemed to have only one emotion on their faces: an extreme numbness and repression. It seemed that they had lost all meaning in life except for survival.

As soon as the vehicles entered the street, the women slowly moved towards the roadside, forcing passing vehicles to slow down and drawing everyone's attention to them.

The vehicle gradually drove into the depths of an old town, the former northern part of Dawn City. The buildings were old, cramped, dirty, and crowded, occupied by some large convoys that used prostitution, gambling, illegal prosthetic modifications, and some strange industries that stemmed from the supernatural entities.

"There is basically no surveillance system in this area, and the federal government doesn't keep an eye on it because the convoys occupying this area pay more 'security tax' than those in other areas."

Jiang Yun explained, "Shuguang City no longer has a property management system. All residences are allocated by the Population Control Bureau according to area, which means you have to find a place to stay on your own."

"So if there's nowhere to stay, you'll have to sleep in the car?" KIKI asked.

"Most of them are like that. Most habitable buildings have been occupied by the earliest convoys. Some scattered communities have squeezed in on their own, but they are basically no different from car camps. This area is different. Ordinary convoys can't get in unless they are merged into the larger convoys here. As long as there are no mutation attacks or shootouts in the old city, the Federation won't interfere."

“Large truck fleets pay more taxes and city entry fees,” Qian Dele said.

"Yes."

After approaching a certain area, Lin Xian's communicator received a message. An unfamiliar signal guided them to a former commercial underground complex. Entering through the tunnel, they found themselves in an underground city that had grown wildly amidst concrete ruins, breathing between neon lights and shadows.

Jiang Yun told Lin Xian that there was a small black market downstairs, with colorful neon lights, pornographic posters and advertisements for various prosthetic modifications on the walls, and the narrow distance between the buildings made people feel extremely oppressed.

Soon, the vehicle pulled into a building, the iron gate at the back slowly closed, the lights came on, and several fully armed men appeared in front of them, surrounding them with weapons and blinding flashlight beams.

“Identity confirmed,” one of them said.

Lin Xian took out the crimson phoenix token, pressed the switch, and quickly established a connection.

At this moment, a group of people put down their weapons, and Lin Xian and the others got out of the car. The crowd dispersed, and the sound of soft mechanical footsteps came from the depths of the passage. Then, a tall woman with mechanical prosthetics on all four limbs slowly appeared.

Chu Yan.

This was Lin Xian's first official meeting with Chu Yan. In his dream, he couldn't distinguish Chu Yan's actual appearance. Now that he saw her in person, if he couldn't feel her breathing, Lin Xian would have thought she was a robot like Shinji Mochizuki.

Chu Yan's voice was cold as she looked at Lin Xian and said, "Hello, Lin Xian, you look more energetic than before."

"It's probably because I'm sober now," Lin Xian said with a smile.

Lin Xian followed Chu Yan and a group of people into the building. No one knew that a sophisticated secret operations base was hidden within an underground black market. Even in the corridor, he saw a group of people already waiting.
The leader was a man who looked to be in his forties, dressed in a smart military uniform, with medals of the United Front and the Phoenix Society on his chest. He looked somewhat lean and serious.

Upon seeing Lin Xian, he first quickly scanned Lin Xian and the team members behind him with his eyes, and then calmly reached out his hand to Lin Xian.

"Xu Zhenyue, Chief of Staff of the North American United Front, I will be in command of this Crescent Moon Operation."

"General Xu, hello."

"We are currently waiting for your arrival to hold a combat meeting." Xu Zhenyue looked at KIKI and the others behind Lin Xian: "We are glad that you and your team are willing to assist us."

Immediately, Xu Zhenyue and Chu Yan led Lin Xian and his group into the hall. In addition to the North American United Front team, there were also four action groups from the Phoenix Society Nightwalkers. The mission leader was named Qi Nuo, a young man with a fair complexion and sharp eyes. Upon seeing Lin Xian, he immediately came up to shake hands and introduce himself.

There is also a special operations team from the 83rd Iron Guard Brigade, whose captain is named Zhou Jin, a tough soldier with a cold face and a height of 1.9 meters.

"Team Leader Lin is here, let's get started." Qi Nuo wasn't one for small talk. He pulled out a chair, sat down, and pulled out a pack of cigarettes. Lin Xian gave him a surprised look. Qi Nuo assumed Lin Xian was bothered by it, so he got up, went to the door, and turned on the exhaust fan. He then said, "Compared to morphine and alcohol, cigarettes are a good thing in this apocalypse. They relieve stress and stabilize your mental defenses, without affecting your judgment or causing mental mutations."

"Captain Lin, my name is Zhou Jin, captain of the 83rd Iron Guard Brigade Special Operations Team." Sitting opposite Lin, Zhou Jin glanced at him and said directly, "You can trust us."

Without much formality, the teams casually sat down in the hall. Lin Xian's team sat at the back. After lighting a cigarette, Qi Nuo said to Lin Xian, "I've heard of Airport and Xilan City. You're awesome, bro."

Lin Xian felt immense pressure. Looking at the room full of people, he couldn't help but ask, "Are all these teams on the same mission?"

"Pretty much. Because it's a saturation mission, we've prepared five action teams."

"Five?" Lin Xian asked in surprise, "Did you include me?"

"Not counting."

Qi Nuo shook his head and exhaled a puff of smoke: "You're a special case. You were assigned as a support unit by Commander Ye, so I have a small team here to protect you."

Lin Xian was somewhat surprised upon hearing this. To be honest, he had oversimplified things.

He thought this operation plan was assigned to him, but looking at the team filling the room, Lin Xian felt a chill. Saturation mission was a cruel term. The Phoenix Society's arrangements were meticulous and not just about sending Lin Xian on a solo adventure.

At this moment, Xu Zhenyue, who was presiding over the action meeting, glanced at Lin Xian and then tapped his finger on the table, and the meeting room immediately fell silent.

"Let me first give Captain Lin a brief overview of the background of this operation."

The holographic screen opened, revealing a wealth of information about the Crimson World, with Julius Litt's image flashing in the center.

"Based on the intelligence and information we have obtained, we have now confirmed that Julius, the Asia-Pacific director of Crimson World, has been cooperating with Wen Hui of Linglong Group and Dawn City for several months. I will not go into the specific details, but there is a serious problem at present."

Xu Zhenyue adjusted the screen, and a huge, humanoid monster lying horizontally appeared above the conference table, accompanied by data on Dark Corrosion Cells.

"Two weeks ago, S-class creature number 14, the Gray Mist Walker, invaded the B2-B3 defense sectors of Wall One, causing over 30,000 deaths and the sacrifice of over 2,000 garrison soldiers. The corpse of this S-class creature was recovered by a large convoy called 'Echo.' An investigation revealed that this organization was actually a disguised entity of the Crimson World. Our special operations team intercepted some intelligence on the Julius clone at the White Deer Beach Star Observation Base in Aksai, discovering that the Crimson World successfully extracted a living tissue sample of 'Umbra-Cell' from the S-class corpse and sent it to the White City base in Star Abyss No. 5 for successful proliferation and cultivation."

"Through these cells, we discovered part of the principle by which dark organisms can transform dark invasions, achieving a shielding rate of 18%. However, because these cells have not been actually activated, we cannot obtain comprehensive data yet. We discussed this with various research labs and believe that if we can activate these cells and successfully grasp the concurrent effects of their biological potential, then we can obtain a solution to truly shield and filter dark invasions."

Xu Zhenyue continued, "But the problem is that humans do not have the means to activate the cells of these dark organisms, except for one, of course."

"Mycelium?" Lin Xian asked.

"Yes."

"Mycelium is essentially a type of dark creature. The Crimson World has already established numerous research bases and conducted live studies, but it has never made this type of connection with S-class beings. Therefore, this is essentially a very dangerous signal, indicating that human consciousness is about to connect with the Abyss. This could very well cause a catastrophe of annihilation for us. Moreover, we believe that the Crimson World..."

"That's already been done."

Upon hearing this, the expressions of Lin Xian's people all changed.

KIKI frowned and said, "You mean the attack this morning might be related to this?"

"more than."

With a flick of his finger, Xu Zhenyue transformed the holographic image into a map of the region. Star Abyss No. 5 to the west of Dawn City, Star Abyss No. 7 to the southwest, and Star Abyss No. 8 to the southeast all exhibited an abnormal elliptical expansion trend. In the direction closer to Dawn City, the dark tides seemed to be driven by some kind of massive gravitational force, and began to deform.

"In the 16 hours since last night, the edge of the Star Abyss has shown an abnormal expansion. Almost simultaneously, strange surging tides have been observed in the directions of Yunlan, Longjiang, Luling, Tianwei, and Shenli cities. Therefore, we all believe that this may be related to the actions being carried out in the Crimson World."

"The remaining survivors from these directions are now fleeing towards Dawn City in large numbers. It is currently unclear how many there are, so this is a dangerous sign for us."

Lin Xian's expression turned somewhat grim: "If we've already taken action, then what exactly is the purpose of this Crescent Moon Operation?"

Chu Yan, standing to the side, glanced over and said in a stern voice.
"Information intercepted."

"What do you mean?"

Xu Zhenyue looked in Lin Xian's direction and said, "Dawn City is preparing to launch the Vanguard Project, so it will definitely use some of the tissue from Biology 14. The activation of this Dark Corrosion Cell connection may expose a large amount of existing human information to the Dark World. However, the one who made this connection may also have obtained some information about the Dark World through Biology 14. Everyone involved in this operation has a basic understanding of the current situation. In Captain Zhou's words, before, humans and the Dark World were probably playing a game of hide-and-seek, but if the Dark World knows human information, then we must have equal information. No matter how this disaster intensifies, only then can humanity gain a chance to survive and take the initiative. The next operational objective is very clear: before the launch of the Vanguard Project in Dawn City, we must intercept the Dark World information connected by the 'Gray Mist Messenger' mycelium. This information may be of great significance to the survival of human civilization."

"Currently, Dawn City has completely blocked communication channels. A large portion of the city's armed forces have returned to the second city wall, presumably to protect the upcoming launch mission at the starport. Given the evolving situation, we may not have another opportunity to obtain information about an S-class creature with an active brain. We currently have two advantages. First, Chu Yan's team possesses mental abilities, which allow them to intercept information immediately upon target confirmation. Second, Captain Lin Xian's mechanical abilities allow him to directly control the self-destruct function of the brain-computer interface. Furthermore, these abilities can help us gain access to the Dawn City weapons system control center, preventing the Crimson World or some rebels from exploiting this."

"The most difficult thing right now is that we don't know the specific timing of the Vanguard Project, or Chu Zhaonan's follow-up actions. Our intelligence team has discovered that Zhou Mingyuan, Wen Hui, and other high-ranking federal officials are secretly carrying out their mission, possibly preparing to join forces with the Crimson World to take control of the inner city after the Vanguard Project. The garrison is currently being partially tied down due to regional threats. So, the two things we need to do at this meeting are to investigate the Crimson World's activities in Dawn City and to find the Gray Mist Messenger!"

Zhou Jin, captain of the 83rd Iron Guard Brigade Special Operations Team, said at this moment: "Is it possible that this Gray Mist Messenger is in the Star City Underground City, after all, we need to launch it in conjunction with the Vanguard Project?"

“That’s possible. Our scouts infiltrating the Star City underground city haven’t detected anything like this, so they suspect they’re just using parts of the Gray Mist Messenger’s torso for their operations, which would be more efficient,” Xu Zhenyue said.
"I think we should first confirm who this person who has established mycelial communication with an S-rank is," said Zino, the leader of the Nightwalker organization.

“That’s easy,” Lin Xian interjected. “Since this plan was orchestrated by Chu Zhaonan, we can just steal his consciousness. That way, we’ll not only know the timing of the operation, but also the detailed content of the operation.”

“No, we currently have the least information about Chu Zhaonan’s actions, and…”

“We’ve already tried it before,” Chu Yan said, standing next to Lin Xian. “I was also there when Commander Ye and Chu Zhaonan met. Chu Zhaonan has very strong mental power; unless we put him to sleep, we can’t obtain it.”

"Putting the Federation Chairman to sleep is just as difficult as kidnapping him directly." Zino flicked his cigarette ash. "Chu Zhaonan is surrounded by Luo Ming's Seraphim team and layers of guards, and we don't know any of his whereabouts. This plan is obviously not going to work."

"What about the others in Project Vanguard?" Monica asked first from Lin Xian's side. "The list is sealed. No one else knows the launch time of Project Vanguard. Currently, we only know that the person in charge of Project Vanguard is named Su Jin, and the captain of one of the far-star ships in Project Vanguard is Chu Zhaonan's son, Chu Jing, a graduate of the Naval Academy and a former colonel in the Liaohai Fleet," Chu Yan said.

“Wow, the chairman’s son, he must know, right?” KIKI asked.

"Similarly, whether it's Su Jin or Chu Jing, everyone involved in the Vanguard Project is currently in top secret, and no one knows their whereabouts."

"In other words, they could take off in the next second?" Qian Dele frowned.

“Yes.” Xu Zhenyue nodded: “So we are now racing against the unknown.”

“There should be others who know about this situation… at least some of it.” Lin Xian said at this moment, “General Xu, you just said that Zhou Mingyuan’s group may be preparing to join forces with the Crimson World to take armed control of the inner city and the underground city. If that’s the case, then they must know about the Crimson World’s current operations, right?”

Xu Zhenyue then said, "You're right, we've thought of that too. This leads to an even more troublesome issue: what exactly is the form of cooperation between the two factions in the Crimson World and Dawn City?"

"Logically speaking, the Federation is divided into two factions. How can the Crimson World cooperate with Chu Zhaonan and also join forces with Zhou Mingyuan to target Chu Zhaonan?"

"Could there also be two factions within the Crimson World?"

"Regardless of which faction you belong to, this doesn't matter anymore."

"I think we need to take that into account."

“Then starting with Zhou Mingyuan’s side is a feasible plan,” Qi Nuo nodded and said.

“Then let’s start our breakthrough from here.” Xu Zhenyue looked at everyone and then adjusted the holographic screen: “To ensure efficiency, we’ll carry out the mission at multiple points.”

After saying that, he turned to Chu Yan and said, "Chu Yan, your target is Zhou Mingyuan."

"it is good."

Qi Nuo raised his hand: "Wen Hui is an important person. I will take charge of her. There are three other teams on the Night Walker side. They will take charge of several important officials from the Night Patrol Guard Battalion and the Population Control Bureau. They are all Zhou Mingyuan's cronies."

“There’s another one, Wen Dong. He was involved in part of the Crimson World’s operations in White City. We should be able to get something from him,” a squad leader said.

"However, Wen Dong has not appeared in the inner city recently."

“I know where he is.” At this moment, Jiang Yun, who had been silent all along, suddenly spoke up: “In the Galag Black Market, a mechanical ability user named Qin Feng is using the Silver Star to recruit team members, which has caused a great sensation. You should have noticed this. The Silver Star is an asset of our alliance. It was previously controlled by Wen Dong at the Star City Orbital Station. The fact that such an important asset has appeared in the survivor team must be closely related to the Federation.”

“We have indeed noticed this.” Chu Yan looked at Lin Xian and said, “There is no information about Qin Feng in the Phoenix Society. We have other investigators currently monitoring this person.”

"Because of mechanical superpowers?" Lin Xian asked.

"Yes, Phoenix will be very curious about that."

“I’m curious too,” Lin Xian said.

“Then leave this to me,” said Zhou Jin, captain of the 83rd Iron Guard Brigade Special Operations Team. “I’ll lead the team to take down Qin Feng and see if we can find Wen Dong.”

"Okay." Xu Zhenyue immediately instructed, "Let's proceed as planned, prepare the communication frequency bands, and begin immediately."

Lin Xian looked puzzled: "General Xu, what about me?"

Xu Zhenyue then said to him, "Captain Lin, we'll need your assistance as soon as there's any progress here. The investigation work will be handled by our action team."

"That won't do." Lin Xian suddenly retorted, causing Zhou Jin, Qi Nuo, and the others to turn their heads.

Lin Xian raised his hand and pointed to the team members behind him, saying, "Since General Xu said that the matter is urgent and concerns the survival of mankind, it would be too polite to ask us to stay here and wait for news at this time. Since we chose to come here, we must know the dangers here. And the most dangerous time has not yet arrived. It's just an investigation. I can still help with it."

He looked at Zhou Jin and said, "Captain Zhou, let's go with you to Wen Dong's place. Mechanical ability user, Silver Star, Wen Dong—all three things happen to be related to us." Lin Xian smiled and said, "Even we ourselves have this plan."

Xu Zhenyue nodded, his gaze sweeping over Lin Xian and Chu Yan, and then said, "Okay, but try to hide your identity as much as possible. If the Federation people keep an eye on you, it may cause a lot of trouble for the subsequent plans."

"That's easy." Lin Xian turned to look at the team members.

"From now on, we are all Captain Zhou's team members. We've gone to this recruitment event specifically to see if there are any plans to join Captain Qin's team."

After the meeting, Lin Xian's team prepared to head to the Gallagher black market with Zhou Jin. Before the operation, Chu Yan approached Lin Xian and spoke with him privately.
“I understand your thoughts, but please believe me, General Xu did not arrange any action for you, not only for your safety.”

"What else?"

Chu Yan's expression was aloof. Lin Xian looked at her. Although the woman in front of him was made of mechanical body, she had a faint scent of gardenia. She seemed a little tired.

"The most important objective of Operation Crescent Moon is to obtain information, and I am the main direction of the operation."

Lin Xian was slightly taken aback, looked at her, and seemed to understand something.

"I see."

Chu Yan looked at Lin Xian. Although it was their first meeting, they seemed like old friends who had been through life and death together many times. She said, "The city may soon be out of control. No one will care about your identity then, but before that, I must complete this mission. Time is running out, so be careful."

Lin Xian nodded: "Okay, you be careful too."

Gallagherd Black Market is also located in the north of the city, where the most crowded survivor camp community is located, with dense clusters of post-apocalyptic buildings resembling a jungle.

When Lin Xian and Zhou Jin's convoy arrived, they saw that several streets were already jammed with cars.

Most of them were heading north out of the city, towards Qingbo City, the Phoenix Society's headquarters. This was the direction from which the most people left the city, and it was mostly large caravans.

Lin Xian saw a long line of survivors begging to join the large caravan, clustered like beehives along the edge of the street. In addition, many people were also rushing towards the Galag Black Market. Taking advantage of the Infinite Train recruitment event, many other small and medium-sized caravans were also recruiting, which attracted many people who were thinking of quickly finding a powerful ally and running away.

"Large convoys are leaving the city, while smaller convoys and scattered survivors are crowding into the city. This is not a good sign."

On the way, Jiang Yun looked at the dense crowd outside and said.

"Are you worried that once all the large caravans have left, the smaller caravans will have no choice but to stay in the city and wait for the three Star Abysses to merge and die?" Lin Xian said.

Jiang Yun sighed deeply: "There's nothing we can do. It's tragic for small people. They either have to hitch a ride on a large convoy to the center of Dawn, or they can only gamble on the stability of the No. 1 city wall. What other choices do they have? Even if Phoenix assists in the transfer, it's only one Iron Guard Brigade. Protecting a million people is already the limit."

Lin Xian fell silent for a moment, when Zhou Jin's voice came through the communicator.

"Team Leader Lin, we're almost there. Everyone, put on your power armor masks. We'll assess the situation before proceeding."

"it is good."

A convoy of dozens of people drove into a large, crowded, and bustling cluster of buildings. The convoy slowly entered the border of the Gallagher Black Market, the roar of the engines drowned out by the noisy crowd.

Looking around, the entire area resembled a giant beehive, with countless convoys of survivors crammed into the narrow streets. Tents, modified trucks, and rusted armored vehicles were piled up haphazardly, like a maze pieced together from metal and despair. The air was filled with the pungent smell of cheap fuel and the sour stench of rotting food.

Many convoys drove up the street and formed camps with their main vehicles to recruit. These vehicles were almost all the convoys' elite forces. The various powerful cannons, electromagnetic guns, anti-aircraft guns, and anti-aircraft machine guns displayed on the roofs were the best promotional materials for the convoys. It was like a huge talent market, with long lines of vehicles from each convoy.

"Please, please let me join! My daughter is waiting for me up north..."

A gaunt man knelt at a registration desk for a team called the Dragon Hunting Team, his hands gripping the edge of the table so tightly that his knuckles turned white. His face was covered with the marks of time, and his left eye was covered by a dirty strip of cloth; he was clearly blind.

"I'm sorry, resources are limited. You're too old and disabled, so we can't help you. You should contact the Federation and the Phoenix Society."

The recruiter behind the table didn't even look up; he just waved his hand impatiently. Two fully armed guards immediately stepped forward, dragged him away like trash, and threw him into a mud puddle by the roadside.

“Next.” The recruiter’s voice was as cold as a machine.

At the queuing point of another convoy, a veteran with a missing arm carried a large rifle: "I can fight! I served in the Seventh Army! Give me a gun, and I can hold the carriages!"

puff.

Just then, someone knocked urgently on Lin Xian's car window. Outside, a mother was holding a two- or three-year-old child in her arms. The child's lips were chapped from dehydration, and his eyes were bright and innocent: "Can I join your team? I... I can sew and cook. My child is very quiet and won't disturb anyone..."

Because their convoy's equipment looked very good, soon more and more people followed and banged on the car doors. Lin Xian looked at the terrified faces outside the window and felt his breath catch in his throat for a moment.

The convoy drove out of the crowd and came to a huge park square. The withered trees had long been cleared and used as the convoy's camp. At this moment, hundreds of fully armed heavy trucks were gathered here, all of them heavy equipment. Tens of thousands of people surrounded the place, making it impossible to move. In the center of the square, a silver nuclear-powered train engine was quietly parked, like a sleeping behemoth.

The Silver Star appears to have had a signature Eternal-class nuclear-powered locomotive placed here to showcase its powerful core combat capabilities.

Behind the Silver Star, a fully armed heavy train was parked, equipped with powerful weapons, looking quite formidable!
Above the square, floating drones and airships stretched out a striking giant screen.

[Mugen Train, Recruitment Event]!
"Lin Xian, someone's recruiting teammates for you." KIKI couldn't help but complain when she saw this.

Lin Xian's pupils narrowed slightly, and he nodded, saying, "Then let's go see what kind of person this 'like-minded' captain of the Infinite Team is..."

(End of this chapter)