Doomsday: I Build an Infinite Train.

Chapter 418 Hidden dangers
Inside the information room of the Neptune, the air was thick with silence.

Lin Xian looked at Ryan and saw that the other party looked calm. He couldn't help but think to himself that since Ryan had revealed the core of the plan, he must have expected that Lin Xian could guess his true purpose. Although the Infinite was currently docked at Sea Rock Island, Lin Xian knew that they might have a hard time avoiding this trouble directly.

As expected, Ryan did not deny it, but instead told Lin Xian his own guess.

“These anomalies are not accidental. They may not be solely due to the forbidden object; perhaps there's something else at play.” Ryan took a deep breath and smiled. “It’s strange, isn’t it? Since the Dawn City incident, strange things have been happening all over the world. The original fog has deepened, and the movements of the strange entities have become increasingly bizarre: Star Abyss No. 8, the Taku Fog, Mount Garan, and the strange entities that are surrounding us…”

"Heh, they're all big guys, and their directions are surprisingly unified, as if they're targeting something." Erica looked at Lin Xian: "What do you think, Swordholder?"

"Let's just say it directly," Monica replied immediately.

"You believe that the Dawn City incident triggered more intense actions from the Dark Side, and that their goal is to eliminate the Swordholder, right?"

“There will always be some cowards who think that way,” Vanessa said. “The Adventists will also see him as an enemy, but that doesn’t matter. After all, what other options do we have besides running away or giving back?”

Lin Xian's eyes flickered. He understood what the Falcon Sea Group meant. He remembered that Monica had mentioned this before they set sail.

So, he thought for a moment, then looked at Ryan and said...
"If you simply want to leave this place, there's no need to investigate any forbidden objects or volcanoes. There must be other reasons, right?"

"of course."

Ryan smiled and replied, "When I first investigated this crisis, I did prepare to retreat immediately. However, what's interesting is that we learned from the Holy City Organization's intelligence that your Infinite had entered ocean orbit. Lin... I've always wanted to meet you, this savior, and see what kind of person you are."

Ryan's words seemed calm, but Lin Xian's people immediately sensed something was amiss.

"You mean, this matter might be related to us?" KIKI asked.

“Yes, Ryan greatly admires Lynk,” Gaddy said. “He immediately realized that it was impossible for the forbidden item from Searock Island to appear at this time by sheer coincidence. That’s a problem.”

"Forest."

Ryan's expression turned serious. He looked into Lin Xian's eyes and said, "You may have many ways to avoid those troubles—floating islands, storms, volcanoes, tsunamis—but I need to remind you that you'd better take a break. Once you leave Sea Rock Island, you'll be entering the vast deep ocean of the Pacific. If I were being targeted, I would be much more careful."

Lin Xian remained expressionless, gleaning something from the other person's words, and then changed the subject to ask...

"What exactly is that Holy City organization?"

“A massive alliance of maritime survivors.” Erica put one hand on her hip and introduced to Lin Xian, “It’s almost like a floating sanctuary city. They have many island outposts, as well as a fleet of hundreds of ships, with the main ship being the former floating city of Kraken.”

"Kraken? That sightseeing boat?" KIKI asked. "That thing's been in service for decades, and it hasn't sunk yet?"

Many people around Linxian are familiar with this name. Kraken Floating City is a large-scale offshore 'oasis' project built by the Landi Shipbuilding Group decades ago. It is known as the 'unsinkable floating city'. It is a giant floating amusement park with a displacement of millions of tons and can accommodate more than 9 people. The oasis includes hotels, restaurants, amusement parks, zoos, commercial entertainment gambling and various sightseeing projects, and stops at various intercontinental coastal deep-water ports along the way.

Long ago, this was a famous sea attraction and was even featured in textbooks. Lin Xian remembers that the cheapest ticket for this ship was only a little over two thousand yuan. When he was a child, he always wanted to go on board, but unfortunately he never had the chance. As the years of operation increased and the equipment became outdated, coupled with the popularity of various floating cities and space projects, this famous floating city gradually faded from the public eye. Unexpectedly, he heard the name again here.

“That’s right, it was occupied by Weyland’s mercenary group after the Apocalypse.” Azir said seriously, “It is indeed a good place to avoid zombies. It is large, like a small city, and can store a lot of supplies. The Holy City has developed to its current scale of more than 20 people with this as its core. I don’t know how, but this organization has joined forces with the Adventists in the Crimson World and specifically targets other survivors. Their behavior is becoming more and more bizarre.”

“From what we understand, the Holy City’s population is constantly decreasing. They are gradually becoming more elite, specializing in the research and improvement of superpowers. They are very powerful and have had many conflicts with Noah City of the Phoenix Society,” Erica said.

Snapped.

Ryan snapped his fingers, and a topographical map of Sea Rock Island was displayed on the holographic screen.

"Recently, we discovered that several fleets from the Holy City have appeared in the waters southeast and northeast of Sea Rock Island, frequently landing on the island and engaging in various activities. The information about the forbidden items was purchased from the black market, and we believe it is very likely related to what the Holy City is doing..."

He looked at Lin Xian and said, "It could very well be related to you, Lin, you need to be careful."

"Thanks for reminding."

Lin Xian looked at Ryan's markings on the terrain map and said, "This is very helpful."

“Forbidden objects, crystal lattices, the Holy City, be more specific…” Monica stepped forward and asked bluntly, “How do you want to cooperate?”

Ryan shook his head: "Didn't Lin already say that forbidden items and crystal lattices are not as important as life? We've been tracking the Holy City's movements in the city, and we might be involved with you. Whether we fight them or investigate something, we can work together as an alliance."

Lin Xian smiled, immediately took out a specially made communicator and handed it to him, saying, "Okay, then we'll see you on the island later."

"Forest."

Seeing Lin Xian preparing to leave, Ryan took the communicator and said to him, "At sea, don't easily provoke the Dark Mark, or you'll never know what monsters might appear beneath the surface."

Lin Xian nodded, and then the power armor masks of Lin Xian's two squads were deactivated. They took off one after another from the deck and headed towards the distant sea.

In the information room on the bridge, Ryan watched Lin Xian and the others leave through the porthole, his expression calm.

"It seems nothing has been achieved."

Gaddy said, "The Swordholder is a mechanical ability user, so flying vehicles should be no problem for him on land, sea, or air. His team is full of powerful elite ability users, so perhaps they will be interested in the crystal lattice."

Ryan waved his hand and said in a deep voice, "The crystal lattice is not important. If they want to, they can easily get enough information from the Phoenix Society."

Azir then said, "The situation on Searock Island could get completely out of control, but it seems we can't offer any other cooperation besides warnings. What's the point?"

Vanessa chuckled and said, "You big idiot, you know there's going to be trouble on Searock Island, and they'll definitely find out too. Ryan's point is that even if we can't help, giving a friendly heads-up beforehand shows goodwill, and at least we won't be enemies with the Swordholders."

"Who says we can't help?"

Ryan turned around, looked at everyone solemnly, and said seriously.
"Get ready, we're going to land on the island tonight."

"tonight?"

“That’s right.” Ryan strode towards the information room without turning back, saying, “If the Holy City’s target is them, that forbidden object will appear tonight!”

As Lin Xian skimmed across the sea, he felt the air was somewhat stuffy. He kept searching the sea surface with radar and, seeing the approaching Haiyan Island, he immediately tried to contact Qian Dele and Ning Jing's team.

"Everyone, how's the situation?"

"The weather isn't looking good." On the rooftop of the high-rise, Qian Dele held up his electronic binoculars and looked towards the southeast sky, which was covered with dark clouds. He said into his communicator, "The weather system has detected that the storm over there is rapidly expanding. It might rain on the island."

"Zizi..."

At that moment, Ning Jing's voice came through the communicator: "Team Leader Lin, we haven't seen a single person in the city. The port on the eastern coast of the city was attacked..."

On Ning Jing's side, countless drones were rapidly patrolling and scanning. Huo Ge flew rapidly overhead, and strong winds swept up the garbage from the city ruins, making it look like the port had been burned by a fire. Everything was charred black, and the huge rail base had collapsed and was half exposed on the sea surface, like a giant kneeling in the seawater.

"Brother Huo just went out to sea to scout, and the nearest section of track is at least several kilometers away, and the road conditions further away are uncertain... It seems that we really have no choice but to fly there or row a boat."

Upon hearing the report from the communicator, Lin Xian's expression turned slightly serious. The two teams flew to the top of a hill along the west coast and landed. Lin Xian looked down at the desolate city area and fell into deep thought.

Strange things have appeared since the defense of Dawn City: the sign "No Resistance Allowed" on the defensive platform, the metal dice in Taku Deepwater Harbor, the storm and floating islands moving towards Sea Rock Island...

Lin Xian felt as if there was a fog in front of him, making it difficult to see clearly. He could sense that although there were only about 20 people on the Infinite Ship, they were being watched by something in the dark, giving people a sense of oppression in the stillness.

"Such a big city, how come there isn't a single zombie..."

Sasha stopped her Flying Peach, jumped off, and turned the scanner on her power armor visor to look towards the city: "Don't you guys think it's so quiet..."

“The more this is the case, the more cautious we need to be,” Monica said. “That Holy City organization is definitely watching us.”

"Lin Xian." KIKI turned to look at Lin Xian: "Another underwater volcano and some kind of strange entity's mother nest are heading this way. Should Huo Ge and I go out to sea and patrol the orbital plane to scout ahead?"

Lin Xian looked up at the sky. Patches of altocumulus clouds slowly obscured the sunlight, casting huge shadows across the city. At this moment, he summoned Viola from the Black Star Forge, who was equipped with a set of specially made flight power armor.

"Viola, conduct high-altitude reconnaissance based on the Falcon Squadron's intelligence report. After that, quickly patrol along the ocean orbit section past the G3-G25 base station, then come back and report."

[Viola understands, if they discover anything unusual about the strange entity, should they return beforehand?]

Lin Xian nodded: "Yes."

Upon receiving the order, Viola immediately turned around, activated the thrusters of her flight kit, and soared into the sky, creating a sonic boom as she rapidly ascended into the clouds.

“The track is damaged, and there are problems both underwater and on the surface. Although I was thinking of activating the Sky Dome directly, I always felt that things in the sky might be more troublesome.”

"What should we do then? Should we just wait here for Viola to come back?" Kiki asked.

“Although the Falcon Fleet said that the Holy City Organization has its eyes on us, I don’t think that’s the biggest problem,” Monica said, crossing her arms and looking at Lin Xian.

Lin Xian nodded, indicating that he understood.
"Volcanoes and floating islands are things we should be more worried about."

“And…” Monica looked at Lin Xian: “Decoy.”

"We must be wary of this."

Lin Xian thought for a moment and said, "We probably won't be able to leave today. Let's take advantage of the daytime and have each team search the city to make some preparations in advance."

“That’s the only way for now,” Monica nodded.

Subsequently, based on the city's regional situation, Lin Xian ordered Monica's team to head to the coastal commercial district, while Qian Dele was responsible for the industrial port area along the southeast coast and returning with Ning Jing's team. He then took KIKI Shiori to explore the White Tower District in the center of Haiyan City. However, before that, he sat on the hillside on the west coast and, taking advantage of the early hour, sank into the Black Star Forge to contact Chu Yan with his consciousness.

In the Zhen Tian warship, in Ye Lan's office, Lin Xian, who hadn't appeared in a long time, appeared beside Chu Yan in his ideological form and communicated with Professor Ye.

“I just told Chu Yan that you should be asking me about crystal lattices soon.”

Ye Lan sat in her seat, looking at the empty seat next to Chu Yan, her gaze as if she could see him.

"Does the Phoenix Society believe that crystallization poses a hidden danger?" Lin Xian asked.

“It’s not that simple.” Chu Yan answered him, saying, “About a month ago, lattice-type ability users began to appear in the Pacific Ocean. We received a lot of data and information from Noah. The Dawn Center and Phoenix City have started to study it. Our North American United Front began to organize investigations in major cities and regions of North and South America at that time.”

"Lin Xian."

Ye Lan looked at him calmly: "When you saw the four-character message conveyed by the photovoltaic wing of Nantianmen, what was your opinion?"

"I don't know, it's strange." Lin Xian didn't know why Ye Lan suddenly asked this, so he said, "It sounds like a pointless question."

Chu Yan conveyed Lin Xian's message.

Ye Lan nodded and then said, "When dealing with information exchanges between civilizations, we are always extra careful. This includes your connection with the Dark Civilization with Chu Yan. We don't know what kind of information we will get or what kind of price we will pay. This crystal lattice is exactly the same."

Lin Xian's gaze sharpened.

Ye Lan continued, "Our Nightwalker organization has conducted hundreds of lattice-based experimental observations. Combined with the information continuously merging and summarizing from various regions, the superpower research team has summarized a great deal of experience and methods for developing this superpower. The results are roughly the same as you imagined, and can be regarded as a breakthrough leap for humanity in the control of superpowers. With this lattice power storage, superpower users can achieve new breakthroughs beyond the Angel level. We have temporarily renamed those with peak values ​​exceeding 3 as a new superpower user level..."

"A new level?"

“Beyond level,” Chu Yan replied.

(End of this chapter)