Doomsday: I Build an Infinite Train.

Chapter 457 Steady Runoff
Lin Xianxian and everyone on the Infinite and Falcon Sea Group probably never imagined that the train could travel like interstellar spaceships thousands of meters deep in the ocean.

2650 meters below the sea cliffs in the Pacific Ocean, all light is obscured by the deep water. Yet, in this dark and gloomy ocean filled with the aura of vast death, a path of ocean currents, like a ribbon of starlight, meanders. It is a circulation beneath the mid-ocean ridge, driven by strong heat flux and water pressure differences, flowing at extremely high speeds, like a high-speed channel beneath the ocean.

Normally, before the apocalypse, such terrifying underwater currents were nothing short of a death zone, except for a very few microorganisms and fish. Human underwater vehicles would consider it a dangerous sea condition, and most people would never have thought of using it in this way.

At this moment, in the circulation zone illuminated by geothermal microorganisms, a train and a nuclear submarine are being carried forward rapidly by powerful water currents, passing through the dark sea.

On the Infinite and North Wind 09, even though no guns were fired, it was as if a fierce battle had taken place. The cabins were in complete chaos, the main structure was twisted, the portholes were cracked, and there were broken and scattered supplies everywhere. The air was filled with the smell of blood. Countless survivors had head injuries, and scrapes and fainting were minor. Fractures and punctures were commonplace.

The horror just now was no less than putting these people into a high-speed centrifuge and stirring them. In just a few minutes, everyone felt like they were living through an eternity, as if they had walked through the gates of hell countless times. If it had lasted any longer, who knows how many people would have been shredded alive.

If the situation inside the North Wind 09 was like this, then the Infinity was even worse. This slender train-converted submarine did not tear apart in such an extreme vortex, all thanks to the solid materials Lin Xian used in Yongcheng Port. The pressure hull was made of special steel of starship grade, and with Lin Xian and KIKI taking turns repairing and patching, this deep-sea iron rod was finally prevented from breaking and tearing apart.

The situation was worst in carriages 8 and 7. Almost all of the dozens of people from the Falcon Fleet were injured. On the Infinity side, Ryunosuke and KIKI were injured and unconscious, while the others mainly suffered minor injuries. They all had interstellar-level power armor provided by Lin Xian, which was much safer than the Falcon Fleet's ordinary protection. However, even so, the powerful overload still caused Miao Lu, Xiao Yuan, Lü Chang, Mo Xiaotian, Sun Yuzhen, and even Sasha and Luo Yang to vomit violently, lose their senses, and turn deathly pale.

Vanessa, on the other hand, was in a relatively better situation and was already working with Shuqin, Dalou, and others to rescue the team members.

Monica deactivated her power armor and staggered over from the back carriage. Although she tried to appear calm, her face was clearly not looking well. She had overused her powers and was in the last carriage of the train, making this her worst experience since Apocalypse Day.

"You can still stand? Not bad." Qian Dele leaned back on the sofa in carriage 6, looking exhausted. He had been the fire chief of the carriage, repeatedly dashing to save people and put out fires, which had left him half-dead. He was probably in the best condition on the whole train. As a speedster, the super load was a piece of cake for him.

"It would be better to be dead."

Monica walked over and leaned on the edge of the sofa with one hand, her gaze sweeping around. Ryunosuke was lying on the sofa resting, still wearing a mask even though he was unconscious. Sasha had an ice pack on her forehead and kept rolling her eyes. Sun Yuzhen was applying medicine to the scrapes and bruises on Mo Xiaotian and Luo Yang. The only one standing was Xiao Qing, whose expression remained unchanged, but now she was looking in one direction with her brows deeply furrowed. Lu Xingchen was sitting in the corner of the sofa, holding a trash can in his arms, vomiting violently every now and then. His face was ashen, and he had completely lost the dashing aura of the 'Vulcan'.

"Lin Xian, how are they?" Monica asked.

Qian Dele raised his chin: "Shiori is undergoing treatment. I don't know what crazy thing Lin Xian did again. Shiori said he was so exhausted that he couldn't even focus his mental energy, but he should be fine. Our captain is no pushover; he's very capable."

"That's amazing~" Sasha rubbed her throbbing head and said quietly, "That scared me to death. I thought we were all going to die just now."

"It's not that bad." Ning Jing sat on the sofa, rubbing her temples. "In the worst-case scenario, if the vehicle breaks apart, we should be able to get out of the water with our power armor."

Qian Dele shook his head and laughed, "It's not that simple, Captain Ning."

“In this environment, the train explodes instantly. Even with our interstellar-level power armor, not many people can withstand it. Look.” He pointed to Ryunosuke. “But people like this, Kiki, and me, and the blood energy user in the building might be able to withstand it. Others will hardly have a chance. Gradually descending and exploding instantly are two completely different things, especially in that terrifying vortex.”

“Alright, then I really underestimated the power of the ocean,” Ning Jing replied.

"Look."

At this moment, Mo Xiaotian looked out the porthole and said in surprise, "The light has dimmed."

Upon hearing this, everyone looked out the porthole. The ocean currents, which had previously seemed to be moving through a band of light, had become much dimmer, and the seawater had begun to turn deep and dark. The faint, shimmering blue light gradually became scarce.

Monica's eyes flickered as she slowly said, "The decrease in geothermal microorganisms indicates that we have moved away from the underwater volcanoes."

Several carriages of the Infinite have shown visible deformation and twisting, looking like they've been twisted into a pretzel from the inside. However, the outer pressure shell hasn't torn. This situation is entirely due to Lin's continuous repairs without being able to reset the carriages, resulting in the body twisting.

However, none of this mattered to Lin Xian. As long as the car didn't crack, it could be repaired gradually.

Inside the carriages, many pipelines burst, leaving the interiors of the research carriages (carriages 4 and 3) in a state of disarray and severely damaged. Many research instruments and experimental platforms were destroyed.

Inside the medical pod, Chen Sixuan, Ding Junyi, Xiao Yuan, Miao Lu, and others were gathered around. KIKI was lying inside, and the all-purpose medical pod was scanning her.

"Like Ryunosuke, he is fine. It was caused by an overload of mental energy, but it will take some toll on his body."

Ding Junyi then took out two vials of cold dark reagent from the box and handed them to Xiaoyuan: "Give one to Ryunosuke, and give the other to KIKI. It will relieve a lot of the pain."

"Also," she said to Miao Lu, "take the Hell Chrysanthemum to carriage number 6. The Hell Chrysanthemum is currently releasing a lot of energy, which should have been absorbed and transformed after the explosion on the island and the appearance of the Ocean God. Placing it there will help everyone recover faster."

“Okay,” Xiaoyuan and Miaolu both replied.

Seeing that KIKI's condition had stabilized, Chen Sixuan immediately turned around and went to the cockpit. Lin Xian was sitting in the driver's seat, drinking water and looking at the dark ocean currents ahead. The searchlights pierced the abyss, but there was no end in sight, only endless seawater.

Shiori sat in another position, raised her hand and earnestly released her mental purification ability towards Lin Xian, causing the entire space to flicker with a ghostly green light.

“We’ve escaped that area of ​​water; we’re at least a hundred or two hundred nautical miles away.”

Seeing Chen Sixuan enter, Lin Xian said without turning his head.

Chen Sixuan walked to Lin Xian's side, glanced at Shiori, and then looked ahead with a complicated expression: "We still don't know where this sea current is going. It's already dark now, and it will be troublesome if we encounter other monsters."

"Not for now." Lin Xian closed his eyes slightly, his expression relaxing a bit. "So many big monsters are gathered on Sea Rock Island, it's even more lively than Dawn City. I'm afraid all the monsters within hundreds of nautical miles around have been attracted there. The rest are either small Karami or S-class monsters. We've already had enough bad luck, we shouldn't encounter them."

Upon hearing this, Chen Sixuan couldn't help but smile, and said to Lin Xian with a hint of bewilderment, "This is the first time I've seen you so optimistic."

Lin Xian sighed, looking utterly dejected.
“It doesn’t matter anymore. I’m really out of strength. The current is also heading east. Although it will deviate from the ocean’s course, it shouldn’t cause us to run into any monsters head-on. Let it drift wherever it takes us, right?” He looked at Viola. Viola had her hands behind her back, like the brain and helmsman of the Infinity, with all the in-vehicle controls and sensors under her calculations.

According to data, this Tranquil Abyss Channel mainly flows northeastward along the East China Sea shelf, then spreads eastward after passing the waters south of the Queens Islands. This means that if we follow this stable current, we could reach the waters around the Queens Islands in about 3 hours, which is 1100 nautical miles from the Republic of Ireland.

[My further analysis is that this quiescent eddy channel differs from other ocean currents and warm currents in that, due to its unique formation process, it has a high flow velocity and a relatively small flow width and vertical thickness. Strange objects are unlikely to appear in this flow. Combined with our high-speed movement, aside from structural issues, it will be relatively safe. However, after entering the East China Sea shelf, this eddy channel will widen further, and its flow velocity will slow down.]

"At that stage, it would be best for us to break free from the ocean currents and surface, or... stay on the seabed and wait for dawn," Lin Xian said, revealing his plan.

Chen Sixuan nodded, looking out into the dark abyss with a grim expression: "I never thought we would survive in such a terrifying vortex."

"Thanks to Kiki and Ryunosuke."

Lin Xian breathed a sigh of relief and said, "If it weren't for the two psychic beings, I really wouldn't know what to do. I would probably be dead for sure."

After saying that, Lin Xian suddenly stood up and said something unexpectedly.

"I'm going to take a nap. Viola, I'm leaving you here."

"Sleep?" Chen Sixuan looked at Lin Xian. Although she felt sorry for Lin Xian's hard work, the Infinite was in a mess, and they were currently thousands of meters deep in the ocean currents, with abyssal turbulent currents outside. According to Lin Xian's original personality, he would definitely be on high alert in this situation. Why did he suddenly want to sleep?

Lin Xian got up and walked towards the bedroom in carriage number 1. He said to Chen Sixuan, "There's a volcanic eruption and the hunt of the Ocean God behind us. Outside is the tide of Star Abyss No. 8. The sea surface and the seabed are spreading strangely. The area ahead is completely unknown. Since things are like this anyway, we might as well take this opportunity... to get a good night's sleep."

Lin Xian hadn't slept for days, and just now he was completely exhausted. He stared at the countdown in his eyes.

14:19:11
Lin Xian was filled with mixed feelings. The countdown seemed to never stop no matter what happened, like some kind of omen hanging over his head. He even wondered if the countdown would still exist if he died, or if there was a possibility that he would not die before the countdown ended.

When this thought came to mind, Lin Xian broke out in a cold sweat, so he simply stopped paying attention to it. He felt that the best course of action in the current situation was to go with the flow. This Jingyuan Vortex was like an underwater highway, which was safer than running around in all directions. Now that he had broken out of the water, he could neither find land nor take off from the sky. It was better to go with the flow. This was the best course of action. In addition, he was exhausted. He was also relieved that there had been no casualties on the Infinite and Northern 09. So he decided to take a nap.

Lin Xian's confidence is growing stronger. Even though there's a bottomless abyss outside, he's confident he can fall asleep.

As Lin Xian walked towards carriage number 1, Shiori quickly followed with small steps, like a little nurse carrying an IV drip, continuously using her healing abilities to help Lin Xian recover.

Lin Xian stopped after taking two steps and turned around.

"I'm going to rest for a bit, Shiori, you go help someone else."

Shiori shook her head: "No, I sensed that there are some problems with your mind. My intuition tells me that I must completely repair you."

"Mental health issues?" Lin Xian frowned, then looked up at Chen Sixuan: "Do you think I have a problem?"

Chen Sixuan looked worried: "Viola and I will keep an eye on things here. You should listen to Shiori."

Lin Xian looked at Shiori and saw that the girl was determined. He simply didn't say anything, walked out of the cockpit, went to the bedroom in carriage number 1, removed his power armor, and then lay down on the soft bed. He looked at the ceiling and sighed. There was a stardust glass porthole in the bedroom. Lin Xian looked outside and found that he could no longer see the bright blue planktonic creatures. There was only darkness and the light from inside the carriage.

Silent and still, yet surrounded by a massive, high-speed ocean current, with an unfathomable abyss outside, devoid of any fish or shrimp.

Loneliness, deathly silence, suffocation, endless unknown, fear of the deep sea.

Shiori followed Lin Xian into the bedroom and sat on the stool by the bed. Although she was a little tired, she continued to heal Lin Xian without saying a word.

"Did you ever imagine that you would be taking a train and diving into the deep sea?" Lin Xian's words seemed to be spoken to Shiori, yet also to himself.

Shiori nodded, but Lin Xian didn't see it, as if no one was responding.

"Shiori, there are dangers everywhere outside. Are you afraid?" Lin Xian looked at the darkness outside the porthole and continued.

"Not afraid."

Shiori said in a low voice.

"why?"

“Because…” Shiori thought for a moment and said, “Shinji said before that even if Earth is gone, the atmosphere is gone, and the ocean is gone, Silent City will fly into the universe and into the stars. He will build a safe haven and take us to travel through the galaxies. We can resist all dangers because Silent City is our home. This feeling… is very good.”

Lin Xian was quiet for a moment after hearing this, then murmured, "Yes, that sounds really good. I've had the same thought."

Build a sturdy steel train, a fortress train integrating living quarters, supply carriages, medical carriages, planting carriages, energy carriages, and production carriages. Fully armed and unstoppable, it travels eastward along a 32-kilometer orbit around the planet to escape the polar night. Even if it stops midway, its fortress-like armored body can withstand hordes of zombies and bizarre attacks in the darkness!
This is romantic enough, and crazy enough!
Looking back now, Lin Xian felt deeply moved by Shinji Mochizuki's ideas, and perhaps his own mechanical abilities should be developed in this direction.

such as……

In the R&D center, that thing...

Planet Titan?

(End of this chapter)