Apocalypse: I Built the Infinite Train-Chapter 283: The war begins!

RUMBLE—!!

No one in Xilan City expected that the first eerie entity to appear after the night… would be the corpse of that already-dead Abyss Worm!

Under the massive impact, half of Central Avenue was flattened in an instant. The black worm’s body shattered apart, its frozen flesh and stone-like remains melting under the high temperatures of air friction and erupting hundreds of meters into the sky.

In a flash, smoke and snow surged like a nuclear explosion, blotting out the sky like a colossal smokescreen!

The earth-shaking tremors lasted for over a full minute. Wenzhuo’s team retreated urgently through the air, their faces grim. As he looked at the holographic battle screen, he saw that three out of the thirty-five Hunting Corps squads had vanished in an instant.

“Teams 12, 15, 29, report your status!”

“Kzzzt—...”

Only static echoed on the communication channel.

The faces of those remaining in the 32 teams darkened.

“Team 12—Captain Zhu Jun got buried under a collapsed building. We can’t find him. There are four of us left!”

“Team 29—I’m the only one who made it out!”

Just then, some voices finally came through the channel—but they only brought more bad news.

Wenzhuo stared at the light dots on the holo-map, eyes cold. He had already planned for mobility to handle the Abyss Worm—but what no one expected was a corpse crashing from the sky, and with terrifying velocity. It caught them completely off guard.

“How the h*ll did that worm’s corpse fall from the sky?!” Qin Xueming’s face was filled with shock. This kind of horror was a first even for him.

“No need to guess. It had to be that black thorn thing in the clouds,” Han Jun replied. “We dumped this worm outside the northern part of the city... Never thought someone would toss it back like this.”

“It might not be that simple!”

Wenzhuo looked toward the horizon and said sharply, “Don’t you guys think the smell of rot is way too strong?”

“For real, it stinks!” KIKI wrinkled her nose, disgusted.

“Something’s off. I’ve got a bad feeling about this,” Lu Xingchen muttered as the entire central district was cloaked in thick smoke.

The impact heat from the worm’s crash melted the ice encasing the body. Upon impact, it sent a blood flood and chunks of flesh flying for kilometers, along with a monstrous stench.

It was practically a biochemical weapon.

Just then, the ground below continued to quake—and from the sky came a strange new sound.

Like boiling clouds. Like frenzied sand chimes.

Moments later, an overwhelming black tide surged from the clouds. Everyone looked up—and realized they weren’t winged demons.

They were something smaller. Something that looked… like crows.

KIKI and Lu Xingchen’s faces changed.

“Sh*t. Corpse Crows!”

The sight of these eerie creatures made KIKI’s heart skip a beat. Corpse Crows from Jiazhou City… Why were they here?!

“These things carry parasitic threadworms that can devour steel. They’re incredibly hard to deal with. Only fire works!” Lu Xingchen said seriously.

“What?!” Han Jun and Qin Xueming both exclaimed. “Where the h*ll did these come from?!”

Wenzhuo immediately alerted the three defensive lines.

“Attention! Corpse Crow swarm incoming. Use fire attacks—parasites can eat through steel!”

All across the defense network—from Zhao Yu, He Zhen, Xiao He, to the various survivor convoys—everyone felt a chill. They were ready for Snow Wraiths, Snow Fiends, and Winged Demons.

No one expected something even worse to show up first.

And these things could melt steel walls.

“Did the stench from that worm bring them in?!”

“Doesn’t matter. Lu, hit ‘em with fire!”

“Divine: Brahma!”

Lu Xingchen didn’t hesitate. He soared upward, both hands unleashing a raging inferno that lit up several city blocks. KIKI gritted her teeth and followed, unleashing her psychic power—like flaming clouds rising into the sky!

FWOOOSH!

A massive wall of fire exploded amidst the Corpse Crows, triggering a chain reaction. The sky lit up like a burning galaxy, firestorms engulfing the heavens.

“Now! Fire jets, up top!”

“Watch out for those crows!”

“Get the incendiary rounds ready!”

“AAAAH!!”

The Corpse Crows came down like black rain. Screeching. Piercing. A flood of death.

In just a few minutes, entire convoys and survivors were overwhelmed. Barbed wire, steel walls, barricades—melted before people’s eyes. At the northern airport, a civilian airliner had half its body consumed in under thirty seconds. Not a single scream came from the defenders—it was over that fast.

All three defense lines—east, north, and south—saw fire erupt into the sky as flame throwers and missiles lit up the darkened heavens.

BOOM BOOM BOOM!

Fiery clouds rose from every direction of Xilan City.

“Keep burning them! They trigger chain reactions!”

“Light it ALL up!”

“Dad! Mom!!”

“Help them!”

“Don’t go over there—they’ve got parasites!” freewebnσvel.cѳm

“Someone’s on fire! Get the extinguisher!”

“Flamethrowers! Now!”

RUMBLE—!!

The earth shook again. Wenzhuo’s face grew darker as he listened to the reports pouring in.

“Watch out! The worm’s under the city too!”

He looked at the Hell’s Black Chrysanthemum in his hand, then eastward—where seismic waves were racing closer.

“It’s coming!”

BOOM—!!

The quakes grew louder, resonating through stairwells and buildings. Glass shattered. Structures cracked.

At the city’s eastern Steelworks district, explosions rocked the area. The sky was burning with Corpse Crows, but the worm threat wasn’t over—the ground shook harder.

“What the h*ll is happening?!”

BOOM!

Before a crowd of over ten thousand could react, a cataclysmic tremor exploded behind the Steelworks. Half of the smelting plant collapsed instantly.

A giant Abyss Worm burst from the ground, devouring over a dozen Living Carriages full of women, children, and elderly, flattening dozens more vehicles in its path.

Everyone watching the explosion in the east gasped. The worm didn’t even go for the Hell’s Black Chrysanthemum?

“D*** it!” Han Jun turned pale. The Steelworks was the base of his Arctic Wind Alliance—the worst-case scenario just happened.

“Do we open the shield?!” Qin Xueming shouted.

“No! That monster’s heading straight for us!” Wenzhuo growled. This chaos hit them way too fast.

“We’ll go distract it. Squad 2 covers us. Everyone else—stay alert!”

With that, Wenzhuo and KIKI led their squad flying toward the eastern district.

At the Steelworks, the earth rippled like waves. Defensive structures toppled. Dust clouds billowed!

THUD THUD THUD! WHOOM WHOOM WHOOM!

Concrete foundations split. Buildings collapsed. Shockwaves rolled through Xilan like a 10-ton aerial bomb had gone off—tens of thousands felt their hearts seize up!

“The Big One’s here!!”

“Steelworks is under attack!!”

“It’s coming!!”

“In the east!!”

The sudden attack caused mass casualties. Worse—the sinkhole it left behind was massive and could bring a full monster horde straight into the city.

RRRROAR—!!

Amid collapsing rubble, the worm let out a deafening screech that made the ground itself tremble.

BOOM BOOM BOOM!

Everyone opened fire on the worm bursting from the rear.

“Kill it!”

“My wife’s still in the car—f*** it, I’m going in!”

BOOM BOOM BOOM!

The surprise attack from the back shattered morale—just as skyborne Corpse Crows continued wreaking havoc. Chaos spread fast.

FWSH FWSH FWSH—!

Wenzhuo’s team arrived first. Behind him were dozens of steel beams weighing several tons. While the worm was still exposed, he hurled them with all his might.

“Block the crows first!” Wenzhuo shouted to his squad.

“Fire Fist!”

Fire Bro coated the beams in flames and hurled them straight at the Abyss Worm!

The worm had already taken several lightning bolts from Zhao Yu—but only roared in pain. Now, sensing something, it turned—right into the path of the flaming steel beams.

BANG BANG BANG!

The searing steel crashed into its massive jaws, blasting out a black wave of blood. KIKI charged forward, grabbed the beams with her psychic power, and stirred them viciously in its mouth.

“CHOKE ON THIS!!”

WHOOM WHOOM WHOOM WHOOM!

Violent explosions of metal and fire erupted in its mouth. Thick black smoke billowed skyward.

At the same time, Han Jun took action—condensing water vapor into wide ice sheets in midair to block the divebombing crows. Then, with both arms raised, he launched millions of icy droplets like a reverse storm of daggers—shredding the crow swarm into bits.

Lu Xingchen blasted the worm with one hand and teamed with KIKI to launch a massive fireball, wrapped in her psychic energy, at the remains of the crow swarm.

FWOOSH FWOOSH FWOOSH—!!

A beam of flame swept across the sky.

BOOM BOOM BOOM!

The sky turned into a sea of fire, evaporating the snowstorm completely.

Below, thousands of survivors and soldiers felt a blast of heat crashing down from above.

At that moment, Qin Xueming plummeted from the sky, his body glowing with fiery cracks. He roared, slamming into the worm’s back.

BOOM!

The impact left a crater meters wide in the worm’s flesh, its thick hide cracking open as blood and gore erupted.

RRRROAR—!!

The Abyss Worm screamed and slammed its jaws shut—swallowing the flames and steel beams.

Then, it shattered the ice covering its body and, with monstrous force, burrowed back underground.

“It’s retreating again!!”

“Block that hole!” Wenzhuo shouted, tossing the Hell’s Black Chrysanthemum to the arriving Team 2. “Team 2, lure it into the city!”

“Move!”

Team 2 caught the Chrysanthemum and took off, flying toward the empty city center.

Sure enough, the seismic tremors shifted, following their path.

FWSHHH!

As the worm retreated, the sinkhole at the Steelworks started to boil. Wenzhuo didn’t hesitate.

“Don’t let the monster horde out!”

HUMMM—

He swung his arms, lifting steel plates and beams, and hurled them down the hole. KIKI joined in, psychically launching chunks of concrete from the ruins into the pit.

“Lu Xingchen—fuse it shut!” Wenzhuo ordered.

“Got it!”

Lu Xingchen landed straight from the sky and unleashed a full blast of flames into the sinkhole. In an instant, the opening erupted like a volcano—blazing fire surged, and scorching heat spread rapidly!

Vehicles and survivors nearby quickly retreated, everyone raising their guns toward the hole, on high alert for monsters emerging from below.

Whoosh—whoosh!

The intense heat melted steel in large quantities, fusing it with the concrete. Steam billowed into the air.

At the same time, Han Jun used his water-based Ability to cool and freeze the molten iron and red-hot steel, solidifying it all. In no time, the massive wormhole—over ten meters wide—was sealed off. The rumbling noises from below quickly faded away.

This move was part of a pre-planned drill designed to counter sudden worm attacks at surface openings. Every such tunnel in the city had already been sealed in this way.

Boom!

Another loud explosion sounded from the direction of the city. Wen Zhuo turned his head sharply and said coldly, “Another one’s popped up. Let’s move!”

“Green Wind, assign some men to lock down this area—surround it first!”

Han Jun shouted toward his second-in-command, then immediately followed Squad 1 toward Central Avenue.

Bang bang bang! Boom boom boom!

At this moment, gunfire erupted from the eastern, southern, and northern high walls. Flames lit up the skies—the war had fully ignited.

A 30,000-ton Dreadnought-Class Aerospace Carrier hovered low above the city. Several Lightning-2 aerospace fighters zipped through the clouds in high-altitude maneuvers, missiles exploding mid-air and illuminating the winged demons' outlines hidden in the clouds.

Attack drones and floating scout drones surged out of the clouds like a massive swarm, launching a full-scale aerial assault. The entire sky became a battlefield, with explosions and arcs of energy lighting up the heavens.

On the mountain ridge to the south of the city, the Durga Radar Array Station launched thousands of flamethrowers, sending massive flames skyward. Plasma beam launchers on the city defenses fired streaks of eerie blue plasma, like a brilliant mix of blue and orange fireworks.

The Great Wall-50 Rail Cannon Base emitted a unique thunderclap-like explosion, its sonic boom resembling that of air traffic control towers. Across the skies, tracer rounds blazed like a meteor shower!

“There’s so many of them! That monster must show up again—otherwise, all the marks on us will disappear!”

In the air, KIKI raised a psychic shield, flying swiftly with Fire Bro and the others.

“That monster knows what we’re planning. We’re prepared, but so is it!” Qin Xueming cursed. “That son of a b***h is toying with us!”

Han Jun’s eyes sharpened. “I’m guessing unless our lines completely fall apart, that monster in the clouds won’t show. It wants us to panic, mutate, and fall into chaos—only then will it mark the entire city.”

Wen Zhuo frowned. “It might be charging up too. That blast last night wasn’t normal. Marking an entire city can’t be a simple task.”

“Good point.”

“Either way, we need to hold the line against the horde first!”

“Take out that big bug—every hole it digs adds pressure to our rear defense!”

“Move!”

Boom boom boom!

Near the city center, glass windows of tall buildings shattered. Entire rows of structures collapsed like dominoes. Waves rippled across the streets, and sewer grates exploded in succession. Every member of the hunting squads could feel the oppressive presence of something massive approaching.

Meanwhile, another sinkhole created by the Abyss Worm began to surge with floods of Snow Wraiths and Snow Fiends, spilling into multiple streets like a tidal wave.

“Squad 6!”

Vrrrmmmm! A howling gust swept in. The Hell’s Black Chrysanthemum dropped into Wang Mocheng’s hand. He immediately passed it to Shu Qin.

“Run!”

Thump-thump-thump! The TRP Exosuit’s boosters kicked in, and the fully armored Shu Qin darted through buildings like a cheetah. As the ground shook, a burst of electricity shot from an Electric Blade and embedded itself into a rusty billboard. Lü Chang swung in like Spider-Man on a steel cable, grabbed the blade from Shu Qin mid-motion, and leapt onto another rooftop.

“Squad 2’s entangled with the Winged Demons! Redirect to Ambush Point 1!”

“Got it!”

Shing! The spinning Electric Blade sliced through a group of Snow Wraiths climbing up a high-rise. Lü Chang landed nimbly on a supermarket roof and sprinted forward again.

Thud thud thud!

Suddenly, a massive Snow Fiend crawled up the side like a giant spider. One of its claws slashed straight at Lü Chang’s head!

“Sh*t!”

The ambush caught him off guard.

[Danger! Danger!]

His Exosuit’s hydraulic muscles kicked in automatically, yanking him into a backflip and dodging the fatal strike. At the same time, a flying blade shot out, carving a deep gash into the Snow Fiend’s body—down to the bone!

But the fiend was tougher than expected. It didn’t die.

Shocked, Lü Chang saw another claw rushing at him.

He stumbled back two steps and fell to the ground.

Bang!

He split his legs, and the Snow Fiend’s claw punched a hole in the floor between them. Whirrr! The winch on his wrist spun rapidly, reeling back the Electric Blade. He grabbed it and hurled it upward, stabbing the blade directly into the fiend’s forehead.

But it still wasn’t dead—and lunged again.

“Crap!”

“Duck!” A green blur flew past from above. A foot landed on the Snow Fiend’s foreleg, and a hand grabbed Lü Chang’s wrist—flicking it hard.

Shwing!

The blade spun and sliced clean through the fiend’s skull. Before the blood even splattered, the figure flipped and landed gracefully.

“Give it to me.”

Xiao Qing stood in front of Lü Chang, extending her hand.

He let out a long breath and quickly handed her the Hell’s Black Chrysanthemum.

“Hyah!”

Below the supermarket, in the parking lot, Ning Jing launched a punch that blasted apart two Snow Fiends and dozens of Snow Wraiths. The impact shockwave left a fan-shaped vacuum in front of her—air itself burned with the acrid smell of scorched meat.

“Move!” Ning Jing shouted toward Lü Chang.

Whoosh! A whirlwind swept in.

Wang Mocheng glided overhead and used the wind to accelerate everyone. Shu Qin brought up the rear. In the blink of an eye, the entire street and supermarket were flooded with Snow Wraiths.

“That worm’s coming!”

Wang Mocheng caught the Hell’s Black Chrysanthemum tossed by Xiao Qing, conjured a gust of wind, and looked at the holographic map—then hurled it into the air.

“Squad 11!”

“Squad 11—received!”

A woman with bat-like wings emerged from the Winged Demon swarm, snatched it mid-air, and flew toward Xilan Park at full speed.

“Shu Qin, Lü Chang, Ning Jing, Xiao Qing—get to the rooftop!”

After delivering the payload, Wang Mocheng used a gust of wind to push back the monsters, then dragged the four of them straight up the side of the building.

“Squad 7, we’re at Sunshine Tower on Youth Avenue!”

“Squad 7—copy that!”

“Squads 23 and 30, prepare to receive!”

“Squad 4—copy!”

“Peace Street is blocked—Squad 19, divert to North Ring Road!”

“Squad 32—on site!”

At the edge of Xilan Park, Squad 32’s captain—a young woman wearing a modified personal flight pack—looked on grimly. Waves of monsters poured down the high-rise avenue ahead.

A four-legged Ability User in cheetah form leapt between buildings and hurled a bundle containing the Hell’s Black Chrysanthemum toward her.

“Squad 32, ready to receive!”

“Coming in!”

Vrrrrrr! Two mini-drones zoomed out from beside her, catching the item in mid-air. But as she reached out, a rumbling quake hit beneath her feet.

“Look out!”

Whoosh!

Sensing danger, she activated the flight pack to accelerate.

BOOM!

A colossal Abyss Worm burst from the ground. The low-rise and its foundation exploded in a cloud of debris. A gaping abyss opened beneath her.

A massive vacuum pressure sucked her downward, and even at max thrust, she couldn't escape—being drawn helplessly toward the monster’s mouth.

“Ahhh!!”

VMMM!

Just then, a psychic shockwave tore through the air—yanking her free from the broken concrete and gaping maw.

KIKI!

And the next second—Wen Zhuo raised both hands.

THUD! Ten massive steel beams fell from the sky.

They whined with metallic stress as they fell. Under magnetic Ability control, they plunged like nails from all sides into the monster’s body, embedding nearly a meter deep but still failing to pierce it fully.

“Pin it down!”

Wen Zhuo gritted his teeth, trying to anchor the worm to the ground. KIKI joined in, channeling psychic power.

“I’m on it.”

Her eyes gleamed. Purple hair floated. She poured everything she had into the attack—her psychic force pressing down like a mountain on the Abyss Worm.

“Fire up the plasma beam launchers!”

Crackle!

Buildings around Xilan Park lit up. Thirty-two plasma beam launchers rose into position, unleashing searing blue arcs from all directions.

The beams carved through the worm’s flesh, flames erupting across its body.

Honnnnnng!

The worm let out a low, ship-horn-like roar.

It thrashed wildly. Buildings shook. The plasma launcher cables spun like fishing reels—sparks flying.

But the worm still couldn’t break free.

Crack! Crack! Crack!

The cables groaned under strain. Wen Zhuo seized the moment, shouting on the hunting squad’s channel:

“Everyone! Hit it now!”

“On it!”

“Let’s go!!”

“Don’t let it escape!!”

“Watch the skies—those Winged Demons are everywhere!”

The streets were now flooded with monsters. In the sky, the Winged Demons swarmed like a dark cloud. With no air support, even a hundred-plus Rampage-level Ability Users felt stretched thin.

Their window was closing.

Lu Xingchen and Qin Xueming struck simultaneously.

“Divine: Flameblade!”

Lu Xingchen formed a sword with his fingers, accelerating a spiraling inferno.

In half a breath, he fired a massive flaming blade—white-hot at the core.

BOOM!

A sonic boom cracked the air. The recoil actually launched him into the sky.

The flameblade flashed for a brief second—but it sliced open a truck-sized gash on the worm’s back. The ground melted from the heat, leaving a cratered scar!

KIKI was still holding the worm down. Seeing Lu Xingchen fly off, she cursed mentally and reached up, yanking him midair.

“You idiot! What, were you trying to launch yourself into orbit!?”

But Lu Xingchen didn’t answer. He stared at his hands in awe, face glowing with excitement.

“Yup… Knowledge really is power!”