This Spiritual Energy is Lethal!-Chapter 178 - Spiritual Energy Side Quest Survivors

Chapter 178: Chapter 178 [Spiritual Energy Side Quest: Survivors of the Old Days]

Chapter 178: Chapter 178 [Spiritual Energy Side Quest: Survivors of the Old Days]

The subway car doors slowly opened, and the heap of red clay figures blocked by the transparent isolation glass seemed very aware that it was a door, swarming towards the opening in unison.

The passengers inside the car were panicking, shrieking in terror as they clung to the side farthest from the car door and scrambled towards both ends of the car.

Diana was shouting for everyone to close their eyes while pointing her gun at the unknown creatures outside the car, creating total chaos.

Chen Ke turned his head and discovered he was the only person left in this car section; Diana stood at the connection of the train cars, at a loss for what to do as everyone had scattered and she didn’t know which side to chase after.

With just a little observation, one could see that although the car doors were open, the doors in the isolation glass wall were not, so for the moment those monsters couldn’t get inside; nonetheless, the pounding on the door was utterly terrifying.

Taking advantage of this moment, Chen Ke scrutinized the clay figures hammering the isolation glass wall. Upon closer look, he realized these were not clay figures at all but Maggot People formed by tens of thousands of red maggots.

The tiny red maggots entangled with one another, mimicking the shape of people, and they continued to move frenetically in all directions. Just one glance was enough to make one vomit the overnight food in their stomach.

“Ahhh! Ahhh! Ahhhhh!!!” Hysterical screams from women came from the far end of the car.

Chen Ke saw from a distance that many people had fainted from fright, while others simply leaned against the car walls and began to vomit.

Diana was also struggling; she swallowed back what she was about to vomit several times while also enduring immense mental pressure.

Chen Ke also found these creatures disgusting, but they didn’t have the ability to mentally attack by themselves.

In fact, based on the life span increase or decrease per second, these Maggot People were actually very weak; they just looked incredibly disgusting.

Without even having to guess, Chen Ke knew they must be afraid of fire.

“Chen Ke, don’t look at those things, they will affect your senses,” Diana turned her head and saw Chen Ke studying the Maggot People outside the window and hurriedly warned him.

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“Look, the platform outside, it seems different,” Chen Ke turned his head and gave Diana a heads-up.

“Hmm?” On hearing this, Diana, holding back the nausea, looked towards the platform.

All she saw was the platform outside flickering with red light, with the ground covered by an indescribable black sludge. A blue station sign was leaning against a column, half-covered by the sludge, only showing the latter half of white letters: “49th Street.”

“49th Street? I remember that’s a stop on Line 2, how did we end up here?” Diana expressed her confusion.

“The biggest question should be… what is happening above ground right now?” Chen Ke said to Diana.

“Right… what is happening on the streets… How did so many strange creatures suddenly appear…” Diana had already realized the severity of the situation and couldn’t help but speculate in the worst possible direction.

Chen Ke glanced in the direction of the train’s head, contemplating going to find the driver in the cab to check on the situation.

The subway was manually driven, yet the opening and closing of doors were automated. When an object in the door track prevented the doors from closing, the doors would automatically repeat the opening and closing action. If the automatic process happened three times, the train would not start, and it would require the driver to operate it manually.

In the current situation, it naturally seemed more reliable to keep moving forward.

Chen Ke surmised that something must have happened to this subway, causing some sort of displacement, jumping it from one route to another. Whatever happened at 49th Street indicated that the streets above the subway station were also likely a ghastly sight.

Under such circumstances, the Administration Bureau should have already been mobilized.

“Chen Ke, what are you going to do?” Diana asked as she saw Chen Ke intending to move forward.

“I want to check the situation in the cab, after all, they decide where our next stop will be. I think it’s smarter to have them stop midway,” Chen Ke replied.

At that moment, the subway suddenly jerked slightly, and the doors slowly closed. This train didn’t have an electronic announcer; it was a very old model, and its stops and starts were abrupt.

The doors slowly closed with a click, and the sound of the Maggot People knocking on the glass outside grew much fainter. Their bodies lacked strength, so breaking through the glass walls of the subway station was quite difficult.

The train began to move slowly, carrying all its passengers into the dark ahead, but compared to the platform flickering with red light, the pitch-black subway tunnel seemed much more reassuring.

“Chen Ke, I’ll go and gather everyone together. Why don’t you go to the front and check out the driver’s cab?” Diana looked at Chen Ke.

“Alright, try to gather everyone in the middle carriages. If something really happened in the city, the subway system is definitely paralyzed. Later, we might either have a rear-end collision or a crash. It might be safer in the middle.” Chen Ke said.

Diana nodded, put away her gun, and ran towards the rear carriages.

Chen Ke walked forward. He could feel the train was slowing down. It seemed the subway driver shared his thoughts but was afraid of being rear-ended, so he didn’t come to a complete stop.

Passengers in the front carriages were pale from fear. A Black guy was so scared that he was in a daze. His plump girlfriend had helped him to a seat to lie down and was constantly comforting him.

There were also about a dozen young men and women who looked like students, with backpacks on, holding each other close, sitting on the right-hand seats, all silent with heads bowed.

Of course, there were some who had stronger wills, cursing incessantly on their phones. It was clear to imagine that everybody was without a signal.

The subway tunnel was already capable of network coverage, so no signal could only mean: They either left the service area, or the organization providing the network had collapsed.

If it was the latter, it would mean the problem was serious to an irreparable state.

But Chen Ke didn’t think things were that bad because disasters in this world could not possibly happen in an instant.

Just a moment ago, Chen Ke was shopping with Diana at Walmart. There was nothing amiss on the streets, nor were there any emergency news reports. Even after getting on the subway, Diana was still browsing Facebook.

That something like this could happen after just one stop, Chen Ke found the whole situation strange.

A moment ago, those Maggot People didn’t bring up any information pop-ups in his field of vision, they weren’t mutated creatures, monsters, nor did they have any descriptors.

This clearly didn’t make sense. Either they were something new that was beyond Chen Ke’s knowledge, or the life countdown had malfunctioned just then.

But his life was still ticking away second by second. Having moved away from those Maggot People, his lifespan had stopped increasing, but it had already refilled to the 20-hour limit.

It was impossible for the countdown to malfunction. He thought to himself as he walked all the way to the front of the subway.

The driver’s cabin of the subway couldn’t be entered from the passenger carriages; there was a separate door, and Chen Ke could only rap on the window, trying to communicate with the driver.

Subway drivers are usually paired; they’re responsible for contacting the stations, monitoring the train’s condition, and promptly reporting the line status.

Two white drivers, wearing blue caps and white shirts, were in the driver’s cabin. They appeared sober because the driver’s cabin was isolated from the platform. Even if they were aware of the anomalies, they would still feel safe.

Upon hearing Chen Ke knock on the window, they turned their heads together to look at him. They took out a piece of paper with the message: “Please return to your seat. We are contacting the control center.”

Chen Ke shook his head and made a “NO” gesture with his hand, signaling them to stop the train.

The drivers shook their heads in unison, refusing Chen Ke’s suggestion.

“The situation may be worse at the next station. Stopping here is the best choice!” Chen Ke gestured while shouting, drawing the gazes of the people in the carriage.

“Young man, keep your emotions in check. There will be people from the Administration Bureau to handle this after we arrive,” said an elderly Black gentleman seated nearby, to Chen Ke.

“Dear passengers, please remain seated. We are in contact with the control center and trying to figure out what’s happened above. In the meantime, please wait patiently in your seats…” the subway driver announced through the train’s intercom system.

Just as he finished speaking, the lights in the carriage suddenly dimmed, plunging the surroundings into darkness.