Ugh!!
At 2 a.m., near the tracks close to a forest by Shijiu Lake, the light shields of the Infinity had already been lowered completely.
Inside the carriage, shadows crisscrossed, and the sounds of busy activity continuously emerged. Outside, a large number of zombies wandered around. As the battle subsided, these zombies gradually calmed down, surrounding the carriage, occasionally letting out a roar and raising their sharp claws to scratch.
Some black insects crawled in and out of the shadows under the train, lurking with a sense of purpose, or searching the trainās vents in an attempt to burrow in.
However, with Lin Xianās Mechanical Heart overseeing the Infinity, he was fully aware of the tactical situation everywhere on board, and at this time, Lin Xian could clearly feel that the pressure of surrounding attacks had dropped to its lowest.
[Beep! Conducting reflection detection with non-mechanical forces.]
[Detection successful, no fear risks inside the train, dark force invasion blocked.]
Every time they returned to camp, Lin Xian would use the Heterogeneous Rubikās Cube to conduct a full-train inspection. Once confirming everything was fine, he immediately arranged for Shu Qin and the building to organize the personnel, replenish ammunition, check the firearms and personal injuries, and so on. Brother Huo and Sha Sha had been guarding the train all night, so Lin Xian let them rest first. Meanwhile, the all-purpose medical cabin installation hadnāt been completed yet, so he rushed with Chen Sixuan and others to car number 3 to find Ding Junyi and confirm the [Dark Marking] situation.
At this time, the Hell Black Chrysanthemum was already emitting bursts of red light, but at the same time, large amounts of black smoke were continuously being absorbed by it.
"Since thereās no clear energy source marking, Iāll temporarily use the disaster plantās red light brightness as the evaluation unit." Ding Junyiās white research coat was stained with blood and various pieces of flesh, but she didnāt mind at all, immediately starting the detection work upon boarding the train.
"This."
She raised a mobile terminal and created a simple chart from previous record data.
"Currently, Iāve observed a total of five brightness changes, the brightest of which occurred in Jiazhou City. I defined it as level 5, and I believe this level should correspond to our S-level and numerous abnormal body markings at Yu Bei Airport ā the highest level weāve observed."
Chen Sixuan nodded upon hearing this. She remembered that night when they first entered the darkness at the Yunjiang Plain, and the scene of the train suddenly being surrounded by abnormal bodies was undoubtedly suffocating.
"Indeed, that night our train was almost overturned."
"Yes, so by analogy, we were at level 4 in Rain Town, level 3 when we came out of the 9th Underground City, level 2 when we escaped from Hengshan Pass, and a slight glow, including after we resolved the trouble in Rain Town, I temporarily defined as level 1, which is relatively safe and risk-free level."
Upon hearing this, KIKI said directly: "But I felt like the monsters we encountered that night when trying to break through Rain Town were tougher than those from Jiazhou City."
"Thatās the second point I want to make. There is a regional distribution in the darkness tide of abnormal bodies, which is apparent from that big strange bodyās territorial awareness in Rain Town. We can see these markings as a kind of fluorescence or scent on our bodies. The larger the marking, the greater the attraction range to the abnormal bodies in the darkness tide, just like lighting a torch in an unknown Dark Forest. But the problem is, if there arenāt any high-level abnormal bodies in the forest weāre in, then there might not be lethal danger either."
Lin Xian furrowed his brows slightly upon hearing this, "So, not only the level of the marking matters but also the region, or should I say, luck?"
"Yes, thatās a way to understand it."
Ding Junyi continued, "Then the third point, and this is entirely my guess, is that in areas where large or high-level abnormal bodies are present, lower-level abnormal bodies are relatively few. This resembles the survival density of predators. So when we brought an S-level marking to the outskirts of Jiazhou City, we attracted a large number of low-level abnormal bodies. Despite their overwhelming numbers appearing out of nowhere, they didnāt possess the actual threat level of S-level abnormal bodies."
"Nonsense, if it were S-level, weād likely already be dead." KIKI stuck out her tongue, then asked, "So, was that monster we encountered tonight a level 3?"
Ding Junyi nodded, "Almost."
After speaking, she looked at KIKI, "It could possibly be level 4, and I think that only the two of us on this train have been marked."
Chen Sixuan looked at the brightness of the Hell Black Chrysanthemum, "But the current brightness shouldnāt be level 3, right?"
"It should be that we killed many abnormal bodies tonight, diluting the marking level a bit." Lin Xian exhaled deeply, "Tonight, we killed at least 6 C-level abnormal bodies, I donāt know if there were any B-levels, and additionally, human-like anomalies, various insects, and probably hundreds of water ghosts below."
Ding Junyi nodded, "Yes, the logic makes sense, and based on the current situation it also shows that abnormal bodies should no longer be near our current area; otherwise, the markings on us now should have already attracted them."
KIKI crossed her arms and said, "So it means we just killed them all just now."
Ding Junyiās analysis gave Lin Xian a deeper understanding of the Dark Creatures; it seemed that the darkness tide was more like an alternate space superimposed over world regions. During the day, those abnormal bodies might have been around them, and not until nightfall did these abnormal bodies suddenly appear. If they were close, they would be directly detected and preyed upon, or theyād be surrounded and hunted by any abnormal bodies within range due to the markings on them.