Apocalypse: I Built the Infinite Train-Chapter 255: How did you know?

But that thought remained buried for now. Shi Diyuan and the Phoenix people were here, and Lin Xian wasn’t the type to just abandon them. Besides, he was very interested in this Emperor Project they were running. His mind was already working on possible ways to break through.

Unexpected Reinforcements

"Captain Shi!"

A man wearing a Starfleet Senior Officer’s uniform and powered armor ran toward them, followed by a group of soldiers covered in snow.

"The monster horde attacked again? It’s only been three hours!"

"Ah, Commander Sun!" Shi Diyuan greeted him. "You’re back already? No worries, we held the line this time—no casualties."

Commander Sun Kai was the leader of the armed escort for the Emperor Project. Two hours ago, he had taken a squad down into the ice valley to scout for escape routes. But without warning, the Snow Wraith Horde had shortened its attack interval again. A massive avalanche struck, forcing Sun Kai and his men to take shelter inside an ice cavern before finally making their way back.

Sun Kai scanned the defensive perimeter, then exhaled in relief. "Damn, we’re lucky. Captain Shi, if it weren’t for you—this should’ve been our responsibility…"

"Come on, no need for formalities." Shi Diyuan waved him off. "Your unit has already suffered heavy losses. We came here to help you."

Sun Kai nodded but quickly noticed two unfamiliar faces. His eyes lit up with hope. "Are you reinforcements from Xilan City?"

"We’re not from Xilan City," Lin Xian said outright.

Shi Diyuan cleared his throat awkwardly. "These two are old friends of mine. They came to help."

Sun Kai’s excitement faded. A hint of disappointment crossed his face as he looked at Lin Xian and KIKI. "I see… Still, I appreciate you risking your lives to support us. But now, you’re trapped here with us as well. I’m sorry…"

"No need to apologize," Lin Xian replied. "We’re all in this together—let’s just figure out a way out."

"Exactly!" KIKI added. "Who could’ve predicted things would turn out this way?"

Shi Diyuan clapped his hands. "That’s the spirit! And listen—Lin Xian and KIKI are powerful ability users. This means we have more options now. Speaking of which, where’s Squad Leader Yu? I need to introduce him to some top-tier talent!"

"Ability users?" Sun Kai frowned slightly.

"This KIKI girl is a psychic ability user. She can fly and has insane telekinetic strength. She just wiped out a whole wave of monsters on her own! She’s worth ten heavy cannons—and no, I’m not talking about her weight, hahaha!"

KIKI’s expression twitched. This bastard…

Shi Diyuan continued, pointing at Lin Xian. "And my brother Lin here? Mechanical ability user! He can repair machines—how awesome is that? If your Emperor Project needs an expert, he might even be able to fix that big guy over there. Then we can punch our way out!"

Sun Kai’s eyes widened in shock. "Mechanical ability?" That was a first. The moment Shi Diyuan mentioned Lin Xian could repair machines, Sun Kai’s expression shifted to intrigue.

Lin Xian, however, quickly cut him off before the exaggeration got out of hand.

"Hold on, Shi-ge. I never said I could definitely fix a machine that big. I need to inspect it first."

Lin Xian’s realistic response brought Sun Kai back to his senses. His brief hope dimmed again, and he scrutinized Lin Xian carefully before saying, "If that’s the case, then there’s no point in troubling Squad Leader Yu. They’re busy working on an evacuation plan and attempting to restore some of Unit-01’s subsystems. I was planning to lead another team into the ice valley before sundown to—"

"Hey, hey, hold up," Shi Diyuan interrupted. "Didn’t I just tell you? Lin Xian’s a mechanical ability user! If you need repairs, he can help!"

Lin Xian turned to Sun Kai and immediately understood his hesitation. "Is it because of confidentiality issues?"

The Emperor Project was a top-secret Phoenix initiative. While many details were already public knowledge, the core mechanics of the mecha would surely remain classified. Given that Phoenix’s enemies weren’t limited to just Dark Tides, it made sense to enforce strict security.

But Sun Kai’s next words made Lin Xian realize that confidentiality wasn’t the real issue.

Sun Kai’s gaze swept over the group. He exhaled and said, "That’s part of it. But the bigger issue is that you probably wouldn’t even get a proper discussion with them."

"What? Why?" KIKI frowned.

Sun Kai dusted off the snow from his armor and explained, "If this were the Nightwalkers Organization, they’d be very interested in your abilities. But the Emperor Project is the complete opposite. Phoenix established this project because some people firmly believe that humanity’s survival depends on technological advancements—not abilities."

"Wait, seriously!?" KIKI was stunned. "Even Phoenix has internal divisions? That’s ridiculous!"

"It’s not a division," Sun Kai corrected. "The ultimate goal of Phoenix is to ensure the survival of human civilization. Every department aligns with that goal. The Nightwalkers research abilities and Dark Invasion. The Emperor Project focuses on mechas and military-grade weapons. The two groups operate separately with no direct conflicts. In fact, they cooperate on certain missions—like this one. A Nightwalker unit was assigned to protect us, but… they’ve already perished."

"Then what’s the problem?" Shi Diyuan looked confused. "That sounds like a good thing."

Sun Kai sighed. "But directly interfering in another department’s core research is different. And we’re not part of the Nightwalkers Organization, which makes it even less likely they’d involve us."

Lin Xian immediately understood. "In other words, unless it’s a life-or-death emergency, they won’t let an outsider like me mess with their research."

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Sun Kai nodded. "That’s right."

Shi Diyuan scoffed. "Then screw it—this is a life-or-death emergency! We don’t have time for politics!"

Sun Kai hesitated, then finally relented. "Alright. I’ll take you to meet Squad Leader Yu—but I make no guarantees."

Lin Xian and KIKI exchanged a glance.

Finally, a foot in the door.

They stepped inside the command tent.

There were more than 20 people inside, and various computer instruments were placed on both sides. Many technical team members of the Emperor Project were busy.

In the central area, there stood a metal operating cabin with a circular base. Countless pipelines were connected to a man wearing a special control armor like a spider web. On the screen next to it, various neuron docking states, driver's physical signs, and hundreds of parameters of Unit-01 mecha were displayed, which made people's scalps numb at a glance.

"Fully sympathetic neuron interaction system, neural synaesthesia control technology, it looks so cool." KIKI couldn't help but exclaimed when she saw this scene.

Lin Xian nodded: "Such a large mecha, and a humanoid weapon, human nerve synesthesia is indeed the best solution."

Sun Kai looked at the two in surprise: "It seems that you are really knowledgeable. Wait a moment, I will call Team Leader Yu over."

At this time, Captain Sun walked over and communicated with a young man next to the metal operating cabin. The man immediately turned around and looked at Lin Xian and Shi Diyuan.

The man had a delicate face and wore gold-rimmed glasses. He looked less than 40 years old. His eyes were like lightning. At this time, he saw Shi Diyuan and Lin Xian and KIKI beside him with a gloomy face. After listening to Sun Kai for a while, he impatiently handed the mobile terminal in his hand to a staff member next to him, and then walked towards the few people quickly.

"This Team Leader Yu is the temporary person in charge of this group. Their original team leader died a few days ago. He is the deputy team leader. He was in charge of the technical team before. He is a sour literati." At this time, Shi Diyuan suddenly whispered in the ears of Lin Xian and KIKI.

Lin Xian nodded slightly upon hearing this, and he probably understood the other person's personality.

"Hello, Yu Yuheng." The man with gold-rimmed glasses walked up to Lin Xian and stretched out his hand to him with a cold face.

"Lin Xian, KIKI." Lin Xian introduced himself.

Yu Yuheng looked at the two of them, nodded and said, "Thank you for your help. I heard that you are a mechanical superpower. I wonder what the specific characteristics of your superpower are?"

"My superpower can repair and manufacture machinery."

Lin Xian looked at Yu Yuheng and got straight to the point. He immediately raised his hand to perform mechanical manufacturing.

In an instant, a light screen materialized in front of Lin Xian. Countless raw materials emerged, rapidly assembling and integrating. Within moments, a precision-engineered miniature drone hovered above his palm, its four rotors whirring smoothly as it levitated in the air.

The entire Emperor Project research team, including Yu Yuheng, stared in utter shock.

"P-physical fabrication out of thin air?!" Yu Yuheng’s brows furrowed tightly. Even as someone who had seen cutting-edge technology, this ability shook him to the core.

As a core technician of the Mecha Development Team, Yu Yuheng fully understood the significance of this.

Even though it was just a small drone, the complexity of its internal components spanned over fifteen specialized industrial sectors and involved more than thirty supporting industries back in the pre-Apocalypse Day world.

Even a simple propulsion system required an electric motor, a speed controller, a battery module, and propellers—not to mention more advanced subsystems like flight control, radar, gimbal stabilization, payload sensors, cameras, infrared scanners, LIDAR, telemetry, heat dissipation, and more.

Yet Lin Xian had instantly created it.

And he wasn’t done.

He casually grabbed the drone, snapped off one of its rotors, and then activated Mechanical Repair.

Under the shimmering light, the broken rotor was seamlessly reconstructed, as if an invisible 3D printer had restored it to factory condition in an instant.

A Turning Point in Perception

The members of Emperor Project Team 1 were left completely stunned.

"What kind of ability is this?"

"This is insane!"

"Is he a human factory!?"

Yu Yuheng instinctively adjusted his glasses, his breath slightly ragged. He stood there frozen for a full thirty seconds before finally snapping out of it.

Originally, he had planned to politely reject Lin Xian and KIKI’s involvement. But now, his curiosity had completely overtaken him.

"Can you fabricate something larger?" Yu Yuheng suddenly asked, walking over to a nearby console. He quickly pulled up an image on his tablet and handed it to Lin Xian.

"This component is called a Phase Conduction Prism. Each unit weighs twelve tons and has an extremely complex structure. It also includes polycrystalline information circuits..."

Lin Xian frowned. "If I have blueprints, I can fabricate it. But I need time and materials."

"How long?" Yu Yuheng pressed.

"Something that massive? At least eight hours."

Yu Yuheng’s face darkened. He sighed, shaking his head. "Your ability is remarkable—you’re absolutely a creation-type talent. But... I’m sorry. If you can’t produce it in a short time, it doesn’t really help us."

He glanced away, as if convincing himself of his own logic. "See? There is still a logical limitation to matter creation. If it’s just about fabricating existing blueprinted designs, then even though it’s an ability, it’s still something our industrial production lines could theoretically achieve. In an open environment, with enough time, this ability would be useful. But under these conditions? It doesn't solve our core issue."

Yu Yuheng turned back to Lin Xian. "I’ve always been curious about ability users, but I also understand that your power consumption is tied to some kind of energy threshold inside your body. The Nightwalkers call it Psionic Power or Soul Wave Value, right?"

"Regardless, aside from a select few individuals, most ability users worldwide are still in their growth phase. If I had to estimate, you’re probably at Level 3 or 4 in their system.

"In short, even if you can repair, Unit-01 is too massive. Logically, it should be beyond your capabilities."

Yu Yuheng adjusted his glasses again. "That said... there are some key components you might be able to help with."

A Clash of Perspectives

Lin Xian, KIKI, and Shi Diyuan all frowned.

Yu Yuheng’s words had revealed a lot of hidden information.

Most notably, it seemed that scientists viewed ability growth as a gradual process—like a skill tree that had yet to fully develop.

And in some ways, Yu Yuheng wasn’t wrong.

Lin Xian’s Mechanical Fabrication and Mechanical Devour abilities were currently Level 4. With his current power, even scanning and analyzing something as massive as Unit-01 would be a huge challenge, let alone fully repairing it.

But KIKI was already irritated.

"Okay, fine. You’ve been talking for five minutes, but you still haven’t explained what’s actually wrong with this damn mecha! What’s broken? What systems are down? Can it even be fixed!?"

Yu Yuheng paused, then calmly adjusted his glasses again.

"Apologies. But every other issue is actually worse than the component I just mentioned. And since you can’t fabricate the simplest part, due to security protocol, I won’t disclose the rest."

He hesitated, then looked at Lin Xian.

"However... if we survive this, I’ll submit your information for review. The Emperor Project might be interested in your ability—for manufacturing purposes."

"Our production factories are located in a safe environment. It might be a good fit for you. Plus, the compensation isn’t bad."

A Disrespectful Offer

Lin Xian froze.

Did they just classify me as a human 3D printer!?

"Whoa, whoa, whoa," KIKI interrupted. "You’re seriously keeping secrets even now? We’re in the middle of a crisis!"

She then nodded toward the pilot inside the neural control pod.

"What’s the big deal? It’s just a Unified State Neuronal Interface System for mecha piloting. The mecha is 90–115 meters tall, powered by a dual-core fusion turbine, uses two-pilot neural synchronization, and has a custom-built quantum AI core.

"The radar system is a Multi-Aperture Phased Array Sensor, the legs use a hydraulic power distributor, and it probably has a 500KT gyroscopic stabilizer for balance.

"And for weaponry—besides that folding high-frequency blade, the right arm capacitor is clearly built for plasma artillery, probably with hidden missile pods, rail-burn cannons, and a super-high-voltage pulse hammer."

She went on and on.

With every word, the faces of Emperor Project’s engineers grew darker.

Yu Yuheng’s eyes widened in disbelief. "How... do you know all that!?"

KIKI folded her arms. "It’s just military engineering basics. No way Phoenix suddenly had a breakthrough and developed alien-level technology in a few months, right?"

"No, that’s not what I meant," Yu Yuheng said, his expression serious. "I’m asking—how do you know so many classified details about this project?"

KIKI froze.

Sht. I talked too much.*

Her big eyes darted around as she quickly made something up. "Uh... I used to hang out in military and tech forums a lot."

Lin Xian nearly burst out laughing.

"Tech forums"? Girl, you literally hacked the pre-Apocalypse Federal databases, stole blueprints for classified weapons, and probably know more than their engineers do.

Both Yu Yuheng and Sun Kai looked suspicious.

Meeting the Ace Pilot

At that moment—

Click.Hiss.

The pilot inside the neural interface pod disengaged.

A tall, muscular man with a camouflage undershirt stepped down from the control platform. His movements were sharp and commanding.

A nearby staff member quickly handed him a thermal coat.

The man threw it on as he strode forward, his piercing gaze locking onto Lin Xian and KIKI.

"Who are these two?" he asked coldly.

"A mechanical ability user," Yu Yuheng replied. "Might help with repairs."

The man barely spared them a glance before snapping, "Send them somewhere else. I don’t need distractions."

Then, without another word, he walked off.

KIKI clenched her fists. "What an asshole!"

Shi Diyuan frowned. "Who is that guy?"

Sun Kai sighed. "His name is Chen Wei. He and his brother Chen Lie are Starfleet’s former ace fighter pilots. Now, they’re 5th-Level Unified Mecha Pilots. They were part of Emperor Project’s first wave of mecha pilots.

"And yeah... he’s always been an arrogant bastard."