Apocalypse: I Build A Doomsday Train

Chapter 1340 - 517: The Great Colorado Retreat

Night had fallen, and the darkness only turned the crimson fog into a pitch black, with the train’s searchlight shining into the sky, revealing columns of blood-red light.The terrifying giant eye hanging in the sky resembled an otherworldly planet, menacingly gazing down at the earth, bringing a chilling aura. The release of such super dark energy could be felt as if the air itself was corroding the skin.

An unprecedented sense of oppression weighed heavily on the hearts of all survivors. Within each caravan team, there were instances where people would undergo transformations due to mental collapses at any moment. Their comrades were forced to endure the pain and reluctance to turn their guns on former companions. Any hesitation might trigger a cascade reaction like an avalanche, causing dozens or even hundreds of deaths.

The sounds of crying, panic, and screams echoed continuously through each carriage. The armed guards peered through train windows at the thick fog outside, with tension and suffocation filling every carriage. The men clutched their weapons, waiting for the eerie army that might emerge from the fog at any moment.

This was neither a siege battle nor an encounter fight but a pure desperate escape.

"Start the engine, why hasn’t the train started moving!!"

"Run, there’s no doubt we’ll die if we don’t..."

"Is the way ahead blocked?"

"That fog is definitely filled with monsters, what do we do?!"

"We have no choice but to fight!"

In an instant, despair and anxiety spread rapidly as the hundred-kilometer-long steel convoy stood motionless on the track, sunk into the terrain, with steam hydraulics hissing. Outside the train, dozens of car battalions similarly buzzed with unrest.

Though the car battalions were more agile and could escape at any time compared to the train, this advantage was evidently nonexistent in the current situation. Without the firepower of the five to six thousand armed train cars and millions of support, under the crimson night, encountering dense monster hordes would lead to being completely devoured within a very short time like a candle in the wind. Now, they could only retreat by relying on the train’s procession, or else there was no opportunity.

The first defensive line consisted of a steel barrier formed by the Second Continental Force, 13, and 22 Iron Guard Brigade with a total of 150,000 troops. In the air, three medium-sized fleets defended the airspace, the core defensive power of the orbital forces. Compared to the militarized Survivor Caravan, almost 80% heavy firepower came from the interstellar army, so if the interstellar army Iron Guard Brigade were wiped out, the entire train convoy, consisting of millions of people, would be instantly shattered.

Luo Shaokai was well aware of this. Seeing the red glow on the radar screen, the Chief of Staff of the Second Continental Force appeared as if his gaze had been filled with lead.

Compared to the defensive battles once fought under the city, this kind of defense while spreading forces over large areas in the wild, deployed in a fragmented manner, was akin to sending the troops to die. Over the past month, nearly 60,000 of a force of 200,000 had been lost. To protect the train’s movement, they couldn’t dig defensive fortifications, and the firepower configuration was dispersed. They couldn’t actively break out of the encirclement, could only passively follow the train in a defensive march.

Elder Luo knew well that the lifeline of survival was on this evacuation track. Looking at the countdown timer, he clenched his fists tightly.

"It’s uncertain how many will die in these two hundred kilometers..."

He pondered silently, recalling the previous fire at South Heavenly Gate, thinking if there were major support, there might still be a chance. Although he sensed that tonight’s crisis was indeed the final death knell for the migrating forces.

...

Bang bang!

On an armed train with a densely packed anti-aircraft gun on the top, a dozen members in Power Armor fired and killed a fellow comrade. The mutant fell from the car roof, countless densely packed small tentacles frantically quivering from the shattered Power Armor mask and gaps, boom! A flamethrower soared skyward.

"Sorry, Lao Lu..."

Under a complex array of gazes, the former comrade turned to ashes amidst the roaring flames.

"Get ready, don’t make too much noise."

Zhao Yang, the deputy captain of the Red Fire Train Team, clad in Iron Hunter Battle Armor like a giant bear, shouldered the Pulse Cannon and told the team members behind him, "We accelerate and run in 5 minutes, drones are gathering ahead to lay tracks. These monsters are smart, if they detect we’re retreating, they might charge prematurely. It takes quite a time for such a long train to accelerate; we must seize every moment we can."

The Red Fire Train Team was sizable, with over ten thousand members and strong firepower configuration, with nearly 4000 combatants, making it a backbone presence in the train convoy.

"Got it."

"Understood!"

"Captain Zhao." At this moment, on the stairs in the rear, the team’s information officer Xiao He climbed quickly up to the roof, speaking in a panicked tone, "Bad news, we can’t find Captain Wei anywhere!"

"What?"

Zhao Yang furrowed his brows, immediately attempting to contact the leader of the Red Fire Train Team via communicator.

"Lao Wei, Lao Wei, do you hear me?"

"Not in the frequency range."

"Lao Wei!"

"Captain Zhao, look." A sniper beside him pointed towards the northeast as he spoke: "Isn’t that... Captain Wei?"

Upon hearing this, Zhao Yang immediately followed the direction of the voice, enhancing the visual system of his Power Armor to scour the night. Sure enough, in a distant patch of crimson fog, a flying motorcycle sped toward a hill, its red taillights intermittently appearing, kicking up a cloud of dust on the ground.

"It’s our vehicle!" A team member also noticed it at this moment.

"Where’s Captain Wei headed?"