Apocalypse: I Built the Infinite Train-Chapter 156: The Corpse Chaser
"General, the Ascension Rail Hall is fully prepped!"
On the high platform of Zone E, the adjutant rushed forward, his voice urgent.
Ratatatat!
Gunfire ripped through the battlefield, but more and more Human Eeries and Eerie Entities surged forward. These creatures were far deadlier than zombies, their attacks devastating, leaving nothing but carnage in their wake.
Boom!
A missile streaked across the sky, slamming directly into a Fog Spider perched atop a skyscraper. The massive creature let out a shriek as it collapsed, crashing into the adjacent building. The glass facade shattered, raining debris onto the streets below.
Zhang Dingzhong stood firm, his machine gun blazing, mowing down one monster after another.
Thud! Thud! Thud!
Above the city, the colossal tentacles of the Atmospheric Mica slowly descended, dragging entire buildings into ruin. The spaceport’s floodlights scanned the night sky, but even then, the full scale of the entity remained unseen.
Vwoom!
Suddenly—
A pale white light flashed across the battlefield, illuminating the darkness for a brief moment.
"General, look!"
"What the hell is that?!"
The Iron Guard Battalion soldiers, engaged in fierce combat, turned ashen-faced, their eyes shifting to Yubei City’s center.
Zhang Dingzhong’s trigger finger halted. His gaze snapped to the distance, his pupils contracting.
From within the darkness and swirling fog, a humanoid shadow slowly emerged.
At a rough estimate—
It stood at least a hundred meters tall.
Its arms nearly dragged along the ground.
Strange, wing-like bone structures jutted from its back.
It loomed in the heart of the city, its gaze seemingly fixed upon Spaceport No. 1.
Zhang Dingzhong’s voice was grim:
"The Corpse Shepherd?"
His eyes narrowed. "Just like the intelligence reports described."
The monolithic figure exuded an overwhelming sense of oppression, a presence so alien, so incomprehensible, that it made one's blood run cold.
From atop the fortress walls, Zhang Dingzhong and the other Iron Guard officers stood frozen, staring at the colossal humanoid.
It was like a being from a higher dimension.
Even looking at it sent a shiver down their spines.
And the moment the Corpse Shepherd appeared, the battlefield shifted.
The creatures changed.
The countless Eerie Entities, zombies, and even the skyborne jellyfish began to move in unison—as if they were being herded.
Their target—
Spaceport No. 1.
"Is it coming for us?"
A nearby officer’s voice trembled.
"All previous sightings occurred within the Polar Night Zone’s active periods…"
Another officer suddenly realized something horrifying.
"It's treating us like prey, driving us toward the slaughter?"
"No wonder the zombies are all swarming in one direction!"
Zhang Dingzhong’s eyes flickered with realization. He stared at the Corpse Shepherd, his voice calm yet chilling:
"Doesn't it feel like it's casting a net?"
Silence.
The officers’ expressions darkened.
"A net…?"
Zhang Dingzhong continued:
"In deep-sea fishing, several boats work together to cast massive nets, gradually narrowing their formation to drive the fish into an enclosed space—until there's no escape."
His gaze swept over the battlefield.
"This horde of zombies and Eerie Entities…"
"They're like an ever-tightening net."
"And that Corpse Shepherd—"
"It's driving us straight into it."
The realization hit like a thunderclap.
The battlefield wasn't chaos.
It was a hunt.
"Now that you mention it… it does seem like that."
"Fishing?"
A heavy silence settled over the officers.
One of them gritted his teeth and whispered:
"We always assumed these creatures just hunted in the dark, aimlessly preying on survivors."
"But if this is true…"
His voice trembled as he looked toward Zhang Dingzhong.
"Then the 13 Abyss Zones on Blue Planet—"
"Aren’t they just 13 colossal, ever-expanding fishing nets?!"
Silence.
A suffocating pressure filled the air.
The implications were terrifying.
The Polar Night wasn’t just some environmental anomaly.
It was conscious.
It was hunting humanity.
A wave of fear crashed over them—
Followed by a surge of fury.
"F* this! They're treating us like fish?!"** a furious officer cursed.
"Goddamn it!"
"Where the hell did these things even come from?!"
Anger spread like wildfire.
But Zhang Dingzhong…
His voice remained calm.
His gaze remained firm.
He looked directly at the Corpse Shepherd—
And smiled.
"You want to treat humans like fish?"
"Then let me show you what a torpedo looks like."
BWOOOOOM!!!!
The Infinite Train and the evacuation convoy surged forward.
The rails trembled, and the traction clamps locked into place, glowing faintly as the engines roared to life.
Inside their respective trains, Lin Xian, Jian Xuwei, Shi Diyuan, and Bai Shuang simultaneously gave the command:
"Initiate Ascension!"
The trains tilted upward, their momentum accelerating skyward along the Ascension Rail.
—
Spaceport Battlefield – The Last Stand
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
The Iron Guard Battalion continued their desperate battle.
Zhang Dingzhong stood unwavering on the fortress wall, scanning the battlefield below. The Human Eeries, grotesque entities, and the unrelenting zombie horde were closing in.
The sky was a warzone—Atmospheric Mica tentacles lashed through buildings, Fog Spiders leaped from skyscraper to skyscraper, and winged horrors circled overhead.
Despite the relentless anti-air fire, the monsters kept coming.
Then—
An unnatural stillness settled over the battlefield.
Zhang Dingzhong’s instincts screamed.
He turned his gaze toward the Corpse Shepherd.
The massive humanoid figure still stood in the center of Yubei City, watching.
Observing.
Calculating.
Zhang Dingzhong’s fingers clenched.
Then—
The Corpse Shepherd moved.
Not an attack.
Not a charge.
It simply raised one arm—
—and pointed at the Ascension Rail.
A silent command.
In an instant—
The horde went berserk.
Every zombie, grotesque entity, and Human Eerie rushed the spaceport.
A tidal wave of death, racing toward the last defensive line.
The Iron Guard soldiers knew what this meant.
There was no surviving this.
But not a single one hesitated.
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Zhang Dingzhong exhaled, gripping his machine gun.
He turned to Ma Xiaotang, who was still loading the final rail cannon shell.
Their eyes met.
"Ready?" Zhang Dingzhong asked.
Ma Xiaotang smirked. "Born ready."
The cannon was loaded.
Zhang Dingzhong gave the order:
"Fire."
BOOOOOOOOM!!!!
The final shot of the Iron Guard Battalion.
A blinding shockwave tore through the air, aimed directly at the Corpse Shepherd.
—
Above the Battlefield – The Infinite Train
Inside the Infinite Train, Lin Xian’s grip tightened on the control levers.
The train shot upward, leaving the battlefield far below.
In the cockpit, KIKI watched the battlefield shrink beneath them, her voice barely a whisper:
"They're not coming back."
Chen Sixuan and Shasha sat in Carriage No. 1, holding onto their seats.
Daluo and Lu Xingchen were strapped in inside the nuclear-powered locomotive.
Ding Junyi sat alone in the research carriage, hugging the nearest handrail.
Xu Jin, Shu Qin, Old Mo, and Jiang Yun clutched whatever they could.
Their breaths were shallow.
Then—
The sky flashed.
A brilliant white explosion consumed the battlefield.
The rail cannon’s final shot.
Followed by—
A deafening silence.
—
Spaceport – The End
The Iron Guard Battalion’s final stand was over.
The Corpse Shepherd remained standing.
The zombie tide had overtaken the last defense line.
There was no one left.
And yet—
The Corpse Shepherd did not chase the train.
It simply watched.
And then, it turned.
And vanished into the fog.
—
Aboard the Infinite Train
As the train soared through the atmosphere, Bai Shuang’s voice echoed over the communication channels:
"We move forward."
A beat.
Then, softer:
"For those who stayed behind."
