Courtyard House: I fish in the heavens, a professional bird abuser.

The sound of the train wheels on the rails was like a lullaby, rhythmically echoing under the carriages.

The slight vibration from the friction of metal gave everyone who had just experienced a hellish battle a feeling of being in another world.

Alive.

Truly alive.

Ryan sat in the corner, her head against the cold car wall. Her hands were still trembling, but the corners of her mouth involuntarily turned up. The ecstasy of being pulled back from the brink of death outweighed the pain from all the wounds on her body.

Kaplan lay on the dashboard, his face buried in his arms, his shoulders heaving, it was hard to tell whether he was crying or laughing.

Matt huddled under the seat, his hands tightly wrapped around his knees, his lips trembling, his eyes looking as if he had just woken from a nightmare.

Captain Xue De sat upright in the front row, still clutching the rifle whose magazine was empty, his knuckles white, his eyes fixed on the tunnel ahead, as if afraid that something unnatural might leap out from the darkness.

And what about He Yuanchao?

The only one in the entire room who wasn't injured was currently reclining in his seat in an extremely ungraceful manner, with his long legs propped up on the back of the chair opposite him. He was playing with the Tang sword that had just been stained with monster blood, and using the tip of the sword to wipe a tattered cloth that he had picked up from somewhere.

He looked like he'd just walked a dog back from his backyard.

"System, calculate the data for that last one."

He silently recited a sentence in his mind.

The system's virtual panel popped up on his retina, with pale blue characters flashing.

Killing a Licker larva will reward you with 5,000 Karma Points.

A 50% bonus is applied to killing opponents of higher levels using melee weapons.

The current total causal point balance is 1,212,500.

He Yuanchao looked at the string of numbers and smacked his lips in satisfaction.

The monsters in this bio-world may look disgusting, but they're still pretty worthwhile as experience points. I just wonder how much those more advanced mutants will be worth.

"Buzz—"

The train engine emitted a steady, low hum.

The speed is increasing.

The tunnel walls ahead were rushing past, and the lights were flashing, casting flowing shadows.

Judging from the situation, we should reach the exit in a few more minutes.

"Finally, we're going out..."

Alice leaned against the door, her golden hair disheveled and plastered to her forehead. Her delicate face was covered in dust and blood, but her blue eyes remained bright.

She glanced at He Yuanchao subconsciously.

The man was dozing with his eyes closed, a slight smile playing on his lips as if he were having a sweet dream.

Who exactly is this person?

Technical consultant? Administrative inspector?

Ghosts believe.

Can a clerical worker cleave that monster in two with a single blow? Can an office administrator hit every shot with a pistol?

And that aura he exudes...

The kind of murderous aura that has been refined and matured like aged wine after countless life-and-death battles cannot be cultivated in an office building.

This man's background is definitely not simple.

But no matter what, if it weren't for him, I would probably be one of those rotten pieces of flesh by now.

"what--"

Alice was about to say something.

"Boom—"

A muffled, loud bang suddenly came from deep within the tunnel far behind the train.

The vibration was so strong that even a high-speed train swayed slightly.

Everyone's expression changed instantly.

He Yuanchao suddenly opened his eyes.

His black pupils instantly narrowed into two tiny points of light, like a falcon spotting its prey.

"What is that?"

Xue De jumped up, pointing his gun at the back of the car.

"Earthquake?" Rain's voice trembled.

It wasn't an earthquake.

In He Yuanchao's mind, the system's radar interface suddenly turned a blinding red.

An alarm blared in his consciousness.

High-energy biological reactions are approaching the middle stage.

Extremely fast.

They are chasing the train at high speed from inside the tunnel behind them.

The estimated contact time is thirty seconds.

The danger level has been raised to S.

He Yuanchao's pupils suddenly contracted.

He sprang up from his seat and rushed to the rear window, forcefully prying open the dusty glass.

Look back.

Deep within the tunnel, in the endless darkness, two scarlet lights were rapidly approaching at an alarming speed.

Those are eyes.

The crimson eye, more than three times larger than the previous one, burned with the fire of hatred.

Accompanying those eyes was a tremor like an earthquake.

Each time, the car body shook violently.

"Thump! Thump! Thump!"

That wasn't footsteps.

It was the sound of a colossal creature weighing several hundred kilograms charging at full speed against the tunnel walls, floor, and even ceiling with its limbs as thick as tree trunks.

That's too fast.

So fast that He Yuanchao's dynamic vision could only capture a blurry, scarlet afterimage.

The thing was like a crimson cannonball in the tunnel, chasing after them at a speed faster than a train.

"That is..."

He Yuanchao's expression finally turned serious.

That's not a new monster.

That was the Licker he had cleaved in two in the warehouse of Restaurant B.

It didn't die.

He Yuanchao only severed its body but did not completely destroy its brainstem.

In that environment permeated with a high concentration of T-virus, a severely injured Licker triggered one of the most troublesome mechanisms in the biohazard world—secondary mutation.

It devoured it.

The other corpses scattered on the warehouse floor, the nutrient solution leaking from the culture tanks, and even the flesh and blood of the creature itself that flowed onto the ground when He Yuanchao cut it off, all became nutrients for its secondary mutation.

It ate everything it could.

Then it grew a new body.

Moreover, it was a monster body that was more than five times stronger than before, completely mutated, and filled with a destructive desire.

"Awooo—!!!"

A roar that pierced through metal, glass, and even the soul exploded from the depths of the tunnel.

The sound was no longer the high-frequency scream it used to be.

Instead, it was a strange, complex sound that blended metallic friction, beastly roars, and some kind of low-frequency resonance, like the sound of the gates of hell being kicked open from the inside.

"What are you looking at?"

He Yuanchao suddenly turned around and roared at the crowd who were still in a daze.

"Get out of the back of the car! Everyone move to the front!"

"quick!"

The carriage instantly descended into chaos.

Everyone scrambled and stumbled towards the front carriage.

He Yuanchao grabbed Ryan by the collar and pulled her forward, then shoved Matt, signaling him to hurry up and follow.

"Xe De!"

"exist!"

"Take them to the driver's cab! Lock all the isolation doors!"

"Then what?"

Xue De's face was as white as paper.

"Then……"

He Yuanchao turned around and looked at the red shadow that was approaching at a speed visible to the naked eye.

The corners of his mouth actually curled up again.

"Then you just need to pray."

"The rest... I'll handle."