329: Chapter 329 A Hundred Lives Transformed into Bones, A Steel Body Becomes a Beast!

The buzzing of the Insect Swarm and the sound of gunfire intertwined behind them.

From the circular fortifications to the ruins of the Cloud Palace in the rear, it was about two kilometers, and in less than ten minutes, everyone had retreated inside.

The soldiers of the Silver-White Train were stunned.

The opponents they had been fighting to the death with just a moment ago had retreated completely in the blink of an eye, leaving behind only insect corpses and metal fragments all over the ground.

But before they could even rejoice, they saw the look on Train Captain Baili Wuchen's face.

His face was as white as paper.

Because a familiar feeling rose in Train Captain Baili Wuchen's heart.

Energy artillery shells from ten thousand meters away were piercing through the protective film of the Cloud Palace at supersonic speeds, entering his range of perception.

The sheer magnitude of that energy, the swiftness of its speed, and the density of its numbers instantly awakened his Remembrance.

Yesterday, it was these terrifyingly powerful energy artillery shells that had nearly buried him and his Astral Express completely.

Train Captain Baili Wuchen turned his head abruptly, staring fixedly in the direction where Lin Xiao was.

First came an unbelievable realization, followed by endless rage.

The anger of being played like a puppet made his voice tremble.

"Lin Xiao, it's you! It's you!!!"

When he was covered by artillery fire back then, he should have realized that someone was guiding the strikes.

But strangely, the Astral Express was clearly maneuvering at high speed; how this person locked onto it was something he still couldn't figure out.

Train Captain Baili Wuchen had no time to figure it out.

Hundreds of energy artillery shells, trailing golden-white light trails, pierced through the gap where the protective film had been rent open and crossed the star-studded dome, descending like divine punishment and slamming hard into the depths of the Cloud Palace.

The beams of light impacted the area where the Silver-White Train was parked. However, the gray-black rock of the Cloud Palace's base withstood the blow, not even leaving a single crack.

The strength of the foundation stone far exceeded that of ordinary alloy products, and the energy cannons could not penetrate it either.

But the splash damage caused by the artillery shells exploding was enough.

The violent shockwave, carrying high heat, annihilated the building debris around the Astral Express.

The durability of the carriage shell collapsed rapidly under repeated scouring, and the liquid metal's self-repair, having just covered a thin film, was torn into finer fragments by the next round of splash damage.

The Astral Express was riddled with holes.

Train Captain Baili Wuchen's body began to collapse as well.

The bloody gash on his arm hadn't healed yet, and new lacerations appeared one after another on his back, thighs, and flanks...

The deepest one ran from his collarbone to his chest, with the flesh laid open, revealing the stark white bones.

His military uniform was soaked with blood, clinging to his body, and one arm shook violently and uncontrollably.

The soldiers of the Silver-White Train watched this scene, their eyes finally changing from numbness to fear.

Some were retreating, others simply threw away their guns.

Others' gazes darted frantically between Train Captain Baili Wuchen and the distant Insect Swarm, their minds calculating the chances of escaping during the chaos.

Although there were Scarab Beetles everywhere outside, staying here seemed even more dangerous.

"What are you doing? Stop, all of you!"

A squad leader shouted sternly, but unfortunately, the tremor in his voice betrayed his inner fear.

No one listened to the squad leader.

The first bold deserter rushed out of the formation and ran toward the ruins.

After this precedent was set, the number of people fleeing increased more and more.

The defensive line loosened, and the pace of the collapse quickened.

Several adjutants also panicked; they didn't want to escape, but rather had a clearer premonition of what was about to happen.

Where could they run to?

This place was full of ruins and filled with insects larger than a person.

One moment they would escape the clutches of Train Captain Baili Wuchen, and the next they would be swallowed into the belly of a Scarab Beetle.

Therefore, in order to survive...

"Stop fighting, stop fighting, I surrender!!!"

An adjutant threw his weapon hard onto the ground, raised his hands high, and screamed toward the direction where the passengers of AE1001 were gathered.

This cry was like the last drop of water that broke the dam.

Train Captain Baili Wuchen slowly turned around, his face wearing an indifference born of extreme rage.

"To go or to stay, to live or to die—did I give you permission?"

As he spoke, he spread his five fingers.

Not far away, hundreds of soldiers who were fleeing stiffened simultaneously.

Pleas for mercy, curses, footsteps...

All sounds were violently cut off in the same instant.

They didn't even have time to react before their bodies exploded one by one, the flesh and blood dispersing into the air instantly evaporating, leaving not even a trace.

The pure life energy turned into streams of scarlet light, surging into Train Captain Baili Wuchen's body from all directions.

He tilted his head back and let out a hoarse roar mixed with pleasure and pain.

The wounds on his body healed at a speed visible to the naked eye, but his body was simultaneously undergoing some kind of even more terrifying transformation.

The veins under his skin turned black, spreading from his chest to his neck, and then climbing from his neck up to his cheeks.

The blood color in his eyes deepened to an almost congealed darkness, his pupils filled with a chaotic luster, no longer focusing on any specific target.

"Today, none of you will be able to leave!"

At the same time, that Silver-White Train, already riddled with holes from the explosions, moved.

The front of the train slowly rose, like a dying giant snake struggling to lift its head.

The metal at the carriage connections snapped, emitting an unbearable wail, revealing the flesh and blood tissue writhing madly inside.

The explosion-proof glass of the side windows was covered by some kind of eerie substance.

It was a rapidly spreading network of capillaries; thick veins replaced the original cables and pipes, pulsing on the surface of the carriages.

The Astral Express had come alive.

Or perhaps, Train Captain Baili Wuchen was merging with it.

Those who hadn't managed to escape the carriages pounded on the windows in terror.

But the cabin doors and windows had been sealed shut by the rapidly proliferating flesh, which then tightened, muffling all the screams and cries.

Dark red mucus slowly seeped out along the cracks in the carriage walls.

The air was filled with the sweet, fishy smell of rust and rotting meat.

The shell of the Astral Express began to twist and deform.

It wasn't just flesh growing; the metal was also restructuring.

The self-repair system was taken over by a new power, intertwining with the flesh into a horrifying form somewhere between biological and mechanical.

The carriages were stretched and twisted, each segment being reassembled.

The front of the train was no longer a streamlined locomotive; it had completely split open, turning into a giant maw formed by metal bones and fleshy fascia.

Dozens or hundreds of guns grew out of the flesh tissue in the cracks of the carriages, like the exoskeleton of some parasitic organism.

The ends of the gun barrels were embedded in the flesh, connected to the pulsing blood vessels.

The ammunition supply system was replaced by biological tissue; shell casings were squeezed out from gland-like structures, and the tips of the bullets were covered in dripping mucus.

Every gun loaded itself; the sounds of bolts being pulled echoed one after another, forming a dense and eerie clatter all around the giant snake.

This monster, composed of flesh and steel, slowly raised its upper body.

The front of the train rent open, turning into a bloody, gaping maw, aimed at Lin Xiao not far away.

Then, it smiled.