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Chapter 360: Chapter 360: The Tragedy at Joy Park Station

"What? Tracks?"

Chen Xuan turned his head in surprise to take a closer look, noticing that the "meridians" were indeed in parallel pairs, with auxiliary tendrils arranged longitudinally between them. It seemed plausible to call them a juvenile version of tracks...

"It’s mimicking the subway... Tracks shouldn’t be part of the subway, right?"

"Who knows? Our understanding of nano-living bodies is limited—as a new form of life, they’ve existed only for thirty or forty years." Lin Qing rubbed her forehead. "I’ve given this phenomenon a name, called metamorphosis. Its mimicry range has clearly exceeded the boundaries of its original form, beginning to expand into something else. This is definitely a very dangerous warning."

"Some even call it cancerization," Ji added. "The boundaries are unclear, growing unchecked, much like cancer cells, aren’t they? The poor residents of the Park Station were swallowed by the subway without any defenses."

It is indeed terrifying.

If the ghost subway were to climb up to the upper layers, all the shelters built based on subway stations would become extremely unsafe.

"Such important information, surely the Mutual Aid Association wouldn’t be completely indifferent, right?" Chen Xuan wondered.

"Not entirely deaf," Lin Qing replied with a hint of disdain in her voice. "After discovering this phenomenon, we immediately sent a notification to the central station. Their first reaction was disbelief, planning to form an investigation team to visit Lushan District; their second reaction was that even if our discovery was true, it would not be advisable to oppose large nano-living bodies. Instead, they suggested sealing off the passenger layer completely with concrete, then drilling a vertical shaft from the 1st and 2nd Layers down to the bottom layer."

"Hmm... This approach seems feasible too."

The method is simple, costs minimal, and doesn’t entail much loss... Chen Xuan saw no problem with the plan.

Provided that the tracks wouldn’t break through the concrete walls.

"Then completely lose this transportation artery running through the city?" Lin Qing scoffed, "Always choosing to retreat in the face of large nano-living bodies, our living space will only get smaller! Conflict is inevitable; if only to evade, one might as well choose to become an Evangelical!"

"Uh... Yan Sister, are you really going to be a savage?" Ji shrank his neck.

"It’s just a hypothesis," she pursed her lips, "At least they have the courage to face change."

"Why are Evangelicals considered savages?" Chen Xuan asked.

"Hey, don’t you have Evangelicals where you are?" Ji cast a curious glance.

"His hometown is a small village with few nano-living bodies, so naturally there are fewer Evangelicals," Lin Qing explained on his behalf. "These people advocate coexisting with nano-living bodies and never wear protective gear. Some of them have become increasingly outrageous, barely wearing clothes anymore, often using fur and leaves to cover themselves, displaying savage behavior, which is why people think they’re out of their minds."

"If I walked outside dressed like this, would I be mistaken for an Evangelical?" He pointed to himself.

Lin Qing glanced Chen Xuan up and down, "Hmm... Quite likely."

Okay... It seems Zhuang Yu wasn’t lying.

"Will nano-living bodies really accept humans?"

Unexpectedly, the other party didn’t give an immediate negative answer but instead showed an intrigued expression. "Why, are you interested in Evangelicals?"

Chen Xuan didn’t hide his interest, "Indeed, a bit."

"How should I say this, after all, there are indeed some Evangelicals who won’t be devoured by the Celestial Patrol... Some believe it’s their special ability, that Evangelicals lacking this ability will still become fuel for the nano-living bodies."

"Hasn’t anyone confronted them directly?" Chen Xuan couldn’t help but be intrigued. He found it hard to imagine people choosing to turn away from their own communities, instead opting for a bizarre group of nano-organisms?

"Evangelicals only attack lone individuals. None of those captured by them have returned. It’s impossible for the outposts to proactively eliminate them—in outdoor battles without shielding devices, there’s always the risk of attracting the Celestial Patrol, a risk no one dares to take."

Lin Qing replied with a meaningful look, "Besides, as long as nano-living bodies continue to appear invincible, Evangelicals will never disappear. It’s understandable, isn’t it? After all, there are traitors in every era."

The statement was true, but the problem was that large nano-living bodies are indeed invincible, both Chen Xuan and Jiang City’s residents have experienced that.

"So how do you plan to fight the ghost subway?"

"A good question, this is the key!" Lin Qing nodded towards Ji, "Show him that video."

Ji quickly pulled up a surveillance record.

From the timestamp, it was five days earlier than the previous footage, at Park Station’s interchange area. A long string of subway cars suddenly appeared on the screen, the sides of the cars lifting upwards like swing doors, many slender claws extending from the cars to precisely hunt survivors within the outpost.

Upon closer inspection, these nimble claws were, surprisingly, the handle bars hanging in the subway. They had assembled piece by piece into long, strip-like hunting tools, resembling the auxiliary limbs of arthropods. These "limbs" flew up and down, easily piercing human bodies, often impaling multiple victims in a single strike.

The survivors in the outpost also rose up to fight back.

Various weapons fired frantically, causing showers of sparks to erupt on the ghost subway’s body. However, this attack couldn’t damage the massive nano-living body; it seemed completely unaffected by the counterattack.

Due to the chaos on scene, some terror-stricken residents even took off their protective suits, directly charging toward the ghost subway.

Chen Xuan thought they would be immediately killed by the nano-living body, but surprisingly the ghost subway was indifferent to their approach, simply allowing them to run into the cars!

Soon, more people followed suit.

It seemed that turning to the nano-living body was the only escape at the moment.

"Why doesn’t the ghost subway kill them?"

Lin Qing signaled him to continue watching.

After more than ten minutes of hunting, the nano-living body finally retracted its long claws, reverting to its original subway form. At this point, Chen Xuan noticed through the window that the cars were already full of hanging human bodies, even the color of the glass had taken on a tinge of bright red. A thought popped into his head about the show called "Guess the Train": people guessing the ghost subway’s appearance schedule and the number of passengers, with the latter referring to those suspended victims’ bodies.

But not everyone was dead.

He did see a few figures still alive—they slumped on the ground, mostly obscured by seats and "passengers," with only their heads faintly visible, and their faces marked by indelible fear and relief.

This video reveals what?

A group of people rush towards the subway, some survive, but others don’t?

Chen Xuan shook his head, just about to say he couldn’t understand, when suddenly a spark flashed in his mind.

—"These people advocate coexisting with nano-living bodies, never wearing protective gear."

—"It’s understandable, isn’t it? After all, there are traitors in every era."

"Were Evangelicals infiltrating Park Station?" He realized suddenly, "Were the first to take off their protective suits the insiders, so the ghost subway didn’t attack them?"

"Exactly, that’s our guess too." Lin Qing nodded approvingly. "Everyone thinks Evangelicals are irrational cultists, roaming the city’s ruins. But in reality, they may have infiltrated the outposts inversely, quietly spreading the Evangelical Association’s coexistence doctrine."

"Are there some at Sha River Station too?"

"Any outpost could possibly have them."

"Then I could be an Evangelical too!" Chen Xuan pointed at himself.

"Pfft." Ji nearly couldn’t hold back, "You don’t even know what’s with savages; how could you be an Evangelical?"

"We don’t discuss such hypotheticals, because theoretically any outpost resident could be an Evangelical," Lin Qing interrupted. "We have eyes watching, appraising. The key is, these Hidden might know how to avoid attacks from nano-living bodies, which is the most crucial information. If we have the chance to board the cars, we could operate the traction system, separating the cars, and let the ghost subway fall apart!"