“Can’t this thing go any faster?!” Matt screamed over the deafening roar of grinding metal, clutching his bleeding arm.
“If I push the throttle any higher, we’ll derail on the next curve!” Chad yelled back from the cab, sweat pouring down his neck.
“This is max speed!” BANG!
At that moment, a brutal impact slammed into the heavy rear door of the passenger car.
The steel frame bulged inward under sheer physical force.
“Damn it!” Matt scrambled over, leaning his weight against the manual lock to reinforce the latch.
BOOM!
Before the lock could fully click into place, an explosive force blew the heavy stainless steel door completely off its hinges.
The metal panel shot inward, sending Matt tumbling across the floor tiles.
ROAR!
A mutated Licker squeezed through the ruptured doorway, its skinless muscles quivering as it flexed its powerful hind legs.
Without pausing, it pounced directly toward Matt, clawed hands extended to tear his chest open.
“It’s over…” Matt gasped, staring up at the descending nightmare.
In a narrow train car with a wounded arm, dodging was physically impossible.
He squeezed his eyes shut, bracing for death.
HUMMM— A sharp electromagnetic hum vibrated through the air.
The heavy steel door lying on the floor suddenly snapped upward like an iron shield, interposing itself directly between Matt and the lunging beast.
CLANG!
CLANG!
CLANG!
The Licker slammed into the makeshift barrier, its razor-sharp claws striking the stainless steel panel in a frenzy, leaving deep gashes and tearing jagged holes through the metal.
“Hmph.” Chu Feng snorted coldly.
Extending his right hand, he thrust forward and made a sharp gripping motion.
Under the influence of his expanded magnetic field, the mangled steel door behaved like a living sheet of liquid metal.
It instantly wrapped around the Licker’s torso and head, folding tightly into a dense iron cocoon.
“Die.” Chu Feng clenched his fist.
The magnetic field vibrated at high frequency, compressing the steel shell inward with hydraulic force.
CRUNCH!
Thick dark blood sprayed from the seams of the metal plate as the beast’s vital organs and skeletal structure were pulverized instantly.
[Ding!
Congratulations to the host for killing a mutated Licker.
Reward: 50 points.] Another 50 points were credited to his balance.
With a casual flick of his wrist, Chu Feng sent the iron-wrapped carcass flying out the open rear doorway, where it bounced violently along the railway bed.
“Thanks…” Matt gasped, shuddering as he scrambled back toward the center of the car.
“Stay sharp,” Chu Feng replied calmly.
BANG!
BANG!
ROAR!
Before anyone could breathe a sigh of relief, the entire train car jolted sideways.
Two more Lickers appeared at the rear opening—one clinging upside down to the upper frame, the other crouched on the bottom ledge—their muscular limbs flexing to spring inward simultaneously.
“You’ve got to be kidding me!” Matt almost lost his mind.
“Where are they all coming from?!” Chu Feng frowned.
He had truly stumbled into a nest of bioweapons today.
Yet despite the overwhelming numbers, his expression remained completely composure.
In a wide, open environment, agile Lickers could use three-dimensional movement to dodge high-velocity objects.
But inside a tight train car, the narrow doorway funneled them into a straight line with zero room to evade.
Chu Feng pointed two fingers toward a cluster of heavy structural steel pipes mounted along the interior ceiling frame.
WHIRL!
WHIRL!
Two thick iron pipes ripped free from their mounting brackets, turning into silver streaks as they shot straight down the aisle toward the rear opening.
THUNK!
THUNK!
The heavy steel pipes struck both Lickers squarely in their skull cavities before they could leap.
The sheer momentum drove both beasts backward out of the frame, impaling them against the concrete tunnel walls outside.
[Ding!
Congratulations to the host for killing 2 mutated Lickers.
Reward: 100 points.] Another 100 points registered, bringing his total ever closer to the 10,000-point threshold required for the Stage 3 genetic evolution.
BOOM!
BOOM!
BOOM!
Before the group could celebrate, a barrage of violent thuds echoed from above.
The entire ceiling of the train car began to warp and buckle inward.
Dozens of razor-sharp claws slashed through the outer roof plating, peeling back the metal like foil.
The remaining pack had realized the doorway was a death trap and were now trying to tear the roof off to drop in from above!
“Hah!” Alice grabbed a discarded steel rod from the floor and thrust it violently upward through one of the jagged gaps in the ceiling.
SCREECH!
A pained howl echoed from the roof as the rod bit into flesh.
However, without the T-Virus integration that would later grant her superhuman strength, Alice’s raw physical blow was far from lethal.
The wounded Licker clamped its powerful jaw around the steel rod and yanked violently upward, pulling Alice off her feet toward the opening!
“Whoa!” Alice lost her balance, slipping toward the claw-filled gap in the roof.
Before she could be dragged out, a strong pair of arms wrapped firmly around her waist, pulling her back into the safety of the car.
Chu Feng held her securely with one arm while unleashing a burst of magnetic energy into the steel rod in the Licker’s mouth with his free hand.
BOOM!
The iron rod inside the beast’s jaw expanded rapidly and fractured into dozens of jagged metallic splinters, exploding outward and shredding the Licker’s head from the inside out.
[Ding!
Congratulations to the host for killing a mutated Licker.
Reward: 50 points.] “Are you alright?” Chu Feng asked, releasing her waist once the danger had passed.
Alice felt her cheeks flush warmly.
Flustered by the sudden closeness and the lingering touch, she quickly straightened her vest and cleared her throat, trying to regain her composure.
“I—I’m fine.
Thank you.” SCREECH—!
Above them, structural failure reached a tipping point.
Multiple holes tore open across the length of the ceiling, revealing the skinless bodies and thrashing limbs of nearly a dozen Lickers preparing to pour into the cabin.
“What do we do now?!” even Alice gasped in alarm.
Using narrow choke points was effective against small groups, but if the entire roof collapsed, they would be swarmed from every angle simultaneously.
“Stand behind me,” Chu Feng said softly.
He closed his eyes.
In an instant, his localized magnetic field expanded dramatically, encompassing the entire structural framework of the passenger car.
RUMBLE—!
The train frame groaned as every rivet, bolt, and iron panel vibrated in resonance.
“Drink!” Chu Feng opened his eyes, his pupils flashing with intense blue magnetic energy.
Veins bulged along his forearms as he pushed his Stage 2 Magneto genes to their absolute physical limit, compressing and redirecting the surrounding electromagnetic currents.
CREAK…
SNAP!
SNAP!
SNAP!
A series of deafening structural shears echoed down the line.
To the sheer horror and astonishment of Alice, Rain, Chad, and Matt, the entire upper half of the heavy steel car—including both side walls and the roof—was sheared cleanly off the chassis frame.
With a powerful wave of Chu Feng’s arms, the massive, multi-ton steel shell lifted upward into the air, carrying the entire pack of clinging Lickers along with it, before flinging the colossal structure backward into the tunnel behind them!