This was far from over.
Chu Feng had no intention of simply flinging the peeled train roof into the darkness.
Instead, under the command of his magnetic field, the massive steel superstructure curled upward and inward, folding back on itself like the petals of a dark, inverted flower.
He was going to catch and crush the entire swarm in one fell swoop!
ROAR!
ROAR!
ROAR!
Sensing absolute mortality, the trapped Lickers attacked with feral desperation.
Their muscular limbs slashed frantically at the buckled metal plates, tearing jagged gaps through the steel as they tried to drop into the open-air passenger platform below.
“Chu Feng, look out!” Alice screamed in horror as a dozen skinless heads thrust through the tearing metal.
Before the beasts could leap, Chu Feng’s brow furled, his magnetic control tightening like a hydraulic vise.
The jagged gaps in the steel structure instantly contracted, clamping down with crushing force directly on the necks and torsos of the descending monsters.
“AAAGH!” Veins bulged along Chu Feng’s forearms and neck.
The violent resonance of concentrated electromagnetic force shook the air, forcing the twisted train plates to continue folding inward into a dense, metallic cage.
Trapped and unable to pull themselves free, the Lickers lashed out with their final, most lethal weapon.
Dozens of barbed, whip-like tongues shot out from their unhinged jaws, whistling through the air straight toward Chu Feng!
“Protect him!” Alice didn’t hesitate for a single second.
Gripping an iron pipe with both hands, she darted in front of Chu Feng, swinging the bar with all her might to deflect a razor-sharp tongue mid-flight.
CLANG!
The impact nearly tore the bar from her grip, but she held her ground.
Chu Feng was at a critical juncture; if his concentration broke now and the cage collapsed, the entire squad would be torn to shreds in seconds.
THWIP!
THWIP!
THWIP!
More barbed tongues pierced the air like silver spears.
“I’ve got your back!” Matt rushed forward, joining Alice as a human shield.
He swung his heavy steel bar wildly, swatting away incoming strikes.
Yet even with both Alice and Matt fighting back-to-back, the sheer volume of attacks was overwhelming.
They were being pushed to their physical limits, multiple shallow cuts opening along their arms as they barely managed to protect Chu Feng.
In the front cab, Chad set the train’s throttle to automatic cruise and turned to sprint back into the passenger car.
But as he stepped through the access door, a familiar figure blocked the narrow gangway.
“Rain…?” Chad froze, his voice trembling.
The woman standing before him made a sickening, wet clicking sound as her head snapped sideways.
Her eyes were milky white, devoid of any human intelligence, and dark, necrotized blood dripped from her slack jaw.
The antiviral serum had come too late; the T-Virus had claimed her completely.
“Rain, don’t do this…
it’s me, Chad!” Chad cried out, his heart breaking.
He couldn’t bring himself to raise his weapon against his comrade.
“Please, hold on!” ROAR!
Ignoring his plea, Zombie-Rain lunged forward with unnatural speed, tackling Chad to the steel floor.
As a former special forces operative, her infected strength was terrifying.
She pinned his arms and snapped her black-stained teeth inches from his throat.
“Chad!
We need help back here!
We can’t hold them off much longer!” Alice’s desperate shouted warning echoed from the rear.
Pinned under his former teammate, Chad looked toward Alice and Matt, who were bleeding and struggling to shield the stationary Chu Feng.
He knew that if the shield broke, Chu Feng’s concentration would shatter, the steel flower would unspool, and thirteen ravenous Lickers would tear through the train platform.
His life no longer belonged to just himself; it belonged to the survival of the entire team.
“I’m sorry…
I’m so sorry, Rain!” Tears spilled down Chad’s cheeks.
Grabbing a discarded steel rod lying beside his hand, Chad braced his arm and drove the sharp point straight up through Rain’s chin, piercing her brain stem.
Rain’s thrashing body stiffened, then went completely limp.
As her eyes slowly closed, the snarl on her face softened into a look of quiet release.
She had made her peace back on the train bench; she had never wanted to hurt her squad.
“I’m coming!” Chad yanked the iron bar free and sprinted into the main car with tears streaming down his face.
He planted himself firmly alongside Alice and Matt, forming a solid human wall directly in front of Chu Feng.
When barbed tongues whipped past, they didn’t flinch.
When iron fragments grazed their shoulders, they didn’t step back.
They took every scratch and blow head-on, protecting Chu Feng with their bare bodies.
Inside the compressing cage of iron, the thirteen Lickers thrashed in a frenzy, slamming their heavy bodies against the interior walls.
The staggering kinetic impacts rattled through Chu Feng’s hands, making his control slip millimeter by millimeter.
Seeing his companions bleed and sacrifice everything just to buy him a few seconds of focus, a fierce flame ignited deep within Chu Feng’s chest.
He was no longer just fighting for points or personal survival.
He was carrying the collective, unyielding will of everyone on this train!
“HAAAAAAH!
DIE—!” Chu Feng roared toward the ceiling, his blood boiling with pure adrenaline.
The invisible electromagnetic field condensed into a physical, blue-white pressure wave.
Under his absolute command, the blooming flower of steel violently imploded inward!
CRUNCH—!
The massive structure collapsed with hydraulic force, turning from an open iron cage into a tightly compressed, solid sphere of solid steel.
SPLAAT!
Thick crimson blood, black tissue, and severed Licker tongues burst from every crease in the metal as all thirteen bioweapons were simultaneously pulverized into paste.
The severed heads that had been clamped in the outer gaps fell limp, dropping like useless stones onto the floor.
[Ding!
Congratulations to the host for killing 13 mutated Lickers.
Total Reward: 650 points.] A flood of system kill notifications cascaded through Chu Feng’s consciousness, crediting a massive 650 points to his balance instantly!
Combined with his previous balance of 820 points, Chu Feng’s total points skyrocketed to an incredible 1,470 points!
Exhausted, Chu Feng lowered his arms, the massive, crushed sphere of steel resting motionless behind the speeding train as they roared down the final stretch of the dark tunnel toward the surface light.