Woof!
Er Pang ran over from the carriage and barked.
It seemed something had indeed happened ahead, but it wasn't an enemy attack. It was likely an unexpected situation.
Otherwise, Er Pang would have been participating in the fight and wouldn't have come running over.
Zhang Chen quickly moved through the carriage towards the driver's cabin.
Shirley followed closely behind.
Upon reaching the driver's cabin, Xiaobai, with a stern little face, was controlling the train's speed.
The train had already accelerated slowly from a near-halt.
It seemed the crisis had passed.
"Xiaobai, what just happened? Why did the speed suddenly drop?"
Zhang Chen asked.
Xiaobai frowned and said,
"Just now... I saw a long-haired woman standing on the tracks in the distance!"
"And... it seems our train just ran over her..."
"A long-haired woman?"
Zhang Chen knew very well that in the current environment, the possibility of encountering mutated creatures, infected, or even supernatural phenomena was far greater than meeting survivors.
How could there be a lone survivor wandering in a tunnel without any supplies?
He glanced at Shirley. She had experienced a complete apocalyptic cycle, so she had encountered many more monsters than Zhang Chen.
However, Shirley at this moment also had a look of confusion, shaking her head and saying,
"I haven't seen any infected or mutated creatures with long hair. Weepers usually have short hair, and other infected bodies almost have no hair..."
"Moreover... if the train had run over her, there would have been some feeling, at least the carriage would have vibrated a bit!"
"And there would have been bloodstains and severed limbs on the tracks..."
"But we didn't feel anything or find anything in the rear carriages."
Zhang Chen nodded. Shirley's reasoning was sound.
"There's another possibility: at the moment the train was about to hit her, she dodged it..."
"Or..."
As he said this, Zhang Chen and Shirley exchanged glances, their expressions changing, and they said in unison:
"Or she's on the train right now?!"
As soon as the words left their mouths, they heard a scraping sound from the carriage wall.
It sounded like something was moving rapidly along it.
"Here it comes!"
Shirley pulled out two daggers and held them in her hands, ready for battle.
The daggers glowed with a faint green light, indicating they were poisoned weapons.
Zhang Chen immediately activated Absolute Vision and began scanning the roof, the exterior of the carriages...
Suddenly, a few faint energy lines appeared in his sight.
"Found it!"
"This guy's energy is so weak, it shouldn't be anyone powerful!"
The long-haired woman climbed quickly to the window from outside the carriage.
Then, with a whoosh, she shot into the carriage.
Swish!
Under Zhang Chen's mental control.
The clones in the carriage instantly moved to the sides, creating a wide passage around the long-haired woman.
Standing at the door of the driver's cabin, Zhang Chen could clearly see the woman's appearance.
Pale skin, sharp nails, and hair so long it almost covered her upper body.
Only her chin was exposed from her face.
Her clothes were tattered, seemingly weathered by time.
Soon, a prompt appeared beside the woman:
[A modified, failed experimental clone, no category. She poses no threat to you...]
Indeed, from the weak energy flow from the woman, it was evident that if it came to a fight, she probably wouldn't last a single round.
A failed experimental clone. Zhang Chen wondered whose clone it was.
"You've arrived!"
The clone suddenly spoke, her voice hoarse and unsettling.
"You know me? Who are you?"
"Or... who is behind you?"
Zhang Chen asked.
"I'll be waiting for you at Research Institute Three!"
The woman didn't answer Zhang Chen's question but continued.
"So... are you here to guide us?"
Zhang Chen asked again.
"This is just a tool to relay messages. Their lifespans are very short. Once they leave me, they will quickly die from energy depletion!"
"You brought Xiaobai too, that's very good!"
The woman turned her head slightly towards Zhang Chen's back.
Beneath the thick hair, her eyes, reflecting the carriage lights, were faintly visible.
"You are... Xu Ruina?!"
Being able to recognize Zhang Chen and Xiaobai, and being at the High Wall's Third City's Research Institute Three, only Xu Ruina fit all these conditions.
"We'll discuss the specifics when we meet. I don't have much time!"
The clone finished speaking and slowly walked towards the driver's cabin.
Since it was Xu Ruina, there would be no danger.
Moreover, given the clone's weakness, even if it suddenly attacked, it wouldn't be a match for anyone in the carriage.
The woman stood in front of Zhang Chen for a moment, examining him closely. Then, she reached out and gently stroked Zhang Chen's firm chest muscles, slowly saying, "You've become stronger!"
A moment later, she circled around Zhang Chen and squatted in front of Xiaobai, saying softly,
"I'm very happy to see you like this. You are humanity's hope!"
As the clone stood up, she noticed the dark red ring on Shirley's hand.
She paused for a moment, then said to Zhang Chen,
"You must be careful of Ge..."
The clone's words were cut short, as if her soul was being torn from her body, and she slumped to the ground.
At the same time, Zhang Chen saw the energy lines within her completely disappear.
"Daddy, who is this person? She seems to know us!"
Xiaobai tugged at Zhang Chen's clothes and asked nervously.
She wasn't afraid of the clone's appearance, but found the entire incident very bizarre.
Being able to sense the strangeness indicated that Xiaobai was beginning to establish a worldview and cognitive system based on the current world.
She was no longer the violent loli who liked to smash things whenever she saw them.
"She's a friend of yours sent to pick us up. We'll see your good friend soon!"
As Zhang Chen spoke, he squatted down and gently pushed aside the long hair covering the woman's face.
Revealed underneath was Xu Ruina's likeness.
This clone's facial features resembled the real Xu Ruina more than the clones in the carriage.
Her figure was also similar...
Of course, Zhang Chen was looking through her clothes and wouldn't be so bored as to strip them off for verification.
At this moment, a prompt appeared on the corpse:
[Clone has died. Cannot be collected...]
The "Ge..." that the clone said before dying seemed to be a name. Ge what?
In the High Wall's Third City, whose name contained the character Ge?!