Lan Xiaoyu's voice carried a rare note of urgency; Bai Cheng and Yu Nian instantly looked where she pointed.

At the edge of the garbage mountain, half-buried in piles of rusted metal, lay a mechanical device so weathered it was barely recognizable.

But Lan Xiaoyu's professional eye never missed.

It was cylindrical, its surface mottled with rust and cracks, yet the vital piston structure and fuel ports were still faintly discernible.

Even in ruins, it had clearly once been an Internal-Combustion Engine.

And from the surviving parts, its tech level far exceeded the steam machinery Bai Cheng's group currently possessed.

“Though it's too damaged to use, with Nian Nian's talent...” Bai Cheng murmured, eyes sparkling.

Without a word Yu Nian rushed over, pressed both hands on the engine, and as light flowed the broken parts began to mend.

She beamed. “Great—it can be restored!”

But the junked engine was huge; if Bluebird carried it back to the train he couldn't take Bai Cheng and Yu Nian at the same time.

The sky darkened, black clouds gathered—in the brief moment they'd looked, Silent Night had arrived.

The roiling clouds hadn't fully formed yet; they should still have time for one last trip back to the train.

Only one trip remained, yet one trip couldn't move everyone plus the engine.

Purple Iris's warning still rang in her ears; Bai Cheng clenched her teeth and decided. 𝒻𝘳𝘦𝘦𝘸ℯ𝒷𝘯𝘰𝑣ℯ𝑙.𝘤𝑜𝘮

She wouldn't pass up this engine, damaged though it was.

All they could do now was hurry.

“Leave us—take the engine to the train first!” Bai Cheng ordered at once.

Already the steel wasteland trembled, fissures webbed the ground, and black mist began to seep out everywhere.

The situation turning dire, Bluebird sprang into action.

Bai Cheng's brows knitted; suddenly her vision blurred, a gale roared, and the scenery streaked backward.

Before she could react—or rather, by the time she realized—she was standing back aboard the high-altitude train.

With her were Lan Xiaoyu and Yu Nian.

In one go Bluebird had carried all three onto the train, ignoring Bai Cheng's order to take the engine first.

“Bluebird, what are you doing?” Bai Cheng asked, bewildered.

His reason was simple: “Young Miss, your safety matters most.”

With that he turned back to the doorway. “Your servant will fetch the engine as well.”

Then he leapt, transforming into a streak of thunderous light that shot toward the ground.

Meanwhile the sky had turned completely black.

Surging black clouds rolled like towering waves, severing heaven and earth.

Bluebird's tiny figure was swallowed entirely by the dark mist.

“Bluebird!” Yu Nian cried anxiously.

“Let's hope he makes it back,” Bai Cheng sighed.

She knew these cloud-seas should be an insurmountable barrier, yet she clung to a final shred of faith in his strength.

For now all they could do was wait.

Bai Cheng clenched her fists, unease chilling her fingertips.

Bluebird had long vanished into the churning black; only the rumble of clouds and the cracking steel remained.

“That guy acted on his own!” Purple Iris ground her teeth, eyes fixed below.

She had wanted to brave the surface with Bluebird, but with her gone the train would lack a king-tier guardian.

So she stayed aboard, albeit reluctantly.

As king-tiers, she and Bluebird sensed danger on an entirely different level from the others.

Even before Silent Night fell, Purple Iris had felt a threatening, eerie aura from the ground.

Bluebird, right in the thick of it, had naturally chosen to protect Bai Cheng first rather than grab the engine.

He knew that once the black mist cut them off, being stranded below would be disastrous.

Yet neither had told Bai Cheng the full truth.

They understood how hard it was to obtain an engine to upgrade the train; they didn't want her to miss this chance.

For the cloud-sea's dispersal might be tied to those people from #1 channel—who knew when they'd walk into a trap again.

The train hovered silently in the sky; the searchlight's beam was swallowed within three meters.

Everyone aboard waited, anxious yet hopeful.

Purple Iris folded her arms, fingertips glowing faintly as she sensed the surroundings.

Suddenly her expression sharpened. “Young Miss, something in the cloud-sea is approaching!”

The group froze, thinking Bluebird had returned.

But her tone carried unknown dread—clearly not him.

As she spoke, the clouds below surged; a scarlet flash cut through the inky mist, followed by a piercing shriek—as if some creature had been startled.

“What is that?” Bai Cheng's pupils shrank.

Black fog roiled, pairs of scarlet eyes winking alight.

Under the searchlight, the group saw huge monsters coalesce from writhing black mist laced with lightning—spectral titans with no solid form yet able to devour light and life.

They had no bodies, only roiling darkness and crackling thunder.

The instant they formed, they surged together like a tsunami bearing down on the train.

“They look like some kind of undead?” Bai Cheng frowned, looking first to Purple Iris.

Not just because Purple Iris was strongest, but her nature let her cut down incorporeal creatures with ease.

Before Bai Cheng could give the order, Purple Iris moved.

She drew her sword and slashed; a fierce violet arc swept in a ring, slicing the oncoming Black Mist Monsterss in two and sending clouds billowing outward.

Yet Bai Cheng noticed Purple Iris's face stay tense.

Sure enough, the monsters re-formed ❖ Nоvеl𝚒ght ❖ (Exclusive on Nоvеl𝚒ght) in an instant and surged back.

“They're immortal?!”

“No,” Purple Iris said grimly. “The surrounding mist revives them fast.”

But this was Silent Night over Cloud Heaven Sea—black mist stretched endless—so for all intents and purposes they were immortal.

Yet in the fight the group realized the monsters only looked terrifying; their actual strength wasn't high.

Lan Xiaoyu, however, noticed something else.

“Young Miss, these Black Mist Monsterss are corroding our train.”