The moment the words "Carriage 13" were spoken, the atmosphere in the carriage froze solid—as if even the air had stopped moving.
The distance from Carriage 9 to 13—a mere four carriages—felt like an insurmountable chasm. Every carriage meant countless zombies, and none of the ordinary people present could guarantee they would pass through unscathed, without receiving even the slightest harm.
Soek-woo's face went pale, his lips trembling. His fists were clenched so tight his nails dug into his flesh. That was his daughter—his only daughter—the child he had neglected and owed so much to, now trapped in grave danger.
Yoon Sang-hwa was silent as well, his rugged face etched with anxiety.
He was a man of action, one who would normally charge forward without hesitation in the face of danger—but now, he felt powerless for the first time in his life.
That was his wife—the woman he had vowed to protect for life, and the mother of his unborn child.
"What should we do…" Chloe's voice trembled, breaking the suffocating silence. Though she was usually easygoing and carefree, the pressure now was immense—after all, she was just an otaku with a combat power of five at best.
Suddenly, Yoon Sang-hwa seemed to recall something. He spun around and dropped to his knees with a loud thud, bowing deeply before Ian.
"Brother! I don't know who you are, but please—I beg you, save my wife!" Yoon's voice choked as he clutched Ian's pant leg like it was the last straw keeping him alive.
Chloe looked at Ian nervously. "Big Boss…"
Before she could finish, Ian had already stepped forward and pulled Yoon to his feet. "Oi, brother, no need to kneel. I was already planning to save them."
Having watched the original film countless times, Ian had always liked these characters. Now that he could help them, of course he would.
He smiled lightly. "It's just a few zombie-filled carriages, right? No big deal. Watch me perform."
"Really?" Yoon and Soek-woo lifted their heads at the same time, hope returning to their eyes.
"Of course. But give me a few seconds—I need to transform first." Ian's voice was full of confidence as he silently counted down. "Three… two… one…"
BOOM!
A thunderous explosion shook the train. It was the delayed Redstone device Ian had set earlier, detonating the TNT. Everyone instinctively ducked, covering their heads. Yoon reacted instantly, shielding Chloe with his body.
The carriage rattled violently under the shockwave. When everyone looked back at Ian, they saw… nothing had changed.
"Uh…" Ian scratched his head awkwardly. "Heh, miscalculated. Still missing a bit of energy. Give me a sec—almost there."
He opened the door to the next carriage, and a wave of rotting stench assaulted his nostrils, followed by a chorus of zombie howls.
"Oi! sh**!" Ian shouted, successfully drawing every zombie's attention.
"Raaagh!"
"Hrrghhh!"
Like sharks smelling blood, the zombies surged toward him.
A battle axe materialized in Ian's hand, and he hurled it forward.
A flash of silver light sliced through the air. The frontmost zombies were instantly bisected, blood and flesh splattering across the walls.
Before the rest could react, Ian slammed the door shut, trapping them inside.
Thud! Thud! Thud!
The zombies rammed against the metal, their bodies crushed and twisted by the horde behind them, bones cracking under the pressure.
"Okay, energy's full. Time to transform."
[Interdimensional Energy Collection Complete]
[Consume 100,861 EMC to Construct a Permanent Interdimensional Portal?]
"Construct."
[Ding... Constructing Interdimensional Portal]
[Ding... Zombie Universe Portal Construction Complete]
In the next moment, Ian felt a connection form between himself and the Minecraft World. The world felt tangible, within reach.
The immense power he had stored within Minecraft surged back into him like a tidal wave, merging into the Transmutation Tablet embedded in his body.
Ian focused his mind, activating the pre-set Gem Gear and all his attached divine artifacts.
Hummmm...
A low resonance filled the air, like something ancient awakening. The others could barely breathe—the air had turned thick, pressing against their chests.
Szzzt... crackle...
Tiny arcs of lightning leapt around Ian's body, flickering with a sinister energy.
Space itself began to twist and crack. Black fissures spread out like spiderwebs, heralding the arrival of something monstrous.
From Ian's body, an immense suit of dark crimson armor slowly emerged.
The heavy armor looked as if it were forged from solidified lava from the depths of Hell. Its surface was covered in complex and mysterious dark gold patterns, glowing with a faint red light. A roaring, bronze-headed behemoth was carved onto the Chestplate. Just looking at it instilled a powerful sense of oppression.
Already tall at nearly 190 centimeters, Ian now stood close to two meters in full Gem Armor—like a demon god risen from the depths of Hell.
The dark gold patterns on his body added a touch of sinister strangeness.
The carriage, which was relatively spacious, instantly felt cramped due to his presence.
The oppressive feeling seemed to condense into a tangible weight, heavy on everyone's minds.
Yoon instinctively stepped back, throat dry, unable to form a single word.
«W-what is that...» Chloe's voice had a noticeable tremor. She tried hard to keep her eyes open to see Ian's figure clearly, but her vision seemed blurry. The dark red heavy armor seemed to possess some kind of dark magic that made people afraid to look directly at it.
Ian slowly drew in his energy, suppressing his aura, though even then, he still seemed like something that didn't belong in this world.
«Cough, cough...» Ian cleared his throat and said with feigned seriousness, «Well, everyone, are you satisfied with my new look?»
Soek-woo and Yoon were completely speechless, jaws hanging open.
Chloe snapped out of it first, jumping in excitement. "Wow! Boss, that armor's insane! You look absolutely badass! Can I touch it?" She reached out eagerly.
Ian quickly stepped back, dodging her hand. "Better not. This armor might have some auto-defense effects—I'll test it on zombies first."
He hadn't tried it against living beings yet, and he wasn't eager to accidentally splatter Chloe all over the place.
Ian turned toward the window connecting to the next carriage, where zombies were still clawing and snarling behind the glass. A grin crept across his face.
The beast inside him had awoken. Battle—how exhilarating!
He extended his right hand, summoning a massive dark-red double-bladed battle axe. The weapon was larger than the one before, its blades gleaming with a deadly chill and glowing faintly with red runes.
The carriage was too cramped for a greatsword; an axe would do nicely.
"You guys might want to step back—don't wanna get blood on you."
At this moment, Ian wanted to thoroughly experience the process of massacring every zombie, so he decided not to sell the dead zombies. After all, the splashing blood and scattered limbs of the zombies were a unique feature of the invincible-style zombie apocalypse world that one simply had to experience.
The others hurriedly backed away. Ian spun the axe once, the sound whistling through the air.
In the blink of an eye, he appeared at the door and kicked it open.
BANG!
The door tore off its hinges and flew like a massive iron disc, smashing through the nearest zombies and turning them into chunks of flesh.
"ROAR!"
"GRRAHH!"
The heavy door plowed through the horde, crushing everything in its path before slamming violently into the next carriage door.
The entire train shook from the impact.