Chapter 1480: Chapter 1478: A Dangerous Journey
This time, transporting cargo seems not as smooth as before.
No one knows exactly what the issue is, but Philip and the porters waited at the platform for about an hour before finally receiving the cargo from the factory and loading it onto the locomotive with the factory personnel.
Once the loading was complete, the front of the locomotive at the rear started and left the valley in the opposite direction, following directions from the Locomotive Captain, along a route previously untraveled, heading north.
After quite a while, the locomotive arrived at the second location of the trip—Baidak Military Factory.
In Philip’s view, Baidak Military Factory was less impressive than the previous solidified factory, lacking pillars piercing the sky, and had only a few dozen stone buildings.
Yet in contrast, this factory was heavily guarded, being intercepted for inspection just upon entering the five-kilometer radius.
After passing the inspection, the journey was far from over, as they were stopped for inspection thrice more before reaching the factory’s platform.
Finally arriving at the platform, the locomotive came to a complete stop, with a person in black uniform standing there to greet them.
The Locomotive Captain, rarely stepping out, suddenly appeared somewhat nervous, spent a good while tidying up his clothes, and then stepped forward to negotiate with the person.
About a few minutes later, negotiations concluded, Philip saw the person in black uniform waving to the side.
"Buzz!"
Without seeing anyone operate anything, a section of empty ground next to the platform reveals a downward-sloping passageway, over three meters wide and high.
"Thud thud thud..."
The sound of numerous people running arises, nearly a hundred people swarm out from the passageway, all wearing black uniforms like those on the platform. They swiftly jump onto the locomotive and efficiently unload the cargo boxes from the solidified factory, forming a relay line to transport them into the passageway.
The entire process is impressively efficient, and before Philip could react, the boxes on the locomotive are cleared, the passageway closes, leaving only several hundred black-uniformed men behind.
"Buzz!"
A second passageway opens on an empty area not too far away.
"Rattle rattle rattle..."
Five small Luo Shen Type-2 locomotives roll out from the passageway along laid tracks, each towing two or three carriages with deep black sealed boxes on them.
Several hundred black-uniformed men remaining spring into action again, swiftly unloading the sealed boxes from the small locomotives and reloading them onto Philip’s locomotive, arranging them neatly in no time.
Philip and the porters on the locomotive initially wanted to help, but seeing the black-uniformed men working with remarkable coordination, they wisely decided to refrain from interfering.
At the Baidak Military Factory platform, they stayed for over half an hour before the locomotive restarted and departed from this heavily guarded location.
However, once departed, everyone on the train, including Philip, felt a little uneasy.
Because apart from loading unknown cargo from the military factory, the train also took on about thirty black-uniformed men.
These men were holding cylindrical weapons, dispersed throughout various carriages of the locomotive, with expressions so stern that a mere glance might earn one a beating.
The train crew, unwilling to provoke them, were forced to gather in the office carriage where a puzzled porter looked at Kent Bob and asked, "Locomotive Captain, those people in Black Clothes look impressive, who are they, and why are they on our train?"
"Them..." the Locomotive Captain raised his head to speak, "they are Escorts. Because the cargo we’re transporting this time is especially important, they are accompanying the train."
"Escorts? Are they worried we’ll sneak away with the cargo?" The porter showed some dissatisfaction. Although he had a lower status, no one enjoys being casually suspected.
"Not really," the Locomotive Captain waved his hand and said, "or even if there’s a concern, it’s barely significant. The main reason is that the place we’re heading to this time is quite remote, deep in the wilderness, far from Redstone City, the road is relatively dangerous. These escorts are here to protect the cargo from potential threats on the way and incidentally look out for us."
"Danger? Protect the cargo, protect us? What kind of danger could there be on the road?" The porter was puzzled.
...
As the porter posed his questioning.
Outside Grey Forest City, in the wilderness.
"Huff—heave—huff—heave—"
Ma Qiu, panting heavily, was desperately running toward a distant small mountain.
After nearly two months unseen, he had noticeably wasted away, sunken eyes, and protruding pupils. His skin clung to his bones, his weak body swayed as he struggled to keep running, seemingly ready to trip over any moment.
Behind him, a dozen virile men were shouting as they pursued. Some wielded swords and knives; others carried mechanical crossbows, occasionally shooting. But it was unclear if it was the shooters’ skill or the mechanical crossbows’ quality issue; the released bolts always landed thirty meters away from Ma Qiu.
Thanks to this, Ma Qiu managed to run this far.
However, by now, Ma Qiu’s Physical Strength was running close to its limit. Days of hunger made it feel like scorching iron rods stirring in his belly, his legs weighed like lead, his sight darkened in waves; he had to muster all his willpower to take each step.
"Huff—huff—"
Panting heavily, Ma Qiu glanced at the small mountain before him blurredly, realizing he remained a hundred meters from it, doubting he could reach, and even if he could, it probably wouldn’t change anything.
What was worse, a recent stroke of luck for a crossbow shooter resulted in a bolt flying erratically through the air in an arc and "thud" - hit Ma Qiu right on the butt.
The bolt wasn’t strong enough to pierce Ma Qiu’s scrawny bottom, yet the sharp pain still made him scream and tumble, utterly unable to run any longer.
The shooter lowered the mechanical crossbow, checked Ma Qiu’s condition, grinned showing yellowed teeth, and chuckled, "Heh heh, he won’t be running anymore."
The rest who chased noticed this and yelled and cheered excitedly.
"Good job, old blind eye! Turns out you’re not always blind, actually shot accurately, the crossbow wasn’t wasted on you."
"Quick, catch the spy, and we’ve all made contributions; each earns at least three pounds of grain!"
"Damn spy ran so far, making us chase entirely, let’s teach him a lesson later."
"Who knows what he learned that’s got him risking his life."
"Doesn’t matter, catch him and handover to the authorities, collect the grain, and it’s done."
The firm men shouted as they accelerated closer.
Ma Qiu, hearing their words, bit his lip, and with some effort removed the metal cylinder strapped to his back, clutching it in both hands. Seeing the nearing men, he murmured to himself, "One last effort!"
After speaking, he was about to lift the metal cylinder.
The next instant, he saw the vision of over a dozen virile men pursuing him suddenly freeze, followed by a collective "thud" as they fell to the ground.
Not until three or four seconds later did vivid red wounds appear on their necks, followed by a flow of blood, then heads rolling off from their necks.
This is!
