Chapter 1484: Chapter 1482: You Dare Trespass Into My Territory
Twenty seconds later.
"Hiss~ Roar~"
"Hiss~ Roar~"
The Bald Giant Rat, accompanied by numerous brown rats, approached the locomotive again, seemingly ready to pounce at any moment.
"Bang!"
A subordinate who had gone to retrieve something ran back quickly and placed a box over a meter long on the ground.
"Captain, Steel... Steel Fist!" the subordinate gasped, speaking to Jent.
"Hmm." Jent responded and swiftly opened the box, revealing its contents.
Inside was a slender black cylinder with a diameter of over ten centimeters and a length of 120 centimeters, its surface engraved with dense Magic Runes.
Jent picked it up, shouting: "Energy Pillar!"
The subordinate quickly handed over an Energy Cube the size of a finger.
Jent pressed a spot at the back of the black cylinder, revealing a honeycomb-shaped groove into which he quickly inserted more than ten Energy Cubes, closing it with a "click".
Then he hoisted the black cylinder onto his shoulder and glanced at Bob huddled in the corner of the carriage: "Locomotive Captain, technically speaking, neither of us has the right to use the cargo we’re transporting, but given the circumstances, I’m using it. You don’t have any objections, do you?"
Bob forced a grim smile and shook his head vigorously: "How could I have any objections? No, absolutely none!"
"Good, then I thank you on behalf of my entire team." Jent said, squinting as he spoke and then looked outside the locomotive.
Outside the locomotive, the Bald Giant Rat propelled itself with its limbs and leaped upward.
Jent’s eyes turned cold as he aimed the end of the black cylinder at the Bald Giant Rat, muttering softly: "Come on, let me see how tough you are!"
"Clack!"
Jent fiercely pulled the trigger in the middle of the black cylinder.
"Boom!"
Jent was jolted, involuntarily taking a half step back as explosive sounds echoed from inside the cylinder. The densely packed Magic Runes on the surface emitted light, flashing three times at an extremely high frequency, and the end suddenly brightened.
"Whiz!"
A beam of white light as thick as an adult’s arm shot out, hitting the leaping Bald Giant Rat.
"Crash!"
With barely a chance to resist, the entire body of the Bald Giant Rat exploded, and the explosion’s shockwave even engulfed several nearby brown rats, blowing them to pieces.
Meanwhile, the surface of the cylinder in Jent’s hand emitted a small burst of Flames with a "sizzle". The entire cylinder grew so hot that Jent couldn’t hold it any longer and dropped it to the ground. The skin of his palm turned red from the heat, indicating it couldn’t be used again.
"Damn it!"
Jent cursed softly, shook his hand, and looked at the remaining Abnormal Brown Rats still attacking, roughly forty left.
Turning his head, Jent spoke to his subordinate: "Using one Steel Fist is a violation, and using multiple Steel Fists is also a violation, but since we’ve already used it, bring me four more. Today, I want to blow all these ugly rats to pieces."
"Yes, Captain." The subordinate dared not object and quickly turned to run out of the carriage.
In no time, four long boxes were neatly lined up on the floor.
"Boom boom boom boom!"
Followed by four explosive blasts.
Outside the locomotive, there was a moment of silence.
...
Inside the carriage, medical personnel began treating injured individuals again, with Jent’s injured arm receiving a bandage.
Yet Jent didn’t show any sign of relaxation; his arm wrapped in thick gauze, he sat silently in a corner of the carriage, possibly saddened by the loss of his subordinates or worried about the journey ahead.
"Captain, would you say we’re safe now?" Locomotive Captain Bob tentatively asked, but Jent didn’t respond.
Bob sought affirmation from his crew, hoping for agreement: "Do you think there’s nothing to worry about from here on... right, Frank?"
Frank, leaning against the carriage wall, stared back at Bob for several seconds, not daring to open his mouth.
"Frank, you don’t really believe you’re the one who brought the Calamity, do you?" Bob asked, amused at Frank’s silence. "That was just an accident earlier. To be honest, I don’t believe you talking would cause danger to happen; if it did, how have you survived this long?"
Actually, I also find this odd... Frank thought silently but refrained from contradicting Bob, as he would have to work under him in the future. Taking a deep breath with a somewhat hoarse tone, he said, "Maybe you’re right, Locomotive Captain, maybe I’m overthinking..."
"That’s what it is..." The Locomotive Captain said, evidently dismissive of Frank’s superstitions. Yet before he finished his sentence, the whole locomotive jolted, "Bang!"
The crew was taken aback; Frank stood up in shock, and Jent and the other escorts frowned and looked around.
In the midst of everyone’s confusion about what happened, the door to the locomotive’s cab suddenly opened, and a driver responsible for steering ran out in panic, looking at Bob: "Locomotive Captain, the train ran over something."
"Ran over something? What was it?" Bob asked with a hint of dissatisfaction. "Buddy, you’ve been on the train for over a year. Did you think it was a person you ran over, being so scared?"
"Not a person, but a big rat, the one that was crazily charging at our locomotive earlier." the driver named Buddy swallowed and replied.
Bob raised an eyebrow: "Dead?"
"No." Buddy shook his head, answering honestly, "Alive, but it’s likely crushed to death now."
Alive?
Many people in the carriage began to think instinctively... how could a living Abnormal Brown Rat end up on the tracks? Why wasn’t it wandering in the vast wilderness but lying on the tracks to be run over? Wasn’t the chance of that happening a bit too low?
As they pondered this, several "bang bang bang" sounds rang out, and the locomotive vibrated several times as if bouncing off the tracks.
The crew’s expressions changed dramatically as they rushed into the driver’s cabin with Buddy, looking out the window to see numerous abnormal rats scattered across the tracks ahead.
These abnormal rats did not display the aggression seen previously, or perhaps hadn’t yet. They lay lazily on the tracks, seemingly asleep.
In the height of their puzzlement, the locomotive mercilessly ran over the Abnormal Brown Rats, climbing up a small steep slope with a roar. Everyone’s view expanded, revealing a vast flat terrain.
At the sight, everyone gasped.
The locomotive seemed to have suddenly barged into a nest of abnormal rats. In their view, countless dense abnormal mice populated the land. Some were Abnormal Brown Rats, others were Abnormal Black Rats; some moved slowly, others lay still.
Estimated numbers reached at least ten thousand, a genuine horde of Abnormal Creatures!
With such numbers, some naturally lay across the tracks, so the locomotive continued its crushing advance.
"Bang bang bang!"
"Hum hum hum!"
The sound of crushing bones and vibrating locomotive persisted, shaking everyone internally.
Because now they saw the massive swarm of abnormal rats, waking from rest and gradually gathering and approaching the locomotive.
Whether they intended to attack the train or avenge their comrades who had been crushed, it remained unclear, possibly both.
