Chapter 1485: Chapter 1483: Minor Injury
"Bang bang bang!"
"Buzz buzz buzz!"
The locomotive ran over several more abnormal rats on the tracks. The locomotive’s head seemed to be affected by this continuous crushing, and its speed began to slow down. Several indicator lights in the cockpit turned red and started flashing. It looked like the train could only travel a few more miles before stalling.
The locomotive driver, Buddy, stammered, his lips trembling, and suggested to Bob, "Loc... Locomotive Captain, should we stop the train, then start the engine at the back and drive back?"
"That’s suicide!" Bob reprimanded unceremoniously, glanced at the ever-gathering swarm of abnormal rats, and said loudly, "Do you believe that before we come to a complete stop, these rats could jump on the train and gnaw us to the bone? There’s no time to go back now, the only option is to move forward, charge through!"
"But our speed is decreasing..."
"I see that, it’s probably a power issue! Immediately boost the power to one hundred percent!"
"But that’ll overheat the engine, increasing the risk of explosion!"
"I know that better than you do, so add an excessive amount of coolant to the tank for me and increase the cooling cycle speed by thirty percent. Open pressure relief valve number three, close valves five and six, and also..." Bob quickly gave orders, then halfway through turned to Buddy and the rest of the crew, shouting, "What are you all standing around for? Didn’t you hear what I said? If you don’t want to die here, get moving now and do as I say!"
"Yes, yes." The crew quickly dispersed, hurrying to follow Bob’s instructions.
Bob took a deep breath, personally sitting in the driver’s seat, continually issuing new orders while observing the numerous instrument panels.
"The pressure in water tank number three is too low, there must be a leak, go check it immediately and seal it!"
"The power of the third engine won’t go up, it’s either pipe seven or pipe eight that’s the problem, switch the control lever to the internal circulation mode and pressurize it to the limit..."
"Increase the rotational speed to three thousand six hundred RPM..."
"Lower the main obstacle removal system..."
"..."
Amidst Bob’s shouts and the crew’s rapid activity, the slowdown of the locomotive was halted, and it even accelerated beyond its original speed.
Black smoke billowed from the smokestack atop the locomotive. The entire locomotive emitted a deep rumble, whistling and speeding forward, crashing or crushing more abnormal rats lying on the tracks.
At this point, the swarm of abnormal rats fully reacted to the intrusion into their territory, beginning to close in on the locomotive, lunging in its direction.
The escort members quickly retaliated, wielding weapons and firing beams of light to kill approaching abnormal rats.
Occasionally, leader-level bald giant rats, relying on their strong defensive power, would withstand the light beam attacks, leading a group of abnormal rats in an organized assault on the locomotive.
Each time these bald giant rats got within tens of meters of the locomotive, a beam as thick as an arm would fly out from the window, blowing the bald giant rats and surrounding abnormal rats to pieces.
"Bang!"
In the train carriage, Jent emotionlessly tossed aside another hot, charred Steel Fist, extending his hand back without turning his head. An assistant automatically handed over a new Iron Fist loaded with an Energy Cube.
Jent immediately hoisted the New Steel Fist onto his shoulder, squinted his eyes, and once again took aim outside the carriage, picking out threatening targets.
Beside him, several of Jent’s subordinates were doing the same—hoisting Steel Fists and searching for targets.
In the middle of the carriage were one after another opened long boxes, with new Steel Fists being continuously taken out, loaded, and ready for use. There were also people constantly running back and forth between the carriage and the cargo hold, transporting more long boxes of Steel Fists and opening them up.
The severely battered swarm of abnormal rats madly pounced towards the locomotive, and the guards in the compartment retaliated with equal fervor.
The escorts had initially hesitated due to regulations against using Steel Fists, but faced with the unrelenting assault of the abnormal rat swarm, they decided to completely disregard all constraints.
"To hell with the rules... Unable to fend off the attacks, people would die, and the goods would be lost, so they might as well achieve some value before that happens."
"Twelve o’clock direction, high-threat target, fire a Steel Fist quickly!"
"Three o’clock direction, dense enemies, fire two Steel Fists simultaneously!"
"Ten o’clock direction, enemy charge formation. First fire team, all members, fire half a round, total coverage. I want none left alive!"
"Boom boom boom!"
The sound of explosions burst densely on both sides of the locomotive.
The locomotive continued to speed along the tracks, constantly moving forward.
...
Nobody knew just how far it had traveled, nor how many abnormal rats it had killed, but the outside of the locomotive was completely stained with blood, and everyone on board was exhausted.
Over forty percent of the escort personnel were casualties, and the remaining half were barely holding on. Kent’s upper body was covered in blood, his hands wrapped in bandages, charred and burned. After firing another Steel Fist, his body shook uncontrollably, but he gritted his teeth and lifted yet another new Steel Fist onto his shoulder.
All train personnel were drenched in sweat, but under Bob’s continuous orders, they gritted their teeth and ran around, adjusting the devices on the locomotive, ensuring its efficient operation.
"Huff huff... huff huff..."
Everyone was breathing heavily, everyone was persevering with determination.
Jent stood at the carriage window like a mountain that would never fall. Silently, after firing a Steel Fist again and successfully taking down a bald giant rat, he pursed his lips, his thoughts momentarily drifting: Based on the number of abnormal creatures he had killed, he already qualified for a Richard Silver Leaf Third-level Medal. Of course, based on the quantity of unauthorized Steel Fist use, he was also eligible for a spot at the military tribunal’s defendants’ stand. However, he might end up enjoying neither; the most likely outcome was dying on this locomotive.
After all, there were just too many abnormal rats!
Reeling his drifting thoughts back, Jent looked outside the locomotive. His eyes suddenly narrowed as he noticed a special figure approaching the train from a hundred meters away.
The figure resembled a bald giant rat but was larger, almost the size of a black bear. Its entire body was dark gray, its fur completely shed, revealing an Iron Armor-like shell. Its limbs had sharp claws that, with a light scratch on the ground, left several grooves.
The opponent snorted a large jet of white steam from its snout, like an angry bull, charging straight ahead.
Could this be an even higher-level abnormal rat, a leader among leaders... Jent became alerted after seeing it.
"Eleven o’clock direction! Attention, new enemy!" Jent then sounded the alarm, aiming with the Steel Fist and firing a test Light Beam.
"Swish!"
The new bear-shaped giant rat was successfully hit by the Light Beam, but the result made Jent’s face turn grim.
Just like when attacking bald giant rats with conventional weapons, hitting the bear-shaped giant rat with the Steel Fist yielded a similar outcome—the arm-thick light beam only blasted open the bear-shaped giant rat’s shell, creating a bloody hole but failing to penetrate or cause more damage.
At most, it inflicted a minor injury on the bear-shaped giant rat.
A minor injury? Damn it!
