radicalducati Chapter 130 Ash Fortress
Chapter 130 Ash Fortress
The faceless flight attendant took the brand-new pair of scissors.
Although it had no facial features, at that moment, everyone in the carriage could feel that the monster was stunned.
It raised its hand and made a light scissor motion in the air.
Click.
A very faint, yet chilling, crackling sound.
What was originally a simple physical closure has now cut a pale blue streak in the air, as if even space itself has been slashed open by this shearing.
The smooth feel of it was a world of difference compared to when it was rusty.
"Okay... scissors..."
The flight attendant's wide-open mouth stretched almost to her ears, emitting a cheerful laugh that sounded like a leaky bellows.
It played with the ticket stubs for a couple of minutes, then readily pulled a stack of dusty ticket stubs from the tattered uniform pocket and slapped them into Jiang Ming's hand.
"Eight...unanimous votes..."
It paused for a moment, seemingly feeling that it had made a huge profit in this deal, then reached into another pocket and pulled out several black balls that looked like shriveled eyeballs, which it then stuffed into Jiang Ming's hand.
"Free gift... motion sickness medicine..."
After saying that, the guy even slightly tipped his hat to Jiang Ming, picked up the kerosene lamp, hummed a strange tune that no one could understand, and turned around in a great mood to walk through the connecting door between the carriages and head towards the next carriage.
The oppressive feeling in the carriage only completely dissipated when the iron door closed again.
call--
Chen Qi plopped down on the ground, his back soaked with cold sweat.
Xiao Zhang's limbs went weak, and he was panting heavily while holding his gun. The feeling of being targeted by a top predator was worse than death.
"Mr. Jiang... Mr. Jiang." Chen Qi wiped the sweat from his forehead, looking at Jiang Ming with a complicated expression. "Were you... upgrading the monster's equipment just now?"
That's too reckless.
Not only did they not spend any money, but they also exchanged a few handfuls of rotten bone powder for a bunch of priceless train tickets and information, and even won the "friendship" of the monster.
"This is called resource integration."
Jiang Ming fiddled with the few black pills labeled "motion sickness pills" in his hand, then casually tossed them into his storage card—these pills were listed as [corpse oil gel], which could temporarily grant immunity to low-level mental pollution; a good thing.
He turned around and distributed the stack of tickets.
The ticket felt smooth to the touch, like it was made of some kind of animal skin, and the words "Pioneer VIP Seat" were printed on it in dark red ink.
"Take this. With this, nothing on this train should dare to touch us."
In the corner, Ellie, the elf, stared intently at Jiang Ming, her gaze as if she were looking at a demon in human skin.
"You...you actually helped the dead strengthen their weapon!" she gritted her teeth, her voice trembling. "That pair of scissors is tainted with the resentment of the living; you're aiding and abetting evil!"
"Shut up, cargo."
Jiang Ming didn't even turn his head, directly interrupting her moral judgment, "If you say another word, I'll sell you to that flight attendant. She seems quite interested in long-eared creatures; she kept staring at your neck while she was checking tickets."
Ellie immediately fell silent, shrinking into a ball in fear.
Jiang Ming ignored her and walked to the emergency light with the crumpled map in his hand.
The map was rudimentary, drawn on some kind of animal hide, with rough and distorted lines.
[Current Location: Silent Black Forest (While Moving)]
Next stop: Ash Fortress
[Note: That was humanity's last stronghold on the edge of the abyss, and also the world's largest den of iniquity. With money, it was paradise; without money, it was a slaughterhouse.]
"Human settlement..."
Jiang Ming tapped the red dots on the map lightly with his fingers.
This place doesn't sound like a proper human refuge; it sounds more like a bandit's den in a lawless land.
"Chen Qi, tell everyone to take a break." Jiang Ming put away the map, his eyes sharpening. "Once we get there, it'll probably be even more troublesome than on the train. We might be facing more than just monsters."
"yes!"
……
Two hours later.
With a screech of brakes, the train began to decelerate violently.
The view outside the window has changed.
It was no longer a dark, twisted forest, but a gray, desolate wasteland.
The air was filled with a strong smell of sulfur and burning, which could be smelled even through the car windows.
In the distance, a towering and menacing black city appeared on the horizon.
The city wall was dozens of meters high, and it was made entirely of huge obsidian and discarded metal plates, covered with various repair marks and dried bloodstains.
Torches blazed fiercely atop the city walls, turning half the sky a dark red.
Huge chimneys stood tall in the city, spewing out thick black smoke.
This is Ash Fortress.
"Fellow travelers, we have arrived at Ash Fortress."
The voice on the radio remained emotionless, tinged with static.
"Duration of stay on this site: 24 hours."
"Please keep your personal belongings and your... limbs safe. This train is not responsible for recovering lost organs."
laugh--!
As the air pressure valve released its exhaust sound, the car door slowly opened.
laugh--!
As the air pressure valve released its exhaust sound, the car door slowly opened.
A scorching and turbid wave of air instantly rushed towards us.
Jiang Ming, carrying the Thunder Prison Horse-Slaying Sword, was the first to step out of the carriage.
The platform was made of rusty iron plates, which made a clanging sound when you stepped on them.
There were many oddly shaped vehicles parked around, some of which looked like products of the steam age, while others were modern vehicles that had been heavily modified.
The platform was crowded with people.
Most of these people wore tattered leather armor or cobbled-together metal protective gear; they were all emaciated and pale, but their eyes were as fierce as wolves'.
They held all sorts of weapons in their hands, their eyes greedily fixed on every passenger disembarking from the train.
"Another batch of easy prey disembarking from the 'Pathfinder'!"
"They seem unfamiliar? Which dimension are they from?"
"Who cares where they came from? The armor that the leader is wearing is pretty good, it looks like it's top-tier!"
Whispers rose from all around, laced with undisguised malice.
Jiang Ming looked around, a cold smile curling at the corner of his mouth.
Is this what is meant by "humanity's last line of defense"?
It looks more like a large bandit hideout.
"Brother Jiang, there's something fishy about these guys' eyes." Xiao Zhang gripped his gun tightly, his finger on the trigger.
"That's normal," Jiang Ming said calmly. "In places where the rules have collapsed, weakness is the original sin. If you don't want to be slaughtered like lambs, then show your teeth."
Just then, several burly men dressed in identical black uniforms with red ribbons wrapped around their arms pushed through the crowd and swaggered over.
The leader was a bald man with a centipede-like scar across his face, and he was carrying a spiked club.
"stop!"
The bald man slammed his spiked club into the ground, creating a loud crash as it blocked Jiang Ming and the others' path.
He tilted his head, his cloudy eyes greedily scanning Jiang Ming's silver knight armor before finally settling on Ellie, the elf being held captive by Chen Qi.
Upon seeing Ellie's pointed ears and exquisite features, the bald man's eyes lit up instantly, and his Adam's apple bobbed up and down.
"Wow, what a top-quality item."
The bald man stuck out his tongue and licked his lips, revealing a mouthful of rotten teeth. "New here? Don't you know the rules?"
Jiang Ming stopped and looked at him with a half-smile: "What rules?"
"Entry fee."
The bald man stretched out a large, fan-like hand and waved it in front of Jiang Ming. "Ten soul coins each. Or..."
He pointed at Ellie and lewdly said, "Leave this long-eared chick here for the brothers to have some fun, and we'll waive the entrance fee."
The thugs around immediately burst into laughter, their laughter filled with lewdness and cruelty.
Ellie's face turned pale, and she instinctively shrank back.
Jiang Ming didn't say anything.
He just stared at the bald man silently, as if he were looking at a corpse that had already gone cold.
"What? You don't want to?"
The bald man's face darkened. He took a step forward, his muscles bulging, releasing the oppressive aura of his Lv.15 level. "Kid, don't push your luck. Here, I'm the rule! Believe me or not, I'll chop you up and feed you..."
boom!
A muffled thud.
Before the bald man could finish speaking, he was sent flying backward like a baseball that had been hit.
He flew in an arc through the air and crashed hard into a rusty iron pillar behind him.
Click!
The sound of the spine breaking was clearly audible.
Before the bald man could even scream, he slid to the ground like a lump of mud, his chest caved in, and it was clear he wouldn't survive.
The entire room fell silent.
No one saw what happened.
Only Chen Qi, who was standing behind Jiang Ming, saw that Jiang Ming had only lifted his foot slightly in that instant.
Simple, brutal, and ridiculously fast.
A full-force kick with a strength attribute exceeding 30 points is no different from kicking a stray dog to death than killing a level 15 ordinary human warrior.
Jiang Ming withdrew his foot and patted off non-existent dust from his trouser leg.
He raised his head, his gaze sweeping coldly over the remaining thugs who were already terrified.
"Now, who still wants to talk to me about rules?"
The platform was so quiet you could hear a pin drop.
Those thugs who had originally joined the bald man in the fight were now frozen in place, as if they had been frozen in place by a spell.
They glanced at the distant corpse with its sunken chest and still twitching slightly, then at the calm-looking young man in front of them, their throats feeling like they had a piece of burning charcoal stuck in them, unable to utter a single word.
One kick.
With just one kick, they crippled their captain—"Ironhead," a notorious tough guy from the outskirts of Ash Fortress.
This is hardly a newly arrived fat sheep.
This is clearly a Tyrannosaurus Rex in human skin!
"Don't play dead if you're not dead."
Jiang Ming walked up to the thugs, casually twirling the Thunder Prison Horse-Slaying Sword in his hand. Blue-purple arcs of electricity crackled on the blade, illuminating their pale faces.
"He just said the entrance fee is ten soul coins per person?"
"No...no no no!"
One of the slightly more clever, tall, thin men reacted the fastest, kneeling down with a thud and shaking his head vigorously. "That's Iron Head... no, that dead man's nonsense! Sir, a strongman like you doesn't need to pay to enter the city! It's a rare honor for us!"
In this dog-eat-dog world, it's not shameful to kneel down quickly; it's shameful to die quickly.
Jiang Ming looked down at him, a playful smile curving his lips.
"Oh? So it's free?"
"Free! Absolutely free!" The tall, thin man quickly pulled a dirty metal tag from his pocket and presented it with both hands. "This is your entry pass. With this, you can move freely outside the fortress!"
Jiang Ming took the sign.
It felt heavy in my hand, and the material was of very poor quality, like it was made from some kind of scrap metal. There was a crooked skull logo engraved on it.
Ash Fortress Temporary Pass (Poor Quality)
[Access Permissions: Outer City Area]
[Note: Only the most destitute scavengers would use this kind of sign.]
Jiang Ming curled his lip in disgust, but still put it away.
"You're smart to know what's good for you."
He walked past the kneeling men and led his group toward the exit.
As Jiang Ming passed the half-dead, bald corpse, he paused for a moment.
Amidst the horrified gazes of everyone, he bent down and expertly rummaged through the corpse.
Take the money pouch.
Take that spiked club that looks fairly sturdy.
He even ripped off the necklace of unknown animal teeth that was hanging around the bald man's neck.
Even a mosquito's leg is still meat.
Jiang Ming casually tossed the spoils to Chen Qi behind him, "That spiked club may be a bit ugly, but it's still a heavy weapon with good armor-piercing capabilities. You guys who've run out of bullets can take it and use it."
Chen Qi held the blood-stained spiked club, his lips twitching slightly.
This powerful figure in our family truly has the phrase "plucking feathers from a passing goose" etched into his DNA.
The scavengers and robbers who had been itching to attack saw this and unconsciously took several steps back, clearing a wide path for them.
That's too brutal.
He killed people and then looted their bodies, even taking a necklace.
This kind of person is absolutely not to be messed with.
……
Stepping out of the crowded and noisy platform, the true face of Ash Fortress was finally revealed to everyone.
This is a city built on ruins.
The streets were narrow and muddy, lined with layers upon layers of illegal buildings, densely packed like a honeycomb.
Some houses were converted shipping containers, some were built from the skeletons of giant monsters, and some were simply holes carved into the rock face.
Neon signs of various colors flickered in the gray fog, displaying a jumble of incoherent text—including Chinese characters and English from Earth, as well as a universal language from another world.
[Old Jack's Prosthetics Repair Shop - If you can imagine it, we can fix it!]
[Blackwater Bar - Today's Special: Fresh Succubus Eyeball Liquor!]
We offer high prices for all kinds of soul crystals, magical materials, and Earth's electronic waste!
The air was filled with a mixture of engine oil, roasted meat, and some kind of rotten, fermenting smell.
Pedestrians hurried along the street.
There were dwarves carrying huge mechanical backpacks, mages wrapped in black robes, and even a few human-human hybrids with beast heads.
Of course, the majority are human survivors like Jiang Ming and his group.
"This place... is really chaotic."
Chen Qi held the group tightly, cautiously surveying their surroundings.
He saw several rats gnawing on an abandoned corpse in a ditch by the roadside, while passersby ignored them.
"Chaos is good."
Jiang Ming's gaze swept over a stall on the side of the street, where several pieces of what looked like circuit boards were displayed. "The more chaotic it is, the more opportunities we have to take advantage of the situation."
His current goal is clear: make money, get equipment, and then survive.