Chapter 95: The Old Quarry

Half an hour later.

Two maps had been spread out in turn. Several open cans and a plate of sliced black bread now occupied the table. Someone had covered the hole with a board to keep out the wind, though dust still sifted from around its edges.

Lin Yan sat poking at the meat in one of the cans.

A hard white layer of fat covered the minced meat beneath. Strands of gristle clung to his fork as he lifted a mouthful. He tried it, chewed a few times, and frowned.

"Pah!"

He spat the meat onto the floor and pushed the can away.

"Fuck. How do you make something taste this bad?"

The officer’s finger stopped halfway across the map.

That meat had come from his own ration. The soldiers outside had their bread measured out, and this man had taken one bite before deciding he was done.

Lin Yan put down the fork and picked up a piece of bread. He tried to break it, twice, without success.

An eyebrow rose. He applied a little more force.

Crack.

The wooden lump finally snapped. He took a bite, chewed, then frowned and spat that out too.

The bread landed back on the plate with a hard clack.

He reached for his water and drank deeply.

He had heard enough over the past half hour to get the picture.

The supply route was cut. Convoys that once arrived daily hadn’t been seen in three days. Since the big-headed creature appeared, radio contact had been lost as well. The patrols and messengers sent out had suffered heavy losses.

They still had serviceable aircraft.

But his destination was 6,800 kilometers away. He would need somewhere to land and refuel along the way. With communications down, the officer couldn’t even tell him which airfields were still operational, much less arrange the stops.

It all came back to killing that creature.

"Our last patrol got this far."

The officer traced a narrow line across the map.

"The old quarry is surrounded by high ground. There are abandoned work sheds and haul roads down below. It’s in the bottom of the pit, with at least a hundred monsters around it. We’ve also spotted more than one of those large mutated specimens you encountered on the road. If you intend to attack, the southern approach would—"

"All right, all right. That’s enough."

Lin Yan finished his water.

"Get the plane ready. As soon as the radios work, contact the rear and arrange my route."

He stood, steadying the scabbard at his side.

The officer hurried to stop him.

"At least take a guide. A few men to support you, too. There are over a hundred of those things out there. If something goes wrong—"

"No need."

Lin Yan opened the door and walked out. ℯℯ𝑙.

The officer followed him to the doorway. By then, the black-armored figure had already rounded the truck and was heading out of the airfield.

For a moment, nobody in the room spoke.

"Arrogant bastard."

The officer muttered it under his breath and started to turn back, then paused.

His gaze settled on the board covering the hole. Broken concrete still littered the floor beneath it. The largest chunk was the size of a fist.

After a moment, he gestured to the men inside.

"Have the ground crew check the transport and get the fuel ready. Keep someone on the radio. The moment we get a signal, I want to know."

...

Lin Yan followed the road west out of the airfield. He had heard the officer’s parting curse perfectly well and couldn’t be bothered to turn back.

The quarry was eight kilometers away. No need to rush. As he walked, he flexed his left wrist. The displaced armor plates caught against one another, a bent edge digging into the back of his hand.

"Tch. Damn thing."

He looked down and started undoing the bracer.

Dried blood caked the strap, and the buckle had been bent out of shape. After two unsuccessful tugs, he simply tore the strap apart and pulled the armor off.

A deep dent had crushed the overlapping plates together. It was finished.

The right bracer wasn’t much better. He removed that one too, tossed both beside the road, and rolled his wrists.

Much better.

Next, he unclipped the faceplate from his waist. Half its frozen expression was missing. The torn edges curled outward, and small pieces of shrapnel remained embedded in the once-smooth cheek.

He weighed it in his hand, then decided to keep it.

Half a faceplate was still some protection. Finding another that fit would be a nuisance.

[You really did let those newcomers go.]

"What was I supposed to do? Go back and finish them off one by one?"

Lin Yan hooked the faceplate back at his waist.

"Forget it. I’ve killed enough today."

He kept walking. The dunes gradually swallowed the airfield behind him, leaving only the crunch of his boots on sand and gravel.

...

Beyond the second abandoned sentry post, loose stone began to cover the road. Ahead, broad terraces had been cut into the pale rock, with a haul road winding down along the quarry wall.

As Lin Yan approached the crest, something raised its head behind a pile of rubble.

A bone beast.

Its face, split into a mouth full of broken teeth, turned toward him. Pale blades flanked its forearms, and its claws slowly tightened against the stone.

Lin Yan reached for his sword.

The creature promptly ducked out of sight, scrambled over the rubble, and fled down the slope.

"System, where the hell are these things’ eyes?"

[Kill one and cut it open. You can check for yourself.]

Lin Yan raised an eyebrow.

"Fair point."

He stepped up beside the rubble and watched it go. Every other creature he had encountered had lunged at the first sign of a living person. This one was running.

He let it. He wanted to see what it was up to.

Abandoned sheds dotted the quarry floor. Rockfalls buried sections of track, and several mine carts lay overturned beside the road. The bone beast slipped between the sheds and disappeared.

A heavy crash followed.

A cart blocking the way scraped sideways, its iron wheels grinding over stone before it struck the quarry wall.

A three-meter brute stepped out behind it.

Bulging shoulders crowded its head between them. Beneath split skin, dark red muscle fibers tightened with every movement, blood trickling down its thick arms.

A second emerged. Then a third.

More massive bodies rose behind the sheds and among the spoil heaps. They turned toward the crest. For a moment, they held still.

Then the nearest one drove off the ground and charged up the road.

More than a dozen followed.

Their pounding footsteps echoed between the quarry walls, scattering loose stone down the slope. Several bypassed those ahead by scrambling straight up the rock face.

"So you went to get your friends."

Lin Yan drew his blade.

The leader rounded the bend and swung a thick arm at him. Lin Yan stepped in, ducked beneath the fist, and drove a two-handed cut into the side of its neck.

The blade dragged hard.

Dense muscle gripped the steel. When the edge reached the spine, the resistance sharply increased. Lin Yan turned through his hips and hauled the blade across until bone cracked beneath it.

The undersized head spun away.

Its body staggered another two steps, pitched past him, and tumbled down the road, knocking two of the following creatures off balance.

Lin Yan flexed his fingers around the hilt.

"That’s one tough fucking neck."

A shadow dropped over him from the right.

One of the brutes had climbed the quarry wall and launched itself at him, arms spread to cut off his escape. Directly ahead, another trampled over its fallen companion, lowered a shoulder, and charged at his chest.

Lin Yan turned the blade and stepped forward to meet them.