Chapter 39: The Rat Swarm in the Shadows

Chapter 39: Chapter 39: The Rat Swarm in the Shadows

The air inside the cargo ship was turbid and damp.

The smell of rust mixed with the stench of rotting seaweed was enough to make one retch.

Lin Ji walked at the very front, holding a high-powered flashlight whose beam swayed in the pitch-black corridor.

"Yihan, you take the rear." ℯℯ𝑙.

"Tang Ling, Teacher Shen, and Tao Tao, stay in the middle."

"Qingyue, walk beside me."

Lin Ji’s voice was low and calm.

This tactical formation offered the best protection for non-combatants.

Gu Yihan tightened her grip on the Storm Hunter Bow, her eyes vigilantly fixed on the path behind them.

Su Qingyue stood beside Lin Ji, her right hand covered by the Frostglove.

Her cool, clear eyes appeared exceptionally bright under the reflection of the flashlight beam.

Although the environment here filled her with instinctive disgust, being placed by Lin Ji’s side stirred a secret sense of satisfaction deep within her.

At least she was no longer just a burden who could only provide Refrigeration.

"These guys really went through here like bandits," Tang Ling couldn’t help but comment, looking at the pried-open containers lining both sides of the corridor.

They were completely empty, not even a screw left behind.

Lin Ji said calmly, "In the apocalypse, it’s the norm to never leave useful supplies for those who come after you."

"Boss, I have an idea."

Tang Ling moved closer, her glasses lenses reflecting the light.

"Why don’t we just take out the Crimson Sky Forge and melt down the entire first deck of this cargo ship!"

"The whole ship is metal. The refined High-Density Alloy would definitely be enough for us to upgrade to Level 3."

The women were momentarily stunned.

It had to be said, this was an extremely crazy and bold proposal.

Lin Ji stopped walking and pondered for a moment.

"No."

He refused decisively.

"Smelting that volume of metal would create too much light and commotion."

"The Dead Silence Fog is advancing now, but the monsters and survivors hiding in this sea area aren’t all dead yet."

"Making ourselves a target here, we wouldn’t even know how we died."

Shen Manyun nodded gently beside them.

"Lin Ji is right. Steady and sure is the safest way."

Seeing Teacher Shen agree, Tang Ling could only shrink her neck and continue following.

As the team ventured deeper into the lower-level passage, the temperature around them dropped even further.

"Scratch, scratch..."

A series of dense, rapid scraping sounds came from the darkness ahead.

It was the sound of hard claws scraping against sheet metal.

Lin Ji immediately put on the Blue Quality life detector.

On the lens, the radar map instantly sprang to life.

Dense clusters of yellow dots flickered wildly ahead, appearing and disappearing intermittently.

"Something’s lurking. It has camouflage abilities."

Lin Ji warned in a low voice.

"All units, prepare for combat!"

Su Qingyue’s breath hitched, her body instinctively leaning closer into Lin Ji’s embrace.

Her foot slipped, accidentally tripping over a rusty steel pipe.

"Ah..."

Su Qingyue gasped in surprise, her body instantly losing balance and pitching forward.

She was wearing that already somewhat tattered school uniform skirt.

This tumble sent her skirt flying up, revealing a glaringly pale sliver of skin high on her thighs.

Lin Ji reacted swiftly, his long arm shooting out to wrap around her slender, soft waist.

The astonishing resilience sent a wave of heat through his palm.

Smack!

A crisp sound echoed in the oppressive corridor.

Lin Ji’s large hand landed without ceremony, delivering a firm slap to Su Qingyue’s pert, rounded rear.

"Focus."

"If you want to throw yourself into my arms, wait until we’re back on the ship. I’ll have plenty of time for you then."

Su Qingyue’s face flushed crimson all the way to her neck.

A mix of shame and an inexplicable, secret thrill surged within her.

That sense of being claimed with such domineering force, instead of tightening her nerves, strangely calmed them.

"You brute..."

She muttered the shy rebuke, cold energy erupting from her hands as she stood ready.

Squeak! Squeak!

Countless large Water Rats scurried out from the ceiling and wall cracks.

Their bodies were covered in hard, barbed quills, their eyes gleaming with an eerie green under the flashlight beams.

Lin Ji initially thought to activate his [Deep Sea Hunter] title.

But he found that while these creatures showed fear, they did not submit to him as sea creatures would.

"Damn it. Land-based rodents aren’t very susceptible to oceanic pressure," Lin Ji snorted coldly.

"Qingyue, Field Control!"

With a sharp cry from Su Qingyue, her Frostglove erupted with bone-chilling cold mist.

A thin layer of ice crystals instantly formed on the dozen or so Water Rats at the forefront, their movements becoming sluggish.

Twang!

From behind, Gu Yihan drew her Storm Hunter Bow to its full extent.

She wore skin-tight black yoga pants.

With her tactical leaps and drawing motions, her breathtakingly long legs and the full, rounded curves of her rear were outlined in stark detail.

Three consecutive Wind Arrows shrieked through the air, piercing through the rat horde.

Lin Ji moved simultaneously.

Leveraging his second-tier physical enhancement, he shot into the swarm like a black blur.

His fingers formed a blade.

Mimicking Gu Yihan’s technique, a C-grade Wind Blade coated the edge of his palm.

Thud! Thud! Thud!

Large rat heads flew into the air.

In the instant he passed by Gu Yihan during their intertwined movement, Lin Ji’s large hand very naturally and firmly gave her taut, upturned rear a forceful squeeze.

"Don’t get distracted. Keep going."

Gu Yihan’s body went momentarily weak, her sharp shooting rhythm nearly faltering.

"You..."

She turned back, flustered and annoyed, only to see Lin Ji’s back as he charged back into the monster horde.

This exciting flirtation on the edge of life and death left her feeling inexplicably feverish all over.

The Wind Arrows from her hands flew with even more ferocity, pinning the frozen Water Rats to the iron walls.

In just ten short minutes.

The corridor was carpeted with Water Rat corpses.

Lin Ji flicked the blood from his fingertips, looking toward the even deeper cargo hold ahead.

"Let’s go. The Steam Core is down below."

Leading the team over the carpet of rat corpses, Lin Ji finally stepped into the lower-level power core chamber.

The moment he entered, his keen sense of smell caught an overwhelmingly strong scent of fresh blood.

This odor even overpowered the outside smells of rust and decay.

"Stay close together. Heighten your alertness."

Lin Ji lowered his voice, his tone serious.

"An extremely brutal fight happened here not long ago."

Hearing this, the women present instantly tensed up.

Su Qingyue instinctively moved closer, her fair little hand tightly clutching the hem of Lin Ji’s clothes.

Gu Yihan also swiftly turned around, tightening her fingers on the bowstring as her sharp gaze swept through the surrounding darkness.

Lin Ji raised the high-powered flashlight, its beam sweeping across the spacious core chamber.

In the center of the area stood five massive abandoned steam-powered units driven by coal.

Tang Ling, the mechanical enthusiast, instantly lit up at the sight of these things.

Excitedly, she grabbed Lin Ji’s arm.

"Boss! All these big guys can be disassembled into Steam Cores using the Smelting Furnace!"

"There are five of them here!"

The ultimate requirement for upgrading to a Level 3 vehicle was now within close reach.

Just as everyone was about to excitedly step forward to dismantle them, an unexpected change occurred.

On the screen of the blue life detector Lin Ji was wearing, a deep Red, massive light point suddenly flashed without warning.

This light point was extremely close to the steam units.

Lin Ji immediately activated the Eye of Insight, scanning toward that seemingly empty dark corner.

A set of alarming data appeared before his eyes.

--Enjoying the story? Want more Chapters? Check out my Patreon and support me for 40+ advance Chapters.

Just search for "LegendaryTL" on Patreon!"

Thanks!