Chapter 449: Fragments in the Shadow Are

The internet signal light flickered once, a faint glow briefly lighting up the darkness before extinguishing again.

Immediately after, it lit up again, the light a bit brighter than before, but it quickly returned to silence.

However, notably, the monotonous gray duration when the signal light went out was gradually shortening, while the flashing green light grew increasingly urgent, appearing at an ever higher frequency.

Each time the green light lit up, it was like an attempt full of hope, as if in the next second it could break through the underground shaft's shielding and fully connect back to the TV screens in thousands of households in the Nine Districts, stared at with craned necks and eager anticipation.

Deng Jia Jia focused intently on adjusting the camera lens.

Under the lens focus, a few black fragments the size of fingernails could be vaguely seen at the bottom of the sewage... plastic pieces.

Judging from the plastic's shattered state, they should have been shredded along with the shadow.

But besides these shattered residues, there were no other similar clothing residues or glasses lens fragments in the sewage.

"This shows that 【Mask】's entire body is condensed from shadow, including his clothes and glasses, all existences between illusion and reality."

Deng Jia Jia muttered softly, brows tightly furrowed,

"If so, why does the shadow uniquely have a piece of real object on it, and one that was shredded? What exactly is this thing that cannot be condensed from shadow but must be carried on the body?"

Her gaze stared dead at those plastic fragments, as if wanting to find the answer from within them.

"What is it, what exactly could it be?"

Inside Deng Jia Jia, the gene belonging to a news media person digging for truth was stirring.

The three of Deng Jia Jia were too focused, gazes deadlocked on their respective lenses, to the point that none of them noticed — the sewage beneath their feet swayed gently once.

A wisp of winding shadow drifted silently from the water, thumb-thick, like a hidden black python extending, extending, and extending further underwater.

At the same time, that rustling sound behind them grew closer, more clamorous.

Faintly, the collision sound of some steel machinery dancing madly could also be heard, as if some chaos was surging over.

………

Feng Ju and Dong Ping ran all the way along the pipe, the roars from the shaft depths echoing in their ears from time to time.

The sound was like a monster's roar, yet also like human screams, male and female mixed together, making one wonder if a horror party was being held in the shaft ahead?

The two's footsteps emitted dull echoes in the metal pipe, breathing rapid, hearts pounding like drums.

"Fast, even faster!"

Feng Ju urged in a low voice, fine beads of sweat covering his forehead, the mechanical black arm swinging violently with the running, hydraulic pipes emitting a "humming" trembling sound.

Dong Ping followed closely behind, a slightly thinner mechanical silver arm flashing with a cold gleam; he ran while glancing left and right with his eyes, heart thumping wildly.

"Captain Feng, did you hear what sounds like a strange noise, like the sound of waves surging?" Dong Ping pricked up his ears, an ominous premonition rising in his heart.

Feng Ju turned a deaf ear, only burying his head lower, not pausing his steps for a moment, continuing to sprint forward in the dim and intricate pipe.

Ahead was another shaft fork; the roars from afar grew increasingly clear, as if mixed with a man's sinister cold laugh.

The sound drew closer; Feng Ju could even vaguely make out fragmented words within it:

"【Mask】..... I ate..... boyfriend..... thing..... hidden where......"

Dong Ping pricked up his ears, unable to help muttering:

"What kind of mess is this, who exactly is talking to whom?"

However, just as the words left his mouth, he suddenly seemed struck by lightning, his whole body freezing instantly, eyes widening round, shouting in both shock and joy:

"Captain Feng, he...... he seems to be saying 【Mask】?!!"

Feng Ju abruptly froze, his footwork instantly losing half a beat.

He hurriedly braked his steps, not yet having time to think or respond, and fearfully twisted his head to look toward the right side of the right fork.

Whoosh whoosh whoosh—— rustle rustle——

The sound was like the surging sea tide Dong Ping described, yet also mixed with the ear-piercing sound of countless sharp claws scratching iron rust, making one's scalp numb.

So, this is…….?

Feng Ju and Dong Ping's pupils violently contracted simultaneously, a layer of cold goosebumps instantly crawling up their backs.

Only to see a mass of dark shadows, those were rats, tens of thousands of rats, packed densely together.

Some climbed on the pipe walls, sharp claws scratching the metal surface, emitting a tooth-aching sound;

More stepped on their kin's backs, one layer atop another, one circle wrapping another, inside and out stacked airtight, like a black flood, madly surging into their eyes.

"Ra...... rats! How could so many rats surge out of this sewer?"

Dong Ping was horrified to the extreme, eyeballs like marbles out of control, spinning wildly in their sockets.

Rats: "......" We're in the sewer, where else would we be, where should we go?

"Careful!" Feng Ju's face suddenly changed drastically.

He reacted extremely fast, his thick mechanical arm suddenly raising, smashing down hard on several black rats baring teeth and claws, kicking legs and pouncing over.

Puff—— puff—— puff——

Several consecutive dull sounds of flesh bursting, filthy blood splashing everywhere, staining Feng Ju and Dong Ping's mechanical arms red, shattered black fur sticking to the metal surface, looking exceptionally ferocious.

However, this bloody scene did not make the rat swarm retreat in the slightest.

On the contrary, they seemed to have triggered bad memories, instantly falling into collective frenzy, surging toward the two even more madly.

Below the shaft, sewage flowed horizontally, large batches of rats swam over, scrambling to climb up the two's pant legs;

In mid-air, rats kicked hard off the pipe walls, bodies stretching like gliding, sharp claws scratching straight at the two's cheeks;

On the pipe walls, rats climbed nimbly, fearlessly biting at the two's swinging mechanical arms.

For a moment, this scene was exactly like a bizarre and mad "three-army battle", rats attacking from sea, land, and air in all directions, three-dimensional coordinated combat, launching a comprehensive encirclement and suppression against the two "advancing giants".

Feng Ju and Dong Ping were horrified to the utmost, almost instinctively swinging their mechanical right arms simultaneously.

Metal joints emitted a "buzz buzz buzz" trembling sound, power erupting instantly, mechanical arms drawing sharp arcs in the air, smashing hard toward the oncoming rat swarm.

Pong—— pong—— pong——

The mechanical arms' power was extremely formidable; each swing could smash several rats into flying blood and flesh, turning them into puddles of meat paste.

Fresh blood and minced meat splattered in all directions, staining the originally gloomy Pipe Wall red, and a thick Fishy Smell quickly permeated the air, making one retch.

However, the number of rats was simply too many.

They seemed endless, wave after wave, wave after wave, falling forward only for those behind to follow, surging forward in an unceasing stream.

Dong Ping was so frightened his face turned deathly pale, his Legs went soft, and he could barely stand steady.

He stomped hard with his Legs to crush the rats on the ground, his mechanical arm dancing wildly before his face, and he roared at the top of his lungs:

"Captain Feng, what do we do? There are this many rats, we simply can't hold them back!"

End of Chapter