Chapter 450

Feng Ju Feng Ju likewise swung his mechanical arm with all his might; apart from wildly waving the mechanical arm, he had no other moves.

Martial arts?

Martial arts are for dealing with people; against rats they are fundamentally useless — at least, the martial arts Feng Ju has mastered never taught him how to deal with rats.

What's more, these rats don't observe any martial virtue.

Swarming attacks would be bad enough, but they also love to viciously strike the lower three roads, as if that place shared their stench.

Feng Ju swung his arm downward, swiped at the thigh root, and a fat rat was clamped in his iron hand; it shrieked "squeak squeak," its head instantly crushed, brain matter splattering.

Yet it still wasn't fully in time; his thigh root was bitten with several tooth holes, a chill wind blew at his crotch, and the "little brother" that had accompanied him for decades also sensed the killing intent at close range, frightened into sharply shrinking its head.

To a certain extent, the terror the rat swarm brought Feng Ju was even ten times that of the 【Mask】 that night.

"Damn it!"

Feng Ju was panic-stricken; he shouted at Dong Ping:

"The rats can't be killed off; we must think of a way to lure the rats away, otherwise, sooner or later the two of us will be gnawed until not even scum remains!"

Dong Ping's body had unknowingly become hung with over a dozen rats; those rats scratched and crawled all over him at will.

That sensation was simply more hair-raising than having over a dozen live grenades hanging on you that could explode at any moment.

Dong Ping was so anxious his head was covered in sweat; the muscles on his face twisted together from tension, and he said in a trembling voice:

"But Captain Feng, how exactly are the two of us supposed to lure away this rat swarm?"

The saying goes well: a moment of crisis is the time that best tests a person's overall quality; what's needed are wisdom, courage, decisiveness, and not one can be missing.

These excellent qualities Dong Ping perhaps lacks, but Feng Ju happens to possess them all.

Feng Ju's brain spun rapidly; suddenly, he stopped the motion of swinging and smashing rats with his mechanical arm, and instead fiercely slammed it into the pipe wall to the side, simultaneously roaring:

"I've got a way, cover me!"

Hearing this, although Dong Ping had absolutely no idea what way Feng Ju had thought of, a thread of hope instinctively surged in his heart.

He hurriedly stepped forward, tightly protecting Feng Ju; a mechanical silver arm danced with tiger-like vigor, the airflow it stirred seeming about to ignite, the mechanical silver arm even emitting wisps of blue smoke.

Feng Ju's mechanical black hand rotated at high speed like an electric drill, then ruthlessly pierced into the thick pipe wall.

Iron blocks and crushed stone flew everywhere; the mechanical arm's hydraulic pipes turned red-hot from overload operation.

The next second, the heavy pipe wall was forcibly chiseled open into a hole.

Feng Ju's five fingers dug dead into the edge of the hole; he gritted his teeth, poured all his strength into driving the mechanical arm, veins at his shoulders and neck bulging root by root, as if about to burst.

Feng Ju roared "ah ah ah ah," inch by inch tearing open and ripping apart the heavy pipe wall; the sound of metal and stone shattering was incessant.

Finally, the pipe wall was forcibly pried open, forming a huge gap 3 meters high and 3 meters wide.

Like a door panel violently dismantled, its edges jagged and uneven, it stood beside him, emitting the cold luster of metal after fracture.

Feng Ju panted heavily and spat two words at Dong Ping: "Shield!"

Dong Ping's eyes lit up, seeming to understand Feng Ju's intent; he was overjoyed and immediately moved forward to help shoulder that heavy metal shield.

However, before he could act, a tremendous force suddenly struck.

The door-panel-shaped metal shield, driven by Feng Ju's mechanical arm, like a runaway giant beast, first slammed heavily into Dong Ping's arm.

Crack—

With a crisp sound, Dong Ping's mechanical arm jammed and snapped in the middle; hydraulic oil sprayed out, metal fragments scattered in all directions.

He didn't understand at all what had happened; then the shield had already slammed into his body like a bulldozer, knocking his whole person airborne.

Dong Ping's body traced an arc in the air, crashing heavily into the slanted side pipe.

Dong Ping's body smashed against the pipe wall with a dull thud; his spine was nearly shattered by the impact, his chest ached severely, as if his five viscera and six bowels had all been shaken out of place.

He fell spread-eagled into the sewage; the few rats hanging on his back were pressed into meat patties; his broken mechanical arm dangled at his side, emitting gray smoke.

Before Dong Ping could ask, Feng Ju raised the shield, bracing it horizontally before himself.

Dong Ping was thrown so hard he was dizzy and seeing stars.

He forced his eyes wide, yet couldn't even see Feng Ju's face — the latter was already hidden behind the shield; only that familiar and cold voice, bypassing the shield's gaps, clearly reached his ears.

"One shield fundamentally can't protect both of us; rats can still drill through the gaps. If the two of us stay together, neither of us will survive."

Dong Ping's heart turned cold; he tried to find a trace of hesitation or guilt in Feng Ju's tone, but there was nothing.

Feng Ju's voice continued:

"But if you can lure away most of the rats, I, relying on this shield, might be able to scrape back a life from the remaining rats' mouths."

Dong Ping was trembling with rage; his lungs felt like they would explode.

He struggled to climb up from the sewage; his broken mechanical arm hung limp at his side; hydraulic oil mixed with sewage dripped, making a "drip drip" sound.

His face was ferocious, eyes bloodshot, voice like he wanted to eat someone:

"Captain Feng, I won't run; even if I die, today I'll die together with you!"

Behind the shield, Feng Ju's expression changed slightly; he sighed and said:

"One person dying is still better than both of us dying here; and you won't necessarily die for sure.

The pipe behind you might just be a way out; you hurry inside and run now; as long as you run fast enough, maybe luck will be good and you'll run into other people.

At that time, won't you have hope of surviving?"

Just in the interval of the two speaking, some clever rats had already begun to turn their "front ends," rumbling toward Dong Ping.

Feng Ju braced the shield with all his might, and could clearly feel the pressure on the shield suddenly lighten.

His face showed joy, yet his tone remained low and deep, as if admonishing, yet also as if reminding:

"Ping Zi, even if you yourself want to die, you have to think of your son at home. We're both fathers; we can't just willfully die here.

I'm doing this to survive, to go save my daughter; are you really going to give up like this, no longer struggling for a life for yourself and for your son?"

Dong Ping had already thrown caution to the wind, preparing to charge against the rat tide toward Feng Ju, to drag the Captain down to hell together.

But at this moment, facing the pitch-black mass of rats surging forward, and hearing Feng Ju's words — each like a knife, stabbing straight into his heart — his legs seemed filled with lead, heavy beyond stepping.

Anger's flame was instantly extinguished by a basin of cold water, replaced by a deep sense of helplessness and struggle.

He let out a hysterical howl, then gritted his teeth, suddenly turned around, and ran wildly toward the pipe behind him.

Behind him, more and more clever rats, endless as far as the eye could see, caught up with Dong Ping's shadow....

Chapter End