LIGHTNOVELONLINE
Chapter 145: Guests From Afar
This time, the expert task force had prepared an off-road vehicle for the survey personnel that HuaTie had sent to assist. The vehicle was a modified version, courtesy of China Western Heavy Industries. [TL note: HuaTie is a Chinese railway company.]
The vehicle's armor or rather, the outer shell, chassis, and four pairs of oversized load-bearing tires came from a certain retired model of amphibious combat vehicle. The interior space had been expanded to include instrument cabinets, workbenches, specialized equipment and instruments, a small generator set, and seating for onboard personnel.
This converted amphibious combat vehicle, weighing 20 tons, would be considered a beast among vehicles. In this otherworldly plane, it was a true colossus, an iron behemoth.
The former soldiers that had seen the private cars of the upper class during their military service in Indahl gaped at this survey vehicle as if it were a monster The oversized load-bearing wheels alone were taller than any cars they had ever seen!
Ji Tang stopped the vehicle, hopped out, nodding to the new town hall staff, and waved to the railway survey personnel. "The vehicle is yours to use now. Diesel barrels are all placed under the seats and at the back. Take care not to have any open flames inside."
"We know. We skeletons don't eat or drink, can't even smoke, so definitely no open flames." The new tool players, retired engineers from HuaTie, chuckled as they climbed aboard.
Ji Tang smiled and nodded back. Seeing the ex-soldiers standing still, he urged, "Don't just stand there, get in. There aren't enough seats on board, so you all will need to squeeze in."
The bunch of them started moving mechanically, copying the undead and climbing onto the vehicle
As mentioned, there weren't enough seats inside, but fortunately, there was enough space. The non-fussy men found empty spots to sit cross-legged and settle in.
Soon, they came to understand why the luxury cars owned by Indahl's upper class only drove in the city and on a few well-maintained highways and why they preferred horseback riding for trips to estates and hunting in the countryside
The vehicle hadn't been on the road for half an hour before the undead driver stepped on the brake and allowed a man to rush outside and throw up.
"These lads can't handle riding in a car. How now?" The old professor driving the vehicle was exasperated.
"It's too sealed up and lacks ventilation. A bunch of young guys crammed up inside are bound to be uncomfortable. Why don't we have them ride on the roof? The fresh air up there should make them less prone to motion sickness."
That day, farmers busy with autumn harvest in the Weisshem countryside witnessed quite a spectacle.
A roaring steel monster taller than an average house and faster than a horse-drawn carriage sped by on bumpy rural dirt roads.
Farmers didn't scream and scatter at the sight of this passing mechanical beast. Instead, they stood and stared in amazement.
On the "back" of this steel behemoth were slightly over 20 dispirited young men swaying and looking numbly back at these "accidental" onlookers.
Neither side wanted to look away until the other disappeared from view.
Soon, a legend of a "metal lizard that carries people'' spread through the Weisshem countryside
As the survey vehicle headed west, a convoy belonging to Count Odysse was also approaching from the east.
The public roads of Weisshem town, built 40 years ago, could only be described as barely passable for horse carriages. There were no advantages to speak of regarding the road conditions.
These guests from afar were having a hard time with such poor road surfaces. After only covering half the journey, Parker Odysse, seated in a four-wheeled carriage, called for a stop and ordered his servants to bring his horse.
"That fool actually ran off to such a backward place for fun, and even ended up as someone's captive. Such a disgrace to our family!" Seated on horseback, Parker Odysse, the legitimate heir of the main line of the Odysse family, unbuttoned two buttons at his shirt collar and complained irritably.
A friend in the carriage propped up the curtain, rested an arm on the window, and said with a laugh, "Who was the one eagerly looking forward to a chance to get out and breathe some fresh air, Parker? You being able to play around for so long is all thanks to that guy. Be a little more friendly to him."
"I still have to bring that piece of trash back when we return; otherwise, my aunt will come bothering my mother again," Young Master Parker grumbled. "Coming all this way will costs us at least half a month of fun."
His friend shrugged. "That's already not bad. The total days you had to relax outside your home last year didn't even add up to half a month. Us friends nearly forgot how you looked. If I were you, I'd get married quickly. Having a wife reduces parental control a lot."
"We'll see!" Young Master Parker wasn't keen on talking about this and turned to look ahead. "Hmm? What's that?"
Roughly three hundred meters ahead of the convoy, a large covered wagon was parked by the road.
A covered wagon by itself wasn't unusual. What was peculiar were the dozen or so slender figures moving near the wagon in the wilderness; from a distance, it looked like they were fighting or performing some sort of strange dance.
The friend in the carriage, also noticing this odd scene, curiously poked his head and upper body out of the window. "What are those people doing? Is this some local autumn harvest custom? Dancing to celebrate the harvest?"
Young Master Parker raised a hand and the family knight of the Odysse clan, along with his knight squire, immediately spurred his horse over.
"Go check it out," Young Master gestured and said.
The loyal family knight nodded, urged his horse, and led his squire over toward the covered wagon.
Young Master Parker watched as the family knight gallop within a hundred meters of the wagon, then suddenly turned around and raced back.
"Young Master Parker, it's undead! They are all undead!" the family knight shouted as he raced back. "Pull the convoy back!"
Young Master Parker didn't move, and neither did the others.
What kind of a joke was this? Undead appearing in broad daylight on a public road?
It wasn't only their convoy that was on the road. Further up ahead was a green-painted postal carriage too. The postal carriage passed by the covered wagon steadily, not at all seeming spooked.
The Odysse family knight rode up closer, reiterating, "Young Master Parker, they are indeed undead. Something is wrong here! I think we should retreat to the city and find out what exactly is going on!"
Young Master Parker's expression immediately soured.
Like Young Master Parker's family domain, the Indahl territory was of the same size as a count's. However, due to the Bartalis family's ineptitude in social relations, Indahl remained only a viscounty, often ridiculed and mocked by the count-status Odysse family.
It was for this reason that the Bartalis family showed minimal obligation to the Odysse family when Count Odysse's nephew was taken captive
Parker, who had volunteered to redeem his cousin and used this as an opportunity to escape for some fun, was unlikely to go to Indahl city just to be mocked by the petty Adra III.
"I must have dinner in Weisshem tonight and see my good-for-nothing cousin," declared Young Master Parker resolutely. "Cut the crap. Onward!"
Under Young Master Parker's insistence a few minutes later, everyone in the convoy clearly saw the group of undead, lively and hopping around in broad daylight, next to the large covered wagon in the wilderness.
The Odysse family had excellent discipline, so even despite such a worldview-shattering sight, no one in the convoyservants, attendants, or guardsshowed any obvious loss of composure, let alone screamed like bumpkins.
Everyone just stared blankly at the undead.
These undead were neither dancing nor fighting.
They were catching a rainbow-winged flying squirrel.
This was a relatively rare small monster, known for its docility, with three to six colors on its meaty wings, and lived by hunting field mice like weasels. Due to its bright colors and petite, endearing form, it was often captured and sold as a pet to wealthy families.
Capable of low-altitude flight, the rainbow-winged flying squirrel was agile and fast, making it difficult to catch. The undead clearly struggled to capture it, managing only to slightly restrict its range of movement after a long chase.
The entire convoy was eerily quiet, unnaturally so, and only the clip-clop of horses' hooves on the stony road and the rumbling of carriage wheels filled the air.
The entire convoy watched the undead in silence, quietly and cautiously moving past the large covered wagon.
Only after they had traveled several hundred meters away, well beyond those peculiar undead, did Parker finally let out a frustrated growl, "What in the world was that?!"
With the young master breaking the silence, the servants, coachmen, and guards began to buzz with conversation
Young Master Parker wiped his sweat and called over the family knight. "Catch up with that postal carriage ahead and ask about the situationno, I'll ask myself!"
Soon, Young Master Parker and his family knight caught up with the green-painted postal carriage.
The young mailman responsible for city mail that day, Bosha Laurie, was stopped by Young Master Parker, who was distinctly different from ordinary folk. Bosha immediately stopped the carriage, got down, and bowed respectfully. "Good day, sir."
Bosha's obsequious attitude made it hard for Parker to start off angrily. However, the feeling of being "misled" still irked him. He said bluntly, "Didn't you just see those undead?"
Bosha, not understanding the intention behind the question, instinctively answered, "Yes, sir, I did."
This response only annoyed Young Master Parker even more. "If you saw them, why aren't you reacting at all?"
Bosha looked at the young nobleman strangely, then sneaked a glance at the convoy behind him. He was perplexed as to why someone coming from Indahl city wouldn't know about Weisshem's situation.
Left with no choice, the ordinary Bosha dared not offend the nobleman and meekly replied, "These undead from Taranthan are friends of ours in Weisshem. We often see them This is quite a common sight in Weisshem, sir."
Young Master Parker: "??"