38: Chapter 38 The Mud Crocodile and the Electromagnetic Cannon's Debut

** [Evening 18:00] **

** [Location: Death Swamp Outskirts] **

The sky had turned completely dark.

In this swamp shrouded by poisonous fog, it was almost impossible to distinguish day from night.

Only the two modified, high-power searchlights on the front of the Black Iron, like two sharp swords, pierced through the darkness and mist.

"Squad Leader, why do I feel... like something is watching us?"

Liu Ruyan was holding a glass of red wine, kneeling halfway beside Lin Xiao's seat, diligently massaging his thighs.

She was wearing a black lace camisole nightdress today; even in this tense atmosphere, she didn't forget to show off her charm.

Her intuition was very sharp; as the former belle of the Dance Department, she was particularly sensitive to gazes.

"It's not just a feeling."

Lin Xiao narrowed his eyes, looking at the huge shadows flashing past the edge of the searchlights outside the window.

"There is actually something."

"And... it's not small either."

"Beep, beep, beep, beep!"

The radar suddenly emitted a rapid alarm sound.

"Warning! Giant biological signal detected!"

"Quantity: 1... 3... 5! Approaching rapidly!"

"Target size estimate: length exceeds 10 meters!"

Luo Yao's voice had changed pitch.

"Squad Leader! They are underwater! They are so fast!"

Lin Xiao stood up abruptly, pushed Liu Ruyan away, and walked to the observation window.

He saw huge waves suddenly churning in the black muddy water that had been calm on both sides of the train.

Several black spines, like small mountains, broke the water surface, bringing a suffocating sense of oppression as they charged towards the Black Iron!

"Splash—!"

A mud pit nearest to the train exploded suddenly!

A massive, hideous head rushed out of the water, opening a bloodthirsty mouth full of fangs!

It was a mutant crocodile!

But it was too big!

Its head alone was as big as a small car, its body covered in black-green scales as hard as rock, and its turbid yellow eyeballs were filled with brutality and greed.

** [System Scan: Swamp Emperor Crocodile (Level 3 Mutant Creature).] **

** [Characteristics: Thick skin and flesh, astonishing bite force, extremely strong territorial awareness.] **

"Roar—!!!"

The giant crocodile let out a dull roar; it had actually mistaken this moving train for prey invading its territory, or perhaps some kind of giant food!

Its thick, powerful tail slammed into the mud, and its massive body actually leaped several meters high, crashing directly towards the connection point in the middle of the train!

"Thud!!!"

A loud noise!

The entire train shook violently.

Ripples appeared on the surface of the shield, and blue light flickered crazily.

"Ah!"

The girls in the carriage let out a scream.

"It's biting the shield! It wants to bite through the shield!"

The giant crocodile was not bounced off; its sharp claws were firmly hooked onto the edge of the energy shield, and it opened its big mouth, biting crazily at the blue light screen!

"Crunch... crunch..."

A hair-raising friction sound came, the sound of teeth colliding with the energy field.

Although the shield hadn't broken yet, the visual impact was truly terrifying.

It was like a monster was right against your face, wanting to swallow you alive.

"Courting death."

Lin Xiao was not panicked; instead, he showed a cruel smile.

He pressed the communicator.

"All personnel, Level 1 combat readiness!"

"Luo Yao, turn off the 'Repulsion Mode' of the side shield and turn on 'Capture Mode'!"

"Want to eat my train? Then I'll knock out all your teeth!"

"Su Qingqian, Zhao Xiaotang, Liu Ruyan!"

"Get on the train roof with me!"

"Extra meal tonight! We're having braised crocodile meat!"

Lin Xiao grabbed the Remington shotgun hanging on the wall and pulled the long-unused M320 grenade launcher from his space.

"Click," he loaded it.

His eyes were colder than the swamp outside.

With the nuclear-powered shield as a safety net and this full set of divine equipment, this so-called Death Swamp was, in his eyes, nothing but a huge open-air hunting ground!

"Yes! Conductor!"

Su Qingqian instantly entered combat state, her Tang sword unsheathed, radiating cold energy.

Zhao Xiaotang was even more excited, swinging her alloy steel pipe, her eyes burning with fighting spirit.

Even Liu Ruyan gritted her teeth and put on her combat suit, holding the automatic rifle Lin Xiao gave her tightly.

The roof hatch opened.

Strong winds and a foul stench rushed in.

Lin Xiao stood on top of the speeding train, his windbreaker flapping loudly.

Looking at the giant crocodile below that was still biting crazily, and the other few black shadows approaching rapidly in the distance.

He raised the grenade launcher in his hand and aimed at the bloodthirsty mouth opened by the giant crocodile.

"Welcome to... the Hell Train."

"Bang!"

** [Black Iron · Roof Firepower Platform] **

** [Time: Night, 20:15] **

** [Environment: Deep in the Death Swamp, shrouded in poisonous fog] **

The wind howled, mixed with the unique stench and rot of the swamp, like countless wronged souls whispering in his ears.

The searchlight's pale beam pierced the gray-green poisonous fog, illuminating the boiling black mud pit below.

"Bang!"

The M320 grenade launcher in Lin Xiao's hand spat out a ball of fire.

A high-explosive grenade, trailing an orange-red tail flame, accurately drilled into the bloodthirsty mouth of the Level 3 mutant giant beast known as the "Swamp Emperor Crocodile".

"Boom—!!!"

A dull explosion sounded deep inside the giant crocodile's mouth.

Fire erupted from its throat and nostrils, blasting the surrounding mud and water in all directions.

"Roar—!!!"

The giant crocodile let out an extremely shrill scream; its originally indestructible oral cavity was blasted into a bloody mess, and large pieces of torn flesh mixed with black blood sprayed all over the ground.

Its massive body twitched violently, and its huge tail slammed crazily against the shield on the side of the train, stirring up circles of blue energy ripples.

"Tough life!"

Lin Xiao spat, threw the grenade launcher to Zhao Xiaotang behind him to reload, and picked up the special Remington shotgun himself.

"It didn't die from that? Looks like I have to give it something meaner!"

"Squad Leader! Watch out on the left!"

Su Qingqian's cold voice rang out in the headset.

In the mud pit on the left, two more huge black shadows broke out of the water!

They were two other mutant crocodiles, slightly smaller but equally hideous and terrifying. They were clearly attracted by their companion's screams and the smell of blood, their eyes flashing with greed and bloodlust.

"Good timing! No one is running away tonight; you're all going to become crocodile skin bags for me!"

Lin Xiao advanced instead of retreating, standing on the top of the speeding train, his figure as straight as a pine.

"Xiao Tang! The one on the left is yours! Don't let it get close to the shield generator!"

"Qing Qian! The one on the right is for you to practice! Try not to damage its skin, that's good material for making leather armor!"

"As for this leader..."

Lin Xiao narrowed his eyes, looking at the giant crocodile leader struggling crazily below.

"Luo Yao! Activate the main cannon!"

"Received! 'Thor' electromagnetic railgun charged!"

In the cockpit, Luo Yao's little face was flushed with excitement, and her fingers tapped heavily on the red launch button.

"Target locked! Goodbye, big crocodile!"

** [Warning! High-energy reaction!] **

** [S-Class Weapon: 'Thor' Mk-I Electromagnetic Railgun — Fire!] **

The sci-fi-looking silver-white turret originally installed on the front of the train seemed to come alive at this moment.

Between the two five-meter-long parallel guide rails, a dazzling blue arc that was impossible to look at directly lit up instantly!

The surrounding air twisted violently due to the powerful electromagnetic field, even emitting a crackling ionization sound.

"Zzzzz—!!!"

There was no roar of gunpowder explosion, only a sharp whistle that seemed to tear through space!

A special tungsten alloy armor-piercing projectile, pushed by the Lorentz force, accelerated to 7 times the speed of sound in an instant!

Its speed was so fast that even a residual image couldn't be seen, leaving only a straight, long-lasting vacuum channel in the air!

The next second.

The giant crocodile leader that was still crazily hitting the shield hadn't even reacted to what had happened.

"Pfft!"

It was like a hot knife cutting through butter, or a hammer smashing tofu.

The projectile, only the size of a fist, carrying invincible and terrifying kinetic energy, directly pierced through its skull, which was as hard as iron!

Immediately after, the kinetic energy was released instantly inside its cranial cavity!

"Boom!!!!"

The giant crocodile's massive head, like an exploded watermelon, shattered instantly!

Broken bones, brains, and black blood sprayed out like a rainstorm, dyeing the surrounding dozen meters of swamp pitch black.

The huge headless corpse was knocked away by the huge inertia for dozens of meters, slamming heavily into the depths of the mud pit, stirring up sky-high mud waves!

One-hit kill!

This is the power of technology!

This is dimensionality reduction strike!

"Holy... crap..."

Zhao Xiaotang had just swung her steel pipe, preparing to give that sneaking crocodile a "head-on blow," but seeing this scene, she was stunned.

The steel pipe in her hand suddenly didn't feel so good anymore.

"Squad Leader... this... isn't this too cheap?"

"I wanted to fight it for three hundred rounds, and you just insta-killed it?"

"Why use fists when you can solve it with a cannon?"

Lin Xiao blew on the non-existent smoke from the muzzle, looking calm and relaxed (actually, he was thrilled inside).

This feeling of blowing a strong enemy away with one shot was ten thousand times more satisfying than that bitter hand-to-hand combat!

This is the charm of climbing the tech tree!

"Don't just stand there! There are two more!"

Su Qingqian was very calm, or rather, she was already immune to Lin Xiao creating miracles.

The Tang sword in her hand glowed with ice-blue light, and her figure leaped off the train roof like a ghost, landing directly on the back of the giant crocodile on the right.

"Frost · Freeze!"

The Tang sword slammed into the gap between the giant crocodile's back scales!

The freezing ice energy erupted instantly, freezing half of the giant crocodile's body into an ice sculpture.

On the other side, Zhao Xiaotang was not to be outdone.

"Dare to steal my spotlight? Go to hell!"

She roared, her muscles bulging, and the alloy steel pipe, carrying a whistling wind, smashed fiercely onto the nose of the crocodile on the left.

"Thud!"

With a muffled sound, the unlucky crocodile was smashed by this terrifying monstrous strength until it saw stars, flipping its white belly and sinking down.

The battle ended faster than expected.

Under the deterrence of the electromagnetic cannon and the violent output of the core squad, this group of swamp overlords didn't even make a splash before becoming trophies of the Black Iron.

** [Half an hour later · Middle of the train] **

The train stopped slowly between two dead trees exposed above the water.

A huge mechanical arm extended from the bottom of the train; it was the "trophy recovery system" that Luo Yao had specially added according to Lin Xiao's requirements.

The mechanical arm flexibly probed into the mud pit, fished out the corpses of the giant crocodiles that had died miserably one by one, and dragged them onto the flatbed carriage specially used for processing prey.

"Wow! So big!"

"Oh my god, is this a Level 3 mutant beast? This skin is harder than iron!"

A group of brave girls gathered around the flatbed carriage, looking at these behemoths, both scared and excited.

Now, they were no longer the little girls who would scream when they saw zombies.

After hanging out with Lin Xiao for a long time, they not only learned how to kill zombies, but even learned how to dissect mutant beasts.

"Move aside, Chef Su is about to perform."

Lin Xiao was smoking, walking over with a sharp skinning knife in his hand.

Although these rough jobs could be done by others, in order to ensure the integrity of this top-quality crocodile skin, he decided to do it himself.

Of course, it was mainly to show off in front of the girls again.

"Sshhh—"

The sharp blade sliced open the relatively soft skin of the giant crocodile's abdomen.

Lin Xiao's technique was extremely skillful, as if he were performing an art creation.

Soon, a complete, huge black-green crocodile skin was peeled off.

** [System Identification: Level 3 Swamp Emperor Crocodile Skin (Top-Quality Material).] **

** [Usage: Possesses extremely strong physical defense and corrosion resistance. Can be used to make high-level armor (such as close-fitting soft armor, tactical vests), and can also be used to reinforce the soft connection parts of key train components.] **

"Good stuff."

Lin Xiao nodded with satisfaction.

"Shen Man, take this skin to the workshop to process it. I want to make a new set of tactical inner armor for Qing Qian, Xiao Tang, and Luo Yao each. As for the rest... make a few sets of those tight-fitting leather clothes for Liu Ruyan and the others to wear for future battles (and certain special occasions)."

Hearing the words "tight-fitting leather clothes," Liu Ruyan's face turned red instantly, but her eyes became even more charming.

And Su Qingqian rolled her eyes at him, cursing "scoundrel" under her breath.

"As for this meat..."

Lin Xiao looked at the pile of pink crocodile meat like a mountain; although it smelled a bit sour, the system showed that this stuff was rich in high protein and trace elements, making it a rare supplement in the apocalypse.

"Cut it all into pieces and pickle it as reserve food! Tonight, let's stew a pot of 'Overlord Crocodile Soup' for everyone! Let's properly nourish our bodies!"

"Yay! Long live the Conductor!"

"We have meat to eat!"

The girls cheered. In the apocalypse, being able to eat a bowl of hot meat soup was the greatest happiness.

It was late at night.

The night in the Death Swamp was not peaceful, and the roars of unknown monsters could still be heard from time to time in the distance.

But inside the energy shield of the Black Iron, it was peaceful and warm.