Monster Dismantling Company

"This is Razer's current situation—by the way, you haven't been paying attention to Razer's situation? I remember it being mentioned in the textbook."

"I didn't pay much attention to things outside of Ningzhou when I was a child, so I don't remember them."

"Then you can see now—this is the problem facing Razer: Razer is not facing miasma pollution, but an environment that has been completely transformed into miasma. Every plant and tree here, from wild boars to elephants, is indestructible."

When miasma accumulates on the ground, it exhibits an extremely strong stench, making it difficult for any creature other than the mutated wild boar to survive.

But as the miasma gradually seeps to the ground and merges with the soil, instead of merely accumulating on the surface—a completely miasma-infused environment, that's what Raize looks like now:

The birds, beasts, and even the smallest blade of grass here are all protected by barriers that only monsters possess. If you chop an axe at a tree stump, it won't break the stump, but the axe itself. Even using the train's main cannon to bombard a section of wood is extremely difficult. Only the train's specially designed obstacle-clearing device can smash through such a piece of wood.

In other words, it's like a "high-level area" in a level-based role-playing game. Ningzhou's environment is basically a beginner's village; the hostile monsters are only around level 10. But in Raize, even the neutral monsters are level 60. The ores and wood that can be freely mined in lower-level maps require high-level tools to interact with here.

An ordinary axe won't do.

Currently, it seems the light cannon on the front of the train can forcibly break through to this level. The most effective weapon on the train appears to be the shovel-shaped obstacle breacher on the front. However, each time it uses a ramming attack to breach an obstacle, it seems to cause structural damage to the train.

Li Lin nodded: "No wonder there's no zoo in Jin Gang Prefecture."

If a single tree trunk is like this, one can only imagine how terrifying the animals here are. Iron cages that can restrain ordinary animals are torn apart by the elephants here as easily as tearing through clay.

If Taba's miasma barrier surrounds the body, then the miasma originating from Thor gives the entire environment an indestructible and impenetrable barrier. It turns every inch of land into a wilderness that is difficult for humans to develop, where even a goose that randomly jumps out of the lake requires a platoon of soldiers to hunt it down.

And the elephants, those elephants were even more explosive.

"The biggest problem facing Raize right now is the elephants," Lin Zhiqing said, looking into the distance. "Because elephants follow fixed routes, they flatten all obstacles along the way, including human cities. Although most of the time these routes are indeed fixed, if food is scarce, or if there is conflict between elephant herds, then the elephants will wander into human territory. Even reinforced concrete buildings will be crushed into dust."

This is why what you see in Lei Ze is a scene from ancient times—because the traces of human construction here have long been swallowed up by the terrible natural environment. The fertile land outside the car window, seemingly full of life, actually hides deadly dangers everywhere, making the situation far more severe than in Ningzhou.

"Ah...but the scenery outside is really beautiful." The way those elephants roamed freely and leisurely in the wilderness, their genuine relaxation, was what Li Lin found "cute."

"Perhaps." Lin Zhiqing sighed. "When the Titanic sank, the passengers certainly suffered. But for the fish waiting to be cooked in the galley, it was a miracle of life—we are not fish, after all, and it's hard for us to empathize with them. It was the joy of life, and even if I weren't a fish, I could feel it."

After entering Raize, the train's speed hardly increased. This was because every so often, the train had to stop to bombard the obstacles with the main cannon and then use the obstacle clearer's shovel to ram them away. Some were wood, some were stone, and even wild boars. Sometimes a single shot could shatter them; others had to be rammed into.

The Yinlong train did not provide catering services during this entire period. Only later that evening, after the train stopped in Shouzhou for maintenance, did the Yinlong train appear, swaying precariously.

"Gentlemen...gentlemen..." Silver Dragon swayed three times with every step he took, "This is...dinner prepared for you two..."

"What happened to you?" Lin Zhiqing quickly got up and took the food from him. "Why is your forehead covered in bumps?"

"I fell. The car was bumping a bit earlier, and I accidentally bumped my head on the door. Thanks for your concern. I'm leaving now, please enjoy your meal."

The dizzy and disoriented silver dragon didn't say much. After delivering the food, she disappeared.

Besides exhaustion, Li Lin could also see fear in her eyes—this was merely the outer perimeter of Thunder Swamp, not its core, yet navigating this area had already caused the Silver Dragon considerable trouble. If the Silver Dragon were to head towards the core of Thunder Swamp, it would likely face the risk of being destroyed. It seemed the Silver Dragon only had a tough head; only its "head" was of sufficient quality, meaning it had to ram through every obstacle in its path.

What appeared in front of Li Lin just now was Silver Dragon with a big bump on its head.

If the Silver Dragon is forced to participate in subsequent operations, the problems she will face will not only be a minor setback, but she might even end up crashing into a wall and dying.

"I'm going out for a bit," he said to Lin Zhiqing, then went to the water dispenser and called Yinlong out.

"Are you alright?" He patted the silver dragon's head.

Silver Dragon quickly covered his head, crying, "Ouch! Don't touch me...it hurts so much!"

She was in so much pain that she felt dizzy, and this train stop for maintenance only gave her a brief respite. Tomorrow morning, after the train departs, she'll have to start banging her head against the tree again.

"Do you always walk this way?"

"It's not every time. It's just that the environment here seems to be getting more and more treacherous. Obstacles that we could blast through with the main cannon before, we can only ram through with the front of the vehicle. Lord Dragon King! What should I do!"

"Don't worry, I have a solution—you need to upgrade. I've played some pre-war video games, and the experience from them is quite relevant to your current situation."

Silver Dragon asked in surprise, "What do you mean?"

"For ordinary crayfish, a regular stick will suffice. But for mutated crayfish, you'll need an exquisite scepter. And if you want to fight the Sunset Tyrant Crayfish, then of course you'll need the Earth-Shattering Thunder Staff—young lady, you're getting a big bump on your head because your equipment is too poor. Have you considered upgrading your gear to adapt to the new version's environment? Without proper equipment, how are you going to run dungeons and grind monsters?"