I created the myth of the Great Old Ones.

Chapter 042 Rat Swarm

bang——

The object hit the glass with a cracking sound. Lu Ban gripped the crowbar beside him and instinctively struck it.

click-

The glass shattered instantly, and shards stained with some kind of viscous and foul-smelling liquid flew everywhere, causing Shi Tou to hurriedly cover his head and crouch down in defense. Lu Ban squinted slightly and saw something fall from mid-air and land on the ground.

"..."

Stone stared blankly at all of this, suddenly realizing that Lu Ban's destructive power was far greater than that unknown thing.

"What is it?"

Lu Ban took out a flashlight and illuminated the ground.

Outside, the driver and "Hound" also arrived after hearing the news. "Hound" was carrying a slightly crude handgun, which looked like it was homemade. He looked warily at the crowbar in Lu Ban's hand, and then turned his gaze to the ground.

It was a lump of fur-covered flesh, roughly the size of a small dog or rabbit. The filthy ground was made even more disgusting by the blood and flesh, and the stench was enough to make even the cleanest children vomit on the spot.

What kind of animal is this?

Lu Ban asked another question.

"This is... a rat."

"Hound," he said hesitantly, glancing again at the direction the creature had come from, in the ruins illuminated by the bus lights.

"We'd better get back in the car and turn off the lights. I have a feeling something bad is about to happen."

No, it has already happened.

Mary, who had somehow appeared at the window, took a deep look into the darkness, then bent down.

Bend down?

Just as Lu Ban noticed this, the sound of an impact rang out again.

bang——

A mass of black flesh leaped out from the deep, dark shadows and crashed into the glass in front of the stone.

This time, Lu Ban did not raise the crowbar in his hand, and the people in the car were able to see the true face of the flesh and blood.

It was indeed a rat.

However, when this giant rat, the size of a dachshund, struck the glass at a speed exceeding that of a bullet, the powerful impact directly shattered its bones and muscles.

The creature was spread out on the transparent glass like a pie, displaying its bizarre body structure, internal organs, bones, muscles, and blood vessels, now crumpled into a ball and then roughly torn apart, appearing brazenly under the light.

It crashed into itself and died.

Stone, this young man who had never seen much of the world, stared blankly at the flesh and blood that was slowly sliding away. It seemed that all his attention had been taken away by this thing, and he was unable to think at all. The blood vessels in his eyes became more prominent, as if they were about to cover his entire pupils.

Lu Ban seemed to sense something. He tapped the stone's head with a crowbar, causing the stiff young man to squat down in response, and he also bent down at the same time.

The next moment, there was another loud bang.

bang——

Another rat crashed into the bus, the sound like it was trying to pierce through steel, sending chills down one's spine.

The young man, Shi Tou, covered his head, curled up in a ball, and muttered a prayer that seemed to come from nowhere.

"go!"

The "hound" barked, shoved the driver, and raised its gun. The next moment, a gunshot rang out along with the sound of something breaking.

Lu Ban saw a rat leap up and crash into the "hunting dog's" right shoulder at a speed too fast for the naked eye to see.

His burly body caved in deeply, the rat's tissues crumbling under the impact, accompanied by severe fractures or dislocations. "Hound" showed a pained expression on his face, his hand holding the gun covered the wound, and he moved toward the front of the car.

Incredibly, these enormous rats completely gave up their lives, and no one knows what they were up to.

bang bang bang-

The sounds of the impacts on the bus were continuous, causing the entire vehicle to shake.

"Damn it, damn it!"

The hound had no time to tend to its own wounds and could only urge the driver to start the engine quickly.

The hoarse sound of the engine rose and fell in the noisy night, then fell silent again, tormenting everyone's nerves.

Snapped--

A rat crashed into the car through the shattered window of the tripod. It hit the railing, deforming and twisting, but not completely shattering. Instead, it twitched and wriggled on the ground.

"Ahhhh!"

Stone's voice trembled like waves. He tried to curl up and get away from the half-dead rat, but the rat only dragged a bloody trail on the floor in a strange posture as it approached Stone.

Just as the rat was about to climb onto the stone's ankle, its flesh and blood, covered in filthy fur, about to burrow into its rough skin, something pinned it down.

Lu Ban's crowbar struck the rat, dragging it backward.

At the same time, the intermittent engine sound, like that of an old man suffering from tuberculosis for many years, finally became continuous.

"Get out of here!"

The "hound" barked, and then Lu Ban felt the seat behind him generate a propulsive force, carrying them forward.

The rats' ramming caused the vehicle to shake slightly, but the fruits of human science and technology continued to advance. Soon, the tooth-grinding, continuous thuds disappeared, leaving only the last rat that had crashed in through the broken window, which was precisely pinned to the ground by Lu Ban's crowbar.

"It's a rat infestation."

When everyone breathed a sigh of relief, the taciturn middle-aged woman, Mary, finally spoke, her voice hoarse.

“Sometimes the rats in the ruins will migrate en masse for certain reasons, forming a huge rat swarm. We were just unlucky enough to run into one.”

"You mean, these rats are jumping and moving at such a fast speed, it's just a normal migration?"

Lu Ban confirmed it, and he saw Mary nod slightly.

"I am actually a scholar who studies wild organisms. This time I returned to the ruined city to write a paper after the expedition ended."

Mary slightly lifted her shawl, revealing her rather elegant clothes underneath, as well as the gun holster under her arm.

No one doubted this; they just looked behind the car.

At such a speed and in such numbers, any creature encountering a swarm of rats would probably have to take a detour.

This black torrent, regardless of anyone's will, meanders through the ruins, sweeping away everything it encounters.

Humans, on the other hand, can only hide and fear; they cannot resist.

The bus gradually returned to a smooth driving state, and the experience just now seemed like a dream.

Only the thick, congealed blood on one side of the car window and the huge rat pinned to the ground by a crowbar testified to what had happened.

"mouse……"

Lu Ban looked at the rat, a sudden inspiration struck him, and he asked a question.

"Can we eat this rat?"

"?"

Everyone in the car was puzzled.

"In theory, these rats are just ordinary creatures."

After a long while, Mary finally answered Lu Ban's question.

"That's pretty good."

Lu Ban took out a frying pan from the backpack at his feet.

"That was really dangerous. Let's eat something to calm our nerves first."

Chapter 043: Three times the protein of chicken

A bus is speeding across the ruins.

Passing through dilapidated buildings whose age is impossible to ascertain, the bus proceeded relatively smoothly toward its destination.

There was no light outside; darkness swallowed up light, sound, and all hope.

Inside the bus, however, came a sound that made one's mouth water.

Lu Ban quickly processed the rat meat. Just as the biologist Mary had said, aside from its tendency to wander around, this rat was an ordinary creature, except that it had well-developed muscles and a fat body.

Lu Ban used a knife to cut out the intact rat meat, washed away the blood foam, and sliced ​​it into thin, chewy pieces.

Some oil was placed in the frying pan, and under the licking flame of the portable camping lamp, the oil heated up and released an enticing aroma.

The prepared ribs are pan-fried until fragrant. The fatty parts of the ribs caramelize upon contact with the hot oil, filling the car with a primal aroma that attracts human urges.

Lu Ban then added ginger and garlic to stir-fry. The spices released a pungent aroma when heated, which mixed with the meat's fragrance, enriching the overall flavor profile.

Finally, Lu Ban poured water into it, covering the ribs, creating a shallow soup.

Add some tomatoes and scallions to the pot, sprinkle with salt and pepper, and cook for a while. The soup becomes rich and flavorful, making it hard to resist the urge to eat.

Lu Ban wasn't very good at cooking, so he just casually cooked a pot of soup, intending to use rat meat for hot pot.

He picked up a slice of cut rat meat with his chopsticks and lightly dipped it in the pot.

The rat meat, almost translucent to the light, turned white in an instant, curled up, and Lu Ban popped the meat into his mouth in one bite, closing his eyes.

In a normal world, rat meat might have a foul odor, taste sour, and be very tough.

The rats in the ruined capital, probably always in the struggle for survival, and with such powerful jumping ability, are larger in size, so their meat is firm, elastic, and rich in fat, just like high-grade beef. Roughly estimated, the protein content is more than three times that of chicken.

"good to eat!"

Lu Ban couldn't help but sigh.

The three people watching him couldn't help but swallow hard.

"Do you want to eat it? This rat is quite fat."

Seeing this, Lu Ban said.