"Ah!" Hitzfeld woke up suddenly, his body shaking, and he took half a step back under Ashley's gaze.
"Heath!" The girl came up to support her, "...are you okay?"
"I..." Hitzfeld was speechless for a moment.
She's also weird.
She didn't know what was wrong with her.
Her mental state has been abnormal ever since she tried to peek into the green fog and trace the mysterious and dangerous "Doctor Mechanical" through the potion.
Weird dreams...hallucinations...
How strange, is there really a black flame curse?
The fuel is made of undead marrow and the dark blue undead fire, and the cold black flames rise from the base... Can it really transcend space and not even escape speculation and divination?
The natural orb couldn't suppress the left eye's riot. Rather than trying to break free from the control of the artifact, it was more like it sensed a fatal danger...
But that doesn't make sense.
If we really want to talk about danger, she has experienced it before. She has narrowly escaped death on many occasions, but never has her mental state been so disturbed.
Always feel uneasy.
I always feel flustered.
In the end what happened……
Why does that person, "Doctor Mechanical", give me this feeling...
Am I afraid…?
I have faced even the evil god before, so why would I be afraid of a madman?
Pressing his temples, Hitzfeld slowly raised his head and looked towards the carriage in front.
The ground was shaking and the surrounding scenery began to recede, indicating that the train had started.
There were small gatherings of people on both sides of the road. They had all heard the gunshots from before. When they came out to see what was going on, they saw that the train was about to leave, so they gathered together and talked about it.
"I'm leaving now... Is the case solved?"
"That should be the case...Esun Hitzfeld is here. She's a famous detective. With her here, they must have caught someone."
"Finally we're gone. Finally we don't have to see that big iron lump blocking the way..."
"Will those policemen leave too? It's hard to do business with them around..."
"..."
Hearing faint discussions in his ears, Hitzfeld couldn't even tell whether they were coming from both sides or were whispers he caught from the void.
A strong sense of uneasiness was warning her, and she insisted on standing firm, looking at Mrs. Charles with a pale face.
"Next... lock the door of your room and don't come out if you hear anything. Can you do that?"
Mrs. Charles was stunned for a moment.
Maybe because she had a wild temper before, she immediately realized that something big was going to happen. She nodded and assured the girl: "No problem! I won't open the door to anyone who comes!"
Hitzfeld nodded his chin, steadied Ashley, and almost leaned half of his body on her hand, and whispered to the girl: "Help me over."
"His?"
Ashley widened her eyes and looked at the sign for Car No. 9 which was so close to her. She then raised her head to look inside the car and at the door across the aisle - Car No. 10 was the door that led out from there.
Heath: What does this mean?
Is she going to go back?
Patrol back?
"The enemy this time is unusual..."
Hitzfeld insisted on going.
"The warehouse... I need to see it before I can feel at ease."
She insisted, and Ashley had no choice but to help her enter the No. 9 carriage, close the door, open another door after passing the aisle, cross the fence at the connection point of the train, and open the iron door of the No. 10 carriage.
At first, Lily hid at the end of carriage No. 9 and didn't want to move. But when she saw them really go out, she had no choice but to follow them slowly with her tail between her legs.
The night scene is accelerating, and you can see that the car speed is getting faster and faster.
After carefully checking carriage No. 10 and making sure there were no abnormalities in the bedrooms, Hitzfeld ordered Ashley to move on and begin investigating carriage No. 11.
Starting from car No. 11, it is the freight car, which is filled with the rotten smell of thatch - many goods have to be padded with thick thatch for cushioning, which greatly obstructs the two people's vision.
"It seems everything is fine..."
Ashley couldn't help muttering to herself as she parted the thatch and looked at a few cargo boxes.
Hitzfeld interrupted her: "Where are the police officers?"
That’s right——
Ashley frowned.
There were indeed some police officers who got on the car from the back before, so how come I didn’t see anyone along the way?
I didn't even smell the blood. What on earth was this...
"Wang Wang! Wang!"
Lily suddenly barked at the darkness ahead.
"Hold my hand steady and help me aim."
Hitzfeld stared straight ahead, raised the white whale, and the muzzle of the gun was shaking violently due to exhaustion.
Before Ashley could understand what she meant, a crisp sound suddenly came from the darkness.
It's a bit like gears - it should be some kind of machinery, mechanical parts - they collide and intertwine, as if they just fall into a snap and make a sound.
"...!!!"
As Ashley's pupils became smaller and smaller, in the shadow ahead, a huge mechanical creature with its body curled up gradually stood up and straightened up, with two blue flames lighting up in its eyes.
"shot!!!"
Hitzfeld tried to remind her.
Ashley finally reacted and squeezed her hand, covering her finger with hers on the trigger.
But you can't win this way...
At this critical moment, many thoughts flashed through the girl's mind.
Given Heath's condition and such a narrow environment, it would be a dream to think of using guns to fight this...
"boom!!!"
The giant mechanical creature stood up completely, its head supporting the ceiling with a creaking sound, and a cluster of surging black flames burst out from the surface of its body.
Frost was visible on the ground... A path of ice spread from the shadows, and the wooden floor, which was already bearing heavy pressure, continued to crack under the cold, making crackling sounds.
“SHOTS ASHLEY!!!”
"boom--"
The huge kinetic energy released by the white whale was almost synchronized with the steps of the robot horse's hooves.
But the shot was not aimed at the person.
At the last moment, Ashley changed her target as she thought, lowered the muzzle of the gun and fired at the wooden board, making a big hole in it!
"you……"
Hitzfeld's scalp tingled and his mind went blank.
The world is silenced by consciousness at this moment.
She felt the vibration, and saw more wooden boards breaking and tearing apart, with the hole as the center... As if unable to bear the weight of the people and horses any more, the entire carriage broke into two.
The robot horse fell onto the rails along with the rear half of the carriage, tumbling and roaring...
By the time it regained its footing on the track, the train was no longer visible.
--------
A friend of mine tested positive again, which delayed him a bit...
To compensate, I will write a little more in the last few days.
Chapter 5 Shadow Poison Needle in k
In the violent snowstorm, the floor of the carriage lost its balance and quickly tilted towards the track, and Hitzfeld almost went down with it.
Fortunately, there was an iron fence nailed underneath the truck compartment to secure the cargo. She grabbed a thin pole and managed to pull herself up, finally climbing up with Ashley.
"Go save Lily!" Looking back, he saw a white shadow hanging beside him. Hitzfeld directed Ashley while he staggered onto the external platform and fumbled to pull out the lock of the carriage.
Without anyone to interfere, Ashley quickly returned with Lily in her arms. Hitzfeld stood on the outer track of the intact carriage and waited until they both jumped back before pulling the bolt.
"Kakaka..."
With a teeth-grinding sound of steel rubbing against each other, the tightly connected buckles loosened, and the originally combined steel suspension bridge suddenly separated, leaving the remaining half of the cargo hold far behind.
"Huh...huh..."
It was not until this moment that the two of them finally collapsed completely exhausted, staring at each other's faces, panting and grinning foolishly.
But it was really too cold outside. Hitzfeld didn't dare lie there for too long. He struggled to get up, asked Ashley to open the door, and pulled him in.
"Bang!" The big iron door closed and locked, blocking out all the howling wind and snow. They checked their clothes again and confirmed that except for some wear and tear on clothes and boots, there were only some bruises and sprains on their bodies.
This was not caused by external force, but was caused by excessive force applied during the escape and climbing process.
"What a genius idea..." A voice of praise suddenly came from the darkness, "How did you come up with the idea... to hit downwards?"
"I..." Looking up at Hitzfeld, Ashley stammered, unable to speak.
How did she know what she was thinking?
She just instinctively felt that this was the right thing to do, and so she just did it.
"Let me ask you, what if your idea is wrong?" Seeing her like this, Hitzfeld narrowed his eyes and his expression gradually returned to seriousness. "If this is useless... won't we lose our only chance to fight back?"
"You didn't even ask me if it was okay. Do you think this behavior is really right?"
"...But I think this is right!" Ashley couldn't bear it this time. She gasped and said, "It was too late at that time - I just wanted to save Heath - if something goes wrong, I will die with Heath! I'm sure! I'm sure!!"
She regretted it as soon as she finished yelling, because this was the first time she had been mean to him since he adopted her.
Heath has given me so much help, it’s a favor... It’s ok that I can’t help her normally, but how can I treat her like this?
The arrogance quickly subsided, Ashley shut up, stepped back, and tried to squeeze her body to the corner of the car, as if doing so could express her apology.
"You don't have to explain anything to me."
"Hey?"
When he looked up, he saw the gray-haired girl smiling at him.
"I once hesitated like you, and was unsure of my own judgment." Hitzfeld recalled, "At that time, someone woke me up and made me realize that if I myself don't believe in my own reasoning, then talking about being a detective and solving cases is a joke."
"Your situation is different from mine, but the essence is similar: when something involves your own destiny and the path you will take in the future, you don't need to care about anyone's opinions. Just focus on doing what you want to do."
This was no longer a hint; it was simply encouragement, and it connected seamlessly with the advice received from the sheriff not long ago.
"Heath...you?"
"If you insist on entering the Knight Academy this time, you can sign up by yourself." Hitzfeld raised his hand to tuck his messy hair behind his ears and sighed, "If you ask me, I definitely won't support you. But you can sign up by yourself. I can't watch you every moment."
Isn't this equivalent to agreeing?
Ashley was simply ecstatic.
She finally understood why Rand-Ann said those "nonsense" to her. So that's how it was... So this was the way "adults" thought?
"Woo woo..." Lily turned over from her pretending to be dead state, her front paws grabbing the girl's boots, and her tail still stuck in the crack of her buttocks, refusing to come out.
It was frightened. This creature has a very high IQ and it must know that it almost died just now.
"Let's go check ahead." Hitzfeld squatted down and used his fingers as a comb to stroke its fur, trying to be as gentle as possible to soothe it. "The fact that the car can go this far means that this section of the track has not been damaged... but we should have missed Blackwood Station. I hope the supplies are still sufficient."
