Steampunk Era: Mad Abield
Chapter 263 - 194: The Shadow of the Tree (Part One)

Chapter 263: Chapter 194: The Shadow of the Tree (Part One)

Malin rested for a while, about five minutes, before he walked out of the train, using a World Tree Sapling as a hook to drag two Insectoid bodies back to the front of the train.

Compared to the body of the young man they found earlier, these two bodies looked more like monsters, giving Malin the illusion ’they were evolving’. Extracting his dagger, Malin didn’t rush to dissect the large body; instead, he first pried open its mouthpart—yes, its mouthpart. According to what the young man had said, if this had happened four days ago, then Darwin himself would probably have gone mad on the spot.

Everything here was evolving at a rate that defied Darwin’s laws of evolution.

"Profound distortion, we’re in big trouble," Meckel, the mentor, approached.

Malin nodded, and then made a cut in the chest of the Insectoid with his knife. Unexpectedly, it did not open. The cut clothing revealed a texture unique to a shell.

Tearing the clothes open, Malin shook his head at the completely mutated carapace: "I can’t imagine this happened just four days ago."

After saying that, Malin inserted his knife into the gap between the carapace. The blade, made of orihalcum steel, pierced through the gap, and with force, he pried open the shell.

Green blood flowed out, revealing to Malin’s sight a sticky secretion, organs unlike any human’s. Most importantly, Malin saw a small cyst-like object near its chest and a tiny insect larva at the center.

"I never learned what this is from the Church," Malin said as he cut open the cyst-like object, put on gloves for his left hand, and then picked up the tiny insect larva.

"I swear, I’ve never taught anything about this in the Church," Meckel, the mentor, remarked, turning his head to look at Mentor Emmet Selkirk.

"Maybe the local Church of Silent Hill would understand this better than us," Mentor Emmet Selkirk shook his head as well.

Malin pinched the insect larva to death with his fingertip.

In that instant, a shadow passed in front of Malin’s eyes, and a crying sound like that of a toddler echoed.

The sound was also fleeting. Malin fell silent for a moment and turned to look at both mentors: "Did you just feel something?"

Mentor Emmet Selkirk shook his head, then looked at the insect corpse in Malin’s hands: "What did you hear or see?"

"A moment of black vision, then the cry of a toddler, also momentary," Malin said, reminded of the remarks from his own health check-up—’Immune to delusions’.

Even with such a constitution, he had heard something just now; it couldn’t possibly be an ordinary monstrous spawn but definitely that of an Evil God: "We are in huge trouble. If it’s been truly only four days, this city has probably already fallen... Wait for me to dissect this Insectoid, then let’s go to the train station again," Malin finished and pulled the smaller Insectoid corpse in front of him.

"Why?" Mentor Emmet Selkirk asked.

"To find a newsstand, see what’s happened recently in Silent Hill. This should be our best way of self-rescue. Indeed, the best way would be to ask a living person, but under the current circumstances, who of us can be certain..." As he spoke, Malin stabbed the knife into the gap, then pried open the carapace with force, looking at the insect larva inside before piercing it with the dagger.

This time, there was no black vision, and it seemed Malin had developed resistance to hallucinations, but the crying sound still echoed in his ears.

"The crying is still there, let’s go." Flicking the viscous fluid off his dagger, Malin sheathed it, got up, and took a Shotgun from Logan’s hand: "You alright, kid?"

"I’m okay, Miriam has a cold," Logan said before looking at Malin, eager: "There probably aren’t any monsters left at the station, from what I saw on the train those insects were fleeing into the city, so let me help."

"Your Apprentice surely is eager, though I think he’s more like rushing to his death," Mentor Meckel chuckled, shaking his head: "Kid, this place isn’t for you, I mean it."

"Logan, fall back, this isn’t the place for you to show off," Malin patted the young man’s shoulder: "Take good care of Miriam until we’ve handled this."

"But, but I really want to do something. If Miriam dies, my life has no meaning either," Logan stated with a resolute tone.

Looking at his peer, Malin caught a glimpse of his younger self in a daze.

He clearly wanted to tell him that even the most earnest affection would be ravaged by the passage of time, but then thinking of himself, Malin felt he couldn’t let such deep affection fade... at least not in front of him. So he nodded: "Fine, you can come with us, but only when I signal you, can you approach."

"No problem."

Having said that, Malin strode forward, carefully reaching the station entrance with the two mentors once more. The station doors had already been shattered by the insects, allowing Malin to clearly see the Insectoid corpses inside.

After two steps inside, Malin stopped, his action prompting Mentor Meckel to survey their surroundings, then he looked at Malin with a puzzled expression: "I don’t sense anything odd, Malin, why did you stop?"

"Don’t you find it strange that many of the insects weren’t killed by fire?" Malin pointed at the Insectoid bodies lying on the floor, completely devoid of any signs of burn marks, and

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