Chapter 145 Visitors from afar
The off-road vehicle that the expert group prepared for the railway survey personnel who came to China Railway Group in friendly support was a survey vehicle that was modified with the help of West China Heavy Industry.
The body armor... ahem, part of the body shell, chassis, and four pairs of extra-large road wheels come from a retired amphibious infantry fighting vehicle. The interior space has been expanded, and the vehicle is equipped with an instrument cabinet, workbench, and seats for onboard personnel, as well as special equipment and instruments, and a matching small generator set.
This twenty-ton survey vehicle, a modified amphibious infantry fighting vehicle, is considered the king of vehicles on Earth. When deployed in this magical plane, it is a true behemoth, a steel behemoth...
The operators who had seen cars used by upper-class people when they were on missions in the Innadri city during their military service looked at this survey vehicle as if it were a monster... The oversized road wheels alone were taller than any car the operators had ever seen!
Ji Tang stopped the car, opened the door and jumped to the ground. He nodded to the officers and waved to the railway workers: "I'll leave the car to you. Put all the oil drums under and behind the seats. Be careful not to have open flames in the car."
"Got it. We don't need to eat or drink, we can't even smoke, and we definitely won't see any open flames." The retired engineers from the China Railway Group, who were guesting as tools, laughed and waved their hands, and consciously got on the train first...
Ji Tang smiled and nodded. Seeing that the operators were standing still, he urged them, "Don't stand, get on the bus. There aren't enough seats up there, you'll have to squeeze in."
The operators moved mechanically, imitating the Undead's appearance and clumsily climbing onto the car...
There really weren't enough seats in the car, but luckily there was still some room to spare, and the operators weren't too picky, so they could just find an empty spot and sit cross-legged.
Next, the operators used their own personal experiences to deeply understand a fact: why the luxury cars owned by those upper-class sergeants in Innadri were only driven in the city and on a few well-built roads, and why they preferred to ride horses when going to manor farms for a short stay and hunting...
The car had not been driving for half an hour when the Undead driving had to step on the brakes, giving the operators time to rush outside to vomit.
"These young men can't ride in the car, what should we do?" said the old driver with a headache.
"This car is too airtight and stuffy. It must be uncomfortable for a bunch of young men to squeeze in." A retired engineer suggested, "Why not let these young men sit on the roof of the car? The fresh air will make them less prone to motion sickness."
On this day, farmers saw a strange sight.
On the bumpy country dirt road, a steel monster taller than an average house suddenly appeared and rumbled past at a speed faster than a horse-drawn carriage.
The farmers did not treat the steel monster as a wandering demon passing through and run away screaming, but just stared at it blankly.
The twenty or so strong young men sitting on the "back" of the steel monster, looking listless and swaying back and forth, stared numbly at the farmers they "encountered" by chance.
Neither side was willing to look away until the other disappeared from sight.
Soon, the legend of the "Manned Steel Lizard" spread throughout the countryside of Westram...
As the survey vehicle headed west, a convoy from the Earldom of Odysseus also came from the east.
The Westham town road was built forty years ago. The only thing about the road condition is that it is not easy for a horse-drawn carriage to overturn on it. There are absolutely no advantages to it.
These guests who came from afar could not stand such a bad road condition. When they had only gone halfway, Parker Odysseus, who was sitting in the four-wheeled carriage, asked the driver to stop and ordered the servant to bring his horse over.
"That idiot actually went to such a backward place to seek pleasure and became someone's hostage. He's such a shame to the family!" Sitting on the horse, Parker Odysseus, a legitimate young master of the main branch of the Odysseus family, tore off two buttons on the collar of his shirt and complained with an irritable look on his face.
The friend sitting in the carriage put up the window curtains, put an arm on the window, and said with a smile: "Who was the one who shouted that he finally had a chance to go out and have some fun, Parker? It's all thanks to that guy that you can go out and have fun for so long, so be a little nice to him."
"But we still have to take that jerk with us on the way back, or Auntie will come and harass my mother again." Master Parker said unhappily, "We have lost at least half a month of fun by taking such a long detour."
My friend shrugged and said, "That's pretty good. Last year, you were able to leave the house and relax for less than half a month. We friends have almost forgotten what you look like. I think you should get married quickly. If you have a wife, your parents will discipline you less."
"Let's talk about it later!" Master Parker didn't want to talk about this, so he turned his head and looked straight ahead, "Hmm? What is that?"
About two or three hundred meters ahead of the convoy, there was a caravan parked on the side of the road.
There was nothing unusual about the caravan, but what was strange was that there were a dozen slender figures moving around in the wilderness not far from the car; from a distance, they looked like they were fighting, or like they were dancing some strange dance.
The friend sitting in the carriage also saw this strange scene and curiously stuck his head and upper body out of the window: "What are those people doing? Is it some kind of local autumn harvest custom? Dancing to celebrate the harvest?"
As soon as Master Parker raised his hand, the family knight of the Odysseus family immediately rode forward with his knight squire.
"Go and have a look." Master Parker waved his hand casually.
The loyal family knight nodded, waved his whip, and rushed to the front of the convoy with his knight squire.
Master Parker watched as his family knights galloped all the way to within a hundred meters of the caravan, then quickly turned their horses' heads and galloped back.
"Master Parker, it's the undead! All of them!" The family knight shouted in shock from a distance, "Hurry up and let the convoy retreat!"
Master Parker did not move, and neither did the others.
What a joke, how could a ghost appear next to the road in broad daylight?
His was not the only convoy on the road. There was a green-painted post office coach ahead of them. The post office coach passed by the caravan steadily and did not seem to be frightened.
The family knight rode closer and emphasized again: "Master Parker, it is indeed the undead. There is something wrong with this place! I think we need to retreat to the city and investigate what is going on here!"
Master Parker's expression immediately turned unhappy.
The Innadri territory is as large as the earldom like Master Parker's territory, but because the lords of the Innadri territory, the Bartles family, are so unkind, they only have the title of viscount until now, and are often ridiculed and fooled by the Odysseus family, who have the title of earl.
It was also for this reason that when Count Odysseus's nephew was captured, the Bartles family was too lazy to help and only fulfilled the minimum obligation to inform... Well, of course, there was some sarcasm.
Under such circumstances, it would be strange that Master Parker, who took the initiative to take on the task of redeeming his cousin and took the opportunity to go out for fun and relaxation, would be willing to go to Inadli City to be ridiculed in person by the petty-minded Adela III.
"I must have dinner at Westham tonight and see my good-for-nothing cousin," said Master Parker firmly. "Stop talking nonsense and keep moving!"
At Master Parker's insistence... a few minutes later, everyone in the caravan could clearly see the group of undead spirits active in the field next to the caravan, running out in broad daylight and jumping around.
The family tradition of the Odysseus family is excellent. Even in such a scene that refreshes people's worldview, no one in the entire caravan, including servants, followers, and guards, showed obvious incompetence, let alone shouting and screaming like a country bumpkin who has never seen the world.
Everyone just stared blankly at the group of undead.
These undead spirits are neither dancing nor fighting.
They are...catching a flying squirrel.
This is a relatively rare small monster with a gentle personality. It has three to six colors on its fleshy wings. Like the weasel, it makes a living by catching voles. Because of its bright colors and small, cute shape, it is often captured and sold to wealthy families as pets.
The colorful-winged flying squirrel can fly at low altitude, has flexible turning and fast speed, and is not easy to catch. It can be seen that these undeads find it difficult to catch it. After chasing and blocking it for a long time, they can only slightly restrict the range of movement of the colorful-winged flying squirrel.
The whole convoy was very quiet, unusually quiet, with only the sound of horses stepping on the gravel road and the sound of the carriage wheels.
All members of the convoy looked at the group of undead in silence, as they passed by the caravan quietly, carefully, and holding their breath.
After walking several hundred meters away from those strange undead spirits, Master Parker could not help but growl, "What the hell is that?!"
The master broke the silence, and the servants, grooms, and guards began to speak one after another. For a moment, there was a buzz of voices...
Master Parker wiped his sweat and called the family knight over: "Go catch up with the post office car in front and ask about the situation - no, I will go and ask in person!"
Soon, Master Parker and his family knights caught up with the green-painted carriage of the post office.
The young postman in charge of transferring mail into the city today was Porsha Lowry. When he was stopped by Master Parker, whose temperament and dress were obviously different from those of ordinary people, he immediately stopped the car, jumped out, took off his hat, and bowed respectfully: "Good day, dear sir."
Master Parker was not comfortable getting angry at Posa's servile attitude... But he was still very angry at being "misled" by this guy, and said stiffly with a straight face: "You, didn't you see those undead just now?"
Porsha didn't understand the other party's intention and instinctively replied, "Yes, sir."
Master Parker felt even angrier: "Since you saw it, why didn't you react?"
Posa looked at the young nobleman strangely, then secretly glanced at the convoy behind him... He was very puzzled. How could people coming from the direction of Innadri City not know the situation in Westram?
There was nothing he could do. As an ordinary person, Posa didn't dare to offend the nobles, so he could only lower his head and say submissively: "These undead from Tarantan are friends of us Westerm people. We often see them... In Westerm, this is very common, sir."
Master Parker: “???”
