Chapter 406 – Impact and Awakening

Chapter 406: Impact and Awakening

Everywhere is fog, the whole world seems to be sunk into a pool of chaotic gray fluid depths, into the eye of everything in this fog blurred boundaries, the distant city, the near road …… all become ambiguous.

Only in the underground activities for a period of time, the scene on the surface has completely turned into their own unrecognizable appearance.

From the second waterway hurriedly returned to the surface Agatha stood at the exit of the traffic station, some dismayed at the situation on the street, now the road has been completely unable to see pedestrians, under the thick fog, even the nearby street lamps are only a floating in mid-air, hazy glow, in addition to this, can only be seen there are a number of dark red lights in the fog slowly moving, interspersed with the sound of the steam organ running! –That was the warning light on top of the head of the steam walking machine flashing.

“The city guards and magistrate forces have already rushed to the intersections, now the movement of people between the urban areas is strictly prohibited, all civilian vehicles are forbidden to go on the road, those who can’t return to their homes in time have been arranged to take shelter nearby,” a church priest who came to meet Agatha reported, “most of the night shelter Most of the night shelters are full, and we’ve had to work with the sheriff’s department to divert people to churches, warehouses, and the nearest subway station.”

At this point, the priest paused for a moment and sighed heavily.

“Alas …… originally more people could have been arranged to take shelter in libraries and the like, but the places where the collections were stacked are now starting to erode, and all the bookstores are blocked off …… The time when the fog rises coincides with the time when most of the factories in the city-state are changing their shifts. when most of the factories change shifts, and too many people are far from home.”

Agatha didn’t respond, just slowly withdrew her gaze from the street, and raised her head thoughtfully to the sky.

The sky was dark as dusk, obscured by heavy clouds and the mist of the city-state, and there was no sign of the sun in that chaotic canopy.

“It is day …… now,” she said softly.

“Yes, it is daytime, but this strange fog may be interfering with the power of the sun,” the priest’s face was grave with a hint of nervousness, “the erosion that has appeared in the library is due to this …… “

“Nothing can interfere with the sun’s power during the day – as long as Vision 001 hangs in the sky, even if the clouds block the sunlight and the whole city is as dark as night, the sun’s power won’t be weakened,” Agatha shook her head gently, “In my judgment, this layer of fog is not the cause, it may just be a ‘phenomenon’ triggered by a greater crisis……. How is the situation on the mountain?”

“The cathedral is packed right now,” the priest said quickly, while at the same time several steam walkers with warning lights on clicked their way to the clearing near the exit of the transportation station, and between the walkers was a car flying the church flag, “The car to pick you up is here, let’s head back up the hill first , talk to you on the way.”

Agatha and the priest got into the car and the steam walker shot its powerful lights out into the thick fog and on the barely reflected road the vehicle took off, traveling at a far slower than normal speed to the cathedral at the top of the hill.

“When the fog started, there were still many prayers and tourists stranded on the mountain, the cathedral sheltered everyone as much as possible, those who couldn’t be admitted were arranged to be put into the old church museum next to it, and the city hall also arranged for shelters, so they didn’t leave anyone outside,” in the car, the priest continued to report to Agatha, “Archbishop Ivan is currently in a state of emergency, and he has been in the hospital for a long time. “Archbishop Ivan has stabilized the situation so far, not letting the panic spread inside the church, he’s been using psychic communication to keep in touch with churches all over the city-state since a while ago, and so far there’s been no contamination due to mass panic ……”

A low mechanical rumble came through the car window, and Agatha twisted her head in the direction the sound came from.

She saw several long aerial rails stretching out from above the mountain road, through the fog, pointing into the distance, towering support towers holding up the rails like giants, and yet another pitch-black cargo warehouse hanging from one of the rails, roaring away into the depths of the fog, with red warning lights around the warehouse like so many eyes blinking in the fog.

That was the transportation system of the Boiling Gold Mine, the raw Boiling Gold mined from the mine would be transported to the crushing and sorting plant and the melting furnace at the foot of the mountain through those huge cargo bins and mountain tracks.

“The …… mine tracks are still running?” Agatha turned her head in surprise and looked aside to the priest, “The workers didn’t go for shelter?”

At the same time, what came to her mind was the sight she had seen only a short while ago in the depths of the underground, the old mine track that had dried up decades ago.

“The workers must have all gone for shelter,” the priest looked surprised at the sight of the railroad cargo box as well, but replied with certainty, “The mining church has confirmed it. What’s going past now is probably the last of the raw ore sent up from the digging area, and it should have been arranged automatically by the differential machine – as you know, the mined raw boiled gold ore stays for a while in the stockpile storage area before it’s sent away, set on the programmed paper tapes, and the machine will just do what it’s told to do … …”

A disconcerting roar suddenly came from the other end of the fog, interrupting the priest’s words of faith, and all eyes instantly looked in the direction from which the sound had come, but only to see another pitch-black cargo coupe hurtling from the other end of the air track – located on the same track as the one that had just swept over the mountain pass.

“It’s going to collide!!!” The priest only had time to let out a cry of alarm before the earth-shattering collision had already occurred, the two trains of cargo bins slammed on the air track, emitting a horrifying roar and explosion, the side cover of the bins was torn apart, and ore with a light golden luster poured down onto the mountainside like a torrential downpour, and immediately afterward, accompanied by the two trains of bins swaying and shaking on the track, the power wheels and auxiliary wheels were dislodged, and the axles snapped off, and the disfigured palanquins fell towards the mountainside with flashes of Sparks and smoke fell into the valley.

A fragment of wreckage fell from the sky and almost grazed the roof of the car Agatha was riding in, hitting the side of the road hard.

Before anyone in the car could react, there was another toothsome, terrifying sound of metal tearing high in the sky.

The airborne track that had taken the brunt of the impact was twisting, the top of one of the pylons holding up the track sparking, the taut steel girders and cables crackling and snapping, and then a whole section of the track slammed straight down from the sky above!

“Get out of the way!”

The car’s priest immediately shouted in alarm, and before he could say anything, the caravan had begun to dodge the falling object that had fallen from the sky – several of the steam walkers immediately dispersed, while the steam car in the center of the group accelerated forward violently, and after a few thrilling seconds, a horrifying roar came from behind Agatha.

She looked back and saw that the broken track had smashed into the mountain road, completely destroying the arterial road, and the two Steam Walkers were blocked across the falling object, fortunately uninjured – they moved their long mechanical knuckles and began to climb the mountain next to them, white high-pressure steam gushing out from the cracks in the armor plates, blending in with the fog around them. The white high-pressure vapor poured out from between the cracks in the armor plates, blending in with the surrounding fog.

“Walkers two and four can’t get through, they should be preparing to climb to the path above and return to the cathedral bypassing, we don’t need to wait for them,” Agatha glanced back, quickly judging and ordering, “Keep on the road.”

“A close call ……,” the priest on the side couldn’t help but wipe the cold sweat from his forehead, “It almost hit his head.”

Agatha, however, did not speak for a while.

Was that an accident just now? Or was it …… malicious?
Why was there a train of freight cars traveling in opposite directions on a mine track that was supposed to be one-way, single-car traffic?

The workers at the mine had gone to shelter at this time, and the operator of the track system would theoretically have gone to shelter after setting the last train …… The final step of hooking up the freight cars to the track has a safety lock that never sends the car if there are other cars on the track …… The differential controls this process, and a properly functioning differential will not make a mistake; the gears and toggles will faithfully execute the program set out on the punched paper tape, and there is no faltering between the meshing of the metals.

“There may be something wrong with the differential machine at the mine ……,” Agatha said as if to herself.

And it wasn’t just the mine’s differentials that might be at fault – if the library could be infested with evil spirits in broad daylight, the reach and urgency of the mutation would be beyond anyone’s imagination.

……

The alarm bells on the distant streets indistinctly reached the ears, the chaotic and disorderly cold winds wreaked havoc in the empty cemetery, the thick fog shrouded everything in sight, and in this indelible fog, it was as if countless low murmurs were overlapping and echoing, like the restless restlessness of the dead.

The sound of the gun’s safety open broke the peace in the cemetery, the weak light of a lamp dispersed the shadows in the fog, the old man with a stooped waist held tightly the loyal and reliable double-barrelled shotgun, such as the vigilant sentinel stood on the path, staring at those neatly arranged coffins in the fog.

The murmur was only an illusion, or at least it was still an illusion, those coffins still stayed honestly on the mortuary table, and the people in them were all still lying honestly – yet the eerie atmosphere in the air could not be hidden from the old soldier’s perception.

He knew that something was happening, and that this cemetery could not be left in peace today – some of the “residents” under his care were gradually awakening.

(End of chapter)