"Low...Low..."

The creepy grunting sound seeped into Ed's spinal cord, freezing his blood instantly.

He saw a monster like a demon ape, with a body as thin as a skeleton, and its limbs with sharp hooks and rough joints crawling on the ground, slowly approaching him.

Hard scaly papules and growths are spread all over the body, like densely packed barnacles under an old wooden boat, with putrid miasma seeping out from the inside out; twisted spring-like limbs are rolled outwards, and the swollen scarlet tendons are covered with a layer of A greasy, dirty gum.

Ghoul?!

Those old ghost stories and legends vaguely appeared in his mind, about those gregarious monsters that eat scavengers, corpse snatchers, and baby thieves stalking underground ruins.

At least the stories seem refreshing now...

Looking at the monster that was about to pounce, Ed's pupils suddenly tightened, and his thoughts passed by in a flash——

We must not run away now. The ghoul is known for its agility and cunning, and its speed must be far better than mine. Running hastily will only leave it behind. The opponent is thin and may have been hungry for a long time. If he fights to the death, he may still have a chance of survival.

In the blink of an eye, Ed had dropped his toolbox, holding his cane with both hands behind his back and taking a stance - lunging backwards, ready to go, with the silver raven skull at the front pointing directly at the oncoming monster.

The attack distance of the cane plus the arm is much longer than the monster's hooks or fangs, so he has a chance to hit the opponent first.

"Crack--" The whale oil lantern fell to the ground, and the wire shield jingled and rolled. The dim light reflected the cold light of the crow's beak. The stench of corruption hit his face, and the monster's deformed face gradually enlarged in his eyes...

Ed suddenly exerted his strength and swung his cane at him with all his strength.

The metal rod body rubbed against the air, making a brief dull buzzing sound. It hit the monster's nose and collided violently with the bones.

The thin monster was immediately thrown to the ground, and a piercing cry echoed in the tunnel. A few drops of rotten black and pus-yellow fluid splashed out from the monster's nose and dripped on the ground, making a disgusting "chichi" sound.

However, the next second, the situation was beyond Ed's expectation——

The monster's stooped body staggered and rolled, and it used its arms and legs to regain its balance. In just one breath, it rushed towards Ed again. At this time, Ed thought he had succeeded with one blow, and after slacking off a little, his figure Unstable footing...

Oops!

The situation took a turn for the worse. At the last moment before being knocked down, Ed tightened his grip on the White Crow cane, and the crossbar got stuck between him and the monster's fangs.

"Bah-", humans and monsters tumbled together, their fangs rubbing against the metal staff, making a harsh sound that made people stand on their backs.

This move temporarily saved Ed's life. The metal cane stuck between his jaws protected Ed's throat, and Ed's slender hook was blocked with both elbows.

"Crack...crack..." Very close at hand, the monster let out an indistinct and horrifying growl. Its hook was only three inches away from his eyeballs. Ed felt his heartbeat and breathing were so rapid that it was deafening.

With a muffled sound, Ed pushed the monster away with all his strength, hurriedly grabbed the glass lantern on the ground, and tried to unscrew the metal shield...

However, the ghoul did not give him a chance to breathe, and swept in again at an aggressive speed. Ed held it in his left hand, and the tip of the staff stabbed straight towards the pair of blood-red eyes——

This time, the monster had an early warning, dodged sideways, and approached from the right wing.

The whale oil lantern in his right hand then swung out an arc of red fire. The monster seemed to be afraid of this glowing and hot thing. It kicked its hind legs hard and suddenly stopped and dodged an inch backwards.

Such a flexible dodge, can it sense the danger contained in the whale oil lantern? It's so cunning...

An idea suddenly came to Ed's mind.

He turned around and threw the whale oil lantern towards the approaching ghoul again. The monster easily dodged this non-threatening parabola and hardly slowed down.

"Ding--" The whale oil lantern rolled to the ground not far away, and the metal shield made a crisp sound without deflagrating.

The light reflected its eyes, which showed joy due to hunger, and its open fangs seemed to be mocking Ed.

At this moment, Ed's face was as dark as water, and he held the staff tightly with both hands. The white crow rose again through the wind - but found nothing. The monster was already on guard.

Its collapsed nostrils almost touched the metal crow's beak, barely escaping the blow, and jumped around again towards his side and behind.

After missing a hit, Ed did not choose to pursue, but hurriedly approached the whale oil lantern. At the same time, his unprotected back was directly exposed to the monster.

He pricked up his ears and listened to the footsteps on the ground.

As the concrete floor trembled slightly, the echo in the darkness behind him roared, three steps, two steps... Ed thought about the distance silently in his heart...

It's now!

The glass lampshade hit the deformed skull full of cracks and tumors, and the lamp shattered. Several beams of flames immediately ignited the splattering, fishy-smelling whale oil.

For a moment, the exploding fire illuminated the dark tunnel...

…

Just for a moment, Ed hooked the shield of the whale oil lantern with the crow's beak handle of the white crow cane, and swung it towards the monster.

He did loosen the metal guard before, but he didn't have time to completely unscrew it. However, driven by strong force, the metal guard easily fell off on its own.

In the first blow, the monster suffered a loss from the White Crow Cane. In the second blow, it almost predicted the attack distance of the White Crow Cane. And in that blow just now, it thought it could avoid my slash——

Although it was able to escape the striking range of the cane, it did not miss the whale oil lantern that was caught by the cane.

The flames were like a bloody mouth, instantly engulfing the ghoul's ugly head. It whined for mercy, scratching at its face with its claws, but only scraped off a few layers of burnt and foul-smelling flesh.

Ignoring the collar and sleeves that were burned by the splash of oil stars, Ed rushed forward and knocked him down with one shot. He stepped on the skinny and bone-like chest and hit the burning head once and twice.

Three times...

It wasn't until its head was like a pumpkin that had been smashed by a rake, and its body twitched and collapsed, completely losing its vitality, that Ed stopped as if it was a world away. The burning pain made him regain his consciousness again——

Hot! It hurts, it hurts... Ed hurriedly patted the flames on his body.

The burning pain beneath the fabric was like a glass of tequila filled with hot pepper being sprinkled on the wound.

Hiss... Ed gritted his teeth. This didn't feel like a dream at all.

【00:01:54】

There were less than two minutes left. He took a breath of cold air. The fight with the ghoul had consumed too much time, and he had not yet found a way to wake up from the nightmare.

"Pap tap tap... tap tap tap..."

At this time, a certain sound spread deep in the tunnel, causing dense echoes.

It was the sound of crouching on all fours, accompanied by a low roar like a beast. The burning fire reflected a dozen pairs of crazy, grinning blood-red eyes...

Run away!

At this time, both instinct and reason were screaming in Ed's mind. A skinny guy had already cost himself half his life, let alone facing so many enemies at the same time.

But where to escape?

Ed turned his attention to the door of the control room. It was an iron door with diamond-shaped patterns. The rough and granular black iron texture revealed a hard and thick texture.

Either be torn into pieces by monsters, or try his luck - even though there is an unknown world behind the door, he has no better choice now.

Before being overwhelmed by the hordes of monsters, Ed unscrewed the handle and jumped in...

【00:01:38】

"Creak——"

A huge force hit, the iron door buzzed, and the sharp sound of sharp nails scratching against the metal seemed to pierce the eardrums.

To be on the safe side, Ed locked the door with his backhand, secretly praying that the iron door was strong enough.

The room was hot and dark. The steam boiler was roaring, constantly spitting out heat, and the gear array of the differential engine made a regular "click-click" sound in response. In addition, Ed also heard the sound of the pendulum of the clock.

But nothing can be seen.

It would be nice if I had a box of matches in my pocket at this time, but unfortunately I don’t have the habit of smoking...

Suddenly, he heard a panicked sound - the closing sound of the clock cover.

There were other people in the room. Ed felt his heartbeat speed up.

The footsteps in the darkness were gentle and gentle, slowly approaching Ed as if strolling in a leisurely manner.

"Are you the controller?"

The other party didn't respond, and footsteps slowly approached him.

"Back off!"

Ed tried to threaten him and swung his cane in the direction of the footsteps, but missed.

The opponent was approaching step by step, and Ed couldn't help but blindly wave his cane while retreating. It wasn't until the cold touch of the iron door came from his back that he realized that there was no way to retreat.

"Who are you?" he asked in a desperate tone.

"Bang——" Ed was answered by an unexpected flash of gunfire.

At the end of the light, a dark, lightless figure was facing him, with no face visible, only a pair of silver-white eyes.

He felt something piercing his right eye - but the pain soon disappeared, replaced by a numb stiffness.

The vague sound of gunfire rang in my ears, like a dull drumbeat, like distant thunder, and the world around me gradually tore apart and collapsed into a flat surface.

I...was shot?

Ed felt like his mind was as slow as rust, the world became blurry and chaotic, and some kind of bright red viscous liquid flowed down his cheeks.

Blood, so itchy...

【00:00:00】
Chapter completed!