Through a row of transparent windows in the steel wall, Philip, seated inside the steel monster, saw it weaving through the heart of a mountain.
He could not imagine how such a passage had been carved through a mountain full of stone, but the truth was right before his eyes.
Several minutes later, he saw the steel monster pass through the entire mountain and enter a chain of mountains, twisting along laid tracks as it raced forward faster and faster.
Mountain peaks sped backward, barely entering his field of vision before being ruthlessly flung behind by the steel monster the next moment.
"Clack-clack-clack..."
The steel monster raced through valleys, gravelly ground, and along riverbanks...
Occasionally, when passing through certain stretches, the steel monster would tremor violently, nearly tossing their entire group into the air.
Those who had not prepared themselves fell straight to the floor, left dazed and disoriented. The clever ones had long since copied the two officers, gripping the handrails and escaping disaster.
At his son Jimmy's reminder, Philip had grabbed a handrail long ago. Little Jimmy held tightly to Philip's body, and neither of them was hurt.
The steel monster continued onward. No one knew how far it had traveled when, just as everyone was slowly becoming exhausted, it roared up a steep slope and burst out of the mountains.
A plain appeared ahead, with a city built upon it.
The moment everyone looked at the city through the windows, they froze. It was as though a giant hammer had struck them on the head, and they could not react for a long while.
As far as the eye could see stood an immensely magnificent city. From its outline alone, they could tell that it was larger than any city they had seen in their lives—perhaps even