"Waaaaah..."
Thick black smoke billowed across the boundless wilderness, accompanied by the train's whistle.
Unlike the forests and mountains of most of the Southern Continent, the Northern Continent is mostly plains, and many of them are deserts.
A steel train made of thickened steel plates roared past like a long iron dragon, its wheels crushing the rails with a creaking sound.
The entire train was painted black, giving it a solemn, cold sheen.
It's unbelievable that the Northern Continent has developed from nothing to such a terrifying level in the past thirty years.
While Abraham and Duoxia's theft of technology from the Southern Continent was indeed a contributing factor, the speed of its development is still absolutely astounding.
"Clang... clang... clang..."
With the train's roar, its long body sped across the plain.
If you look inside the train, you can see that the first few carriages are filled with strange soldiers wearing bird-beak hoods and black coats that completely cover their bodies.
The main reason they are called soldiers is that they are all carrying improved rifles that were stolen from the Southern Continent.
Modern rifles have evolved from flintlock muskets to bolt-action rifles, and advancements in machine tool manufacturing have led to significant improvements in ammunition.
Besides the rifles they were carrying, they were also wearing ammunition belts.
Although the bullet belt still had a copper outer shell, its silvery tips revealed that the bullets were made of silver.
In addition, these soldiers were all equipped with silver longswords at their waists. They sat silently and motionless in the carriage, like cold-blooded soldiers who had been specially trained, inspiring fear in all who beheld them.
The steel train sped along the tracks, and judging from the escorts inside and the steel armor on the outside, it seemed to be transporting something extremely confidential.
With so many escorting soldiers inside the carriage, and the silver bullets and swords they carried, it was clear that the journey would not be peaceful.
As expected.
As time passed, the sunlight in the sky gradually dimmed.
As the last rays of the setting sun streaked across the sky, the entire land was shrouded in a gray hue.
"Awooo!!!" A piercing wolf howl echoed across the endless wilderness. Following the first wolf howl, a dense and continuous chorus of Werewolf howls and the roars of Second-Generation Vampire followed.
The entire wilderness seemed to have been torn apart by this terrifying creature.
All the extraordinary aspects of the Southern Continent were suppressed by that Pale God, while the Northern Continent, devoid of gods, was entirely different.
In the past, Werewolf and Vampire who smuggled themselves in on ships have each developed their own forces and are fighting against the Northern Continent, which is trying to eradicate them, in order to survive.
From this perspective, although the Pale God rarely leaves his home, his very existence holds profound significance for the Southern Continent.
Such a great being, whose very existence is intimately connected to the entire world, truly lives up to the name of God!
As the roaring sound came, the soldiers on the armored train immediately stood up, then each of them turned over and opened the small windows on the metal sheet behind them, revealing firing positions.
Then, a piercing gunshot rang out in the dark, desolate wilderness.
"Clap clap clap..."
With the sound of gunfire and the burning of gunpowder, they were barely able to see their surroundings by the faint light of the flames.
Beside the long, narrow, fast-moving steel train tracks, on the desolate land, a dense black torrent of Werewolf appeared, running swiftly on all Werewolf, constantly pouncing towards the train.
However, each silver bullet fired from the barrel struck the Werewolf, and upon hitting Werewolf body, it visibly and rapidly dissolved into a pool of blood.
However, even with the powerful effect of silver bullets, the sheer number of Werewolf was terrifying. A single volley of shots might kill dozens of Werewolf, but nearly a hundred would follow.
A deafening roar erupted from the steel train as one Werewolf after another pounced from the ground, tearing, scratching, and frantically attacking the train's armor.
With the combined efforts of dozens of Werewolf, the thick armor of the steel train was actually torn and scratched countless times. (Advances in steelmaking technology mean that the quality of steel today is far superior to that of the Papal State period.)
However, the steel train kept moving, and the numerous firing ports on its surface allowed the soldiers inside to clear out Werewolf climbing on the outside. If the steel train wasn't stopped and the soldiers didn't swarm on it, the dense swarm of Werewolf would hardly cause any real damage.
However, in the next moment...
"Boom!!!" A deafening explosion rang out at the railway tracks in the distance. Thousands of scarlet eyes, completely different from the Werewolf' green eyes, appeared in the darkness. A section of the railway track was also blown apart, making it impassable.
"Screech!!!" An ear-piercing screech of brakes rang out, and the rapidly moving steel train, accompanied by the screeching sound of brakes, actually slowed down and finally came to a stop.
However, its actions caused the surrounding Werewolf and Vampire to stop waiting. Accompanied by all sorts of terrifying roars, they surged towards the stopped steel train like a black tide.
However, even now, the resistance on the steel train has not ceased.
"Open the iron gates, unleash the War Machine!!!"
A roar echoed through the steel train, and as the sound rang out, the thick steel plates that had been impenetrable for so long actually opened from the inside.
Each cabinet, spaced three meters apart and as thick as a wall, is revealed as its steel plates open and close.
With the roar of the steam engine, the heavy rails, a full twenty centimeters thick, slowly opened under the power of the built-in steam engine, finally revealing the so-called ' War Machine ' inside.
The towering black steel body was almost invisible in the darkness. Thick steel arms were connected to the body by bearings. The left hand was a huge black cannon barrel, and the right hand was a huge cleaver-like weapon. The steel legs below looked extremely heavy. Even the small steam engine behind it was wrapped in thick steel, leaving only a window for jetting gas and placing incendiary materials.
These iron cabinets contained, surprisingly, a three-meter-tall, crudely crafted yet boldly designed steam-driven humanoid steel machine!
Although it is said to be steam-powered, the fuel inside its steam engine is not coal, but a powdery substance.
With the sound of electric ignition, the fuel oil inside the steam engine exploded with a roar, and the scorching temperature instantly rose in the steam engine's furnace.
"Puff!!!"
Accompanied by a piercing exhaust sound, the black steel machines spewed out lingering black smoke, then their bodies trembled slightly, as if they had come to life.
No, they came back to life.
As the steam engines burned, these steel machines seemed to come alive, even as if they possessed consciousness.
Each of them twisted its body in completely different ways. Some sized up the Werewolf that were pouncing around them, while others raised their arms to look at the equipment on their arms. Their behavior was just like that of real people with thoughts. Apart from the mechanical feel that machines are inherently, there was no stiffness in their movements that comes with being controlled by code.
As the carriage opened, even Werewolf and Vampire seemed extremely wary, the entire black tide surging in but unable to penetrate.
Finally, as the numbers of both sides increased, a burly wolf king seemed to lead the charge, howling as it pounced on the black steam machine.
"Puff!!!"
With a hum of steam, a large, dark, black cannon barrel accompanied a steam-powered mech that raised its left hand and aimed at the onrushing Werewolf's massive body.
Compared to the three-meter-tall black steam engine, the Werewolf's burly body now appeared exceptionally thin, like a wild dog.
"Boom!" With a piercing roar, the cannon on the left hand of the giant steam mech actually exploded, and the Werewolf that was pouncing in the air was blown into a pile of minced meat.
"Puff!!!"
The deafening roar of the steam engine filled the air as the waves of Werewolf and Vampire surged like a flood. The low-tech steam-powered mechs that emerged from the train resembled steel tanks, colliding head-on with the Werewolf and Vampire.
The massive swords cleaved the charging Vampire and Werewolf in two at the waist, the roar of cannons blasted their incredibly resilient bodies into fragments, and even with the burning of steam engines, some steam-powered mechs managed to withstand the Werewolf and Vampire as they charged forward, carving a bloody path through the chaos.
Flesh and blood were trampled into mud by the heavy footsteps of steel, and even the immortals were blasted into fragments. These steam-powered mechs, like the Primaris Space Marines from Warhammer, did their utmost to cut down the surging tide of Werewolf and Vampire around them.
The wilderness was covered in blood, with roars and steam rising in unison. The Northern Continent, which had been firmly suppressed by the presence of Pale God, seemed to have truly ushered in a new life.