"You always seem to have some unrealistic expectations of them..."
Nora had only been to Valhalla once, clearly didn't have as much confidence in the players as Gray.
That's because you've only been to that place once...
Gray explained confidently:
"We'll arrive in Valhalla in about two weeks. You just need to compare it with your memory to see just how fast their construction has been."
Nora didn't say anything more after hearing this, but slowly but steadily pulled down the lever of the cargo hold's rear door.
The cargo door of the Antasia slowly opened, and the angle of the entire hull began to rise little by little.
The Wilderness of Chaos provided excellent assistance at this moment. As the entire fortress continued to shake, crates and crates of hardwood parts began to slide out of the tilted cargo hold little by little.
"Bang! Bang! Bang!"
The wooden crate landed heavily on the ground, rolling several times before becoming a chaotic mess.
The Blood Corpse behind them instinctively attacked the sudden appearance of this thing. Their sharp claws tore open the wooden box, and they looked into the box following the faint human scent, only to find blocks of wood that they could not recognize.
These purely "hand-made" parts from High-Quality Charcoal Processing Plant naturally have a human scent—the scent of the Stained Ones undergoing labor reform.
After confirming that there were no valuable targets inside worth attacking, the Blood Corpse continued their pursuit of the small fortress ahead.
Compared to these objects imbued with human characteristics, they crave fresh blood even more.
Having abandoned its cargo, the Antasia gained another speed boost, widening the distance between itself and the horde of Blood Corpse behind it.
Gray, Nora, and even Bennett all breathed a sigh of relief at that moment.
However, before they could even breathe a sigh of relief, another unexpected event occurred.
With a remarkably clear crashing sound, the Antasia entered a wasteland filled with rubble.
The Graycast Corridor, which had not yet developed modern machinery, was not particularly advanced in terms of shock absorption and suspension.
The turbulence and shaking of the entire fortress suddenly intensified, causing everyone's teeth to chatter automatically and their voices to tremble noticeably.
"Where is this?"
Nora tried to speak faster, but accidentally bit her tongue and could only speak slowly in a trembling voice.
"I don't know, Master didn't bring me here."
Gray's voice also trembled uncontrollably; he felt every part of his body shaking.
In a daze, he realized a problem--
Such strong vibrations can cause fatal damage to mechanical structures.
Gray knew he had to get the Antasia out of that area as soon as possible.
He gripped the steering wheel tightly once more, intending to create some distance and allow room to slow down before turning west to leave the area.
Even Nora, who hadn't undergone any modifications, was getting a bit too much from the jolting and couldn't help but curse angrily:
"Could this road be any more dilapidated?"
able.
Before Nora could finish speaking, a large section of the ground ahead suddenly collapsed, right in the path that the Antasia was destined to take.
Although the sinkhole, several meters deep, was not large in area, it was perfectly capable of accommodating the small fortress that Antasia.
At its current speed, a perfect match will be found in less than five seconds.
The chief engineer next to Gray exclaimed in surprise:
"Brake!"
The old man's hoarse voice, coupled with his extremely panicked tone, made Nora, who was watching the Blood Corpse from behind, think that someone was sawing Bennett's throat.
The chief engineer, who had little experience in piloting, made the wrong judgment at this moment.
Although the Antasia is a small fortress, it's almost like a small, moving villa.
Such an object requires a long buffer distance even during sudden braking.
Fortunately, Gray was not affected by Bennett's misjudgment.
He jerked the rudder sharply to the left with one hand, trying to forcefully avoid the sinkhole ahead, while his other hand was already on the brake lever. At the same time, he looked back to estimate the distance between the horde of Blood Corpse and the fortress.
Oh no, we're not far enough!
Not long after they shed their cargo, the two sides were still quite close.
Gray had no choice but to gently pull the brake lever, attempting to corner at the limit to avoid the sinkhole in front of him.
Just as the fortress was about to pass over the edge of the sinkhole, a secondary collapse occurred.
Gray was ultimately a step too slow. Despite his best efforts, the Antasia's right track could not avoid the widening sinkhole.
With a loud bang and a sudden drop to the right, the Antasia ran aground on the edge of the sinkhole, while the horde of Blood Corpse behind it let out a roar that sounded almost like a cheer.
" Wilderness of Chaos, damn it!"
Enraged, Gray blurted out a truly authentic otherworldly swear word.
But at this moment, neither panic nor anger would have any effect.
Nora was thrown around dazed by the sudden impact, while the chief engineer trembled, completely disoriented, fearing that the Blood Corpse behind them would swarm him and "eat him up" too.
At this moment, only Gray remained rational.
Nora, hold on tight to your surroundings!
" Bennett, give the Blood Corpse full power! We have to break out!"
"It's no use, we're doomed. There's nothing under the right track, spinning it around is completely useless!"
Stop talking nonsense!
Gray pulled the stun lever all the way down and started fiddling with the control panel.
If it were a typical small fortress here, it would have already resigned itself to its fate.
But the Antasia is different.
As a small fortress that combined the technological achievements of the Second Holy See and the Graycast Corridor, Gray knew there was one more thing that could save his life at this moment: the nutrient Drain system developed and installed by his friends from the Second Holy See.
The Antasia can now stay in a single area for much longer than a typical fortress.
This is possible because the system developed by [ Traditional Eccentric Wheel ] and others can take root downwards when the fortress stops operating, providing the Blood Corpse with basic nutrition and preventing autophagy.
And that's exactly what Gray is going to take advantage of—
Doesn't the right track lack a point of leverage?
Then I'll release all my roots!
With these fully extended roots intertwined below, the tracks should be able to get some leverage to get out of trouble.
Even knowing that his idea was almost fanciful, Gray still went ahead and did it anyway.
This is the only chance to survive at this moment.
However, Nora's scream came at that moment; the Blood Corpse was already within reach.
It would take at least ten seconds for the roots to spread out; there's no time!