Chapter 530: The Creeping Bones
The amount of explosives and ammunition stored in the military camp was quite large, enough to blow a town into the sky. Several team leaders shouted "Get down!" and the soldiers of the expeditionary force lay on the ground one after another.
The impact of the shock wave at this distance is not that great, but it is still better to be careful. If some metal parts are blown over, there might be some casualties.
Hotch lay on the ground, counting silently in his mind.
"123"
"1213"
Strange, more than ten seconds have passed, where is the shock wave? There should be a strong wind blowing? He looked up in confusion, only to find that Ash had stood up at some point, staring at the direction of the military camp.
Hotch turned his head and his eyes widened instantly.
The fire from the explosion just now should have been wrapped in thick smoke, scattered into a huge mushroom cloud, then surged into the air and spread dust all around, and then lasted for a long time before gradually disappearing.
But there is nothing over there now.
The sky was empty, as if the explosion just now was just an illusion. This place was already ten kilometers away from the military camp, and no details could be seen at all. Only a cloud of white smoke could be seen.
White smoke?
Hotch rubbed his eyes.
Would an explosion create white smoke on the ground? Black smoke is more like it, it's not like it's burning quietly.
"Is that smoke?"
"No." A low voice came from above his head. Ash's tone remained indifferent, but there were waves in his eyes.
“That’s white mist.”
"White fog? Why is there white fog?" Hodge asked curiously. When he turned around, he saw Gwen's face full of fear and hatred. A terrible guess suddenly appeared in his mind.
Could it be "White! Disaster!!" Gwen squeezed out these two words from between her teeth, and there was a rare tremor in her tone.
The White Disaster is the eternal nightmare of the White Crow People. The Silent Temple has thought of countless solutions, but in the end, all it could do was to migrate people as far south as possible.
The White Disaster is a natural disaster that can never be resisted. Wherever the white fog goes, no living creature can survive. The people of Bai Ya can only flee with their families, and can only return to their hometown when the fog recedes next year.
Whether it was the houses or the objects, although only a few months had passed during the disaster, it felt as if decades had passed, with the wood rotting and the bricks and tiles weathering.
Therefore, the Silent Church always uses solid stones that are not afraid of time to build its monastery.
"How fast is the White Scourge? Will it catch up with us?" Hodge looked at Gwen and said nervously.
He had also heard of the White Disaster's reputation, but didn't know the specific details.
Gwen was stunned when she heard this. She did not answer but turned her head to look in the direction of the military camp.
"What's wrong? Is there a problem?"
"There's a problem, a big problem!" Gwen looked a little confused. "The White Scourge is very slow. The fog that's advancing like a wall is not even as fast as a snail. It's dangerous mainly because it's unstoppable. I've never heard of anyone being caught up by it, but..."
But the military camp behind them, which they had just left only an hour ago, along with the huge flames of the explosion, disappeared in the white fog.
Is this an extremely slow white disaster? If they had delayed a little, they would have been submerged in the white fog in the military camp right now, right? Hodge turned his head and looked at the tall figure beside him: "Lord Ash, how fast is the white disaster?"
"It's hard to estimate, but I'm afraid it's not slower than us!"
Hodge was startled when he heard this. The expeditionary army was already on a forced march, and the speed of the white disaster was even faster than this? A forced march requires stopping to rest. The soldiers of the expeditionary army may be able to run faster in a short period of time, but in the long run, they are destined to be exhausted by this white mist.
And I’m afraid this time won’t be too long.
"Everyone! Throw away unnecessary weights immediately and continue to march south!" Hodge immediately shouted loudly. The soldiers of the expeditionary force were originally lightly equipped and did not bring much except basic weapons. The effect of throwing away the weights at this moment was quite limited.
But this is not the time to despair.
"As long as we move forward along the railway, the next train will surely notice us. Then we can take the train and leave, away from this damn white fog!" Hodge whispered to Gwen and Ash.
Hodge did not tell the expeditionary force that the White Scourge was chasing them, and now only the three of them knew about it.
"When does the next train arrive?"
"Very soon! I have already applied for the previous train to bring back the news. The train will arrive in a few hours at most. We can just drop off the goods and leave by train. It will be in time!"
The train from Blood Harbor to the North needs to be built quickly, so currently only a single line has been built. Locomotives are mounted on both ends of the carriages, making it very convenient to change direction.
Just use the other end as the front of the car to drive it.
Of course, the rules must be strictly followed in dispatching, otherwise it is very likely that trains traveling in opposite directions will collide directly.
"We just need to hold on for a short period of time, Miss Gwen. As long as we don't enter the fog of the White Disaster, there will be no danger, right?"
"Yes, no one knows what is in the fog, but as long as you are not swallowed by the white disaster, you will be safe."
"That's good. Although this inexplicably appearing fog is fast, as long as we don't stop, it won't be able to catch up with us in a few hours. By then, the train will have arrived and we can evacuate safely!"
Hotch breathed a sigh of relief.
The steam locomotive was not going very fast. If they fired warning shots in advance, it would definitely attract the driver's attention and it would not take long to brake. The locomotive would not be unable to stop and plunge into the fog.
Thinking of this, Hodge's footsteps became lighter.
"So this is what 'Run away' means. It was indeed a very timely warning. Fortunately, we escaped. Now we just need to keep moving forward and wait for the train."
"No, we are in trouble."
Hotch stopped what he was doing when he heard that and looked up at Ash who suddenly spoke.
"That doesn't seem to be ordinary fog."
"I was in the fog and I saw something moving."
Hodge quickly turned his head, but could only see a foggy white area. He was just a mortal and his eyesight was far worse than Ash's.
"Then what is that?" Gwen beside him murmured to herself, her tone extremely shocked.
"What's going on? What's that? Is there something in the mist?"
"Yes, I can't tell them apart. They are densely packed, white and wriggling constantly, like maggots, but very stiff, just like..."
Gwen gestured for a long time but couldn't say anything specific.
"Like a pile of wriggling bones." Ash said solemnly.
"From this perspective, the white mist doesn't seem to be advancing slowly like the white disaster."
"It's following the wriggling bones."
(End of this chapter)
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