America: The Cremator

Chapter 133 The Mine Rat and the Pile of Bones!

A pale blue light curtain unfolded on Sulong's retina.

【Night Hunter☆】

Type: Blessing Description: When the host is in the dark, it can slightly conceal their aura and the sounds of their movements, reducing the probability of being discovered.

Comment: The darkness is the best cover, but also the most deadly weapon.

After reading the description on the panel, Sulong looked at the Wendigo that had been burned to ashes in front of him.

Fortunately, this entry actually revealed Wendigo's most troublesome ability: to conceal themselves in dark and extremely cold environments.

Although the current entries are not as outrageous as Wendigo, they are still extremely valuable.

After all, with this skill, he could gain a huge tactical advantage in the dark, silently approach the enemy, launch a deadly surprise attack, or avoid many unnecessary head-on conflicts.

Surong then looked at the experience points on the panel. He had only 3 points left before, but now that he had killed Wendigo, he had 33 points left, enough for him to upgrade the attribute to two stars.

With that in mind, Su Long upgraded [Night Hunter] to two stars without hesitation, and the original attributes immediately changed.

【Night Hunter☆☆】

Type: Blessing Description: When the host is in the dark, it can greatly conceal its own aura and the sounds of its movements, while reducing its own presence and greatly reducing the probability of being discovered.

Assessment: You will remain a part of the shadows until you actively reveal your brilliance.

Su Long was delighted as he looked at the updated entry description.

The reduced presence means that even if the other party has perception abilities, it is difficult to pinpoint their exact location unless they actively reveal themselves.

The next moment, a voice interrupted his thoughts.

"Mr. Surong, are you thinking about it?"

Su Long looked up and saw the old mayor, Dale, standing in front of him.

"I'm thinking about something. What's wrong, Mayor?"

Old Dale pointed to Wendigo, which had been completely burned, and asked, "The burning ceremony is over, and the townspeople are very excited. What are your plans now? They want to throw a celebratory dinner for you."

"Of course, if you need to rest, we can prepare the best room for you immediately."

Surong glanced at the dying embers and shook his head, saying, "There's no need for the dinner. We do have some things to take care of. Please call Deputy Sheriff Jesse over."

Dale nodded, turned and walked toward the crowd. A short while later, a noisy shoving sound came from the crowd, and Jesse was pushed out of the crowd by several burly townspeople.

His face was flushed, his steps were unsteady, and he held a half-full glass of cloudy homemade fruit wine in his hand, clearly having drunk quite a bit.

Jesse walked up to Suron, let out a burp, slowly straightened up, and asked, "Mr. Suron—you wanted to see me?"

Looking at the slightly drunk Jesse, Su Long nodded and asked, "Jesse, do you know anyone in town who knows the details of the abandoned mine?"

After scratching his head and thinking hard for a moment, Jesse replied, "Cole."

"Before the mine was abandoned, his father worked there as a blaster. He went down there with his father a few times when he was young, so he was most familiar with the terrain."

Hearing his explanation, Surong nodded and said, "I need Cole to come down with me. Please call him here."

"Go down into the mine? Why? Isn't the monster already dead?" Jesse asked, puzzled.

Su Long shook his head, his expression grave, and said, "We need to investigate thoroughly to confirm if there are any other strange occurrences inside."

"Judging from the severed finger that Buddy brought back earlier, there are probably a lot of corpses piled up underneath. If it is not dealt with in time, it may breed new monsters."

"You don't want the town to be peaceful for just a few days before strange disturbances start again, do you?"

Su Long explained the reasons simply. Of course, what he didn't mention was that there was another reason: the pile of corpses in the mine. No matter how big or small it was, burning it would definitely earn a considerable amount of points. Why wouldn't he take it?

Upon hearing that there might be new strange occurrences, Jesse sobered up considerably and nodded solemnly, saying, "I understand. I'll contact Cole immediately, and I'll go with you."

Surong nodded and said, "Okay, you go find Cole first, we'll set off once we're ready."

After Jesse left, Suron went to talk to Dania and Hannah about the matter, and both of them readily agreed to go down into the mine.

Ten minutes later, Suron, Dania, and Hannah stood by the black Land Rover waiting near the barbed wire gate at the entrance to the town.

Perhaps it was the influence of the new entry, but even though it was daytime, Su Long felt that the shadows hidden by the trees in the dense forest were particularly welcoming, and he could even feel the shadows beckoning to him, inviting him to merge into one with them.

Just then, he heard hurried footsteps in the distance. He turned his head and saw Jesse and Cole running towards him, with Cole carrying a heavy canvas bag.

"Mr. Surong, I'm sorry to have kept you waiting!" Jesse wiped the sweat from his forehead. He still smelled of alcohol, but his eyes were clear.

Suron nodded in acknowledgment, then looked at Cole and asked, "Cole, are you still familiar with that abandoned mine?"

Cole nodded and replied, "Familiar. Although that place has been abandoned for almost thirty years, I spent a long time there with my father when I was young, so I still remember the route very clearly."

"The mine has two levels. The first level is the main tunnel, and the second level is the work area. If the Wendigo really has a stronghold, it must be there."

As he spoke, Cole pulled several high-powered flashlights from his canvas bag and handed them to everyone, saying, "As for the tower defenses and poison gas, there's no need to worry. The structure there is still intact, and the air circulates with the outside world. It's just that the smell—may not be very pleasant."

Surong took the flashlight, switched it on to test the beam brightness, then turned to Jesse: "Have you brought all your weapons and spare ammunition?"

Jesse patted the Glock pistol and several spare magazines on his waist and nodded to confirm, "Everything's ready."

"Okay, get in the car, get ready to go."

Dania and Hannah got into the driver and passenger seats of the Land Rover.

Su Long and his two companions got into a Toyota Camry and followed Dania's Land Rover, heading into the deep mountains along a broken forest path.

The vegetation on both sides of the road becomes increasingly lush as the altitude increases, with the thick canopies of fir trees intertwined, blocking most of the sunlight.

Twenty minutes later, the vehicle stopped in a deserted open space halfway up the mountain.

Ahead was a steep rock wall, with a huge semi-circular opening lying silently at its base, like the dried mouth of a dead beast.

The entrance to the tunnel was surrounded by waist-high weeds, and a few rotten sleepers were stuck crookedly in the soil. The rails had long been rusted so badly that only the dark red outline remained.

The cave entrance was pitch black, and gusts of cold wind blew out from the depths of the cave, carrying with them a pungent, putrid smell.

"We've arrived, get off the bus."

Everyone got off the vehicle one by one. Su Long walked to the mine entrance, pressed the switch on his powerful flashlight, and the white beam of light shone into the entrance, illuminating a part of the area in front of him.

"Turn on your flashlights, maintain formation, and watch your step," Su Long reminded them.

Dania walked on the left, carrying a silver-tungsten alloy machete, while Hannah followed closely behind Suron, holding a Bible. Jesse and Cole brought up the rear with guns in hand. The five of them stepped into the mine, treading on the rusty rails and gravel.

As soon as they entered the cave, the temperature suddenly dropped by more than ten degrees. Hannah couldn't help but shiver and subconsciously moved closer to Surong.

Su Long looked around the inside of the mine and found that the space was more spacious than he had expected.

Rough carving marks are preserved on the rock walls on both sides, and at intervals there is a row of thick wooden frames supporting the cave ceiling, the surface of which is covered with thick moss.

The ground was uneven, and the seeping groundwater accumulated into puddles of all sizes. Boots made a monotonous slapping sound when stepped into the puddles.

Dania lifted her foot to avoid a sharp, protruding rock, and couldn't help but complain, "The terrain here is absolutely terrible, full of puddles and mud."

"Be careful, the rocks here are slippery," Cole warned from behind.

After advancing about 500 meters, the terrain began to slope downwards noticeably, and a strong, fishy stench, a mixture of rotting flesh, stale blood, and moldy algae, rose from the depths of the passage.

After walking a short distance further, a fork in the road appeared before them. To the left was a deep, vertical well with a rusty ladder hanging on the wall, and the sound of wind could be faintly heard. To the right was a flat but wider passage, with messy drag marks on the ground.

Su Long quietly activated his spiritual vision and saw a thin layer of black mist slowly flowing along the ground in the passage on the right.

Seeing that Su Long had stopped, the group immediately stopped as well. Cole then stepped forward and explained, "The road on the left leads to the mine's ventilation shaft, which goes directly to the mountaintop. It used to be a passage for transporting emergency supplies."

"The right side leads to the lower levels of the mine. If Wendigo brings something back, he'll definitely go this way."

Su Long crouched down and shone his flashlight on the ground of the passageway on the right. Among the drag marks, he saw some small pieces of fabric fibers and a few bloody fingernails.

He stood up, his expression grave, and said, "Go to the right, everyone get ready—there might be more inside than we imagine."

Hearing this, everyone became even more vigilant. The beams of five powerful flashlights crisscrossed in the darkness. After continuing to penetrate less than two hundred meters into the passage on the right, the space ahead suddenly opened up, revealing a huge underground cavern before their eyes.

A stench so intense it was almost tangible hit them, more than ten times stronger than in the passageway, a mixture of the stench of blood and the smell of highly rotten flesh.

The beam of the flashlight swept across the ground, and the horrific scene before them made everyone present turn extremely pale.

The cave floor was covered with a thick layer of yellowish-black bones, with human skulls, leg bones and broken ribs piled up haphazardly.

A row of empty eye sockets stared straight toward the entrance, their gaping jaws silently testifying to the extreme pain they were in before death.

The muddy ground around the altar was littered with numerous human artifacts.

A tattered jacket stained with dried blood, a torn plaid shirt, a child's shoe with only one shoe left, and even a plush teddy bear covered in mud.

These items lay silently in the sea of ​​bones, piercing the nerves of everyone present.

Cole's flashlight beam lingered on the bone altar. His rough face twitched violently as he cursed, "That damned beast! How many people has it eaten here?!"

Jesse's eyes were bloodshot, and his arm, gripping the Glock pistol, trembled uncontrollably with extreme anger.

Hannah turned her head away, raised her arm to cover her mouth and nose, and forcibly suppressed the violent churning in her stomach. She closed her eyes and whispered a prayer for peace, praying for the souls of those who had died tragically.

The next moment, an unusual sound broke the silence in the cave.

"Shh—shh—"

'

The sound was like hard fingernails scraping rapidly on a rough rock surface, sounding particularly jarring in the empty, deathly silent underground space.

Dania immediately gripped the axe handle tightly, her eyes fixed on the dark corner from which the sound came, and whispered, "Could it be a Wendigo larva?"

Su Long shook his head, his right hand drawing out "Sirius" in a swift motion. His gaze locked onto the shadowy area, and he corrected, "It's not Wendigo. Its aura is too weak; it doesn't even meet the C-level standard. It's at most a D-level anomaly."

"This thing must have been created from a recently decomposing corpse."

"Everyone back off and leave it to me," Su Long ordered coldly.

Upon hearing this, everyone took a step back, completely exposing their line of sight to the shooting. Accompanied by a tooth-grinding sound of bones cracking, a colossal creature crawled out of the shadows behind the altar, fully exposed to the beams of four powerful flashlights.

It was a mutated rat, the size of an adult wild boar, covered in rough, black fur that was sticky with a viscous liquid. Its thick, hairless tail, like a fleshy whip, unconsciously swept across the pile of bones behind it, making a dull "thud, thud" sound.

Its head was deformed and swollen, with yellowed, sharp incisors scattered in its mouth, and two fist-sized eyeballs bulging outwards, filled with scarlet blood vessels, revealing a mad, irrational appetite.

Su Long's eyes gleamed, and he activated his spiritual vision. A glaring red weakness mark appeared between the giant rat's eyebrows.

As if sensing Su Long's killing intent, the giant rat suddenly tensed its thick hind leg muscles, crushing several breastbones beneath its feet. Its massive body transformed into a black afterimage, lunging straight towards Su Long's face.

Su Long stood motionless, his index finger decisively pulling the trigger.

A deafening gunshot rang out in the enclosed cavern, the huge echo causing rocks to fall from above. A bullet, carrying violent kinetic energy, left the barrel and instantly pierced the red border between the giant rat's eyebrows.

Driven by inertia, the massive headless body slid forward several meters before collapsing onto the muddy ground littered with broken bones. Its limbs twitched a few times before it lost all life.

After the gunfire subsided, the group, weapons in hand, used the beams of their flashlights to carefully survey the area around the cave. Only after confirming that there were no other lurking, eerie creatures did their tense nerves relax slightly.

Suron holstered his revolver and turned to Dania: "Help me drag it over."

Dania stepped forward, and the two of them grabbed the giant rat's thick hind legs, dragging it across the muddy, bone-sharded ground, leaving a long trail of blood, before throwing its heavy corpse directly onto the central altar made of bones.

Su Long stood before the pile of corpses, and with a thought, a brilliant golden primordial fire instantly surged from his palm. He raised his arm and hurled the blazing flame at the pile of bones and flesh.

The golden flames surged violently the moment they touched the corpse, as if they had been doused with high-octane gasoline.

The intense heat instantly dispelled the chill and stench inside the cave, and the dazzling firelight illuminated the damp rock walls all around.

In the raging flames, tattered clothing, sticky bits of flesh, and piles of bones rapidly carbonized and peeled off under the high temperature, eventually turning into swirling grayish-white ashes. The giant rat's corpse also quickly shriveled under the golden flames, eventually becoming a grayish-white empty shell.

As the flames gradually subsided, a pale blue system notification popped up on Sulong's retina.

Burning a medium-sized pile of bones grants 25 experience points.

Burning the D-rank eerie demon rat grants 2 experience points.

After confirming the notification, Su Long looked at the remaining gray embers in front of him, then turned to the group behind him: "This place is cleaned up, we can go back now."

The group had no objections and turned back along the same route.

The journey back was much easier, without the oppressive feeling that had been constantly weighing on my mind. My footsteps echoed in the empty mine tunnels, carrying a sense of relief.

Ten minutes later, the group finally returned to the open space halfway up the mountain.

The warm sunlight poured down without reservation, shining on everyone and quickly dispelling the lingering chill and putrid smell on their clothes.

Jesse turned off the powerful flashlight in his hand, let out a long breath, and his tense shoulders completely relaxed: "It's over. Caster Town is finally clean."

"We can finally stop being woken up by nightmares in the middle of the night, and stop constantly being on guard against monsters in the fog."

Surong raised his hand to shield his eyes from the slightly glaring sunlight and replied calmly, "The eeriness will never completely disappear, but at least for a considerable period of time, you are safe."

"If any more bodies are found in the town in the future, they must be cremated in strict accordance with federal epidemic prevention standards. We must take precautions and not leave any breeding ground for these things."

Jesse and Cole nodded solemnly. Cole slung the canvas bag full of flashlights over his shoulder and said sincerely, "Mr. Suron, Miss Dania, Miss Hannah, the townspeople have prepared a sumptuous feast in the square. Please stay and join us for dinner so that we can express the gratitude of Caster Town."

Su Long glanced at the black Land Rover parked not far away, shook his head and declined, saying, "Thank you for the invitation, but we have other business in Seattle, so we won't stay any longer."

Upon hearing this, a hint of regret flashed in Cole's eyes: "Is that so? I'll explain to the townspeople."

"Thank you again for your help to the town."

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