Shadow Slave novel Chapter 875

Chapter 875: Old Roads

The next day, Sunny and his cohort separated from the battered division. The mass of vehicles and soldiers marched down the broad highway, heading to a large city that was situated behind the mountain peaks to the cast. The Rhino, meanwhile, continued south.

"Four hundred kilometers... how long do you think it will take us to reach the research installation?"

Sunny was currently in the cabin of the APC, leaning on a bulkhead as he looked ahead. Luster glanced at him from the pilot's seat and shrugged hesitantly.

"Hard to say, sir. The terrain here is really rough, and we'll need to climb over many mountains before reaching the coastal plain. There are some old roads here and there, with tunnels that can serve as convenient shortcuts. But since no one took care of them for half a century, it's mostly a stone labyrinth. So... several days at the least. Maybe even a week if we want to be really careful and lower the risk of stumbling into a horde of Nightmare Creatures." _{freёweɓnovel.com}

He hesitated for a few moments, and then added:

"Of course, I can get us there in a day if we leave the mountains and drive along the coastal thoroughfare."

Since most of the Antarctic Center was mountainous in nature, moving across its expanse with speed was somewhat of a problem. It would have been much faster by air, but no one was suicidal enough to use an aircraft in these circumstances.

The reason was very simple... it was impossible to load enough armor on a flying vehicle. Not only would its electronics and navigation be swiftly fried by the interference of the Gates, but even worse than that, countless Nightmare Creatures in a hundred-kilometer radius would be able to see and take the aircraft down.

Since very few Awakened could fight effectively in the air, being swarmed by winged abominations or taken down by a hail of ranged attacks from the ground was their worst nightmare.

Still, that did not mean that there were no means of traversing the Antarctic Center quickly. Since the terrain was much more flat near the coast, there was a convenient highway running along the shore of the cold ocean. It's just that traveling by it was not exactly safe, especially these days.

The ocean, too, was overflowing with Nightmare Creatures. All kinds of horrors hid beneath its restless surface.

Sunny sighed.

"... No, let's not go anywhere near the coast. Avoid those old tunnels, too. Just take your time and take us over the mountains, Luster. Dorn needs time to recover, anyway."

The young man smiled.

"Yes, sir! Will do, sir!"