Chapter 16: Five Minutes Between Life and Death

After settling the gravely injured martial monk and the remains of Lady Liliana, Li Nanke hurried toward the port on the southern edge of the town.

He was now armed to the teeth, his belt bristling with weaponry. In addition to the thermite rifle and shockwave rifle, he carried two Mauser military pistols left behind by Liliana—commonly known as broomhandle pistols, fitted with a selector for rapid or slow fire. Each held a twenty-round magazine, firing 7.63mm rounds at a muzzle velocity of 425 meters per second—far superior to the small revolver he had wielded before.

He chose not to carry the chainsaw sword, sticking instead with the apprentice’s sawblade; his own physical strength was too lacking to wield the martial monk’s weapon comfortably. Truthfully, he preferred Reinhold’s chainsaw axe, but its weight was simply beyond him.

Following the street south, Li Nanke quickly reached the town’s port. The sea wind was chill and salty, the surface a deep, ink-blue, waves crashing against the rocks in a constant rhythm.

The dock was of the sheet-pile type, rows of pilings plunging into the sea to support the long quay, its surface built of thick steel plates now mottled with dark red rust. Along the shore stood a makeshift breakwater, but the mooring posts were empty—the port held not a single vessel.

At the very end of the dock, alone, sat a steam car. Five meters below, the sea was deep and shadowy, and no monsters lurked nearby.

In the distance, heavy clouds pressed low over the horizon. The wind howled, waves churned, and sparse raindrops grew steadily thicker—a storm was clearly imminent.

Li Nanke frowned, sensing the urgency. If the storm broke and wind lashed the port, the thermite mist from his rifle would be swept away before it could form, rendering his most powerful weapon useless.

He glanced toward the lighthouse standing sentinel by the rocky shore—the tallest, most prominent structure in Abbes Town.

“As long as I reclaim the car and contact the Church, I can finish the final phase and end this nightmare.”

He checked his remaining ammunition one last time, drew a deep breath, and strode toward the steam car at the dock’s end.

The so-called steam car was a steam-powered vehicle, armored with sheets of steel and lacking any horses—its engine was a boiler-driven steam motor. Early models required burning coal or charcoal to heat water in the boiler, generating high-pressure steam to drive the vehicle; startup took over half an hour, a relic of old energy.

Thanks to improvements from the Church’s research priests, the latest steam cars used kerosene and light fuel, augmented by spark plugs for quicker heating. Startup time was reduced to five minutes, and the engine’s power was formidable, reaching speeds of up to 250 kilometers per hour.

But in this monster-infested town, even five minutes to start up could spell death.

The dock’s steel surface was thin and badly corroded; each step echoed hollowly, the deep waves on either side adding to the unease.

Li Nanke stopped ten paces from the car, every hair on his body standing on end, a cold sensation racing down his spine. Instinct screamed at him not to approach.

He gritted his teeth, ignored the warning, and dashed toward the car in a sudden burst.

At that moment, numerous humanoid shadows surged from the sea, their guttural roars drowning out the howling wind.

The aberrant monsters howled with excitement, scrambling up the sheet piles of the dock at terrifying speed!

Li Nanke rushed to the car, flung open the door, and slapped the ignition preheat button on the driver’s panel.

A sharp hiss—ignition failed!

He pressed the button repeatedly, but the spark plug seemed faulty; nothing happened.

Frantic, Li Nanke leapt from the car, grabbed the shockwave rifle, flicked the lever to spread mode, and fired at the swarm clambering onto the dock.

A powerful shockwave tore through air and rain, erupting in a dazzling white arc.

“Boom!”

A dozen enemies were hurled bodily off the dock, crashing into the black sea.

Seizing the moment, Li Nanke dove beneath the car, yanked loose the valve on the backup methane ignition cylinder, scrambled out again, and fired an ignition round beneath the vehicle.

Flames erupted; preheating had begun at last.

With his goal achieved, Li Nanke turned and fled toward the towering lighthouse on the shore.

The monsters’ furious roars echoed over the water, gray-white forms climbing the dock, chasing him through the thickening rain.

With the level-five “Breath of the Lake” trait, his ragged, intense breaths brought no discomfort. Instead, his lung capacity and oxygen intake soared, and his pace quickened.

Rain poured, wind howled, harpoons and spears shot through the downpour—Li Nanke rolled instinctively, dodging without a backward glance.

“Five minutes! If I can hold out for five minutes… victory will be mine!”

He dashed, drenched, to the base of the lighthouse, kicked open the wooden door, and slipped inside.

The interior walls were old cement, cracked and stained, a narrow spiral steel staircase winding along the wall to the very top.

He gripped his sawblade in one hand, Mauser pistol in the other, and bounded up the stairs.

He’d barely taken two steps when the wooden door shattered, monsters flooding in, their hideous faces just an arm’s length away!

Roars filled the air as they surged up the steel staircase.

Li Nanke twisted, swung, and struck in a single fluid motion!

Blood sprayed; he kicked the beast’s corpse, sending it tumbling into its companions, rolling down the stairs in a heap.

The staircase, barely wide enough for three abreast, was his greatest advantage now.

Yet the monsters’ numbers were overwhelming—a tide of town natives poured into the lighthouse, a writhing mass of heads.

Those knocked down never rose; their comrades climbed over their bodies in a frenzy.

Li Nanke fought with blade in his right hand, pistol in his left, retreating up the stairs while holding off two or three foes at a time thanks to the narrow confines.

But this was far from safety. His peripheral vision never left the door—any monster entering with a throwable weapon, and his Mauser barked in response.

Repeated blocks left his hands numb and aching; he faced savage attackers in front and had to guard against thrown weapons from below. Even with his formidable skills, wounds and blood soon marked him.

The relentless tide soon emptied the Mauser’s magazine—no time to reload. Li Nanke tossed the gun aside, reached for the second pistol, but a monster’s blade slashed his left arm.

The blow was strong, but it did not sever the limb; the blade cut skin and stuck, blood pouring but the wound not grave.

Gritting his teeth, Li Nanke drew the second pistol, shot down the nearest foes, and fired downward, blasting the heads off those about to throw weapons.

Seconds dragged by. The steel staircase and the lighthouse’s ground floor were thick with monsters—their numbers so vast that many could not even enter.

Now he understood how Reinhold had been so badly wounded here. Against a true sea of monsters, even the martial monks would be doomed.

Li Nanke retreated to the top of the steel staircase, reaching the summit of the soaring lighthouse.

“Now!”

He dropped the spent pistol, drew the thermite rifle, and squeezed the trigger—what remained of his thermite steel shot erupted, filling the lighthouse with shimmering metal mist.

The haze reflected pinpricks of light, beautiful and deadly, spreading across the long steel staircase, enveloping the countless monsters within.

Li Nanke braced his back, slammed open the tower’s top door, and was met by howling wind and icy rain.

Here, fifty meters above the ground and sea, the black ocean and jagged rocks lay at his feet!

From this vantage, he could see far off to the southwest—a huge, grotesque creature stranded on the deserted beach, a mass of scales, flesh, and tentacles fused together.

Just a glimpse from the corner of his eye induced dizziness and vertigo.

[Dreamer! You have triggered a hidden phase!]

[Hidden phase: Eliminate ‘The Stranded Wanderer—Orphanas’!]

Li Nanke’s pupils contracted; in the moment of mortal peril, he could not hesitate. He stepped onto the guardrail and leapt from the tower!

An ignition round trailed crimson flame, streaking through the rain, piercing howling wind, and into the tower’s open door…

In the end… it ignited a blazing inferno!

“Boom!!”