Chapter 153: The Magical Giant—Mole Rat Nest

“Earth r, Earth A Ladder!”

The rocks on the ground suddenly shot up, forming a ladder that quickly rose into the air. Lu Minle and Yi Ge hurriedly ran down, and then swiftly stored the ladder into a card.

Looking at the dense swarm of flying rats in the sky, Yi Ge couldn’t help but feel his scalp tingle. “Damn, that’s a lot of rats!”

Lu Minle shivered too. If he hadn’t been training his mental power recently, and learned to attach spiritual energy to his abilities, he wouldn’t have noticed the flying rats approaching so quickly.

Besides, these rats could hide their bodies almost as well as he could!

“This mole rat nest isn’t going to be easy to deal with.”

Yi Ge glanced at Lu Minle and asked, “So what do we do now? The sun is about to set.”

Only then did Lu Minle look up at the sun’s direction. He hadn’t realized that what looked like a short distance on the map actually took so long to traverse. Even though they were fast, they’d already been traveling for hours.

From finding Jingyu, to searching for the mole rat nest, they’d barely gotten any real business done—most of their time had been spent on the road.

Lu Minle said, “Let’s go down and take a look first. If it doesn’t work out, when the cold wave hits, I’ll hide you inside.”

“Alright, we’ll just have to tough it out for a bit.”

“There’s no other way.”

It was a bit forced, but if there was no other option, they’d just have to grit their teeth and get through it.

Lu Minle and Yi Ge headed down to the spot indicated on the map.

The mole rat nest was underground, pitch black all the way. Neither of them dared to use any light source, afraid of alerting the rats.

Suddenly, from deep within the tunnels, came the shrill squeaks of rats. Lu Minle immediately used his ability to teleport himself and Yi Ge over.

The earth shifted, and in a blink, Lu Minle and Yi Ge tumbled into the mole rat nest.

But the rats kept squeaking nonstop. Lu Minle and Yi Ge exchanged helpless glances—they had no idea what these giant rats were saying.

Yi Ge messaged Lu Minle: [Should we ask Sister Sang Sang if she has any ideas?]

[Good idea, I’ll send her an update.]

Sang Chu was busy sorting things when she suddenly received the message, her eyes instantly darkening.

Jingyu said she could hide in the nest to avoid the cold wave, so why did Lu Minle insist on finding another place, and such an unpredictable one at that?

She quickly pulled up the map. The mole rat nest wasn’t far from the Jingyu nest, but it was still the closest place to it.

Sang Chu didn’t reply for a while, so Lu Minle sent another message: [A Chu?]

Sang Chu: [Open a video call, I’ll have Tu You translate for you.]

[Okay.]

Once the video call was connected, Sang Chu could clearly see just how bad the situation was for Lu Minle and the others. The mole rat nest was crawling with rats—some with wings, some as long as snakes, some with multiple limbs or heads—all sorts of bizarre creatures crammed together.

There was about an hour left before sunset, which meant the cold wave wasn’t far off. Looking for another nest now was definitely not the best plan.

Sang Chu: [Minle, how long did it take you to get to the mole rat nest? Did anything happen along the way?]

Lu Minle and Yi Ge quickly filled her in on everything. The more Sang Chu listened, the more worried she became. She tapped her fingers rhythmically on the fruit crate beside her—a habit she had when thinking.

The steady tapping helped her concentrate.

Sang Chu: [Minle, what are you thinking?]

[You mean about Jingyu?]

[Yes.]

Lu Minle: [Before we return to the post-apocalyptic world, it’s best not to use her unless we have to. What happened to Jingyu probably changed her a lot.]

At this, Sang Chu fell silent. She’d wanted Jingyu to help take care of the space, and the people she’d met in the demon realm had all lived long lives, so she thought Jingyu was the most suitable. But she hadn’t expected Jingyu to be so secretive, and even deceive her!

After a long pause, Sang Chu finally replied: [Forget it, let’s not worry about her for now. If she wants to leave after I unlock her, I’ll let her go. But for now, you don’t have to worry about her. The spell I taught you can seal her card on the airship, so she won’t be able to leave at will…]

After hesitating for a while, Sang Chu said: [Minle, have you thought about weathering the cold wave on the airship?]

Lu Minle nodded: [I’ve thought about it, but if something goes wrong, the airship might be unusable.]

Hearing this, Sang Chu privately messaged Lu Minle: [Then use the slave card. If it works, and you run into the cold wave on the road, I can use the airship to shelter you.]

Lu Minle glanced at Yi Ge, then replied after a moment of silence: [Alright, I’ll keep Yi Ge out of it.]

Sang Chu: [No need. Just think about it—so long as the airship isn’t detected by these mountain monsters, you can put the slave card on it. As the master of the magic card, you can control it remotely. The slave can’t escape. Once he’s on board, you can release him, and the airship can be controlled from the console.]

Lu Minle: [Okay, got it. I’ll try the airship now. You and Tu You keep an eye on these rats.]

[Alright.]

Sang Chu immediately handed the console to Tu You, telling him to keep a close watch on the rats. If he noticed any sign that they’d detected the airship, he was to notify Lu Minle immediately.

Tu You: [No problem, mission accepted!]

Yi Ge, seeing Lu Minle and Sang Chu suddenly go quiet, nudged him with his elbow. “What’s up? Why are you two just staring at each other?”

Lu Minle: [Just thinking. I’ll try releasing the airship to see if these mole rats notice it. If they don’t, we can use it to travel.]

Yi Ge’s eyes lit up: [Great! Hurry, hurry!]

He loved riding the airship—comfortable, clean, with food and hot baths. Life was so much better that way.

But ever since the airship was damaged, he hadn’t enjoyed that kind of luxury. Now, knowing they might be able to use it again, he felt hopeful for the first time in ages.

But as soon as the airship appeared, the mole rats immediately stared alertly in its direction.

Yi Ge and Lu Minle both realized—the rats’ eyes and ears were extremely sensitive. The moment the airship appeared, they’d already noticed it!"