Doomsday: I Build a Space Fleet

Chapter 24 Rat Extermination Operation

As the vehicle drew closer to the wall of the control room, Ouyang Nian could hear a clearer "squeaking" sound.

"Strange, why aren't they coming out? They're just calling out from inside." Ouyang Nian looked at the open door, puzzled.

Lorraine stared at the large tail swaying in front of her eyes, lost in thought.

Since Lorraine had touched Ouyang Nian's tail once, the warm sensation indicated that it was significantly warmer than human body temperature, quite different from the snake's usual body temperature of 20 to 30 degrees Celsius.

"I have a question. This isn't a snake's tail, is it?" Lorraine was hesitant to think about it.

"No, that's not it. Whew, it's really uncomfortable to hold it in for so long." Ouyang Nian ran his hand through his hair, revealing two small red tufts.

Upon seeing the animalistic features on Ouyang Nian, Lorraine immediately understood: "Is it possible that these rats were frightened by the aura you're emitting?"

"Huh?" Ouyang Nian was somewhat surprised. "Me?"

"You're clearly either a dragon or a jiao (a type of dragon), it would be strange if these rats weren't scared," Lorraine said irritably.

"Here's what we'll do: let the Tengu go in and check the location of the rats. If they're far enough away from the equipment, open fire to scare them out," Lorraine suggested.

Ouyang Nian looked the two-story building up and down and said, "It should be fine. The main control unit should be upstairs."

"Tengu, go! Keep your distance and attack slowly, probe little by little."

Tengu stood at the doorway and, relying on thermal imaging and night vision, spotted a swarm of rats cowering in fear in the lobby on the first floor. He then raised the machine gun on his back and aimed it at the center of the rat swarm.

The machine gun on his back fired in bursts, the spent cartridges falling to the ground with a clanging sound, and the gunpowder gas gradually filled the entire room, isolating it from the outside world.

Through his eyepiece, Ouyang Nian saw the rats gnawing on their dead companions and becoming increasingly restless, so he gave Tiangou a new command.

"Kill a lot more at the entrance later; I want them to be overwhelmed by the smell of blood and flesh."

The tengu gradually slowed its firing rate and slowly retreated away from the doorway, showing its weakness bit by bit. Sure enough, the rats took the bait and swarmed towards the door.

The rats had barely poked their heads out when they were turned into mincemeat by the Tengu, who was firing at full power.

"Tiangou, cease fire and retreat. Leave the rest to me!" Ouyang Nian raised his spray gun, switched to spray mode, and pulled the trigger on the swarm of rats that surged out after a brief pause.

With a whoosh, the flames that spewed out enveloped the rats that had rushed outside the door, turning them all into small, moving torches.

The aroma of the burning protein seemed to further spurt the rats, causing them to surge out of the building even more frantically.

Ouyang Nian had no choice but to keep the trigger on, while simultaneously instructing Lorraine to slowly reverse the loader to avoid the rats that were running around in all directions after the fire started.

The flames spewed from the flamethrower grew shorter and weaker, eventually igniting the entire swarm of rats before the fuel ran out.

Looking at the rat-shaped torches scurrying about on the ground and the smell of burning meat in the air, Ouyang Nian's expression was somewhat strange.

"Luckily, we've been eating military rations lately, otherwise we would have vomited from the smell," Ouyang Nian remarked, noting that the monotonous diet on the ship had become an advantage at this time.

"Stop talking, I don't think I'll be able to swallow meat for the next two days." Lorraine's expression was extremely strange as she looked at the scene before her.

After a period of waiting, the rats had burned to ashes, leaving only clumps of charred remains on the ground. Only then did Ouyang Nian remove the flamethrower and switch back to the machine gun.

The two crossed the charred remains and entered the control room on the first floor. Looking around, they saw the stairs. Lorraine, carrying a shotgun, went ahead, followed closely by Ouyang Nian with a light machine gun.

Upon reaching the basement, the first thing that catches the eye is a large yellow generator. Behind the generator, in the corner of the wall, is a hole for rats to enter and exit, and faint sounds can be heard coming from inside.

After confirming that the generator was full of fuel, Lorraine had Ouyang Nian go up to the second floor to prepare to fill the dock with water, while he and Di Ting stayed there to guard the area and prepare to kill the swarm of rats that rushed up from underground.

"I'm ready to supply power." Tengu stood guard in the lobby on the first floor, and Ouyang Nian had already figured out how to operate it. Lorraine immediately pressed the switch.

As the generator started running, the entire shipyard seemed to come alive. Several screens on the control panel lit up and entered self-test mode, and the gantry cranes that were parked above the ships moved to the end of the track.

It was only after Ouyang Nian turned on the water injection switch and checked the water level in the dock that he saw the full view of the converted ship.

"Wow!" Ouyang Nian exclaimed in surprise. This modified ship in front of him was truly ingenious.

The most eye-catching feature of the entire ship is the small crane installed at the bow, which is clearly a crane whose traveling structure has been removed and then directly attached.

The ship's hold was divided into two parts, front and back, by a partition. The cockpit at the stern was raised by one floor, and the entire ship was completely surrounded by barbed wire.

A series of gunshots rang out from the basement. "Ouyang Nian, how's the shipyard?" Lorraine's voice popped up on the visor asking.

"The dock is only half-filled with water, how long can it last?" Ouyang Nian asked as he looked for any mooring ropes attached to the shore.

"It's hard to say. A few just came out, we killed two, and the rest ran back. They can probably only last for 5 minutes at most."

"Get ready to go. I've set the gate opening time. Countdown in minutes." After confirming that the ship was moored, Ouyang Nian ignored the flashing warnings on the equipment and started the gate opening countdown directly.

"Roger that! Listen, let's go." Lorraine loaded the shotgun with ammunition, pointed the muzzle at the hole, and emptied the magazine.

As soon as Luo Lin, Di Ting, and Tian Gou ran out of the two-story building, they saw Ouyang Nian blocking the entrance with a loader.

"We should stall for as long as possible, hurry up!" Ouyang Niannian jumped off the vehicle and urged.

The two men and two dogs quickly boarded the modified boat. Lorraine went straight to the wheelhouse, while Ouyang Nian kicked open the boarding ramp, closed the barbed wire fence, and then went down to the engine room to help start the engine. Tiangou and Diting were responsible for guarding the boat.

Without considering engine lifespan, it successfully started one second before the dam was opened. It was then tossed about by the surging river water.

"Rat-a-tat-tat!" Tengu's machine gun spat out tongues of fire, sweeping away the swarm of rats that were stirring on the shore.

Unfortunately, the death of their companion only fueled the ferocity of the rats. They gathered together, preparing to approach the ship and devour anything that posed a threat to them.

With a "thud," the grenade was fired, hitting the swarm of rats, but sending two rats that had already jumped flying towards the ship.

As soon as Ouyang Nian stepped out of the cabin, he saw two rats flying over. He had just stood up and was eager to help.