162 THE SCORCHED BOSS
Another impact slamd into the barrier, this one strong enough to make the force field flicker and crackle with static.
For a heartbeat, they saw it—a hulking, twisted creature clawing at the do, its body pulsing with faint, radioactive light.
"Those… things—what are they?" Liorea cried out.
Zairgid's voice was tight. "Mutants. They must have followed the train's energy trail…"
The farm's drones sward toward the breach, forming a defensive line. Above them, the sky inside the do flickered between daylight and chaos as the barrier began to fail.
"Back to the train!" Dan ordered.
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The sirens scread louder as cracks began to spiderweb across the do. Each tremor sent waves of distortion through the air, like heat haze made visible.
"Everyone, move!" Dan shouted.
Kail grabbed Liorea's wrist and pulled her toward the tramway that led back to the platform.
Androids around them shifted from farming mode to security mode—their eyes glowing red as they deployed energy rifles from their arms.
A volley of plasma fire erupted toward the breach, lighting up the haze.
Through the flickering barrier, the creatures ca into focus—massive, sinewy beasts with blackened hides and molten veins glowing beneath the skin.
Their faces were warped beyond recognition, half flesh and half tal, as though radiation had fused bone and machine together.
One of them slamd its claws against the do again. The barrier burst outward in a surge of light and sound.
"Go, go, go!" Dan barked, pushing the others ahead into the platform.
The air outside the do rushed in like a dying breath—dry, acrid, and heavy with dust. The nearest mutant screeched, its voice a tallic roar that rattled the rails beneath their feet.
"Dan!" Kail shouted, "Co on inside!"
Dan turned, watching as the farm's defense drones engaged the creature. Beams of blue light tore through its chest, but the monster barely flinched.
It seized a drone in its jaws and crushed it like paper.
The group stumbled onto the platform just as the train doors hissed open.
"Passengers, please reboard imdiately," the AI conductor announced calmly, as if nothing was happening. "This area has been compromised."
They dove into the carriage.
Dan stood outside the tramway still waiting for the monster that breached the farm. "What the hell is this thing?"
He identified the monster instantly—just as he identified artifacts.
Na: Scorched
Description: Ford from the remnants of animals and war machines fused together by radiation, ta contamination, and failed bio-engineering projects after Armageddon.
Abilities: It can discharge stored radiation energy as bursts of plasma or EMP waves, disabling drones and weapons nearby.
Then the creature's stats appeared in his vision:
Na: Scorched
Strength Rank: BB????ta Rank: B????Blood Rank: B
Strength: 988??|??Charm: 8??|??ta: 623??|??Command: 622??|??Blood: 846??|??Armor: 846
The Scorched stood over six ters tall, hunched like a gorilla yet shaped like sothing that once crawled on four limbs. Its skin was charcoal-black, textured like cracked obsidian, and split open by glowing, magma-like veins that pulsed in rhythm with its heartbeat.
In places, its flesh had lted into steel, forming a patchwork of corroded armor fused with muscle. Its head resembled a distorted wolf's skull, the lower jaw entirely chanical and lined with tallic fangs that screeched when they ground together.
From its spine jutted broken tallic rods—fragnts of missile launchers and antennae from long-dead war drones.
Its eyes were gone, replaced by two rings of molten gold that burned within the sockets, scanning its surroundings through heat and electromagnetic patterns.
One of the monsters roared, a deafening, tallic scream, and a shockwave of EMP burst from its body, rippling through the air.
The drones attacking the pack instantly shut down, dropping from the sky like dead birds.
"Damn, EMP?" Dan muttered in shock at the mutants' ability.
Then the creatures turned toward Dan.
"Big Brother, co back to the train! Don't fight them!" Kail's voice shouted through the comms.
But Dan didn't listen.
His tone was calm, almost amused. "Don't worry. I just want to test the strength of the wildlife in this new world."
One of the Scorched raised its head, the molten rings in its eyes flaring brighter—and fired.
A column of plasma scread across the field. Dan moved before it struck, leaping effortlessly into the air. The beam tore through the farmland, incinerating half an acre of crops into ash.
"Raaawrr!" another creature howled, leaping after him—but Dan was already above its reach, suspended in midair, his cloak fluttering in the wind.
Passengers on the train watched in disbelief.
"We're saved! The SIA sent a hero to protect us!" soone shouted.
Liorea smiled faintly. "Technically, he's not a hero yet."
From above, Dan studied the pack.
He dived as electricity gathered around his arms. He seized two of the Scorched by their limbs and executed his ta skill.
"Electrocution- Echo In."
"This is the first ti I'm using this… creep. Be honored
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