owlsbooks Chapter 114 Going Out
Chapter 114 Going Out
Chapter 114 Going Out
Although he knew that such a large-scale bird migration could not possibly escape the monitoring system of Jiangcheng, Xu Mo still strictly followed the procedures and formally reported the detailed situation he had observed, including the size of the flock, the direction of flight, the duration, and the characteristics of the mutated birds, to the command center through an encrypted channel.
At the end of the report, Xu Mo hesitated for a moment, then asked an additional question: "Command center, this is C-07. Have there been any reports of similar abnormal situations from Jiangcheng or other areas? Or have any other unexpected events occurred?"
There was a few seconds of silence on the other end of the radio, seemingly a request for instructions or confirmation, before a formulaic reply came through: "C-07, command received. Everything is normal in Jiangcheng and the surrounding area. No other abnormal reports have been received. Continue your observation mission, remain vigilant, over."
This answer did not surprise Xu Mo. In such situations, Jiang Cheng usually chooses to stabilize public sentiment and avoid causing unnecessary panic.
The so-called "everything is normal" is more like a standard rhetoric, and the real situation behind it is far beyond the reach of a frontline observer like him.
Xu Mo even speculated that some information might only be known to a select few in Jiangcheng.
"C-07 Understood, thank you for your reply, over." Xu Mo calmly ended the communication and turned off the radio.
Setting aside the distracting information from the outside world, Xu Mo returned to the open space in the center of the observation room, preparing to begin his daily, unwavering training.
After the initial heated discussions and shock surrounding the bird incident, the public channels of the area radios have gradually returned to calm, with only sporadic exchanges about everyday matters remaining.
However, the calm outside world could not soothe the turmoil in Xu Mo's heart.
The potential threat of level two mutated zombies hangs like a sword of Damocles overhead, ready to fall at any moment.
The eerie flocks of birds that blot out the sky today indicate that some unimaginable upheaval is taking place in the external environment.
These two anxieties intertwined, forming a powerful pressure that weighed heavily on Xu Mo's heart, making his practice feel less smooth.
"No, I need to go out and take a look."
Xu Mo felt that if he didn't go out and take a look, he wouldn't be able to cultivate in peace.
After donning his combat uniform, Xu Mo also put on all the necessary equipment. An AK47, a pistol, and a machete were essential in case he encountered level two mutated zombies. Xu Mo also carried his Barrett rifle on his back before getting to the ground.
Once on the ground, Xu Mo first listened to the sounds outside. Although the walls were thick, he could still faintly hear the sounds made by the zombies.
A crack was opened in the exit using a manual hydraulic device, and Xu Mo saw a zombie's arm reach in through the gap, scratching and clawing everywhere.
"It's obvious she hasn't had any skincare treatments in a long time."
Looking at the zombie's arm, Xu Mo's face showed a look of disgust. Peering through the crack, he saw that several other zombies, sensing his presence, had gathered around the edge of the entrance and were howling in unison.
Most of these zombies had rotten grayish-brown skin, sunken eye sockets, and some had missing facial muscles, revealing pale cheekbones or gums. Their clothes were tattered and covered in dark stains.
"You know what, these zombies are uniquely ugly, to sum it up, they're really ugly."
With a sigh, Xu Mo took out a high-explosive grenade he had prepared from his pocket, pulled the pin, and threw it out through the gap. He then hid behind the stone bricks to avoid the impact of the grenade's explosion.
"boom!"
As an explosion rang out, Xu Mo felt a tremor beneath his feet. He turned his head and looked at the mourners gathered at the doorway. They were scattered in a very bold manner, the only pity being that each of them was broken into many parts.
Other zombies in the distance, hearing the commotion, staggered toward the fortress. Xu Mo took the opportunity to widen the gap in the entrance and slipped outside.
"Freedom...to use the restroom!"
Xu Mo was about to sigh at the freedom he felt after leaving the fortress when a zombie lunged at him, interrupting his remark.
The fortress's base is circular. Because of the angle, this zombie wasn't killed by the grenade, so it rushed over to support Xu Mo.
However, Xu Mo naturally did not accept this kind of flattery. Dodging the zombie's attack, Xu Mo drew his machete, flipped his palm upward, and slashed upward.
The sharp blade of the machete sliced directly across the zombie's neck, and with a barely perceptible jolt, the zombie's head was severed from its "home".
There was no fountain in sight, and the headless zombie corpse only gushed out black, viscous blood after it fell, indicating that the zombie had not replenished its water supply for a long time.
Xu Mo frowned as he glanced at the slightly ajar entrance behind him, then looked at the zombies getting closer and closer.
"No one locked the door inside. What if someone comes in as a guest without my permission? Or should I just go out for a short while?"
With a pursed lip, Xu Mo ignored the still-open entrance and rushed towards the zombies walking towards him.
He also had grenades in his backpack; if things went wrong, he could just treat them to something.
Seeing Xu Mo rushing towards them, the zombies opposite them became excited and stretched out their hands from more than ten meters away, roaring as they tried to tear Xu Mo apart.
Xu Mo completely ignored the zombies. Killing them was necessary because he was going out, but killing them now was unnecessary.
The main problem is that if we kill these zombies, and other zombies eat their corpses, wouldn't that lead to the evolution of a level one zombie?
With a few meters between him and the zombies, Xu Mo changed direction and ran towards the temporary base where he had been before, wanting to see what the situation was like there.
After I moved into the fortress, there were still some people in the temporary base who hadn't been completely evacuated. I don't know what the situation is like inside now.
After running forward for about a hundred meters, Xu Mo looked back again. The zombies along the way sensed his presence and followed closely behind, but did not enter the fortress.
These zombies were slow-moving and, apart from their hideous appearance and some unconscious roars, posed no threat to him. In other words, these zombies posed no threat to ordinary people who had overcome their fear; all they needed to do was rationally keep their distance. "If they didn't eat their own kind, a normal person could easily use a gun to wipe them all out like flying a kite."
Having made his decision, Xu Mo stopped looking at the zombies following behind him and ran straight towards the temporary base.
Not far away, many zombies that sensed Xu Mo's presence chased after him. In a short while, Xu Mo discovered that there were more than a hundred zombies following him.
However, these zombies were relatively weak in mobility and could only hang far behind him.
"What if we set up a trap in front of us, then send someone to lure the zombies into the pit, and then call them out one by one? Would that work?" Looking at the zombies hanging behind him, Xu Mo's gaming-style idea of luring zombies came to life.
Upon closer examination, Xu Mo felt that this was indeed a possibility, but only if the zombies that caught up with him were slow-moving.
"Um?"
Just as he thought of this, Xu Mo saw three zombies, which were much faster, rapidly approaching him from the left.
Judging from their appearance, the three zombies were just ordinary zombies, not yet at the level of level one zombies, but their movement speed had increased considerably, reaching the speed of a normal person jogging.
However, these three zombies seemed to have just learned to run. Although their target was him, they ran crookedly. If it weren't for their waving arms helping them maintain some balance, Xu Mo estimated that they would have fallen over while running.
"You need to lure these zombies away on an electric scooter." Xu Mo commented seriously as he watched the three zombies running towards him, then continued running forward.
"Thump~"
Perhaps confirming Xu Mo's guess, one of the three wandering spirits that came running over was probably unable to move on the rugged road. After moving a short distance, it fell to the ground, and its waving arms almost pulled one of its companions down.
The rugged road caused the fallen zombie's face to bleed profusely, but even so, it still bared its teeth and hissed at Xu Mo, as if it wanted to devour him from afar.
"He's a ruthless person."
With a sigh, Xu Mo turned around and continued running forward.
In a short while, Xu Mo ran to the entrance of the temporary base, with more than twenty zombies trotting behind him.
Perhaps because Xu Mo did not change direction, the two thousand or so zombies formed a rather disorderly line and rushed toward Xu Mo's direction.
"Tsk tsk tsk."
Xu Mo clicked his tongue twice and looked at the entrance of the temporary base. At this time, more than a dozen zombies sensed his presence and roared as they moved over. Among them, two or three were fast-moving zombies.
Being caught in a pincer movement made Xu Mo realize that it wasn't so fun. Kite-flying zombies was only effective in open areas. If he was in narrow terrain and unfamiliar with the route, it was easy to mess things up.
Holding a machete, Xu Mo ignored the zombies following behind him and charged towards the dozen or so zombies coming from the opposite direction.
Although the zombies in front moved quickly, they were still too slow for Xu Mo. With his machete in hand, Xu Mo swiftly killed the three fast-moving zombies in a few strokes.
Perhaps because they hadn't been given water, there wasn't a single fountain appearing after the heads of these deceased were separated from their bodies; only the corpses were gushing blood, and some were even playfully blowing bubbles with their necks, which was quite childlike.
Because the personnel had already been evacuated, the gate to the temporary base was closed, and there were many things blocking the back of the gate, which seemed to be more than just preventing zombies from entering the temporary base.
However, this was no challenge for Xu Mo. After looking around, Xu Mo took a running start, pushed off the wall with his feet, reached out and grabbed the top of the wall. Then, with a strong push, Xu Mo flipped himself up.
Standing on the wall, Xu Mo watched as several zombies nearby staggered to the wall beneath his feet, futilely reaching out their hands to touch him.
However, some zombies didn't come over. Instead, they went to the three zombie corpses and started eating them. The scene would have to be censored if described.
At this moment, the zombies that had followed Xu Mo from afar arrived. They completely ignored Xu Mo standing on the wall and immediately joined in the feeding activity. Moreover, because there wasn't much food, several zombies became so engrossed in eating that they turned from feeders into food themselves, with roars and tearing sounds filling the air.
After frowning for a while, Xu Mo turned around and tried to move to the temporary base, but just as he was about to jump down, he suddenly felt like he was being watched.
Upon entering the Bullhide Realm, Xu Mo's senses were greatly enhanced, and his perception of danger became extremely acute. Otherwise, he would likely have perished on the way to Jiangcheng.
That wasn't the feeling of being stared at by the zombies below. These zombies' eyes were chaotic, greedy, and direct. Sometimes Xu Mo even doubted whether these zombies could see people at all.
This feeling of being watched is more subtle, more like a scrutinizing lock-on.
Upon realizing he was being watched, Xu Mo tensed up instantly. He put the machete back in its original position and casually picked up the AK, looking in the direction from which the gaze was directed.
"Is it a level two zombie?"
With this question in mind, Xu Mo squinted and began searching.
If it really is a level two zombie, Xu Mo plans to fire a few shots to see what happens. If things get out of hand, he'll turn around and run.
Just as Xu Mo tensed up, trying to pinpoint the source of that cold gaze, his peripheral vision caught a glimpse of a pile of collapsed rubble.
In the shadowy gaps of the ruins, a head—or rather, something with the outline of a human head—was peeking at him, appearing and disappearing in the shadows.
Its movements were extremely fast, almost blending into the shadows of the ruins, but that was definitely not the posture of a living person.
"It's an agile zombie." The moment he recognized his target, Xu Mo's tense nerves relaxed slightly.
Compared to the unknown Level 2 mutated zombies that may possess special abilities, this Level 1 evolved being, which excels in speed, is a troublesome but a "familiar opponent" that he is relatively familiar with and confident in dealing with.
Seemingly realizing that its whereabouts had been exposed, the agile zombie stopped hiding.
It let out a sharp, short screech, and with a sudden burst of strength from its limbs, it leaped up nimbly and landed steadily on the highest point of the ruins.
The agile zombie that leaped onto the ruins lowered its body, its turbid eyes fixed on Xu Mo on the wall for two seconds, and then, using all four limbs like some kind of deformed cheetah, it sprinted quickly between the ruins and broken walls. Its speed far exceeded that of ordinary zombies, and it was even several times faster than the "running" zombies it had encountered before, heading straight for the wall where Xu Mo was.
Faced with the approaching threat, Xu Mo remained unusually calm. He quickly estimated the distance and the opponent's unpredictable movement, turned the AK-47 on his back to face him, took aim, and pulled the trigger—his movements as fluid as breathing.
boom! boom! boom!
Three precise bursts of fire made it difficult to hit vital organs on the fast-moving target. Two bullets pierced the agile zombie's chest and abdomen, splattering dark blood, while the third hit its swinging forelimb.
"Awooo—!"
The zombie that was shot let out a painful howl. The impact deformed its originally smooth pouncing movements instantly. Its body lost its balance in the air and tumbled to the ground not far from the wall, kicking up a cloud of dust.
The agile creature struggled to get up, its movements noticeably sluggish due to the pain.
opportunity!
Xu Mo would not let this fleeting opening slip by. He slightly adjusted the muzzle of his gun, and the sights were firmly locked onto the head that was slightly raised due to pain.
boom!
The fourth bullet whistled out and precisely pierced the crimson, turbid eye socket.
puff!
Like a rotten watermelon smashed by a heavy hammer, the agile zombie's head exploded in the back half, splattering a sticky mixture of red and white substances onto the gravel ground. Its remaining body twitched violently a few times before going completely still.
From discovery to kill, the entire process took only a few seconds; the echoes of the gunshots still reverberated through the empty ruins.
Only then did the ordinary zombies below the wall, who were frantically devouring and fighting over the corpses of their own kind, seem to be completely alarmed by the continuous gunfire.
They stopped biting blankly, raised their filthy heads, and turned their malfunctioning necks, searching for a new source of sound.
Perhaps drawn by the fresh scent emanating from the recently killed agile zombie, some zombies began moving towards the location of the agile zombie's corpse.
Standing on the wall, Xu Mo watched as the zombies devoured all the other zombie corpses. After confirming that no new mutated zombies had appeared, Xu Mo jumped off the wall and headed into the temporary base.
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