The scene under the car was bustling, even though the snow had not yet melted, many people had already gone out to hunt for various supplies.
As Xu Song and their military truck drove through the streets, they saw some people who had just brought back a huge mutated rat. The size of this rat was extremely exaggerated, almost as big as half of Abu, much larger than the mutated rats that appeared before winter. In addition, its exaggerated fangs were even more frightening.
Several people had bandages on their hands and wounds on their faces, but they were all smiling with joy. Such a large rat must have a substantial sac inside its head!
The people in the base were amazed when they saw this rat, with admiration in their eyes. However, the atmosphere in the car was somewhat tense. Mutated animals were evolving, and in the past, most of the evolution before winter was in terms of size and appearance. During the winter, most of them evolved their abilities. But now, they were becoming less and less like their original forms.
The car left the base and continued south until it reached a major traffic junction in the city. They had to get out of the car due to the snow, collapsed buildings, and houses destroyed by mutated animals and adventurers who had explored the area in the past few days. It was becoming difficult to drive in the city.
“Get off here, walk south along this road… We’re not sure about the conditions of the road ahead, but it’s unlikely we’ll reach N City in a day. We plan to rest here for now – there’s a bank here, and from the satellite photos, it looks like the building is relatively intact. If the situation outside is bad, we should be able to spend the night here.”
The result of working with the authorities was that there were many unexpected conveniences. For example, the latest satellite maps taken just two days ago. Although they only covered the vicinity of City B, they were very clear and accurate. By combining the terrain and topography with the pre-apocalyptic maps, they could quickly plan detailed routes and temporary accommodations.
Xu Song and his team’s wristwatches also had the same function, but they hadn’t used this resource yet because they hadn’t left the base recently.
The number of people on this mission was not large. From the military side, less than two platoons, totaling just over 50 people, were deployed. In addition to Xu Song and his team, there were less than 60 people in total.
All fifty of these people were ability users. Among them, the military’s ability users had to stay behind to participate in base construction, maintain base order, and handle other urgent tasks. Elder Wu was able to mobilize more than fifty second-tier ability users, which was already quite good.
These fifty-plus people who participated in the operation were not just ordinary ability users. They were exceptional soldiers with outstanding abilities in the pre-apocalyptic world. Now, they were combining their abilities with their physical strength as much as possible to unlock greater potential.
From this perspective alone, each of them was at least twice as strong as ordinary ability users of the same level.
We’re sorry for MTLers or people who like using reading mode, but our translations keep getting stolen by aggregators so we’re going to bring back the copy protection. If you need to MTL please retype the gibberish parts.
The group abandoned their car and walked. After about three hours and eliminating various obstacles and creatures along the way, they finally reached their temporary resting place – a bank.
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Previously, they had worked with other teams of ability users, and most of them had some connection to the military. Some existed before the apocalypse, while others were formed after the apocalypse.
When these ability users worked with the military, even those with immense strength had difficulty keeping up with their movements. Their uncoordinated combat style was especially frustrating.
But these two individuals… at least for now, they didn’t seem like ordinary people.
Xu Song sat on a somewhat dilapidated plastic chair in the bank and couldn’t help but exhale with relief. A three-hour hike wasn’t a big deal, but having to constantly climb obstacles and watch for potential threats from the roadside creatures made it far from an easy task.
Xu Song was physically and mentally exhausted from the journey. He leaned on Yue Zheng’s shoulder and felt the relaxation that came with resting.
Using their wrist communicators, he entered some information and directly showed it to Yue Zheng, which was more convenient than sending messages. Xu Song could sense that deep underground, there were various large and small life forms. After his abilities had evolved, he could roughly identify the approximate sizes of these entities: mutated rats, mutated earthworms, a few zombies that had crawled into the sewer pipes, and many insects.
In addition, there were many mutated plant roots hidden underground, becoming increasingly active as the snow melted.
What made him even more exhausted was that he could now vaguely “see” the terrain, but it required a high level of mental focus to discern it.
“Let’s have something to eat.” Calculating the time, it was currently around 1 o’clock in the afternoon, and after a morning of travel, it was the perfect time for a break.
Xu Song and his team brought dried rations, and Xu’s mother had prepared some delicious food for them. In addition to the food in their backpacks, they had also stored some in the small tree hole in Xu Song’s pocket.
The quantity of the snacks they carried wasn’t much, just a few buns and various types of dried meat. These items were easy to store, had a long shelf life, and didn’t take up much space.
Additionally, they had some dehydrated vegetables. Although some of the nutrients like vitamin C were likely lost during the drying process, it was still better than nothing. They also had the small tree with them, which could produce dates for additional nutrition if they stayed out for an extended period.
After quickly having their lunch, Colonel Lu and his deputy began to check the satellite map to confirm the route for the next part of their journey. Xu Song closed his eyes and began to observe the surroundings. After his psychic abilities had advanced once again, he could observe the environment in a three-dimensional perspective.
He could see living organisms, life forms, and inanimate objects through this “perspective,” but it had a limited range and was smaller than his previous range when he sensed living beings. After his abilities had upgraded to level four, his life form sensing range had increased to twice its previous size.
Entering some information into his wristwatch once again, Xu Song showed it to Yue Zheng, who sat beside him, silently noting the content displayed on the watch face.
“Alright, let’s continue,” Colonel Lu said as he stood up again after making the necessary adjustments. If they could reach their destination within a day, that would be ideal. According to the satellite map, the upcoming road appeared to be relatively wide, which meant a higher safety factor for walking.
The group geared up again and prepared to move out.
They carefully left the bank area and stealthily made their way toward their destination.
Many buildings had collapsed on both sides of the road, and some had fallen into the middle of the road. Some parts of the ground had sunk, and there was still snow in many places. The partially melted snow had frozen again as night fell and would continue to melt the following day. The muddy water mixed with the melting snow looked dirty and unappealing.
The entire city felt like a dead city. Besides the sounds of their own movements, there seemed to be no other noises.
Of course, this was in the ears of ordinary people. Yue Zheng could hear the “creaking” sounds made by the melting snow, the noises of animals moving hidden beneath the ground, within buildings, and even the sounds of the wind blowing through unstable structures.
Xu Song tapped Yue Zheng on the shoulder, signaling him about a building structure blocking the road that appeared unstable and could collapse at any moment.
Yue Zheng nodded slightly and suggested to Colonel Lu, who was leading the group ahead, “That building could collapse at any moment.”
Colonel Lu paused for a moment and looked at the tall office building leaning diagonally across the road, with one end supported by another building, forming a triangular shape in its entirety.
Before they could react, suddenly, with a loud rumble, the staircase that was leaning diagonally in mid-air collapsed completely, and a huge cloud of dust billowed out, leaving those standing near the building covered in dust.
“…Is that what you meant?”
Yue Zheng nodded in silence, wiping the dust off his face. Neither he nor Xu Song had anticipated that the building had reached its limit, and, furthermore, it had collapsed completely in the blink of an eye.
Before the conversation could continue, both Xu Song and Yue Zheng suddenly had a change in their expressions. One heard something, and the other “saw” something. Many creatures hidden within the city were disturbed by the loud noise and had emerged from their hiding places, moving toward the source of the commotion.
“Something’s coming!”
Colonel Lu was puzzled again. “What is it this time? From which direction?” He knew that Yue Zheng probably had hearing and physical ability-related abilities. After all, they had previously collaborated with the military, so it wasn’t surprising to Colonel Lu.
“Many… They’re coming from all directions. It’s because of the building collapse just now,” Yue Zheng furrowed his brow. There were too many adversaries, and even he and Xu Song might not be able to handle so many mutated and anomalous creatures at once.
Xu Song’s face also grew serious, and he looked down at the ground, signaling with his foot.
Yue Zheng raised an eyebrow and sharply scanned the surroundings with his keen eyes, noticing various manhole covers of different sizes on the road. “And there might be something in the underground and sewer systems as well.”
“Damn it!” Colonel Lu was well aware of the swarm of insects. His face immediately turned grim. After glancing left and right, he pointed to a relatively stable building nearby. “Get inside, secure the high ground!”
The group of over fifty people quickly retreated. Their numbers were not large, and even though each of them had unique abilities, it wasn’t enough to face such a large threat. Xu Song and Yue Zheng, no matter how powerful individually, might only be able to ensure their own survival. Surviving amidst this multitude of creatures was indeed a daunting challenge.
