At once, almost all the bases learned about the news of Base P’s loss of contact. After receiving the latest satellite photos, which showed no apparent changes in the snowy city except for the vehicles leaving the base, confusion spread across the faces of the people.
The locations of the bases around Base P had already been known to the people in other bases, but now they carefully examined the satellite photos, which seemed no different from normal.
There were no signs of any unusual circumstances. The photos even captured the vehicles from the base heading outwards.
“Commander, these satellite photos were taken around 10 o’clock yesterday morning. Could something unexpected have happened in Base P after that time?” The assistant cautiously reminded the leader.
“Oh! That’s possible,” the leader realized, his face darkening once again.
“Within a day… what could have happened?” Especially when the city of Base P seemed normal and showed no signs of trouble.
“Report!”
Another voice shouting came from the entrance. A soldier rushed in, sweating profusely, and saluted the leaders.
“Reporting to all the commanders! The reconnaissance helicopter that went out has been attacked and is now missing!”
“What?!”
“Attacked?! What attacked the helicopter?!”
“Where did it go missing?”
“Did the helicopter send any distress signals?!”
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 people were once again shocked and hurriedly questioned the soldier.
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“Pa’r ylgvr! Zeajca ylgvr! Ktf tfilmbqafg fcmbecafgfv weajca ylgvr veglcu lar oiluta. Ktfs kfgf oislcu ja remt j tlut jialaevf atja atfs kfgfc’a lclaljiis cbalmfv, jcv ys atf alwf atfs kfgf rffc, la kjr jigfjvs abb ijaf. Pa’r ralii ecmifjg ktfgf atf tfilmbqafg ijcvfv jcv ktfatfg la mjc yf gfrmefv…”
Since the beginning of the New Year, all available helicopters were dispatched to investigate the routes to military bases in advance, to see if they were suitable for large convoys.
This arrangement had not been rescinded even after this mission failure. In order to ensure the safety of the bases’ surroundings, the bases with substantial power decided to send out at least one helicopter each day to patrol the vicinity, monitoring both the situation near the bases and the movements of the zombies as spring arrived.
However, they did not expect the mutant birds to reappear after the New Year. And they actually targeted the helicopters as their primary attack targets!
These helicopters were distributed among several bases after much negotiation over limited resources. Only bases with a certain level of rank, manpower, and military strength were entitled to have one. So far, the base near City B had the largest number of helicopters, with a total of three. The remaining bases, like Base 7 near City T, had a slightly lesser number, with only two.
They spared no effort in consuming large amounts of fuel and having specialized personnel maintain the helicopters daily. They sent out armed helicopters with the most flying experience in the entire base, and yet they were attacked by mutant birds?!
Even considering the damage to one of the helicopters during the zombie ambush on that team, both helicopters in the base had been attacked! The fate of this current helicopter was still unknown.
The faces of the people turned pale. They were already worried about the unexpected incident in Base P, but they didn’t expect their own base to face another accident so soon!
While chaos ensued in Base 7, the situation in other bases was no different. Most of the bases with helicopters had been sending them out for regular patrols since the New Year.
Some bases dispatched helicopters every day, while others had longer intervals between patrols. However, these helicopters from various bases were all being attacked by mutant birds one after another in the past few days!
Although these mutant birds seemed to have lost their migratory patterns, the ones that had stayed near the northern cities and hidden during winter would venture out in search of food as spring arrived.
Now, these strange, flying machines that couldn’t be eaten became the most obvious targets for the mutant birds, whose population had suddenly increased. What else would they attack if not these “metal birds”?
Previously, only helicopters from smaller bases occasionally suffered attacks from nearby mutant birds. But when the northern land started to thaw on a large scale in the past two days, the birds hiding in different areas flocked out, once again becoming the rulers of the sky, determined to destroy and drive away these strange, inedible “birds” made of metal!
This sudden situation spared only the bases that still had spare helicopters and those that sent out helicopters every few days, while almost all other bases suffered severe losses.
Amidst the chaos, the leaders of the major bases had just finished exchanging information and reached an agreement to temporarily seal off their helicopters. However, the next day they received another message: the majority of bases near City V, another experimental target for bombing, had also lost contact.
Initially, some bases held onto the hope that the bases near City P had just encountered temporary signal issues or other problems that prevented communication. But with the confirmation of a similar incident near City V, they quickly abandoned their intentions to bomb nearby cities.
While the leaders of the major bases were waiting for the latest satellite photos to confirm what had happened near the two cities, another shocking piece of news arrived. Almost all the teams sent by the bases to cultivate the fields for spring planting were attacked without exception.
The mutated animals and plants that were rarely heard of or seen throughout the previous year seemed to have sprung up overnight, occupying areas that were previously inaccessible to humans during the winter.
They attacked human vehicles, captured humans for food, and occupied large stretches of farmland as their territory. Anything that entered their territory was considered an enemy by them.
Especially for the bases located near rural areas, lakesides, forests, and grasslands, the majority of them suffered catastrophic destruction.
These sudden creatures seemed to regard human structures as thorns in their eyes and targeted them, emerging from their hidden corners and devastating most of these bases almost overnight.
The remaining bases either hadn’t awakened the nearby mutated flora and fauna due to their remote locations or were able to keep these creatures outside their solid defenses.
Fortunately, although the mutated animals and plants launched attacks on these bases, they didn’t relentlessly attack the ones with strong defenses. Instead, they retreated and established their territories around them.
This inadvertently trapped the human survivors within the confines of these bases, making it impossible for them to leave their once dominant cities.
Some things happen quickly, while others take a long time to unfold and reveal their results. Therefore, although the mutated animals and plants have gradually demonstrated their terrifying power at this point, humans haven’t truly become wary of them yet.
Despite being attacked by mutated animals and plants, many bases are still trying to find ways to deal with this issue. Even certain remote and small bases are currently engaged in a tug-of-war with these mutated creatures.
After the helicopters were attacked by mutated birds, although the bases became extremely cautious, most of them only decided to temporarily reduce helicopter missions and wait for further observation to determine if these mutated birds were occasional attackers or a permanent presence near the bases.
They refrained from taking any action until the results were clear. More bases still focused their attention on the zombies lurking in the cities and the two bases that had suddenly lost contact.
At this moment, Wei Xuan was tinkering on the sixth floor of his residential building. Living outside the base in this lifetime, there are many things he cannot inquire about. Even in his past life, as an ordinary survivor without connections in the upper echelons, he had no way of knowing such information.
Generally speaking, unless the situation becomes too big to conceal or requires the collective efforts of everyone to solve, the higher-ups of the bases would not disclose certain important information prematurely.
After all, in the post-apocalyptic world, humanity is in a precarious situation, not only facing various external mutations and attacks but also guarding against the treacherous actions of their fellow survivors.
In the pre-apocalyptic era, those in power with strong military forces naturally didn’t need to worry about these things. But now, with the chaotic order, significant manpower losses, and the sudden emergence of large groups of superhumans… Yes, those superhumans in the bases can cause trouble if not handled properly. Naturally, certain information cannot be announced without some degree of certainty.
During the initial chaos of the apocalypse, incidents such as supermarkets being looted and people rushing into small police stations to seize weapons were frequent. Even in the post-apocalyptic era, almost every day in the established bases, people would inexplicably go missing. It’s no wonder the leaders of the bases would block various pieces of information internally.
Ignorance is bliss for Wei Xuan, who is busy tinkering on the rooftop. With the recent change in weather, it’s inconvenient to go outside, but using the indoor cultivation machine to cultivate some seedlings and trying to grow plants on the balcony of the top-floor rooms with the best sunlight is not a problem.
A while ago, Wei Xuan set up a separate machine specifically for growing various grains and crops, while the other machine was used to cultivate seeds collected from various mutated vegetables.
By now, these seeds have already sprouted and grown into healthy seedlings. If he doesn’t transfer them out soon, they will grow and mature completely. To test if these plants can be cultivated in the soil, Wei Xuan finally transplanted them today and is preparing to water them with melted snow to see the results.
Yes, science, XuanXuan!!!
Thank you for your translation 💛💛💛💛💛💛💛💛💛💛💛💛💛💛💛💛💛💛💛💛💛💛💛💛💛💛💛💛💛💛💛💛💛💛💛💛💛
Thanks for the update
He’s living that retirement dream with his boyfriend!!
Quietly living to the side in zombie home happiness… Thanks for the update 🤣❤️🪶
Every action has an equal and opposite reaction— the bases that made the biggest waves seem to have experienced the biggest counterattack. Good new for Wei Xuan and the city dwellers, but what a predicament for the bases.
Thanks for the chapter!