Chapter 53: Spring Outing and Hunting
had never imagined that one day he would be able to return to this home again.
The truck stopped at the entrance of Chaoyang Road in . —whose name had a flashy, colorful ring to it—jumped down from the driver's seat and waved at them.
"We're here. Let's go," patted his head. "We cleared the place once already. Don't be scared."
More than a dozen children filed out of the cargo bed. Some looked around, some remained silent, some clutched their identity cards with blank, bewildered faces.
stood at the base of the apartment building, looking up at the sixth-floor window.
The curtain was still the way it had been on the day he left—half drawn.
He asked quietly, "This... won't be too much trouble?"
The iconic electronic voice representing " " sounded from the in his hand.
[This has never objected to survivors searching for family or revisiting old places. We just need to stay rational and not blindly rush into dangerous areas.]
explained patiently.
[Of course, there's also the matter of taking turns.]
[But you're different. You've earned the right to priority.]
"Thank you..."
[You're welcome.]
took a deep breath and pushed open the creaking unit door.
The stairwell was quiet. No zombies.
There were dried, dark stains on the steps, but they had already been treated with lime powder.
At the corner of every floor was pasted a yellow label printed with the words "CLEARED — ."
(This was 's idea. He believed ritual was a key factor in keeping coordinated operations orderly.
And besides, leaving traces everywhere meant that if any survivors came across them in the future, they'd quickly know that a like this existed.)
The air was thick with the mixed smell of dust and decay.
climbed up to the sixth floor step by step, relying on to force the security door open.
"Click."
The door opened.
The living room was a little messy—a chair toppled over, half the sofa cushion on the floor, and the wall clock had fallen down too.
On the coffee table sat a half-eaten apple, now shriveled beyond recognition. The contents of the fridge had already molded into black clumps.
But perhaps thanks to his having closed the doors before he left, there was no blood or anything of the sort in the house.
After looking around, he walked through the living room and into his own bedroom.
Unfinished summer homework lay on the desk, a pencil still tucked between the pages.
The corners of the dinosaur poster on the wall had curled up, but that Tyrannosaurus rex was still as mighty and imposing as ever.
Then he pulled open the drawer. Three brand-new tickets lay quietly in the corner. On their faces, a cartoon dinosaur grinned, smiling brilliantly.
Looking at that smile, the boy's vision blurred in an instant. Long-suppressed sobs echoed through the empty room.
Outside the door, leaned against the doorframe and lit a cigarette.
Scenes like this were playing out in many homes in 's residential neighborhoods—in the former homes of these children.
All the children whose homes were in Anlan and wanted to go back for a visit had been divided into four groups under 's unified planning.
Escorted respectively by the four squads under 's leadership in the , they set out on this special "spring outing."
Thanks to the sonic repulsion devices had deployed in advance and the repeated clearing by the " " UAV system, the danger level of most streets in had dropped significantly.
On top of that, the large influx of new population had greatly accelerated the construction of the " " pheromone production line, allowing it to be completed ahead of schedule, with output sufficient to cover the needs of all personnel going outside.
So this special "spring outing" wasn't actually too much trouble, and didn't even affect normal field operations.
The children went home to take a look, while the adults took the opportunity to "fight dirty" and clear out the remaining scattered zombies along the way.
They re-surveyed the urban terrain, or searched the nooks and crannies for any wild survivors who might be out there.
After crying for a long time, wiped away his tears and carefully tucked the three tickets close to his body.
Then he rummaged through the room again, packed up a big bag of comic books and models, and picked up the real " " as well.
"These... is it okay?" he asked at the door nervously.
glanced at the in his arms, smiled, and reached out to ruffle his hair: "Of course it's okay. We've got several big trucks! Move whatever you want."
Quite a bit of stuff had already piled up behind the truck.
One child was hugging an oversized teddy bear, another had carried a whole box of Ultraman discs, and a little girl was determined to take the potted cactus from her balcony even at the risk of getting pricked.
Almost every child was like this—things once felt like boring junk now seemed unbearable to part with, even a nondescript little stool.
This must be what "things remain, but people are gone" felt like.
The convoy began its return trip.
sat in the cargo bed, peering out through the gap in the tarpaulin.
The streets were quiet. Occasionally he could spot a few older brothers and sisters from the slowly patrolling the intersections, carefully ensuring the roads were safe.
Suddenly, 's ears twitched.
"Over there... is that an explosion?" He pointed in a direction and asked, puzzled.
[Not bad ears you've got!] 's voice sounded from his .
[It's nothing. There's a strange bird showing up over there. I'm carrying out some neutralization procedures on it. No need to worry.]
"Oh." nodded, then added, "Go get 'em, big brother!"
[Received]
On his , a simple map was being projected in midair.
The map covered a broad area from the to nearly half of .
Large areas were marked green or yellow, indicating relative safety.
But dotted among them were several eye-catching red skull markers, labeled " ," marking restricted zones that could not be approached.
In addition, the map had two large blue safe-zone markers. One was naturally the ; the other was located in the " " neighborhood—the deployment site of the " " UAV mother unit, and an important frontline relay station.
According to 's plan, this place could serve as a temporary refuge for Field Squads encountering emergency situations.
There were also three blue dashed lines—relatively fixed supply transport routes, along which sonic repulsion devices and simple roadblocks had been deployed.
This, then, was the full extent of 's influence on the surface at the current stage.
***
Unlike the warm, relaxed mood of the "spring outing" group, at the outskirts of that small park, the atmosphere could only be described as tense to the extreme.
lay prone on the rooftop of a residential building at the park's outskirts, holding binoculars and staring at the lake in the distance.
Deep in the park, the artificial lake once planted with lotus flowers had now dried up by more than half.
The exposed lakebed mud was covered in dark-red, rot-flesh-like unknown matter. From a distance, it looked like a festering wound.
And in the crown of a withered tree beside the lake, a dark-red mass lay curled up.
" ."
That was the code name had given it. Its wingspan exceeded three meters, its body covered in filthy, rot-flesh-like tissue, and it had the ability to launch directional sonic attacks.
And it was precisely the target intended to hunt this time.
After the preliminary purge of low-level zombies in , pulling out these "hard nails" one by one had long been 's plan.
After all, he was quite looking forward to the reward for his first kill of a . Last time he killed the " ," the underground ecological barrier and expansion hub he'd been rewarded with could be said to be extremely useful.
So what could the other second-stage mutants bring him? was curious.
"Reporting. All team members are in position. The perimeter has been cleared." said into his .
[Received. All groups hold your positions. Do not approach within four hundred meters.]
[Your task is perimeter guard, and to provide support if necessary. Don't get too close.]
"Understood!" answered in a low voice.
Nowadays, trained field personnel working in teams with firearms could, in fact, already deal with first-stage mutants effectively.
But second-stage was still beyond what they could handle.
Whether it was " '" corpse-horde manipulation and heaven-defying beams, the " 's" colossal body and physical resistance, the white-winged creature's absurd mobility, or 's cheat-level recovery...
Every possessed extraordinary traits that were extremely difficult to counter.
With the firepower the currently controlled, pitting ordinary people against them would be a costly victory at best, even if they managed to win.
naturally wouldn't make such a losing deal, so this hunt was still carried out by him personally.
Through days of prior UAV harassment and reconnaissance, had basically gotten a full measure of this " 's" capabilities.
Its physical stats were relatively unremarkable among second-stage mutants. Its only trait was the ability to fire directional sonic attacks with physical destructive effects.
So it became 's first target.
After all, as the saying goes, you pick the softest persimmon to squeeze!
[Target locked. Operation begins.]
's cold declaration of war rang through the communication channel of and the others.
The next second, above the park, a gray "cloud" was silently gathering.
"Buzz—"
It was a swarm of three thousand UAVs, divided into six formations, closing in from different directions at the same time.
And at an altitude of two kilometers above them, a " " circled on standby, the high-energy laser emitter beneath its belly already primed.
On the ground, five Robots advanced slowly through the trees, their muzzles pointed straight at the monster in the tree.
At the same moment, the twisted figure in the tree crown abruptly snapped its eyes open.
"Screech—!"
Facing the overwhelming UAV swarm, " " opened its mouthparts—which had no beak, only rings of sharp teeth—and let out a piercing shriek.
An invisible sonic shockwave erupted outward from its center!
The air twisted violently. The dozens of UAVs that bore the brunt disintegrated in midair in an instant, scattering into flying parts.
The glass landscape corridor by the park lake shattered completely with a "crash"!
But by then, the lasers fired by the UAVs behind had already struck " 's" body, burning countless small holes into it.
" 's" sonic blast was astonishingly powerful, but wasn't flustered.
This kind of area attack most likely had the weakness of massive energy consumption and an inability to be fired consecutively. And 's UAVs were far from limited to just that many.
Above the park, the massive UAV swarm, moving as easily as an extension of his own arm, rapidly climbed out of the sonic attack's effective kill radius, while the laser emitters beneath their hulls had already begun the next round of firing.
"Buzz—"
Thousands of laser beams wove into a net of death, precisely blanketing the withered tree where " " perched.
Its rotting flesh tissue seemed able to absorb some energy as defense, but against this all-directional, no-blind-spot sustained scorching, it still proved utterly futile.
"Screech—!"
A shrill shriek rang out again, much shorter than before, filled with pain and fury.
Dark-red tissue burned under the high heat, belching plumes of black smoke, and the stench of scorched protein spread through the air.
" " suddenly spread its flesh wings, trying to take to the air, but the five Robots on the ground opened fire simultaneously.
Gun muzzles roared, spitting tongues of flame. The dense hail of bullets instantly shredded the tree crown around it, and the powerful kinetic impact knocked it off balance in an instant.
In that moment, its massive body became the easiest target imaginable.
Lasers seared, bullets tore. Black bodily fluids splattered everywhere, wounds so deep the bone showed through.
In a single exchange, it was nearly riddled into a sieve.
But even so, it still wasn't dead. Instead, it suddenly contracted its body, all its dark-red patterns flaring to life at once, and then unleashed the most powerful sonic roar yet!
The invisible shockwave swept out in a fan shape. The Second Formation's UAVs directly ahead lost more than half in an instant. Even the distant Robots were shaken, their fire faltering for a split second.
Seizing that hair's-breadth opening, " 's" massive body shot skyward like a cannonball, fleeing toward the sky at astonishing speed.
However, the injuries it had sustained earlier were not without effect. At this moment, its mobility was now far worse than before.
But above the park, the had already locked onto it.
Then, a laser with power far exceeding the Soldier Bees' shot out from the 's belly.
"Screech—!!!"
A scream so shrill it warped tore through the sky.
The high-energy laser instantly vaporized most of the flesh connecting its right wing. At the charred, blackened break, even its regeneration ability was completely destroyed.
Thrown off balance, " " spiraled down from high above like a kite with its string snapped, slamming heavily onto the roof of an abandoned factory and kicking up a large cloud of dust.
Before it could struggle back to its feet, the three UAV formations that had been on standby swept in from all directions like a school of sharks scenting blood.
This time, there was no luck left.
The overwhelming laser barrage completely submerged it.
A minute later, the gunfire and lasers stopped.
The world returned to silence.
[Operation complete.]
[ , take your people to clean up the scene and collect samples.]
"Yes!"
immediately led the team out, a hint of awed excitement on everyone's face.
At the same time, deep in 's consciousness, the long-awaited system notification finally lit up.
[Ding! Detected 's first kill of " " x1. obtained: 500.]
[Ding! Special drop blueprint obtained: (Area Type) x1.]
[ : Can create a special force field that interferes with and blocks sonic attacks of specific frequencies. Effective range: 1 kilometer. Note: extremely high energy consumption.]
Great stuff!
Just from the description, the technological sophistication of this thing was anything but ordinary. It was definitely the same tier of black tech as that underground hub.
He'd been right. These second-stage mutants were each a genuine technology reward package!
And just as was about to browse the blueprint, , in charge of , suddenly contacted him.
" , Team 2 dug something up!" 's voice was excited, and the roar of running drill bits could be heard in the background.
[What?]
"Ore! The ore over at !"
Hearing this, snapped to attention, and for a moment he was so excited his reactor nearly jumped out.
When the geological exploration teams were formed, they had been split into two groups based on vehicles.
Team 1, directly led by , was responsible for the underground network of City, while Team 2, led by , had been assigned a special mission by —to see whether they could open up a route to the mines at .
The reason was simple—[ 4: Industrial Raw Materials.]
[Mission Description: The assembly line has taken initial shape, but the roar of machinery needs raw materials to feed it. must establish at least one stable mineral extraction line and bring the primary industrial manufacturing center to full-capacity operation.]
[Mission Reward: 50,000 , unlock x1, blueprint x1.]
If a stable mineral extraction route could be established, this mission would have truly taken its first step. How could not be excited?
[Nice work. Next, survey the actual situation over at .]
[Be careful. Stay safe.]
"Received!"