Chapter 140 - 104: Discovery

Chapter 140: Chapter 104: Discovery

Xu Mo listened distractedly to the broadcast as he walked to an observation port. He peered through the bulletproof glass, blurred by the rain, to survey the situation outside.

The rain didn’t seem to have any noticeable effect on the wandering zombies. They still shambled through the downpour, their rotting clothes clinging tightly to their bodies and revealing even more terrifying silhouettes. The water washed the filth from their bodies, pooling on the ground in murky puddles. They seemed to neither like nor dislike the rain, simply following some chaotic instinct as they continued their endless wandering within the curtain of rain.

Xu Mo’s gaze passed over the common walking dead nearby, trying to focus on the core ruins farther away—a sprawling, dark expanse that resembled a crouching behemoth. The rain made visibility poor, but Xu Mo continued to search carefully, hoping to spot any unusual tracks. For instance, he was looking for the strange zombies he had encountered on the outskirts of the Red Star Industrial Zone, the ones with dark green skin and distinct, web-like structures between their fingers.

One look at those zombies and you could tell they were connected to water, and they were also incredibly fast. This rain was the perfect time for them to be active. After arriving at the temporary base, Xu Mo had made a point to speak with Zhao Ming. Zhao Ming told him the military had tentatively classified those zombies as "aquatic variants." They were a mutation of common zombies that arose in specific environments, stronger than the originals in both speed and adaptability. They had only recently started appearing in reports from coastal areas, so it was a mystery why they’d also been spotted in the inland Red Star Industrial Zone.

’If the appearance of aquatic zombies is related to the environment, then this rain...’ Xu Mo mused. However, even after the Jiang City broadcast had looped twice and finally ended with a rousing declaration encouraging survivors to unite and strive forward, Xu Mo still hadn’t spotted any swift figures in the rain-shrouded ruins that might have been aquatic zombies.

’It seems there are either very few of them, this rain isn’t heavy enough, or there’s another reason for their appearance.’ Xu Mo felt a pang of disappointment but could only set the matter aside for now.

He switched off the radio, and the fortress fell silent once more, leaving only the sound of the relentless rain outside. Xu Mo shook his head, clearing it of stray thoughts, and immersed himself in his cultivation once again.

Night fell. The rain seemed to let up a little, but it didn’t stop. Xu Mo was already asleep.

An unknown amount of time passed before a burst of unusually fierce and chaotic roars, mixed with the gruesome sounds of what seemed to be bones snapping and flesh tearing, faintly penetrated the curtain of rain and the fortress’s soundproofing to reach Xu Mo’s ears.

Xu Mo’s eyes snapped open. In the darkness, his gaze was as sharp as a hawk’s. The sound seemed to be coming from not too far from the fortress. He shot out of bed, snatched the high-intensity flashlight from his bedside, and strode to an observation port facing the general direction of the noise.

He switched on the flashlight, and a blazing white beam instantly pierced the darkness, aimed at the area the sound came from. However, that spot was unfortunately obscured by several collapsed sections of ruins, creating a blind spot. The beam could only illuminate the edge of the ruins and the threads of rain in the open space before it; Xu Mo couldn’t see what was happening behind them.

A few common zombies, caught in the beam, let out cries of disgust.

The roars and chaotic noises lasted for about ten minutes. During that time, they seemed to be punctuated by several short, sharp shrieks, different from those of common zombies. Then, the sounds gradually died down, once again swallowed by the patter of the rain.

Xu Mo tried adjusting his view from several other observation ports, attempting to find a better angle, but to no avail. Resigned, he could only turn off the flashlight and lie back down on the bed, a sliver of doubt lingering in his mind.

The rest of the night passed without incident.

The next morning, the rain had finally stopped, though the sky remained overcast. The air, washed clean by the downpour, felt much fresher, but the faint, stubborn stench of decay still lingered.

After completing his routine Qi Collection and morning exercises, Xu Mo went to the observation port facing the direction of last night’s disturbance. The view was much clearer after the rain, and he carefully scanned the area that had been obscured by the ruins.

Soon, Xu Mo spotted something unusual. In an open area, scattered about, were things that were clearly not building debris—a few fractured bones of an unnatural, grayish-white color, and some dark brown bloodstains that had been washed by the rain until they were almost unrecognizable. The stains, soaked into the damp rubble, seemed to tell him that a small-scale slaughter had taken place there.

Xu Mo’s brow furrowed. He already had a theory. ’It was cannibalism among the zombies.’

The theory sent a chill through him. If zombies merely wandered aimlessly and attacked the living, then large-scale cannibalism among them seemed illogical. Unless...

As a thought struck him, Xu Mo immediately moved, switching between several observation ports at different heights and angles. He scanned the area around the fortress even more carefully, especially near the site of the "slaughter."

Suddenly, Xu Mo’s gaze locked onto a broken window far from the fortress, near the edge of the ruins.

A short, swift figure flashed past. Its movements were far more agile than a common zombie’s. It was on all fours, scurrying between the crumbling walls and broken ramparts like a lizard. Though it was just a glimpse, its superhuman speed and unique way of moving allowed Xu Mo to instantly identify it: an Agile Mutant Zombie.

Connecting the dots between the chaotic roars and sounds of breaking bones from last night, and the remains and bloodstains he’d seen this morning, a clear chain of events formed in Xu Mo’s mind: zombies could evolve by devouring one another.

Under certain conditions, common zombies would engage in fierce infighting. The victor, perhaps by devouring its own kind, could accumulate some kind of "energy" or trigger a mutation mechanism, thereby evolving into a more powerful Agility Type, Strength Type, or even other, unknown types of variants.

This discovery made Xu Mo frown slightly. It meant that even with the military’s temporary withdrawal and the halt of large-scale cleanup operations, the threat within these ruins was not static. The horde outside was a dynamic ecosystem, one that could improve itself. If left unchecked, it probably wouldn’t be long before more, and more powerful, variants appeared.

If that was the case, then what about the major cities that had been swarming with massive numbers of zombies since the beginning of the apocalypse...? Xu Mo didn’t dare to think about it any further.

’It seems observing and recording isn’t just a mission...’ Xu Mo’s gaze grew incredibly solemn as he stared in the direction the Agile Mutant Zombie had disappeared. ’It’s monitoring a breeding ground that is constantly nurturing an even greater crisis.’

He turned and strode toward the communications radio. Today’s situation report would need some very important additions.