Chapter 152 - 109: Catalysis

Chapter 152: Chapter 109: Catalysis

Though this latest exploration had frustratingly failed to yield the 12.7x99mm ammunition for his Barrett, Xu Mo wasn’t as dejected as before.

After so many attempts, Xu Mo had learned that the door’s guiding signs weren’t one hundred percent accurate.

Ultimately, the "door" from his Golden Finger was inherently unpredictable. Pinpointing the weapon itself had been a stroke of luck. The ammunition was just a matter of waiting out a few more forty-eight-hour cycles and trying again.

In this apocalypse, time was perhaps the one thing Xu Mo didn’t lack, especially inside this isolated fortress. He believed that if he kept trying, he would eventually find the ammo; it was just a matter of time.

Pushing those thoughts aside, Xu Mo calmed his mind and focused on his training. Energy surged through his body, and the sound of his fists and feet slicing through the air echoed within the fortress. With every strike and every breath, he could feel his power consolidating and growing, little by little. The chaos of the outside world and the scarcity of supplies could not stop his steady advance on the path of evolution.

After spreading out last night, the number of zombies outside the fortress began to rise again following a slow "respawn" during the day. These tireless, fearless walking corpses seemed impossible to ever completely eradicate.

However, early the next morning, the regional walkie-talkie channel burst to life unusually early. The one who broke the silence was the Observer from Fortress 12 in the outermost K-Zone, his voice tinged with uncertainty and surprise:

"Hey, everyone, this is K-12. I think I’m hearing explosions over here? They’re coming from far to the east. Muffled, but they sound pretty big."

Those words were like a fuse, instantly setting the channel abuzz.

"K-12, this is J-11! I heard it too! I thought I was imagining things just now, but now that you mention it, I’m sure it’s explosions!"

"L-09 confirms. I can hear faint explosions as well."

"Same here. It’s intermittent... sounds like a firefight, with some bigger explosions mixed in..."

The defenders, many still half-asleep, were instantly alert, all chiming in at once. A consensus quickly formed: it was most likely a combat unit dispatched by Jiang City, clearing out the zombie hordes that had spread out the night before.

Xu Mo walked over to a southeast-facing observation slit and listened intently. The distance was so great that the sound reaching his fortress was incredibly faint—like muffled thunder heard through a thick layer of cotton. It was barely perceptible. He had to focus intently to catch the subtle, unnatural vibrations, but it was enough to confirm the speculation on the walkie-talkie.

’They move fast.’ Xu Mo thought. He wasn’t surprised by Jiang City’s swift and decisive reaction.

Letting such a large number of zombies roam the shelter’s perimeter was courting disaster. It would continuously tax their outer defenses. Even more terrifying was the possibility of new monsters evolving as the zombies devoured one another. Nipping the threat in the bud was the most logical and necessary course of action.

Around noon, just as Xu Mo finished a round of exercise, a sound different from the explosions reached his ears. It was a rhythmic, powerful DRONE that grew steadily louder as it approached.

’Helicopters?’ Xu Mo immediately identified the source of the sound.

The sound didn’t fade; it grew louder and clearer, as if heading straight for the core of the Red Star Industrial Zone.

Xu Mo immediately moved to an observation slit on the upper level with the best view, looking in the direction of the sound. Against the lead-gray sky, several black dots rapidly grew larger, resolving into a handful of medium-sized transport helicopters. They weren’t flying particularly high; the powerful downdraft from their rotors kicked up dust from the ruins below.

What was more striking was that a massive, long, cylindrical container was suspended beneath each helicopter.

’What are they planning to do?’ The question had barely formed in Xu Mo’s mind before the answer became clear.

The helicopters flew without hesitation over the core ruins encircled by the cluster of fortresses, circling above the areas where the zombies were most densely gathered. Then, hatches on the bottom of the containers opened like giant showerheads, and a thick, dark-yellow liquid began to pour out.

’Fuel!’ Xu Mo instantly understood the authorities’ intent.

They weren’t just clearing out the zombies on the periphery. They were going to conduct a crude but efficient fiery purge of the source area that was constantly "producing" them.

The downpour of fuel fell like a deadly rain, coating the rubble of the ruins and the zombies who stared blankly up at the sky. The acrid smell of fuel even managed to seep faintly into the fortress.

The zombie horde below, drawn by the helicopters’ tremendous noise and downdraft, grew even more agitated. They shrieked at the sky, reaching up with rotting arms as if trying to pull the giant steel birds down. A few Agile Zombies even used their incredible jumping power to launch themselves upward, but the distance to the helicopters was an insurmountable chasm. They swiped their claws uselessly at the air before crashing back to the ground, sending up a spray of fuel-soaked muck.

The zombies, completely oblivious to the fuel being poured over them, stubbornly continued to pursue the "living things" in the sky.

Just then, a soldier on one of the helicopters leaned out and raised his rifle.