Chapter 196 - 124: Withdrawal

Chapter 196: Chapter 124: Withdrawal

’If I were to classify these mutated creatures using the same scale as zombies, the ones with a four- to five-meter wingspan would probably be at least Class 1. And the bigger ones...’ Xu Mo muttered to himself. ’I just wonder if humanity has a unified classification standard for these things yet.’

The unknown brought a deeper sense of unease. Xu Mo stopped looking and quickly sealed the observation port again.

Another five or six days passed in waiting, filled with the sounds of impacts and bird cries.

Finally, the official order to evacuate came down.

"Attention all remaining units, the evacuation is about to begin. I repeat, the evacuation is about to begin! Please prepare immediately according to the following instructions: 1. Carry only essential personal items. Abandon all non-essential supplies and fixed equipment. 2. Shut down all non-emergency power inside your bunker. 3. Upon receiving a call from your assigned vehicle, you have ten minutes to exit the bunker with your belongings. 4. Pickup vehicles are military armored personnel carriers or infantry fighting vehicles. They will have clear markings on their hulls for accurate identification. 5. During the evacuation, you are to strictly obey all commands from the vehicle commander and maintain silence. We will now begin notifying units for pickup in the predetermined sequence. A-01, you are the first group. Your vehicle is expected to arrive in fifteen minutes..."

The instructions were clear and precise. The radio immediately crackled with suppressed cheers and rapid confirmations. The long, tense wait was finally coming to an end.

Xu Mo calmly began to pack. He abandoned most of his daily necessities and fixed equipment, keeping only the essentials: a tactical backpack stuffed with ammunition and various magazines; the disassembled components of his Barrett sniper rifle; a shotgun and an AWM, which went into a custom extended gun bag; an AK-47, a pistol, and his Mountain-Cutting Saber, which he carried on his person. Lastly, he carefully packed away his observation logs, maps, some high-energy food, medical supplies, and supplements.

Even after streamlining his loadout, when he finished packing, it was still an enormous and astonishingly heavy pack.

After waiting for the better part of a day, a call finally came over the radio for C-07:

"C-07, this is pickup team Hound III. We will be at your bunker in approximately twelve minutes. Prepare for immediate evac. I repeat, twelve minutes..."

"C-07, copy. Ready to go," Xu Mo replied.

Taking a deep breath, Xu Mo gave one last look around the bunker. It had been his home for nearly three months, the place where he’d witnessed his own power take a quantum leap.

Without getting sentimental, Xu Mo pushed his heavy pack and gun bags through the entrance first, tossing them onto the open ground outside. Then, he nimbly squeezed out himself.

A few minutes later, the deep, powerful roar of an engine grew closer, drowning out the noise of the nearby bird flock. A dark green, wheeled armored personnel carrier burst through a light cloud of dust. It was covered in add-on armor and mounted a remote weapon station on its roof. The vehicle screeched to a precise halt near the entrance of bunker C-07. A stark white serial number and evacuation markings were clearly visible on its hull.

With a WHIR, the rear hatch flipped upwards. Xu Mo didn’t hesitate. He grabbed the heavy pack with one hand and the two gun bags with the other, then sprinted toward the armored vehicle.

"Whoa, that’s a lot of gear, man! Here, let me give you a hand!" A fully armed soldier in a tactical helmet, seeing Xu Mo approach, reached out from inside the vehicle to help.

"Thanks, but I’ve got it," Xu Mo said, his voice steady. With a slight tensing of his muscles, he casually lifted the gear—which had to weigh over two hundred pounds—over the threshold and set it inside, then vaulted up into the vehicle himself.

The soldier was visibly taken aback. He glanced at Xu Mo’s frame—which wasn’t particularly bulky—then back at the heavy pile of equipment. A flicker of astonishment crossed his eyes, but he said nothing more and quickly sealed the hatch.

The vehicle’s interior was dim, filled with the smell of motor oil, sweat, and steel. Besides the soldier, three other people were already seated inside. They all had packs of various sizes, and their faces were a mixture of exhaustion, anxiety, and the profound relief of escape. When they saw Xu Mo climb in with his conspicuous mountain of gear, all three stared at him in astonishment.

Xu Mo gave them a slight nod, stowed his equipment in a corner, and found an empty seat to sit down. After brief introductions, he learned the three were Observers from bunkers C-05, C-08, and C-12, all located in Zone C.

Whether from the habit of long-term solo duty or the lingering shock of their ordeal, the brief exchange quickly gave way to silence inside the compartment.

All that remained was the roar of the engine, the jolting rumble of the vehicle rolling over rubble, and the sounds from outside—a continuous, grating THUD-THUD-THUD of impacts against the hull, punctuated by sharp, piercing bird cries.

The sounds came from the mutated birds, which were circling and attacking the moving steel beast. Though the armored vehicle’s hull and bulletproof glass could easily withstand the attacks, the relentless, percussive noise was a constant reminder of the dangers lurking just outside.

Xu Mo noticed that with every thudding impact, the other three Observers involuntarily tensed up. An unconcealable fear and anxiety showed in their eyes. They gripped their bags or the armrests of their seats so tightly their knuckles were turning white. The breath of the younger Observer from C-08, in particular, had become noticeably ragged.

The armored vehicle continued its bumpy trek across the ruins and shattered roads, stopping to pick up two more Observers from bunkers C-02 and C-10. The compartment grew more crowded, and the atmosphere became even more oppressive. Aside from the necessary identity checks and directions to find a seat, hardly anyone spoke. Everyone silently endured the lurching ride and their own inner turmoil.