Chapter 199 - 125: To Nuke or Not to Nuke?

Chapter 199: Chapter 125: To Nuke or Not to Nuke?

After nearly four consecutive months on high alert within the fortress, Xu Mo had never truly been able to let his guard down, not even after breaking through to the Iron Bone Realm.

Now, in an environment of absolute safety, sleepiness washed over him like a tide. The moment his head hit the pillow, Xu Mo fell into a deep, dreamless sleep.

It was a wonderfully deep and peaceful sleep.

When Xu Mo woke up naturally the next day, the sunlight outside the window was already quite bright. He checked the time and was surprised to see it was nearly nine in the morning. This was a rare occurrence for Xu Mo; in the past, no matter how tired he was, his biological clock would always wake him up on time.

’Looks like I’ve really relaxed.’ Xu Mo smiled, feeling a long-lost sense of languor, as if every joint in his body was begging to stay in the comfortable bed.

He didn’t get up immediately. Xu Mo lay in bed for a few more minutes, carefully sensing the vital energy that flowed through his body like a great, ceaseless river. He savored the feeling of power from the Iron Bone Realm that filled his entire being, and only then did he rise, completely satisfied.

He stretched his limbs. By the time he had washed up, it was already getting late. Xu Mo decided to go out for breakfast and, at the same time, get a feel for how Jiang City had changed during his absence.

Walking through the streets of the Inner City, the scene was much clearer than it had been during his hurried glance the day before.

Most of the shops were already open for business. Steam rose from the breakfast vendors’ stalls, and pedestrians bustled about. The city seemed to have recovered its former vitality.

But the new details were still jarring. Many shop signs showed signs of recent repairs, the new patches of color clashing with their surroundings. Fine metal mesh had been installed over the windows of some buildings. And on the public notice boards at every street corner, eye-catching posters were still up, bearing a stark warning: "BEWARE OF AERIAL THREATS. AVOID UNNECESSARY OUTDOOR ACTIVITY. USE PROTECTION WHEN GOING OUTSIDE."

What struck Xu Mo the most, however, were the pedestrians’ subconscious actions. A middle-aged woman carrying a basket of vegetables might be walking along, only to stop dead in her tracks without warning, glance nervously at the sky, and then hurry away at a quicker pace.

A young man laughing with his companion would see a normal pigeon fly past, and his smile would instantly vanish as his body tensed. This kind of startled-bird reaction to anything in the sky was nearly universal, a new collective unconscious for the people of Jiang City.

Xu Mo also stopped and looked up at the sky. It was clear at the moment, with only a few white clouds and the occasional normal-sized bird flying by. Nothing looked out of the ordinary. But the tension that permeated the air was tangible.

Shaking his head, Xu Mo continued on his way and soon found a breakfast shop that looked busy and relatively clean. The shop wasn’t large; it had seven or eight tables, most of which were already occupied. The air was filled with the aroma of food and the low buzz of conversation.

Xu Mo found an empty table in the back and sat down. He ordered a bowl of congee, two meat buns, and a side dish.

While waiting, Xu Mo overheard the conversation of two middle-aged men at the next table.

They kept their voices low, but with Xu Mo’s now-acute hearing, he could still make out every word.

"...You’re telling me. Take Old Liu from Unit Three in our building. Such an honest guy. The morning before last, he was hanging laundry on his balcony. Probably thought it was broad daylight and nothing would happen, so he wasn’t careful about protection. Next thing you know, some big black bird flies out of nowhere and gets him right in the neck." The speaker’s voice was tinged with lingering fear.

"What? Then what happened?" the other man asked hurriedly.

"Then? There was no ’then.’ Less than two hours later, Old Liu... he turned. Climbed out of bed and went after his own wife and kid, who were right there watching over him... Aigh, it was horrible." The storyteller sighed and shook his head repeatedly.

"My god, are the birds that venomous? Just one scratch and you turn?"

"You bet! I heard their claws and beaks are venomous, just like with zombies. The radio’s saying it every day now: if you go out, you have to wear a scarf, protect your neck, head, and face. Best to wear thick clothes, too."

"The radio also says to stay indoors as much as possible, but if we don’t go out, what are we supposed to eat and drink? What about work?" the other man complained. "And yesterday, I heard that over at the West District Market, a flock of birds suddenly swooped down, snatched a bunch of meat from the stalls, and even scratched two of the owners. No idea what happened to those two..."

"What do you think happened? Their chances are slim. Anyone who gets injured by a bird now has to go into mandatory quarantine for observation. They’re treating it like a plague..."

The two men sighed with dismay. The topic then shifted to whose relatives were helping clean up bird carcasses after the defensive battles, collecting some that weren’t too rotten, which could supposedly be traded for a bit of money. But the process was, of course, extremely disgusting and dangerous.

Xu Mo listened in silence, his brow slightly furrowed. ’It seems the threat of the mutated bird flocks has infiltrated and damaged Jiang City more deeply than I imagined. It’s already causing real civilian casualties and widespread panic.’

Just then, Xu Mo’s breakfast arrived: steaming hot congee and plump, white buns, their aroma filling the air. Xu Mo temporarily put aside the conversation he’d overheard, picked up his chopsticks, and focused on enjoying this long-awaited meal.

The warmth and substance of the food spread down his throat, giving Xu Mo a more tangible sense that he had truly left the perilous front lines and returned to the relative civilization of the Jiang City Shelter.

However, the anxious chatter from the neighboring table about the bird infestation still lingered in his ears. So too did the sight of pedestrians outside warily scanning the sky, and the faint, distant rumbling that sounded like daily test-firing or training from the anti-aircraft emplacements... ℯℯ𝘭.𝘤ℴ𝘮

All of it was a reminder to Xu Mo that in this post-apocalyptic world, there was no such thing as an absolutely safe zone. Jiang City, this isolated island of a million people, was struggling to maintain order and balance amidst a new trial for survival—one that came from the sky.