Chapter 273 - 148: Intercept

Chapter 273: Chapter 148: Intercept

Night had completely fallen over the wilderness, with only the leaping flames of a campfire illuminating the small area around Xu Mo.

He had chosen an abandoned farmhouse courtyard about three hundred meters from the road as his camp for the night. The main house had long since collapsed for the most part, leaving only a single, relatively intact earthen wall. In a corner, however, a simple shed built from stone still stood firm.

It was a far better shelter than being completely exposed to the elements.

A small pot hung over the fire, holding Xu Mo’s dinner for the day. The food was bland, but it provided warmth and a full stomach, and that was enough.

After eating, Xu Mo didn’t rest right away. By the light of the campfire, he laid out his military-grade tablet and a thick paper atlas.

The cold glow of the screen and the texture of the paper pulled his wandering mind back into focus.

Xu Mo’s finger slowly traced a path across the map, starting from the small, unremarkable dot representing Mori Town and extending southeast. About one hundred fifty kilometers away, a dense cluster of grid-like symbols appeared, marked by a prominent city name: "Luochuan City."

Before the cataclysm, it had been a typical large city—a hub of industry and commerce with a dense population and advanced transportation networks. On the map, its danger level was marked with a red skull, the highest rating. Next to it, a handwritten note read: "Suspected activity of Level 2 or higher mutants. Extremely high horde density. Extremely dangerous. Detour recommended."

Xu Mo’s brow furrowed slightly as he read the note.

A detour was unavoidable. There was no question about it.

His experience in Mori Town had taught him a harsh lesson. A small town of just tens of thousands, even after its population was decimated by the apocalypse, could still produce a mixed horde of that size, with a considerable number of Level 1 mutants among them.

So what about a city like Luochuan, which once held millions? Even if only a tenth, or even a hundredth, of the population had remained as zombies and mutated, the numbers would be astronomical. The likelihood of encountering Level 2 zombies would increase dramatically.

He was only at the Iron Bone Realm. If he were caught in a sea of corpses, worn down by countless regular zombies and Level 1 mutants, an ambush by a hidden Level 2 zombie would be a death sentence.

Moreover, the word "suspected" in the intel implied that Level 2 zombies had almost certainly appeared there. He couldn’t even rule out the possibility of something more terrifying—a Level 3 Zombie.

Xu Mo wasn’t confident he could face a horde and a potential Level 3 Zombie on his own.

But the detour wouldn’t be a walk in the park, either.

On the map, the urban sprawl of Luochuan City formed an irregular shape on a plain where two rivers converged. The terrain on its outskirts, particularly to the southeast and northeast where he would need to detour, was complex.

To the southeast lay a vast expanse of rolling low hills and secondary forests, with dense vegetation and few signs of human life. To the northeast, the land gradually rose into mountains. Although the map showed an old provincial highway cutting through them, its condition was unknown. Besides, mountains were often a haven for mutated beasts.

’Should I face the known threat—a potentially endless horde of zombies... or the unknown—throngs of equally deadly and possibly even stranger mutated beasts?’

Xu Mo stared at the map, his fingers tapping unconsciously on the edge of his tablet.

It was a true dilemma. Zombies, though terrifying, had relatively predictable behavior patterns and clear weaknesses; they were, at least, a known threat. Mutated beasts, on the other hand, were a complete unknown.

Mutated beasts, like the "Black Panther Saber-toothed Beast" he had encountered during the day, could possess all sorts of unexpected abilities and habits, perhaps even coordinating as a group or exhibiting territorial awareness. They were a complete unknown.

’Black Panther Saber-toothed Beast...’ That’s the name Xu Mo had mentally given the formidable creature that died by his blade.

He recalled its astonishing speed and the tenacious vitality that allowed it to launch a final, desperate counterattack even after taking several .50-caliber rounds. The memory did little to put him at ease.

If creatures like that traveled in packs, they would be no less of a threat than a small group of Level 2 zombies.

After long consideration, Xu Mo’s knuckles tapped the southeastern hills outside Luochuan City on the map, then slid over to the mountain road in the northeast.

’I can’t make a decision based purely on speculation,’ Xu Mo thought, finally settling on a compromise. ’I’ll head to the edge of the city and scout it out first. I need to see the situation with my own eyes. If it’s truly impossible to approach, then I’ll choose a detour.’

When facing a known enemy like the zombies, he could at least observe and assess the situation first. Plunging headfirst into the territory of completely unknown mutated beasts was a far more uncontrollable risk. Choosing the lesser of two evils, Xu Mo opted to first engage with the relatively known threat.

Having decided on his initial plan for the next day—to continue toward Luochuan City and conduct reconnaissance on its outskirts—Xu Mo felt a bit more settled.

He turned off the tablet, carefully packed away the atlas, and went back into his tent.

...

The next day, after taking care of his morning routine, Xu Mo started his off-road vehicle and hit the road again.

His destination was the outskirts of Luochuan City, roughly one hundred fifty kilometers away as the crow flies.

The farther he drove from Jiang City, the more the road’s condition visibly deteriorated.

If the highways of the past few days were merely riddled with cracks and plagued by weeds, then today, this artery to the once-bustling metropolis presented a scene of near-fatal decay.

The density of abandoned vehicles increased dramatically. They were no longer just scattered on the roadside but were now clustered in groups of three, five, or even a dozen, blocking entire lanes. Some were tangled in chain-reaction collisions, their rusted shells glinting with shades of dark red and charred black under the sun, like the air-dried skeletons of great beasts left to rot.