Chapter 67 - 60: Wings of Steel

Chapter 67: Chapter 60: Wings of Steel

On the first floor, Xu Mo was immersed in his practice of the Thirteen Grand Protectors’ Cross Training. His lifeblood coursed slowly through him, tempering skin, membranes, muscles, and bones. As a Cowhide Realm practitioner, every Posture Stance and exertion of force allowed him to feel the subtle changes within his body more clearly. This tangible sensation of growing stronger was his greatest comfort and reliance in the Eternal Night.

However, just as Xu Mo’s mind had settled, focused on circulating his lifeblood, a sound shattered his concentration like a stone dropped into an old well. It was extremely faint, yet it was a sound that absolutely did not belong in this dead, silent world.

WHIRRR—

It was a low, distant roar, like something from the edge of the sky or the muffled thunder rumbling deep within the earth. It was so faint at first that he would have barely noticed it had his perception not been greatly enhanced after breaking through to the Cowhide Realm.

Xu Mo immediately reined in his lifeblood and listened intently.

The roaring didn’t disappear. On the contrary, it grew steadily stronger at a constant rate, drawing closer. ’The source... it seems to be coming from high up in the sky?’

This unique, continuous, rhythmically vibrating roar stirred fragments of memory from the age of civilization, deep within Xu Mo’s mind. It was a sound he hadn’t heard in ages, the sound of humanity’s peak industrial power!

’Is that an engine? The sound of an airplane engine?!’ Xu Mo’s heart skipped a beat as a term he had almost forgotten leaped into his mind.

He could no longer remain calm. He shot out of the training room like a cheetah, taking the stairs several steps at a time and racing to the rooftop at his fastest speed.

The cold wind instantly enveloped Xu Mo. The inky-black sky still hung over everything like a vast velvet cloth. But right now, Xu Mo completely ignored the bone-chilling cold and oppressive darkness. His eyes desperately scanned the direction of the sound—the unfathomably deep night sky!

’Found them!’

Against the inky-black canopy that seemed to absorb all light, there were a few... no, several groups of faint yet steady points of light, moving at high speed. They were arranged in a specific formation, like a constellation, but one imbued with an unparalleled dynamic force.

The points of light weren’t steady; they blinked rhythmically—red, white, green... It was as if they were silently declaring their identity, proclaiming themselves the masters of the dark sky.

Xu Mo held his breath, his heart pounding uncontrollably. He tilted his head back, straining to make them out.

One group, two groups, three groups...

Xu Mo counted carefully. In total, there were a staggering nine groups of fast-moving, blinking lights.

’Holy shit...’ Even with his current composure, Xu Mo couldn’t help but curse inwardly, his shock palpable. ’Those are bombers in formation, and judging by their formation and light configuration, they’re accompanied by fighter escorts.’

Based on the size of the lights, their blinking frequency, and their relative positions, Xu Mo quickly made an assessment. It was a mixed formation: five larger bombers flanked by four more agile fighter jets. They were flying with unstoppable momentum toward a predetermined destination. And considering the distress call he’d heard a few hours ago, that destination was self-evident—

Rock Shelter!

’Those wings of steel... they came from the direction of Jiang City! They’re forces dispatched by the Jiang City Shelter!’

Xu Mo couldn’t help but be impressed. ’It’s only been a few hours since I heard Rock Shelter’s distress broadcast.’

Xu Mo stood on the rooftop, oblivious as the cold wind whipped at his clothes. His gaze remained fixed on the blinking lights as they receded into the distance, a storm of emotions raging within him.

Xu Mo had guessed that the Jiang City Shelter must wield significant power—that much was clear from their ability to maintain broadcasts and issue authoritative information. But he had never imagined that their power was on this level!

With the apocalypse, extreme weather, rampant zombies and Mutant Beasts, and the total collapse of order, the Jiang City Shelter had not only remained operational but had somehow managed to organize a proper air force and dispatch a strategic-level bomber formation on a long-range support mission.

’What kind of massive resource stockpiles would this require? What kind of flawless logistics? What kind of meticulous organization and technical maintenance force?’ Behind this was the implication of a massive entity that had preserved a substantial portion of its core industrial power and military projection capability, even in the apocalypse.

"Jiang City Shelter is fucking incredible," Xu Mo muttered, his tone filled with a complex, indescribable mix of emotions. There was shock, awe, and even a strange sense of reassurance. Although he had chosen to go it alone, knowing that the embers of human civilization hadn’t been completely extinguished—that such a powerful force was still trying to maintain order and fight the cataclysm—was a completely different feeling from facing the endless darkness and unknown threats by himself.

At the same time, Xu Mo formed a clearer judgment about the nature of Rock Shelter. If Rock Shelter possessed the same level of power, it never would have lost nearly half its grounds in the initial assault and been forced to call for outside help.

It seemed more likely that Rock Shelter was a large stronghold formed spontaneously by a great number of survivors in the early days of the apocalypse. It might have possessed considerable manpower and some defensive fortifications, and may have even worked out a model for survival, but its organizational structure, discipline, and advanced weaponry were qualitatively inferior to a shelter like Jiang City, which had clearly inherited a portion of the former government’s power.

Such a relatively loose organizational structure might be effective against conventional threats, but its fragility was laid bare the moment it encountered a complex, unconventional crisis—like the internal chaos caused by the Eternal Night’s corruption, compounded by an external Mutant Beast tide.

Xu Mo watched as the nine groups of blinking lights crossed the inky sky like resolute stars, not looking away until they finally vanished into the distant darkness.

Once again, the rooftop was left with only the whistling wind and his own heartbeat.

Xu Mo took a deep breath of the icy air, suppressing his turbulent emotions. The appearance of the bomber formation was like a shot in the arm, but it was also like a mirror.

The fate of Rock Shelter was a bloody lesson: when facing a true crisis, the only person you can ultimately rely on is yourself.

’Jiang City can send bombers to support Rock Shelter, but what if a similar crisis were to befall my own solitary shelter? Would anyone come to my aid?’

The answer was clearly no.

’In the end, it all comes down to having enough strength of my own.’ Xu Mo clenched his fists, feeling the abundant lifeblood and resilient skin that came with the Cowhide Realm. ’It’s still nowhere near enough.’

’The bombers might solve the beast tide outside Rock Shelter and destroy some powerful mutants, but can they dispel the Eternal Night? Can they eradicate the corrosive influence of the darkness on the mind? Can they guarantee that every survivor will live without a worry in the days to come?’

Obviously not.

The ultimate answer still lay in the evolution and strengthening of the individual.

Xu Mo turned and walked unhesitatingly from the rooftop back to his first-floor training room. The world outside remained dark, and the distant battle had nothing to do with him. The only thing he could do—the only thing he *had* to do—was seize every second to improve himself.

With strategic-level military support from Jiang City, the crisis at Rock Shelter would likely be resolved. The aftermath would simply be a matter of assessing losses and rebuilding. But this didn’t mean the threat was gone. The dark corruption of the Eternal Night persisted, and Mutant Beasts still lurked in the shadows. He could not afford to let his guard down for a single moment.

Suppressing all his shock, awe, and racing thoughts, Xu Mo once again assumed the Pile Training stance for the Thirteen Grand Protectors’ Cross Training. His mind sank inward, guiding his lifeblood to wash over and temper his muscles, bones, skin, and membranes, again and again.

In the training room, only Xu Mo’s long, powerful breaths and the imperceptible internal hum of his circulating lifeblood could be heard. The LED light shone down on him. Beneath his skin, a faint yellow luster flickered in and out of sight as he channeled his energy, as if waging a silent war against the eternal darkness outside.

The wings of steel that had flown overhead were the afterglow of civilization’s power; but the surging lifeblood and ever-strengthening flesh within him—that was what truly belonged to Xu Mo.