Chapter 87 - 80: The Kill

Chapter 87: Chapter 80: The Kill

After surveying his surroundings, Xu Mo picked up the radio again and began tuning it. He desperately needed informational support from Jiang City. He cocked his ear, straining to make out any possible coherent signal, but his ears were filled with nothing but the infuriating crackle of static.

The Jiang City Shelter’s broadcast channel was like a stone sunk to the bottom of the water, utterly silent.

At first, a sliver of worry inevitably crept into Xu Mo’s mind. ’Even with its considerable strength, could the Jiang City Shelter truly escape a flood of this magnitude unscathed?’

However, Xu Mo quickly suppressed this negative thought. He recalled the calm, powerful voice from the broadcast and the various measures it had revealed for dealing with the Eternal Night and the mutated creatures. A power that could organize an effective force, even dispatching bombers to eliminate threats, must have preparations far beyond what any ordinary survivor could imagine.

’The broadcast equipment probably malfunctioned, or the signal is being severely jammed.’ Xu Mo settled on this as the most likely conclusion.

Having come to this realization, Xu Mo felt much calmer. He turned his attention back to monitoring his surroundings.

Fortunately, the anticipated third flood crest never came. Outside, the water level, after a brief dip following the second crest, had remained relatively stable—reaching roughly the top of the second-floor windows. It wasn’t rising any further, but it showed no obvious signs of receding, either.

The murky water had grown much calmer, losing its previous destructive force. It was now like a giant beast that had fallen into a deep slumber after its rampage, its breathing slow and steady.

This tranquility, however, made Xu Mo even more reluctant to let his guard down. He began organizing his equipment again. In reality, it was already perfectly organized; he was just using the familiar motion to soothe his anxiety.

Night fell once again, with pale moonlight occasionally spilling through breaks in the clouds. Just as Xu Mo was about to rest fully clothed, the radio beside him, which had been silent all day, suddenly crackled to life with a burst of intermittent speech, entirely different from the static!

"KSHHH... This is... Jiang City... CRACKLE... Shelter... All... survivors... please listen closely..."

Xu Mo shot bolt upright, all sleepiness instantly gone. He snatched the radio and carefully adjusted the angle of the antenna and the position of the tuning knob.

"Repeating, this is the Jiang City Shelter... The main flood crest has passed... KSHHH... Water levels will gradually recede... All survivors, please remain vigilant and await further..."

The signal remained unstable and filled with static, but the familiar voice and the critical information it conveyed finally allowed the tension gripping Xu Mo to ease.

The broadcast first confirmed the news that the crest had passed and predicted the waters would slowly recede, which largely matched what he had observed during the day. Then, the broadcast shifted its focus, emphasizing the public health crises that could break out after the flood.

"The floodwaters are carrying a large amount of contaminants and pathogens. Water sources are highly susceptible to contamination. Be sure to boil all water for at least ten minutes before drinking. Maintain personal hygiene and take protective measures when handling animal carcasses to prevent secondary disasters, such as outbreaks of intestinal infectious diseases like dysentery and cholera..."

Xu Mo nodded to himself. The warnings were both timely and necessary. He, however, had been drinking exclusively from his supply of scavenged bottled water, so it wouldn’t affect him much.

Then, the broadcast moved on to its next segment—one that made Xu Mo’s expression turn grim.

"Additionally, an emergency announcement: a large number of highly adaptive, mutated aquatic lifeforms have been confirmed in the water. They are extremely aggressive. All survivors are gravely warned to stay away from unfamiliar bodies of water. If you must approach the water, remain on high alert to ensure your safety..."

"’Mutated aquatic life... extremely aggressive...’" Xu Mo muttered, his sharp gaze sweeping across the dark surface of the water outside.

The official broadcast confirmed his suspicions. The flood hadn’t just brought devastation by water; it had brought a far more dangerous ecological threat along with it. Those dark shadows he’d seen moving in the water were, as he’d guessed, not friendly.

The broadcast repeated its main points a few more times before the signal was once again drowned in static. But Xu Mo had learned enough. The crest had passed, but the danger was far from over. A new threat now lurked in the water.

After carefully putting the radio away, Xu Mo felt he finally had a handle on the situation.

「When dawn broke, chasing away the darkness with its fish-belly white light」

Xu Mo awoke instantly and rushed to the window to observe the situation.

The water level had dropped!

The drop was significant. To track its movement, Xu Mo had previously used a piece of rubble to scratch several marks at different heights on the exterior wall. Now, the water surface was already below the midpoint of the second-floor windows.

The floodwaters were receding faster than he had anticipated. ’Perhaps it’s because Cyan Pine Ridge Town is located downstream, and the terrain has enough of a slope that the water can’t pool here,’ he mused.

However, as the water level fell, the scene that emerged was even more shocking than when the town was completely submerged.

As the muddy water receded, it exposed the drowned houses. Everything was now coated in a thick, viscous, yellowish-brown sludge that gave off a greasy sheen in the morning light.

The entire town was deathly still, as if it had endured another apocalyptic baptism, leaving only a broken skeleton to soak in the mire.

As Xu Mo was observing, the surface of a relatively wide patch of water behind his shelter suddenly began to churn violently.

Hearing the sound, Xu Mo whipped his head around. A massive, bluish-black dorsal fin was slicing through the water, cruising at incredible speed. Sunlight glinted off its body, which was covered in fine, hard scales that reflected a cold, metallic light.

Xu Mo estimated it was over five feet long. Its body was streamlined, radiating a sense of power. The proportions of its head were strange, and its mouth was agape, revealing fine, densely packed teeth that glinted menacingly.

This was clearly no known species of freshwater fish from before the apocalypse. It was a vicious predator, warped and magnified by some unknown power.

After cruising for a moment, the great fish dove down, then suddenly launched itself out of the water, as if to display its dominance over this newborn waterway.

An opening!

In the instant the great fish was airborne, its body completely exposed, Xu Mo’s eyes grew as sharp as a hawk’s. He raised his AK-47 and immediately locked onto the creature’s relatively fragile underbelly, an area not covered by thick scales.

BANG!

A single, crisp gunshot shattered the dead silence of the morning.

Trailing hot gas, the bullet drilled precisely into the great fish’s belly, causing a spray of dark red blood and shredded organs to erupt in midair.

SPLASH!

The wounded fish’s heavy body slammed back down into the water, sending up a massive spray. It didn’t die instantly. Instead, it began to thrash and roll violently, its blood staining a large patch of the water red.

The potent stench of blood instantly ignited a hidden frenzy.

The very next second, the water around the struggling fish began to boil. Countless mutated aquatic creatures of varying shapes and sizes swarmed in from all directions. Some were bizarre fish covered in bony plates, their mouths evolved into drill-like snouts. Others were smaller, but they darted through the water in dense schools.

They pounced on the still-rolling fish, frantically tearing, pulling, and fighting over the carcass. The water churned around the fish, splashing violently as if it were a boiling pot. Dark red blood spread rapidly, dyeing the area a grotesque, murky red.

The sound of sharp teeth gnawing on flesh and bone, along with the noise of brief scuffles as the mutants fought over the meal, drifted faintly through the air.

In just a minute or two, the nearly seven-foot-long fish was devoured by the swarming horde of its own kind and their competitors. All that remained were a few inedible scraps that slowly sank to the bottom. The water’s surface gradually returned to its murky state, but the thick stench of blood lingered in the air, refusing to fade.

Xu Mo slowly lowered his rifle, his eyes fixed on the patch of water that had returned to "calm."

The waterways had become a hunting ground more dangerous than the land. The aggression of these aquatic mutants, their sensitivity to the scent of blood, and the frenzy it induced all far surpassed that of the land-based mutations. They had adapted to the flooded environment and had rapidly established a new, even more brutal food chain.