Chapter 91 - 84: Bat 2

Chapter 91: Chapter 84: Bat 2

In fact, before leaving Cyan Pine Ridge Town, Xu Mo had mentally run through countless scenarios of the trouble he might encounter.

For example, wandering zombies that had mutated further—they might be faster, stronger, or even possess some kind of special ability. Or perhaps he’d be chased by a small horde while driving, forced to fight a running battle from his vehicle. Failing that, he might run into ferocious, mutated aquatic creatures lurking in puddles and streams, launching a surprise attack just like that time by the riverbed.

Yet, Xu Mo never would have imagined that the first persistent trouble he’d encounter after leaving his shelter would be neither the zombies on the ground nor the strange fish in the water, but this swarm of seemingly insignificant bats in the sky!

The threat from any single bat was certainly limited. While their teeth and claws could probably harm an ordinary person, they could barely scratch the skin of Xu Mo, who was in the Cowhide Realm. The force of their impacts was also far from enough to cause any substantial damage to his modified off-road vehicle.

But, they were annoying.

The bats swarming the vehicle were a persistent plague. They severely obstructed Xu Mo’s vision, while the constant, dense thudding and screeching grated on his nerves. More importantly, they forced Xu Mo to slow down and continuously waste energy clearing the "obstacles" from his windshield.

The music playing in the car, originally meant to stave off boredom, now became a jarring, anxiety-inducing cacophony with the bats’ "accompaniment." Instead of bringing any sense of calm, it was like adding fuel to the fire.

Suddenly, Xu Mo’s heart skipped a beat as a thought flashed through his mind. ’The music!’

’Could the music be the problem?’

Xu Mo recalled that the swarm had started to appear at dusk, right when he had turned on the car stereo. The drive before that, though tedious, hadn’t attracted these creatures. ’Is it the sound of the music? Did it attract them? Or maybe... anger them?’

This theory needed to be tested.

Without hesitation, Xu Mo reached out and turned off the stereo with a CLICK. Instantly, the only sounds in the cabin were the low rumble of the idling engine and the frantic clamor of the bat swarm outside.

Immediately after, Xu Mo also killed the headlights and the engine.

It was as if the world had been plunged into silence and darkness. Inside the cabin, only the faint glow from the dashboard illuminated Xu Mo’s face. The SUV sat motionless in the desolate dark, like a giant beast that had suddenly gone silent and dark.

The very second the music stopped and the lights went out, something remarkable happened.

The furious, storm-like barrage of impacts from outside suddenly subsided. The bats that had been frantically attacking the vehicle seemed to lose their target in an instant, becoming disoriented. They still circled and flew around the vehicle, SQUEAKING, but their desperate, suicidal charges had devolved into chaotic, aimless flight. An occasional bat or two still collided with the car due to inertia or poor navigation, but it was no longer the organized, frenzied assault from before.

’It’s just as I thought!’ Xu Mo was sure of it now. ’The problem really is the music.’

But then, a flicker of doubt arose. ’But why would music trigger them? I thought bats relied on ultrasonic echolocation. They should be insensitive to sound waves within the range of human hearing...’

Xu Mo was by no means an expert. His knowledge of bats came mostly from common sense and bits of popular science. He knew they had poor eyesight and relied on emitting ultrasonic waves from their throats, then using the returning echoes to detect obstacles and prey—a form of perception far beyond the frequency range of human hearing. Logically, the music from his car stereo fell within the audible spectrum. It shouldn’t have interfered with their echolocation, let alone provoked such a frenzied attack.

’Unless...’ A glint in his eye, Xu Mo considered a possibility. ’...these bats have mutated, too.’

The apocalypse hadn’t just changed humans and the more obvious beasts and fish. These nocturnal, flying mammals had likely been affected by the same unknown factors. Their sensory systems might have mutated. Perhaps they no longer relied solely on ultrasound, but had developed a strong reaction to audible sound waves at specific frequencies—mistaking the sound for a threat, the call of a rival, or a signal that stimulated their aggression. And the music from his car stereo, particularly the tracks with strong rhythms and certain frequencies, had become the perfect trigger.

Of course, this was all just Xu Mo’s speculation. The real reason could probably only be determined by a biologist in a laboratory. But for Xu Mo, right now, simply knowing that turning off the music would prevent trouble was more than enough.

Xu Mo sat quietly in the dark cabin, waiting patiently. As the minutes ticked by, the agitation of the bat swarm outside continued to subside. Their cries became less sharp and frequent, and their circling pattern expanded, no longer tightly enveloping the vehicle.

After about ten minutes, Xu Mo peered through the window and saw the dark shapes beginning to disperse in small groups. They were no longer circling the vehicle, but flying off into the distance, eventually melting into the thick, black night.

The surrounding area returned to the silence befitting a wilderness, with only the faint sound of the wind.

’Looks like they’re gone.’ Xu Mo breathed a sigh of relief.

He waited a moment longer to confirm there were no more signs of circling bats, then decided to set off again. He cautiously started the engine and turned on the headlights, sending two beams of light cutting through the darkness to illuminate the road ahead.

With that done, Xu Mo held his breath, listening intently for any sounds from outside while his eyes vigilantly scanned the darkness at the edge of the light beams.

One minute, two minutes... Five minutes passed. The swarm he expected to be drawn back by the lights never appeared. The surroundings remained silent, with only dust motes floating lazily in the bright beams of the headlights.

’So the key really is sound,’ Xu Mo concluded. ’The light has little to no effect, or maybe they just aren’t sensitive to a stationary light source.’

No longer hesitating, Xu Mo shifted into gear and gently pressed the accelerator. The SUV let out a low growl and pulled forward smoothly. This time, he didn’t turn on the stereo. He even kept the windows rolled up tight, minimizing any light and sound bleed that might attract unnecessary trouble.

The monotonous drone of the engine and road noise returned to the cabin, but Xu Mo’s mind was far calmer and more focused than it had been with the music playing. After surviving the unexpected bat swarm, he had a much deeper, more tangible understanding of the dangers that lurked in the apocalyptic night.