Chapter 92 - 85: Ambush

Chapter 92: Chapter 85: Ambush

The diesel engine had been roaring for nearly ten hours when a sliver of dawn finally broke on the eastern horizon. The sunlight dispelled the darkness, but instead of bright morning rays, a low-hanging layer of clouds took its place.

Raindrops began to patter against the SUV’s windshield and roof, a fine, persistent sound. Soon, they formed meandering trails of water across the glass.

Xu Mo gripped the steering wheel, his eyes weary from a sleepless night, but they held a deep-seated wariness. He glanced at the gloomy sky, which looked heavy enough to collapse. An inexplicable sense of oppression settled over him. ’This weather feels like it’s brewing something,’ he thought, ’something more than just a light rain.’

After driving a while longer, Xu Mo pulled over to a relatively open spot on the side of the road, one with a clear line of sight. He engaged the handbrake and shut off the engine.

Once the car was stationary, Xu Mo retrieved a compressed biscuit and a bottle of water from the glove compartment. He slowly chewed his meager breakfast, washing it down with water. The taste was mediocre at best, but it provided essential energy.

After eating, Xu Mo started the car again and turned on the radio.

He turned the dial. After the familiar crackle of static, he caught the broadcast signal from the Jiang City Shelter. The signal was still unstable, occasionally breaking up with a hissing interference, but the main content was audible.

"...Repeating broadcast. Today’s list of affordable vegetables from the Jiang City Shelter Supply Depot is as follows: Potatoes, two pounds per Contribution Point; hardy ferns, one pound per Contribution Point; cultivated mushrooms, half a pound per Contribution Point... Quantities are limited. Exchange requires a resident ID card and Contribution Points..."

The woman’s voice on the radio was clear and steady, broadcasting something that sounded almost like a fairy tale in the apocalypse: a supply of vegetables. Even if it was just unappetizing varieties like potatoes and hardy ferns, the significance behind this was immense.

This meant that the Jiang City Shelter was not only stable, but its internal agriculture and external foraging systems were gradually recovering and beginning to function, capable of providing basic necessities to its residents.

It was a sign of order being rebuilt, a spark of civilization struggling to ignite in the ruins of the apocalypse.

Listening to the broadcast, the tension in Xu Mo eased slightly. At least his destination wasn’t a mirage. They were truly working to restore some semblance of human society there.

Spreading out a crumpled map, Xu Mo used the simple compass in his car and the blurred landmarks outside to estimate his position and progress. It had been a full day and night since he’d left Cyan Pine Ridge Town. Despite the terrible road conditions and frequent detours, he had covered about one hundred and twenty to one hundred and thirty kilometers, thanks to the SUV’s performance and his relentless pace.

At this rate, if the roads didn’t worsen and he didn’t run into any more major obstacles or trouble, he estimated he could reach the outskirts of the Jiang City Shelter by tomorrow morning—noon at the latest.

At the thought, even a man as composed as Xu Mo couldn’t help but feel a flicker of anticipation.

Driving with intense focus for a full day and night was a considerable strain on both body and mind. While his constitution from the Thirteen Grand Protectors’ Cross Training Cowhide Realm meant he could endure two days and nights without sleep, the mental fatigue was undeniable.

Xu Mo began to daydream about arriving in Jiang City. The first thing he would do was find a safe place, take a long, hot shower, and then sleep for a solid day to completely wash away the accumulated fatigue and stress.

Just as Xu Mo’s thoughts drifted to this brief vision of the future, disaster struck.

An intense, bone-chilling sense of crisis shot through him like a jolt of high-voltage electricity.

The hairs on his arms stood on end and his heart seized. This feeling far surpassed the alarm he’d felt when facing the mutated fish and bats. This was a true premonition of doom, the chilling certainty that the Grim Reaper had raised his scythe and was about to swing.

There was no time to think. It was pure instinct. Xu Mo’s body moved before his brain could even process the threat—he dropped. His upper body went limp as if boneless, slumping into the cramped space below the steering wheel, between the driver’s seat and the center console.

The very millisecond he finished curling into a ball—

BANG—CRASSHHH!!!

A deafening blast erupted at point-blank range. The SUV’s front windshield instantly disintegrated, spraying the interior with a hailstorm of granular glass shards.

A scorching bullet, propelled by immense kinetic energy, ripped through the air. It punched through the headrest of the driver’s seat—exactly where Xu Mo’s head had been—with a muffled THUMP, leaving a ghastly hole before burying itself somewhere in the rear of the vehicle.

Glass fragments showered Xu Mo, and a few struck his face and neck. Fortunately, the defensive properties of his Cowhide Realm kept the shards from breaking his skin, but he could still feel the force of the impact and the searing heat.

’I’m under attack. It’s a sniper!’ Xu Mo’s heart plummeted, but in that same instant, his mind became preternaturally cold and clear.

’This isn’t a mutated creature,’ he realized. ’It’s other survivors. A well-planned ambush with firearms.’

BANG! BANG!

Immediately following the first shot, two more rang out in quick succession. They came from the same direction, but the angle had been slightly adjusted. Bullets tore through the vehicle’s frame again. One whizzed past, so close that the searing air grazed the tips of Xu Mo’s hair and made his scalp tingle. The other slammed into the passenger seat, ripping it open and sending stuffing everywhere.