Chapter 50: Desperate Rescue (2)

Volume 1 “Year of Calamity”

Just as An Sheng was preparing to continue his search forward, Liu Pengyu’s voice suddenly came through the walkie-talkie.

“Brother An Sheng, the captain asked me to inform you to immediately gather at the rendezvous point. He has made an important discovery!”

“Received, I’m heading over right now!” An Sheng responded and immediately turned around, sprinting rapidly toward the gathering point.

Nie Chong had indeed made a very important discovery – specifically, the radar system of his TX Single-Soldier Exoskeleton Armor had detected the distress signal from an escape pod. Since the virus outbreak, electronic signals had never been able to transmit beyond five kilometers, causing severe communication difficulties. However, this limitation only applied to old-fashioned communication equipment. The electronic devices of these high-tech gears could break through this constraint, achieving signal transmission at more than three times the limit. If combined with the previously mentioned high-frequency particle signal enhancement base station, long-distance communication could be fully restored. Li Guoan’s squad’s mission was to go to the provincial capital to set up the particle signal base station, but the mission ultimately failed due to Medusa’s attack. Even without the particle signal enhancement base station, their portable equipment’s communication function still far surpassed that of old-fashioned communication devices. It was at this distance that Nie Chong’s radar detected the distress signal from the escape pod, though the signal was very weak, indicating that the escape pod was already beyond the maximum communication range from Nie Chong.

By the time An Sheng reached the rendezvous point, everyone had already gathered there. Nie Chong activated the holographic projection function on his armor, displaying the radar-scanned terrain map before everyone.

“I was at this position, and the signal detected by the radar was about seventeen kilometers from my location at that time.”

After comparing the radar-scanned terrain map with the map coordinates, An Sheng reluctantly reached a conclusion – the very scenario he had most hoped to avoid on his way here. An Sheng had told Xun Lili that he hoped the escape pod wouldn’t emergency land in Longjiang Town, but unfortunately, heaven always seemed to enjoy playing jokes on them. If that distress signal was indeed from the escape pod, the signal’s origin point was precisely Longjiang Town!

“Fate truly plays tricks on people,” An Sheng muttered self-mockingly about retribution and such. “I thought that after I attracted all the zombies from Huan’an to Longjiang, we could do whatever we wanted in Huan’an. Never expected retribution to come this quickly!”

To be perfectly honest, An Sheng himself entering Longjiang wouldn’t be much of a problem – it would just mean playing bumper cars with the zombies after transforming. But the old problem remained: what about the soldiers in those emergency-landed escape pods? They didn’t have An Sheng’s privileges when facing zombies. Unless they repeated the old trick and lured away those zombies again, but then another problem arose: Medusa was likely nearby. If An Sheng transformed into a demon and that monster sensed it, the issue wouldn’t be whether they could rescue people anymore – Medusa might just eliminate all of them if she felt displeased! They had to rescue the people while trying to conceal their identities, which undoubtedly presented an extremely difficult challenge.For a moment, everyone felt somewhat stumped, and silence fell over the group. The situation was indeed tricky—their most powerful member, An Sheng, couldn’t be deployed at the moment, while Xun Lili and Nie Chong, despite his Full-Coverage Armor, lacked the strength to confront a Corpse Sea numbering in the hundreds of thousands. If they couldn’t devise a plan that addressed both issues, the fate of their comrades forced to land in the town would undoubtedly be tragic.

“How about this: we create another Loudspeaker and detour to the mountains north of Longjiang Town. From that position, we can draw the Zombies’ attention. Look at the terrain here—if we place the Loudspeaker at this spot, it’s like adding a natural amplifier to a megaphone. Plus, the straight-line distance from this location to Longjiang Town is over three kilometers.”

After studying the map for a long time, Nie Chong came up with this plan. It was a decent plan but extremely time-consuming. They would have to bypass Longjiang on foot because National Highway 103, the only road leading to Longjiang, was the sole route in the area. To circumvent Longjiang without alerting the Zombies there, their only option was to head into the mountains. In the mountains, their armored vehicle would be useless, leaving them to rely on their own two legs.

An Sheng and the others pondered for a long time but couldn’t find a better solution. In truth, if they chose to lure the Corpse Sea back to Huan’an County Town, it would save a lot of time. However, they couldn’t do that—the county town was a crucial future supply point for their Fortress. Nie Chong couldn’t jeopardize the livelihoods of the hundred or so people in the Fortress just to rescue their comrades.

“I guess this is the only way. Here’s what we’ll do: I’ll go into the mountains alone to set up the Loudspeaker. The rest of you drive to the outskirts of Longjiang and stand by. Once the Zombies in the town are drawn away, immediately search for survivors from the Airship. We’ll regroup here. If I don’t make it back, just return to the Fortress without waiting for me.”

When it came to the task of luring the Zombies, An Sheng was the best candidate. In a worst-case scenario, he could transform into his Demon Form, and the Zombies wouldn’t attack him. However, An Sheng also knew that once he assumed his Demon Form, he would release a large amount of Pheromones. If Medusa was truly nearby, she would definitely detect it, and at that point, he might not be able to escape unscathed.

As soon as Zhou Xiaoxiao heard An Sheng’s words, she became upset and anxiously said to him, “What nonsense are you spouting!? Pah, pah, pah! Don’t say such things—they won’t come true. You’re always talking recklessly. We’ll all be fine. You must regroup with us on time, understand?”

“Xiaoxiao, a girl should be more reserved. You’re being a bit too…” Xun Lili, standing nearby, couldn’t resist teasing Zhou Xiaoxiao when she saw her reaction.She wasn’t the least bit worried about An Sheng. In her understanding, although she didn’t particularly like An Sheng, his strength could absolutely be described as “terrifying.” Combined with his identity as an Infected Body making him immune to zombies, those Corpse Seas couldn’t pose any threat to him at all. She couldn’t figure out what he was so afraid of? Deliberately making Xiaoxiao worry was truly despicable. Xun Lili had never seen Medusa, nor had she watched the footage of Li Guoan’s squad battling Medusa, otherwise she definitely wouldn’t think this way. Compared to Medusa, even if An Sheng were multiplied by ten, he still wouldn’t be enough to fill the gaps between Medusa’s teeth! The gap between him and Medusa was a qualitative difference that simply couldn’t be compensated for by quantity.

After finalizing their strategy, everyone immediately sprang into action. An Sheng and Nie Chong first went to the Power Building to remove another loudspeaker, then dismantled several batteries from abandoned cars, reassembling them into a new Loudspeaker. Luckily, An Sheng was a Mutant – otherwise, just the weight of the Loudspeaker and batteries would have made him hesitate, let alone carrying nearly three hundred jin of equipment into the mountains.

The five of them drove to the outskirts of Longjiang Town. The other four found a place to hide the vehicle and searched for hills with good vantage points on nearby mountains to observe the situation in Longjiang Town, while An Sheng alone carried the heavy Loudspeaker and batteries on foot into the mountains, heading toward the location marked on the map.

Longjiang Town was a mountain town located in the Taihang Mountains. Though situated in mountainous terrain, it wasn’t built on mountain slopes but rather in the valley between two peaks. This place was originally just a natural village with relatively few residents. In the late 1980s, when the country began focusing heavily on economic development, National Highway 103 was constructed, passing right through here. The road brought both wealth and population, allowing the original natural village to develop rapidly into today’s important Longjiang Town.

Standing on the high mountain looking down at the entire Longjiang Town, almost the whole town was within Nie Chong and the others’ field of vision. However, the situation in the town shocked them beyond measure – densely packed black dots nearly filled the entire town. These black dots were none other than zombies crowded together, their numbers beyond calculation. Ten thousand people – usually just three simple words when spoken – but when you actually see ten thousand people appearing before your eyes simultaneously, the visual effect can only be described as “a sea of people.” And the zombies in Longjiang Town numbered far more than ten thousand – rough estimates suggested at least hundreds of thousands!

“My heavens, this place is simply Hell!”

Zhou Xiaoxiao was so shocked by the scene below that her jaw dropped. Meanwhile, Xun Lili gained an even more direct understanding of An Sheng’s capabilities. According to accounts, she was the one An Sheng had brought along when luring the zombies from Huan’an to this place. Although she had been unconscious at the time, she was technically the only person who had actually completed this magnificent feat together with An Sheng. She couldn’t figure out how An Sheng had managed to carry her while being chased by so many zombies and return to the Fortress completely unscathed – it was simply incredible.In truth, Xun Lili had overestimated An Sheng. Carrying Xun Lili on his back, An Sheng wouldn’t dare charge into the Corpse Horde. Just because he was immune to zombies didn’t mean Xun Lili was. After setting up the loudspeaker in Longjiang, An Sheng immediately fled the town without waiting for the zombies to encircle him, so he never even came face-to-face with the Corpse Horde. After all, zombies weren’t fast, while An Sheng’s speed rivaled that of a sports car—especially after devouring the Purifier Chen Mu, his Rapid State had reached a terrifying subsonic level. However, at that speed, An Sheng couldn’t do anything; his neural reflexes simply couldn’t keep up. Thus, he generally avoided using his Rapid State unless it was a life-or-death situation.

“Lili, do you think An Sheng will be alright?” While waiting, Zhou Xiaoxiao began worrying about An Sheng again, earning an eye-roll from Xun Lili beside her.

“Honestly, why are you so nosy? How many times have you asked me that? Did you see the zombies in the town below? An Sheng lured all of them here while carrying unconscious me on his back. A guy that monstrous—what could possibly happen to him!?”

“But I just have this uneasy feeling. What if something really does happen?” Ever since An Sheng entered the mountains, Zhou Xiaoxiao had been restless, repeatedly asking Xun Lili the same questions until Xun Lili was thoroughly annoyed.

“Xiaoxiao, I think you’re just overthinking because you care. You’re pining for him, but An Sheng hasn’t shown any interest in you. Isn’t this just pointless?” Unable to bear it any longer, Xun Lili couldn’t resist teasing Zhou Xiaoxiao about An Sheng’s lack of romantic interest in her.

The remark hit its mark. Zhou Xiaoxiao, angered by Xun Lili, immediately pouted and turned away, refusing to speak to her any further. That was exactly the outcome Xun Lili wanted—being ignored suited her just fine, as she could finally enjoy some peace and quiet. Just as the two were locked in their silent standoff, a prolonged Air Raid Siren echoed from the distant mountain valley. An Sheng had reached his position and successfully activated the loudspeaker!