Chapter Eighty-Nine: Quite Large, and Quite Fast

Shen Dong smacked his lips. “Well, damn. Do we really have to call this smuggling? That used to be a back road only shady taxi drivers took for convenience. But thinking about it carefully, it does seem better after all. Safer than taking the main road, that’s for sure. How many corpse-things can there be out in the suburbs and villages? No matter what, they can’t compare to the city.”

Cao Fusheng cut off Shen Dong’s self-satisfied musing and reminded him, “There may not be as many corpse-things out there as in the city, but you’re forgetting that the suburbs and villages have plenty of animals—livestock and wild ones alike. Not to mention whether there are any aberrants among them. From what Chu Wei said, even animals have started to turn into corpse-things. This isn’t a route that looks nearly as safe as it seems.”

“Still, we don’t have any better choice right now. What I said was only a guess. It’s still far better than a road packed wall to wall with corpse-things, so let’s take the side roads.”

Just then, Chu Wei said, a little awkwardly, “I know the route, but I’ve never actually taken it, so what we’ll run into along the way... I really don’t know.”

“That’s fine. If you’ve never walked it, then walk it once and you’ll know. These days, the most dangerous things are nothing more than a few types: nightmare beasts, aberrants, corpse tides, and people.” Cao Fusheng rolled up the map and tucked it into his pocket, then added, “Oh, right. Your Sky Pillar doesn’t have any bases or safe houses set up in the city? Maybe they could come meet us partway.”

Chu Wei shook her head. “We tried to set some up before, but they should all have been wiped out by now. Those corpse-things seem to be under someone’s command, specifically attacking places where there are signs of living people. A lot of our bases lost contact.”

Cao Fusheng and the others exchanged glances, all drawing a sharp breath. If such a super corpse tide were truly being directed and driven by someone, what would that mean?

“Actually, what I’m thinking is pretty much the same as yours... There’s a very real chance that a commanding level-four corpse-thing is orchestrating all of this. But we’ve never encountered any aberrant capable of commanding so many corpse-things. The only thing I can say is that the evolution speed of these predators is even more terrifying than the ultra-fast technological growth of our globally shared information network.” Chu Wei let out a faint, desolate sigh. It was clear she was utterly hopeless about the situation.

Cao Fusheng opened the door and stepped outside. He swiftly dealt with several corpse-things slapping at the door, then looked back at the others and said, “Time is short. We’re leaving at once. Chu Wei takes the lead car, Zhao Cong the rear car. If anything happens, use the walkie-talkie to keep in touch. Make sure to soundproof and insulate against noise, and seal up the doors and every gap.”

...

“Left turn. Leave the main road. Once you get through this stretch of dirt road, you’ll reach the side road marked on the map.” Sitting in the back, Chu Wei kept reminding Cao Fusheng of the direction.

Cao Fusheng said nothing. He merely turned the wheel silently and veered off onto the side road. After making the turn, his mood eased a little. Unconsciously, he lit a cigarette and cracked the window open a sliver.

“Here.” Cao Fusheng reached out and handed the cigarette pack to Chu Wei. “Want one?”

Chu Wei hurriedly waved her hands. “Smoking affects health. The nicotine and other chemicals you take in can severely damage the blood. Over time, it will affect the purity of your lineage, and it will also affect a person’s mobility and internal organs...”

“Stop, stop, stop. If you don’t want one, then don’t. What, are you teaching a physiology class here?” Cao Fusheng took the pack back with some annoyance and no longer bothered with the woman, who spoke with such earnest precision.

He exhaled a ring of smoke in what he considered an elegant manner and lifted the walkie-talkie. “Shen Dong, are their night-vision goggles any good? Those are fine pieces of gear. Once the sun falls and everything goes dark, the night-vision goggles from the old era are nothing but junk.”

After a while, Shen Dong’s excited voice came through from the other end. “Brother Cao, seriously, with this thing on, it doesn’t even feel like I’m blind anymore. As expected, everything in Sky Pillar is high-tech. I’ve never even seen an instrument with its own built-in light source before.”

Cao Fusheng grinned and said softly, “As long as it works. Keep an eye on the surroundings and warn me immediately if you spot anything.”

“Tch, country bumpkin!” Zhao Cong’s contemptuous voice came through at just that moment, followed by a burst of popping sounds.

“Sorry, Brother Cao, gotta cut this short. Brother Gao and I are a little busy right now.”

Then the walkie-talkie went silent.

Cao Fusheng shook his head helplessly. Chu Wei hurriedly asked, “Are your two brothers rough when they fight?”

“Pretty much. Hitting someone looks like hitting cotton.” Cao Fusheng forced back a laugh as he answered.

Chu Wei silently repeated his words to herself. At first glance, they seemed harmless enough, but after thinking about them for a moment, they sounded deeply problematic.

A few minutes later, Shen Dong’s voice came through again, this time carrying a trace of unease. “Brother Cao, there’s something behind us. Through the light-sensing feature on this night-vision device, I found that thing... it’s fucking huge! And it’s moving pretty fast!”

Shit!

Cao Fusheng cursed under his breath, grabbed the walkie-talkie, and shouted, “Then why the hell aren’t you running already? Speed up! Anything that big can only be a nightmare beast or an aberrant. If you don’t run now, watch your damn lives disappear. Where the hell did that thing come from?”

“No idea! It was fine when we came over here, then all of a sudden—really suddenly—it just appeared!”

Cao Fusheng pushed the car to its limit, but he did not use the tail-flame propulsion device. That thing was single-use. If he wasted it badly, they’d truly be finished.

“Aah!”

Immediately after, a cry of rage and terror rang out from the walkie-talkie, followed by a harsh, crackling screech.

Interference?

“Shen Dong! Gao Yi! Answer me if you can hear me!” Cao Fusheng flung away the cigarette butt in his hand, then handed the walkie-talkie to Han Shuqing and told her not to stop contacting the rear car.

Through the rearview mirror, Cao Fusheng could make out roughly what was happening. The car behind was still following, but it looked as if something had grabbed it and dragged it into mud; it was struggling hard.

“You two sit tight!”

Cao Fusheng slammed the accelerator to the floor and shot forward. Then he yanked the brake hard and drifted in place through a full circle, swinging the nose of the car around.

At the same time, Han Shuqing was urgently calling out, “Shen Dong! Gao Yi!”

“Sis... sis... in... law... live...” A broken voice, tangled with static, came through in fragments.

It wasn’t that Shen Dong was struggling so hard he couldn’t speak. Rather, the walkie-talkie was being interfered with by something unknown, making transmission and reception unstable.

Cao Fusheng pressed the scanner switch.

“Retinal analysis in progress... please wait...”

“Analysis complete... authorized user: Cao Fusheng.”

“Activate all vehicle weapons!”

“Activating... roof fire network engaged...”

“Side rotary blades engaged...”

“Vehicle electric grid engaged...”

“Front obstacle-clearing device engaged...”

Immediately, blue light blossomed inside the entire cabin, and all the vehicle-mounted weapons roared into operation at full force.

Cao Fusheng slammed the gas and charged toward the rear car, drawing closer and closer.

The onboard systems of Shen Dong’s car were also fully activated and were desperately resisting some kind of creature.

“Bang! Dua... ng!”

“Fusheng! Watch out!” Han Shuqing cried out in panic.