Chapter 346 - 170: Bridge

Chapter 346: Chapter 170: Bridge

Xu Mo stood on the roof of the SUV, gazing at the massive bridge in the distance, lost in thought.

The sun was scorching, baking the roof of the SUV until it was hot to the touch. Xu Mo remained standing, his gaze sweeping past the cluttered riverbank to settle on the massive structure spanning the river—a bridge.

Its concrete body and steel cables gleamed a grayish-white in the sun. The bridge was long, at least two kilometers by the look of it, stretching from this side of the river to the other, connecting the cities on both banks. Beneath it, the murky river water flowed sluggishly.

Xu Mo could also see all sorts of vessels moored beneath the bridge: cargo ships, passenger ships, fishing boats, and some other watercraft he couldn’t identify.

Some were adrift mid-river, some had run aground on the banks, and still others had listed and sunk, with only a section of their cabins breaking the surface. Some of the vessels were riddled with rust, while others remained perfectly intact, as if time itself had frozen around them.

Xu Mo’s gaze shifted from the bridge to the boats, then back to the bridge again. Its surface was packed wall-to-wall with cars.

Not one or two, but hundreds, even thousands of them. Vehicles of all makes and models were crammed together, jamming the bridge from one end to the other. Some had crashed head-on, others were skewed sideways, and a few were completely overturned. They choked the roadway so thoroughly that there was barely any space between them.

A two-kilometer bridge. A two-kilometer traffic jam.

Xu Mo’s brow furrowed.

Several corpses lay beside the SUV. Not human corpses, but zombie corpses—mutated ones, at that.

So-called mutated zombies were survivors who had already undergone a mutation before turning. These people had eaten the flesh of mutated creatures, causing their own bodies to change and granting them superhuman strength. But if they were then bitten and infected by a zombie while in that mutated state, they would become a special kind of undead—a mutated zombie.

Outwardly, they looked much like Level 1 zombies, with the same rotting skin, cloudy eyes, and vicious fangs. Their strength, however, was nearly on par with a Level 2 zombie.

Xu Mo glanced down at the corpses. There were four in total. He had pierced the skulls of two with his Triangular Spike, and the other two had been taken out with headshots from his gun. Their bodies all bore clear signs of mutation: one had a thick, scaly arm; another’s legs were of different lengths; a third sported a massive, fleshy tumor on its back; and the last had a face covered in bizarre patterns.

If he hadn’t remained vigilant, if he hadn’t reacted the instant he sensed something was wrong, he might have been in serious trouble today.

The speed and strength of those things far surpassed that of an ordinary Level 1 zombie.

Xu Mo leaped down from the roof of the SUV, walked over to the corpses of the mutated zombies for another look, and then gazed off into the distance once more.

’To get to Ming Pearl Port, I have to cross this bridge. It’s the only way.’

’The river is wide and the current is strong. It’s impossible to cross without a bridge. I have to take this one, but all those cars...’

Xu Mo’s frown deepened as he recalled the events of the last two days.

Two days had passed since Xu Mo dealt with the mutated survivors who had blocked his path. He had spent that time continuing his journey southeast.

According to the route on his map, he needed to pass through a major city—Jiangzhou City.

Before the apocalypse, it had been a metropolis with a population in the millions. Now, it was surely just a massive city of the dead.

’With the continuous heatwave these last few days,’ he thought, ’the zombies are probably all hiding inside. Maybe I can use the daylight to get through quickly.’

But as soon as he entered the city’s outskirts, he felt something was wrong. That feeling of being watched had returned.

This time, the gaze felt sharper and more dangerous than ever before.

Sensing the danger, Xu Mo raised his Barrett and fired a shot in the direction of the gaze.

Several hundred meters away, a Level 3 Zombie tumbled out of a window in an abandoned building, hitting the ground and kicking up a cloud of dust.

That Level 3 Zombie had clearly been watching him, but the gunshot had also attracted more zombies.

Moreover, while the high temperatures kept ordinary zombies from venturing outside, those that did were at least Level 1.

Startled by the gunshot, the zombies hiding inside the buildings began to pour out from all directions. After one look at the emerging horde, Xu Mo made a snap decision to turn around and find a detour.

Xu Mo sped along the city’s perimeter, taking a wide detour that eventually led him to the area near this massive bridge.

He had just parked and hadn’t even had a chance to survey the situation when four mutated zombies rushed out.

They had probably been lurking near the head of the bridge and were startled by the sound of his engine. And so, Xu Mo found himself in yet another fight.

Thankfully, there were only four mutated zombies, so they didn’t cause Xu Mo much trouble. The encounter did, however, make him think of the other Messengers carrying out their own missions. ’I wonder how things are for them,’ he mused.

Xu Mo pulled his thoughts back to the present, his gaze once again falling on the bridge. The cars were still jammed there, a dense and motionless mass.

"No other way. Time to clear it."

He said with a sigh of resignation. Then, Xu Mo opened the trunk, grabbed some necessary supplies, and started walking toward the bridge.

A two-kilometer bridge. Below, the river surged. Ahead, a dense graveyard of abandoned vehicles. Some were still intact, others were mangled, and some were burned down to their skeletal frames.

A strange odor permeated the air, a mixture of rust, motor oil, decay, and the fishy stench of the river water.