Chapter 367 - 176: Rain City

Chapter 367: Chapter 176: Rain City

’When faced with unstoppable danger, I can open the door and hide inside. Sixty seconds later, when I come out, the threat might be gone.’

’Plus, I can use those sixty seconds to collect myself and figure out a plan.’

’That’s the real purpose of the door. Using it just to find fuel would be a waste.’

Xu Mo sat in the driver’s seat, map in hand, and studied the closest marked location.

It was Pinggu City. According to the map’s markings, Pinggu City was a medium-sized city on Ming Pearl Port’s clearance route. Before the apocalypse, it had a resident population of around one million. Located between Xu Mo’s current position and Ming Pearl Port, it was a necessary part of the journey.

Xu Mo looked at the city marker on the map, his mind already running the numbers. ’No matter how thorough Ming Pearl Port’s combat units are, they couldn’t have possibly stripped a city this large completely clean, right? A city of a million people would have hundreds of thousands of cars. Each one should have a little bit of fuel. Even if they siphoned most of it, surely some would have slipped through the cracks?’

"Fuck it."

After a moment’s thought, Xu Mo’s mind was made up. He decided to go to Pinggu City and try his luck.

’Finding fuel there would be ideal. If I can’t, I’ll just use the door to get some then. The worst-case scenario is I rest in Pinggu City for a couple of days while the door cools down. I can’t actually end up walking to Ming Pearl Port, after all.’

Starting the engine, Xu Mo drove toward Pinggu City.

As dusk fell, Xu Mo drove the SUV through a patch of withered yellow grass, gradually approaching the city’s edge.

By the time he entered Pinggu City, it was almost completely dark. ⅇ𝒃𝚗ℴ

Xu Mo slowed down, cautiously driving into the urban area. The buildings on either side of the street grew denser, changing from low-slung bungalows to multi-story buildings, and then from multi-story buildings to high-rises.

At first, Xu Mo didn’t notice anything out of the ordinary.

The streets were empty, just like in the other cities. But after driving for a short while, Xu Mo began to feel that something was wrong. He saw shadows moving.

A shadow flashed past a street corner. Xu Mo caught it in his peripheral vision, but by the time he turned his head to look, it was already gone.

Soon after, Xu Mo saw another shadow. This time, it was standing motionless in the doorway of a building. When Xu Mo looked at it, the shadow also turned its head to look at the distant SUV.

However, it only stared at Xu Mo’s SUV, not charging, just standing there quietly.

Xu Mo’s brow furrowed. As he drove further, he saw hordes of zombies clustered in the shadows of the buildings. They huddled in dark corners, letting out low, guttural roars.

Outside the buildings, Xu Mo also saw some zombies wandering about. They were agile, darting between buildings. Some even climbed the walls, clinging to them like geckos.

Xu Mo’s gaze swept over the zombies, and an ominous feeling washed over him. ’Didn’t the notice from Ming Pearl Port say the zombies here were all cleared out? So where did these come from?’

After observing for a while longer, Xu Mo discovered an even stranger phenomenon. ℴ𝗆

There seemed to be some sort of relationship between the zombies. When some of them met, they would size each other up before going their separate ways. When others met, they would let out threatening roars, driving each other off. And when still others met, they would immediately start fighting to the death, tearing each other to bloody shreds.

Xu Mo watched with his own eyes as an Agile Zombie and a Strength Zombie started fighting on the street. The Agile Zombie circled the Strength one, relentlessly tearing at its flesh. The Strength Zombie, in turn, swung its powerful fists to drive the Agile Zombie back. Finally, the Strength Zombie seized an opportunity and brought its fist down on the Agile’s head, smashing it to pieces.

After finishing its opponent, the Strength Zombie began to devour the Agile Zombie’s corpse...

Watching this scene, a thought flashed through Xu Mo’s mind: ’It’s like these zombies are fighting over territory.’

They each occupy their own area and don’t encroach on one another. If one crosses a boundary, it sparks a fight. And the result of these fights is always the winner devouring the loser, growing even stronger.

This was an ecosystem—an ecosystem of zombies.

Xu Mo’s expression grew solemn. ’What does this mean? It means these zombies are no longer just mindless walking corpses. They’re evolving a kind of social structure, forming some sort of order. Even though this order is still primitive and savage, it’s a dangerous sign.’

’If zombies are really developing a society, they’re no longer a disorganized mob. They’ll become an organized threat. When that happens, humanity won’t just be facing endless zombies, but a host of intelligent, strategic enemies.’

Xu Mo took a deep breath and parked the car in front of an office building.

He needed to find a place to observe and figure out what was really going on in this city.

Before getting out of the car, Xu Mo gathered all his necessary equipment.

...

The office building’s lobby was empty. The elevators had long since stopped working, so Xu Mo had to take the stairs.

After reaching the thirty-third floor, the top floor, Xu Mo put his things down and went up to the roof.

The wind on the roof was strong, making Xu Mo’s clothes flap loudly. He walked to the railing and looked down over the entirety of Pinggu City.

The sky had already begun to darken, but he could still make out the general silhouette of the city. The streets crisscrossed like a giant web, with buildings packed densely together, stretching to the horizon.