Chapter 70: Ezekiel, Turning Human.
Perhaps summer was approaching.
The temperature on the surface had spiked recently, going from negative forty or fifty degrees to just negative one or two degrees.
Xiang Nanli’s nutrient liquid could finally be consumed directly without needing to be thawed.
Gospel also no longer had to worry about being unable to charge due to low temperatures.
Xiang Nanli checked the latitude and longitude. Before the nuclear war, summer temperatures in the Gusu City region could reach 40 degrees Celsius.
“It’s been almost nine hundred years, and the survival conditions on the surface are still this harsh.”
They set out from the Survivor Base, traversed a complex mountainous terrain, and finally emerged from the pathless no-man’s-land onto the plains.
During peaceful times, a location with complex transportation like the base would be unsuitable for developing productivity. But on the current surface, the terrain served as a natural barrier.
Xiang Nanli looked at the satellite map on the GPS: “Xiao Qing, look, our base is here. Although it’s not marked. But combined with the surrounding mountain ranges, it looks like a dragon holding a pearl in its mouth. In Feng Shui, this kind of terrain is called a dragon vein.”
He didn’t practice feudal superstition.
Xiang Nanli was a steadfast materialist; he just thought these metaphysical concepts passed down from his ancestors were fun.
Once, when Xiang Nanli returned to the country to attend a conference, he was invited by the local tourism bureau to visit a famous Daoist scenic spot. Along the way, there were people dressed as Daoist priests offering fortune-telling.
Xiang Nanli was grabbed by an old blind man wearing sunglasses, who insisted that Xiang Nanli emanated a purple aura and possessed the physiognomy of an emperor. To hear the rest of the reading, he would have to pay 1,000 RMB.
Just as Xiang Nanli was about to scan the QR code to pay, the old blind man was dragged away by the tourism bureau staff. They said he had been scamming tourists for money there for years, telling everyone he caught that they had the physiognomy of an emperor.
As he was dragged away, the old blind man was still shouting, “It’s different this time! This one is real!”
…
Dongfang Qingdi drove the truck and replied expressionlessly: “It is merely a coincidence caused by crustal movement.”
Xiang Nanli narrowed his eyes slightly: “Xiao Qing, even Chen Sheng knew to pretend to be a fox and shout ‘Great Chu shall rise, Chen Sheng shall be king’ when he started his rebellion. Shouldn’t our base also do some ideological propaganda work?”
An hour later.
The cargo truck was parked on the side of a highway.
Much of the snow nearby had melted, and tender green weeds sprouted from the muddy earth.
Xiang Nanli opened the door, got out of the truck, and guiltily walked over to the side of the road.
According to the map, there was a human settlement nearby called “Rome City.” Unfortunately, it was also a slave society.
Rome City produced salt. Every month, they would send people carrying salt to the public market to buy food. This road was the unavoidable route for the merchant caravans.
Wearing his mask, Xiang Nanli guiltily held up Gospel.
Gospel’s dog leg switched to laser mode, carving a few lines of text into the tree trunk.
[Survivor Base, Liberators of Serfs!]
[Liberation Hotline: [QR Code]]
The QR code led to Dongfang Qingdi’s contact information.
Since he was the “Comrade War Criminal” Xiao Fu spoke of, he could evade the Observer’s surveillance.
Of course, he couldn’t rule out the possibility of someone scanning the QR code as a phishing attempt.
But Xiang Nanli didn’t think it mattered; any actions taken by the base would definitely undergo careful consideration first.
The truck drove for another period of time, passing the intersection to Radiance City.
[We have cheaper technology than the Human Alliance! Please contact us if needed: [QR Code]
— Survivor Base]
Xiang Nanli carved over a dozen slogans in hidden corners before returning to the truck.
It started raining in the middle of the night. This section of the highway was a dirt road worn down by tires, and the ground instantly turned into a muddy slurry.
Xiang Nanli curled up in the passenger seat, drowsy and half-asleep.
But after taking a turn, the truck suddenly slammed on the brakes.
Xiang Nanli’s forehead hit the glass with a loud thud. Gospel was practically thrown into the corner.
“What happened?”
“There’s an off-road vehicle parked sideways in the middle of the road.” The pupil rings in Dongfang Qingdi’s eyes lit up. He said, “I’ll go down and take a look.”
Xiang Nanli looked out the window. The off-road vehicle didn’t have its headlights on and was very quiet. With no light sources around, Xiang Nanli could only see a blurry silhouette.
In a no-man’s-land, running into people wasn’t exactly good news.
They were still a hundred kilometers away from the Eternal City, stranded in the middle of nowhere.
Encountering this situation while driving in the middle of the night usually meant highway robbery.
Hmm, being a bandit on the surface must be pretty lucrative, right? Wonder if they’d be willing to offer some financial support?
Dongfang Qingdi approached the off-road vehicle and politely knocked on the window.
But upon clearly seeing the sight inside, his brows furrowed deeply.
Half a minute later, Xiang Nanli heard Xiao Zhi’s voice: [Xiang Nanli, come over here. We have a situation.]
Xiang Nanli opened the door. The cold wind from outside poured in, making his protective suit flap noisily.
He walked over to Dongfang Qingdi’s side, raised his flashlight, and shone it into the car window.
A murky eyeball pressed against the edge of the window turned toward the light source. Numerous fine red threads extended from the eyeball, clinging to the window like a lush root system of a plant.
Xiang Nanli almost jumped: “Xiao Qing, why didn’t you give me a high-energy warning!”
There were three Fungus Humans inside the car.
It was clear that it was a married couple and their child.
The flesh and blood of their bodies had completely disappeared, leaving only grayish-white skeletons to serve as petri dishes for the fungus.
One person was in the driver’s seat, and the passenger in the next seat was holding the child.
Red mycelia wrapped around the skeletons, with clusters of yellow, rice-grain-sized nodules hanging from the surface.
Those were the spores produced by the Fungus Humans.
Upon detecting the light source, the dormant mycelia began to writhe frantically, slamming viciously against the window. Tiny cracks appeared on the inside of the sealed glass.
Xiang Nanli instantly turned off his flashlight, only remembering to breathe after a long while.
Beichen had submitted a research report on the Black Silk Spore Fungus, stating that this fungus possessed a distinct perception of living organisms, especially humans. As of now, it appeared intolerant to low temperatures.
Beichen also mentioned that the Black Silk Spore Fungus was constantly co-evolving. This meant the fungus would evolve alongside its surrounding environment. It could evolve new traits at any time due to changes in conditions. Furthermore, due to the short life cycle of the fungus, this evolutionary speed would be incredibly fast.
“When we left, Gusu City had already closed off external access. How did they get out?” Xiang Nanli murmured. “And if I remember correctly, the radio broadcast earlier also mentioned that other Human Alliance cities were refusing entry to citizens of Gusu City… Based on this direction, were they trying to go to Yinshan City?”
They had left Gusu City 45 days ago.
A metal card hung from the driver’s neck, printed with small text: Fungal Disease is a severe punishment from the Almighty God upon the underground humans who abandoned their companions.
Present this voucher to the Divine Court to receive ‘Holy Water’ and obtain purification.
A desperate patient will turn to any doctor they can find.
Everyone knew the Black Silk Spore Fungus was released by the Divine Court, but with the Human Alliance delaying the development of a serum vaccine, they had no other choice if they wanted to live.
They just never expected that the radiation on the surface would actually accelerate the growth of the mycelia, causing them to die halfway through their journey.
Xiang Nanli’s gaze turned somewhat vacant, clearly lost in thought: “A month and a half. The situation has developed rather severely.”
He unconsciously bit the tip of his tongue, the taste of rust surfacing in his mouth.
It was a mild form of self-harm, but the purpose was self-punishment.
Dongfang Qingdi saw through his thoughts almost instantly: “This matter has nothing to do with you. Under the current conditions, even if we went back 45 days, we couldn’t change anything, nor do we need to take responsibility for it.”
What Xiang Nanli was thinking was—If only I had warned Luo Xiu the day I left Gusu City.
Xiang Nanli gave a vague response: “…True.”
But his mood still seemed quite low.
Dongfang Qingdi poured gasoline over the car and set it on fire. The flames shot skyward, simultaneously burning the infected bodies inside to death.
Fortunately, the Fungus Humans hadn’t evolved to the point of being unkillable yet.
Although they exhibited aggression toward humans, their vitality wasn’t particularly tenacious.
Cold, high temperatures, and biochemical solvents could all dissolve them. It was just that the infectious spores in Gusu City had long since scattered everywhere with the wind.
Dongfang Qingdi checked Xiang Nanli to confirm that not a single spore was stuck to him.
Just in case, he still sprayed him down with disinfectant, and Xiao Fu, who hadn’t even gotten out of the truck, got a face full of it too.
The large cargo truck resumed its journey. After driving for over nine more hours and passing through the mountain forest, vast expanses of farmland appeared before their eyes.
Dongfang Qingdi cast a glance toward the forest, then withdrew his gaze a few seconds later.
They had arrived at the Eternal City.
…
…
A blood-red Mutant hung from a tree branch. Compared to its other companions, it wasn’t very large, at most three meters long. It looked like a juvenile.
This tree was very tall, and with the arrival of summer, its branches and leaves were lush. Very few people would notice that a pair of eyes was secretly observing from within the foliage.
This little Mutant let out a low screech. The ultrasonic sound wave, imperceptible to the human ear, could transmit messages very far.
Since a week ago, the number of foreign vehicles near the Eternal City had noticeably increased. Ezekiel had ordered that they report every time they saw one.
The little Mutant didn’t know the reason, but after reporting, Ezekiel would often lead them to ambush those vehicles.
They could always dig out some good things that smelled like mushrooms from inside the cars. Tasty and nutritious.
Once, they even dug out something that smelled like beef… It was covered entirely in a black carapace and was very hard, shocking the little Mutant’s tongue until it went numb. (It had no idea that what it had eaten was a Divine Court Knight).
Therefore, in its eyes, seeing a car meant an extra meal.
The little Mutant was already prepared to climb down the tree and eat. Oh, right, climbing trees and swimming were also skills trained by Ezekiel.
But this time, Ezekiel gave a different response.
Screech—
Let them go.
Screech? Screech?
Why?
By the recently thawed river, stood a tall silhouette.
Ezekiel stared expressionlessly at the ice shards floating past on the river’s surface.
His skin was very pale, but he had a head of red hair. In his pitch-black eyes, only the pupils in the very center carried a vivid blood-red color. His skin was covered in a layer of translucent scales, but the color was darker in certain crucial areas. Like his hands and feet. His abdomen, the sides of his face, and his tail.
The long, blood-red tail twitched. The tail was very thick and long enough to drag on the ground, so it was slightly curled upward.
The large tail swished back and forth. It was very powerful; smashing someone with it would be incredibly painful.
Ezekiel stuck out his long tongue, air slipping through the gaps in his teeth: “Screech.”
The people in the car, I know them.
