Two Worlds in the Apocalypse: Each journey through the modern world lasts 60 seconds.

Chapter 165 Human Settlements

The SUV continued forward, and Xu Mo no longer bothered to tune the radio. His hands gripped the steering wheel, his gaze fixed straight ahead as he focused intently on driving.

It was so hot. The scorching sun hung in the sky, like a giant fireball baking the earth. The roadside weeds had long since withered, their leaves curled up, their color changing from green to yellow, and then from yellow to dry, as if they had been roasted by fire.

Xu Mo glanced at the thermometer next to the dial; it read 38 degrees Celsius.

It was only a little past noon, and the real heat hadn't even arrived yet. The hottest time of day isn't at noon, but between 1 and 3 pm. During that period, the sun's angle is at its strongest, the ground absorbs the most heat, and the temperature can be two or three degrees higher than at noon.

Xu Mo estimated that the temperature would reach forty degrees Celsius by then. He reached out and rolled down the car window a crack to let in the outside wind. The wind was hot and carried a dry, earthy smell.

The road was quiet, no zombies, no mutated beasts, nothing at all. Those who are afraid of the heat are probably hiding in the shade, waiting for the sun to set.

Xu Mo recalled the scene by the river last night: hundreds of zombies rushed into the river to drink water frantically, then were attacked by mutated fish, followed by mutual tearing and biting, leaving the ground covered in dead and wounded. Those zombies had probably reached a certain limit, which was why they rushed towards the water so recklessly.

High temperatures seem to be more damaging to zombies than extreme cold.

The extreme cold may slow down zombies and make them reluctant to go out, but high temperatures can dry them out.

As Xu Mo was thinking, two figures appeared on the roadside ahead. He narrowed his eyes and slowed down to approach.

There were two zombies. One of them was lying on the ground, motionless and obviously dead. The other was lying on top of it, its head buried in something, eating something.

Xu Mo held the steering wheel with one hand and drew his TT33 pistol from his waist with the other, pointing the muzzle at the zombie lying on its side.

"Bang!"

Gunshots rang out on the empty highway, the head of the zombie-feeding creature exploded, and its body tumbled off its companion, kicking up a small cloud of dust.

Xu Mo parked the car on the side of the road and got out to check.

The heat wave hit us like an invisible wall.

Xu Mo strode over to the two zombies and looked down at them. The zombie he had killed was lying on the ground with half its head blown off, and dark brown liquid was flowing from the wound, but very little; it wasn't that there was no liquid, but rather that it was too dry.

The other zombie, which was already dead, was in an even worse state. Its skin was completely dry and cracked, like sun-dried earth, covered with crisscrossing cracks. Some of the cracks were quite deep, and the shriveled muscle tissue inside could be vaguely seen.

Xu Mo used a stick to examine the two zombies. They were clearly dehydrated for too long. Their skin was cracked, their muscles were atrophied, and they could barely bleed. They must have been wandering in this desolate wilderness for a long time, unable to find water, and had been baked to this state.

"It's so hot," Xu Mo muttered to himself, "why don't you drink more water before coming out?"

These zombies act purely on instinct, devoid of reason. When thirsty, they search for water; if they can't find any, they endure until they collapse. The one that collapses is then eaten by its companions. Eating its flesh might allow it to survive a few more days, but ultimately, it too will be dried out by the sun.

Xu Mo turned around, got back into the car, started the engine, and continued forward.

The two zombie corpses disappeared in the rearview mirror, but a question popped into Xu Mo's mind: How could there be two lone zombies in this desolate wilderness?

Logically, zombies should congregate in towns or roam along highways. He had driven dozens of kilometers in this area and seen almost no buildings. Where did these two zombies come from?

Xu Mo thought for a while, but having no answer, he gave up.

It was a little after 2 p.m., when the sun was at its strongest. Xu Mo was driving when he suddenly noticed something unusual in the distant sky.

Those were a flock of birds.

They circled overhead in an open area, sometimes swooping down, sometimes soaring up, a chaotic mess. Some birds carried something in their beaks, flapping their wings vigorously to fly higher, but as soon as they took off, other birds swarmed around them to snatch it.

Xu Mo narrowed his eyes and slowed down as he approached.

As they drew closer, the birds became clearer. They were all common scavenging birds—crows,

Vultures, and some others whose names I don't know.

These birds are not large in size, have not mutated, but there are many of them, estimated to be hundreds.

They hovered in the air, fought, and hissed and cried out in sharp, piercing voices, like a bunch of madmen having a party.

Xu Mo's gaze shifted from the sky to the ground, where there was a pile of things, a flat, black heap that took up quite a bit of space.

Xu Mo couldn't see what it was at first, but as the car got closer, the smell wafted over first—a putrid stench, so strong it was nauseating.

Xu Mo subconsciously held his breath, but quickly relaxed it.

As the car pulled up beside the pile of things, Xu Mo slammed on the brakes. He could finally see clearly that it was a pile of corpses—zombie corpses.

The flock of carrion birds was startled by the sudden appearance of the off-road vehicle. With a whoosh, a large swarm took flight, creating a rather spectacular scene—hundreds of birds took flight at the same time, blocking out a section of the sky, and then scattered to circle at higher altitudes.

Xu Mo ignored them and focused his gaze on the pile of corpses.

The zombie corpses were piled up like a small mountain, numbering at least a hundred. Most were ordinary zombies, with only a few scattered level-one mutants occasionally visible.

They were just piled up here haphazardly, without being burned or buried, left out in the open. No wonder they attracted so many carrion birds.

He walked around the pile of corpses, and Xu Mo's eyes narrowed.

The zombies' wounds were obvious; some had been shot in the head, others had their heads mangled beyond recognition, and some had even lost their heads entirely.

"This was done by human intervention!"

Almost instantly, Xu Mo confirmed this fact: if it was man-made, then there must be survivors nearby.

Moreover, these survivors weren't just a few individuals, but a group. They were capable of clearing out hundreds of zombies, including level-one mutants; this group was quite powerful. Judging from the state of decay of the corpses, these zombies hadn't been killed for long, at most two or three days.

So here's the question—where are these people?

Xu Mo looked up into the distance. All around him was an endless wilderness, with a few withered trees and clumps of bushes. But at the edge of his vision, he could vaguely see some blurry outlines—something that looked like buildings or hills—but he couldn't make out anything too far away.

Xu Mo withdrew his gaze and looked at the pile of corpses again. Why didn't these people burn the bodies?

Burning requires fuel, which is a precious resource in the apocalypse. However, leaving zombie corpses unattended can also pose a threat, such as these scavenging birds.

What if these birds mutate after eating zombie corpses?

Xu Mo frowned slightly as he looked at the flock of birds circling in the sky.

These birds are normal now, but who can guarantee they'll stay normal? How do mutated creatures come about? Isn't it through eating, infection, and evolution, step by step? If someone piles up zombie corpses here for the birds to eat every day, it won't be long before a flock of mutated birds appears in this sky. Then, those people will be the first to suffer.

Xu Mo shook his head.

He could think of this, but couldn't those people? Perhaps they really couldn't!

In the apocalypse, people live one day at a time, not the other way around. They might think about it, but they can't afford to. With the weather so hot, who would want to bother dealing with hundreds of rotting corpses?

Xu Mo stopped thinking about it and turned to get into the car, but he stopped after taking two steps. He remembered the two lone zombies he had seen earlier.

Where did those two zombies come from? Could they have crawled out from this pile of corpses? Maybe they weren't quite dead yet, just injured and collapsed, then woke up and staggered away. After walking a while, one couldn't hold on any longer and collapsed, and the other started eating its companion...

Xu Mo glanced back at the pile of corpses and thought it was very likely.

Seeing that Xu Mo only circled the pile of corpses and showed no intention of chasing them away, the birds in the sky grew bolder. A few landed and tentatively continued pecking at the bodies.

Once the birds saw that Xu Mo hadn't moved, they became even more audacious, burying their heads in the food. Soon, even more birds landed, and the pile of corpses was covered with a dense, dark mass.

Looking at the flock of birds that seemed oblivious to their surroundings, Xu Mo shook his head and turned back to his car.

Back in the car, a question lingered in Xu Mo's mind: Since there were survivor settlements or shelters nearby, should he go and take a look?

Logically, Xu Mo felt he should go and check it out. He had received almost no news about Pearl Harbor along the way. The mission of Project Dandelion was to establish contact with Pearl Harbor, but obtaining information from other survivors beforehand would be very helpful for the rest of the journey.

Moreover, a gathering place capable of clearing out hundreds of zombies must be quite large. Perhaps they have a radio, perhaps they maintain contact with other shelters, perhaps they know about the situation in Pearl Harbor.

But Xu Mo tapped lightly on the steering wheel.

He was alone, venturing into an unfamiliar settlement, which posed a considerable risk.

Survivors in the apocalypse usually have two attitudes toward outsiders: one is to warmly welcome them, believing that more people mean more strength;

One type is wary and resistant, fearing that you're here to steal resources.

Of course, there's also a third type: those who outwardly welcome you warmly but secretly plot against you.

To go or not to go?

Xu Mo remained silent for a while before finally making a decision.

"Never mind," he muttered to himself, "I'll just follow the road. If I come across a settlement, I'll go check it out."

Let it go.

If the gathering place is on his route and he can see it easily, then he'll go check it out. If it's not there, or if he has to take a long detour, then he'll forget about it. Xu Mo decided neither to actively look for it nor to deliberately avoid it.

Xu Mo glanced one last time at the birds still feeding on the carrion, then stepped on the gas and drove away from the pile of corpses.

The SUV drove further and further away, and the pile of corpses and the flock of birds eventually disappeared from sight.

Around 3 p.m., the sun began to set in the west.

The hottest part of the day had passed, but the temperature was still quite high. Xu Mo glanced at the thermometer—39 degrees Celsius, down one degree from before. At this rate, it would drop to around 35 degrees Celsius by evening.

He continued driving, his gaze occasionally sweeping over the roadside.

This area was more desolate than Xu Mo had imagined. The road was flanked by endless wilderness with only a few withered trees and clumps of shrubs occasionally visible.

After driving for about an hour, Xu Mo noticed some blurry outlines appearing in the distance—the outlines of buildings. There were bungalows and multi-story buildings, densely packed together; it was a town, but it didn't seem to be marked on his map.

Xu Mo squinted, slowed down, and opened the map. He found that the town was indeed not marked on the map. He didn't know if there was a problem with the markings on the map or if the town was newly built.

However, since we are on our own path forward, it is only natural to go and take a look.

As the SUV continued to approach, Xu Mo saw a sign erected by the roadside when they were about two kilometers away from the town.

The sign was made of wood, over a meter tall, and secured to the ground by two wooden stakes. Several lines of text were written on the wooden board, painted in red paint; although somewhat faded, they were still legible:

Survivors are welcome to join us at the gathering point in Linhe Town, two kilometers ahead!

Please abide by the rules of the gathering place; violators will bear the consequences. Xu Mo looked at the sign and breathed a long sigh of relief. The fact that this sign was erected outside the town at least indicated that the Linhe Town gathering place had a certain degree of order.

Xu Mo stopped the car and stared at the sign for a while.

The frame is new, but the sign is made of wood. It looks like it's been used for quite a while, but it's still very sturdy. There are traces of tracing on the red paint, which means that this gathering place is maintained and the sign has been up for quite some time.

After confirming that the settlement had been established for some time, Xu Mo got into the car and continued on his way.

The two-kilometer distance was covered in the blink of an eye.

As the SUV approached the town, Xu Mo's gaze swept across the area ahead. A simple wall surrounded Linhe Town, constructed from planks, sheet metal, and sandbags, stood about three meters high. It didn't look particularly sturdy, but it could at least withstand the impact of ordinary zombies. Every so often, there was a lookout hole in the wall, through which one could vaguely see people moving about.

At the entrance to the town stands a wooden watchtower, about five meters high, with a person standing on it.

The man was holding a worn-out pair of binoculars and peering in Xu Mo's direction. Seeing the SUV approach, he paused for a moment, then suddenly waved his hands frantically, as if trying to shoo the man away.

Xu Mo slowed down, rolled down the window, and tried to hear what he was shouting.

As the car drew closer, the man's shouts finally reached them: "Don't come any closer! Move to the left! Hide to the left! There are zombies on the right! They could come at any moment! I can't open the door for you!"

Xu Mo stepped on the brake, his brows furrowing slightly, a question mark slowly appearing in his mind.

More zombies?

Upon hearing this, Xu Mo couldn't help but mutter to himself, "Why are there zombies wherever I go? It's like this in Luochuan City, it's like this by the river, and now it's the same in Linhe Town."

Seeing that Xu Mo didn't turn around, the people on the watchtower assumed he hadn't heard them and shouted even more urgently, "Hurry up! There are a couple hundred of them! And some are level one! Don't just stand there!"

Xu Mo sat in the driver's seat, his gaze passing over the watchtower and looking towards the right side of the town. He could faintly hear the howls of zombies from that direction, intermittent and clearly numerous.

One or two hundred, plus level one mutated zombies. For ordinary survivors, this would indeed be a huge problem, but for Xu Mo...

Xu Mo stepped on the gas and turned the steering wheel.

It's not to the left, it's to the right.

The people on the watchtower were stunned.

He stood there, mouth agape, still in the position of shouting, watching helplessly as the SUV drove off to the right. Several seconds passed before he realized what he'd said and frantically waved his hands, yelling, "Wrong! Wrong! I said there are zombies on your right!!"

But Xu Mo had already driven far away. The man was so anxious that he stomped his feet and shouted a few more times, but the SUV didn't turn around at all. He could only watch helplessly as the car disappeared around the corner of the town, and finally, in frustration, he pounded his thigh hard.

Linhe Town is not big. Xu Mo drove for two or three minutes and had already circled around to the outer right side of the town.

The roars of the zombies grew clearer and more frequent. Xu Mo slowed down and scanned the area ahead, where he saw the horde of zombies.

There were about a hundred of them, densely packed outside the town's walls. Some were ramming against the walls, some were clinging to the walls trying to climb up, and some were just howling aimlessly.

The town's walls have clearly been reinforced, but several sections have been damaged and could collapse at any moment.

Behind the horde of zombies, several level-one mutated zombies were roaming around.

Xu Mo narrowed his eyes and quickly scanned the battlefield. There were two agility-type monsters, three strength-type monsters, and one venom-type monster—that's the one spraying venom, corroding the wall until it hissed and smoked.

Picking up the triangular bayonet from the passenger seat and slinging the AK47 behind his back, Xu Mo closed the car door and strode forward.

Because he hadn't concealed his presence, the first few zombies on the outermost edge of the vehicle clearly sensed his aura as soon as he got out of the car. They turned around, their murky eyes staring at him, letting out low growls, and then charged at him.

Xu Mo jumped a few times on the spot, then stretched his arms, and then rushed towards the direction from which the zombies were attacking.

As he charged forward, the triangular dagger in Xu Mo's hand rose slightly; he was ready to fight at any moment.

As the first zombie rushed towards him, Xu Mo sidestepped, his triangular dagger piercing through its eye socket and out the back of its head. The whole process was so fast that it was impossible to see clearly. The zombie didn't even have time to make a second move before it became a corpse.

Xu Mo drew his sword and continued forward.

The second one, the third one, the fourth one...

Xu Mo didn't stop, swinging his triangular dagger left and right, and all the zombies that rushed towards him fell down. These ordinary zombies were like paper in front of him.

After dealing with the zombies that lunged at him, Xu Mo channeled all his energy and charged towards the horde. The triangular dagger in his hand transformed into streaks of lightning, each thrust piercing a head. His pace hardly faltered; the zombies couldn't even slow him down.

Black blood splattered, corpses lay strewn about, and Xu Mo's figure weaved through the horde of corpses, like a shadow of death reaping lives.

In just a few breaths, Xu Mo had cut through the first wave of zombies.

But Xu Mo didn't stop; he turned around and charged back.

The battle raged on the inner side of the wall surrounding Linhe Town.

Dozens of able-bodied young men stood guard behind the wall, armed with various weapons—rifles, hunting rifles, machetes, and homemade spears. They fired through observation holes and from the top of the wall, desperately trying to stop the zombies attempting to scale it.

But there were too many zombies, and those level one mutated zombies were too troublesome. The agile ones were as fast as ghosts, appearing every time...

People will get hurt. The strength type is incredibly powerful; each impact makes the wall tremble. The venom type is even more vicious; its venom can corrode large holes in wooden planks, and several sections of the wall are already on the verge of collapse.

The leader was a middle-aged man, around forty years old, with a square face, thick eyebrows, and a face covered in sweat. He was holding a Type 81 rifle and firing at a powerful zombie outside the wall. The bullets hit the zombie, splattering black blood, but the thing didn't fall; instead, it rammed around even more violently.

"Hold on! Hold on, all of you!" he roared.

A man ran over, his face pale: "Brother Zhou! Another brother is injured! He was bitten!"

Zhou Jianguo's expression turned even uglier.

"Send him down! Quarantined!"

"He's already been quarantined, but," the man paused, "he just turned into a zombie, so we..."

"

Zhou Jianguo's eye twitched slightly. He didn't turn around, but simply nodded, his voice hoarse: "Understood."

Another person approached, a tall, thin young man with a worried expression: "Brother Zhou, should we retreat? Let's use the terrain to our advantage and fight a guerrilla war against them! If we keep holding out like this, the casualties will be too high!"

"Withdraw?" Zhou Jianguo glared at him. "Withdraw where? There are elderly, women, and children inside. What will happen to them if we withdraw? Will the zombies go in and devour them?"

The young man was speechless.

Another gruff voice rang out, belonging to a burly man in his thirties with a scar on his face, holding a large machete: "Brother Zhou, I'm taking the brothers down there! We'll fight them head-on! Losing one is no loss, losing two is a bonus! We can't let these things break into our homes again!"

Zhou Jianguo glanced at him but didn't say anything.

Going down would be suicide, but if we don't go down, the wall will eventually break down.

He gritted his teeth, about to say, "Look!"

Suddenly someone nearby exclaimed.

Zhou Jianguo was taken aback. He looked in the direction the man was pointing, and then he froze.

At the edge of the distant horde of zombies, a new figure appeared out of nowhere. The person was dressed in a black combat uniform, with an AK47 slung across their back and a weapon in their hand that was obscured from view. With each swing of the weapon, a zombie fell.

He charged straight into the horde of zombies, alone, wielding some unknown weapon, facing hundreds of zombies.

Then Zhou Jianguo saw a scene he had never seen before in his life: the man weaving through the horde of corpses at an astonishing speed.

The zombies pounced on him frantically, but he always managed to dodge at the last moment, thrusting his weapon forward. With each strike, a zombie fell to the ground. Ordinary zombies, level one mutated zombies, agile types, and strength types—they were all the same to him.

A nimble zombie pounced from the side, moving as fast as a shadow. The man didn't even turn his head; he simply turned slightly to the side, thrusting his weapon backhand. The nimble zombie's head exploded, and its headless body flew several meters before collapsing.

A powerful zombie charged straight at him, its massive body like a wall of flesh. Instead of retreating, the man advanced, and before the zombie's fist could land, his weapon was already piercing its jaw. The blade emerged from the back of its head, the zombie swayed, and collapsed to the ground with a thud.

The Venom-type creature that had caused them the most trouble opened its mouth as if to spit, but the man flung something out—was it a pebble? Or a bullet? Then the Venom-type's head exploded, splattering venom all over itself, before it slowly collapsed.

In just a few breaths—literally just a few breaths—the man had fought his way from one end of the horde to the other, leaving a trail of corpses in his wake. Black blood flowed like streams, severed limbs were scattered everywhere, and the zombies that had been frantically charging the walls were now lifeless, rotting flesh.

But the man didn't stop. After he had killed his way through, he turned around and went back to kill again.

Zhou Jianguo stared wide-eyed, his mouth agape. The people around him were also stunned, frozen in place, forgetting even to fire their guns.

Until someone stammered, "Is this...is this even human?"

Zhou Jianguo snapped out of his daze and roared, "What are you standing there for! Quickly eliminate the remaining zombies! Remember, don't accidentally hurt that person!"

As if waking from a dream, everyone raised their weapons and fired at the zombies that were still barely clinging to life.

With the help of high-level combatants, the remaining zombies were quickly wiped out. None of the wounded, the lone ones, or those who tried to escape escaped. A few minutes later, only corpses remained outside the wall; not a single zombie was left standing.

After the battle, Zhou Jianguo stood on the wall, looking at the man opposite him.

The man stood in the center of the horde of zombies, surrounded by mountains of corpses. The weapon in his hand was now clearly visible: a three-edged spike, which was dripping water.

He looked up, glanced at the wall, nodded to Zhou Jianguo, and said, "Could you please open the gate for me later? I'm going back to get my car."

Zhou Jianguo paused for a moment, then nodded repeatedly: "Open! Open the door quickly!"