RIACMET chapter 240

 

Once they reached the rooftop, Gao Xuyang lifted his head, closed his eyes, and carefully sensed his surroundings.

Everything around them was shrouded in darkness. Unlike Jiang Nian, Yang Kai wasn’t innately sensitive enough to sense the strange fluctuations coming from Gao Xuyang. All he could do was wait quietly by his side.

As he looked down at the dimly lit base below from the rooftop, a flood of thoughts passed through his mind.

He wondered how long this darkness would last. Without sunlight, people would eventually fall ill.

Although things on the surface had calmed down since the polar night began, people were growing increasingly restless.

“…”

About half an hour later, Gao Xuyang let out a long sigh, stopped, and turned to Yang Kai.

“The zombies are spreading information about where humans are gathering. All across the country, they’re gathering in large numbers in the darkness. Among them are high-level zombie commanders… ones like me.”

“I can’t sense any specifics, but I’m certain this is a real zombie tide. Not hundreds or thousands, but tens of thousands.”

It was still a fair distance from South City Base. Normally, he wouldn’t be concerned, but the sheer number of signals sharing the same frequency and type had raised red flags.

Hearing this, Yang Kai looked around helplessly.

“If the tide hits before the polar night ends, can we survive it?”

With most shelters now sealed off and waiting for the polar night to pass, the zombie horde was slowly creeping in under the cover of darkness. Whether they were defending, attacking, or retreating, it was a nightmare scenario for humans.

“This is the inevitable result of the way things are progressing. Almost all humans have gone into shelters now. Even without commands from high-level zombies, they’ll be naturally drawn to human settlements by instinct. It’s just how it is during the polar night,”

Gao Xuyang spoke calmly. Since fewer humans were wandering around alone, zombies could no longer feed freely. Naturally, they sought out the “human nests.”

Yang Kai let out a frustrated sigh.

“Yeah, let’s head back first.”

Earlier, after Zhou Rongbin’s supernatural powers advanced, the mirage he captured hinted at an impending zombie invasion. The authorities had already warned all bases to be on alert.

But all of this was happening too fast. Generation after generation barely had time to catch their breath. If this kept up, humanity might really go extinct.

Many in the lower classes of society couldn’t bear the mental strain and ultimately chose to end their own lives.

Back home, Gao Xuyang looked at Yang Kai seriously and said,

“Report to the command center tomorrow. Use the satellite broadcast to remind everyone to prepare. Even though not every base is strong enough, an early warning can buy time for evacuation.”

There were some things they simply couldn’t stop. It was impossible to save everyone, but they could at least try.

“Got it.”

Yang Kai nodded, thought for a moment, and then asked anxiously,

“Teacher Gao, there are so many people in South City Base. Since you can sense it, are you sure the zombie tide won’t come here?”

Gao Xuyang answered firmly.

“No, ever since I entered South City Base, I’ve been broadcasting to my kind that this is my territory every time I go on patrol. If I don’t allow it, they won’t invade.”

“Even zombie kings of equal rank wouldn’t fight over territory with their own kind—not until humanity is wiped out. At this stage, as long as I’m here, we only need to focus on helping others.”

With that said, there was no need for a public warning outside the defensive walls. Still, it was normal for the base to remain cautious and keep things under wraps.

“That’s good.”

Finally, Yang Kai felt reassured. As long as his people were safe, he would have more energy to help others.

——

It was almost six o’clock. Normally, that would be when dawn broke.

The two of them changed clothes, showered, and ate. Then, they went straight to the command center to report the abnormality they had discovered.

Minister Wang immediately summoned Cheng Jing and the others to discuss the situation. Then, he contacted the people in charge of the other three major city bases.

Large-scale zombie hordes couldn’t be handled with ordinary military weapons or superpowered individuals. High-damage heavy weaponry would be required.

However, only military-led bases controlled those powerful weapons, and their deployment required high-level discussions and decision-making.

To protect Gao Xuyang’s identity, South City Base released a public report about the upcoming zombie tide under the name of a “brain evolution ability professor,” which made the news more credible.

All bases were reminded to monitor their surroundings and report zombie activity immediately. At the same time, shelter residents were told to be prepared to evacuate at any moment.

If the situation spiraled out of control, the authorities would implement a total lockdown and neutralization policy, following the standard but brutal practice of “sacrificing the few to protect the many.”

They hoped that survivors would flee to larger bases during the evacuation.

As the news spread, fear began to seep through the darkness.

Some fled from mid-tier bases in the middle of the night. Some pleaded with the authorities for assistance. Others gave up completely, indifferent to life or death.

Jiang Nian had no experience with zombie tides in his past life. All he knew was that many small and midsized bases and shelters couldn’t withstand them—and that, when they came, you just waited to die.

However, according to Cheng Jing’s memories, the timing of the zombie outbreak in his past life did not align with the current timeline. There were no advance warning signs, either. Suddenly, a large zombie cluster appeared and drew attention.

Even so, the authorities responded by deploying low-grade ash-to-gray bombs in some severely affected areas—this was the only reference point.

After all, the events and fates of the people in their past lives had already played out. The current situation was a butterfly effect, a variable.

That’s why Jiang Nian was so unsettled by the prolonged polar night.

At first, his teammates thought Brother Nian was just getting irritable. But after a while, they began to sense that something was off about his mood.

Cheng Jing wasn’t clueless. Ever since the polar night began, he had been paying close attention to Jiang Nian’s condition. He noticed something was wrong the moment his lover began to change.

However, Jiang Nian refused to admit it and kept laughing it off—until one night when he was caught secretly taking his medication.

 

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Acargoreng: Sometimes I wonder how Jiang Nian managed to stay sane after going through his first life—turns out he was just pretending to be okay. T_T