Apocalyptic Island - Chapter 72

Chapter 72

The two of them shuddered as they listened to her.

“This is really not okay. Rhine has truly become a piece of work.”

The more they used to love Rhine, the more they loathed it now. The two could only blame themselves for being blind in the past; they held their mugs, filled with righteous indignation and stifled frustration.

Seeing their spirits sink, Wen Yishu spoke up to comfort them: “It’s alright. If these things hadn’t happened, who could have seen that such a ‘grand and upright’ place was actually so dark inside?”

“The priority now is how to get Yu Ning out of there.” Bai Mi projected a regional map of the factory onto the screen in front of them. The existing area maps had all been deleted; Bai Mi had only managed to find this by scraping old city planning data.

As a direct contact with the Mermen, Yu Ning was certainly under heavy surveillance. Relying on Wen Yishu alone, it felt like rescuing her wouldn’t be as easy as before.

Wen Yishu fell into deep thought. It would be great if Yu Ning could send some news about the situation inside. It was far better than rushing in blind without knowing anything. After a period of recuperation, they planned to get some sleep first before brainstorming a way to save her.

The sounds of rioting in the distance continued outside the window. Wen Yishu lay in bed, breathing in the cold air. Half a month had passed, and it was now the middle of the year—the hottest time in Binhai City. Yet, she was covered in blankets and wrapped in a rug, still feeling freezing. She prayed the temperature wouldn’t drop any further; otherwise, she’d freeze to death before a Xenogenic even attacked.

No one in the apartment slept very well, but it was still much better than the days spent in constant fear. Waking up early, they gathered downstairs for breakfast. When there’s no work to do, everything feels energetic—especially when planning something “bad.” Huo Xiaoguan and Ling Shuang were particularly fired up.

Wen Yishu downed a glass of warm water and poured out some reagent for the String-of-Pearls as its breakfast. Since devouring the Merman’s scale, it hadn’t complained of hunger once. It was as if it had eaten a massive buffet that could sustain its needs for several days.

The weather outside was grey and gloomy. A thin drizzle fell from the sky, and visibility was poor. The group sat on the sofa without a clear lead. Wen Yishu planned to head back to yesterday’s location to scout. She wanted to see the internal situation from a high vantage point. She put on her protective gloves and donned her bulletproof vest, but just as she was about to set off, Bai Mi grabbed her wrist.

Wen Yishu turned to see her looking down at the computer. “What is it? I’m just going to take a look; I won’t go inside,” she explained, puzzled.

Bai Mi lifted the laptop with one hand, the veins on the back of her hand bulging beautifully from the controlled strength. Wen Yishu stared at her pale pink fingertips for a moment before shifting her gaze to the screen. It was a message from Yu Ning.

Yu Ning’s avatar had finally lit up: Yishu, I am conducting experiments in the quarantine zone. No danger for now. This place is full of Mermen, so don’t come in yet. I can take care of myself.

Attached were several photos taken from outside. The Mermen had been re-sealed into capsule oxygen chambers, their limbs sprawling freely. This solution seemed to leave the Mermen nowhere to hide; they reverted to their original forms during testing, so it was relatively safe.

After checking carefully, Wen Yishu breathed a sigh of relief. She had told the others about the Merman’s characteristics and scales yesterday, and now she wondered if she should warn Yu Ning. Since Yu Ning could send messages, she was likely still safe; otherwise, Rhine would have discovered this hideout long ago. After some thought, she decided to tell her. Wen Yishu didn’t object to Yu Ning wanting to stay at Rhine; it didn’t change the fact that they were still friends.

After this interaction, Yu Ning’s messages went silent again. The group guessed she likely saw them but found it inconvenient to reply. Knowing she was safe was enough for now.

The city was no longer safe. They needed to move to a new base.

While they were extensively surveying suitable areas in Binhai City, Huang Fei instinctively opened the Real-Time Feed. That feeling of panic still hadn’t subsided. Since the others hadn’t asked her to help select a site, she chose to monitor online trends instead.

Over the course of the night, the heat of the online discussions had cooled. However, suppressed by the order outside, many people no longer dared to speak. The usual flood of information had dwindled to a few scattered posts. Huang Fei jumped out of the local feed to look at the overall message growth for Binhai City. The home page refreshed slowly, one post at a time—many had no actual content, just meaningless wails of despair.

She felt Binhai City was finished. She had always thought the Federation could hold out for a long time; it was all an illusion.

Wen Yishu’s finger was hovering over the holographic map, marking possible entry points for the quarantine zone. She was biting the wrapper of an energy bar, mumbling something.

Suddenly, a massive “BOOM” shook the air!

the glass windows of the entire apartment vibrated violently. From the distance came the ear-piercing screech of twisting metal. Everyone instantly entered combat mode. Wen Yishu’s short blade snapped out, and the crisp sound of Bai Mi’s pulse pistol being chambered echoed in the suddenly deathly quiet room.

“Opposite block,” Wen Yishu whispered, signaling the others to stay quiet. She stepped cautiously toward the window and parted a sliver of the smart curtains with her fingertip.

A matte black Ghost-7 supercar was wedged diagonally into the rolling shutter of a hardware store. The front end was completely deformed, the bulletproof glass shattered into a spiderweb pattern, and there were skid marks from a sudden brake on the road. The driver’s side airbag had deployed, splattered with dark red blood.

But what truly made their pupils contract was a Sky Hunter perched on the dented roof of the car. Its leathery wings were half-spread, its talons dug deep into the steel roof. On that twisted human face, the corners of the mouth split all the way to the ears, revealing serrated fangs. Right now, it was using its claws to tear through the airbag, dragging a comatose man out.

The man died instantly; white brain matter mixed with blood flowed out. Two Rat-men scurried out from the street corner, circling the corpse and scratching the ground anxiously, hungering for food. The Sky Hunter extended its long, slender tongue for a lick, then immediately dropped the corpse. It seemed dissatisfied with the freshness of the body and wiped its tongue with its hand.

The corpse was tossed casually to the ground. The two Rat-men below lunged instantly and began to feast. The scene was extremely bloody and cruel. Wen Yishu could even see the steam rising from the man’s disemboweled torso.

Wen Yishu felt acid rising in her throat, a wave of nausea hitting her. Seeing that the others didn’t look well either, she prepared to drop the curtain and block the view.

Suddenly, the Sky Hunter standing on the street looked up. Its blood-red compound eyes stared directly at the window where Wen Yishu was.

Wen Yishu quickly let go of the curtain. Beside her, Ling Shuang couldn’t help but gasp: “It couldn’t possibly know we’re in here, right?” The apartment glass was one-way; from the outside during the day, one shouldn’t be able to see in.

Before anyone could answer, Ling Shuang had her answer.

The Sky Hunter struck first. It snapped its fleshy wings open and slammed into the apartment window like a cannonball! The reinforced glass shattered into spiderweb cracks upon impact. Wen Yishu rolled to the side the moment the shards flew; the spot where she had been standing was instantly peppered with glass fragments.

Her eyes turned sharp in an instant. She snatched the flamethrower from Bai Mi’s hand, dialed it to maximum power without hesitation, and carbonized the creature in a single burst. The smell of charred rot filled the air, and everyone covered their noses.

She was genuinely furious. The apartment’s defenses had been perfectly intact until now, and now a window had been smashed, significantly compromising their overall safety.

The scent of living humans spread through the air. From downstairs came the sound of scurrying and scratching—at least a dozen Rat-men hiding nearby were climbing up the external pipes! The sound of their claws scraping metal was enough to set one’s teeth on edge. A few were already clinging to the windowsills, their grey-black noses twitching as they sniffed for the scent of humans.

“To hell with you!” Huo Xiaoguan kicked the remains of the Sky Hunter down. The Rat-men climbing up scrambled over each other to bite at the falling carcass, completely ignoring the people above.

Taking advantage of the distraction, the group quickly gathered their belongings and moved down to the first floor. As they rushed down the stairs, the entire street had reached a boiling point. More Xenogenics were being drawn in by the smell of blood, congregating in a small circle on the street.

They rapidly packed their luggage into the motorhome. This place was no longer safe. Once everyone was inside, Huang Fei drove off, ramming through several Xenogenics on the street, finally distancing them from the apartment under siege.

Huo Xiaoguan and Ling Shuang watched the apartment fade into the distance, feeling a sense of loss. They had barely stayed there before they were on the run again.

Huang Fei glanced through the rearview mirror and asked Wen Yishu, “Where to next?”

Wen Yishu looked at the map, temporarily without a plan. Perhaps this was the best time to break away from Warp Speed—it was the Xenogenics who attacked first, after all; she could easily disappear after escaping.

Wen Yishu replied: “Go to the warehouse where you stayed before. We’ll figure out exactly where to go once we get there. There’s going to be a massive riot in the city soon. The goal might be outside the city; we’ll need to follow the tide to get out.”

The Merman situation was temporarily under control, but the city’s residents wouldn’t believe it. Once public trust is gone, people only believe their own eyes.

Huang Fei’s driving skills had improved, though she tossed everyone inside into a bout of motion sickness. Navigating past various obstacles, she reached the warehouse’s location. This was an old neighborhood with some un-cleared greenery nearby. The streets were dilapidated, and it was a struggle to get the motorhome in without scraping the walls on both sides. No wonder the rent was so cheap.

Huang Fei turned through a few alleys and finally stopped at the back door of a cooperative. As the electric rolling door rose, she expertly backed the vehicle in.

Wen Yishu was slumped by the door when a pair of strong arms picked her up and placed her into the swivel passenger seat. She opened her eyes weakly to find Bai Mi wiping her face with a wet wipe. The other two were lying in a tangled heap, exhausted. The cool wipe touched the tip of her nose, making everything feel like a dream.

She caught Bai Mi’s hand: “Leader?”

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