SWDnovel Chapter 87 Forward Base No. 6
Chapter 87 Forward Base No. 6
Chapter 87 Forward Base No. 6 (Seeking first subscriptions)
The cold rain continued to fall, washing away the bloodstains on the muddy ground, but it could not wash away the fresh smell of blood and slaughter that permeated the air.
Xu Mo stood with his gun, guarding like a statue for nearly twenty minutes, until he was sure that there were no other unusual sounds except for the sound of wind and rain and his own heartbeat. The feeling of being watched, which was like a thorn in his back, completely disappeared. Only then did Xu Mo slowly exhale the breath that had been stuck in his chest, and his highly tense muscles relaxed a little.
He first approached the two headless corpses lying at the edge of the depression, squatted down, ignoring the grotesque severed necks and frozen expressions of fear, and began to quickly and professionally examine them.
The man and woman were dressed in a mixture of civilian outdoor clothing and some homemade leather armor, their clothes now soaked and covered in mud. Besides their thick-backed machete and pair of short swords, and an empty pouch at the woman's waist, they possessed nothing else. They had no identification, no food, and not even any spare weapons.
Then, Xu Mo approached the location of the sniper he had shot in the head. The gunman was lying prone in a muddy area about 180 meters from the depression, with a rifle equipped with an optical scope under him.
Xu Mo identified it as a serviced but not the latest model civilian hunting rifle; its accuracy was acceptable, and its power was sufficient to deal with an unprotected target. Aside from the rifle and two spare magazines strapped to his tactical vest, he carried nothing else.
The bag contained only half a pack of damp cigarettes and a cheap plastic lighter.
"Poor bastards—" Xu Mo muttered to himself, his brows furrowing slightly. The three men's equipment was surprisingly rudimentary, making them seem nothing like professional bandits or raiders with a fixed base. They were more like desperate outlaws who had risked everything to gamble their lives.
"They must have come by car." After looting the three men's belongings and gathering the hunting rifle, machete, dagger, and remaining ammunition together, Xu Mo had his answer. It was hard to imagine them traveling so far from their base to ambush them on foot, especially since they didn't even have basic camping gear or extra rations. Clearly, they planned a quick victory, finishing the job and returning immediately.
Clutching the weapons he had looted, Xu Mo returned to his battered SUV. The windshield was completely shattered, and there were prominent bullet holes on the backs of both the driver's and passenger seats, making it look utterly wretched. He took a deep breath, opened the door, got in, inserted the key, and gently turned it.
"Buzz—Boom!"
The diesel engine emitted a familiar and steady growl, and the various indicator lights on the instrument panel lit up one after another. Apart from the seat belt warning light, which remained on due to the possibility that the sensor had been damaged by the vibration, the vehicle's core systems seemed to be operating normally.
"Thank goodness—" Xu Mo felt a surge of relief. It seemed the guy who fired the shot clearly intended to steal the vehicle and its supplies, so he deliberately avoided vital parts like the engine, fuel tank, and tires, focusing primarily on eliminating the driver. Otherwise, if even one bullet had hit the engine or fuel tank, he probably would have had to abandon most of the supplies and trudge through the muddy wilderness on foot.
He shifted gears again and started moving forward, the SUV dragging its battered body. But this time, Xu Mo's vigilance was at its highest level.
That brief but bloody ambush had given Xu Mo a stark lesson. In the apocalypse, how low could the line of humanity be? Some people might maintain basic order and pretense within a group, but once freed from constraints and stepping into this lawless land, the darkness and bestiality deep within their hearts would be completely unleashed. For survival resources, murder and robbery would become commonplace.
"I just wonder where these three survivors came from?" Xu Mo pondered as he drove. "Are they a hunting party from the Jiangcheng Shelter?" Or perhaps people from other small survivor hideouts, picking off a quick "money grab" on their way to Jiangcheng?
The answer to this question came quickly.
After driving for less than ten minutes, at a bend in the road, Xu Mo saw a dusty SUV parked crookedly on an open space not far from the roadside, half of its body almost completely covered by dense, withered yellow grass.
"That's it." Xu Mo's eyes narrowed, and he slowly parked his car about fifty meters away from the other vehicle. He didn't get out of the car immediately, but instead picked up his AWM and used the 8x scope to observe the surrounding situation.
Through the scope, Xu Mo carefully observed the SUV and its surroundings. The vehicle was a common civilian SUV, looking considerably older than his own, its body covered in scratches and mud. The windows were tinted dark, obscuring the interior. Xu Mo patiently moved the muzzle of his gun, scanning under the vehicle, the surrounding bushes, and any possible hiding places further away.
He was worried that the other party might have accomplices left in the car or nearby to keep watch. After all, the car could easily fit five or six people, and there might have been one or two people left to watch the car and provide backup.
However, after observing for five or six minutes, the scope's field of view was completely silent. No human figures were seen, and no fresh footprints were found around the vehicle. The car simply sat there all alone, as if abandoned by its owner.
After confirming that there was nothing amiss, Xu Mo slowly approached. He stopped again about ten meters away from the other vehicle, the muzzle of his AK gun still subtly pointing at the unfamiliar SUV.
As he got closer, Xu Mo could see the interior of the car more clearly. The car was empty; only some worn-out blankets and empty water bottles were haphazardly piled on the back seat. He pulled on the door and found it unlocked.
As Xu Mo opened the car door, a pungent smell of sweat, smoke, and mildew hit him, causing him to frown.
Xu Mo quickly searched the driver's cab, finding nothing but trash. The blanket under the back seat was empty. The trunk was slightly better: he found half a case of bottled water (brands mixed up), several unopened packets of compressed biscuits and canned luncheon meat, and a wooden box containing dozens of rifle and pistol bullets of various calibers, some matching the calibers of the weapons he had captured. Besides these, there was nothing of value—no maps, no documents, no radio.
Just as Xu Mo was about to close the trunk, his gaze fell upon several small, metallic tags stuck in a corner. He reached in and pulled them out; they were three identical ID tags, bearing no names, only a laser-engraved string of numbers.
[Jiangcheng: 383457]
[Jiangcheng: 383458]
[Jiangcheng: 383459]
The numbers are consecutive, and the serial number is already over 300,000.
Xu Mo clutched the three cold identity tags, his eyes flashing. This was almost certainly the identification of the three attackers from before. And judging from the numbering system, they were highly likely from within the Jiangcheng Shelter system. The number, exceeding 300,000, gave Xu Mo a completely new and more impactful understanding of the scale of Jiangcheng.
Xu Mo had previously guessed that Jiangcheng might have hundreds of thousands of people, but seeing the specific and massive numbering system in person still shocked him. This meant that the Jiangcheng shelter had developed into a vast human settlement with hundreds of thousands of people and an established management system.
At the same time, Xu Mo also confirmed the origins of the three people; they were from Jiangcheng.
After carrying all the bottled water, food, and bullets he found back into his car, Xu Mo didn't linger. He drove his windshieldless SUV over the tire tracks left by the three men and continued forward.
This time, Xu Mo had clearer directions. Although the tire tracks on the ground had been washed away by the rain, they were still clearly visible. Following these tracks would most likely lead him to Jiangcheng, which was much more reliable than referring to that rough map.
For the rest of the day, the journey became much calmer. There were no more disturbances from mutated creatures, nor any ambushes from other survivors. The scenery outside the window remained desolate, but the road seemed to have been cleared somewhat; some large obstacles had been pushed to the side. Xu Mo followed the clear tire tracks, crossing hills and dry riverbeds, occasionally catching glimpses of birds flying across the distant horizon.
This tranquility, however, made Xu Mo dare not relax in the slightest. He knew that the closer he got to human settlements, the more complex and hidden the troubles he might encounter would become.
As evening approached, the rain gradually subsided, but the sky remained overcast. Xu Mo noticed a significant change in the tire tracks on the ground. They were no longer just one or two tracks, but had become more numerous, intersecting and overlapping, appearing chaotic and frequent. Moreover, the tire tread patterns had also changed, with some large vehicles displaying thick, heavy teeth marks, while smaller vehicles left delicate, fine indentations.
Seeing the increasing and chaotic tire tracks, Xu Mo's tense nerves relaxed slightly. This at least indicated that he had entered a relatively "active" area, close to the area where humans frequently engaged in activity.
As we all know, when individuals return to a group, they often unconsciously retract their fangs from the wilderness and become "orderly".
This does not mean absolute safety, but rather that an underlying rule begins to take effect here, where blatant attacks and looting face greater risks and backlash from the community.
This is an invisible deterrent, a sense of order brought about by sheer numbers. Even without immediately seeing other vehicles or pedestrians, the sheer density of these "marks of human activity" is enough to temporarily quell the impulses of most ill-intentioned individuals.
Sure enough, after driving for about half an hour, at a fork in the road, Xu Mo saw a vehicle with dim headlights slowly merging into the main road from a side road. It was a modified pickup truck, with several figures sitting in the back, all holding weapons and warily surveying their surroundings.
As the pickup truck merged onto the main road, seemingly out of some customary courtesy, or perhaps to indicate that it meant no harm, its headlights flashed three times rhythmically.
Xu Mo understood immediately; this was a common, informal signal of friendliness on the road to the apocalypse. He followed suit, controlling the car lights to flash three times in response.
Seeing this, the pickup truck seemed to relax a bit and maintained a steady speed ahead.
As time went on, more and more vehicles began to converge on the main road from various side roads and paths. There were off-road vehicles like Xu Mo's, buses equipped with steel plates and barbed wire, and even motorcycles roaring through the traffic.
The vehicles mostly maintained a certain distance, wary of each other, yet followed some unseen formation, moving together in the same direction. Their headlights formed a broken band of light in the deepening twilight, while the roar of their engines merged into a single sound, breaking the deathly silence of the wilderness.
Xu Mo drove among the makeshift convoy of strangers and unfamiliar vehicles, his feelings a mix of emotions. On one hand, he enjoyed the long-lost feeling of being among people, which lessened the loneliness of traveling alone; on the other hand, Xu Mo was more cautious in observing each approaching vehicle, his right hand always resting beside his weapon within easy reach.
Following the flow of traffic, they drove for about forty or fifty minutes. When the vehicle climbed a gentle slope, the view at the top made Xu Mo's eyes widen slightly.
Several kilometers ahead, a cluster of brightly lit buildings appeared on the horizon. The light shone brightly in the night, like a giant bonfire lit in an endless dark wasteland, exuding a reassuring aura of civilization.
However, upon closer inspection of the outline and scale of the building complex, a sense of doubt arose in Xu Mo's mind.
Based on his previous understanding and map markings, Jiangcheng, as a large shelter, should have an extremely large core area. However, the brightly lit area in front of him, while not small, seemed to be only the size of a small town. The outlines of the rows of buildings were clearly discernible, but it was far from the feel of a metropolis.
"Could this not be Lord Jiang's sanctuary? Or am I seeing things?" Xu Mo wondered.
Xu Mo's doubts didn't last long. As the convoy slowly drove down the slope and approached the outer edge of the area of lights, a conspicuous man-made sign appeared in his field of vision on the right side of the road.
It was a simple scaffold about three meters high, with a huge sign fixed on it. The sign had a red background and several lines of large characters painted in bright yellow:
Welcome to Jiangcheng No. 6 Forward Base, welcome home!
Upon seeing this line of text, Xu Mo suddenly understood.
This wasn't the main urban area of Jiangcheng Shelter, but rather an outpost or satellite city known as "Advance Base Six." It seems that, in order to cope with the post-apocalyptic environment, more effectively manage the large survivor population, and develop external resources, Jiangcheng Shelter adopted a strategy of establishing multiple peripheral advance bases. This was one of them.
"Number Six, it seems there are at least five more similar bases ahead, or even more." Xu Mo thought to himself, gaining a deeper understanding of the organizational capabilities and scale of the Jiangcheng Shelter.
He followed the flow of traffic ahead, slowing down as he drove towards the brightly lit forward base. In the distance, he could already see the tall walls and watchtowers surrounding the base, searchlights scanning both inside and outside the walls, and the silhouettes of patrolling figures faintly visible on the walls. A checkpoint was set up at the entrance, and vehicles were slowly queuing to pass.
Finally, they were almost there. Xu Mo let out a soft breath; a new phase was about to begin. He adjusted his breathing, gripped the steering wheel, and followed the convoy toward the brightly lit Jiangcheng No. 6 Forward Base, a symbol of both order and danger.