blogombal Chapter 116 Warning
Chapter 116 Warning
Chapter 116 Warning
The following morning, Xu Mo faced east and, as usual, began his daily Qi gathering. As that wisp of morning purple Qi was introduced into his body and circulated with his blood and Qi, he immediately noticed a change different from the past.
For the past ten days or so, the energy he had gathered had been automatically integrated into his limbs and bones, nourishing his body. Now, this energy flowed like a stream into a river, clearly replenishing his blood and qi, which had been slightly depleted from yesterday's deep cultivation, allowing his previously somewhat depleted blood and qi to quickly recover and stabilize at a full and saturated state.
This subtle change made Xu Mo realize something immediately.
"I see. My previous understanding was one-sided," Xu Mo said, suddenly realizing. "It wasn't the energy from gathering Qi that directly allowed me to break through. Rather, once the Qi and blood in the Bull Skin Realm reached saturation, the body spontaneously used the surplus energy for a deeper level—nourishing the muscles and bones, laying the foundation for the Iron Bone Realm. Because I cultivated diligently before, my Qi and blood reached saturation early, so I entered this 'surplus nourishment' stage ahead of time. I didn't know the principle behind it and thought I had encountered a bottleneck."
Having figured this out, Xu Mo had a clearer understanding of his subsequent cultivation path. He was no longer confused but actively guided the process. Every day, he would first maintain his Qi and blood at a saturated state by absorbing Qi and taking appropriate supplements. Then, he would actively circulate his Qi and blood to finely sculpt and cleanse his body, nourishing his muscles, bones, and skin at a deeper level, especially his bones.
As time goes by, this nourishment from the inside out begins to show its effects.
Xu Mo could clearly feel that his muscle fibers had become denser, his fascia more resilient, and he could withstand greater force when stretching and exploding. The most significant change was in his bones, which seemed to have been forged through countless trials, with their density appearing to increase. When struck, they felt a hardness and solidity far exceeding what they had experienced before, and the flow of qi and blood within them was also smoother.
"I'm getting closer and closer to the Iron Bone Realm." Feeling the real changes in his body, Xu Mo was filled with anticipation.
And so, another ten days or so passed in a routine of cultivation and vigilant observation. On this day, Xu Mo had just finished a round of blood and qi cleansing and was recovering when an unexpected call suddenly came through the area walkie-talkie that had been on all along.
"C-07, C-07, this is A-02, please respond." It was Jiangcheng's representative, A-02.
His voice remained calm, but the fact that he proactively called out to a specific person was unprecedented on the public channel, which surprised Xu Mo.
Xu Mo picked up the walkie-talkie and pressed the call button: "A-02, this is C-07, please speak."
"C-07, please temporarily switch your walkie-talkie to encrypted sub-channel 3. Repeat, encrypted sub-channel 3. Over," A-02 instructed.
Xu Mo followed his instructions and switched the walkie-talkie to a channel that only featured the two of them.
"Channel has been switched, please speak, A-02."
There was a two-second silence on the other end, as if they were organizing their thoughts, before they asked, "Comrade Xu Mo, I have a question for you. At the beginning of the mission, you were alone in the fortress for half a month without establishing contact with us. Did you feel intense loneliness or depression during that time? Did you ever have a strong urge to contact the outside world?"
The question was quite abrupt, even somewhat inexplicable. Xu Mo frowned slightly, his mind filled with doubt. Why would a military representative suddenly be concerned about his mental state? And why was it about something that happened before?
Although it was strange, Xu Mo answered truthfully, his tone calm: "Thank you for your concern, A-02. During that time, I was busy adapting to the environment, carrying out observation tasks, and doing personal training every day. My schedule was very full, and I did not feel unbearable loneliness. The desire to contact the outside world did not seem strong."
Xu Mo was telling the truth. For him, who was used to being alone and could be very self-disciplined, that period was not a torment.
Upon hearing his reply, silence fell on the other end of the radio. This silence lasted for seven or eight seconds before A-02's voice came through again, devoid of any discernible emotion: "Okay, understood. Thank you for your cooperation. Call over, C."
After saying that, he abruptly ended the brief and strange private call.
Xu Mo held the walkie-talkie, his brow furrowed, filled with a sense of utter bewilderment. What on earth did this seemingly random inquiry, focused solely on his past mental state, mean?
Something unusual must be going on. Xu Mo didn't believe this was just a sudden act of humanistic concern from his superiors.
"Something must have happened," Xu Mo's intuition told him, and that it was very likely related to his earlier answer.
He began to carefully examine the core of A-02's problem—"being alone," "loneliness," and "wanting to connect with the outside world."
"Why would you specifically ask this?" Xu Mo paced back and forth, pondering. "Could it be that observers from other fortresses have shown a strong sense of loneliness, or have made unusual attempts to contact the outside world?"
"No." Xu Mo rejected the idea. Although he hadn't spoken much these past few days, his walkie-talkie had always been on, just at a low volume. He could hear everyone talking and exchanging messages almost constantly through the walkie-talkie, so it was unlikely he would feel lonely and want to contact the outside world under these circumstances. What he would probably do was complain about being bored in the fortress and wanting to go out for some fresh air.
Thinking of this, Xu Mo thought of himself again, but then explained his behavior by going out, defining it as reconnaissance.
Having ruled out the previous possibility, another, more terrifying hypothesis emerged: "Or perhaps, instead of attempting to contact them, they have already lost contact?"
The thought of this possibility made Xu Mo's heart sink.
If an observer in an absolutely safe fortress didn't deliberately go insane and act irrationally, the only possibility for losing contact with Jiangcheng is that they encountered an accident.
In this death zone teeming with zombies and lurking with mutants, an "accident" can pose a deadly threat to an observer within a fortified stronghold, rendering them unable to even send a distress signal—
Almost instantly, Xu Mo recalled the level-two zombie he had dealt with during his previous reconnaissance mission.
The dents on the armored vehicle were enough to demonstrate the strength of the level 2 zombie, but Xu Mo wasn't entirely sure whether it could break through the fortress's defenses, though he guessed it probably couldn't.
What could it be? Xu Mo fell silent for a moment...
Thinking of this, Xu Mo reorganized the conversation and sorted out his thoughts to arrive at a general answer: Jiang Cheng may have noticed the abnormal loss of contact of one or more fortresses, but he could not determine the reason. He was worried that it was an active behavior caused by the observer's mental breakdown, so he used this indirect way to ask him, a person who had been "in seclusion" for half a month and whose mentality was stable, in an attempt to verify the information indirectly.
As for the cause, that remains unknown.
Thinking of this, Xu Mo switched the walkie-talkie back to the public channel and turned the volume up slightly. He didn't speak, but listened more attentively.
He stopped paying attention to the idle chatter and gossip, and began to consciously distinguish and memorize the voices and numbers of each speaker.
Xu Mo wanted to know if there were really some voices that were quite active before, but had stopped appearing in the last few days or even in the period that had just passed.
The public channel remained lively, filled with various chatter, complaints, and even risqué jokes, as if the strange private call had never happened.
But Xu Mo's mindset was different. He no longer passively received information, but focused all his attention on identifying the voice of each speaker.
Previously, Xu Mo focused more on the content of the conversation and didn't pay much attention to the voices, only finding them mostly familiar. Now, with careful attention, he realized that everyone's timbre, tone, speaking speed, and even some subtle catchphrases were different.
Thanks to the enhanced perception brought by the leather-like material, Xu Mo's hearing and sound discrimination abilities far surpassed those of ordinary people, which allowed him to barely complete this tedious task.
In the evening, Xu Mo sat at a simple table with paper and pen in front of him, on which he wrote down the vocal characteristics of each person he had recorded during the day, along with their corresponding fortress numbers.
For example: B-04 (Old Liu): His voice is rough and a little hoarse, and he speaks relatively fast.
D-08: Gentle voice, speaks slowly and deliberately, often starting with "Well————".
G-03: Has a youthful voice, is a bit eccentric, and likes to tell stories about games and jokes.
K-12: The voice is calm and steady, and the observation and reporting are well-organized.
By the end of the day, Xu Mo had successfully identified more than sixty observers with distinct vocal characteristics.
However, this means that there are still nearly eighty observers who have not made any noise today.
Xu Mo knew that this matter could not be explained publicly. Jiangcheng certainly had its own investigation plan and response strategy. If he rashly raised questions on public channels, he might not only alert the enemy but also cause unnecessary panic and even interfere with Jiangcheng's plans.
"All I can do is silently record and try to gather as much information as possible as a supplement to the intelligence." Xu Mo already had a plan in mind: in the apocalypse, the more information he gathered, the more chances he had to survive.
The next day, Xu Mo successfully marked more than twenty new sounds.
On the third day, there were still more than twenty more.
Once Xu Mo's paper listed more than one hundred "normal" observers, progress slowed significantly. Only four or five new observers could be identified each day, and it became increasingly difficult as time went on.
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The reason is not hard to understand: some people are naturally taciturn and may only say a single sentence every few days.
For example, the K-09 observer only said "the law should not be easily violated" when everyone was discussing certain topics about upgrading, and then disappeared again.
Some people's activities and rest times were completely out of sync with Xu Mo's, making it impossible for him to catch their voices.
Just as Xu Mo was pondering whether he could use methods such as discussing specific topics to encourage more of the diving observers to speak, an official notification from Jiangcheng was delivered via radio.
The notice boosted the morale of all those stationed there: given that the two-month period for the first batch of fortress garrison duties was about to expire, Jiangcheng would organize its first large-scale supply replenishment and personnel rotation.
Supplies will be airdropped by helicopter and collected by the personnel stationed at each fortress. Meanwhile, the personnel can choose whether to continue their posting for the next cycle or take this opportunity to return to Jiangcheng for rest. Those who choose to return will be picked up by helicopter during resupply and replaced by new observers.
The notice concluded by requiring A-02 to begin collecting everyone's whereabouts.
"The opportunity has arrived!" A glint flashed in Xu Mo's eyes. At this crucial moment involving personal whereabouts, almost all observers had to make a clear statement. This was the perfect opportunity for him to verify his conjectures and refine the list.
Soon, A-02's calm voice rang out on the public channel, calling out each fortress in order of their numbers to determine whether to stay or leave: "A-01, please report your choice: continue stationed or return to Jiangcheng?"
"A-01 received, continue to hold position."
"A-02 received. A-03, please state your choice————"
"A-03, continue to hold the position."
Xu Mo immediately picked up a pen and paper, listening intently to every response. He not only wanted to record the choices, but also to take this opportunity to completely match the voices with the numbers.
Most people chose to remain stationed there, as the high mission rewards and relatively "safe" environment were very attractive. A few, however, chose to return, perhaps because they missed their families, or perhaps because they had reached their mental limit.
As Xu Mo took notes, he silently recited: "————D—07, return."
When the call sign of A-02 was changed to "C-07, please state your choice", Xu Mo answered without the slightest hesitation.
"C-07, continue to hold the position."
Xu Mo's voice was calm and firm. Return to Jiangcheng? No, at least not now. This fortress, however, is a very good place for him to cultivate.
Here, I am away from some of the trivial matters that may exist within Jiangcheng.
More importantly, he clearly felt that the bottleneck of the "Thirteen Taibao Horizontal Training" was loosening. The invisible barrier separating the cowhide and iron bones was becoming increasingly thin under the daily constant flushing and nourishment of qi and blood.
Xu Mo could even faintly hear a subtle sound from deep within his qi and blood, like a silkworm eating leaves, which was a sign of the foundation being reshaped and the bones and muscles being transformed.
"Here, I found the opportunity to break through to the Iron Bone Realm." Xu Mo looked inward at himself, feeling the powerful energy that had been integrated into his limbs and bones and was still solidifying his foundation. "Outside, dangers lurk everywhere, and the threat of zombies is like a sword hanging over my head."
Returning to the relatively safe Jiangcheng before gaining sufficient power might be a form of complacency. Only by seizing the undisturbed environment here, breaking through the barriers in one fell swoop, and entering the Iron Bone Realm can one gain a foothold in the greater storms that may come in the future.
Xu Mo had no shortage of resources; the supplements were sufficient to support his high-intensity training. Safety was also guaranteed; the fortress's sturdiness had been proven. This was currently the best place for him to break through his current limitations.
Returning to Jiangcheng would certainly allow him to enjoy the hustle and bustle of the crowds and a more comfortable environment, but it would also distract him and slow down his breakthrough process. In the apocalypse, one's own strength is the only eternal reliance.
Therefore, Xu Mo's choice was without a doubt.
E-09, continue.
F-08, continue————
The statistics were being compiled in an orderly manner, and it was now the turn of area F.
"F-09, please state your choice."
"F-09, continue to hold your position," a clear male voice replied.
"A-02 received. F-10, please state your choice."
After a brief silence, a voice rang out: "Switch."
The voice was fast, low, and even slightly muffled, a stark contrast to all the previous clear and definite answers.
Xu Mo's hand holding the pen suddenly stopped, and his eyes instantly sharpened like an eagle's.
Although the voice deliberately sped up its speech and lowered its volume in an attempt to mimic a normal response, the subtle vocal characteristics and the sense of urgency to end the call did not escape Xu Mo's highly focused perception.
That voice belongs to A-02 himself; he's mimicking the F-10 observer's voice in his reply!
"F-11, please state your choice." A-02's voice immediately returned to normal and continued calling.
"Switch." The response was equally quick and vague, the tone almost identical to that of F-10 just now.
"A-02 received. F-12, please state your choice."
"Swap them." The answers were exactly the same.
Immediately afterwards, the call sign of A-02 switched to the G area, and all subsequent replies returned to normal, with distinct and clearly distinguishable voices.
The statistical work was completed quickly, and the public channel became lively again, with people discussing the upcoming supplies and rotations, looking forward to their return, or planning their tasks for the next cycle.
However, Xu Mo slowly put down his pen, his gaze fixed intently on the record paper.
There, he heavily circled the numbers of the three fortresses, F-10, F-11, and F-12, with a red pen.
The abnormal area has been found.
It's now almost certain that the observers at these three fortresses have met with misfortune. Jiangcheng clearly already knew this and, in order to avoid panic, had regional representative A-02 cover it up and fabricate their "normal" response.
"Sector F is located on the southwest side of the fortress array—" Xu Mo recalled the fortress distribution map, his expression grave.
What exactly happened to the observers at these three fortresses?
Is it a level 2 zombie?
Are they still there?