novelaction Chapter 1340 The Fungi Beast Tide!
Chapter 1340 The Fungi Beast Tide!
The fluorescence was not uniform; rather, it was composed of countless tiny, wriggling, and flickering points of light, densely packed together to form a vast and malevolent ocean of light.
The light was a mixture of eerie green, pale white, and dark purple, constantly shifting and flickering, like billions of fireflies from hell, or like the highly toxic blood or lymph flowing from the body of some enormous creature.
In front of this vast fluorescent "tidal wave" are countless shadowy figures, rising and falling like waves!
They come in all shapes and sizes; some are as swift as a hunting dog darting along the ground, some are bulky and slow like moving mountains of flesh, and some are like giant, segmented worms slithering along...
What they had in common was that they were all more or less covered with and emitting that nauseating fluorescence, and they were sweeping towards the direction the jeep had left in—that is, the direction of the Gucheng Lake gathering place—at an astonishingly fast overall speed!
That wasn't a horde of zombies! It was definitely not any kind of zombie or mutant horde they knew!
It was a kind of... a living, destructive "ecosystem" driven by pure malice that was moving!
"Class...class monitor!! Behind...behind!!!"
The driver's voice instantly changed tone, becoming as shrill as a rooster being strangled, filled with boundless fear and unbelievable horror.
Almost instinctively, he slammed the accelerator to the floor!
The Jeep's engine let out a roar as if it were about to reach its limit, and the speed was forcibly increased again, making the ride even more violent, almost as if it were about to fall apart!
The other passengers in the car turned around or looked to the side the moment the driver screamed.
Then, everyone saw in the rearview mirror the nightmarish, fluorescent tide that was rapidly approaching!
"Holy shit!!!" A soldier in the back row cursed involuntarily, his face behind the gas mask instantly losing all color.
The squad leader suddenly turned around, almost leaning his upper body out of the vehicle, staring intently at the apocalyptic scene behind him.
The scars on his face distorted and pulsated under the interplay of the dim light from the dashboard and the eerie fluorescent glow from behind.
For the first time, his hands began to tremble slightly uncontrollably.
It wasn't out of fear, but out of a profound, chilling despair—the spore cloud they had encountered at the outpost was probably just a drop of "spray" that the vanguard of this "tide" had inadvertently spilled as it swept by!
This thing... this thing's target isn't their little outpost at all, or even their entire squad!
Its target is Gucheng Lake! It's the entire settlement! It's the entire Jinling Military Sub-district!
They just happened to be standing on the very edge of this destructive torrent, on an insignificant path, and were "lucky" enough to notice it in advance, thus beginning this doomed race against death with little hope!
"Full speed! Full speed ahead!! Don't look back!!"
The squad leader retreated back into the vehicle, his voice hoarse as he roared, grabbed the microphone from the vehicle's most powerful radio, switched the communication frequency to the brigade headquarters' emergency channel, and shouted with all his might:
"Eagle's Nest! Eagle's Nest! This is Ranger 2! This is Ranger 2! We are on E7, at 00:00, and are retreating at full speed to 'Eagle's Nest'!"
"A large-scale unidentified swarm of organisms has appeared behind us! Repeat, a large-scale unidentified swarm of organisms! The number is incalculable! They are moving extremely fast! They are emitting a strong bioluminescence! They are moving towards Gucheng Lake!!"
"Warning! This is not a conventional impact! Warning—!!"
His roar was broken into fragments by the jeep's frantic jolting and the engine's hiss.
Outside the car window behind him, the deadly, fluorescent tide was visibly engulfing the road they had just passed, closing the distance between itself and the tiny jeep.
The night wind in the wilderness seemed to carry with it the sweet, rotten smell of spores, and... a deep and vast rustling sound, a mixture of countless joints rubbing together and mucus wriggling.
That was the sound of the approaching tide.
...
Meanwhile, at the Gucheng Lake gathering place, the Jinling Military Sub-district Joint Command Center.
The air here seemed to have solidified; it was no longer simply heavy, but rather a viscous feeling, as if it had been forcibly compressed under high pressure and was on the verge of bursting.
On the giant screen, the deep purple, symbolizing the threat of the spore cloud, continued to slowly and steadily spread toward the core area of Gucheng Lake, while the green and yellow dots representing the entrances of various troops, convoys, and shelters moved with difficulty in complex yet fragile lines, trying to escape the purple's engulfment.
At the command post, Du Yuming still stood in the very center, maintaining the same posture of supporting himself on the table with his hands and back straight, like a steel billet about to be thrown into the furnace.
His shirt was soaked with cold sweat, clinging to his skin and outlining his taut muscles. Only the occasional slight trembling of his fingertips betrayed that his inner state was far from "calm" as it appeared.
Hu Renfu, the director of the management committee, had already changed into an ill-fitting old military uniform that he had found somewhere, with the buttons still crookedly fastened.
He held a folder in his hands containing several hastily compiled spreadsheets. Beads of sweat glistened on his forehead under the harsh white light, and his voice trembled uncontrollably.
"Commander... five minutes ago, the evacuation orders for the first batch of 37 major residential areas and production units have all been issued, and the personnel have basically completed their assembly and boarding."
"The core supplies warehouse... is being rushed to the scene, but... but there is a severe shortage of vehicles and manpower, especially the lakeside road leading to shelters No. 3 and No. 4 is congested, and some vehicles have broken down..."
Du Yuming didn't turn around, his cold voice cutting off his rambling: "People first. Food, clothing, tools... except for weapons, ammunition, and core medical equipment, abandon all other non-essential supplies."
"Notify all fleet leaders that, starting now, the load capacity is halved. Only the people are guaranteed safety, not the cargo. Anyone whose vehicle breaks down and blocks the road due to overloading or rushing to transport supplies will be personally executed by me."
His words left no room for maneuver; every word was like a nail hardened with ice.
Hu Renfu swallowed hard, his throat dry. "Yes...yes! But...some people are reluctant to part with their belongings, and..."
“That’s a problem for the garrison regiment and the on-site commander to handle.” Du Yuming finally turned his head and glanced at Hu Renfu, a look that instantly silenced the latter.
"Your task is to ensure that orders reach every lower-level manager. Any hesitation that leads to blockages will be considered a missed opportunity. Understand?"
"I...I understand!" Hu Renfu was sweating profusely. He nodded hurriedly, stepped aside, grabbed another phone, and began shouting new orders.
Next to step forward was Zhao Tielin, the former battalion commander of the 189th Regiment and now the chief instructor of the military sub-district's garrison troops. Although his eyes were also flustered, he tried his best to keep his tone calm.
After all, this wasn't the first time he'd experienced this...
"Reporting to the Commander, most of the 1st Garrison Regiment is still in the city, cooperating with the battalions of the 1st Infantry Brigade of Yezhou to maintain order on the main roads and guide the flow of people and vehicles."
"At the same time, the main forces of the Second, Third, and Fourth Regiments have arrived at seventeen key nodes along the withdrawal route according to the pre-arranged plan, including bridges, intersections, and passes. They are constructing simple blocking positions and forcefully maintaining order in the passage."
"In the past fifteen minutes, the regiments have dealt with a total of 39 incidents of looting and ramming of convoys, killing 15 people and arresting 37. The passage is basically clear, but... public panic is intensifying."
"Well done." Du Yuming gave a brief affirmation to Zhao Tielin's report:
"Tell the regimental commanders that their positions are the gate! Hold them at all costs! Until the last civilian convoy passes through!"
"If necessary, we can abandon some of the outer positions and concentrate our forces to defend key points. Priority should be given to ensuring the absolute security of the main entrance to the 'Eagle's Nest' and the surrounding passageways."
"Yes!" Zhao Tielin saluted, turned and strode toward the communications station, his back view conveying a resolute determination.