NABC Chapter 126 Should We Nuclear Peace?
Chapter 126 Should We Nuclear Peace?
Chapter 126 Should We Nuclear Peace?
The convoy traveled for most of the day on a slightly bumpy but clearly well-maintained road, and finally the outline of the ever-expanding and reinforced walls of the Jiangcheng Shelter appeared on the horizon in the distance.
Compared to when Xu Mo left nearly four months ago, Jiangcheng now seemed much more imposing. Not only were the walls higher and thicker, but many new watchtowers and firing positions had been added. Most strikingly, many steel "hedgehogs" pointing towards the sky had appeared above the walls and in the newly opened perimeter security zone—these were newly installed air defense weapon systems.
These include relatively simple, but numerous, twin or quadruple anti-aircraft machine gun turrets; there are also more complex ones...
Self-propelled anti-aircraft guns equipped with radar bases and electro-optical aiming devices; Xu Mo even spotted the blurry outlines of what appeared to be short-range air defense missile launchers at several key high points and corners of the wall.
In the sky, the density of drone patrols seems to have increased, with different models of drones shuttling back and forth in the designated airspace like busy worker bees.
Halfway there, Xu Mo noticed equally significant changes at the forward base. This forward base, which had served as a buffer zone and supply depot, had now been transformed into a heavily armed air defense position, with various air defense weapons deployed in layers, and the alert level clearly raised to the highest level.
"It seems that the pressure from those birds is greater than we imagined." Xu Mo calmly observed these new changes through the car window.
Jiangcheng has clearly learned its lesson from the initial attack and is sparing no expense in building a three-dimensional air defense network to deal with the increasingly rampant threat of aerial mutated creatures.
Entering the inner city, the familiar hustle and bustle and complex smells hit you. Pedestrians hurried along the streets, vehicles came and went, and most shops were open as usual.
However, careful observation reveals many differences: many buildings have installed protective nets or baffles on their windows, and some street signs show signs of hasty repairs after being damaged; the number of patrolling soldiers and security personnel has increased significantly, and many of them are equipped with crossbows or rifles with long bayonets, seemingly close-combat equipment to deal with aerial attacks.
Pedestrians on the road would occasionally look up at the sky with wary eyes, like startled birds, and only continue on their way after confirming that everything was alright.
A sense of fear and vigilance towards the sky seems to have become part of the daily breathing of this city of millions.
Xu Mo and the other observers who had returned from the evacuation were taken to a building to settle their missions.
The process is not complicated: verify identity, confirm task duration, listen to a brief task completion briefing, then emphasize confidentiality rules and recent security precautions, and finally distribute task rewards.
When Xu Mo inserted his ID card into the dedicated terminal and saw the numbers pop up on the screen, even with his current composure, his heart couldn't help but race.
Contribution Points: +15000
Fifteen thousand points.
This number far exceeded Xu Mo's expectations. He remembered that he had heard from veterans that although long-term overseas observation missions contributed more points, they were generally only around two or three thousand points per month, depending on the level of danger.
His mission lasted less than four months, so even at the highest rate, it would only amount to seven or eight thousand points. This 15,000 points clearly took into account the mission risks, the nature of the mission, and potential danger allowances or confidentiality compensation.
"It seems that Jiangcheng has a high assessment of the danger of this mission, or rather, it has given considerable compensation to those of us who persevered in the final stage." Xu Mo understood that, in any case, it was a huge sum of money.
After receiving the contribution points and signing the relevant documents, Xu Mo officially regained his freedom.
He didn't linger there, but instead carried his equipment straight to his residence.
Walking down the familiar streets, Xu Mo felt a strange sense of peace. This mission, though fraught with difficulties, had yielded tremendous rewards.
The rent was recalculated from the day he returned, saving him some money; he also successfully broke through to the Iron Bone Realm, a leap in his life level, which was something that no amount of contribution points could buy.
Moreover, this mission earned him a huge sum of 15,000 points, instantly transforming him from someone with meager savings into someone with considerable assets. In Xu Mo's view, this was no longer a simple "win-win" situation, but a comprehensive "multi-win" situation.
Upon arriving at his small courtyard, he found the gate locked.
Xu Mo took out his key and opened the door. The courtyard was almost exactly the same as when he left, except for a few more fallen leaves. He strode into the house, not rushing to put down his luggage, but instead sharply scanning the room.
The inconspicuous dust marks on the inside of the windowsill, the angle at which the books on the bookshelf were placed, the barely perceptible strand of hair wrapped around the wardrobe door handle—these tiny "marks" he deliberately left behind before leaving, known only to himself, were all intact, their positions and conditions unchanged.
"As expected, the security of the entrusted property is guaranteed." Xu Mo nodded to himself, completely relieved.
This indicates that no one entered his private space during his absence. In the apocalypse, an absolutely safe and private place of refuge is of immeasurable value.
Unload your gear, carefully put it away, and put your change of clothes in the closet.
After doing all this, Xu Mo went into the bathroom and took a long, hot shower to wash away his fatigue, the smoke of battle, and the dust of the ruins.
After changing into clean and comfortable loungewear and lying on his own bed, Xu Mo felt a sense of relaxation that permeated his very bones.
For nearly four months, Xu Mo maintained a high level of vigilance in the fortress. Even after breaking through to the Iron Bone Realm, he never truly relaxed his mental tension.
At this moment, in this absolutely safe environment, drowsiness washed over him like a tide. Xu Mo fell into a deep, dreamless sleep almost as soon as his head hit the pillow.
I slept exceptionally well and soundly.
The next day, when Xu Mo woke up naturally, the sunlight outside the window was already quite bright. Looking at the time, it was nearly nine o'clock in the morning. This was extremely rare for Xu Mo; usually, no matter how tired he was, his biological clock would wake him up on time.
"Looks like I've really relaxed." Xu Mo smiled, feeling a long-lost sense of languor, as if every joint was telling of his longing for the comfort of his bed.
Instead of getting up immediately, Xu Mo lay in bed for a few minutes, carefully feeling the surging blood and qi within his body, like the Yangtze River, and the overwhelming power brought by the Iron Bone Realm. Only then did he get up with satisfaction.
After stretching his muscles and bones, and finishing washing up, it was already quite late. Xu Mo decided to go out for breakfast and, while he was away, observe the changes in Jiangcheng during his absence.
Walking on the streets of the inner city, the scenery was much clearer than the fleeting glimpse I had yesterday.
Most shops have reopened, breakfast stalls are steaming, and pedestrians are coming and going, as if the area has regained its former vitality.
However, the new details are still jarring. Many shop signs show signs of being repaired after being damaged, and their colors clash slightly with the surroundings. Some buildings have fine metal mesh installed on their windows. On public bulletin boards in the streets and alleys, there are eye-catching notices that read, "Beware of aerial threats, do not go out unless necessary, and take precautions when going out."
What impressed Xu Mo the most was the unconscious actions of pedestrians. As he walked, an elderly woman carrying a shopping basket would suddenly stop without warning, look up at the sky nervously, and then quicken her pace to walk away.
A young person chatting and laughing with their companions might instantly stop smiling and tense up slightly when an ordinary pigeon flies by in the sky. This kind of bird-like reaction to the sky is almost ubiquitous, becoming a new collective unconsciousness for the people of Jiangcheng.
Xu Mo stopped and looked up at the sky. The sky was clear, with only a few white clouds and the occasional bird flying by, appearing perfectly normal. But the tension that permeated the air was very real.
Shaking his head, Xu Mo continued walking and soon found a breakfast shop that looked to be doing good business and was relatively clean. The shop was small, with seven or eight tables, most of which were already full of people. The air was filled with the aroma of food and the hum of people talking in hushed tones.
Xu Mo found an empty seat at the back, ordered a bowl of porridge, two meat buns, and a side dish.
While waiting, Xu Mo overheard the conversation of two middle-aged men at the next table.
Their voices were very low, but Xu Mo's heightened hearing made them still clearly audible.
"—That's right. Old Liu from Unit 3 of our building, such an honest man, was hanging clothes on the balcony the morning before yesterday. He probably thought it was fine during the day and didn't take any precautions. As a result, a big black bird flew in from somewhere and smacked him on the neck." The speaker's tone was still shaken.
"Huh? What happened next?" the other person asked hurriedly.
"And then? What could have happened? Less than two hours later, Old Liu changed. He got out of bed and... well, you know... his wife and kids who were standing next to him... Oh, what a tragedy." The narrator sighed and shook his head repeatedly.
"My God, is this bird really that poisonous? It turns into a monster just from being caught?"
"That's right! I heard that bird has poison on its claws and beak, just like a zombie. Now the radio says every day that you must wear a scarf when you go out to protect your neck, head and face, and it's best to wear thick clothes."
"The radio said to try not to go out, but if we don't go out, what will we eat and drink? How will we work?" another person complained. "Yesterday I also heard that at the West Market, a flock of birds suddenly swooped down and snatched a lot of meat from the stalls, and even scratched two stall owners. I wonder how those two are doing now—"
"What can we do? The prognosis is grim. These days, anyone injured by a bird is subject to mandatory quarantine and observation, like they're dealing with a plague—"
The two sighed deeply, and the conversation turned to whose relatives had helped clean up bird carcasses during the defensive battle, picking up some that weren't completely rotten, which they said could be exchanged for a little money, but the process was extremely disgusting and dangerous, and so on.
Xu Mo listened silently, his brows furrowed slightly. It seemed that the threat posed by the mutated bird flock had penetrated and damaged Jiangcheng more deeply than he had imagined, already causing real civilian casualties and social panic.
Just then, Xu Mo's breakfast arrived, the steaming porridge and plump white steamed buns emitting a wonderful aroma. Xu Mo temporarily put aside the discussions he had overheard, picked up his chopsticks, and focused on enjoying this long-awaited breakfast.
The warmth and comforting feeling of the food spread down his esophagus, making Xu Mo feel more clearly that he had indeed left the perilous front line and returned to the relatively civilized Jiangcheng shelter.
However, the lingering fears of the diners at the next table about the bird problem, the wary glances of pedestrians looking up at the sky outside the window, and the faint rumble in the distance, seemingly the daily test firing or training of an air defense position—
All of this reminds Xu Mo that in the apocalypse, there are no absolutely safe zones. Jiangcheng, this isolated island of a million people, is struggling to maintain order and balance in a new survival test from the sky.
The threat is not a vague worry, but a real and ever-expanding crisis.
The Red Star Industrial Zone, once the "source" of zombies, now seems to be quietly transforming into a breeding ground for a huge flock of mutated birds.
The gregariousness and aggression exhibited by those mutated birds, as well as their "cleaning up" behavior of zombies, suggest that they are not mindless predators, but may be forming a new logic of survival and expansion based on the post-apocalyptic environment.
The continuous "zombie production" from the industrial zone provided the birds with a stable source of "food" or some necessary "stimulant," accelerating their population reproduction and individual evolution. The ever-increasing number of enormous black shadows circling above the ruins is the most direct evidence of this.
If this situation is not contained or even eradicated, and the flocks of birds are allowed to grow too large in the Hongxing Industrial Zone, then for the Jiangcheng Shelter, which is located nearby and houses millions of precious lives, the future crisis is almost imminent.
Such a vast human settlement, with its emanating life force, generated waste, and livestock, is an irresistible temptation for any hungry mutated creature. It is no exaggeration to say that swarms of mutated birds will launch a full-scale attack on Jiangcheng.
Xu Mo could even imagine that the atmosphere in the high-level meeting room in Jiangcheng was probably already tense and filled with endless debate.
Faced with this unprecedented, highly mobile, and numerous threat from the sky, traditional defense methods are proving inadequate.
While anti-aircraft guns and anti-aircraft missiles can certainly shoot down flocks of birds, the cost of ammunition, the density of defenses, and the cost-effectiveness against a large number of low-value targets are all serious problems.
Even more troublesome is that the presence of the mutated bird flock has greatly reduced the airspace for Jiangcheng. The take-off and landing of helicopters, transport planes and even fighter jets are severely restricted. For a large shelter that needs to maintain a vast control area for the allocation of supplies and information collection, this is undoubtedly a major strategic blow.
"Besides passive defense and evacuation warnings, isn't there a more proactive and thorough solution?" Xu Mo slowly chewed his food, his brain working at a rapid pace.
A cold and extreme term quietly surfaced in the depths of Xu Mo's mind—"nuclear peace".
Yes, if the "breeding ground" that nurtures the mutated bird flocks in the Red Star Industrial Zone were completely wiped out by nuclear annihilation, the massive bird flocks that depend on it for survival would naturally lose their foundation. Lacking a stable "hunting ground" and a possible "evolutionary catalyst," the threat level of the bird flocks might drop significantly, at least making it difficult for them to form the scale and organization they have today.
This method is simple, crude, and theoretically effective.
"But—" Xu Mo's gaze deepened. He didn't know if Jiangcheng still possessed any reserves of that kind of strategic weapon. Even if it did, how could they easily make the decision to use it?
The consequences of a nuclear explosion extend beyond simply destroying the target; they include long-term radiation contamination, unpredictable climate effects, and a devastating psychological impact on survivors. No rational leader would make such a decision lightly unless faced with a life-or-death crisis.
Most importantly, what happens to zombies when they are exposed to radiation?
Thinking of this, Xu Mo felt a chill run down his spine!
"It seems that the higher-ups are not just on a hot plate, they're practically standing on the edge of a volcano, and they're holding a hot potato that they don't know if or when it will explode," Xu Mo thought to himself.
Xu Mo finished the last bite of his food and put down his chopsticks. The aroma of breakfast lingered, but a deeper shadow fell over Xu Mo's heart. The aerial crisis facing Jiangcheng was far more severe and complex than the street panic he had directly experienced upon his return.
After paying the bill, Xu Mo left the breakfast shop. The sun was still shining brightly, but his gaze, fixed on the general direction of the Dongfang Hongxing Industrial Zone, was unusually solemn.
What hovers there is not just flocks of birds, but also a Damocles' sword that is constantly being sharpened, hanging over the heads of millions of people in Jiangcheng.
>