Chapter 128: The Silent County Town

As Su Wu studied the base vehicle, it continued traveling southwest, gradually leaving the boundaries of Jianghe City. The roads along the way grew increasingly desolate and rugged. This reflected the reality of the surface world: not every shelter shared Su Wu's relentless drive for expansion and development. Many rural shelters were entirely self-contained, with their inhabitants never stepping foot outside since the day they moved in.

Years of isolation, combined with storms and earthquakes, caused large swathes of the surface to deteriorate rapidly. Under these conditions, the fact that many roads still remained functional, even if barely, could almost be seen as a small miracle of the apocalypse.

After traveling for over an hour, the base vehicle entered the outskirts of Lingzhu County. As soon as it crossed into the county, the radiation detector mounted on the exterior of the vehicle began emitting an urgent alarm. It had detected a sudden spike in the external radiation level—from approximately 1,100 times normal to over 15,000 times.

"Is this a radiation disaster zone?" Su Wu thought, his heart tightening.

He immediately stopped the vehicle and carefully checked all systems. Fortunately, the vehicle's defenses, which had been significantly reinforced through survival points, held up well. Everything inside the base vehicle remained stable, and even the auxiliary systems operating outside were unaffected for the moment.

However, the immediate safety did not mean there would be no future risks. Su Wu's next thought was to leave the area as quickly as possible. He glanced out of the panoramic glass of the driver's cabin at the street ahead.

Unlike Jianghe City, where most buildings had been reduced to rubble by disasters, Lingzhu County seemed to have been spared the worst of the storms and earthquakes. The buildings on both sides of the road appeared mostly intact. However, various obstacles, including fallen signboards, abandoned vehicles, and debris likely blown in from elsewhere, blocked the way forward.

Clearing the debris was not a particularly difficult task. Su Wu activated the large shovel mounted on the front of the base vehicle and deployed a mechanical arm from the roof. Leveraging the vehicle's immense power, he began clearing a path through the streets.

Despite the obstacles, the base vehicle maintained a steady speed, slowing only slightly—from 30 kilometers per hour to about 20 kilometers per hour, roughly equivalent to a brisk human jog.

Yet, the ease of progress only deepened Su Wu's unease. This radiation disaster zone seemed unusually vast. Even after advancing three or four kilometers into the county, the radiation levels showed no signs of decreasing. In fact, they continued to climb, surpassing a factor of 10,000.

"What on earth happened here?" Su Wu muttered, realizing something was amiss.

He slowed the vehicle further, carefully surveying the surroundings through the panoramic glass. According to his map, he was now in the county's central area. The view outside confirmed this, with banks, pharmacies, restaurants, and supermarkets lining the streets. Remarkably, many of the details remained intact, including street signs and air conditioning units mounted outside windows.

"If not for the radiation disaster, this place might have been the luckiest town," Su Wu thought.

Despite neighboring Jianghe City suffering devastating storms and earthquakes that caused tens of thousands of casualties, Lingzhu County appeared untouched. However, any luck was nullified by the onset of the radiation disaster, which turned the entire area into a death trap.

He glanced at the external radiation level displayed on the screen: 52,137 times normal.

This figure indicated that stepping outside the vehicle without protection would result in near-instant fatal radiation exposure. Even the oppressive 90-degree heat seemed mild compared to the invisible danger of radiation.

As the base vehicle's steel tracks crushed a stray tire with a loud pop, it passed the entrance of an underground shopping mall. Su Wu's eyes lingered momentarily on the entrance. Heavy metal doors had been installed, indicating the mall had been converted into a shelter. Yet, radar scans showed that the shelter was eerily silent, devoid of even the basic sounds of air circulation or cooling systems.

It suggested one of two possibilities: either the shelter had been abandoned, or its inhabitants were all dead. Given the sudden nature of radiation disasters and the closed doors, the latter seemed far more likely.

The thought of thousands of human corpses lying beneath the vehicle sent a shiver down Su Wu's spine. Shaking his head to dispel the grim imagery, he cautiously steered the vehicle further into the town.

After another ten minutes, the base vehicle finally emerged from Lingzhu County and entered open terrain. The radiation alarm, which had been blaring incessantly, finally subsided, and the levels dropped to a more manageable 1,500 times normal. Su Wu's tension eased slightly.

"That was terrifying," he muttered to himself.

If not for the vehicle's robust defenses, even a fully equipped radiation suit would have been insufficient to traverse this area safely. For any living being, Lingzhu County was now a literal hell on earth.

At that moment, the vehicle's AI alerted him that someone was repeatedly attempting to establish contact. Su Wu opened the communication channel.

"This is Miaoyu Shelter, located under Lingzhu County. Incoming vehicle from Lingzhu, please respond."

Su Wu considered for a moment before replying, "This is the vehicle. What's the situation?"

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