Chapter 28 – Xiaohei 小黑

The water level finally began to recede slowly. However, standing by the window and looking at the gradually emerging ruins of the city, Lin Yuan didn't feel relieved. Although the flood had gone, the air was filled with a putrid smell, and the streets were littered with garbage left behind by the flood and decaying corpses. The temperature seemed to be fixed at a suffocating level, and there was no coolness even at night.

Lin Yuan closed the window and turned to look at Cao Yuwei, who had just finished washing the dishes. As she wiped her hands, she said, "This weather doesn't feel right. It's a bad omen."

Lin Yuan didn't say anything, but in his heart, he thought of the reminder from the Jiuchong Ring and the information he had sensed from the plants. The second stage of the doomsday seemed to have quietly arrived.

After dinner, Cao Yuwei turned on the battery-powered radio, and a garbled broadcast came from it:

"Warning: Riots and cannibalism reported nearby. Stay home, avoid going out. Official rescue team is here. Stay at home and wait for rescue."

Cao Yuwei frowned and turned to ask Lin Yuan, "Do zombies really exist?"

Lin Yuan hesitated for a moment and finally nodded. "Yes, but the official rescue team is here. At least there's still hope now."

Cao Yuwei sighed. "I hope these rescue teams can hold up."

Lin Yuan didn't tell his aunt that the warnings from the plants had become more and more frequent, especially recently. Danger was spreading across the whole city.

In the first ten-odd days after the rescue team arrived, their operations seemed to go very smoothly. They transferred a large number of trapped residents from the evacuation points, distributed supplies to the survivors, and quickly established several temporary shelters.

The official broadcast even reported the deeds of some of the ability users, such as:

"An ability user who can control flames easily burned a pile of decaying corpses blocking the road and cleared the passage;"

"An ability user made simple defensive walls at rescue points using discarded steel bars and materials."

All this made Lin Yuan and Cao Yuwei heave a sigh of relief, thinking that the situation might develop in a good direction.

However, the good times didn't last long. More than ten days later, the rescue team began to encounter frenzied attacks from zombies.

The strength of a single zombie was nothing to be afraid of, but when they appeared in groups, even the ability users felt overwhelmed. In an accident, an ability user was infected after being scratched and quickly turned into a zombie, and then launched an attack on his teammates. This incident weakened the rescue team and lowered their morale.

The broadcast also became intermittent, and the information was no longer optimistic. Instead, there were increasing death tolls and cries for help.

One night, a brief statement from the rescue team commander came from the radio:

"We will continue to try our best to rescue the survivors and, at the same time, look for important targets... Jiang Tianming, if you can hear this message, please contact us as soon as possible."

Lin Yuan and Cao Yuwei were stunned when they heard this. Cao Yuwei asked in confusion, "Jiang Tianming? Who is he?"

Lin Yuan shook his head. In his heart, he thought the rescue commander's search for this person might relate to the Jiuchong Ring's mission.

...

Jiang Tianming and Jiang Yulian were still living in the apartment at this time. Although the flood had receded, the downstairs was still muddy, and they were trapped in their home on the 15th floor.

Jiang Tianming squatted on the ground and stroked the head of the black dog. "What's wrong, Xiaohei? You haven't been acting right recently."

This black dog had been unusually quiet since Jiang Tianming brought it into the apartment. But recently, it seemed to be "sick". It lay in the corner all day, not eating or drinking, and sometimes gave a low whimpers.

Jiang Yulian put down the water cup in her hand and said worriedly, "Could it be that the environment is too harsh? After all, it's not easy for people to survive now."

Just as Jiang Tianming was about to speak, he noticed that the black dog's body seemed to be undergoing some subtle changes. Its body size seemed to have increased a bit, and its fur began to shine, faintly with a metallic luster.

"This..." Jiang Tianming looked blank. He suddenly saw the dog tag on the black dog's neck start to warm up a bit and give off a strange light.

This dog tag was specially customized by Jiang Tianming, but now it seemed a bit different from what he remembered. Some strange patterns seemed to appear on its surface, like some kind of runes.

"Sister, there seems to be something wrong with this dog tag." Jiang Tianming looked up and said.

Jiang Yulian came over, frowned and took a look, then shook her head. "Maybe you're just being overly concerned? Let's pay attention to Xiaohei's condition first. I hope nothing really goes wrong."

Jiang Tianming nodded.

In the more than ten days since the water level receded, many people were finally able to go out of their homes and try to find resources in the ruins. However, as time went by, they found that the situation was worse than they had imagined:

The corpses left behind after the flood had started to rot, and the air was filled with an unbearable stench;

Food and drinkable water were getting scarcer, and some survivors fought over supplies;

With the high temperature after the rainstorm, a plague was faintly starting to appear.

In over ten days, people's lives got harder.

...

Lin Yuan stood by the window, feeling the warmth of the sun. The corners of his mouth turned up slightly, but he didn't feel much more relaxed in his heart. His intuition told him that this peace was only temporary.

At the same time, when Lin Yuan was observing the water surface, he noticed some strange phenomena. There were many corpses floating on the water, and those corpses seemed abnormal. Their skin was covered in black spots, and some corpses were slightly trembling, as if on the verge of coming back to life.

"Sure enough, the zombies are here..." Lin Yuan gritted his teeth secretly and turned to look at Cao Yuwei, who was tidying up the supplies. He decided to improve his ability as soon as possible and prepare for the upcoming crisis.

====================

水位终于开始缓缓退去,但林远站在窗边,看着逐渐露出的城市废墟,心情并没有因此放松.虽然大水退了,但空气中弥漫着腐臭味,街道上到处是被洪水冲刷后遗留的垃圾和腐败的尸体.气温像是被定住了一般,始终维持在令人窒息的温度,连晚上也没有丝毫凉意.

林远关上窗,回头看着刚洗完碗的江雨薇.她一边擦着手上的水渍,一边说道:"天气这样下去,总觉得不是什么好兆头."

林远没说话,心里却想到了九重戒的提示,以及从植物那里感知到的信息.末日的第二阶段,似乎已经悄然到来.

吃完晚饭后,江雨薇转开电池驱动的收音机,收音机里传来杂音混杂的广播:

"... 警告... 附近区域已经发现暴动与吃人事件,请居民尽量待在家中,避免外出... 另外,官方救援队已经进入本市,请尽量保持联络设备畅通,等待救援."

江雨薇眉头一皱,转头问林远:"丧尸,真的存在?"

林远犹豫了一下,最终点点头:"是的,不过官方的救援队来了,至少现在还有希望."

江雨薇叹了口气:"希望这些救援队能顶得住."

林远没有告诉小姨,植物传递的警告已经变得越来越频繁,尤其是最近,危险的气息正从某些未知的地方向整个城市蔓延.

救援队抵达的前十几天,他们的行动似乎非常顺利.他们从撤离点转移了大量被困的居民,给幸存者分发物资,并迅速建立了几个临时避难所.

官方广播甚至传出了其中几名异能者的事迹,比如:

"一名能控制火焰的异能者,轻易焚烧了堵在路口的一堆腐尸,清理出了通道;"

"一名可以操控金属的异能者,用废弃的钢筋和材料在几个救援点修建了简易的防御墙."

这一切让林远和江雨薇都松了口气,觉得情况或许会朝着好的方向发展.

然而,好景不长.10多天后,救援队开始遭遇丧尸的疯狂袭击.

一只丧尸的力量不足为惧,但当它们以群体出现时,哪怕是异能者也感到力不从心.一次意外中,一名异能者因为被划伤感染,迅速变成了丧尸,并对自己的队友发动袭击.这一事件使得救援队元气大伤,士气低落.

广播也开始变得断断续续,信息内容不再乐观,取而代之的是不断增加的死亡人数,以及求救的哀嚎.

某晚,收音机里传出救援队指挥官的简短声明:

"我们会继续努力营救幸存者,同时寻找重要目标...江天明,如果你能听到这条消息,请尽快和我们取得联系."

林远和江雨薇听到这里,愣了一下.江雨薇疑惑地问:"江天明?他是谁?"

林远摇了摇头,心里却隐隐觉得,援队指挥官找这个人可能和九重戒的任务有些关系.

...

江天明和江玉莲此时仍住在公寓内.虽然大水退去,但楼下依旧泥泞一片,他们被困在15层的家中.

江天明蹲在地上,摸了摸黑狗的头:"怎么了,小黑?你最近不太对劲啊."

这只黑狗从江天明把它带进公寓后就显得异常安静,但最近它似乎有些 "生病" 了,整日趴在角落里,不吃不喝,偶尔会发出低沉的呜咽.

江玉莲放下手中的水杯,担忧地说:"会不会是环境太恶劣了?毕竟现在连人都不好过."

江天明正想说话,却注意到黑狗的身体似乎开始发生了一些微妙的变化,它的体型似乎变大了些,毛发也开始变得发亮,隐隐带着一种金属般的光泽.

"这..." 江天明一脸茫然.他低头查看,忽然发现挂在黑狗脖子上的那枚狗牌也开始微微发热,散发出一种奇异的光芒.

这枚狗牌是江天明专门定制的,但现在它的样子似乎和他记忆中有些不一样了,表面似乎浮现出一些古怪的纹路,像是某种符文.

"姐,这狗牌好像有点问题." 江天明抬头说.

江玉莲走过来,皱眉看了看,随后摇摇头:"可能是你多心了吧?先注意黑狗的状态吧,别真的出什么问题."

江天明点了点头.

水位退去后的这10多天,许多人终于能够走出家门,试图在废墟中寻找资源.然而,随着时间推移,他们发现情况比想象中更加糟糕:

洪水退去后遗留下的尸体已经开始腐烂,空气中弥漫着难以忍受的恶臭;

食物和能饮用的水源愈发紧缺,甚至有幸存者为了争夺物资大打出手;

随着暴雨后的高温,瘟疫隐隐开始出现.

这10多天里,人们的日子越发艰难,但他们仍然怀抱着一丝希望.

...

林远站在窗边,感受着阳光的温暖.他的嘴角微微扬起,但心中却并没有轻松多少.他的直觉告诉他,这样的平静只是暂时的.

与此同时,林远在观察水面时注意到一些奇怪的现象,水面上漂浮着许多尸体,而那些尸体似乎有些异常.它们的皮肤上布满了黑色的斑点,甚至有些尸体在微微颤动,像是即将复苏.

"果然,丧尸来了..." 林远暗自咬牙,转身看向正在收拾物资的江雨薇,决定尽快提升自己的实力,为即将到来的更大危机做好准备.