Chapter 146: The Rain Temporarily Ceases

"You little brat, did I say you could leave, you hag?!"

Liu Mu shifted her feet, dodging one explosion after another, charging toward Night Owl regardless of anything else.

The aircraft in the sky discovered the Red Mist, and seeing their companions swallowed by the Red Mist before they could escape, they no longer dared to continue the bombardment.

Just as the pilots attempted to guide their companions to retreat, they received a new order: at all costs, hold back the army sent by the Haicheng Barrier, and do not let them return to the Barrier under any circumstances.

The order came from a higher-authority channel within the organization, which meant they had been directly taken over by other high-level officials; they no longer needed to execute the current mission, nor were they subject to the current commander's dispatch.

The modified helicopters were equipped with a local scanning system adapted for the apocalypse; they could find ambushed enemies through simple thermal imaging, and as long as the power was strong enough, the scan could even penetrate the enemies' protective suits to capture heat sources.

After confirming the order, the helicopters suddenly changed direction, and four missiles were fired at the mountain peak several kilometers away without warning.

The soldiers who had just laid down cursed, then rolled down the mountain on the spot, clutching their respective weapons amidst the flying mud and gravel.

"Everyone, prepare to attack!"

"Awoo, woof woof woof woof!" — Gangzi, shoot them down!

Li Gang, lurking on another mountain peak, could not understand Gouzi's language, but his sniper soul had long been unable to hold back. The reinforced bullets came from the 'Mystery Arms Dealer' Liu Mu; of course, this also included the only sniper rifle capable of using such bullets.

23 centimeters, black alloy warhead, special ignition propulsion, whoosh—

The bullet with a blue flame tail flew out, the recoil knocking the top sniper to the ground, but this did not affect Li Gang's control over the precision.

The bullet, like a baby's arm, carried a shriek that tore through the air; as Li Gang slammed into the mud, he saw it penetrate the fuel tank of the armed helicopter, pierce through the pilot's body, and keep going until it crashed into another helicopter—Boom!

If Liu Mu had a chance to survive, Li Gang strongly wanted to say to her: "Boss, give me ten more rounds; this bullet is so fucking satisfying to shoot!"

"Hahahaha, go to hell, you turtle grandson!"

The laughter pierced through the explosions, vibrating the eardrums along with the 'fireworks' bursting in the night sky.

The light curtains from the successive explosions provided brief illumination, causing the soldiers dodging the missile blasts to look up one after another, exclamations rising and falling.

"Who shot that? Holy shit, I want to call him daddy!"

Li Gang, feeling his shoulder dislocate, slowly stood up, "... Good son."

That's right, only his brief precognition could capture the 'movements' of the aircraft, allowing the potential of this bullet to be maximized.

That's right, it had to be him, Li Gang!

Below, the helicopters roared for a long while above the Red Mist, and Liu Mu also saw those two fireworks; the intense light of the explosion even briefly dazzled her eyes, but it did not affect her tracking of the target.

"What now? Your plane is gone, Night Owl. One of us has to die, and I don't plan on dying. How about you?"

Liu Mu shot a hand grenade out of the air, leaped over ten meters amidst the explosion, and fired two consecutive shots; although she only grazed Night Owl's thigh, it was enough for the blood mist's effect to continue strengthening.

"Special Action Team member No. 688, Major Liu Mu, today I'll teach you Tiankuishe a lesson: blood debts must be repaid with blood."

The gunfire continued, but the explosions became fewer and fewer. Night Owl did not have a treasure bag, and after throwing the hand grenades hanging on his body for so long, he had finally reached the last one.

As an opponent, Liu Mu almost instantly discovered that Night Owl had changed his fighting method.

"Suicide?"

Honestly, she didn't have an obsession with having to hack her enemy into seventy or eighty pieces with her own hands; as long as they were dead, whether it was suicide or homicide, weren't they both dead?

Who knew that although Night Owl had stopped, there was still not a trace of panic in his expression; instead, he took a step forward toward the position where Liu Mu had stopped. "What did you hide here? Now I am certain, you are truly not from the Huaguo official side. Then, what was it that made you mutate to this extent?"

The tone of Night Owl's speech always gave people a strange sense of dissonance; hearing it now, it seemed as if he were dubbing someone, always keeping up that affectation, which made the listener very uncomfortable.

Liu Mu shook her left hand, which had been badly shocked by electricity earlier; a layer of black carbonized material peeled off, revealing a brand-new, snow-white skin underneath. Her broad palm habitually flipped, and another Dog-leg Knife appeared.

"It wouldn't be too much effort to hack you to death."

That was her not answering. What a joke; although she couldn't be called kind, she really wasn't the type of villain who died from talking too much. "Which part do you want to lose? I can satisfy that request."

Having fought to this point, Night Owl naturally wouldn't ask for trouble again. He pulled the black ring, and he released his hand with almost no hesitation.

Liu Mu frowned slightly, sensing something fishy, but her body reacted a step faster to the explosion, and she retreated.

The moment of revenge felt as if the countdown were infinitely elongated.

In the brief three seconds, Liu Mu retreated a long distance, but just at the last second, Night Owl also moved.

Half a minute later, automatic rifle bullets were fired into the seawater as if they were free; two magazines were emptied, but there wasn't a trace of blood on the water's surface.

"Damn it, fuck!"

Liu Mu smashed her gun hard into the concrete ground. As the gun fell apart, she wanted to jump into the water to pursue, but the lesson from not long ago made her stepping leg stop in mid-air.

Two kills, the same commander—would Night Owl do something suicidal again while she was away? She didn't dare to gamble.

Madman!

Many people might think Liu Mu is crazy, but only she knows that Night Owl, who jumped off an eight-meter-high water surface half a minute ago while heavily injured and without the slightest hesitation, is the truly inhuman madman!

At the very least, even the current Liu Mu couldn't let over a hundred of her subordinates die in the Red Mist without blinking an eye. Not to mention blowing up the entire Tiankuishe Base No. 18, as well as the artificially created Zombies on the ship.

"Coward... ptooey, you got lucky today, kid!"

Liu Mu turned around, pretending to be nonchalant, and waited for a while, but there was no movement on the water surface. He actually didn't hide to prepare an ambush for her; she was even angrier.

She wasn't worried that Night Owl would take the ship; that big guy couldn't be driven away by one or two people.

The Headquarters that had just finished its foundation was a wasted effort. She also had to take back the Red Mist as soon as possible; this thing was only safe to use when her own people were clearing the field. If it invaded the underground for too long, the losses would be more than just a little bit.

There was still gunfire in the distance; from the heaven-shaking roar of Niu Boyi, one could tell what was going on.

The helicopters that exploded into fireworks in the sky, the bad guys on the ground running faster than the Red Mist—they were actually launching a suicide attack on the Barrier's army.

These people...

Are they sick?

It's already the apocalypse, isn't it better to just stay alive?

On the side of the Wall Army,

In the binoculars, the Red Mist was rolling, and added to the scene illuminated by the previous explosion, it was simply a world-destroying sight in a living hell.

The people of Tiankuishe were scared out of their wits, and the Wall Army wasn't much better off.

Especially in the investigation report on the casualties of the Special Action Team over the past week, everyone already knew the dangers of the Red Mist; when it appeared in large areas, it could instantly swallow an entire army.

But they couldn't leave; besides Liu Gang telling them that the Red Mist wouldn't attack them, it was also because the remnants of Tiankuishe were coming in their direction.

During the exchange of fire, someone shouted that the Red Mist was retreating.

As if a dark cloud pressing down on their foreheads had dissipated, the Wall Army finally stopped being timid and unleashed their full strength to fight the remaining few enemies.

The person who shouted was none other than Li Gang, who had just reattached his own shoulder; as for how he was so sure it was Liu Mu's handiwork, please, just look at the worshipful gaze of the big sycophant beside her—what else is there to understand?

He shouldered his rifle, intending to snipe a few more reckless Sky Viper snakes, when suddenly, his head received a heavy blow.

It was Niu Boyi's front paw, larger than a sandbag, pressing him directly into the mud.

With his remaining eye, he barely managed to see through the gaps in the dog's paw a tiny sun rising from the Red Mist, which, a few seconds later, landed accurately among the enemies.

Anyone who has seen "Giant Sun Descends" feels terror at this sight.

But this little sun wasn't quite as overbearing; it was just unclear if the person who launched it had foresight, as the explosion triggered a landslide.

Even if the remnants of the Sky Viper snakes weren't blown to death on the spot, they were buried by the mud and rocks that followed.

"Illumination!"

Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh—

Three flares rose into the sky.

Li Gang finally managed to shake off the dog's excessive "protection" and wiped the mud from his face, only to see the woman emerging from the Red Mist in the light of the flares launched by someone unknown.

With the red flare in front,

Behind the dark red thick mist,

Carrying an RPG on her shoulder,

Was Liu Mu~

It's not that it was shocking, but it was truly cool!

If it weren't for the fact that weapons aren't prohibited in this day and age, it could practically be turned into a recruitment poster.

Click—

A tiny sound, a massive flash.

A certain soldier shouted excitedly, "Got the shot! Our squad's recruitment has hope!"

Li Gang silently gave a thumbs up; he was also a heavy weapons user, so why wasn't his heroic posture of sniping two aircraft with one shot captured on film?

But the next moment, Zhuo Qing's order came, "Everyone, fall back!"

Boom—

Another rocket shell exploded, making everyone's scalp tingle.

Retreating down the mountain for the second time, someone didn't understand, "Does the Major not know we're on the mountain? If she keeps bombing like this, the mountain will be blown away."

First the large-caliber Missile, now the rocket shells; this mountain really couldn't take it.

Only Gouzi knew that Master was just looking for someone to vent her anger on; it seemed things weren't going smoothly, so it would be best to keep its tail tucked and stay far away from her for the next two days.

……

……

The seawater surged, drilling coldly into the wounds.

How many years had it been since he suffered such injuries or endured such hardship?

Night Owl couldn't remember the exact time, but the only thing he could be certain of was that the hand that had pulled him out of the rotting corpse pit would never appear again.

The man who had smiled and asked him if he wanted to kill all his enemies before leaving, the man who had smilingly tricked him into joining the Sky Viper snakes, the man who made him have to risk his life to climb and use all his effort just to see him again... was dead.

The tide rose and fell, and for a moment, Night Owl felt that Joseph wasn't actually dead, that he was right beside him, waiting in the same sea area.

Waiting for what?

Oh, he struggled to open his eyes; the pain in his body seemed to have been soaked away by the seawater, and along with it, his will to survive.

Waiting for death, perhaps.

Joseph had lied again; he had clearly promised that when he died, he would be watching.

——"Just live well for now; when you're dying, call me Daddy, and Daddy will come to save you."

"……Joseph."

Night Owl didn't know if he had made a sound, or if the sound of the sea was too loud, preventing Joseph from hearing his cry for help.

Who could save whom?

He hadn't been able to save Joseph, so naturally, Joseph couldn't come to save him either.

Or, was he still resenting him even in death for not being willing to call him "Daddy"?

Human emotions are complex and fickle, but death is fair to everyone.

If you can't get revenge, what difference is there from being dead?

"To be, or not to be, that is the question……"

"To die or not to die?"

"Die and go keep him company, or don't die and avenge him."

"Death is a part of life; we are destined to face it."

Night Owl tried to convince himself, pulling back his mask; his face, eroded by the Red Mist, was pitted and scarred, and under the irritation of the seawater, it presented an irregular, distinct red-and-white mesh, as if a layer of white reticulated fungus was covering the blood-red flesh.

Only the skin inside the mask remained intact, and because of blood loss and hypothermia, it was as pale as a corpse.

"Die on the side of the road? Die in the sea? Once you're dead, who cares where it is?"

"Everyone will die, but not everyone has truly lived. ……Joseph, how exactly did you want me to live?"

——"Little Night Owl, it's the end of the world; you have to truly live, and no one can restrict you anymore. Not even Daddy—well, you're not planning on calling me Father today either, are you?"

On the night they parted, Joseph seemed to have sensed something and stayed to talk with him for a long time.

Perhaps, when he sent him to meet up with that child Hong, he had also anticipated the danger; if he had known earlier... he wouldn't have let him go.

"Daddy," Night Owl's dim pupils, entangled with bloodshot veins, trembled violently, and tiny specks of light rose from within them, as if they were the starry sky he and Joseph had once watched together.

"I will not die; I will pull through, just like before."

The person who had been drifting suddenly moved, took a deep breath of the white mist, and then swam vigorously in a certain direction toward the open sea.

In that direction, at that location, Night Owl had long since sensed a kind of trapped danger.

At this moment, however, it had become a lifeline worth risking for him.

Mirages, the mirage—this type of creature exists.

……

……

The Red Mist gradually vanished, and the space protected by vines slowly rose from underground; the people hiding within did not know exactly what had happened on the surface, but they felt the tremors of the explosion.

Liu Mu left the subsequent matters to Li Gang and went first to check on Xu Xiaofeng's condition.

The bombing had damaged many of the Great Master Flower's roots and stems, and Xu Xiaofeng, as part of the main body, was also in a very bad state.

When she saw her in the basement, she was covered in blood, with half her body buried in the soil, looking like a plant ravaged by a storm.

Zhang Xiaoyong and Hong were both guarding her side; the former held Xu Xiaofeng's hand tightly, while the latter continuously applied some medicine to her body, attempting to help treat her wounds.

"Sorry, Big Sister's wounds are too numerous. There is very little I can do; I can only try my best to alleviate her pain."

Seeing Liu Mu enter, Hong did not stop his movements, pouring a vial of blue reagent along Xu Xiaofeng's arm into the soil below.

"The depth is not enough," Liu Mu knelt on one knee in front of Xu Xiaofeng and said worriedly, "Big Sister, sink down and recuperate; leave the rest to us. The current depth won't allow you to rest properly."

Xu Xiaofeng's complexion was a plant-like cyan, covered in fine fuzz, and even her hair had turned into the fine filaments found in flower stamens.

"Are you really not leaving? How is it outside?"

"Mm, I will stay at home for the time being. Rest easy," Liu Mu said, taking the reagent bottle from Hong's hand amidst his puzzled gaze.

She sliced her fingertip and dripped two drops of her own blood into it, "My blood has some analgesic effects. Go back into the main body and sleep soundly; leave the matters afterward to me."

After several upgrades, Liu Mu did not possess the ability to heal others herself; the detoxification ability in her blood did have some sedative effects, but the dosage for organisms other than herself could not be high, otherwise, it would conflict with the organism itself, or even truly dissolve the person (Corpse Dissolving Water).

Xu Xiaofeng used her branches to soothe Zhang Xiaoyong before letting Hong pour the medicinal water onto her root system, sinking into the soil under the gaze of the three.

This underground cold storage, which had been converted into a central control room, was a full eighty square meters; apart from the mainframe and tables and chairs moved in earlier, the remaining space was quite large.

It must have been for the convenience of entering and exiting that Xu Xiaofeng had dismantled one wall, exposing the underground soil and rock layers to form an underground cavern.

The main body of the Great Master Flower was deep underground here, so even if she stayed in the main control room, she could clearly know the situation outside.

Ten minutes later, the information in Heitao A showed that Xu Xiaofeng had entered a deep sleep, and it asked whether to let the system provide reasonable treatment.

Liu Mu refused.

She was, of course, not unconcerned about Xu Xiaofeng; she was mainly afraid that the system's influence on the latter would be too deep.

Unlike Niu Boyi, Xu Xiaofeng was a biological combination with her own independent thoughts and consciousness; she did not need, and could not rely on, Liu Mu to survive.

To put it simply, Xu Xiaofeng had to experience battle after battle, injury, and self-healing, letting herself become stronger and stronger, rather than relying on external forces to recover whenever she was injured, without making any progress herself.

One must know that in the near future, human Awakening itself would have no room for upgrades. And Xu Xiaofeng's case, even if placed in the previous life, was extremely rare; even if she could not clearly upgrade like Liu Mu herself, she should be able to continuously develop new abilities.

The Great Master Flower was a growing plant, and Xu Xiaofeng was a human with wisdom; there was no reason for the combination of the two to become a stagnant pool of water.

Just as Liu Mu was repairing the system damaged this time, she heard Zhang Xiaoyong crying.

The eight-year-old child was squatting in the cavern where Big Sister had sunk; seemingly feeling ashamed, he buried his head between his legs, emitting low sobs like a kitten, appearing all the more small and pitiful.

Hong, who was four years older than him, was busy collecting the branches and roots left behind after Xu Xiaofeng was injured; hearing the crying, he stopped.

Hong's height was not much taller than Zhang Xiaoyong's, and he was not even as strong as the latter, possessing the typical characteristics of a nerdy boy. He placed his still-slender hand on top of Zhang Xiaoyong's head and said somewhat stiffly, "What are you crying for? Your Big Sister will be better soon, right? Her Self-healing Ability is very strong."

Zhang Xiaoyong buried his head and shook it, "I'm not worried about Big Sister. Those bad guys killed so many newcomers, and I couldn't help at all. Why have you all Mutated and have superpowers, but I don't?"

"Mutation requires certain conditions; not everyone can complete it. Over eighty percent of people will die because of Mutation failure. Your genetic test results are not optimistic; the probability of death from forced Mutation exceeds ninety percent." Hong's voice still had some childishness, yet the words he spoke were so calm that even adults would find them heartless, but because he wanted to comfort the child before him, his tone appeared very awkward.

"I really am useless!" Zhang Xiaoyong finally couldn't hold it back, looked up, and cried out loud.

Since the apocalypse, he had insisted on exercising every day, just thinking about growing up quickly and becoming a useful person who could protect his two sisters.

But he could understand what Hong said; he could not Mutate, or he would die.

"Who says only Mutated people are useful? Come here," Liu Mu stopped her work, glanced at the two, somewhat helpless at the child's calmness, "Look, Hong hasn't Mutated either, yet he can still find things suitable for him to do. You just haven't found yours yet."

"Really?" Hearing Liu Mu say this, Zhang Xiaoyong immediately stopped crying; in fact, this time he was more scared than anything else.

During the previous attack by the Great Master Flower, he had lost consciousness from the start and didn't know how many people had died in the Scrap Station. But this time, he had witnessed with his own eyes the children and adults who were with him being shot and killed by the bad guys; several of those children were his little companions who followed him every day and listened to his arrangements.

And those who were picked to guard this place—they held out until Xu Xiaofeng brought everyone into the underground, suffering heavy casualties.

"Yes," wiping his tears, Liu Mu let go and squatted down to look him in the eye, "Xiao Yong, look at Sister's eyes. Everyone who can survive in the apocalypse must possess their own unique ability. You just haven't discovered your potential yet, so you must dig out your potential through exercise and learning. It won't be too long; the next time we are attacked, you will be able to fight side by side with Big Sister and me!"

This speech made Hong shake his head on the side, but Zhang Xiaoyong received immense encouragement, "Second Sister, I will continue to work hard, even harder than before!"

A child's confidence is easy to build, but it doesn't last long, especially under the circumstance of suffering repeated blows. That is why they need the adults around them to constantly encourage them, preferably by proposing clear directions and achievable short-term goals.

Liu Mu could give Zhang Xiaoyong a clear direction for his efforts, but she would not coddle him too much; coddling was no different from killing them for children in the apocalypse.

Having received encouragement, Zhang Xiaoyong spontaneously went to the surface to help, leaving only Liu Mu and Hong in the room.

"If the samples you need are about ready, come with me to the ship," Liu Mu confirmed the mainframe was not damaged and said to Hong, "Your former colleagues sent us a big gift."

As for repairing the system, Heitao A only needed a few seconds to complete it. It was just that Hong was here, so it couldn't be done too obviously.

"No. 5 Mutation Virus, I've already heard Li Gang mention it," Hong was very calm, as if the people on the ship being infected was not a big deal, "It is a weapon developed by the Tiankuishe Biochemical Laboratory. The current one should be the third version; it is highly contagious and fast, but at the same time, it has a fatal flaw."

These words made Liu Mu feel uncomfortable, and she turned back to sneer, "It's fatal enough; those people are dead for sure, right?"

"Mm, dead for sure. The fatal flaw is that the decay period is only eight hours; we can go on board to clean up later." Seeing her displeased expression, Hong thought for a moment and said, "Their deaths are a form of elimination. Except for the people Li Gang brought out, the rest were those who were unwilling to get off the ship to endure labor and surrendered immediately upon learning that Tiankuishe was making a comeback."

"Sister Mu, you don't need to feel sorry for their deaths; they wouldn't have been able to help us even if they stayed. Moreover, Tiankuishe never wants people who have surrendered; even if it were me, I would be dealt with if I went back."

"Are you trying to say that Night Owl came to kill you?" This rule actually surprised Liu Mu; given Hong's status in Tiankuishe, shouldn't they be actively rescuing him?

Hong did not hide it, "If they can't take me away, I can only die. Tiankuishe is different from other organizations; every position has several candidates, including the organization leader. Once a death or betrayal occurs, someone will immediately fill the spot."

So cruel, yet so practical; Liu Mu cursed under her breath, but still couldn't help asking, "You really are full of talent; I'm a bit envious. Do you have any Zombie Virus on you?"

"I do, but no finished product," Hong finally frowned, his youthful face showing some disgust, "I want to research an antidote; do you think that's okay?"

"That is more than okay. If you can research it, I will have the bargaining chip to negotiate with the authorities to return your freedom. Keep it up."

Liu Mu said, beckoning Hong to leave the main control room, "Let's get this straight first: we do not research biochemical weapons."

"I won't. I do not wish for humanity to go extinct," Hong nodded, wiping the dirt off his fingers with a floral handkerchief. "From this perspective, I agree with the creed of the Sky Viper. Unlike the Holy Sisterhood, who deceive themselves into believing that those who descended from the sky are their gods, and are hell-bent on sacrificing Earth. They even preach that all humans are sinful, and that extinction is the highest form of self-redemption."

Liu Mu pressed the elevator button and suddenly grew irritable, "No, where did this Holy Sisterhood even pop up from?"

The young Hong's pupils were as deep as dark pools; he stared at Liu Mu for a long time until the elevator reached the ground floor, then sighed, "Sister Mu, your intelligence is too limited. I originally thought that since you knew about the 'Outsiders' and the Sky Viper, you should know about the world's few major anarchist organizations."

"Well, my apologies then," Liu Mu held the elevator door and let Hong out, "I really am just a scrap collector."

"That's troublesome then, Sister Mu. I am responsible for the research within the organization, and I don't have much other intelligence," Hong said with a maturity beyond his years, his long eyebrows knitted tightly together. "We really should have caught Night Owl; he knows everything. With this operation having failed, the organization will likely send him to another region, and I'm afraid we won't be able to see him again in the future."

"Huh?" Liu Mu didn't take Hong's words to heart, but instead noticed something wrong after stepping out, "Little one, has the rain stopped?"