Chapter 2.2: Explore the Outside World
—The Blue Sea exploration team was carefully making their way through a dense forest.
The Safe City had landed in a quiet valley. They had been walking for quite a while, occasionally spotting animals running past, but they hadn’t encountered a single intelligent lifeform.
The commander-in-chief’s radio suddenly crackled to life:
“Command, Command! This is Vanguard Recon Team 2! We’ve discovered a village at the foot of the mountain—around a hundred houses. There is no smoke from chimneys. There appear to be dried bloodstains on the ground. There are figures moving, but we cannot clearly identify them. Requesting instructions. Over!”
Before the commander-in-chief could respond, a bishop in blue robes was escorted over.
“Commander.”
“Your Eminence.”
The two exchanged brief greetings, and the Blue-robed Bishop immediately got to the point:
“The Divine has delivered an oracle. There is impurity in this place. A curse will spread between living beings. It is extremely horrifying.”
The commander-in-chief frowned and turned to look at the soldiers behind him.
“If a curse can spread between people, with so many of us here, we could be overwhelmed in an instant!”
The Blue-robed Bishop waved a hand.
“If caught off guard, we would certainly fall victim. But Blue Sea is under the protection of the Divine. Now that we know of the impurity, we can of course make preparations in advance.”
At his signal, hooded priests brought over crates upon crates of medical supplies.
When the boxes were opened, they contained sets of protective suits.
The Bishop placed a hand over his chest.
“We give thanks to the Divine. We have brought a sufficient number of tactical protective suits.”
“The impurity may spread through any possible route. Until we determine its transmission method, all soldiers are to wear protective suits. Avoid injuries or any exposed wounds as much as possible. Unless absolutely necessary, do not make close contact with any local flora or fauna. Only consume food and water we have brought ourselves. If anyone shows symptoms of illness, they are to be isolated immediately.”
The commander-in-chief nodded without hesitation.
“Understood. I’ll immediately order everyone to put on protective suits.”
…What?
Are you questioning how contagious it is? Worried that wearing protective suits might make combat difficult?
This is a divine oracle!
Any Blue Sea citizen would act swiftly and obediently in the face of a divine oracle.
At the same time, the commander-in-chief issued orders to all the vanguard teams:
“Do not make close contact with any local plants or animals. Those so-called ‘locals’ you’ve seen—do not approach them! Maintain a minimum distance of 200 meters. Cover your mouth and nose. Properly bandage all exposed wounds. Even the smallest scratch must be tightly covered! Everyone is to remain in place. I will send personnel to deliver protective suits to you!”
“Second Vanguard Team, drone unit, report immediately.”
The members of the Second Vanguard Team looked somewhat regretfully at the village at the foot of the mountain.
“Ah, so we’re stuck here on standby now. I originally thought Command would send us to make contact—this would’ve been a major merit!”
“Yeah,” another member agreed, also sounding regretful as he wiped his gun while staring at the distant village.
“It actually looks pretty nice here. Fresh air, lush vegetation… seems like a good place to build a new home. It doesn’t look like a God-abandoned land at all.”
The team leader, holding binoculars, frowned.
“Stop talking. The oracle is clear—do whatever Command says. There’s something strange about these locals. Not approaching them is the correct decision.”
The deputy team leader also raised binoculars.
“Captain, what did you notice?”
“If you look closely, they’re constantly moving around—like they never get tired. Who would walk in circles around a village nonstop like that? And look—crops in the fields have fallen to the ground, gone moldy and blackened. Don’t tell me these locals actually eat spoiled grain?”
After lowering the binoculars, the captain thought for a moment and cautiously added:
“I can’t say for sure though. This might be an alien planet after all. Maybe aliens are just different from us—they like eating moldy crops and walking around endlessly.”
Human beings and animals don’t even share the same habits.
Maybe alien species simply have… unique preferences?
“Let’s wait for the drone unit. Once we use drones, we’ll know immediately.”
—The drone unit soon arrived, wearing tactical protective suits and gas masks.
“In the name of the Divine!”
The Second Vanguard Team leader immediately responded, “Blue Sea endures forever!”
With the password confirmed, twelve members of the drone unit, carrying heavy equipment, quickly approached.
“We brought protective suits for you. Put them on.”
After the vanguard team put on their protective gear, two drones had already taken off.
There was no small talk between the groups. The drone unit had already opened a black suitcase—once unfolded, it revealed an integrated screen and control panel.
As the drones flew, the footage was transmitted back to the screen.
The view passed through forests, crossed rivers, and reached above the village. The people below seemed to notice it too and began moving toward it.
The operator said while adjusting the controls, “The image isn’t very clear. I’ll fly lower.”
The team leader replied, “Approved.”
The drone continued descending, and the figures on the ground finally became clearly visible on the screen.
Everyone drew a sharp breath.
Most of these people had pale bluish-white faces. Some had already rotted; others were missing arms or legs. Some had lost half their face, with an eyeball still hanging out along with bits of tissue on their cheek.
In the footage, none of them had pupils in their eyes. Their mouths opened and closed repeatedly. Their fingernails were long and black. They stretched out their arms while letting out inhuman, raspy howls, trying to grab the drone overhead.
“Creator God above!”
“What are these things?!”
“Those people… are they digging up corpses and eating the flesh? Pulling out intestines… intestines are coming out… ugh—!!”
When the drone unit leader heard the commotion, he looked up. Seeing that it was someone from his own team, he immediately darkened his expression—though of course, with a gas mask on, no one could see it.
“Rookie, don’t vomit inside your gas mask. Hold it in!”
The rookie quickly looked away and forced himself to suppress the urge to vomit.
The Vanguard Team leader had also looked up. Seeing that it wasn’t someone from her own team, she relaxed slightly. Just as she was about to continue watching, a rookie from her team suddenly spoke up:
“Team Leader, you’re right. If the locals look like this, maybe they really do eat moldy crops!”
The Vanguard Team leader snapped, “Are you blind?! The locals clearly didn’t look like this at first! Didn’t the oracle say there’s impurity? They must have been infected by the impurity and turned into this!”
The moment she said this, everyone—whether from the vanguard team or the drone unit—quietly tightened their protective suits and checked their gas masks to make sure they were still properly sealed.
The Blue Sea people weren’t afraid of fighting, but if they got infected and ended up like that, they’d rather die.
The Vanguard Team leader pressed a hand against her gas mask.
“Report this to Command first, then wait for instructions.”
The drone unit leader also issued an order: “This drone is no longer needed. Fly it to other areas and see if we can observe anything else.”
After the drone climbed higher, they could see several other drones rising on the far side of the mountain—other drone teams were also carrying out missions.
The once-silent mountain was now filled with activity. The buzzing of drones echoed everywhere, and the footage being transmitted back left each drone team in silence.
“Oh Divine… what is this? It’s terrifying!”
“Perhaps only the great Creator God knows what these… monsters are…”
And the Creator God was indeed watching the footage.
“Zombies?”
Chang Qisheng stared at the creatures dragging their decaying bodies as they chased the drones, falling into deep thought.
In the chat group, “Coriander” was crying his heart out.
[I sent 20 people to scout, and only 3 came back!]
[Wuwuwuwu… thank goodness I’d seen similar movies in my original world. I quarantined the survivors, or we would’ve been wiped out completely.]
[@Withered Star Safe City Thank you, boss! You saved my life! Boss, my residents brought back three nuclear crystals from the mission. This is everything I have—please don’t despise it!]
The Coriander Safe City transferred three nuclear crystals to the Withered Star Safe City.
Cheng Qisheng blinked.
Coriander sent out a team and actually got three nuclear crystals back?
Where did the nuclear crystals come from?
Could it be like in some film settings, where they’re inside zombies’ heads? If so, things would be much simpler.
Withered Star accepted the crystals and replied:
[If you have wood, build an isolation facility first.]
It was cold and detached, but it contained key information.
[Coriander Safe City: Okay okay, thank you boss for the reminder! I’ll immediately arrange for residents to build an isolation facility! Wuwuwuwu I have no manpower and barely any weapons. Why did I end up in such a dangerous world as my second world? I only have over twenty guns in total! Is my AI brain actually just artificial stupidity?! Wuwuwuwu!]
[Cosmic Lord Safe City: Coriander, acknowledge me as your leader. I’ll send people to protect you.]
That tone made its intentions blatantly obvious.
It practically had “give me your coordinates so I can come eliminate you” written on its face.
Coriander seemed stunned by how the “Cosmic Lord” treated him like an idiot, and after two minutes of silence, he carefully replied:
[Coriander Safe City: …Thank you, boss, but it’s okay. I’ll try to survive on my own. If necessary, I’ll just hide like a turtle and not go out anymore. Wuwuwu.]
Being targeted by the Cosmic Lord wasn’t entirely bad—at least its rival, “Meow Meow,” would definitely show up because of it.
[Meow Meow Safe City: Human! You’re quite smart! Meow will comfort you! You’re not even the most unlucky one, meow—there’s a pure newbie in our group who got dropped into this world on their very first arrival, meow! That newbie is the truly unlucky one!]
[Coriander Safe City: Thank you, Boss Meow Meow. I do feel much better now. At least I’m not a pure newbie—I still have some experience. A pure newbie must be having a much harder time!]
The “pure newbie” Cheng Qisheng: ……
A zombie world is indeed dangerous.
But she glanced at her Safe City.
During the relocation, Qin Zhi had ordered that even if everything and everyone had to be squeezed so tightly there wasn’t even space to stand, they must still move as many critical resources as possible—this naturally included the national armory.
It could be said that the armory alone accounted for at least 30% of how crowded the Safe City was now.
Cheng Qisheng didn’t even know how Qin Zhi managed to move an entire armory into the Safe City in such a short time.
But it didn’t matter. The Creator God didn’t need to understand the process—only enjoy the result.
——Her gaze swept inside.
Bayonets, pistols, rifles, submachine guns, light machine guns, heavy machine guns, rocket launchers, grenade launchers……
Military helmets, bulletproof vests, tactical backpacks, night-vision devices, binoculars, rangefinders, radios, walkie-talkies……
Armored vehicles of all types, off-road trucks, mortars, missiles, rocket artillery vehicles, communication command vehicles, military drones……
There were also various military supplies, battlefield medical equipment, special combat readiness materials, as well as aerial weaponry such as armed helicopters, fighter jets, and all kinds of airborne ammunition.
Everything together clearly showed one thing:
This was the war reserve arsenal of a major nation.
In the chat group, Coriander was still sympathizing with her.
[Poor newbie, hasn’t said a word. First time arriving and already in such a dangerous place—she must be terrified right now @Unnamed Safe City. I don’t have much I can help with either, I’ll send you some wood! You can use it to build a fence at least, it’ll give you a bit of safety.]
The jellyfish AI spoke up:
[City Lord, Coriander Safe City is sending you 1 ton of hardwood. Accept transfer?]
Cheng Qisheng looked at the message, then at the fully packed arsenal, then at the Blue Sea citizens who were currently working furiously on construction—so intensely that they looked like they wanted to raise the defensive walls all the way into the sky.
Thanks… but she actually felt pretty safe right now.
Really.
