Apocalypse: I Can See Health Bars
Chapter 28: Humanity’s Hope

Chapter 28: Chapter 28: Humanity’s Hope

"This... is the Jishan Quarantine... Command Post. This is our unit’s... final... transmission... BOOM!"

A loud explosion was heard in the background, and the communicator’s voice clearly faltered for a moment, but he immediately continued broadcasting.

"Our unit was... breached... at dawn... and Sector C has fallen. I repeat... the defensive line has collapsed, the base cannot be maintained..."

"The core... project... has been initiated."

"A-class... personnel... Dr. Zhou, carrying... experimental data... and samples, has been evacuated under... escort... I repeat... evacuated..."

"...a total of thirty-two people... will proceed along... road... toward Linjiang University City... moving along... road... Estimated arrival within... 48 to 72... hours..."

The sound of DAKKA DAKKA DAKKA gunfire grew closer, and the communicator’s voice became rushed.

"...Warning... monsters... (a burst of loud static)... are organized... intelligent..."

"...Extremely fast... difficult... to suppress... Reinforce... defenses!"

"Please... quarantine zone, make... preparations... The project is our unit’s... and perhaps... all of human civilization’s last... hope... at any... at all costs... ensure... their safety!"

"...We... will... buy... time..."

"...BZZZZT..."

...

Su Qing had already listened to the recording several times, but she still cocked her ear, listening intently alongside Lin Fan.

After the first listen, Lin Fan put down his chopsticks, went back to his room to get his phone, and started taking notes as he listened, writing down the words and phrases he could barely make out.

He listened a few more times in a row until he was sure he had recorded everything intelligible, then handed the phone back to Su Qing.

"This..."

Staring at the text he had written on his phone, Lin Fan bit his lip, trying to guess the content of the blank spots.

"Let’s eat first. It’ll get cold again..." Seeing Lin Fan mesmerized by the words on the phone, Su Qing handed him a bowl of rice, then said, more to herself,

"Jishan... is that the one in the suburbs?"

The Jishan Su Qing mentioned was, of course, Jishan County in the Linjiang Suburbs. It was a scenic tourist area, and city dwellers loved to go there on holidays for a quick getaway, staying in farmhouses and eating local food.

"Probably. The broadcast mentioned the Linjiang University City quarantine zone, which matches the text message we received... So this Jishan quarantine zone must be local, too..."

"When did this come in?"

Lin Fan accepted the bowl of rice thoughtfully, asking as he ate.

No matter what the broadcast said—even if the quarantine zone was handing out Succubi—he had to take care of the here and now first.

Eating his fill, getting enough sleep, and restoring his Life Value was still the top priority.

Su Qing took out her phone to check the recording’s timestamp and answered while eating:

"Nine-forty in the morning. I got up and saw it was overcast, so I thought the signal might be a little better. I turned on the radio and went to chop vegetables..."

"Then I heard someone’s voice, which startled me, so I quickly recorded it with my phone. The signal died again after that... I’ve listened to the recording a few times, but I still couldn’t really understand it..."

Piecing together the fragmented information, Lin Fan could make a rough, if unsubstantiated, guess about the situation.

From there, he could infer a few things.

There was a quarantine zone in Jishan, and one at Linjiang University. The two were only about a hundred kilometers apart.

For a major city like Linjiang City, with a permanent population of over ten million, there were probably eight, if not ten, quarantine zones.

But the closest one to them was still the Linjiang University quarantine zone; that was beyond doubt.

Second, there was no reliable way for the quarantine zones to contact each other.

Whether it was the army or the emergency response departments, it was impossible they didn’t even have a decent set of communication equipment. Yet, the Jishan quarantine zone was trying to contact the Linjiang University one by repeatedly hailing them on shortwave radio.

That was a little worrying...

The fiber optic cables for wired equipment required numerous server rooms that needed human maintenance. With zombies everywhere, it was normal for communications to be cut off.

Civilian communications were even more out of the question. Cell phones were completely useless; ever since receiving that one text message, they hadn’t gotten a single bit of information.

’Most importantly, what about satellites?’

The most secure, national-level military communications were completely disabled. Quarantine zones a hundred kilometers apart had to resort to what might as well be sending telegrams!

That was a huge problem.

Not to mention the broadcast’s references to "monsters," "organized," and "intelligent"...

A chill ran down Lin Fan’s spine.

"Monsters" and "intelligent"—Lin Fan had already seen both. And if you counted the single shriek that had drawn so many zombies downstairs, then he’d witnessed "organized" as well.

But what the quarantine zone faced was clearly different from his own situation. In Lin Fan’s imagination, a military quarantine zone would have at least a few hundred people and a few hundred guns.

And yet it was breached just like that. They couldn’t even evacuate properly, only managing to send out one batch of research materials...

"..."

He used to think he just had bad luck, always running into elite-type monsters.

But now he suddenly realized that it might not have been a coincidence. In the future, it would likely be the new normal for living in this world.

Communication between the quarantine zones was cut off. If things continued like this, it was only a matter of time before they were breached one by one.

’It’s true I have the ability to get stronger, but that requires time.’

He had always believed that as long as he kept getting stronger, he could carve out a path for himself in this apocalypse.

’But now, is there still time?’

A sense of urgency suddenly arose in Lin Fan’s heart. He had to be faster. He had to become stronger.

Compared to all this, the "hope," "experiments," and "project" mentioned in the broadcast were the least valuable pieces of information to him. They had nothing to do with him.

Back when he’d awakened his Superpower, he’d even thought he might be humanity’s last hope. But look at him now, trapped in a building, unable to even get into the hallway...

After two more bowls of rice, Lin Fan finally put down his chopsticks.

After all, he was planning to go upstairs to inspect the monster’s corpse soon, and eating too much would make him nauseous.

Plus, he was in a bad mood, so he only ate until he was about seventy percent full.

...

"So what happened? Was that quarantine zone breached?"

After the meal, Su Qing asked Lin Fan while she cleaned up the kitchen,

"What about Linjiang University? Is it still safe? Are we still going?"

Lin Fan couldn’t answer her questions, so he could only try to reassure her:

"Look, the people from that other quarantine zone are trying to get to the Linjiang University one, right? That must mean it’s safer than where they were."

Su Qing was noncommittal but didn’t press the issue. Lin Fan wasn’t a god; how could he possibly have an answer to a question like that...

Leaving Su Qing to tidy up at home, Lin Fan slung a small bag of tools over his back and went upstairs to 501.

Lin Fan hadn’t been able to get the key to 401 yesterday, and Su Qing, in her haste to help him, had locked the door again.

He had no choice. Lin Fan had to retrace his steps, returning to the balcony of 501. The rope he’d fashioned from dog leashes was still hanging outside the balcony. After only one night, the rope wouldn’t have suffered any wear or deterioration.

Feeling confident, Lin Fan climbed down the rope, passing over the heads of the hundred-odd zombies below, and arrived once again in 401.