Chapter 64 Post-Apocalyptic Wasteland 27
They connect with each other, converge, and wriggle.
Like a living tide of ink, it instantly engulfed the gray wall, turning it into an unfathomable black!
Cement, steel bars, glass windows—all the materials that stood in their way were silently decomposed and devoured, eventually turning into black dust just like them.
There was no explosion, no loud noise.
There is only one kind of silent, suffocating, and unstoppable erosion.
This is neither a seed nor remnant of an explosion.
"Brother Tongzi, analyze what this is." Zhou Jue's voice was tense.
[Comparison based on existing models...]
[Matched with the theoretical concept: Grey Gu.]
[A swarm of nanobots with unlimited self-replication capabilities, theoretically capable of devouring all matter on a planet and transforming it into even more nanobots.]
Grey Gu?!
The system's explanation made Zhou Jue realize that this thing was ten thousand times more terrifying than zombies and mutated plants!
That is the ultimate natural disaster that can completely wipe out an entire civilization from a physical level!
The current rate of proliferation and the extent of erosion are expanding.
[Preliminary assessment: Uncontrolled nano-contamination.]
[Analysis Conclusion: It traveled here from Titan Industrial Park using the host's teleportation device.]
Zhou Jue understood instantly.
Titan Industries' research extends far beyond "powered armor"; it also includes this world-destroying nanotechnology!
The fire she set at the end, while severely damaging the plants, must have also destroyed some kind of restraint mechanism. The nanobots escaped and used her as a "hitchhiker" to leave.
Now is not the time to assign blame.
She watched the expanding black area and knew she couldn't stay there a second longer. No one could guarantee that this thing wouldn't spread along the ground and into the underground parking lot.
"Immediately plan a route to the official survivor base in Kyoto."
Now that things have come to this, we have no choice but to seek help from the authorities.
Nanoparticle pollution of this scale is far beyond what she can handle alone. Perhaps the nation's top scientific research capabilities can find a way to control it.
The route has been planned. The distance is 42 kilometers.
[But... host, the Kyoto official base lost all external communication signals seven days ago and is currently out of contact.]
Missing?
Zhou Jue paused.
Losing contact usually means only two possibilities.
Either the base has been breached.
Alternatively, they encountered an internal problem that they couldn't solve and proactively cut off contact.
But she has no other choice now.
"No matter what, let's go and take a look."
She stood up, ignoring the corpses on the ground, and walked straight into the depths of the parking lot.
She needs a car.
She quickly found a military-grade "Warrior" off-road vehicle, with a reinforced chassis and run-flat tires, designed specifically for traversing ruins.
Using a universal key to crack the car lock, she connected the wiring, and with a deep roar, she drove the SUV, smashed through the debris blocking the exit, and sped out of the underground parking lot.
The streets were deathly still.
Unlike the previous city, the number of zombies here is pitifully small. Occasionally you can see one or two, but they move slowly, as if all their vitality has been drained away.
Zhou Jue initially thought it was the influence of the "Grey Gu", but soon she realized something was wrong.
Along the way, she saw more and more signs of erosion on the buildings.
Those black patches, like scars on the city, are scattered here and there, without any pattern.
Wherever it was eroded, it turned into a void of blackness, leaving not even ruins behind.
The zombies seem to be deliberately avoiding these areas.
The closer one gets to the Kyoto base, the more intense this eerie silence becomes.
Forty minutes later, a massive steel fortress appeared on the horizon.
That is the official survivor base in Kyoto.
It was converted from a large stadium, reinforced with thick steel plates, surrounded by watchtowers and firing ports, with layers of barbed wire and barricades, making it seemingly indestructible.
However, the base, which should have been heavily guarded, was now as quiet as a tomb.
The main gate of the base, that giant alloy gate, was wide open, like the mouth of a behemoth beckoning people to go deeper.
Zhou Jue parked his car some distance away, not daring to approach rashly.
She dispatched the Hummingbird drone again, flying towards the desolate fortress.
The images transmitted back by the drone sent shivers down her spine.
The square was deserted.
There were no sentries in the watchtower.
There were no patrols on the high walls.
The entire base was an abandoned ghost town.
The same thing happened when drones flew into the base.
In the cafeteria, the trays were still on the tables, and the food inside had gone moldy.
In the dormitory, the bedding was neatly folded, as if the owner had only left temporarily.
On the training ground, weapons and equipment were scattered all over the ground, but there was no blood or bullet holes in sight.
There were no signs of a struggle.
There are no signs of a zombie invasion.
There wasn't even a single corpse to be seen.
Hundreds of thousands of survivors just vanished into thin air?
This is even more terrifying than seeing a base breached by zombies.
The drone eventually flew into the base's main command center.
The place was also deserted, but all the equipment was still in standby mode, flickering with a faint light.
Zhou Jue controlled the drone, pointing the camera at the screen on the main control panel.
The last log entry was still displayed on the screen.
She zoomed in on the image and read it word by word.
[June 12, cloudy. The first case of sleep talking disorder has been reported within the base. The patient repeatedly utters meaningless phrases in their sleep and appears lethargic upon waking. They have been isolated for observation.]
On June 14th, "sleep talking syndrome" began to spread, with over one hundred people exhibiting similar symptoms. The medical team was unable to determine the cause. All patients' brainwaves showed a strange, synchronized frequency of fluctuation.
[June 17th, the situation spiraled out of control. More than half of the base's members were infected. They began experiencing hallucinations, saying they could hear "the whispers of God." The base went on high alert, cutting off all external communications. We're trapped here.]
[On June 19th, it came. It didn't come from outside; it was among us. In everyone's mind. It wasn't the whisper of God; it was...]
The log ends here.
The final moment was seven days ago.
As Zhou Jue looked at the interrupted text, a chill suddenly ran down his spine.
Just then, the system interface suddenly flickered violently, and a line of glaring gibberish appeared.
[Warning: Unauthorized intrusion detected... buzzing... attempting to... isolate...]
[System core protection...activated...]
[Buzz...Buzz...Intrusion failed...Quarantine...Successful...]
Zhou Jue's expression changed completely.
What exactly is it? Is it yet another unknown entity? Or another "Grey Gu," those damned nanorobots—it's not just a physical contaminant after all!
It's also a type of information virus! It can infiltrate her system!
The loss of contact at the Kyoto base and those people's "sleep talking disorder" are not illnesses at all!
The network of this base, along with everyone's brain, has been infected by this information virus!
Or, to put it another way, spiritual pollution.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com