Chapter 135: Radio Communication
“Hello? Hello? Can anyone hear me?”
A simple call on the radio reached the Qingzhou University camp, where order was slowly being restored and attempts were being made to purify the water supply. Anyone else listening on that frequency would have heard the exchange clearly.
“Hello? Hello?… Kzzt…”
A middle-aged man with a prosthetic left leg sat in the radio room, staring at the device, a flicker of surprise in his eyes.
He’d been a soldier before the apocalypse, having lost his leg in a car accident years earlier. Even with his military training, surviving the apocalypse with a disability had been… challenging, to say the least.
His survival, until he’d found refuge in the Qingzhou University camp, had been mostly a matter of luck.
Because of his pre-apocalypse hobby of amateur radio operation, Wan Zi had given him the task of managing the camp’s radio communications—a cushy job, basically just sitting around.
He felt like they’d kept him out of pity, giving him this… unessential task.
He had requested to be transferred to the farming team, but Wan Zi had insisted that no one else knew how to operate the radio equipment. So, he’d been stuck here for years.
They said the radio was the best way to communicate in the apocalypse, but ironically, most people who knew how to use one were dead.
Besides occasionally broadcasting Wan Zi’s recruitment messages, he also regularly scanned different frequencies.
And today, on the previously silent Voodoo Cult channel, he’d heard a rather… unprofessional call.
No, not unprofessional, it sounded like someone who had just learned how to use a radio.
“CQ, CQ, CQ, this is BG7YD, your signal is 59, please respond.”
He tried contacting them again on the same frequency, but there was no response.
After patiently waiting for a minute, just as he was about to try again, a voice came through.
“I hear… kzzt… you!”
Even through the static, the little girl’s excited voice was clear.
The man took a deep breath, deciding to abandon his professional jargon and adopt a more… child-friendly approach.
“Hello? Little friend, can you hear me? If so, please respond.”
“Kzzt… I heat… kzzt… …you…”
Heat… ?
He paused, confused, then, based on the first word, guessed she meant “I hear you.”
With the static and the intermittent signal, understanding a complete sentence was difficult; that’s why he’d used standard radio protocol initially.
Before he could figure out how to respond, the little girl asked, “Where… kzzt… are you, Uncle…?”
A direct question about his location.
Although her tone was polite, he frowned slightly.
Both the Voodoo Cult and Survivor’s Light used amateur radio frequencies, easily intercepted by anyone with a receiver.
Answering her question would be like broadcasting the Qingzhou University Camp’s location to any remaining Voodoo Cult members listening on that channel.
That could bring trouble; he couldn’t risk it.
Instead of answering, he tried to ascertain her purpose.
“Hello? Your signal is weak,” he said, pressing the transmit button. “What is it you need?”
He took a sip of water from a nearby cup, his nerves slightly on edge.
Whatever her reason, he couldn’t reveal the camp’s location.
This time, the response was quick.
“Kzzt… I’m looking for… kzzt… wait… oh…”
“I’m looking for Sister Wanzi at the Qingzhou University Camp.”
“Pfft—”
The man nearly choked on his water.
He hadn’t expected this, that she was actually looking for this camp.
Well, now everyone listening knew there was a camp at Qingzhou University.
They were famous now.
This was beyond his authority now.
He picked up the walkie-talkie.
“Wan Zi, this is Yang Dan. Do you copy? Over.”
After a while, Wan Zi’s tired voice came through.
“What is it, Brother Yang?”
She addressed him respectfully, both due to his age and his military background.
Yang Dan, hearing the exhaustion in her voice, sighed softly. “The stream…”
“It’s no use, the Voodoo Cult has a blood-poison Awakened, the entire stream is contaminated.”
“This…”
He sighed again.
The entire stream… that meant they had to dig a new channel from the mountaintop and remove the contaminated section.
A massive undertaking… there were no glaciers in southern China, the water came from mountain streams fed by mist and rain.
Even before the apocalypse, with heavy machinery and a professional team, it would take at least two weeks; now, relying solely on manual labor, it would take at least two months.
And their food supplies wouldn’t last a month.
Their self-sufficient days… were over.
A wave of despair washed over him.
The little girl’s voice on the radio reminded him of his current task.
“Wan Zi, are you free to come to the radio room? Someone’s looking for you… on the Voodoo Cult channel…”
“What is it? Wait… someone’s looking for me on the Voodoo Cult channel?!”
Her voice was filled with surprise. She’d just heard from a young man’s radio that the Voodoo Cult had been destroyed.
They’d all assumed it was the work of the Lin sisters’ organization.
And now, someone specifically asking for her? This confirmed that the voice on the radio earlier had indeed been Little Sister Lin.
“Tell her to wait, I’ll be right there.”
He could hear her rapid footsteps through the walkie-talkie; she was hurrying.
He put down the walkie-talkie and spoke into the radio. “This is the Qingzhou University Camp, our leader, Wan Zi, will be here shortly. Please stand by. Over.”
Since their location was no longer a secret, he didn’t bother hiding it.
Across Guangdong Province and throughout southern China, those listening to the Voodoo Cult’s frequency were puzzled.
Donghai City, inside the Donghai City Broadcasting Station, a woman with a strange black ring around her neck sat in front of the radio equipment.
Hearing the conversation, she frowned slightly and then, extending her right hand, which was slightly swollen from the fungal tendrils beneath her skin, pressed the transmit button.
“Captain Long, there’s activity on the former Voodoo Cult channel. You can hear it on a regular radio. It seems to be communication with a camp leader.”
After a while, a tired voice replied.
“Kzzt… I understand, I’ll go listen…”
Inside a luxurious hotel in Donghai City, Bu Xiaolong, holding a walkie-talkie, his face etched with exhaustion, walked out.
He’d lost track of how many days he’d been awake, snatching only a few minutes of sleep whenever he could.
But thanks to his tireless efforts, the Symbiosis Project was finally making progress.
They had tried countless methods to deal with the pervasive fungal infection, now deeply rooted within many of them.
And the test subjects were volunteers who had learned of their high spore counts and had agreed to participate in the experiments.
They hadn’t found a way to completely eradicate the fungus. Some people’s organs were even composed of fungal tissue; removing it would kill them.
But the experiments weren’t entirely fruitless.
They had discovered that both fire and electricity could repel the tendrils and even inhibit their growth.
Based on this, Jiang Chun, the new leader of the Awakened, had proposed a bold plan.
The Symbiosis Project.
And the project’s testing ground was this hotel, its spacious lobby ideal for setting up equipment and storing materials, protected from the elements and well-ventilated.
They were producing simple black collars. These collars, when charged, emitted a low-level electrical current that prevented the fungus from reaching the brain.
Even some of the tendrils that had already reached the brain had retreated.
As long as the fungus didn’t reach the brain, contained within the body by the collar, even if it replaced all their organs, their consciousness would remain intact.
As long as the solar-powered collars remained charged, they could maintain a symbiotic relationship with the fungus.
These collars, seemingly a restriction, were actually a liberation.
They had discovered that the fungus enhanced their physical capabilities, even ordinary people no longer feeling as tired after prolonged physical labor.
Their strength, speed, and blood crystal absorption rate had all increased… They could even enhance themselves by absorbing blood crystals, strengthening the fungus within.
In a way, it was a form of evolution.
Those like Bu Xiaolong, naturally immune to spores and the fungus, hadn’t benefited from this.
The improved, solar-powered collars had been distributed to about a third of the infected. In another week, Survivor’s Light could officially declare the crisis over.
But because of the fungus, they would likely remain semi-isolated.
Any interaction with the outside world, or allowing outsiders in, would risk spreading the infection. So, except for those with natural immunity, no one was allowed to leave the city.
This was a decision they had all voted on; they didn’t want to be responsible for infecting others.
Although self-sufficient, many still felt a sense of loss.
What had been their original purpose in coming here?
Besides those who had been in Donghai City from the start, everyone else, Awakened or not, had come here hoping to make a difference, to contribute.
But now, trapped by the fungus… their light seemed to have dimmed.
If they couldn’t resolve this, even with the Symbiosis Project, their ideals would eventually erode, and Survivor’s Light would change.
Bu Xiaolong, now the captain of the combat unit, looked at the high-frequency radio with its makeshift antenna, handed to him by a subordinate.
The conversation coming from the radio caught his attention.
He had heard about the Voodoo Cult’s destruction, but Survivor’s Light hadn’t made an official announcement yet; it seemed their leader, Jiang Chun, wasn’t certain of its authenticity.
But this conversation… might change their minds.
Ignoring the fact that it was the Voodoo Cult’s channel, it sounded like an ordinary conversation.
A little girl asking about how to plant certain types of seeds, and several others taking turns answering her questions.
Nothing unusual.
Except… this was the apocalypse.
Most crops had been destroyed by the blood crystal infection, either becoming blood crystal entities themselves or mutated.
The few self-sufficient camps and Survivor’s Light were cultivating crops with… minor contamination, still a long-term risk.
The conversation was ending. A camp leader, seemingly nicknamed “Wanzi,” was asking about the “sisters.” The vague reference confused everyone except those involved in the conversation.
So far, Bu Xiaolong hadn’t noticed anything suspicious.
But then, during a lull in the conversation, a new voice, a mature woman’s.
“Requesting to join the conversation.”
The moment he heard her voice, a familiar image, a woman with short red hair, flashed through his mind.
“Senior Jiang Chun?”
When had the leader gone to the broadcasting station? And contacted the Voodoo Cult channel?
Before anyone on the radio could answer, Jiang Chun spoke again.
“Are you from a botanical research institute? Or a settlement near a seed bank?”
Bu Xiaolong instantly understood.
They’d been talking about… too many kinds of seeds.
As if they had access to a vast variety, choosing the most suitable ones for a high-temperature, high-humidity environment.
In other words… an excessive abundance.
Most people just planted whatever they could find. Who had the luxury of being picky?
There was only one explanation: those using the Voodoo Cult’s frequency had access to a vast number of seeds, they likely occupied a seed bank or a botanical research institute.
And seed banks and botanical research institutes… that meant… Kun City in Yun Province.
If this were a game of Werewolf, they had just revealed their roles.
“Who are you?”
Huayibai, dangling its feet in the Voodoo Cult’s radio station, hearing the familiar voice, pressed the transmit button and asked.
Meanwhile, back in the dormitory, the two sisters, having eaten their fill, lay on a vine-woven bed, sleepiness overcoming them despite it being only afternoon.
Lin Xiwan wanted to cuddle her sister and sleep, while Lin Jiayao was thinking about logging in.
A4, the fastest, almost flying, zombie, was already available, less than 24 hours after its last login.
This meant it had reached its extraction point in Fuzhou City, while Mask was still on its way to Xin City.
This was a good opportunity to check on A4’s B-rank evolution.
Unbeknownst to her, the conversation she’d thought was over was about to escalate dramatically, thanks to Huayibai.
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