paranoianovel Chapter 72 Torrential Rain
Chapter 72 Torrential Rain
Xu Mo ultimately ignored the five corpses that were gradually exposed in the melting snow and finally revealed to the sunlight.
On one hand, the melting snow had made the ground muddy and waterlogged, making trekking difficult. On the other hand, deep down, Xu Mo also harbored a sense of caution. Let these silent corpses serve as a constant reminder of the cruelty of this apocalypse and the unpredictability of human nature, dispelling any complacency that might arise from his increased strength.
As the snow melted rapidly, the five corpses were completely exposed to the air, beginning to emit a faint but undeniable aura. Not long after, Xu Mo saw several black dots swirling in the sky.
It was birds—several large crows and some unidentifiable scavenging birds. They keenly spotted the "feast" below, and after circling a few times to confirm there was no obvious threat, they all landed and began to tear and peck at the five corpses with their sharp beaks and claws.
Watching this cruel yet natural scene, Xu Mo's thoughts drifted further afield. He thought of a question he had previously overlooked: "If land animals, like the wolf packs, can be corrupted and mutated by darkness, what about the birds in the sky? Are they also susceptible to the same fate?"
Once the idea took hold, it began to expand uncontrollably.
"And then there are the oceans, which cover the vast majority of the planet's surface. The variety and number of life forms within them far exceed those on land. If they too are corrupted and mutated by dark energy..."
Thinking of this, Xu Mo couldn't help but gasp.
The vast ocean is inherently full of unknowns and mysteries, a realm that humanity has yet to fully conquer. If marine life undergoes large-scale mutations, giving rise to all sorts of unimaginable horrors, wouldn't the vast ocean become a more dangerous and bizarre forbidden zone than the land? The possibility of human survivors relying on ships to make cross-sea communication or obtain marine resources would become extremely slim, or even completely severed.
"The ocean is probably not an option for us for the foreseeable future..." Xu Mo came to a disheartening but unavoidable conclusion, which undoubtedly further limited the scope of human civilization's activities.
Xu Mo shook his head vigorously, trying to shake these overly grand and distant worries from his mind. It was too early to think about the threat from the ocean; he needed to focus on the immediate challenges at hand.
Right now, the drastic changes in the environment are what Xu Mo needs to face directly.
As the sun remained consistently at its zenith for about ten hours each day, releasing increasingly intense light and heat, the melting of the snow reached a peak. The land, previously covered by a thick blanket of snow, was exposed in vast swaths, revealing a muddy and chaotic landscape reminiscent of waterlogged terrain. The area of waterlogged low-lying areas continued to expand, even beginning to form gurgling streams.
The large amount of water vapor brought by the melting snow is evaporated by the sun and rises into the air, interacting with the gradually active atmospheric circulation and producing a significant chain reaction.
Xu Mo noticed that the sky was no longer the clear blue it was at the end of the long night. More and more clouds began to gather, initially wisps of white clouds, then turning into large clumps of cumulus clouds, their color gradually changing from pure white to grayish-white, even with a hint of leaden gray. The clouds grew thicker and lower, like a heavy curtain slowly closing on the horizon.
"Is the air already saturated with moisture...?" Xu Mo looked at the increasingly gloomy sky and realized, "It seems a heavy rain is inevitable."
Heavy rain is a double-edged sword for areas where snow is melting. It can accelerate the eventual melting of snow, but more frighteningly, it can combine with the meltwater to greatly exacerbate surface runoff, triggering more violent and rapid flash floods and urban flooding. This will undoubtedly cause the risk of "secondary disasters" warned by the Jiangcheng Shelter to rise exponentially.
Temperatures are showing a clear upward trend amid fluctuations. Although it is still cold at night, the daytime high temperature has clearly broken through the freezing point, making the melting of ice and snow almost uninterrupted.
Xu Mo knew that the real test was about to arrive along with the anticipated heavy rain.
Just in case, Xu Mo checked the inflatable boat's anchoring again, ensuring the ropes were secure and the hull was undamaged. He also pre-filled the boat's fuel tank with fuel and checked the engine's starter rope and key components to ensure a quick start if needed.
After doing all this, Xu Mo packed some important supplies stored on the second floor that had not yet been put into his personal space into an emergency escape backpack and placed it within easy reach. He even considered the specific steps and routes for quickly transferring from the second-floor window to the inflatable boat should the water level rise too quickly.
Furthermore, Xu Mo went downstairs and carefully observed the terrain and water flow around the shelter, confirming that his building was generally located at a relatively high point.
Finally, Xu Mo cleared the drain on the roof to ensure that rainwater could flow away smoothly and would not accumulate on the roof, causing additional burden.
The air was thick with the oppressive dampness that precedes a downpour, and the wind seemed to have stopped, as if nature was gathering its strength to release all the moisture that had accumulated after the snow and ice melted.
Xu Mo stood by the window, gazing at the gloomy and oppressive sky outside, feeling the heavy atmosphere of an impending storm.
There was no sudden, unexpected gale, nor a gradual transition from sparse to dense rain. Almost abruptly, large raindrops began to fall heavily without warning.
"Crackling and popping"
The raindrops were terrifyingly dense; they couldn't be described as "rain threads" or "rain curtains"—it was more like a wall of water crashing down from the sky. They violently pounded against the roof, windows, and everything exposed outside, creating a continuous roar that instantly drowned out all other sounds.
The rain was so dense that Xu Mo felt his vision being instantly stripped away. Outside the window, everything was a white blur, filled with churning and leaping water droplets.
Xu Mo tried to look out, but even from just a few meters away, the once clearly visible outline of the neighboring building had become blurred, as if he were looking through a violently shaking frosted glass. If an ordinary person were standing in the rain, they probably wouldn't be able to see the person on the other side even from three to five meters away.
The amount of rainfall far exceeded Xu Mo's expectations. Although the broadcasts in Jiangcheng and Panshi had repeatedly warned of the danger, only those who experienced it firsthand could truly grasp the terrifying power, as if the sky were shattering and the Milky Way were pouring down.
Just after the pure, violent sound of rain dominated the world for a moment, the long-suppressed light and roar finally tore through the thick clouds and arrived belatedly.
"Snap—!!!"
A blinding, branching, pale bolt of lightning, like an enraged silver dragon, suddenly tore through the dark sky, illuminating the world in a stark white light.
Almost at the same instant the lightning flashed, a deafening thunderclap suddenly exploded in the sky. This thunder was no longer a distant muffled sound, but an explosion right next to us. The enormous sound wave mixed with the sound of rain, forming a tangible impact that made the windowpanes vibrate and Xu Mo felt even the floor beneath his feet tremble slightly.
Lightning flashed one after another, raging erratically, each flash illuminating the dim world and reflecting the apocalyptic scene of the torrential rain outside. The thunder roared like war drums, each beat more rapid and violent than the last, rolling in and mingling with the deafening roar of the downpour.
Xu Mo felt that if they were to go clubbing at this time, it might be quite exciting, and they might not even need the lights.
The rain lashed the earth relentlessly, and the already muddy and saturated ground, saturated with melted snow, was unable to absorb such a massive amount of water. The murky water rose and spread rapidly, visible to the naked eye. Low-lying areas quickly became vast expanses of water, the surface littered with debris, broken logs, and foam. Further away, the thunderous roar of rushing water could be heard—the sound of melting snow mingling with the rainwater.