Chapter 77: A Leap to the Heavens - Part 1

Judging by this thing—cough, cough, I mean, considering the size of the belly-burster rat, the settlement's wire mesh probably won't be able to stop it. Ren Wanrong automatically filtered out the comedic double act between the two unreliable fellows, middle-aged and young. His first thought remained the settlement's defense. With over two hundred corpses strewn everywhere—though he hadn't seen it with his own eyes, listening to the descriptions and later reviewing the drone footage gave him a clear impression—since one dead person roughly equaled one belly-burster rat, it was quite likely a social species. If two or three hundred of them really swarmed into the settlement and immediately lunged for anyone's bodily orifices, the consequences would undoubtedly drive people stark mad. Old Fourth Tian had most likely fallen victim to just such a terror, dying under the endless humiliation of having his belly burst.

Through the glass jar, Wang Chen stared at the belly-burster rat's half-open pointed snout and its four remarkably sharp incisors, his brow furrowed deeply. He knew his own knowledge was shallow and had no idea how to prevent this unknown creature. Judging by common sense, rats, or rodents in general, were notoriously difficult to eradicate and extremely troublesome little pests; it would be best to leave the matter to genuine experts. The trouble was that finding such an expert within the entire settlement was probably impossible, and looking across the entire intranet, the chances were equally slim.

There were still plenty of pressing matters at hand. Wang Chen simply used the communication channel to confirm the capture of the bizarre creature to reassure the residents, then announced that Big Fatty would receive treatment while everyone else returned to their respective duties. He himself took the carcass of the belly-burster rat and joined Yang Xiaohua; whether it was reporting the situation or claiming credit for Chen Chong, there was still a mountain of paperwork to handle.

Ren Wanrong wasn't sitting idle either, though his previous primary focus had been defending against 'humans', to which defending against rats had now been added, increasing the difficulty manifold. This little creature was far harder to deal with than zombies. Unable to come up with a good method right away, Ren Wanrong simply led people to search every single building for rat holes and plug them up first. He also instructed all civilians to drop what they were doing and race against time to mix mud, churning out enough to coat the foundations of every building. Mud on the sunny side might dry up and have limited effect, but mud on the shady side, once frozen solid, would be impossible to scrape off even with bare hands before spring, let alone let rats chew through it. The final measure was to organize night patrols: in no residence were lights to be turned off at night, and someone had to stay wide awake on watch to prevent the belly-burster rats from burrowing into the rear ends of the living and creating another tragedy.

Fortunately, the peninsula settlement had a stable power supply; otherwise, in the pitch black of night, defending against packs of belly-burster rats with merely the dim light of a candle or a flashlight would be pure fantasy.

Amid the bustle, as the evening lights began to twinkle, the core members of the special operations team and the key leaders among the armed civilians gathered in the cafeteria, eating dinner while discussing the problem of rat prevention and extermination. After all, Ren Wanrong's methods were only stopgaps, not long-term solutions.

Eating and chatting, they tossed around every idea imaginable in daily life—from sticky boards and rat cages to rat poison and keeping more cats and dogs—yet few were suited to the current situation. Sticky boards and rat cages might work for stray, isolated rats, but they couldn't possibly cover the entire settlement. Even if everyone resolved to sleep on sticky boards, where on earth could one find so many rat-catching devices? Applying rat poison was similarly unviable; the belly-burster rats mostly fed on zombies and living prey—were they supposed to smear poison inside corpses? Keeping more cats and dogs seemed like a solution, but much like sticky boards, it might work against a few scattered belly-burster rats, but if a wave of belly-burster rats came sweeping across the ground straight into the processing workshop, a few cats and dogs probably wouldn't even be enough for the pack to sink their teeth into.

Once the reports were submitted, neither the private nor the public channels brought back any good news. Privately, Zhang Han confessed that he was no rodent expert, and since no one could be certain whether the habits of this new creature resembled those of ordinary rats, his hands were tied and he didn't even dare offer casual advice; he merely stepped up anti-rodent construction on his end out of an abundance of caution. Publicly, Director Zheng, having received the information, stated only that he would study countermeasures with personnel possessing relevant knowledge and notify the settlement whenever there was a result, after which there was no further word.

Knowing that this discussion would likely yield no results, Wang Chen finished the last mouthful of rice in his bowl with a piece of pickled long bean, put down his bowl, and was about to stand up when Dai Jian, who had been sitting quietly at the corner of the table, suddenly spoke up.

"Perhaps, I have a way."

Huh? At Dai Jian's words, not only Wang Chen—whose backside had just left the chair—but even Chen Chong, who had already walked a few steps away to put his bowl and chopsticks into the collection bin, stopped in his tracks and hurriedly scurried back to his seat.

Feeling everyone's gaze upon him, Dai Jian, a lifelong shut-in, instantly panicked. He stammered out several incoherent murmurs, failing to string a complete sentence together.

"Don't panic. Take your time and say what you mean." Hearing this, Dai Jian looked up abruptly to see Yang Xiaohua gazing at him intently with an encouraging expression. His eyes lit up instantly. Then, catching a glimpse of Ma Tian standing beside Yang Xiaohua, a flush of red appeared on his stubbly, fair-skinned face while he lowered his head, using the gesture of pushing up his glasses to mask his expression. The next moment, he looked up again, appearing much more spirited.

Please, who among those present wasn't a sharp cookie? You, a lifelong otaku technician, still trying to cover up your pathetic little crush—you exposed yourself ages ago, didn't you?!

Yang Xiaohua had only known Dai Jian for a couple of days; since they were both in charge of technical communications and reconnaissance, they naturally spent a fair amount of time communicating, but she never imagined Dai Jian had developed feelings for her. A single unintentional word of encouragement had made the otaku geek as excited as if he'd been pumped full of adrenaline. A young woman having a slightly tanned complexion didn't mean she had thick skin; putting two and two together, she suddenly felt rather embarrassed and subconsciously grabbed Ma Tian's hand. Ma Tian had an outgoing personality; seeing someone set their sights on his girlfriend, how could he have a pleasant expression? Yet, hindered by the fact that the other party hadn't openly confessed and was merely harboring a secret crush, he couldn't very well fly into a rage and dress Dai Jian down. He could only wear a playful expression, pretending to remain oblivious.

What time was it, and they were still staging a trite romance melodrama for him! Watching the three of them propped up in their seats acting out a silent drama, the muscles at the corner of Wang Chen's eyes twitched slightly. He inwardly cursed them out but couldn't spell it out explicitly. Even Chen Chong, ordinarily such a hopeless goofball, now wore a smug expression that clearly loved watching gossip unfold. As for Fang Qiang, that incorrigible old scoundrel, he exchanged a glance with Joanna and smiled with a vulgarity that spoke volumes.

Fine, absolutely none of them were taking things seriously.

Fortunately, there was still the reliable former police officer, Uncle Ren Wanrong. He cleared his throat and said earnestly, "Dai Jian, if you have something to say, everyone is listening."

Hearing this, Dai Jian looked up, but his eyes landed first on the clasped hands of Yang Xiaohua and Ma Tian, causing his complexion to pale a notch further. Even Ren Wanrong couldn't bear to watch any longer. He deliberately cleared his throat again and stated flatly, "Dai Jian, what do you want to say?"

"Oh, me? I, I mean, I mean it's like this, um, we can't judge these atavistic or mutated creatures by conventional reasoning. Really, I firmly believe in one quote: 'Only the paranoid survive.' Therefore, I think we should establish the defense system for the Peninsula Settlement based on a comprehensive, all-domain defense concept covering land, sea, and air."

After listening to a whole string of utter nonsense, as the designer and physical builder of the settlement's overall defense, no matter how good Ren Wanrong's temper was, he had to forcibly choke back a cold snort. Enduring and enduring, he asked mildly, "Do you have any specific, good methods?"