Chapter 162 - 161: High-Altitude Scouting

Chapter 162: Chapter 161: High-Altitude Scouting

Han Ning spread his wings, flying silently through the overcast sky as he circled the edge of the mountain range. The fierce air currents rushing past his feathers became a tailwind instead, propelling him forward at an even greater speed. The continuous mountain range clearly unfolded in his field of vision.

Gradually, he made his way toward the southwest side of the mountains. A relatively flat valley caught his attention because below, numerous man-made structures had appeared.

Rows of camouflage tents were lined up in perfect, uniform formation, as straight as if measured by a ruler. Between the tents, figures moving with obvious discipline hurried back and forth, either transporting supplies or constructing fortifications. Even from this vast distance, the well-ordered atmosphere allowed Han Ning to immediately recognize what it was. It was unmistakably a military encampment.

Han Ning’s gaze swept past the military camp and landed on another area slightly farther away. There was another human settlement there, but compared to the military camp, it was extremely scattered. Crooked, crude shacks were haphazardly crammed together. The building materials were a chaotic mix as well; branches, tattered canvas, and rusted sheet metal were all used. They could barely even shelter the inhabitants from the wind and rain.

Figures moved among the shacks, mostly wearing worn-out clothes and looking emaciated. A few people nearby were struggling to pick up branches blown over from afar, their movements stiff. They shivered in the freezing wind, forming a stark contrast to the orderly camp not far away.

Han Ning’s eyes swept over them. Suddenly, a specific figure made him halt his forward flight and begin to hover in circles. It was a tall woman, bending over to drag a heavy log alongside another person. Her face was covered in mud and grime, her wet hair clinging to her cheeks and neck. Her lips were pressed tightly together, her expression tense. It was Su Mingke.

Han Ning’s gaze sharpened as he scanned the people around her. He saw Lin Wei, whom he had casually saved before, carrying a bundle of dead branches toward a shack. There was also Jun, using a rock to hammer a wooden wedge... These were all the ordinary people from the Agricultural and Forestry University who had followed Professor Ye back then. They were all here, struggling to survive in the cold and mud. However, he didn’t see Zou Yu or the other Awakened.

He thought, "I can’t believe this group from the Agricultural University is still alive..."

Han Ning felt a faint stir of emotion, but he neither lowered his altitude nor intended to reveal himself. He continued to circle quietly in the sky. A moment later, with a powerful flap of his wings, he changed direction and continued flying into the distance.

More temporary military strongholds began to appear in his field of vision. Like pieces on a chessboard, they were spaced a fair distance apart, occupying different areas. Strangely, there was a clear dividing line between them; they showed no signs of merging together.

As he silently glided over one of the fairly large encampments, down below in a military prefab house acting as a temporary command post...

"The enemy’s Defense in Sector Three is relatively weak. We can break through there and enter..." A middle-aged man with sharp, short hair and a resolute face was pointing at a map as he spoke. Suddenly, he paused. His brows furrowed sharply as he instinctively looked up at the ceiling, as if his gaze could pierce through the building and peer into the high heavens. "...Something’s wrong," he said in a deep voice, filled with intense suspicion.

"What’s wrong, Captain Wang?" the person next to him asked immediately.

"It felt like something was staring at us just now," Captain Wang said rapidly. He strode out of the room, standing in the curtain of rain as he vigilantly scanned the overcast sky. The clouds hung low, and rain mixed with hail pelted down incessantly—RAT-A-TAT-TAT. The sky was a vast emptiness, devoid of any living traces. Captain Wang stood frozen for a moment, his brows tightly locked, before finally withdrawing his gaze.

He thought, "Such sharp perception. He’s a master..."

Sensing that someone below had actually noticed his scouting, Han Ning’s heart skipped a beat. After all, this was from an altitude of over a thousand meters! "The military truly has no shortage of experts."

Han Ning quickly flew away, continuing to circle the massive island-like mountain range. The true situation of the entire region clearly unfolded before his eyes. The number of survivors who had made it to these mountains alive was somewhat beyond his expectations. Gathering spots for humans, both large and small, were scattered across the edges of the mountain range and the relatively flat areas near the slopes. The army encampment to the southwest was just one of them.

As he turned toward the eastern side of the mountains, a much more spectacular sight greeted his eyes. Between the floodwaters and the low-hanging clouds, several warships—like giant beasts of steel—were quietly anchored in a stretch of water near the mountain. Their massive hulls were like moving mountains, covered in camouflage and bristling with gun turrets. Their superstructures were densely packed with various radar antennas. They were escorted by a considerable number of small gunboats and patrol boats, equally coated in military camouflage, cruising the water on high alert.

"The Navy..." Han Ning realized.

This should be the Navy forces originally stationed in the waters of Bailu City. Bailu City was a coastal city, so having a Navy Base was completely normal. Furthermore, the Navy’s equipment and deployment were stronger than those of the army. It was just that they were very low-profile. Between the army and the Navy, along with other military units that might have survived from the city, the number of troops in this area was definitely not small. He roughly scanned a few of the larger strongholds; a conservative estimate put them at over a thousand people at least.

What made him even more vigilant was that as he sped over a few heavily guarded checkpoints, he could distinctly sense a faint, lingering threat. It was as if some powerful entity or precise detection equipment had noticed his observation. However, his speed was incredibly fast. He didn’t linger for even a moment, so that trace of threat vanished in a flash without triggering any substantial danger.

Aside from these organized military forces, there were also many shelters established by ordinary people scattered throughout the mountains. Most of them relied on higher-elevation cols and caves, or were built on relatively safe slopes using flotsam and salvaged materials from ruins. These shelters varied in size. The larger ones might hold over a hundred people, while the smaller ones had only a few dozen—or even just over a dozen—huddling together for warmth.

Adding them all up, just the active figures Han Ning could observe on the mountain’s surface from high above amounted to several thousand. This didn’t even include the unseen survivors who might be hiding inside the shelters, deeper within the caves, or in the dense forests.

He calculated in his mind, "Bailu City was a large tier-two, borderline tier-one city with a population in the millions. Through various strokes of luck, it’s quite normal for several thousand to tens of thousands of people to have survived."

With the military’s protection, even tens of thousands of survivors was possible. It would be very difficult for people from the southern and central parts of Bailu City to cross the long distance to get here. But for those in the north, it was relatively easier.

Human life was sometimes as fragile as paper, yet other times, it was astonishingly resilient.

Next, he flew toward the northern part of the mountains. The terrain there was slightly higher, and the mountain peaks were much more densely packed. This was an area untouched by humans for now. With its dense peaks, the forests on some of the leeward mountain slopes were still thick and lush. He could see the silhouettes of many animals darting past.