Apocalypse Chapter 22: Signal Receiver

Chapter 22: Signal Receiver

Translated by Addis of Exiled Rebels Scanlations

Editor: Karai

Once back home, Jiang Rong, ignoring the air conditioning, immediately went to search for the signal receivers in the drawer. Luckily, he had the habit of organizing things, so it didn’t take long for him to retrieve the large bundle of signal receivers from the utility room.

These receivers looked somewhat like radios but had several extra knobs compared to ordinary radios. The largest receiver was as big and ugly as a shoebox, while the smallest was about the size of a palm and felt as heavy as a brick when held in hand.

Although Chu Qiang had taught him how to use them before, it had been a long time, and he couldn’t remember. Since the receivers hadn’t been used for a while, they couldn’t be opened, so Jiang Rong could only plug them in.

As he was engrossed in adjusting the receivers, he suddenly felt a warm breeze on him. Turning his head, he saw Jiang Xiaoheng holding a small fan, helping him cool down. Sweat dripped down his son’s clean forehead, indicating he had been fanning for a while.

Seeing Jiang Rong turn, Jiang Xiaoheng blinked his bright eyes. “Daddy, are you done yet?”

Jiang Rong chuckled, taking the fan from his son to cool him down. “Is it too hot? Daddy will turn on the air conditioning right away.”

It was strange that after strolling outside today, he hadn’t felt very hot, but now, in the stuffy study, he wasn’t sweating at all. Perhaps it was the benefit of absorbing the crystal nucleus; his heat tolerance had clearly improved. Poor Xiaoheng, though, he didn’t mind the heat, but he was making the child suffer.

With too many knobs on the receivers, Jiang Rong struggled with them all night and still couldn’t figure them out, so he had no choice but to cuddle with his son and sleep first. He had a strange dream.

In the dream, his perspective was odd; he had turned into a branch on the jujube tree in front of the door, adorned with shiny leaves and delicate jujube flowers at the base of the leaves. Stretching under the moonlight, he felt the joy of successful pollination as the jujube flowers grew.

Then he became a leaf on a vine, squeezed among companions. The mountain breeze brought warmth, causing the leaves to sway. His journey led eastward, following the path he had taken today, and soon he arrived at Uncle Li’s orchard. He lingered on the fruit trees he had saved today, always able to discern which fruit was the best. He stopped and eventually landed on the orange tree in front of Uncle Li’s shed.

From above, he could see the dim light in Uncle Li’s shed and the busy Uncle Li and his wife. Aunt Li was meticulously wiping the stains on the solar panels, her eyes red from fatigue. Uncle Li sat silently on the side, smoking a cigarette, exhaling puffs of smoke that made him cough.

Uncle Li and Aunt Li chatted in the house. Jiang Rong, feeling drowsy, rested on a slightly yellowed orange warmed by the sun. Just as he was about to doze off, he felt a sense of being watched. If he had a physical form now, the hairs on his back would have stood up.

Turning his head, he saw a pair of green eyes staring at him. Jiang Rong’s hairs stood on end: What was so creepy!

But upon closer inspection, he realized it was none other than Uncle Li’s mutated dog, Tiger. Tiger tilted his head in confusion, and whenever Jiang Rong made a slight movement, its gaze followed.

It was strange. He was clearly dreaming, so why did Tiger feel so oppressive? And this dream was too real; he could even feel Tiger’s warmth and hear its heavy breathing. Perhaps Jiang Rong’s movements annoyed Tiger because it suddenly stood up on its hind legs on the orange tree. It looked in Jiang Rong’s direction, emitting a low growl, the chain around its neck jingling.

The scent of Tiger overwhelmed Jiang Rong, who quickly stepped back to avoid it. “Sit down.”

Tiger obediently sat down, wagging its tail slightly. But from inside the house came Uncle Li’s voice, “Who’s out there?” Uncle Li put down his cigarette and walked toward the door, picking up a machete behind the door. “Who’s there?”

After the shed door opened, Uncle Li stood under the eaves, looking around. For a moment, Jiang Rong felt Uncle Li’s gaze pass through him.

Aunt Li asked, “Is there anyone?”

Uncle Li scratched his head in doubt. “I thought I heard someone talking just now, maybe I was mistaken.”

Watching Uncle Li and Aunt Li return to the house, Jiang Rong lingered in the orchard for a moment. The orchard was incredibly quiet in the moonlight. If it weren’t for the Great Crisis, it would be a paradise with fragrant fruits.

Suddenly, Jiang Rong heard a muffled sound in his ear, as if something had fallen to the ground. It sounded distant yet as if it happened right next to him. “Oh my, why are there so many rose vines in the yard?”

With a thought, Jiang Rong’s surroundings changed again. This time, he found himself in Chu Qiang’s yard, clinging to the security bars on the window. Chu’s house was much livelier at night than during the day. After spending some time in Chu’s yard, two groups of people had already climbed over the wall into the yard. Some were swinging sledgehammers at the windows, some were attempting to break the bulletproof glass with diamond rings, and others were using electric angle grinders to grind the hinges on the doors and windows madly.

If Chu hadn’t replaced the doors and windows in advance, the supplies in the house would have been taken by the villagers long ago.

“Darn it, why are the doors and windows of this house so tough?”

“These people are in construction, isn’t it normal for their house to be stronger than others’? Stop talking nonsense and get to work. Those father and son who came to this house during the day must be espers. If they get in first, we won’t get anything.”

“Step aside, let me try picking the lock.”

Picking the lock? As if that would work.

In his own dream, could Jiang Rong let these people succeed? With a thought, the wild roses grew wildly, their thorny vines accurately coiling around each person attempting to intrude into Chu Qiang’s house. The thorns on the wild rose vines were exceptionally painful when they pierced, and in the moment they entangled the intruders, they had an intimate encounter with the thorns.

After a chorus of cries and howls, the people who had climbed over the wall were left with a mess of tools. As for their original selves, they were already thrown outside the courtyard walls by the wild roses.

The people outside the walls were terrified. “There are mutant plants inside! They suck blood!” “Run, run, don’t come in!”

Jiang Rong remained expressionless. These people were really talking nonsense. If the wild roses could suck blood, would they let them all leave unharmed? After shaking off the vines of the wild roses, he directed them to climb along the walls until all the doors and windows of Chu Qiang’s house were sealed by the wild rose vines. Satisfied, he waved his hand and left.

It was a magical dream, and Jiang Rong was immersed in it. He felt like he had turned into every plant in the mountains, stretching his branches freely in the hot wind. He could see the bird nests in the treetops, hear the sound of water being absorbed by the roots, and feel the sensation of leaves expanding or falling.

It all felt mysterious and beautiful, especially because the dream didn’t end, allowing him a restful sleep through the night.

The next morning, Jiang Rong enjoyed a rare lie-in. When he woke up, he found that the depleted ability from yesterday had returned. Not only that, but he felt particularly good today, with even more abilities than yesterday.

Yesterday, he felt dizzy after just one hill at Uncle Li’s house, but today, he would definitely be able to save more trees by crossing more hills. However, he didn’t intend to do so. One must be cautious, and he needed to keep some cards up his sleeve.

After tinkering with the receivers all day, Jiang Rong once again took his child and dog to Uncle Li’s orchard. Only Uncle Li was there to greet them today. Jiang Rong asked in confusion, “Uncle, where’s Aunt?”

Uncle Li sighed heavily. “Ah… After the Great Crisis, a few of my daughter-in-law’s relatives had nowhere to go, so they stayed with us. They stumbled in the dark last night and couldn’t see the way. My daughter-in-law is heavy, so I had to go back to help take care of them.”

At that moment, Aunt Li returned on an electric tricycle. She looked gloomy, but her face lit up with a smile when she saw Jiang Rong and his son. “Xiao Rong and the baby are here? Come, come sit down. Auntie has saved some bayberries for you.”

Jiang Rong smiled. “No need, Auntie. We haven’t finished the bayberries you gave us yesterday. By the way, how are your guests doing? Do they need any medication for injuries?”

Many people died from minor illnesses after the Great Crisis because they couldn’t get timely treatment, and many minor illnesses turned into major ones. Jiang Rong thought that since he would be neighbors with Uncle Li and Aunt Li in the future, he should lend a hand whenever he could.

But Aunt Li’s eyes showed a hint of disdain as she sneered, “They deserve medication for injuries? Don’t waste the ointment. You can’t imagine how they got hurt. They climbed over Chu’s wall with a few rascals from the village last night and got themselves pierced by the mutant roses in Chu’s yard. I say, serve them right! Let them learn a lesson…”

Uncle Li coughed a few times, giving Aunt Li a warning glance. She then remembered Jiang Rong’s relationship with Chu Qiang and awkwardly chuckled. “Xiao Rong, please sit. Let me fetch some bayberries for you.”

Jiang Rong waved his hand with a smile. “No need.” But inside, he felt a storm brewing. Could it be that what happened last night wasn’t a dream?

Over the next two days, Jiang Rong confirmed one thing: trees that had been infused with his ability would become his eyes, providing him feedback on the surrounding situation. This was much broader than what surveillance cameras could cover. If he could make good use of it, this function would provide him with great convenience.

While progress on his ability was a good thing, Chu Qiang and his family were still missing, deepening Jiang Rong’s worries day by day. He spent these days debugging the receivers, spending several hours each day. Several receivers broke down, and he heard tens of thousands of voices from around the world, but not one was the voice he wanted to hear.

On the third evening, as he slowly turned the knob, the receiver suddenly emitted a muffled sound, a response only when receiving a signal.

Jiang Rong quickly switched to another knob. With a crackling sound, distorted voices came out of the receiver’s old speaker. “…South City, Hongda Gas Station. If anyone hears my voice, please help our family.”

The voice from the speaker was deep, hoarse, and slow, but Jiang Rong still recognized the feeling. Indeed, as he listened more carefully, the voice became clearer. “My name is Chu Qiang, and my family and I are trapped in the Hongda Gas Station in South City…”

Jiang Rong stood up abruptly, knocking over the notebook on his desk in excitement. The notebook, filled with notes on different frequency bands, fell heavily to the ground, but he didn’t have time to pick it up.

After grabbing the car keys from the living room, Jiang Rong pushed open his son’s door. “Xiaoheng, come out quickly. Let’s go and pick up Uncle Chu’s family!”

 

 

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