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墨書 Inktalez
"Sure enough, there are no boats." At a somewhat bloody riverside dock, Yang Xiaoyou lifted his foot from the head of a corpse he had just stepped on, gazing at the empty boat slips with a sigh.
The Arakawa River, like the Edogawa, flows through Tokyo into Tokyo Bay. However, in terms of both its natural state and development, it pales in comparison to the Edogawa. The river primarily serves agricultural irrigation, and the occasional docks along its banks are mostly built to accommodate sand dredgers.
The few boats that were originally here had been seized by nearby residents at the onset of the chaos. By the time they arrived, it was expected that they would find nothing, but there was still a sense of regret.
"Where are the boats? Where are they? Not a single one!" Huang Wei was anxiously tugging at his hair, his face filled with worry.
"When the outbreak happened during the day, there must have been workers and boat owners here. Even if the workers were infected, those fleeing from the crowd would have considered escaping via the waterways. It's not surprising that we found nothing after arriving so late. We should just follow the river to Kuaijiang Bridge and then take Route Two directly. Even this stretch to the bridge carries risks; Lickers are living creatures, and the water vapor here attracts them, making encounters more likely than usual." After scanning their surroundings, Yang Xiaoyou made a decisive call.
Every minute spent in this place increased their danger. Reaching Arakawa Bridge quickly to access Koto Ward and enter the under-construction Line Three subway was their best option.
Whether they would encounter any boats on the way depended purely on luck; they couldn't afford to search along the riverbank deliberately.
"Stay calm and quiet; we're downwind. It shouldn't have noticed us. Uh-oh, it's leaving." Yang Xiaoyou halted everyone as he spotted a figure flash by in the distance. Once the Licker moved away, they continued forward.
They were currently positioned on the muddy ground beneath the embankment of Arakawa River. Surrounding them were patches of withered grass, and a strong earthy scent filled the air. This area would be submerged during high water levels, but for now, moving forward allowed them to avoid encountering corpses along the riverside.
What they needed to worry about was that fleeting fellow's kind. Fortunately, luck was on their side this time; although they had encountered one, due to wind direction and distance, it hadn't noticed them.
"Thank goodness it didn't spot us; that was terrifying," Huang Wei said as he patted his chest. He vividly remembered Yang Xiaoyou's remark: "With so many meat shields around, it's better than just having Huang Wei alone."
It was clear he realized his 'positioning' within the group. Whenever something stirred, he was always the most concerned.
"Hey, it looks like someone might still be living here. Look at this white line on the ground; it seems like something we used during our sports day. Is someone planning to develop this area?" After easing his tension, Huang Wei pointed out a straight white line on the ground with curiosity.
"I don't know; maybe some homeless people live under the bridge or something. But that's not our concern. Hmm? A boat!" Yang Xiaoyou shot an incredulous glance at Huang Wei before spotting a sand dredger slowly drifting across the river surface.
The boat created ripples that spread outward as it floated about one hundred fifty meters from shore.
Seeing the boat sent a jolt of excitement through Yang Xiaoyou. He hadn't expected to encounter a vessel so close after traversing this distance. Although it wasn't too far away, given his abilities—despite the cold river water—he thought boarding it and bringing it back should still be feasible.
However, just as he prepared to take action, he suddenly sensed something amiss; the boat was eerily quiet with no sign of life aboard—it drifted like a ghost ship.
"There are dangerous things up ahead." Just as Yang Xiaoyou was feeling somewhat uncertain, Dream Butterfly calmly said this while adjusting the brim of her hat, as if she sensed something.
After hearing the words of this somewhat strange fellow, Yang Xiaoyou hesitated for a moment before directly abandoning his previous plan.
Dangerous things.
If it were just a single Licker, it wouldn't be much trouble to sneak past it from underwater and launch a surprise attack. However, if there were two or more, that would pose an entirely unknown risk. Excluding the possibility of ambush, facing two Lickers head-on was something Yang Xiaoyou had no confidence in.
Moreover, that strange Idol Sister had described it as "very" dangerous, which even suggested the possibility of something worse.
If there were truly a ** up there, then without firearms, even in perfect condition, he would be at a severe disadvantage. Given his current state of fatigue, one misstep could lead to disaster.
The risks were simply too great.
"Let's keep going; we're almost at Arakawa Bridge. There might be quite a few Corpses wandering on the bridge surface, but we can enter from the work passage underneath and cross over from there," Yang Xiaoyou said, shifting his gaze away from the Sand Dredger and pointing to the outline of the bridge ahead.
"Uh, no way! That place doesn't even have railings. What if we fall? The boat seems safer," Huang Wei said enviously as he glanced at the drifting boat.
"No problem. If you want to take the boat, just come with me across. If you can create some bigger disturbances in the water nearby, I'll have a better chance of solving the problem," Yang Xiaoyou readily agreed to Huang Wei's suggestion.
"Alright then, let's talk about the bridge," Huang Wei said, swallowing hard as he noticed Yang Xiaoyou looking at him with a half-smile.
With a swift sidestep, Yang Xiaoyou moved between two Corpses. Before they could react, he struck one on the head with a powerful palm strike that crushed its skull and shattered its brain.
As the other Corpse reacted and prepared to claw at him, he executed a spinning kick that sent it flying backward.
Meanwhile, Huang Wei and his companions rushed in with baseball bats, relentlessly striking the head of the now lifeless Corpse.
"Tch, these things are really easy to deal with," Huang Wei said after beating on it for a while, his previously unshakeable confidence swelling once again.
"If you think like that, you won't survive leaving this city—not even with my help," Yang Xiaoyou remarked lightly as he bent down to grab a metal pull door on the sidewalk.
Taking a deep breath, he exerted force with his waist, legs, and hands simultaneously, pulling open the passage that had been tightly wedged shut and required special tools to pry apart.
A wave of salty, damp air rushed up from below. Looking down from inside, he could see the riverbank where everyone was starting to gather, as well as the flowing river below. A metal ladder extended downward to the support structure beneath the bridge.
The bottom support was over twenty meters away from the riverbank and the River Surface, equivalent to six or seven stories high. The supports were interconnected, each only about a meter wide.
While a width of one meter seemed sufficient for a person to walk on, there were no safety measures in place beside it. For an ordinary person, moving up there would be quite difficult due to fear.
"Do we really have to go down?" Huang Wei said, glancing at the drop below and swallowing hard.
He then forced a laugh as he looked at Chen Wuyou and Dream Butterfly beside him. "There are still two ladies here; for them, uh..."
Before he could finish his excuse, Dream Butterfly had already begun to climb down. Following her was Chen Wuyou, who had just been holding onto the edge of the ladder when she lightly uttered two words: "Waste material."
Those two words pierced through Huang Wei's heart like a spear.
"If you don't want to go down, you can stay up here. We'll wait for you for ten minutes after we go," Yang Xiaoyou said dismissively before jumping down with Charming Shadow.
Huang Wei and several other fellows exchanged glances for a moment before looking at the Corpse lingering not far away. A shiver ran through them as they followed suit and descended.
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