pertwk Chapter 84 Bat 2
Chapter 84 Bat 2
Before leaving Qingsongling Town, Xu Mo had mentally rehearsed countless troubles he might encounter.
For example, there might be zombies that roam around and have undergone further mutations, which could be faster, stronger, or even possess some special abilities; or you might be driving a car and being chased by a small horde of zombies, forcing you to rely on your vehicle to fight and retreat; or you might encounter ferocious aquatic mutated creatures lurking in puddles or streams, launching a surprise attack like the one in the riverbed incident.
Xu Mo never expected that the first persistent trouble he encountered after leaving the shelter would not be the zombies running on the ground or the strange fish swimming in the water, but these seemingly inconspicuous bats flying in the sky!
Individually, these bats posed a limited threat. Their teeth and claws might harm an ordinary person, but for Xu Mo, who was in a state of extreme physical weakness, they couldn't even scratch his skin. The force with which they struck the vehicle was also far from enough to cause substantial damage to the modified SUV.
However, they are annoying.
The bats circling around the vehicle were like leeches, severely obstructing Xu Mo's vision. The dense slapping and shrieking sounds constantly challenged his nerves. More importantly, they forced Xu Mo to slow down and continuously expend energy clearing the "obstacles" from the windshield.
The music that was originally playing in the car to dispel boredom now became jarring and unsettling under the "accompaniment" of the swarm of bats. It brought no peace whatsoever, but rather felt like a spoonful of hot water being poured into a chaotic frying pan.
Suddenly, Xu Mo's heart skipped a beat, and a thought flashed through his mind—music!
Is the problem with the music?
Xu Mo recalled that the swarm of bats began to appear as dusk approached, just as he had turned on the car stereo! The drive ahead, though monotonous, hadn't attracted these creatures. Was it the music that drew them in? Or perhaps it had angered them?
This guess needs to be verified.
Without hesitation, Xu Mo immediately reached out and snapped the music off the stereo. In an instant, only the low idling of the engine and the frantic chatter of the bats outside filled the car.
Immediately afterwards, Xu Mo turned off the headlights and engine.
Suddenly, the whole world seemed to be muted and plunged into darkness. Only the faint backlight of the instrument panel illuminated Xu Mo's face inside the car. The SUV, like a giant beast that had suddenly lost its sound and light, stood silently in the desolate darkness.
The very next second after the music stopped and the car lights went out, something magical happened.
The previously intense, storm-like crashing sounds outside the car abruptly subsided. The bats that had been frantically attacking the vehicle seemed to have lost their target for a moment, becoming bewildered and helpless. They continued to circle and flutter around the car, chirping, but no longer with their reckless, suicidal attacks; instead, they flew around chaotically and aimlessly. Occasionally, one or two would still collide with the car due to inertia or poor visibility, but this was no longer the organized, frenzied attack they had before.
"As expected!" Xu Mo was certain; the problem really was with the music.
But then Xu Mo had a question: "But why would bats be triggered by music? I remember bats use echolocation, right? They shouldn't be sensitive to sound waves within the range of human hearing..."
Xu Mo's knowledge wasn't particularly extensive; his understanding of bats mostly came from common sense and scattered popular science information. He knew that bats have degenerated eyesight and primarily rely on emitting ultrasonic waves from their throats to detect obstacles and prey by receiving echoes—a perceptual method far exceeding human hearing frequencies. Logically, music played from a car stereo, falling within the audible sound wave range, shouldn't significantly interfere with their positioning systems, much less trigger such a frenzied attack.
"Unless..." Xu Mo's eyes flickered as he thought of a possibility, "these bats have also mutated."
The arrival of the apocalypse has changed more than just humans and the obvious predators and fish. These nocturnal flying mammals may also have been affected by unknown factors. Their sensory systems may have mutated, no longer relying solely on ultrasound, and may now react strongly to audible sound waves of specific frequencies, perhaps mistaking them for threats, the calls of rivals, or signals that stimulate their aggressive instincts. The music played on car stereos, especially music with strong rhythms and specific frequencies, happens to be this "switch."
Of course, these are just Xu Mo's guesses; the real reason might only be known by professional biologists in a laboratory. But for Xu Mo right now, knowing that "turning off the music can avoid trouble" is enough.
Xu Mo sat quietly in the dark carriage, patiently waiting. As time passed, the restlessness of the bats outside gradually subsided. Their calls were no longer so sharp and dense, and the area they circled around began to expand, no longer tightly enveloping the vehicle.
About ten minutes later, Xu Mo observed carefully through the car window and found that the black figures began to disperse in twos and threes. They no longer circled the vehicle, but flew away into the distance and eventually disappeared into the thick night.
The surroundings returned to the silence that a wilderness should have, with only the faint sound of the wind.
"Looks like they've dispersed." Xu Mo breathed a sigh of relief.
After waiting a few more moments and confirming that there were no more signs of bats circling around, Xu Mo decided to set off again. He carefully started the vehicle and turned on the headlights, illuminating the road ahead with two beams of light.
After doing all this, Xu Mo held his breath, listened carefully to the sounds outside the car, and at the same time, his eyes warily scanned the dark area at the edge of the beam of light.
One minute, two minutes... five minutes passed, and the expected swarm of bats attracted by the light did not occur. The surroundings remained silent, with only dust particles floating slowly in the beams of light from the car headlights.
"It seems that the key is indeed sound, while the influence of light is relatively almost negligible, or they are not sensitive to stationary light sources," Xu Mo concluded initially.
Without further hesitation, Xu Mo shifted gears, lightly pressed the accelerator, and the SUV roared once more, steadily moving forward. This time, Xu Mo didn't turn on the stereo, and even kept the windows tightly closed, minimizing any sound or light leaks that might cause unnecessary trouble.
The car interior returned to its monotonous environment of only engine and road noise, but Xu Mo felt calmer and more focused than when he was listening to music. Having experienced an unexpected bat swarm attack, he had gained a deeper and more concrete understanding of the dangers of this apocalyptic night.