Apocalypse, then transforming into a magical girl

Chapter 73 The Xinmao Elevated Road Liberation Plan

"However, even if it's just using nitrogen, there's still a considerable risk involved, right? I remember this kind of weapon..." Little Green was still somewhat wary of the dangers associated with it.

"It's alright, magical girls can't be burned to death." Bai Shuyuan's tone remained calm. "The initial product won't be used by ordinary people; I will test it myself."

"I'll do it," Little Green sighed. "My abilities are better at protecting myself, and I'm safer."

"However," Xia Zhaozhao said with some doubt, "is this kind of thing really that useful?"

"Aren't our real adversaries those 'deformed' beings?"

"That guy in the neighborhood who can suck people's blood... that guy in college who can create illusions... and this guy who can erase memories... apart from the organ thief, the rest are all more troublesome than the last..."

She counted on her fingers, taking stock of the elite monsters she had encountered so far.

"Speaking of the shopping mall... I still don't understand," Xiao Lü said, puzzled.

She briefly described to Bai Shuyuan the previous battle between the two of them and that monster, and explained the monster's characteristic of embedding human organs into its own body.

"...I think the host of the teratoma was a patient with Cottal syndrome before he died."

"This rare mental illness makes patients believe that they are dead or that their internal organs are decaying."

"That's why it keeps plundering other people's organs in an attempt to fill the void in its own body."

"As for why it was quite weak when you encountered it, I speculate that it was due to interference from the memory field of the hospital. Otherwise, it should have been highly dangerous as well."

"So, so, ordinary monsters are fine no matter what..." Xia Zhaozhao said, "The main problem is these 'deformed ones,' each one is more troublesome than the last."

"Actually, we don't need to confront them head-on," Little Green said. "If they're not in a crucial location that we absolutely have to go to."

"Avoid?" Xia Zhaozhao looked at Xiao Lü.

"Yes. Do you remember when we first tracked down that deformed fetus?"

"Yes, that's when I met Xiaobai!"

"No, it was before that," Little Green reminded us. "Didn't we discover that it was deliberately avoiding something?"

"Oh, right! It's avoiding those ordinary monsters—monsters and deformed creatures seem to repel each other!"

“That’s right,” Bai Shuyuan added. “Ordinary aggregates will instinctively reject deformed fetuses, just as healthy humans will expel madmen.”

"And the deformed fetus itself will actively respond to this rejection and stay away from areas where the aggregates are dense."

"...Wait a minute, why are there so many monsters at the hospital?"

"I think that aggregates are different from humans. After being affected by this memory field, they lose even the most basic instincts of seeking advantage and avoiding harm. That's why they don't leave on their own. This should be considered a special case."

"Moreover," Bai Shuyuan continued, "the deformed fetus itself is not a threat. What is threatening is the deformed fetus that has been combined with a 'madman'."

"And the place where the so-called 'madmen' are most likely to appear is, of course,... the most densely populated places," Xiao Lü added.

"Oh! I get it! So, if we deliberately avoid these densely populated central areas, we'll likely be able to avoid those troublesome deformed babies?"

"Yes. But in fact, I already have some preliminary strategies for dealing with birth defects, but there's no need for them yet."

-----------------

"These are the patterns we've summarized from our previous battles against the 'deformed creatures'," Bai Shuyuan said.

Inside the bank's conference room, the three magical girls, Sasha, and the other survivors gathered to discuss their next move.

"First, in areas where ordinary aggregates are densely packed, the probability of the presence of deformed individuals is extremely low, as they exhibit an instinctive mutual repulsion."

"Second, a deformed fetus only becomes threatening after mating with a 'madman.' Therefore, we need to avoid densely populated areas before the disaster."

"Based on these two points, we can roughly divide the city into high-risk and low-risk zones, thus planning a relatively safe route when searching for supplies."

"In addition, we need to establish a simple psychological assessment mechanism to regularly observe everyone's mental state and prevent problems before they occur."

However, after listening, Old Qian said with a wry smile, "But even ordinary monsters outside are enough to give us a hard time."

"What are you afraid of!" the veteran retorted in a deep voice, his voice not loud, but firm and resounding.

"We're already designing flamethrowers and simple shotguns. Those monsters outside aren't anything to be afraid of, as long as we have the right weapons!"

What's truly terrifying is never the enemy, he thought.

Outside the window, the ground was already submerged in crimson water, and in the distance, countless monsters still lurked in the floodwaters.

"How to move around in a situation surrounded by monsters is the core of what we're going to discuss next," Little Green said with a confident smile.

"We have now cleared four locations: our neighborhood, a bank building, a shopping mall, and a hospital."

"I'm inclined to use this place, the bank building, as our research and development and command center for the time being. The shopping mall can serve as our production base. The large amount of supplies from the hospital is also quite important to us."

"So, our current task is to expand these four isolated points into a line?" The veteran nodded, understanding the next course of action.

"But the outside is completely flooded, and the ground is covered with all sorts of monsters..." Old Wang muttered, but suddenly realized something and looked up:

"Expressway!"

"Yes, the answer is the elevated road!" Xia Zhaozhao excitedly chimed in, pointing to the map and repeating Xiao Lü's idea.

By using elevated roads as connecting lines, we can avoid the trouble of waterlogged ground and large numbers of monsters, and connect all the strongholds.

Next, it is necessary to clear the elevated road sections connecting several core strongholds, and establish several temporary strongholds on the cleared elevated road sections, build simple defensive fortifications, and use them as transit points for supplies.

In this way, supplies can circulate safely between the several strongholds, and personnel can exchange goods and services.

"And then—" Xia Zhaozhao said excitedly, "once this line is fully connected, we can continue to expand our strategic depth and liberate the entire Xinmao... oh no, liberate the entire elevated road of Xinmao!"

"In other words, from this moment on, we are no longer fighting merely to survive! We are fighting to rebuild order!"

She was smug and enjoyed the feeling of being the center of attention.