43: Hongshui River

"Power output obstructed. Current speed: 5 knots."

zero's cold broadcast voice rang out.

The black iron ghost's originally unstoppable momentum seemed to have fallen into a pool of solidified cement, forced to slow down.

In this canyon waterway hemmed in by cliffs on both sides, the thrill of cutting through waves had completely vanished.

In its place was a bone-chilling sensation of viscosity.

Jiang Ran sat in the command seat, watching the real-time footage of both sides of the hull through a holographic screen.

It was no longer the crisp, pleasant sound of rushing currents.

When the sharp bow sliced into that layer of "Corpse Floating Carpet" several meters thick, the sound produced was dull and greasy.

"Puchi— Gezhi—"

It sounded like a blunt knife cutting through a huge slab of spoiled lard, occasionally mixed with a few crisp "crack" sounds.

Those were the brittle sounds of ribs or spines, squeezed together, snapping under the crushing weight of steel.

Not a single ripple could be seen on the water's surface anymore.

A thick layer of yellow-green grease, like a disgusting film, covered the pale white limbs.

As the hull pushed forward...

This layer of corpse oil was churned up, seething with nauseating foam, flowing slowly along the black armor plating.

"Zzz... Zzz..."

The Bio-active Metal on the surface of the black iron seemed to have developed a certain "physiological" repulsion to this extreme filth.

Jiang Ran saw it clearly.

The originally mirror-smooth black hull surface was currently undergoing a subtle writhing, similar to a muscle spasm.

Those nano-scale metal scales rose and fell, trembling, trying to shake off the sticky filth and grease adhering to them.

But this quagmire was simply too vast.

No matter how much it shook, more rotten meat and fat would stick to it the next second, like a dog-skin plaster that couldn't be shaken off.

"This road condition..."

Jiang Ran looked at the endless expanse of pale white on the screen, his brow furrowed, his fingers unconsciously rubbing the armrest:

"It's more uncomfortable than driving through lava."

Even through several layers of bulletproof glass and the filtration of the Klein Field, that greasy sensation, which seemed transmissible through sight...

...still made the atmosphere of the entire bridge oppressive and heavy.

This was a slow execution of one's psychological defenses.

Sailing through this ocean composed of the corpses of one's own kind, every meter forward was a trampling of human dignity.

"Warning: Propulsion system air intake abnormal."

"Warning: Reactor secondary circuit cooling water pressure insufficient."

core temperature rising to 400 degrees Celsius."

zero's warning voice suddenly became urgent.

The blue power heart in the holographic projection now had an ominous yellow halo appearing on its surface.

"What's going on? Not enough nuclear fuel?"

Su Qingyu walked quickly to the monitoring console, her voice tight as she looked at the skyrocketing temperature readings.

"No, nuclear fuel is sufficient, enough to burn for hundreds of years."

Jiang Ran stared at the screen, his face grim:

"It's the cooling system."

Even though this ship has evolved to be nuclear-powered, it still needs a large amount of external water for heat exchange cooling."

He pointed to the monitoring screen at the stern.

The two huge water-jet propulsion intakes, located below the waterline, were now stuffed full.

The limbs of corpses, bloated internal organs, and tangled long hair sucked in by the powerful suction of the propellers...

...were like clumps of mud, firmly blocking the metal grates.

Even though the propeller blades were still spinning frantically...

...churning that rotten meat into mince, more corpse chunks would immediately fill the gaps.

"Puchi— Puchi—"

The originally powerful high-pressure water flow had now turned into intermittent trickles, even mixed with red and white minced meat bits.

"The intakes are blocked solid; the cooling water can't be pumped up."

Jiang Ran slammed his fist onto the armrest: "Is this what they call 'capsizing in a gutter'?"

Even with the most cutting-edge cold nuclear fusion technology of human civilization, even with Electromagnetic Cannons that could shatter mountain peaks...

...before this most primitive and filthy ocean of corpses, these high-tech pieces of equipment seemed so fragile.

They weren't even as useful as a rusty shovel.

"It must be cleared."

Jiang Ran watched the reactor core temperature readings climbing slowly but steadily toward the red warning line, a cold glint flashing in his eyes:

"If we're forced to shut down the reactor, we'll really be trapped to death in this pile of rotten meat."

"zero, take over the Mechanical Arm."

Jiang Ran's voice echoed in the bridge as he strode to the auxiliary console, his hands gripping the heavy control stick.

"Manual clearing mode."

"Vroom—"

The armor plating on the black iron ghost's aft deck slid open, and the heavy Mechanical Arm that had once displayed its might at the nuclear power plant poked its head out again.

Only this time, it wasn't facing hard metal, but a much more troublesome soft-bodied hell.

Through the high-definition camera at the tip of the Mechanical Arm, Jiang Ran saw the underwater situation at the stern up close.

In the image, the corpses piled up on the intake grates were no longer individual human bodies.

Under the effects of high temperature, pressure, and microorganisms, they had already "grown" together.

Flesh bonded with flesh, fat fused with fat.

They formed a thick, tumor-like fleshy fungal carpet, firmly plastered over the grates.

Several pale arm bones could even be seen inserted within, like reinforcing steel bars.

"Truly disgusting."

Jiang Ran frowned and manipulated the hydraulic claw at the tip of the Mechanical Arm, grabbing fiercely at the obstruction.

"Puchi!"

The steel claws pierced into the meat carpet like they were grabbing into a block of moldy cheese; there was no crisp sound of metal clashing, only this tooth-aching dull thud.

"Lift!"

Jiang Ran pulled back the control stick sharply.

Accompanied by a nauseating tearing sound, a large chunk of meat mixed with clothing fragments, internal organs, and bone was forcibly ripped away.

Turbid blood and pus instantly erupted, staining the surrounding waters red.

But it wasn't enough.

Those fine bits of minced meat were still stubbornly stuck in the gaps of the grates.

"Switch to high-pressure water gun."

The palm of the Mechanical Arm flipped over, revealing a dark nozzle.

Utilizing the high-pressure pump inside the hull, a water jet sharp enough to cut through wood blasted out.

"Zzz—!!!"

Under the scrubbing of the high-pressure water flow, that stubborn filth finally began to peel off and disintegrate, revealing the silver-gray metal grates beneath.

As the intakes gradually cleared, the reactor's temperature readings finally began to drop slowly.

But this was not a victory.

Because Jiang Ran saw that within those dispersed corpse fragments, something was scurrying frantically, like a disturbed swarm of insects.

As the clearing work proceeded, the night, like ink, completely saturated this canyon waterway.

However, what was bone-chilling was that this domain of dead silence did not fall into darkness because of it.

On the contrary, it lit up.

At first, it was just a few scattered spots, but then, thousands of ghostly green flames ignited out of thin air on the surface of the pale corpse tide.

That was Phosphorus Fire.

Millions of corpses rotting in a high-humidity environment released high concentrations of phosphine gas.

These gases passed through the gaps in the grease and spontaneously ignited the moment they contacted the air.

They were like living ghosts, leaping and flickering over the pile of corpses, appearing and disappearing with the night wind.

But that wasn't all.

Under the enhanced display of the low-light night vision goggles, Jiang Ran saw an even more bizarre scene.

The surfaces of those floating corpses were no longer simple skin.

A layer of fuzzy, pale green fluorescent mold, like a glowing shroud, covered every single body.

This mutant fungus was greedily absorbing nutrients from the rotting flesh and converting metabolic products into this cold biological luminescence.

Looking as far as the eye could see...

...the entire canyon had turned into a River Styx flowing with green ghost fire.

The pitch-black cliffs on both sides were like the walls of hell, hemming in this glowing galaxy composed of the dead.

The scenery was poignant to the extreme, and terrifying to the extreme.

"What a grand funeral."

Jiang Ran stood inside the dim bridge.

Looking at the sea of corpses outside, which appeared even more hideous under the illumination of the ghost fires, his face was as calm as a block of ice.

If an ordinary person saw this scene, their mind would likely have already collapsed.

But for him, who had been reborn in this apocalypse, this was merely a rather disgusting part of the ecological cycle.

"Commander, the external phosphine concentration has reached 80% of the explosive threshold."

"It is recommended to strictly forbid the use of open-flame weapons."

zero poured a bucket of cold water on the situation at the right time.

This seemingly poignant sea of ghost fire was actually a massive fuel depot.

With just a single spark, the entire canyon would instantly turn into a super crematorium.

"Understood."

Jiang Ran withdrew his gaze and was about to order the clearing to continue.

Suddenly, Su Qingyu's voice rang out, trembling slightly: "Jiang Ran... look at that."

She pointed at a monitoring screen on the side, her finger pressed hard against the glass, her fingertip turning white from the pressure:

"There... there's a corpse, it's moving against the current."