Wasteland Survivalist: A Scientific Guide to Post-Apocalyptic Survival

Without time to hesitate, Gu Lang retrieved his backpack.

Take out the flamethrower from the bag, open the top plastic cover to reveal the red "phosphorus surface".

Next, remove the entire white plastic head and rub it vigorously against the black ignition head below.

With a "hiss," the incendiary rod was lit like a giant match, spewing out intense red flames.

The flamethrower only lasted for 15 minutes, so Gu Lang seized the time and waved the flamethrower around, setting fires everywhere.

Finally, it was thrown violently into a pile of polystyrene foam boxes by the door.

The flames greedily licked at everything flammable—cardboard boxes, wooden furniture, plastic products—all of which were ignited in an instant.

A red dragon of fire spread everywhere, the heat was oppressive, and flames rose like a curtain.

The thick smoke temporarily obscured the view and blocked the pursuers' path.

Gu Lang turned around and sprinted into the depths of the market without hesitation.

There was another exit there, the one he had just seen; he had to escape the raging fire before it got completely out of control.

Taking advantage of the chaos created by the raging fire, he finally managed to escape that deadly place.

Barely escaping the pursuit of the madmen, they crashed headfirst into a residential alley next to the market.

He leaned against the cold, damp brick wall, panting heavily, trying to calm his wildly beating heart.

However, when he cautiously peeked out from the alleyway, his heart sank to the bottom.

He was completely trapped.

Looking around, one could see swaying figures everywhere in the town, with excited howls rising and falling.

The intense gunfire at the distant crash site had ceased, replaced by a restless, celebratory atmosphere.

The battle surrounding the helicopter rescue operation is likely over; the Berserkers have won and are now in a state of gratified release.

Gu Lang quickly slipped into the nearest three-story house and gently closed the door behind him.

He climbed up to the second floor and peered around through the window cracks.

Groups of berserkers wandered aimlessly through the streets, unable to find any opening to break through.

He forced himself to calm down, checked the equipment, and cleaned and disinfected it.

Several hours later, the fire at the distant fish market finally died down, leaving only wisps of black smoke.

As the last glimmer of light vanished, darkness completely took over the land.

Gradually, the commotion outside began to subside.

Those berserkers, exhausted, ended their "revelry" and went to find places to sleep.

Three in the morning, the coldest, darkest, and quietest time of day.

Gu Lang opened his eyes. Several hours of rest had restored most of his strength, and he was glad that he hadn't had an attack.

We must get out of here as soon as possible.

He abandoned the ground route, as it was too dangerous; he didn't know if he would step on a "potato mine."

So I turned my attention to the rooftops. In this old district of Qionggang Town, the houses are built densely, mostly two or three-story "handshake buildings" with very little space between them, and even windows facing each other.

He moved swiftly across the rooftops, which were of varying heights, like a nimble cat.

Just as he was about to pass the last few rows of houses and reach the edge of the town, he suddenly caught a faint light flickering not far to his right.

Gu Lang immediately lowered his body and stared intently.

The light seemed to come from a flashlight, flashing at a repetitive frequency.

The rhythm is exactly three short and one long, representing the letter "U" in Morse code.

"Is this a rallying signal...?" Gu Lang's heart skipped a beat.

He hesitated briefly, realizing there were only two possibilities: either it was a berserker's trap, or it was another survivor.

Considering that most people only know that three short, three long, and three short signals are an SOS distress signal, the first possibility can be basically ruled out.

If he's not mistaken, that's very likely where the survivors of the plane crash are located.

"It's worth taking the gamble."

Gu Lang immediately changed direction and carefully crept towards the direction of the light signal.

Just as they were about to get close to the light source, the other party seemed to sense the danger and quickly turned off the flashlight.

The area around the rooftop was plunged into complete darkness in an instant, but Gu Lang still managed to locate the small building using residual vision.

If you stare at a luminous object in complete darkness for an extended period of time, you can still see the outline of the luminous object even after the light disappears.

This physiological phenomenon is called positive afterimage, which is caused by a delay in the biochemical reaction of retinal photoreceptor cells.

Simply put, the light source is turned off, but the discharge of visual cells caused by the light stimulation cannot stop immediately, so a residual image is formed on the retina.

Gu Lang quietly moved to the roof of the adjacent house, only 1 meter away from the target building.

He gently tapped on the stainless steel railing beside him.

"Da da da—da—da—da—da da da." This was the rhythm of sending an SOS signal.

After a while, a head cautiously peeked out from the roof of the house across the street.

Gu Lang extended his left hand, opened his palm, and slowly beckoned.

The use of hand gestures can vary between different countries, military branches, and even different units.

However, opening one's palm is a globally recognized gesture that signifies "no malice," while slowing down the movement is to avoid being misunderstood as aggressive.

After seeing this, the other person held up two fingers, pointed to their eyes, and then pointed to Gulang, roughly meaning "I see you."

Gu Lang stood up, pointed to himself, then to the other person, indicating that he wanted to go over.

After waiting for a while, the man gave a thumbs-up and shook it.

Communication is successful!

Without further hesitation, Gu Lang assessed the distance and elevation difference between the two buildings, took a few steps back to get a running start, and then leaped into the air!

His figure swept across the dark, narrow street.

With a soft "thump," he landed steadily on the opposite rooftop.

After turning on the low beam of my flashlight and taking a closer look, I saw that the other person was holding a rifle.

The rifle features a stockless design with a carrying handle on top, a typical characteristic of the Type 95 rifle family.

This gun looks compact and short, shorter than the original Type 95 rifle.

Gu Lang recalled reading the magazine "Light Weapons" before and realized that it was the QBZ95B short automatic rifle.

He also noticed that the other person was wearing a water-resistant, thermally insulated lifesuit, which looked like a waterproof onesie, a type of clothing commonly seen on people who need to work on water frequently.

If you accidentally fall into water, ordinary clothing will quickly lose its heat-retaining properties, causing your body to lose heat in a short period of time.

This type of exposure suit can effectively isolate cold water, extending survival time from minutes to hours.

"So they really were the people from the helicopter." Gu Lang already knew the answer.

"Li Zheng, Air Force, Operations Support Flotilla, Winter Sea Fleet." The other person spoke concisely, his voice hoarse but carrying the crispness of a soldier.