TL: xDh20, LifeisaJourney
ED: Amaranth
Chapter 134 - Suspension cable
[TL: I delayed releasing the next few chapters because the situation on the bridge was confusing as hell. I wanted to make sure it was as accurate as possible to what the author would've wanted it portrayed. One chapter tonight only! My birthday celebration awaits! Bye all!]
“You only have to show me where these locations are, otherwise even if you told me I won’t know which one is which.” Liu Gan interrupted Zhou MingLiang. Once Zhou MingLiang started talking, he really didn’t know how to stop.
“Ah, okay.” Zhou MingLiang revealed a slight with an embarrassed smile and didn't continue to show off his knowledge.
As the two continued to walk, Liu Gan under the guidance of Zhou MingLiang opened all metal plated bridge panels. If there were any unexpected accidents, escaping through any of these bridge panels was possible so they needed to open these covers up before they attempted to blow up the bridge.
“The space in base of this bridge is very narrow, so it's the perfect location for maximizing the effects of a grenade. It should be enough to snap the cable wire holding the bridge. Once the cable wires snap, this half of the bridge will collapse.
“The order that you should blow up the bridge should be like this. Start from there here, then here, after that there, don't forget that location over there… as long as you follow this order, you will have enough time to escape to a safe area. Once this half of the bridge collapses, the corpse tide won't be able to chase after us. Then we can stay on this side of the river and find a safe zone to survive.” Zhou MingLiang said to Liu Gan.
“Okay, let's get started. Time doesn't wait for anyone.” Liu Gan nodded.
"You wait, let me go back up before you start." Zhou MingLiang said as he was ready to slip back up to the bridge surface.
"No, you and I stay are staying together, incase if I encounter with a technical difficulty that I need help with especially if I blow up the wrong place." Liu Gan reached out to hold onto Zhou Mingliang.
[TL: LOL you aren't going anywhere bro.]
“I need to go back up to communicate with the others above, so they can rush towards the other half of the bridge. Otherwise, they wouldn't know the situation when we blow up the bridge and they might sink with this side of the bridge.” Zhou MingLiang was trying to find an excuse to escape.
“Oh you don't have to worry about that.” Liu Gan took out his earpiece and told Yin He what the plan was. He told her to rush towards the safe side of the bridge as fast as possible and wait for him there.
Zhou MingLiang was helplessly tagged along with Liu Gan at the maintenance layer. Liu Gan stood on standby until he heard from Yin He that they were nearly done killing off all the wandering zombies on the bridge, then Liu Gan started his plan of blowing up the bridge.
After choosing a safe spot, Liu Gan placed the a grenade at the first location, after he pulled the ring out and ran back to the cover spot. Just as he crouched behind the cover spot, there was a muffled explosion noise and a shock wave shortly followed it.
The whole bridge shook, but there weren’t any sound of cable wires snapping.
"Doesn’t sound like it snapped off?" Liu Gan asked to Zhou Mingliang.
“No need for it snap, it only needs to shift from it’s position. As long as you follow the sequence and explode these point accordingly, then the whole thing will fall from its’ own weight. At that point, the connecting point between the bridge and the cable won’t be able to hold the weight and break. Trust me. My major was Material Mechanics. I helped to design this bridge, so listening to me won’t be the wrong choice.” Zhou MingLiang vowed to Liu Gan.
Liu Gan half-believed him, half-doubted Zhou MingLiang. Since Liu Gan felt that all thing was unreliable, so he had no choice but to treat a dead horse as if it was alive. Just incase this hand grenade was unable to blow up this bridge, he could only escape before the corpse tide surrounded him. Worst case scenario, he had to abandon everyone else. Only with Yin He, two of them could to kill their way out.
[TL: ‘treat dead horse as if it’s still alive’ is an idiom, meaning trying is better than not trying at all in a last ditch effort of desperation.]
Of course, it was his last resort. It was not easy to train a powerful and obedient team. So he wouldn't easily give them up.
Second grenade, third grenade...
The amplitude of vibrations of the bridge deck was getting stronger with every successive explosion. If you listened to them carefully, you could already hear sound of the bridge cracking.
Sixth grenade, seventh grenade...
“Okay! The bridge is about to collapse! We better escape now!” Zhou MingLiang was attentively listening the sounds that were produced by the bridge. After the seventh grenade exploded, he yelled towards Liu Gan.
Liu Gan quickly came out from his cover and together with Zhou Mingliang, they ran towards the exit. Liu Gan reached the bridge surface first, then reached out with his hand out and pulled Zhou MingLiang up. Once both of them were steady on the bridge deck, the first suspension cable produced a loud sound ‘bang’ in the process and it snapped off.
The huge thick suspension cable instantly lost the ability to support the bridge, under the immense tension and the downward force shifted the balance of the bridge. The suspension cable rebounded and swept across the lanes. Cars that were in the middle of the road were swept up and were thrown off of the bridge. Cars started flying after a 10 meter drop they feel into the river below.
The suspension cable swept by Liu Gan and Zhou MingLiang. It caused a strong gale due to the tension created from being extracted from the bridge deck. The location where it was pulled out from the ground formed a large pit in the ground. Friction from the cable generated sparks as it ricocheted back and forth in midair, reaching heights of 100 meters high from one side of the bridge to the other.
“F%#K! Was this also in your calculations?” Liu Gan panicked as he asked Zhou MingLiang. Luckily, the cable only swept 2 meters close their bodies, if it was any closer their bodies would get pulled in by the force. It would’ve been impossible to survive that.
"No! We hurry we need to run! Once the strength of the rebounding suspension cable is exhausted, other suspension cables will certainly snap and sweep as well!" Zhou Mingliang was extremely alarmed as he answered Liu Gan. Then together with Liu Gan, they bolted towards the end of the bridge.
Two Giant Colossal Variant Zombies trampled onto the bodies of the regular zombies, as they marched from the direction of the supermarket all the way up to the fiery blockade. With their gigantic hands, they pushed away the burning roadblock of vehicle remains. Then they were able to move everything in front of them aside and successfully cleared a path through the blockade.
While the two Giant Colossal Variant Zombie clearing the fiery blockade, their bodies also caught on fire. This type of fire wouldn’t be enough to kill them, so after clearing out the path, they lead hundreds to thousands of fearless regular zombies that rushed at the bridge deck, as they charged toward from the other side of the bridge.
After the first suspension cable snapped off, everything that happened afterwards was same as what Zhou MingLiang said. Another suspension cable snapped, producing horrifying sounds of ‘bang bang’! And once again the bridge plummet lower as it shifted in balance from more suspension cables letting go.
These gigantic suspension wires were swinging randomly at high speeds in midair, until they collided and wrapped and coiled around each other, then they whiplashed onto the bridge deck with tremendous force.
Dozens of regular zombies were caught in the backlash sweep, within seconds after contact they were crushed as pieces of rotten limbs were sent flying everywhere. Even one of the Giant Colossal Variant Zombie was caught in the high speed suspension cable, it instantly separated the left shoulder its body, cutting through the abdomen with an oblique cut. Leaving behind two piles of mush on the bridge.
[TL: the fiery blockade is near the side closest to the bank with corpse tide walking through. Liu Gan is blowing up the part of the bridge that is also on that same side. Liu Gan didn't pass the midway part of the bridge yet.