Wen Jiuzhe’s stiff face twitched. Xue Ling felt that might have been a smile, but it really looked mocking.
“Okay.” He typed on the tablet. “Then we’ll leave.”
Where did he want to go? The remote little house they had lived in that winter, or somewhere else?
Xue Ling couldn’t guess. Wen Jiuzhe said they would leave tomorrow, so she decided to go say goodbye to the people she knew today.
Last time, she had lost consciousness too suddenly and hadn’t had time to say goodbye. If she left this time, they probably would never meet again.
When she went to say farewell to the small squad soldiers she had known before, Xue Ling didn’t let Wen Jiuzhe follow. She walked alone to the familiar training ground.
The weather had turned cold, but the training ground was full of people. Everyone was sweaty, and the steaming warmth rising from their bodies made the air in this area not so cold.
As Xue Ling approached, she felt that hunger which had always accompanied her become extremely distinct.
At first she intended to look for the squad and captain she knew, but in the end she found herself unconsciously staring at the group of people closest to her.
They were sitting at the edge of the field resting, leaning against the iron net and chatting with laughter.
For a moment, Xue Ling seemed to lose consciousness, unconsciously quickening her steps forward, and then she was stopped by the iron net outside the training ground.
She suddenly came to her senses and abruptly withdrew the hand that had been gripping the iron net.
She had been a zombie for a long time. When resisting the instinctive hunger of a zombie, she had always done well. She was very clear that she did not like attacking humans.
This was the first time she had discovered, while conscious, that she had suddenly lost control of herself.
It was like before, when she had suddenly malfunctioned and couldn’t control her body, but this kind of loss of control was far more terrifying to her than being unable to move.
Instead of walking through the iron gate beside her, Xue Ling suddenly turned her head and hurried back the way she came, returning to Wen Jiuzhe’s side.
“Finished saying goodbye so quickly?” Wen Jiuzhe was still sitting on the chair she had been sitting on before she left, his posture unchanged.
Xue Ling went over, pulled open his coat, and hid her head inside.
“What’s wrong? Did they say bad things about you?”
“……”
“Didn’t find the people you knew? Heard that someone you knew sacrificed and felt sad?”
“……”
Wen Jiuzhe pulled her out, handed her the tablet, and let her answer.
Holding the tablet, Xue Ling shook her head. After a while, she opened her mouth, revealed her sharp teeth, and made a gesture as if wanting to pull them out.
“…Want to bite someone?” Wen Jiuzhe asked.
Xue Ling shoved her head back into his coat.
Wen Jiuzhe wrapped her in his coat and stood up, walked to the table and pulled open a drawer, opened a small insulated box, and took out a low-temperature preserved injection from inside.
Hearing the sound of the packaging being torn open, Xue Ling raised her head to look. She saw that inside the small box, there was a row of emptiness. Apart from the one Wen Jiuzhe was holding, there was only one vial of medicine left.
When she had just woken up on Jiading Island, she had also seen similar medicine packaging on the nearby table.
Wen Jiuzhe pressed on the back of her head. Xue Ling could not feel the sting of the needle, only a faint coolness at the back of her neck.
Then that bit of coolness spread inside her scalp like a spider web, and there was also a sensation as if soda bubbles were bursting inside her brain.
Xue Ling was stunned for a while before she heard Wen Jiuzhe’s comfort coming from the tablet: “Don’t be afraid.”
“It’s okay, I’m with you. Even if you want to bite someone, it’s okay.”
Xue Ling still went to briefly say goodbye to the people she knew. With one hand gripping Wen Jiuzhe tightly, she endured that urge to bite, walked a circle through the dense crowd, and when she left, she even felt a sense of exhaustion.
When she finally went to say goodbye to Wen Yi, Wen Yi’s expression was a little strange. “Is it necessary to come specifically to say goodbye?”
Xue Ling: “Of course it is. Once we leave, we might not come back again. Thank you for your help and care during this time.”
Wen Yi’s expression became even stranger. “Might not come back?”
She glanced at Wen Jiuzhe and didn’t say much more. “Alright then, I hope your journey goes smoothly.”
When Xue Ling sat in the car the next day, she also felt something was strange. “Sister Yi didn’t even try to persuade us, and no one stopped us from leaving.”
They were at least officially registered. Could they just leave whenever they wanted without any restriction?
This doubt was quickly resolved.
Because not long after getting in the car, they got onto a train. Xue Ling saw on the station sign that the final destination was Jizhou City.
Xue Ling: “?”
“Where are we going?”
“Jizhou City.”
“To do a mission?”
“Ah.”
“……”
Then what were all the mental preparations she had made before, and those serious goodbyes?
Xue Ling realized she had been tricked by Wen Jiuzhe again. He had never planned to take her away from the base. He had already planned to go to Jizhou City.
Wen Yi must have known as well, so that was why she had that strange reaction when she heard the farewell.
When he had asked that sentence, “It’s fine to leave here,” Wen Jiuzhe had indeed wanted to leave.
After the hem of his coat had been torn into strips by Xue Ling, Wen Jiuzhe finally explained, “I didn’t want to go before, but Jizhou City sent a latest message. Now we have a reason to go.”
Jizhou City was a special place. It was special because in the early days of the apocalypse, it was the only city that had been “cleared” with a special weapon. At that time, the entire Jizhou City had disappeared.
The tens of millions of zombies inside had been buried together with the city.
But before people could celebrate, something worse happened.
The zombies around Jizhou City, after being exposed to radiation, had all undergone a certain degree of mutation.
Their bodies became deformed, more infectious, more resilient, more perceptive toward humans, and faster in movement, once causing more than half of the dozens of large and small bases around Jizhou City to fall.
As a result, the remaining human bases kept reorganizing and retreating, moving farther away from the original Jizhou City.
But the mutated zombies would not stop because of their retreat. From Jizhou City, they spread outward to the surrounding areas.
Moreover, this batch of mutated zombies gradually began infecting animals, breaking the original conclusion that animals would not contract the zombie virus.
A considerable number of infected animals appeared around Jizhou City. They were even more aggressive and more pervasive than zombies.
Because communications had never been restored, many regions acted independently, and information did not circulate.
The bases on Jizhou City’s side had also implemented a blockade, so only the North Base, which had the most well-informed channels, knew some inside details.
“In the past few years, the Jizhou City base had not contacted the North Base at all. It was only this year, when the situation became truly dire, the surrounding bases were on the verge of collapse, and even the most important base had fallen, that they finally contacted the North Base to explain the situation and seek support.”
“The North Base has long wanted to gradually restore control over other regional bases. Previously, they were too occupied to spare the effort. Now is a good opportunity. Jizhou City’s requests for help this year have grown more urgent each time, and their attitude has improved considerably.”
“The Jizhou Base they rebuilt last year has recently been attacked again by mutated zombies and mutated animals and is in a half-fallen state. Within the wealthy alliance that controls the base, three families have also run into trouble. This is one of the main reasons they are seeking help from the North Base.”
“Wen Yi revealed some inside information. Among the wealthy alliance in Jizhou, one family ran a biotechnology company before the apocalypse, with a well-known biological research laboratory under its name. They possess top-tier human cryogenic technology.”
“Their latest achievement is that they thawed an infected person from the early days of the apocalypse who had contracted the zombie virus but had not yet mutated, and then used the latest vaccine developed by the North Base, successfully restoring him.”
“This lucky person did not turn into a zombie. Aside from physical weakness, there was nothing wrong with him.”
“This cryogenic technology was initially used only by wealthy people infected with the zombie virus who were willing to freeze themselves. After this incident, quite a few people within the wealthy alliance are also willing to freeze themselves until the best zombie vaccine is developed, or until the zombies are eliminated, before being thawed.”
“Now, they are willing to use their confidential cryogenic technology in exchange for the North Base’s assistance.”
This was the reason Wen Jiuzhe was willing to come to Jizhou City.
There was currently no way to resolve Xue Ling’s condition, but as long as there was enough time, perhaps a method of treatment could be found.
She could be frozen first, and after a few years, when suitable medication had been researched, she could be thawed. Just like the successful case in Jizhou City.
This thread of hope was enough for Wen Jiuzhe to change his decision and stay.
As part of the first batch of support personnel dispatched by the North Base, Wen Jiuzhe’s name had been specifically designated by Jizhou City.
Only after arriving in Jizhou City did Wen Jiuzhe understand why they were willing to share their confidential cryogenic technology, because their laboratory was also in a fallen zone and currently impossible to enter.
If they wanted to enter, they could only break through by force, but breaking through by force would easily damage their experimental materials and equipment, as well as their precious frozen subjects. They could only choose the most peaceful method to recover the entire laboratory.
Wen Jiuzhe, the special zombie who would not be targeted by zombies, had long had his merits spread throughout the North Base.
Several bases that maintained good relations with the North Base had also borrowed him for assistance. He was the most convenient, fastest, and safest option.
The scene Xue Ling had imagined before departure—two zombies leaving the base to wander, from then on keeping each other company in the mortal world and living freely and unrestrained—directly turned into being escorted by a large group of well-trained North Base soldiers, advancing into the Jizhou City base as if taking over territory.
Moreover, the young soldiers standing behind them addressed them as “Sir.”
Xue Ling: “……”
“Ah? This team, are we in charge?” she asked in a low voice.
Wen Jiuzhe had experience. “Just follow what I do.”
Following what he did meant putting on a deadpan face and showing no reaction to anything at all.
As for the rest, naturally the diplomatic talent and spokesperson in the team would handle the communication.
The wealthy alliance of Jizhou City, the current managers of the Jizhou Base, came to meet them.
This middle-aged wealthy man had a very amiable attitude and adopted a posture of valuing talent and humbling himself. Xue Ling could even hear the intention of poaching between the lines of his words.
However, the clothes he was wearing were somewhat comical, a bit puffed out. It was said to be the newly developed zombie protective suit of the Jizhou City base.
Expensive to produce, few in number, impervious to zombie scratches and bites… real or fake?
Xue Ling now truly had sharp teeth and claws. Wen Jiuzhe’s skin was so tough, yet she could still scratch through it whenever she wanted.
With such promotion of this protective suit, she really became curious whether she could scratch it open.
While the middle-aged manager engaged in verbal sparring with the diplomat, Xue Ling kept staring at the zombie protective suit on him.
She didn’t pay attention to what they were saying, but it was probably not very pleasant.
In the end, the middle-aged manager even wanted to shake hands with Xue Ling and Wen Jiuzhe.
Wen Jiuzhe did not extend his hand. Xue Ling did, and her sharp fingernails made a tearing sound as they scratched through the sleeve of his zombie protective suit.
Xue Ling clearly saw his expression change abruptly as he withdrew his hand. His composed demeanor vanished. Startled, he took two steps back and finally left in a fluster.
Xue Ling was still thinking, if that clothes was torn, she wouldn’t have to compensate for it, right?
The diplomat in the team suddenly applauded her in praise. “That threat just now was very powerful!”
Xue Ling: “……” What, did that count as a threat?
Wen Jiuzhe gave her a sentence: “You say you don’t want to do missions, but in your heart you still want to help, right? Cooperating so actively.”
