Chapter 896: We Are Zombies

】 The atmosphere was solemn.

Inside the laboratory, the flickering and swaying dark red alarm light, like the blood flowing from a dying person, gradually eroded the field of vision.

Even though she felt no chill, Little Mo Ling couldn't help but move a little closer to Lin An, as if only by leaning against him could she dispel that chill in her heart.

With her mouth open, Mo Ling looked at Lin An and asked in a soft, uncertain voice:

"Lin An... what they're saying is..."

"Zombies?"

The researcher's words were enough for her to think of zombies in the real world.

But a harder-to-describe sense of absurdity began to grow in her heart.

"Here.."

"It really looks like reality. If something is researched here, doesn't that mean the same thing happened in the real world?"

"No answer."

Lin An unusually didn't answer Mo Ling.

After the researchers discovered something, when he and Chu An encountered Huang Shaohua, this suspected 'remnant' existence, they began to speculate.

The apocalypse is a cycle of reincarnation.

But this speculation, they lacked more evidence, and thus did not announce it to the team members.

After all, if the truth were really like that, it would be too shocking to one's worldview.

Before he was certain, or before finding the truth, he did not intend to tell the people around him.

But now, the humans in this area world seem to have found clues to the apocalypse cycle puzzle.

"Not enough."

Lin An stared fixedly at those dull eyes and continued to ask:

"What other evidence have you found?"

"You... did you create something similar to zombies—a kind of human who loses rationality and attacks humans?"

"Manu... facture?"

Stiffly raising his head, the researcher seemed to short-circuit for a moment, paused briefly, then replied mechanically:

"Zombies are not manufactured; they have always existed."

"There is something that makes humans very much like zombies."

"Long before we discovered the existence of zombies, someone had already been researching similar viruses."

"Rabies virus, prion virus, organex..."

"But we didn't link these issues to zombies back then."

With a thought, Lin An recalled the zombie he had seen in the fragment impact, and spoke in a low voice:

"Please explain in detail—what connection have you found?"

"Also, where is that zombie?"

"The question is very important."

Lin An originally thought the Heiyu was just a special area for brushing supplies and props, but if a fragment world within this area still had zombies and that strange skull even without the Doomsday Game...

Through logical negation, perhaps we could find the true nature of the zombie outbreak in the real world.

Or rather, what are zombies?

Rather than what most survivors think—that zombies are just zombies—they never had the chance to consider how to understand this thing.

Even so, one could catch a glimpse of the secrets of the Doomsday System.

Following orders, the researcher spoke mechanically:

"First is the rabies virus."

"In our previous research, this virus was one of the strangest in nature."

"After humans are infected, they exhibit extremely similar symptoms to zombies."

"The earliest record of the rabies virus outbreak is in 1930 BCE, documented in the Laws of Eshnunna."

"Of course, perhaps even earlier. At the time, people believed it was the curse of the wrathful god."

"Afterwards, there were large-scale outbreaks in 1271 CE, 1500, 1586, and 1604."

"The most recent major outbreak occurred in 1930 of the last century."

"When we were unaware of the theory of the uncanny valley effect, we didn't think there was anything wrong with these outbreak times; at most, the number 1930 seemed a bit coincidental."

"But after the research unfolded, everything changed."

Repeating mechanically, after receiving Lin An's order, the researcher paused:

"If we take the occurrence of zombies in human history as a given fact and reason backward about this virus,"

"then the characteristics of the rabies virus obviously match logically, and this proves a point."

"For example, the rabies virus is a rare virus among all viruses with a mortality rate nearing 100%."

"Furthermore, unlike most viruses, it attacks only the nervous system, and only the brain."

"After attacking the brain, it forces the body to secrete more virus-laden saliva to spread the virus."

"This does not conform to normal biological theory."

"Like other viruses, they are more like burglars and thieves invading the body, going wherever it is weak and suitable for them to reproduce, thereby multiplying."

"Moreover, the evolution of viruses actually follows the biological instinct of survival; after many infections in humans, their toxicity tends to decrease."

"Because dead bodies cannot spread the virus, only living carriers can infect more people. But the rabies virus is different; its toxicity has never decreased."

"Furthermore, the rabies virus travels along the wound all the way to the brain; during this process, it never lingers in any part of the body, nor does it infect bodily tissues."

"It's as if they know the pathways inside the human body and know what to do."

The most astonishing thing is that they seem to 'recognize' every cell in the human body. They can 'collude' with them to deceive the human immune system.

Just as the words fell, Little Mo Ling began to frown tightly.

This has already reached the limit of her knowledge; she looked toward Lin An for help.

"Lin An, I don't understand. What is he trying to say? What point is he trying to verify?"

After a moment of contemplation, Lin An solemnly began to explain.

"He means that this virus might be man-made."

"Under normal circumstances, the principle by which the human immune system eliminates viruses is: upon detecting non‑human cells entering the body, the immune system orders all cells to 'self‑check' and releases a special command requiring all cells to become 'transparent'."

"It's like if there were an infected person mixed in among Long An, we would order everyone to strip naked for a body check."

"Under the immune system's command, all cells become transparent, allowing the immune system to inspect the interior for any virus contamination."

"But when the rabies virus hides inside human cells, it colludes with the cells just like them, refusing the immune system's inspection."

"Until it keeps reproducing and accumulating to a critical point, then it begins to move toward the brain."

After he finished speaking, Lin An felt a growing strange sensation.

The abnormal performance of the rabies virus had actually been discovered by many researchers in reality long ago; people just didn't think it meant anything.

But now it seems that once this virus enters the human body, it is practically like 'coming home'.

The brain is their home.

Thinking from another angle, this means the virus is extremely likely to be self‑generated by humans.

Therefore, the researcher would say that 'it' is not manufactured, but has always existed.

Rabies virus, in a certain sense, is more like a part of the human body that has been 'lost' in the outside world; once it enters the body, it is like returning.

It's just like him now returning to Long'an Base—no one would, and no one dares to check whether Lin An has any problems.

Rabies virus—this entity that exists outside the body, not inside it—could very well be something humans inherently possess.

In that case, Chu An's theory could hold.

(The zombie virus is a kind of thought virus, a meme; it always exists inside every human body. Until the Doomsday System detonates...)

If this viewpoint is taken further, doesn't it mean that everyone originally was a zombie, rather than being infected?!

No...

This conclusion is too fantastical, and there are many places where the logic doesn't hold up.