Chapter 144: The Attraction Hypothesis

At dawn, Zhang Su pointed at the four zombie corpses lying by the gate and asked Lu Yu: "Did you lure them here for entertainment?"

Lu Yu's food sampler still bore traces of bloody grime; he shook his head. "These zombies wandered over on their own. We were fixing the barbed wire earlier."

Zhang Su crouched down, peering through the branches at the corpses. "Zombies' ability to detect living humans has definitely strengthened. Otherwise, there's no reason these zombies would have wandered onto the highway and then charged into the glass factory."

"Boss Zhang, is there a possibility…"

Liu Tianji walked over to Zhang Su's side and ventured, "I have an immature idea—can I share it?"

"Speak freely—we don't do office politics here," Zhang Su gestured for him to continue.

Liu Tianji nodded. "I'll analyze it the way I understand it: Could the zombie virus not just react to nearby living things, but subconsciously sense living organisms across a vast area—and the more living things there are, the clearer the signal?"

Zhang Su paused after hearing Liu Tianji's words. "You mean we're all signal transmitters, and zombies detect our signals, then move toward areas where the signals are densest?"

"Yes, yes, yes! Boss Zhang, you summed it up perfectly—that's exactly what I meant. My verbal skills aren't great, hehe."

Liu Tianji quickly offered praise.

Lu Yu stood nearby, stunned, muttering: "Damn, if that's true, then any large survivor base packed with people is screwed…"

He turned to Zhang Su, eyes wide. "Boss Zhang, remember that zombie horde we ran into on the street near Yileiwen Convenience Store?"

Zhang Su nodded, face grim. "If Xiao Liu's guess is right, that horde was moving toward a major survivor settlement!"

At this point, the three exchanged glances, a chill creeping deep into their bones.

For no clear reason, Zhang Su suddenly conceived a bizarre thought: the entire world had become a human body, zombies its immune cells, and humans—or any living thing—turned into viruses or bacteria, with immune cells frantically hunting and devouring them…

"Dinner's ready! Tan Jie and Zhu Zi cooked a huge pot of noodles—smells amazing! Huh? What are you three plotting? So serious?"

Zheng Xinyu ran over to call them for dinner, but noticed their grim expressions.

"Nothing. Let's eat first."

Zhang Su waved his hand and headed toward the factory building.

A steaming bowl of instant noodles with seasoning and a boiled egg steeped in the broth warmed everyone's bodies; the simple happiness made some eyes sting.

While clearing the dishes, Zhang Su clapped his hands. "Earlier, Xiao Liu mentioned something I think might be true. Let's all discuss it."

Zhao Dezhu, still happily picking his teeth, leaned back against the wall. "Bro, what's up? You look serious."

"It's serious—that's why I waited till after dinner to bring it up. I was afraid you'd lose your appetite."

Zhang Su's words instantly snapped the relaxed group into tension.

He then revealed Liu Tianji's hypothesis to everyone.

"That… can't be real?"

Many instinctively refused to believe it; others fell into silent thought.

"We understand zombies too little. We don't even know how they came to be—we assumed it was a virus, but we don't know for sure. After observing them for a while, I think Xiao Liu's 'Attraction Hypothesis' holds."

Attraction Hypothesis—that was the name Zhang Su gave it.

"Then…" Zhang Ya raised her hand. "If this hypothesis is true, doesn't it mean larger, densely populated safe zones become prime targets for zombie attacks?"

"Humans are social creatures. Grouping together is our greatest weapon against the apocalypse. The zombies' emergence seems almost tailored to counter us—this behavior makes sense."

Yu Wen spoke slowly, deep in thought.

"I think it's possible too. Why else would zombies in the city swarm toward the suburbs? I suspect it's because rural survivors are more numerous and clustered tightly, drawing them in."

Zheng Xinyu voiced her own theory.

Yu Qing raised her hand. "I'll add something—I didn't just study chemistry; I also took biology electives. From a biological standpoint, zombies could absolutely evolve the ability to sense humans—or other living things. We just don't know yet."

Thus, one by one, they expanded and enriched the Attraction Hypothesis.

"Do you think any research institutions still exist? Can our society ever return to normal?"

Tan HuaJun asked, troubled.

"Return to normal? Impossible. Those turned into zombies are truly dead. Even if we eradicated the virus, we couldn't bring them back—it's irreversible. So at least ninety percent are dead. Qincheng had a million residents before; now it's under a hundred thousand. How could we ever go back?"

Wu Lue spoke with deep pessimism.

"Survival rate that high? Maybe at the very start, but later it was at most three percent. The tech college I escaped from didn't even hit three percent!"

Chen Hanzhou, arm in a sling, added: "After my arm got bitten off, I started talking again—my old self's coming back."

Pei Lan continued: "Chen Hanzhou's right. Our school had maybe eight thousand people—under ten thousand. No more than two hundred survived. And even after escaping, many couldn't last long—we're proof of that."

When they fled the campus, over ten went together. Now only the two of them remained, plus Kuang Miao and Song Yijun—dead or alive, at most four.

If we applied that survival rate to the whole population, it'd drop below one percent…

"Figuring out zombie behavior should motivate us—why are we talking ourselves into despair?"

Zhang Su sensed the mood turning sour and quickly shifted tone: "We must think positively and stay vigilant. Even if zombies are terrifying, if we work together, one plus one becomes far greater than two. Sand gathers into towers, rivers merge into seas—we'll survive this hellish apocalypse, and thrive!"

Woo!

Wang Xing's loud protest echoed: Why insult me like that? Just speak properly!

Everyone knew Zhang Su was rallying them. From their recent experience—from fearing to even leave their doors, to now having food, hot showers, and space to talk—they'd come a long way.

They held genuine hope for the future.

As a temporary camp, Nongjia Academy's glass factory would rest for three days so everyone could recover fully before returning to the city. Zhang Su, meanwhile, kept planning with a few others how to raid the military barracks on Wenhua Road for weapons.

Unfortunately, intelligence was scarce—only Zhao Dezhu's rough layout of the barracks was known. The current state of the base remained a complete mystery; their plans were hollow.

Though time passed leisurely, no one truly relaxed under the winter sun. Everyone trained relentlessly; only the sentries got brief moments of respite.

One day passed quietly—no people or vehicles passed the highway before the glass factory. But occasional zombie assaults on the fence and rear wall further supported the Attraction Hypothesis.

At night, Pang Dakun finished his cartoon and voluntarily climbed to the roof for watch duty. The exhausted group drifted into sleep.

"I think everyone's rested enough. We can leave tomorrow."

Zhang Su murmured to Zhong Xiaoshanyi, lying beside him. Zheng Xinyu was on first watch tonight.

"I know you're eager to check out that barracks, but we agreed on three days. Let everyone rest fully."

Zhong Xiaoshanyi suggested.

"I said two or three days—I didn't say exactly three," Zhang Su grinned, rolling over. "If I could, I'd live this peaceful life forever. But our defenses are too weak. Every night I worry someone will break in."

Zhong Xiaoshanyi turned to face him. "We have sixteen people now. How many groups could be stronger than us?"

"Stronger?" Zhang Su reached out from under the covers, his hand wandering. "Don't get arrogant. Don't underestimate outsiders. Just look across the river from Shuipu Village—Beiliang Village has taken in survivors from other villages. Their numbers far exceed ours!"

"If they return here to scavenge, could they clash with us? These are real possibilities. The key is to build our own secure base as soon as possible!"

Zhang Su pulled Zhong Xiaoshanyi into his arms; her hair, washed the day before, carried a long-missed fragrance.

"I still recommend staying three days. Everyone assumes you'll stay three days. Saying we leave tomorrow will seem rushed. But it's your call—I'm just offering a psychological perspective."

Zhong Xiaoshanyi spoke softly.

Zhang Su's hearing was sharp—he'd overheard countless conversations. He knew exactly what everyone thought. He nodded slightly. "Fine. One more day. We leave the day after tomorrow."

Silence fell in the bedroom, replaced by another sound no one liked to hear—no need to describe it.

(End of Chapter)