Chapter 215: Fu Wei's Army

"Biomedical Ph. .?"

Zhang Su's eyebrow twitched; he hadn't expected the man in the car to be so prominent. "There are still such formidable people in Qincheng—impressive! How's the zombie research going?"

"I'm not too clear on the research details—you'd have to talk to Fu Wei. But… he's not from Qincheng."

Duan Wu pointed eastward: "Fu Wei is from Jingcheng. I heard his family background is incredibly powerful—he founded his own lab specializing in marine biology, and has a branch on the Beihe River in Qincheng."

Zhang Su nodded in understanding. Of course, the capital produced talent—there was no helping it. Statistical data clearly showed that the more economically developed an area, the higher the proportion of high-level talent it produced.

He paused, then frowned: "But Beihe is over twenty kilometers from Qincheng. How did he get here if he's mobility-impaired? Did the Survivor Alliance even send teams out to Beihe to search for survivors?"

The distances between Qincheng's three districts were considerable. In the old days, that didn't matter—but now, who knew? Based on Zhang Su's experience leaving the city, you weren't just fighting zombies—you had to contend with survivor factions along the way, each ready to make travelers pay dearly.

Duan Wu sneered: "He had a life. I heard his research hit a bottleneck, so his girlfriend took him to Qincheng to watch a movie and shop. They stayed overnight at the Junyue Hotel—and then that thing happened the next day…"

Zhang Su knew what "that thing" meant. "So where's Fu Wei's girlfriend?"

Duan Wu gave a strange shake of his head. "According to Fu Wei, there's no trace of her…"

Duan Wu exhaled heavily. "Studying zombies is normal. But using living humans for transformation experiments—do you think that's acceptable, Brother Zhang?"

"Of course they examined them—stripped naked, checked for injuries, stricter than any prison. Some speculated the girl held a grudge and infected him with a weapon contaminated by zombie virus. But she was killed, and no exact method was ever found…"

"Publicly, they claimed the infected survivors volunteered for experiments and their families received generous compensation. In reality, they tied up survivors who defied the Alliance onto lab tables, trying every method to infect them. That's absurd! Fu Wei couldn't accept such vile conduct—I thought it was insane too—so we planned and escaped together!"

Zhang Su found this curious. Honestly, under current conditions, unless someone possessed truly exceptional abilities, a mobility-impaired person rarely received care—everyone was struggling to survive.

"So according to you, the Survivor Alliance is quite benevolent—they even rescued the disabled. They didn't know his identity or abilities back then, right?"

"By the way, why did you two escape from the Survivor Alliance?"

"So, with that biomedical Ph. . in tow, where are you planning to go?"

Duan Wu laid out the gist of the story to Zhang Su, his face filled with anger.

After speaking at length, Zhang Su realized they hadn't yet gotten to the real point.

"Pfft!" Duan Wu spat out the car window. "Scientific monster? I only found out yesterday why they used living humans!"

"About five days ago, a few survivors joined the Alliance. One of them was a pretty girl. The boss's son set his sights on her—and then you know what happened. Somehow, she turned. They desperately needed to find a way to reverse it!"

"The process of human transformation!?" Zhang Su asked instinctively, then suddenly realized—he meant watching someone turn after being bitten?

"I heard that after the transformation, Fu Wei hid in the hotel until the Survivor Alliance found him and rescued him." Duan Wu didn't know the details well—he couldn't ask directly, so it was all hearsay.

"I don't know what exactly happened back then," Duan Wu shrugged.

Zhang Su's heart lurched—he sensed the Survivor Alliance was doing something sinister!

"Damn… your Alliance recruits survivors so casually? No injury checks or anything?" Zhang Su was stunned.

"That's pretty damn tragic… did they find a way to reverse it?" Zhang Su asked, eyes full of curiosity.

Zhang Su hoped for good news, but wasn't surprised by the answer—if reversal were that easy, this catastrophe wouldn't have reached such scale.

"Tell me the specifics."

"At first, the Survivor Alliance's lab only captured zombies for research. But a few days ago, while using the restroom, Fu Wei told me—the boss ordered them to start studying the human transformation process, trying to find a way to reverse it!"

Zhang Su and Zheng Xinyu exchanged glances. Zhang Su said: "Wait—your Alliance boss is a mad scientist? The things you're researching are insane!"

Duan Wu shook his head, confused: "I don't know either. Fu Wei's important to the Alliance—they'll be searching everywhere for him now. So I got out of the city first to find a place to settle, then figure out the next step. No clear goal yet. Brother Zhang, uh… do you live in this village?"

Zhang Su could clearly see Duan Wu wanted to join his camp. If this had been right after leaving Shengqin Home, he'd have agreed without hesitation. But after over two months—especially two months that shattered human nature and reshaped his worldview—some things needed reevaluation.

Still, he was deeply interested in the biomedical Ph. .'s research.

"I don't live here, but I have a safe camp to the north."

"That's great!" Duan Wu beamed, excitedly slapping the sofa arm. "Brother Zhang, can I join your camp? I'll kill zombies, do any work—no problem. I'll even earn Fu Wei's share too!"

Due to the Survivor Alliance's system, Duan Wu was used to earning every resource through ability.

"There's room in the camp for both of you. But…" Zhang Su paused. "I need to speak with Fu Wei first."

"Sure, no problem! He's mobility-impaired. Brother Zhang, just go straight to the car—he's in his late twenties, about your age, very easygoing."

Duan Wu thought Zhang Su distrusted Fu Wei and hurried to arrange a meeting.

"Let's go!"

Both got out of the car, opened the Jinbei's door, and climbed in. Zheng Xinyu, always eager to join the action and worried about Zhang Su being alone, sat in the front passenger seat.

Fu Wei, who had been reading a book, startled at the sudden noise. Seeing Duan Wu and a man enter, he quickly put the book down.

"Hello, I'm Zhang Su. I just heard your story from Teacher Duan."

Zhang Su extended his hand politely. Scientists were now extremely rare. Whether they could uncover anything about this new species depended entirely on such people. As for reversal—he didn't dare hope for it.

"Brother Zhang, nice to meet you. I've heard of you."

Fu Wei, refined and gentle, shook Zhang Su's hand—but his words were oddly phrased.

"Heard of me…? Dr. Fu, do you know who I am?"

Zhang Su glanced at Duan Wu. The remark wasn't wrong—it was just ordinary small talk—but under these circumstances, it felt oddly sensitive.

Duan Wu also looked puzzled at Fu Wei, shrugging helplessly: I didn't say anything.

Fu Wei smiled faintly and adjusted his glasses: "Once, I overheard Yu Nuo chatting with someone and heard your name, Zhang Su. Never expected to meet you in person—it's quite a feeling."

"Damn, that bitch Yu Nuo! Brother Zhang, don't doubt it—anything she says is bound to be bad!" Duan Wu clenched his fist, knuckles cracking.

"I'd like to hear what Yu Nuo said about me. Do you remember?"

Zhang Su asked playfully. Learning how others saw him was interesting.

"Well…" Fu Wei gave a slightly awkward expression. "She just mentioned meeting you when leaving Shengqin International. Didn't say much else. Women gossiping—I just happened to walk by, didn't listen closely."

From Fu Wei's expression, Zhang Su could tell—just as Duan Wu said, Yu Nuo hadn't spoken well of him. That was normal.

"Let's not mention her. Dr. Fu, I'd like to hear about your research on zombies. What findings have you made?"

"Hmm…" Fu Wei looked at Duan Wu—he clearly wasn't good at social interaction.

"Go ahead, it's fine. We're joining Brother Zhang's camp anyway. He's basically a warlord now, haha!" Duan Wu joked.

Zhang Su chuckled and waved his hand: "Not that exaggerated—just a few guns."

"Cough. Due to limited conditions, progress has been slow, but we've uncovered some crucial insights. First, I believe we must redefine transformation. In my research, I found transformation isn't caused by a virus—at least not by any virus we currently understand."

"What?"

The first sentence shocked Zhang Su and the others.

Duan Wu didn't know this either. His conversations with Fu Wei mostly consisted of casual talk—mostly Survivor Alliance secrets. Hearing such a bombshell, he stared wide-eyed at Fu Wei.

"I can see you all doubt this. Correct—I felt the same at first. But after thorough verification, it's undeniably true."

Fu Wei spread his hands in a "this is it" gesture.

(End of Chapter)