Chapter 217: Two Sentences, Three Shocks

Duan Wu opened the trunk of the Golden Cup, pulled out a folding wheelchair, then said to Zhang Su: "Brother Zhang, there isn't much food or drink on the car, but plenty of bullets—have your men move these into storage as our entry fee, hehe!"

Zhang Su walked to the back of the vehicle and saw two boxes of handgun ammunition; the labels showed two thousand rounds per box—four thousand total. Though only compatible with 64 pistols, it was still impressive!

"Great stuff, haha! Bring all this to the warehouse, and notify Zhong Xiao about the inventory! Come on, Professor Duan, over here."

Saying this, Zhang Su headed toward the Little Luck Homestay, with Zheng Xinyu walking beside him, holding Lucky.

"Brother Zhang, I didn't dare ask at first—is Zhong Xiao the other beautiful woman who was with you back then? I'm glad you're both safe. I remember there was a milk delivery man who traveled with you—how is he?"

Duan Wu asked, pushing Fu Weijun's wheelchair.

Zhang Su immediately recalled Wang Guangjun pulling a yogurt box from his bag and gave a wistful look: "The milk delivery man parted ways with us the day after leaving the neighborhood—he went to the Environmental College. We never met again. I hope he's blessed by fate."

"Brother Zhang, be honest—was it you who threw your phone in the underground parking lot the day you left Sheng Qin Jiayuan?" Duan Wu asked with a strange expression.

"Of course it was me. So many zombies—I had to use the crudest method. Didn't expect I'd hit someone inside a car. Don't tell me that was you guys."

Zhang Su rubbed his hair, not hiding anything.

Zhang Su lifted his steaming teacup, blew on it, and continued the previous topic without a single unnecessary word.

"It strengthened our skin, muscles, and more—but not our brain. Our brain remains as fragile as tofu. So destroying the brain is the only fast, effective way to kill zombies."

"Huh?"

"I don't believe it's a virus. If I had to define it, I'd call that so-called virus an invisible robot."

"I named it Zombie Robot. It has a unique and powerful control ability—it directly hijacks our brain, corpus callosum, hypothalamus, pituitary gland, and more, then transmits signals through the spinal cord to the entire body! But that's only the first step..."

"When new people joined, we rested two extra days. Come, sit in the dining room."

Zhang Su froze. Chatting with Fu Weijun had stunned him three times with just two sentences.

"It's fine—it's all past. Come, sit," Zhang Su invited everyone.

"We found Zombie Robots in every part of their bodies except hair. That means this tiny thing travels through the spinal cord into every human tissue—bones, fascia, muscles, organs, skin. You've noticed zombies are tougher than us—that's thanks to the Zombie Robots!"

"Almost every homestay has a heating stove—you just burn wood. This mountain has nothing but trees—why worry about heat?"

"Damn, it really was us... So Officer Qin was right—you were hiding on the third floor? We knocked for ages—he said he felt people inside. It had to be you—you're all too clever!"

"Dr. Fu, you said zombification isn't caused by a virus—then what is the real cause?"

At Little Luck, Zhang Su ushered the two into the dining room.

Duan Wu, warming his hands with the cup, also froze. Robot? That's so sci-fi.

Speaking of this, Duan Wu sighed deeply. Though smiling, his heart felt bleak—if only he'd followed Zhang Su back then, his brother might still be alive. But such things can't be undone.

After speaking, Fu Weijun lifted his water cup, took a sip, rubbed his hands, and continued.

"Wow!" Duan Wu looked around like Liu Laolao entering Grand View Garden, turning his head in disbelief: "You have heating here?"

Duan Wu basked in the warmth, filled with envy, and shook his head: "Things once taken for granted are now luxuries. Brother Zhang, you don't know life in the Alliance—warmth comes from just one blanket..."

Everyone sat down. Zheng Xinyu didn't care if her hands were dirty—she poured tea for them all, then left the dining room.

After finishing, Zhang Su and Duan Wu fell into silent mutual gaze.

"Dr. Fu, what you've said... completely exceeds my understanding."

Zhang Su pinched his temples and shook his head.

Fu Weijun spread his hands: "Not surprising—it exceeds mine too. We just need to accept it. Like the flagellum at the end of our gut bacteria—spinning 20, 00 times per minute, outperforming an F1 engine, made of only thirty parts, with nearly 100% energy efficiency."

"We haven't even fully understood the bacteria living inside us—how much less can we comprehend a species possibly from outer space? Exceeding our understanding is inevitable. Never limit your view to what you know—that will cost you dearly!"

Zhang Su expected a scholar like Fu Weijun to question reality when faced with unexplainable phenomena—but he was surprised to find Fu Weijun accepted it more easily than he did.

"So it seems the more you know, the more you realize you don't know..."

This isn't a paradox—it's because knowledge expands your horizon, revealing a vaster world, naturally bringing more questions.

"Mr. Zhang's view is absolutely correct—learning has no limits, and that's no empty phrase!"

Fu Weijun strongly agreed with Zhang Su and added: "I strongly oppose human trials for zombification—but I was forced to participate in eight cases, and gained extremely critical insights. Would you two be interested in hearing them?"

"Holy shit, when did you start? I thought only two people were test subjects!"

Duan Wu was stunned—Fu Weijun's claim contradicted everything he knew.

Fu Weijun gave a helpless smile: "Liao Youzhi wouldn't be stupid enough to reveal the truth to you—that would only get him overthrown."

"Liao Youzhi?" Zhang Su asked, puzzled. "Who is he?"

"Liao Youzhi is the leader of the Survivors' Alliance—super mysterious. He wears a black mask every day, like Kakashi..."

"Pfft..."

Zhang Su laughed at Duan Wu's remark—he didn't expect him to know Kakashi.

"Seriously. He scowls all day like a demon—I've never seen what Liao Youzhi really looks like. You've seen him, right, Weijun? You're a core member!" Duan Wu shrugged.

"Liao Youzhi acts humble in front of core members, but brutal to outsiders, acting like a supreme leader. Everyone must greet him as 'Leader.' I've seen his real face—he looks no different from an ordinary person. I think he wears the mask just to create mystery."

Fu Weijun spoke slowly.

Zhang Su wasn't surprised. Every leader has ways to build authority—tone, posture, gestures, clothing tricks. The simplest? Cruelty—using fear to control.

"Dr. Fu, I'm not interested in Liao Youzhi—I'm fascinated by your discoveries about zombification, haha."

Fu Weijun nodded: "Though I only met those eight people once, I carry guilt forever. I often wonder—if I hadn't been in the Alliance, they wouldn't have died needlessly. Please allow me a moment of silence."

He clasped his hands tightly against his chest and bowed his head devoutly.

Zhang Su and Duan Wu did not interrupt him.

They waited quietly as Fu Weijun's minute-long silence ended. Zhang Su said: "Dr. Fu, even without you, Liao Youzhi wouldn't have stopped the trials. Try to let go."

Fu Weijun nodded and continued: "Through the eight trials, I recorded the zombification process. With limited equipment, much of it was inference based on experience and biological traits—possibly inaccurate."

"I said before that Zombie Robots have powerful, unique control abilities—they can hijack our brain and body. But one prerequisite: sufficient numbers. I won't rehash how they enter the human body, but during the trials, I discovered another trait of Zombie Robots: division!"

"Once activated and inside the human body, they immediately begin consuming our cells while initiating self-replication—extremely fast. But replication speed varies between individuals. The fastest was a middle-aged woman—Zombie Robots split one into five, then five into twenty-five, each division taking about three minutes!"

"The slowest was an elderly man—he could only split one into two, two into four, four into eight, taking twenty-two minutes per division. Due to limited equipment and too few subjects, I couldn't determine what caused the variation—human differences, Zombie Robot differences, or both."

After speaking, Fu Weijun paused. He knew Zhang Su and Duan Wu needed time to absorb this.

The information was shocking—and answered many of Zhang Su and Duan Wu's lingering questions.

(End of Chapter)