Chapter 281: Varied Responses

Fuck you!

Clang!

Lu Yubo kicked out with his leg, delivering a flying kick straight to the chest of the zombie that had gotten too close.

The immense force sent the petrified-skin zombie stumbling backward two or three steps, losing its balance and collapsing onto its ass, struggling to rise.

"Damn, this is pure bullying of the disabled…" Lu Yubo frowned and scratched his head, then hissed: "But it's really hard—felt like kicking a tree!"

As he spoke, Lu Yubo winced and stomped his foot, feeling pain in his soles and aching in his knee joint.

In a moment, the petrified-skin zombie staggered to its feet again, trudging forward with stiff steps toward Lu Yubo, its persistence almost touching.

"Brother Su, let me take care of it!"

Lu Yubo pulled the grain sampler from his belt and stepped forward, thrusting it straight at the zombie's head.

Snick!

The expected penetration never came; instead, a strange sound rang out—the grain sampler stuck to the zombie's forehead but failed to pierce through.

"What the hell!"

Lu Yubo's expression was exaggerated. Normally, a zombie would be instantly pierced through like this—the sharp grain sampler didn't even need to aim for the eye socket, and it had always worked perfectly against petrified-skin zombies before. Yet this time, it was blocked!

Aow!

Plop.

After Zhang Su spoke, Wang Xin released the riot fork, and the zombie regained its freedom.

"Got it." Wang Xin didn't hesitate—he sprinted after it.

The zombie, repeatedly thwarted, grew furious, its arms moving with mechanical stiffness as it clawed at Lu Yubo, mouth wide open to reveal dense, sharp teeth—as if telling everyone: I'm just clumsy, not no longer hungry for flesh!

"Alright, be careful. Xiao Wang, go ahead."

"Let me do it—I've got experience, I can compare!"

"Good sign, a tremendous good sign!" Yu Wen said with slight excitement: "Minus twenty degrees might be Qincheng's limit, but it's certainly not humanity's survival limit. We can survive at minus thirty, forty, even fifty degrees. At that temperature, the terrifying zombies might lose all mobility—they'd cease to be a threat!"

Fu Wei nodded happily, wheeled his chair over to the zombie, and said: "Temperature—a physical variable all things in the universe cannot escape. When molecular activity decreases, all biochemical reactions slow down!"

Zhang Su warned again, still uneasy, and told Wang Xin: "Go help him—he's clumsy!"

Lu Yubo was highly enthusiastic—he finally had a chance to vent his pent-up energy.

In just two or three minutes, the two of them caught a regular zombie—efficiently done.

Before anyone could blink, Zhang Su stepped forward with his rebar rod and drove it straight through the zombie's mouth into its brain, ending its life.

"I'll go grab one!"

Lu Yubo grabbed the riot fork and sprinted toward the scenic area.

"Haha, no matter how advanced a civilization's tech, it can't escape physics!"

"You're awfully optimistic. Leaving zombies aside, extreme cold is still a challenge for us. We need to see the ratio between temperature drop and zombie weakening. Besides, this is just the petrified-skin zombie's behavior—what about regular zombies?"

"You better watch yourself!"

Zhang Su treated zombies completely differently from humans—he always viewed the zombie crisis with caution.

After a series of tests, plop—the grain sampler in Lu Yubo's hand pierced the zombie's skull. The corpse collapsed. The onlookers fell silent, lost in thought.

Zhang Su pulled out his rebar rod and poked the fallen zombie. "Its skin has become unusually tough. Regular zombies don't have petrified skin. Overall, lower temperature weakens zombies."

"Speed and agility dropped sharply. No noticeable difference in strength!"

After a moment, Zhang Su rubbed his chin. "Why didn't regular zombies show as clear an effect as the petrified-skin ones?"

"A bit clumsier, Brother Su!" Lu YuBo rotated his wrist, recalling the fight carefully. "Its speed, reaction, and agility all decreased. It's not as dumb as the petrified-skin zombie, but its strength is weaker—I definitely felt that."

Zhang Su nodded, exhaled, and said: "Good. That's a decent piece of good news."

"Haha, if it drops another thirty or fifty degrees—like the poles—would we finally be able to rest easy?"

Wang Xin said, daydreaming.

"You mean humans can live at minus fifty or sixty degrees and be safe?" Zhang Su gave Wang Xin a blank look. By that temperature, the zombie crisis wouldn't even be the top concern anymore.

"By the way, does low temperature affect Zero-Zero-Three?"

As they spoke, Zhang Su suddenly remembered a special presence back at camp!

The petrified-skin zombie was a variant born from special environments, but Zero-Zero-Three was different—it was artificially modified. Might it behave differently?

"Let's go check it out!"

Fu Wei, deeply interested, didn't wait for Duan Wu to push his wheelchair—he spun it himself toward the cargo container, moving surprisingly fast.

Vrrrrr.

The cargo truck had to remain running to maintain power output. The engine roared day and night, exhaling faint white smoke from the tailpipe.

"Brother Su, get ready—I'm cutting the power."

Wang Xin climbed into the cargo compartment—he'd already figured out how to operate it.

"Turn it off. Let's move back."

Zhang Su and Duan Wu held electric shockers. While Wang Xin shut off the power and removed the iron chain from Zero-Zero-Three's collar, the group retreated over ten meters.

After finishing, Wang Xin also ran away from Zero-Zero-Three—he still maintained basic fear of this killing god.

After a brief wait—about half a minute—Zero-Zero-Three's bulky body twitched slightly. Beneath its metal helmet, its eyes slowly opened, instantly locking onto Zhang Su and the others. No pheromone guidance needed—there was no one else in front of it.

Aow!

Zero-Zero-Three struggled to rise, its fat rippling like water—so much so that, had it not been for its skin holding it in, it might have pooled on the ground.

"Nope, it didn't weaken after the cold!"

Lu YuBo looked at the clumsy Zero-Zero-Three and sneered slightly.

As if hearing Lu YuBo's mockery, the moment he finished speaking, Zero-Zero-Three slammed its massive foot into the ground with a plop—and charged toward them at nearly the same speed as during its earlier battle.

Aow!

With the force of a mountain collapsing, like black clouds swallowing the sky, its long blade slashed through the air like the Reaper's scythe, swinging toward Zhang Su and the others.

"What the hell, Bozi, you're full of shit!"

Zhang Su and the others wouldn't stand still. The moment Zero-Zero-Three's foot hit the ground, they sensed danger and began dodging immediately.

"Holy shit, it hadn't even warmed up yet!" Lu YuBo screamed, leaping sideways.

"Run!"

Duan Wu pushed Fu Wei's wheelchair away at high speed.

Fortunately, Zero-Zero-Three prioritized strength over agility and speed—it couldn't move much faster than a normal human, even slower than the regular zombies before. It was nearly impossible for it to kill Zhang Su and the others; this kind of chase wasn't its strength.

Zero-Zero-Three seemed to harbor the deepest hatred for Lu YuBo, who had disrespected it. It fixed its gaze on him and chased relentlessly.

"Come on, fatty, come hit your grandpa! Look at you—like a pig spirit. Run faster, grandson!"

Lu YuBo led Zero-Zero-Three in circles around the cargo container. At first he was nervous, but seeing it could never catch him, his courage grew—he kept taunting, full of confidence.

Zhang Su had been worried, ready to rush in with the electric shocker to stun Zero-Zero-Three. But seeing Lu YuBo running so energetically, he relaxed a bit—perfect chance to observe Zero-Zero-Three.

Other camp members were drawn by the commotion. When they saw the fat Zero-Zero-Three chasing Lu YuBo, they all stared in shock—this guy was completely reckless! How could he play with Zero-Zero-Three? What if it went out of control?

Only after Yu Wen explained did they realize Zhang Su's group was conducting an observation experiment—to see whether low temperatures restricted zombie behavior.

After running three or four minutes, Lu YuBo began gasping for breath, finally shutting his mouth. His expression turned serious. He kept glancing at Zhang Su, and only when he saw him standing alert nearby did he feel slightly reassured.

"Old Duan, get ready!"

Zhang Su would never let Lu YuBo fall into danger. Seeing him falter, he moved swiftly.

Zzzt! Zzzt!

Two high-voltage electric shockers unleashed a barrage of current. Zero-Zero-Three's bulky body twisted and convulsed violently. In under five seconds, it collapsed with a thud.

"Pant… pant… damn!"

Lu YuBo, breathing heavily, walked up to Zero-Zero-Three and kicked its body. "Brother Su, this thing hasn't slowed down at all!"

Just because it couldn't catch Lu YuBo doesn't mean it was affected by the cold—its speed was never fast to begin with. This was normal.

(End of chapter)