Chapter 303: The Edge Team

"On behalf of Tianma Yu, I welcome you!"

Zhang Su greeted Xie Yanshan with great enthusiasm; now, his craving for "brains" outweighed his need for "muscle," and he smiled: "I heard from Pan Guoliang that your scientific research abilities surpass Li Zhaohua's. You must work hard for Tianma Yu from now on!"

He expected Xie Yanshan to respond with eager gratitude, but instead, the man's face showed a look of discomfort.

Zhang Su frowned: "Mr. Xie, does that mean there's a problem?"

"Mr. Zhang, to be honest, I… sigh, I won't even discuss whether I'm capable or not— all our equipment and experimental data were destroyed. I fear I'll disappoint you. You might not know…"

According to Xie Yanshan, even the best cook can't make a meal without rice; research required all kinds of instruments and devices. The Qinglong Battalion got lucky—they found a hidden secret laboratory in the mountains, or they never could've built a lab at all.

"I see!" Zhang Su lightly patted Xie Yanshan's shoulder. "Relax. We have scientists at Tianma Yu studying zombies too. You can exchange ideas later. As for equipment—we'll find it gradually. It'll turn up eventually!"

"After all, the most important equipment is this."

Zhang Su tapped his own head.

The night before last, during the fiercest fighting, General Ma Juguang ordered their Edge Team to release Zombie 004. Four Edge Team members plus one core member from the Administration Department stormed the underground secret base beneath headquarters to release 004.

"Alright, alright, then I'll leave it to you, Mr. Zhang."

"Explosion…" Xie Yanshan instinctively pushed up his glasses with his wrist—then realized there was nothing on his nose. He shook his head. "Li Zhaohua went mad…"

Xie Yanshan politely thanked him.

"One thousand four hundred degrees…"

"I'm deeply grateful for your trust, Mr. Zhang. I'll do my best—but before that, could you find me a pair of one-thousand-four-hundred-degree glasses?"

Then, Xie Yanshan recounted everything that had happened before the explosion.

When Zhang Su saw Xie Yanshan trying to climb up somewhere, he grabbed him and asked.

Zhang Su scratched his head. He'd once had about one hundred degrees of myopia and never worn glasses; after his vision improved, the world became crystal clear. He couldn't fathom what one thousand four hundred degrees meant. He spread his hands. "I'll do my best. That prescription might be hard to find—get a lower-strength pair for now, just to get by."

"Mr. Xie, I'd like to ask—what exactly caused the explosion? And are there any salvageable devices or other items left in the lab?"

At the time, three Edge Team researchers were on duty inside the secret base. After 004 broke free, it smashed through the wall and crushed two people. The others, seeing the chaos outside, decided to hide inside the lab—after all, their stored supplies were enough to last them nearly a week.

They weren't worried at all. Even if the battle outside turned into a furnace, it had nothing to do with them—the lab had a very sturdy defense system, ensuring temporary safety.

If the battalion eventually crushed the horde and won, they could come out later. If the horde overwhelmed the Qinglong Battalion, they'd just stay in the lab—wait two weeks if one wasn't enough. By then, the zombies would mostly have scattered or moved toward another target, and they could escape safely.

But just as they waited calmly for any change, something utterly unexpected happened.

"Mr. Zhang, you probably know our Edge Team's mission—our lab stored a batch of zombie modification fluid. Starting this morning, Li Zhaohua planned to use it to modify human subjects. Naturally, no one agreed to his insane behavior."

"In the end, Li Zhaohua decided to experiment on himself. When others discovered him, he'd already injected himself with three doses of zombie modification fluid. His colleagues rushed to stop him, but by then, Li Zhaohua had already begun showing abnormalities—his emotions were wildly erratic. He immediately knocked one colleague flying."

"We rushed forward together to subdue him, but his strength was too great—we couldn't match him. In the chaos, I saw Li Zhaohua inject himself with two more doses of modification fluid…"

Zhang Su frowned in confusion. "Wait—this modification fluid you developed—is it meant for zombies or humans? Why did it affect Li Zhaohua?"

Xie Yanshan's expression turned weary. His dull, lifeless eyes looked up at the sky as he sighed: "Though it's called zombie modification fluid, it's actually meant to modify humans still in the human stage. Once they've fully turned into zombies, we haven't observed any effect yet—or perhaps it needs further refinement…"

"Huh?"

Pan Guoliang gasped, interrupting Xie Yanshan. Standing at the edge of the pit, he exclaimed in shock: "So… you're modifying living humans?"

"More precisely, we modify humans during the zombification process. Even without our experiments, those people would eventually turn into zombies and be killed anyway. At the stage of transformation, their bodily indicators—including cellular activity—reach unprecedented peaks, surpassing human limits. That's the ideal moment for modification!"

"Under the influence of the modification fluid, the human body during zombification can mutate into countless possible forms. According to our records, not a single experimental subject has shown identical mutations!"

Zhang Su listened, then fell silent in thought. The Edge Team's actions certainly violated human ethics—but throughout history, countless advancements have been built on sacrifice. He wouldn't play the saint to condemn them, nor would he act as a bodhisattva to stop them. He was the Living Yama…

After a moment, he asked: "What's the purpose of creating mutated zombies? Like using Zero-Three as a weapon?"

"No. Zero-Three was just one of the more successful failures. Our goal is to create zombie warriors that obey human commands."

Now that the topic was open, there was no point hiding anything. Xie Yanshan laid out the Edge Team's secrets in full.

Aside from a few who already knew the Survivors' Alliance used living humans for zombie experiments, the rest of Tianma Yu's members exchanged stunned glances. Madmen and geniuses were separated by only a sheet of paper. These brutes only knew how to kill zombies—but scientists were already researching how to create zombies that serve humanity!

"But that doesn't make sense—if Li Zhaohua entered the underground lab without being bitten, why would injecting himself with the fluid work?"

Zhang Su sensed a flaw and asked.

"Mr. Zhang, do you think our lab lacks the substance that triggers zombification… the virus? Though it's not really a virus."

Xie Yanshan gave a bitter smile.

Zhang Su raised an eyebrow. These people weren't simple—they'd learned the truth behind zombification. There were still plenty of capable individuals around.

(End of Chapter)