Chapter 312: Witnessing the Miracle

"That dangerous? Then dead is fine too… but we need it alive to verify another hypothesis. Come on, Mr. Zhang, take a look at this!"

Fu Weijun placed the small bottle of nail polish on the table and gently pushed it toward Zhang Su.

Zhang Su rarely saw Fu Weijun so serious and cautious; clearly, whatever was inside the bottle was no ordinary thing. He picked it up carefully, examining it—the glass walls of the nail polish bottle were thick, leaving barely any space inside, probably only ten to fifteen milliliters.

The viscous liquid inside was slightly more fluid than normal honey, its entire body a striking pale purple.

"Is this extracted from the toxin zombie?"

"Yes!"

Fu Weijun nodded, eyes bright. "Based on the information Lü Lei brought back, I deduced this zombie must have a specialized organ for producing and storing toxin. I expected a long, difficult process—but when I cracked open its skull, it was effortless. The normal human cerebellum position had been replaced by a crystal-like container, not independent, still connected to other organs, and it stored this exact liquid!"

Zhang Su recalled the scene of the attack in Daqiaobao Village and frowned. "But today, the substance that zombie spat out was much darker in color."

"I can't detect whether this liquid contains zombie machines, but I suspect that when the toxin zombie sprays its venom through its mouthparts, it activates it—making the venom infectious, just like being bitten by a regular zombie, while also generating corrosiveness. It's astonishing—I still don't understand why."

Fu Weijun said.

"Hah…" Zhang Su grinned. "Then its plan backfired. The venom's corrosiveness is off the charts—any acid you name is just a kid. It dissolves flesh as fast as hot oil melting lard, killing instantly. Even bones can't hold up. No chance of reanimation."

Fu Weijun shrugged. "That's why I say it's strange. I ran animal tests—the raw toxin extracted from the zombie's brain has no corrosive properties at all."

"Really?"

Zhang Su found this fascinating. The stuff that spewed from the zombie's mouth was deadly, yet inside its organ, it became harmless?

"Let's set that aside for now, Mr. Zhang. Guess—what's this liquid's purpose?"

Zhang Su felt curious. He'd never seen the usually serious Fu Weijun play guessing games. He chuckled. "If you're asking, it's obviously not just poison. There's another use… hmm… don't tell me it's medicinal? No, you couldn't have tested its pharmacology in such a short time. Diluted to kill zombies?"

Seeing Fu Weijun shake his head, Zhang Su thought again. "Diluted as fuel? One drop stronger than a ton? No, that doesn't fit… sprayed on the body to sneak past zombies? Still no? I give up!"

After several wrong guesses, Zhang Su waved his hand. "Dr. Fu, stop teasing me. Just tell me."

"Alright!"

Fu Weijun didn't delay. The joke ended there. He tore off a two-inch square sticky note from his small bag—his usual tool for jotting down ideas—then took the glass bottle from Zhang Su's hand, unscrewed the cap, and a faint purple mist drifted out, almost cyberpunk in flavor.

He sniffed—it had no unpleasant odor, only a faint sweet fragrance.

Zhang Su thought Fu Weijun would dip the sticky note into the liquid, but instead Fu Weijun pulled out a needle from his bag and delicately tapped the inside of the cap, so lightly that only Zhang Su's sharp eyes caught the tiny glistening droplet on the needle tip…

"Could you please reseal the bottle, Mr. Zhang?"

As he spoke, Fu Weijun rubbed the needle tip repeatedly against the sticky note, then carefully handed it to Zhang Su.

Zhang Su took the paper with a strange expression. "What's this for? A sleep aid? Like a fragrant patch?"

The paper showed no trace of purple liquid, but when he brought it close to his nose, he caught a faint scent.

Fu Weijun shook his head with a smile. "Put it on that table over there. Light it from the edge, then come right back. Make sure it burns fully. Then—you'll witness the miracle."

"Weird…"

Zhang Su rolled his eyes. What was up with this great scientist today—suddenly so playful?

He walked to the next table over, folded the paper in half and balanced it on the surface, then lit one corner with a lighter. After a glance, he turned and walked back to Fu Weijun's side, eager to see what this paper was hiding.

The sticky note was dry and burned well—the flame quickly grew.

BOOM!

The paper exploded with a sharp crack. A strange purple glow flashed and vanished. Wood splinters flew everywhere. A wisp of black smoke shot upward and disappeared into the ceiling—so fast it seemed never to have been there.

"??"

Zhang Su stared at Fu Weijun, eyes wide. Now he understood why Fu Weijun looked so dusty and disheveled—he'd been blown up.

"This… this thing can explode?"

Zhang Su marveled, walking toward the table and pointing incredulously at the surface: "Holy shit, that much power!"

After the explosion, the wooden table bore a palm-sized depression, deepest at the blast center—about one centimeter deep.

Zhang Su ran his fingers over the crater. The surface was unnaturally smooth. It wasn't blown apart—it looked more like it had been pressed down. Hard to believe such a tiny amount could produce such force!

"How does it feel?"

Fu Weijun rolled his wheelchair behind Zhang Su, his messy hair sticking up, trembling slightly—he now looked every bit the mad scientist.

"You… you said Professor Duan was cleaning up, and you were testing this thing in the room? Wait—your lab is in Cuileng Pavilion, isn't it?"

Zhang Su snapped back to reality, his mouth twitching. Living next to this guy was too risky—would he come home one day and find the entire Lucky Cottage gone?

"Hmm… I didn't think of it in the lab. On the way home, I saw the heating stove and had a sudden idea—try heating it. So I took a tiny amount, just like before, and it exploded. Luckily, I controlled the quantity precisely. Otherwise, I'd be dead."

Fu Weijun described it calmly.

"Was Professor Duan not there?"

Zhang Su still couldn't accept Fu Weijun's reckless behavior—he was certain Duan Wu would never allow it.

As expected, Fu Weijun said: "Brother Duan dropped me off and went to get water."

"..."

Zhang Su could picture Duan Wu's shock upon seeing the room. He'd have to warn him—someone needed to keep a close eye on Fu Weijun from now on.

"Cough… uh, how stable is this stuff? Is it like nitroglycerin?"

A liquid that explodes—easy to think of nitroglycerin.

Fu Weijun shrugged. "I ran some tests. So far, only fire triggers it. If you find anything new, let me know, Mr. Zhang."

"How does its power compare to nitroglycerin?"

Zhang Su relaxed—hearing it was stable. Nitroglycerin was notoriously unstable; sometimes it exploded, sometimes it didn't, under identical conditions. If this was as unpredictable, it'd be useless.

"Pfft…"

Fu Weijun gave a rare scoff. "Mr. Zhang, I bet you've never seen nitroglycerin's power, or you wouldn't ask. I can tell you this: to cause damage like this, nitroglycerin would need at least two grams—over a milliliter. How much purple toxin did I use? You saw it yourself. No comparison at all!"

Zhang Su's expression hardened. Fu Weijun's comparison was brutally clear—the amount on the needle tip was too small to measure accurately under current conditions, but certainly less than one-hundredth of a gram!

In other words, this bottle of purple toxin was at least a hundred times more powerful than nitroglycerin, over a hundred and thirty times stronger than TNT!

(End of Chapter)