Chapter 632: Is This Right?

Thud, the door shut.

“You… Su-ge, who is this? What happened to her?”

Zhong Xiaoshan stared in confusion as Zhang Su placed a withered woman on the chair; her dry, tangled hair hung over her face, unmistakably malnourished, wearing a large black mask and layered cotton coats, her movements stiff and posture odd, radiating strangeness from within and without.

“I’m gonna smoke. Xinyu, you explain to Xiaoshan.”

Saying this, Zhang Su pulled out a cigarette and walked to the window; he’d just seen someone peering through the kitchen window, and now, through the fogged glass, he could make out a shadow moving—blurry, but the silhouette was clear.

“She’s called Program One. Hmm… you see for yourself.”

As Zheng Xinyu removed the mask, a standard zombie face appeared before Zhong Xiaoshan.

Program mechanically turned her head toward the stranger; her grayish-blue eyes emitted a faint glow in the dim room, her jaw trembling slightly—proof she was alive.

“Sss…”

Zhong Xiaoshan stumbled back two steps, hand over her mouth, staring in disbelief at the quiet female zombie, a strange chill rising in her chest.

Since the outbreak’s earliest days, she’d dealt with zombies—among the first—and had never encountered anything like this; sudden cold surged through her.

“Did… did they inject her with some drug? Do sedatives work on zombies?”

Zhong Xiaoshan could only interpret this through her own understanding, completely ignoring the odd name “Program One.”

Zheng Xinyu shook her head, gently tidying Program’s messy hair. “Though she turned, she retains human consciousness. And… she obeys only him.”

As she spoke, Zheng Xinyu gave a strange glance toward Zhang Su.

Zhong Xiaoshan slapped her forehead with a strange expression—her man’s charm must be immense, even a female zombie was infatuated with him?

“This… I, okay, none of this is strange, I understand, I understand…”

Zhong Xiaoshan muttered self-reassurance, then asked: “She’s called… Program One? That name must be Su-ge’s—what’s the meaning behind it?”

Only now, regaining her composure, did she notice the oddity of the name.

“Of course there is! Huh…”

Zhang Su exhaled smoke, stepped between the two women and the zombie, and said: “When we first discovered she had consciousness, we planned to bring her back for testing. That new guy—the idea guy, you know, the one with the savings book—suggested seeing if she could communicate with zombies… and she could.

I won’t go into details, but she’s like a control program implanted into the zombie system. Given time, she can command zombies—ordinary ones pose no problem, but controlling the big ones is unstable.”

“That’s incredible!”

Zhong Xiaoshan’s eyes widened: “This ability is literally godlike—does this mean our camp will be safe forever?!”

“It’s not as exaggerated as you think. The program has many limits: speed of control, number of zombies, duration, etc. So far, she can control at most forty-some ordinary zombies—more than that, she can’t handle it.”

Zhang Su shrugged; during the train car cleanup, they tested it—two cars had no big ones, so they gathered all the zombies together, over fifty, but only forty-three were controlled.

“But Program’s ability seems to grow. We don’t know much about her yet, but for now, she poses no threat to our safety.”

Zhang Su added.

“Regardless, it’s already incredibly powerful,” Zhong Xiaoshan shook her head in awe, then suddenly asked: “Where did you find her?”

“We didn’t ‘find’ her… it’s complicated. Simply put, she was dying—I gave her medicine, but she still died. Then, right before my eyes, she turned—retained human consciousness, could communicate, but lost her memory!”

After listening, Zhong Xiaoshan slowly nodded. “Near-death resurrection—looks like this can’t be replicated.”

“Hey! Fu Weijun, I order you to get off Xiaoshan right now!”

Zhang Su suddenly pointed his finger at Zhong Xiaoshan.

“What are you talking about…” Zhong Xiaoshan laughed: “I was just thinking—if we had more programs like this, the zombie crisis wouldn’t be a problem anymore.”

“Can’t be replicated. Too many uncertainties. We’ve only seen the phenomenon—no idea of the cause. Let’s drop this for now…” Zhang Su pointed to the kitchen: “I just saw Wang Zhetao busy in there—who told him to go?”

“Huh? Oh, uh… we’re short-handed today, so I asked him to help. It’s complicated—I’ll tell you later.”

Zhong Xiaoshan’s gaze sharpened, pulling her thoughts away from the bizarre matter of conscious zombies.

“Complicated?” Zhang Su’s eyes flickered. He picked up the ashtray and crushed his cigarette. “Now’s a good time.” If the leader said now, then now it was. Zhong Xiaoshan didn’t delay—but just as she opened her mouth, Zhang Su raised a finger to his lips.

Then, knock-knock-knock.

“Brother Zhang, it’s me, Old Duan. Need any help?”

Duan Wu’s voice came from outside.

The people inside exchanged glances—all sharp minds, some things left unspoken.

If anyone in the camp was most interested in Program One, besides Zhang Su—who already knew her ability—it was Fu Weijun. Just look how closely he watched: they’d barely returned home, and Fu Weijun’s “nanny” was already at the door! “Go open it.”

Zhang Su gave Zheng Xinyu a look.

“Huh? Oh…”

Zheng Xinyu and Zhong Xiaoshan were startled—they both assumed Zhang Su wouldn’t let Duan Wu in. Why the sudden change?

He must want Fu Weijun to know about a conscious zombie—knowing he’s suspended and can’t study it—to torment him further. Yes, that’s it.

Having conjured a plausible reason, Zheng Xinyu walked to the door and opened it.

“Oh, Sister-in-law, uh… I just saw Brother Zhang outside—I damn well!”

Duan Wu walked in laughing, then spotted the zombie sitting on the chair staring at him—he nearly scrambled up the door like a spider.

“What the hell, Old Duan? You’re a teacher—how can you curse like that?”

Zhang Su yanked Duan Wu inside and shut the door.

“I—”

Duan Wu instinctively shrank from the zombie on the chair, voice trembling: “Brother Zhang, this—this—this—is this right?”

He wasn’t afraid of zombies—even the reinforced ones, the big ones were tough, but ordinary ones he could handle. This quiet zombie, sitting still, eyes glowing faintly gray-blue, staring at him—he couldn’t accept it.

“Answer me first—did Fu Bo send you?”

Zhang Su gripped Duan Wu’s shoulder, smiling faintly.

Duan Wu’s eyes locked on Program One, distracted: “Well… sort of… Brother Zhang, tell me what’s going on—I’m getting nervous!”

Zhang Su nodded, walked beside Program, and retold the story briefly.

Silence fell. Duan Wu’s acceptance clearly lagged behind Zhong Xiaoshan’s; after over a minute of quiet, he exhaled deeply: “The world’s full of wonders. Brother Zhang, so… this Program Lady… is she officially part of the Yama Army?”

“Correct. The Yama Army welcomes all talent—ha! But Old Duan…” Zhang Su’s expression turned serious: “I told you everything without holding back—but you must promise not to tell Fu Weijun. Not until his punishment ends. Don’t let him stir trouble. Understood?”

Duan Wu looked uneasy: “I get it, I do—but Fu’s a sly fox. I’m afraid I can’t hide it… and I’ve been here over ten minutes—I can’t pretend I didn’t see anything.”

Zhang Su handed Duan Wu a cigarette. “Easy. Follow me: say Zheng Xinyu twisted her ankle, and you helped her with bone-setting and massage. The rest we’ll cover. Go now—we’ve got more to discuss.”

Duan Wu nodded, walking out with frequent glances back—the impact of Program One was heavy.

“Husband, do you think Teacher Duan can keep a secret?”

Zheng Xinyu limped as she spoke.

“We’ll see. If Fu Weijun finds out, he’s loose-lipped—we’ll keep things from him. If he doesn’t, we can trust him more. Hey, Xiaoshan, what were you about to say?”

“Oh, right—earlier we were short on cooks, so I went…”

Zhong Xiaoshan picked up where she left off, recounting everything she’d seen in the vegetable shed and later in the kitchen—no speculation, no subjective judgment.

“This Wang Zhetao is too restless—he’s trying to make Bozi wear a green hat! First Chen, now Wang Zhetao—Bozi’s so pitiful.”

Zheng Xinyu, still limping, listened, her expression strange. She knew about Lu Yubo and Pei Lan’s affair months ago—Pei Lan had chosen Chen Hanzhou, but in the end, she was still heartbroken. Was history about to repeat itself?

(End of Chapter)