Chapter 648: How Important Is Three or Four Stories!

All I want to know right now is where the explosion happened—how many people died in it, and we just wasted a venom zombie!

Zhang Su sighed; the venom zombie clearly looked like a “legendary” quality specimen. Though its thalamus wasn’t golden, the venom raw fluid was incredibly precious, and to let it go off like fireworks was truly a waste.

The villagers are buzzing—everyone knows the sound, the tremors, and the aurora came from the southeast. Some guess it’s the Shanhai District; the direction makes sense, but I don’t think it’s a large survivor camp. Even ignoring the possibility of zombies catching fire and going berserk, keeping the zombie corpses as fuel would’ve been smart. It’s probably a small team or a lone wolf.

Yu Wen analyzed with great rationality.

In his understanding, zombie corpses had now become equivalent to energy sources—superior to coal in thermal efficiency, combustion rate, flammability, and even cleanliness.

Such an excellent energy source couldn’t possibly be wasted so carelessly—it definitely wasn’t the work of a large camp.

But Zhang Su gave a strange smirk: “I’ve got a bad feeling, Lao Yu. Did you calculate the time differences between the tremors, the aurora, and the shockwave?”

“Time differences? Oh, I was just focused on saving my own skin—I didn’t even think about it.”

Yu Wen chuckled awkwardly.

“I’m not an expert, and shockwaves do attenuate over distance, but I’m certain the explosion site is between thirty and forty kilometers straight from here—right the hell out in the Shanhai District!”

Zhang Su’s tone carried a subtle emotional weight.

“If it really is the Shanhai District… sigh, I hope not.” Yu Wen shook his head, deeply pessimistic—even if it wasn’t Shanhai, the direction was confirmed, and it was definitely closer to Shanhai, meaning the survivors there must be suffering even worse.

“Let’s drop the speculation for now. Once things stabilize, we’ll go scout it out. In today’s rescue operation, did you notice any problems?”

Zhang Su asked Yu Wen—he’d been busy around the village, but had too many concerns to observe others closely.

Yu Wen frowned, lit a cigarette, inhaled deeply, then crushed it underfoot: “The branch leaders saw you personally come down to rescue, and they all rushed to the front lines, working especially hard. And since the incident was sudden and affected everyone, everyone’s attitude was extremely proactive.”

“I have to say, Mr. Zhang, your influence is immense. Wherever you appear, people become more diligent and focused—I think that’s the essence of leadership!”

Zhang Su thought silently: This is the effect of the emotional release source…

“Months of zombie apocalypse have weeded out survivors with low will to survive. Those still alive now all have fierce desires to live—they’re more proactive in the face of disaster. For our camp, this is a good thing.”

Yu Wen nodded in agreement, then gave a self-deprecating smile, remembering the explosion: “What a twist of fate—the Dragonhead Camp sent people here to beg for help, and now… sigh…”

“Exactly!” Zhang Su, hearing Yu Wen mention Shen Linrui and the others, suddenly remembered: “Lao Yu, those people from the Dragonhead Camp told me something today—Hao Yun isn’t the only awakened animal!”

“Oh?” Yu Wen straightened up immediately, attentive: “So their camp has a similar case?”

“Right! They have a hamster named Lightning…”

Zhang Su then relayed the information Shen Linrui and the others had given him, and added: “I originally thought Hao Yun was the only one. But now, two cases have appeared in Qincheng. If we extrapolate this ratio nationwide, how many prefecture-level cities are there?”

“There are over three hundred prefecture-level administrative regions—two hundred ninety-three prefecture-level cities,” Yu Wen answered swiftly.

“So roughly a thousand awakened animals could emerge across our nation’s territory?”

Zhang Su’s expression turned strange. Anything multiplied by three hundred becomes absurdly large—a thousand is more than the population of Tianma Isle. It was hard to imagine what would happen if so many awakened animals gathered together. “Maybe calculating based on human population ratios would be more accurate,” Yu Wen suggested.

Zhang Su’s eyes flickered: “The population ratio is about the same—Qincheng has three million people, and two cases means one in 1.5 million. Still roughly a thousand.”

“That’s really… If there really are that many awakened animals, and they can form good relationships with humans, it could be a blessing for us!”

Yu Wen knew Hao Yun’s strength—he was unquestionably in the top tier of the camp. He assumed other awakened animals were similarly powerful.

“Zombies are a planetary disaster. Awakened animals should naturally grow closer to humans…”

Zhang Su speculated optimistically.

“Hello, Mr. Zhang, Mr. Yu. Good evening.”

At that moment, Xie Yanshan walked up, hands tucked in his sleeves, to Zhang Su and Yu Wen.

“Dr. Xie, good evening. How’s Cuilengxuan holding up?”

Yu Wen stood up, offering his seat to Xie Yanshan—he knew Xie had come to report something.

Xie Yanshan waved politely, declining to sit: “The slope of the mountain road blocked the shockwave. Cuilengxuan suffered no major damage. Lucky.”

“Good, good,” Yu Wen nodded with a smile, then turned to Zhang Su: “Mr. Zhang, I’ll head back. I’ll give you the list of those who passed the test tomorrow.”

“No rush for one day. Cleanup will take at least three or four days. Get some rest—you’ll need to lead the next phase tomorrow. Don’t overexert yourself.”

Zhang Su stood to see Yu Wen off, then invited Xie Yanshan to sit: “Dr. Xie, what’s the matter?”

After sitting, Xie Yanshan glanced around. He and Zhang Su were seated in the shadows beside a cargo container, but the entire parking lot was brightly lit, clearly visible. Once he confirmed no one was nearby, he leaned in mysteriously.

“It’s something important!”

“Oh?” Zhang Su’s fatigue vanished instantly. He adjusted his sunglasses: “How important?”

“As important as a three- or four-story building!”

Xie Yanshan quoted his classic line, then reached into his coat pocket and pulled out a sealed bag with solemn expression.

Zhang Su’s gaze sharpened—the object in Xie Yanshan’s hand was none other than the black cubic crystal!

“So it’s important! Did you get results?”

Xie Yanshan nodded: “I studied it this afternoon—made some progress. I can demonstrate the effect, but it’ll be loud. If you need secrecy, we’ll need a secluded yet open location.”

“Secluded but open? Dr. Xie, you’re teasing me, haha—let’s go!”

Zhang Su rose and led Xie Yanshan toward the mountain ravine.

(End of Chapter)