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墨書 Inktalez
"Disappeared," A Hai and the others exclaimed in unison.
"Yes, just like our people, they vanished," Pockmarked Girl shrugged and sighed. "Of course, now I know they were actually imprisoned and then secretly transported elsewhere during the next personnel change."
"Gu, Gu Li, to be honest, your story is quite suspenseful, but it lacks convincing reasons," Song Jiu said, clicking her tongue. "It would be best if you had some evidence to persuade me. After all, according to you, these Zombies are practically an international rescue team, always benefiting the Survivors."
"I knew you would think that," Pockmarked Girl said with a look of triumph. "I remember there was a girl with you when you arrived."
"Yes," Song Jiu nodded, her eyelids twitching.
"Do you know where that girl was taken?"
"No idea."
"I do."
"..."
"Because I escaped from there," Pockmarked Girl said, winking proudly. "I can take you to that place because my goal is to rescue my companions from there."
"Wait a minute, didn't you say that when a new batch arrives, an old batch gets sent away? Shouldn't your companions have been sent off?" A Hai asked, now fully engaged and following her line of thought.
Pockmarked Girl nodded with satisfaction and praised, "You're not too foolish; that's a valuable question. This brings us to those Zombies in the camp." She paused before continuing, "I don't know how the Zombies plan among themselves. They might think it's too time-consuming to always cultivate new managers themselves, so they chose another method. Yes, they released some of the older people to lead the newcomers. Do you understand? Then a portion of the Zombies would leave and return at fixed intervals—one side would deliver supplies while the other side would take away a group based on the current personnel situation in the camp."
"So aside from some Zombies and that guy who leads the newcomers, everyone else in the camp has been constantly replaced," Pockmarked Girl's tone became somewhat stiff as if recalling some unpleasant memories.
"I'll sort this out. Are you saying that the Zombies have taken over the camp, providing a large amount of supplies, continuously delivering fresh blood, and then leaving behind a teacher and a group of overseers who periodically bring in new people while taking away or imprisoning a corresponding number of the old ones?" Song Jiu rubbed his temples, feeling somewhat dazed by this narrative that had a story-like quality.
"Yes."
"It's the same old question: what’s the purpose? Why are the Zombies doing this?" Song Jiu asked.
"I don't know, but it can't be anything good," Pockmarked Girl said, her expression turning somewhat mournful. "I should be the only one who escaped, but I can't just leave like that; several of my companions are still here."
"You mean the person playing the teacher is one of your companions?" Song Jiu suddenly guessed something.
"Yes, to be precise, she was the previous teacher. For some reason, she was replaced and is currently in captivity. Once the month ends and the Zombies return, she will be taken away. This includes that girl you brought along," Pockmarked Girl said, her sadness evident as she muttered to herself, "I must save her. I have to."
"Guli, the teacher you mentioned—could it be..."
"That's right, it's that woman from the cafeteria." Pockmarked Girl's expression shifted again, her eyes revealing a fierce intensity that was startling in its abruptness.
Now it was Song Jiu's turn to fall silent. The information Pockmarked Girl had shared was overwhelming and hard to digest. The most critical point was that she couldn't articulate what the Zombies' intentions were. In Song Jiu's view, this method of "bloodletting" wasn't necessarily a bad thing; the Zombies were gathering a large number of Survivors through the camp and supplies, then granting them "power" to "learn" about managing and building the camp. Once they became "skilled," they would replace them with newcomers—this was clearly training. The people being taken away were experienced workers; surely the Zombies wouldn't just slaughter them after investing so much effort into cultivating them.
However, on another note, if the Zombies were conducting a "mass training," they could very well do it openly. Why go through the trouble of making the old batch "disappear"? This wouldn't contribute to the camp's stability; if someone like Pockmarked Girl leaked information, it would undoubtedly cause widespread panic. It was very likely that Riverside Fortress would become a ghost town.
Song Jiu pondered this without reaching any conclusions. He decided to set that aside and ask another question: "Then why were we assigned jobs when we came in, but that girl we brought along has disappeared?"
"I don't know; I can't always notice when new people arrive," Pockmarked Girl replied without providing a reasonable explanation. She murmured, "In any case, it won't be anything good. If you want to save her, then we might as well team up."
" Brother Jiu, do you think the girl might also be locked up?" A Hai asked.
"That's possible," Song Jiu replied, feeling somewhat deflated. With this development, the idea of inside and outside cooperation seemed completely hollow. Dream Fan not only failed to reach the so-called management but had instead walked straight into a cage.
"One more question: you escaped and came back without anyone noticing. Why did you find me instead of other newcomers?" Song Jiu inquired.
Pockmarked Girl pointed to her pockmarked face and said, "I disfigured myself, and since the others are all newcomers, no one recognized me except for the women in the cafeteria. As for why I found you... well, you are the first batch of newcomers after spring, and your actions are quite suspicious. If I don't look for you, who else should I look for? Regardless of your intentions, as long as you're not Zombies, that's enough."
"How can you be sure we're not Zombies?" Song Jiu asked.
Pockmarked Girl bit her lip and glanced at her before extending her hand. "Let me borrow your dagger."
Song Jiu, trusting her, signaled A Hai to hand over the weapon.
Pockmarked Girl touched the blade of the makeshift dagger and suddenly slashed it across her own arm. Song Jiu and the others were taken aback; when they looked again, hot blood was already oozing from the cut skin. Pockmarked Girl grimaced in pain, holding her bloodied arm out toward Song Jiu.
Song Jiu frowned and said, "What are you doing, A Hai? Wrap it up for her."
"Wait a moment; smell this," Pockmarked Girl stopped A Hai and brought a handful of blood close to Song Jiu's nose.
Song Jiu recoiled in disgust and cursed, "Are you crazy?"
Pockmarked Girl grinned widely. "See? You're not Zombies. You might not know this, but even though Zombies can speak like humans, they also have a bloodthirsty instinct. If you were Zombies, even if you could resist biting me, you'd probably still have that hungry look in your eyes."
"Stop talking nonsense, a Zombie is not a vampire," Song Jiu frowned and stood up. "Zombies are covered in blood holes; I've never seen a Zombie munching on another Zombie."
"Believe it or not, Zombies can be advanced Zombies. If a Zombie won't eat another Zombie, how could an advanced Zombie possibly eat a low-level one?" Pockmarked Girl retorted with a tongue twister, not caring whether he understood or not. She covered her wound and rushed into the back room, emerging with a box of medical cotton and bandages, which she tossed to A Hai.
A Hai, at this moment, didn’t tease her but instead found himself somewhat intrigued by the girl. He silently helped her bandage her wound.
"Actually, the main reason I came to find you wasn't this," Pockmarked Girl said, enjoying A Hai's medical assistance while pointing at Song Jiu with a sly grin. "I noticed you two that day in the woods."
"Hmm," Song Jiu and A Hai exchanged glances, both keeping their eyes on her.
"Tch, I have binoculars too. Even though I can't go up to the tower, I can go up to the roof to exchange information."
"I didn't agree to anything; you forced that information on us," Song Jiu pouted, unfazed.
Just as Pockmarked Girl was about to get angry, a sudden knock on the door interrupted her. A Hai hurriedly leaned toward the window to peek outside and immediately stepped back with a startled expression.
" Brother Jiu, it's Sister Jia."
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