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墨書 Inktalez
In the moment when the firelight dazzled within the Desolate Mountain Cave, a new day dawned at the Island Bar.
The people bustling outside were busy as ever, and those left behind were equally restless. Last night, Yinuo and Dr. Zhong had talked for a long time, tossing around various speculations in an attempt to clarify their thoughts before the main group returned, so that Ming Junwei could adjust the strategy for Roundabout accordingly.
From the descriptions provided by Old Tian and Dr. Zhong, it was clear that both were worried about the road ahead. The natural spread of the Powdered Zombie Virus was no coincidence; for them, the Ordinary Survivors, this was undoubtedly a new disaster. Yinuo, walking at the back, turned to close the wooden door of the tavern and quickly caught up with Chef Jia and the others, asking, “Is the Antibody effective against Zombies? Honestly, if it is effective, do you plan to use it?”
“What do you mean?” Pockmarked Girl turned her head, looking at her with a strange expression.
Yinuo gestured towards Chef Jia and said, “To be honest, Zombies are indeed much stronger than ordinary people in many ways. It’s like they’ve evolved to a higher level—enhanced self-repair abilities and heightened senses; they’re practically superhuman. It seems that aside from needing to enter hibernation during winter, there aren’t many downsides. If they can be cured by a Vaccine, wouldn’t they just become ordinary people again?”
The women all stopped in their tracks, seemingly taken aback by Yinuo's words, their gazes flickering towards Chef Jia.
Chef Jia was also one of the Zombies; however, she had never participated in combat-related matters. Among them, only Yinuo truly understood how formidable Zombies could be.
“You’re overthinking it,” Chef Jia smiled gently as she led them into the bar. “Medication is still medication; it’s not natural evolution. I haven’t experienced what you call hibernation yet and don’t fully understand my own condition. But it’s hard to describe this feeling—I know my body has changed, yet there are no signs; everything is unknown.”
“Sister Yao and her team…” Yinuo furrowed her brow in thought before nodding. “They described it similarly—feeling out of place and not quite human anymore. But it’s been three years now; they’ve mostly gotten used to it.”
“If possible, I’d prefer to be a normal person,” Chef Jia concluded the discussion with a single statement. They had been talking about Zombies for hours since early morning. Huihui had gone off to the laboratory again while Yinuo and her two companions had lost all sense of sleepiness, discussing countless possibilities about this matter out of sheer boredom.
“You three should go get some sleep. When Xiao Wei returns, I’ll have someone switch shifts with him,” Chef Jia said, still in relatively good spirits compared to the three girls who wore dark circles under their eyes.
Yuan An had actually been exhausted for a while but couldn’t escape from Yinuo’s lively conversation. After chatting for half the night, she felt much more familiar with them now. Unable to resist the overwhelming wave of drowsiness any longer, she bid them good morning and headed straight into the small office at the back of the bar, collapsing into sleep.
Indeed, she was tired—too lazy even to return to the hotel.
The Pockmarked Girl mischievously blinked and said, "I can't be bothered to go back, I'll just squeeze in a nap." With that, she swiftly followed after the others, leaving Yinuo alone in the lobby.
Yinuo rolled her eyes three times. The bed in the small office couldn't fit three people, and after dawn broke, the residents of Roundabout wandered around. Even sleeping in the bar was restless. Reluctantly, she dragged her weary feet back to the hotel. Just as she reached downstairs, she spotted Dr. Zhong rushing down with dark circles under his eyes. Seeing Yinuo still there, his face lit up, and he waved his hands repeatedly, "Miss Yinuo, come here, help me out!"
"Brother, I'm tired. Wait for the others to wake up," Yinuo pleaded, escaping into the hotel.
However, Dr. Zhong seemed energized as if he had been injected with adrenaline; he chased after her into the hotel, saying urgently, "It's important! I can't trust anyone else!"
"What do you need?" Yinuo sighed deeply, knowing she couldn't avoid the task any longer. "Just let me wash my face to wake up a bit."
"About what I mentioned last night—help me retrieve a backup from the train. I need to keep an eye on things in the lab," Dr. Zhong said somewhat sheepishly. However, there was no choice; they had agreed to keep this matter confidential until the main group returned.
"Why doesn't Old Tian go?" Yinuo complained. Had she known she'd have to run errands, she wouldn't have chatted so freely last night.
"Come on, you both can go together," Dr. Zhong coaxed and pleaded until he pulled the half-asleep Yinuo back out. Old Tian arrived late, putting on his coat as he walked out from the Yard Gate.
"Old Tian knows the place; you two can split up—one gets the stuff while the other grabs weapons. That should work," Dr. Zhong said but then hesitated again. "Should we call a few more people just in case we run into zombies? I'd feel terrible if something happened."
"No need," Yinuo shot him an annoyed look. With personnel already stretched thin and Roundabout's night watch reduced to two shifts, they had been chatting all night without sleep while others were genuinely on duty and exhausted; they couldn't afford to take on extra work.
"Just be careful then," Dr. Zhong nodded and reminded them repeatedly, "The items are important, but safety comes first! If not, maybe I should just try using the cultivation base first and wait until you all are rested."
"Stop nagging." Yinuo felt her drowsiness vanish due to his incessant chatter and snapped back irritably, "We’ll rest when we can; you just wait upstairs for now. Tell Sister Jia I'm going to grab my gun." With that, she turned and dashed back up to her room, added another layer of clothing, and grabbed her knife and gun before heading back down. She attempted to contact Xiao Wei but received no response; perhaps they were still out of range.
"Quickly go and come back safely!" Dr. Zhong stood at the railing like a stone statue waiting for a husband as Yinuo and Old Tian disappeared around the corner while he waved earnestly.
The guard on duty, Militia, couldn't help but chuckle and said, "Doctor, you should take a break too. Don't wear yourself out."
"It's fine, it's fine." Dr. Zhong felt a warmth in his heart and inexplicably saluted the guard. "You all have worked hard too."
After a heavy rainstorm, the air in the city became much more humid. The wandering Zombies were temporarily under control. Xiao Wei led the patrol team without rest, circling fixed routes every day to clear and relocate them, firmly sealing off the roads leading to the Roundabout and keeping the surrounding Zombies as far away as possible from safe areas. It was troublesome, but quite effective; after all, Zombies lacked intelligence and would follow any commotion. Xiao Wei remained high above, with no other threats unless he fell.
Yinuo had often swapped posts with Song Yao and others before, so she was well-acquainted with the routes within the city. She knew which paths to take on which days. Occasionally, they would encounter stragglers, but as long as there weren't too many of them, retreating safely was not a significant issue. Old Tian, in contrast, was much more cautious. This guy used to travel everywhere by plane or car, always accompanied by soldiers for protection, rarely venturing out alone. Times had changed; with special treatment gone, he had to rely on himself.
"Xiao Nuo, slow down. No need to rush," Old Tian nervously followed behind Yinuo, his triangular eyes scanning everywhere. Every shadow in the corners made him jumpy, as if a starving Zombie would leap out at any moment.
"Don't panic." Yinuo handed him the obstruction knife and reassured him, "Brother Wei and the others are nearby. Unless there's a special situation, we won't encounter a large group of Zombies."
"What counts as a special situation?" Old Tian asked tremulously.
"Encountering a Horde counts as a special situation," Yinuo replied with an eye roll. As they approached a T-Junction, she slowed her pace and made a shushing gesture, squinting to listen for anything unusual.
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