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墨書 Inktalez
Song Jiu was unable to find Natalia as he had hoped. The security in the administrative area was strict, and they, as outsiders, had no permission to enter, especially since Song Jiu was wearing that conspicuous hospital gown. He was quickly chased away by the guards upon being spotted.
“Wait until nightfall. We can sneak in from behind Banyan Forest,” Song Jiu said calmly, glancing at the trees beside the high wall. The wall wasn’t very tall, and there were no barbed wires; sneaking in shouldn’t be too difficult.
Fang Fei regretted bringing him out of the hospital. Hearing his plans to sneak around, she cautioned, “Don’t forget that we’re on someone else’s turf. The situation is still unclear; don’t act recklessly.”
“It’s strange. Don’t you feel like there are fewer people on the island?” Song Jiu sighed in frustration as they walked back along Palm Avenue, looking at the empty streets, his confusion deepening.
“I noticed that a couple of days ago,” Fang Fei shrugged helplessly. “Most of the people from Taiping Island have evacuated. I haven’t seen many from The Establishment lately either. It feels like it’s just us here.”
“What about the Living Area?” Song Jiu asked, lighting a cigarette. Behind the road was Banyan Forest, and usually, there were many people at the Stilt House Club, but today it seemed desolate. The administrative area wasn’t too far from the Living Area, and he couldn’t shake off the feeling that the silence around them was somewhat eerie.
“I don’t know. Your sister and the others seem to have gone there a few times; there haven’t been many residents,” Fang Fei replied with a shrug. They spotted a car speeding towards them from a distance, and she whispered, “Could it be looking for you?”
“The hospital isn’t over there,” Song Jiu replied curtly. They stopped by the roadside to see what the car was up to. However, it completely ignored them and drove past, turning onto the Tree-Lined Path leading to the administrative area.
They exchanged glances and burst into laughter.
“At least this proves that we’re not the only ones on the island,” Song Jiu smirked.
As noon approached, they walked back to their lodging on foot. The guard at the entrance was still there, and upon seeing Song Jiu running up in his hospital gown, his expression turned slightly odd.
Song Yao and the others were present as usual. Lunch was delivered by someone, and everyone gathered around the table in silence, an unusual atmosphere hanging in the air.
The appearance of Song Jiu surprised everyone. Just a couple of days ago, Luo Yu and her friends had visited him at the hospital and found him in good spirits, cooperating well with the doctors and nurses during treatment. They had relaxed their worries about him for now, but unexpectedly, he had “broken out” so soon.
“ Jiu Jiu, how did you come back?” Song Yao hurriedly led the two into the room, where everyone stared at each other in shock.
Song Jiu took a deep breath. After days of smelling disinfectant, returning here felt like a relief.
“Let’s not talk about me for now. What’s going on with you all? How did Old Wu end up coming along?” Song Jiu was filled with questions and had no desire to recount her hospital stay. She casually sat on the edge of the bed, picked up Cao Zheng's bowl, and took a couple of bites. Looking around, she asked, “Sister, where’s that friend of yours?”
“She’s with Yao Jinsong,” Song Yao said, her brows slightly furrowed as she glanced at Fang Fei, who looked helpless.
“ Jiu Jiu, how are you?” Luo Yu put down his utensils, concern in his eyes. Song Jiu looked fine overall, but something felt off.
“Same as usual; nothing much going on.” Song Jiu wasn’t sure how to describe her situation, so she changed the subject. She gestured for Pockmarked Girl to close the door and said seriously, “Sister, what did you discuss with Yao Jinsong that day? Didn’t we agree that we wouldn’t be involved in anything other than setting up the lab on the island?”
“That’s what we said,” Song Yao nodded, her expression troubled. She hesitated before continuing, “ Jiu Jiu, to be honest with you, we don’t know what to do now.”
“What do you mean?” Song Jiu raised an eyebrow.
“Old Wu told us some confusing things that I don’t quite understand,” Song Yao sighed and said in a low voice, “We were planning to wait until you were discharged to discuss this.”
“What happened?” Song Jiu’s expression changed; it seemed she had missed a lot during her time in the hospital.
Chef Jia stood up to clear away the leftovers and said, “ Jiu Jiu, don’t rush. Is your condition stable right now?”
“It’s okay, I guess.” Song Jiu didn’t understand why Chef Jia was asking this. She looked at Fang Fei uncertainly and added, “I’ve just been sleeping in the ward these past few nights and haven’t done anything.”
Song Yao pondered for a moment before looking up and saying, "Old Wu wants us to find a chance to leave here."
Song Jiu was taken aback, gripping the letter in his pocket tightly, feeling completely lost.
"Why?" Song Jiu asked.
"He didn't say," Song Yao replied, his expression darkening as he rubbed his forehead and sighed. "It seems like all our efforts have been in vain."
Luo Yu cleared his throat lightly and patted Song Yao on the shoulder, saying, "Old Wu seems to know something. He wants us to leave here, go back to Land, or find another island. In short, we shouldn't get involved with The Establishment anymore."
"What about Antibody? What about Vaccine?" Song Jiu was bewildered, suddenly feeling a strange sense of awakening, as if everything had changed.
"Technically speaking, we have Antibody among us, which is sufficient," Luo Yu explained, shrugging. "Old Dai was infected at one point, but Dr. Zhong gave him Huihui's blood. So far, it seems he hasn't been affected by the Infected Virus."
"So..."
"So as long as I’m with you guys, the threat of Zombies is greatly reduced," Huihui chimed in with a shy smile. "The only regret is that my Antibody doesn't seem to work against the Zombie Virus."
"What are you all talking about?" Song Jiu interrupted urgently, pressing down on the back of his neck in confusion. "Are you saying we traveled all the way from Land to here without doing anything and now we have to leave?"
"In simple terms," Luci nodded and said, "that's exactly it."
Song Jiu didn't know what to say anymore. He stared blankly at the table, lost in thought.
Fang Fei was clearly just as clueless, staring blankly for a moment before murmuring, "So what have we been doing all this time?"
"Perhaps, just searching for an answer," Yang Xiaomeng replied with a bitter smile. "But it seems this answer isn't what we wanted."
"But why?" Song Jiu felt an overwhelming confusion. Why did everyone enjoy playing riddles? Why couldn't they just explain things clearly, leaving them, the outsiders, to rack their brains over it?
" Jiu Jiu might be able to tell you the reason," Dai Wei said, his eyes lighting up. "She feels differently about you; why not ask her?"
"It's useless," Fang Fei sighed. "Nata gave him a hint yesterday, just like Old Wu said, telling us to stay away from Yao Jinsong and leave this place."
"It's easy to say, but how do we leave?" Pockmarked Girl grumbled, her face filled with displeasure. "The port ships are manned by soldiers; we can't just walk away."
"And Jiu Jiu, your condition..." Luo Yu hesitated, unable to continue.
Everything had completely spiraled out of control. They not only lost their initiative but also their right to know. It felt like a group of bewildered ants wandering around the edge of a scorching hot pot—neither able to move forward nor stay back—without anyone to guide them.
"What about your friend?" Song Jiu turned to her sister, frowning. "Didn't she say anything?"
"I think Dongdong doesn't know much more than we do," Song Yao shrugged helplessly. "She came by the day before yesterday and seemed troubled by something."
"So what are we supposed to do?" Pockmarked Girl's face fell; it was the first time she had seen everyone at a loss.
"Let me think," Song Jiu said, feeling a throbbing in her head. They had actively pulled themselves from the edges into the center of the whirlpool, ready to face the storm. However, the situation suddenly changed; it was as if they had been thrown out of the whirlpool despite being at its center. What had once been closely related to them now felt like they were outsiders.
“Yao Jinsong has a problem, The Establishment has a problem.” Song Jiu struggled to maintain his composure, murmuring to himself, “Old Wu told us to leave, nata also told us to leave, but didn’t explain why.”
“Because there are some things we can’t know,” Dai Wei tentatively suggested, hesitating, “But what can we really influence?”
Yang Xiaomeng yawned and mumbled indistinctly, “Maybe they figured out we’re the true dragon heirs or something. Anyway, it seems we’re out of luck. Let’s get moving.”
Chef Jia seemed to have thought of something and asked, “ Jiu Jiu, does nata know about Antibody?”
“She doesn’t know,” Song Jiu shook his head.
“Old Wu might be worried that we’d be implicated by Antibody, which is why he wanted us to leave. But since nata doesn’t know about Antibody, why did she warn us?” Luci furrowed his brow, pondering the connections and muttering, “Could it be that they all know something?”
“The Establishment is about to split up; even the two telephone poles outside know that,” Yang Xiaomeng rolled his eyes, puzzled by everyone’s fixation on this issue. His thoughts were simple: since both individuals had given warnings, it surely meant something bad was about to happen. They had already received the signal; they should just obediently follow the advice instead of digging deeper.
Fang Fei paused for a moment before a look of surprise crossed her face as she murmured, “What if we’re overthinking this?”
“Yeah.”
“Xiao Meng is right. It’s something everyone knows about—the current situation between the Conservatives and the radicals. Yao Jinsong has already started relocating; the next step is to ascend to Land. Natalia said we shouldn’t get involved in Yao Jinsong’s military actions—that’s where the issue lies.”
“Are you saying…” Song Yao didn’t unfold his thoughts completely and asked in confusion, “Land is dangerous?”
“Then why would Old Wu want to go along?” Luo Yu couldn’t understand this either. What was there to hide? Why not just tell them directly?
"He might have reasons he can't avoid." Song Yao vaguely thought of something, the image of a Satellite Image appearing in her mind.
The group fell into a heavy silence. Regardless of the reasons, their long journey and aspirations were about to be shattered. Not only had they failed to achieve their goals in Antibody research, but they had also thrown themselves into a fog of uncertainty. The Zombie Apocalypse was upon them.
In the endless ocean, where would they go?
"Let's not talk about it for now; someone is coming." The Pockmarked Girl suddenly gestured for silence. The others turned toward the window as a car drove into the courtyard and came to a stop in front of the door.
The car door opened, and Zeng Yadong stepped out from the driver's seat, turning to approach the two guards at the entrance.
"Dongdong," Song Yao exclaimed in surprise, rising to open the door, muttering, "He can't be here looking for..."
Song Yao's words were cut short as she froze at the doorway.
"What’s wrong?" Song Jiu and Luo Yu hurried forward to check, but what they saw left them all stunned.
Zeng Yadong stood with his back to them, his clothes stained with blood. With a shake of his arm, he pulled out a bloody Miao Knife. The guards' eyes widened in disbelief as they clutched their chests and slowly collapsed to the ground. Zeng Yadong flicked the blood from the blade and turned to face the few people at the door, taking a deep breath and saying, "Come with me."
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