Chapter 21: The Experiment

Li Si-ba and Li Si-qi, who were in the middle of trying to hide the chickens inside their clothes, froze and turned their gazes toward Tang Miao.

Tang Miao leaned lazily against a pillar in the underground parking garage, her eyes fixed on the two men with a look of disdain.

Li Si-qi’s hand slowly moved toward his holster. Feigning confusion, he asked, "What does my sister mean by that?"

Seeing the movement toward the gun, Zhang Xinrou immediately ducked behind Tang Miao. Tang Miao hadn’t told her how they were going to handle this!

Tang Miao beckoned to a car nearby: "Zai Zai, come here. One bite for each of them!"

Obeying the command, Zai Zai darted out from the car window and scurried toward Li Si-qi and Li Si-ba. "Aba aba!" One bite each!

Because her long hair had made her head itchy, Zai Zai wasn't wearing a wig, and only a shallow centimeter of new hair had grown on her scalp. With her milky pupils and grayish-green skin, she terrified the two men, who immediately drew their guns.

"What the hell is this thing? Is it a human or a zombie?"

The two men tried to fire, but their guns refused to chamber a round. They tried to flee, but their feet seemed rooted to the ground. They tried to call for help, but no sound would escape their throats. With twisted, terrified faces, they struggled where they stood, glaring at Tang Miao.

Zai Zai tore a piece of flesh from each of their arms. Just as she was about to swallow, Jiang Nanxing stopped her. He wiped the scarlet blood from Zai Zai’s mouth with a towel, reminding her, "It’s dirty."

Seeing this, the zombies hiding in other cars slowly emerged. Smelling the blood, they subconsciously wanted to rush forward and tear into the prey, but stopped short just as they neared.

"Roar." So fragrant.
"Roar." I want to eat.
"Roar, roar." Can’t eat it. Jiang the Second said it’s dirty.

Zhang Xinrou backed away several steps, looking at Tang Miao in disbelief. Why do this?

Tang Miao bent down to pick up the two sacrificed black-bone chickens and handed them to the dormitory manager to hold. As if hearing Zhang Xinrou’s inner thoughts, she said calmly, "Two beasts; it’s no loss to use them as experimental subjects."

Tang Miao crouched down, took out two Grade C tomatoes, and continued, "You’ve been bitten by a zombie. You have only three choices: first, die right now; second, turn into a zombie and then die."

Jiang Nanxing picked up the gun from the ground and pressed the black muzzle against Li Si-qi’s temple.

Li Si-qi and Li Si-ba were streaming with tears and snot, shaking their heads frantically. They were bound by an unseen force, and the terror of the unknown, coupled with the horror of impending zombification, tore at their nerves.

"Third, eat these tomatoes. I can help you." Help you find release.

***

Afraid the two wouldn’t be convinced, Tang Miao pointed specifically at Jiang Nanxing and Zai Zai.

"Look, this little girl and this young man, although they have become zombies, can understand human speech, eat human food, and are neither aging nor dying."

Zai Zai cooperated perfectly by picking up a tomato and gnawing on it, not forgetting to raise her hands to Tang Miao, acting spoiled and asking to be held.

Jiang Nanxing also pressed the gun harder, his voice hoarse: "Eat, and you can live."

Li Si-qi and Li Si-ba ate while they cried, consuming every bit Tang Miao gave them.

Judging that it was enough, Tang Miao ordered Jiang Nanxing to strip the two men’s shirts off. Li Si-qi and Li Si-ba stopped struggling and, without needing Jiang Nanxing’s help, quickly stripped off their clothes themselves. Once removed, it was clear that starting from the bite wounds on their arms, purplish-blue veins were spreading all the way to their chests, showing signs of covering their entire bodies.

Zhang Xinrou covered her mouth and face, her legs trembling until she had to lean against a stone pillar to stand. She now roughly guessed Tang Miao’s intention: Tang Miao wanted to use Zai Zai and her own special abilities to convert normal humans and then use them to rule this apocalypse!

Did that mean that one day, she, too, would be treated like this by Tang Miao?

Perhaps due to Zai Zai’s unique nature, the conversion of Li Si-ba and Li Si-qi was very fast. A few minutes later, their pupils were almost entirely white, and their skin had changed. While a normal person’s wounds would fester after a zombie bite, these two men’s wounds were already scabbing over.

The two stood up shakily.

"Roar?" I... I’m not dead?
"Roar! Roar!" Brother Qi! You’ve turned into a zombie!

Tang Miao understood now; it seemed time was a factor. No wonder her previous attempts to feed them had seen so little effect. She picked up the other gun from the ground, efficiently chambered a round, and fired.

Bang! Bang!

"Ah!" Zhang Xinrou covered her ears in fright.

Li Si-qi and Li Si-ba fell to the ground again. Because they were close, pale green brain matter splashed onto her, and Tang Miao wiped it off calmly.

"Let’s wait here like waiting for a rabbit by a tree. The others will come over eventually."

She took this time to map out the next phase of the plan for everyone. Once they had hidden themselves again, Zhang Xinrou calmed down, looking at Tang Miao with red-rimmed eyes.

"Why... why did you kill them again? Didn’t you want to take them into the farm? In the future, can you please not turn me into a zombie? I think being human is pretty good. I like being human, and I will be a good person in the future."

Tang Miao was busy wiping Zai Zai’s mouth with a wet wipe and responded nonchalantly, "You misunderstood. They were two beasts, not worth mourning. My farm doesn't want employees with a history of misdeeds."

***

Hearing this, Jiang Nanxing’s fingers paused for an instant before he returned to acting as if nothing had happened, handing Tang Miao a tissue.

When Tang Miao had handed the tomatoes to Li Si-qi and Li Si-ba, she had touched their hands and learned exactly what kind of beasts these two were. She had also gained a clearer understanding of how the Red Fire Safe Zone obtained its weapons and ammunition, and how the safe zone was managed.

"Everyone, remember: there are 14 people left on the other side. About 12 should come over one after another soon. I will restrict their movements, and you go up and seize their guns. Do you understand?"

"Roar!" Understood!
"Aba aba!" I’ll handle the biting!

Zhang Xinrou spoke up weakly, "Do... do I have to participate? I don’t know how to use a gun yet."

"I’ll teach you now."

With everything ready, everyone returned to their ambush spots to play dead. Tang Miao checked the map and took a moment to browse the store. Her total points were now 785. Many products had been unlocked in various sections, and the bestiary function had been upgraded.

She could now track five more people, and an additional function to track zombies had been unlocked. Purple ripples appeared around some of the red dots on the map representing zombies. There were two such special red dots near Tang Miao, and she chose to track them without hesitation.

The group waited in the underground parking garage to catch the remaining 12 in one fell swoop. In the gloomy garage, those bitten by Zai Zai were struggling in agony, their survival instinct driving them to eat ravenously. Li Si-qi and Li Si-ba had eaten the tomatoes immediately after being bitten, while these six had eaten them two to four hours later, consuming the same amount.

The remaining six, who were currently restrained, already sensed their fate and began to beg for mercy.

"We were blind and offended you! Please, let us go!"
"That’s right, that’s right! We don’t want to turn into zombies! When we get back to the safe zone, we’ll bring all our food to honor you! We’ll support you as the leader of the safe zone!"
"Please, spare our lives! We’ll follow you from now on; we’ll do whatever you tell us to do!"

Just then, the phone in the leader’s pocket rang, and everyone fell silent.

Tang Miao raised an eyebrow: "Answer it. You should know what to say."

"Understood, understood!"

The call connected, and the voice on the other end sounded anxious.

"Team leader, this guy’s leg injury is a bit serious. He took a beating from you just now and is now unconscious with a high fever. Should we send him back to the safe zone for treatment first?"