Chereads / FutureBio / Chapter 8 - Chapter Eight: The Town (Part Four)

Chapter 8 - Chapter Eight: The Town (Part Four)

Chapter Eight: The Town (Part Four)

The boy, now puffing on his cigarette, appeared rather excited, and with his words flowing freely, Xiao Ran quickly grasped the situation of this small group. Su Hao was a local of this town, born into a relatively affluent family. However, due to his love of leisure and disdain for studies, he dropped out of school before completing junior high. This house belonged to a wealthy relative of his from the city, and he occasionally showed it to potential buyers. As for the rough-faced chubby man named Wu Peng and the sleazy man named Wu Bin, they were cousins. Originally, they were both local bullies in the town. When disaster struck, the two of them, taking advantage of Su Hao's youth, forcibly occupied this house and moved all the weapons and food stored here to the second floor to defend it. Chu Ying and her brother Chu Min had come to the town for business but got trapped here. In the end, they were forced to take refuge here and wait for rescue.

"Have these two groups always been so tense?" Xiao Ran interjected, observing that Chu Min seemed to be a hot-blooded and impulsive man. If the Wu brothers had been provoking them like this every day, it would have been impossible for them to coexist peacefully for so long.

After taking a deep drag from his cigarette, Su Hao said indignantly, "The Wu brothers are no good. They usually bully others in town, engage in all sorts of mischief, and took over my family's house, trying to drive me out. Fortunately, my sister Chu Ying came to protect me. These two lechers fancy Chu Ying because she's pretty and even tried to harass her. But they didn't expect Chu Min to also carry a gun, which frightened them off. Later, we reached an agreement to split the stored food in half, with one half going to the Wu brothers and the other half to us three. They behaved for a while, but it seems they've got bold again today."

Xiao Ran's mind stirred. From Su Hao's words, he discerned the hidden dangers within the team. With so many weapons in the possession of the Wu brothers, fearing only Chu Min and his single gun, it indicated that the two were cowardly and only appeared fierce. Today's audacity suggested that Chu Min's gun, which had previously kept them in check, was likely out of ammunition, perhaps expended during Xiao Ran's rescue. In such circumstances, internal conflict might erupt before any zombie attack. Xiao Ran had to be cautious.

After chatting for a while longer, Su Hao soon went to sleep. Back in his room, Xiao Ran tossed and turned, unable to sleep. What was that mysterious energy flowing within him? How did he become so brave just now? These questions puzzled him. Suddenly, he felt a sharp pain in his wrist, and the screen of his watch changed once again, revealing the appearance of Chris, who had intruded without invitation. Her once professional black suit had now been replaced with a low-cut pink dress. The dark background shifted to a spacious and bright living room. She lounged lazily on the sofa, holding a steaming cup of milk. Her image transformed from a shrewd career woman to a seductive socialite.

"You... why this attire?" Xiao Ran felt extremely uncomfortable with Chris's change in appearance, momentarily suspecting a virus in his watch, causing a malfunction in the intelligent program.

"Your progress is quite impressive. You were able to use energy for attacks so quickly. Seeing you so spirited, I'm in a good mood, so I thought I'd relax a bit by changing outfits. Consider it a reward for you. If you make further progress, I'll dress even more provocatively in the future." Chris spoke leisurely as she sipped her milk.

"You..." Veins bulging on his forehead, Xiao Ran found it exasperating that a mere program, not a living person, would pretend to casually sip milk, claiming to have moods and even attempting to seduce him. The level of intelligence in this program was astonishingly high.

To be honest, since breaking up with his ex-girlfriend Kang Xue, Xiao Ran had been disheartened and hadn't been close to any other girls for a long time. The alluring outfit Chris wore did have a significant appeal to him. Suppressing the urge to gaze at her tightly wrapped bosom and slender thighs, he composed himself and asked, "Tell me quickly, what happened when I was fighting the zombies just now?"

"According to my analysis, your ability is related to electrical energy. The energy flowing within you is electricity, probably caused by being electrocuted by a wire after ingesting the G virus. The movements of zombies primarily rely on the T virus within them. However, a powerful electric current can easily kill the virus, allowing you to defeat the zombie. As for your physical condition, as I explained before, the G virus enhances strength and agility. Right now, your strength and agility are at least two to three times that of an ordinary person. Hence, you were able to overpower the zombie in hand-to-hand combat just now."

Chris's explanation was mostly acceptable to Xiao Ran. It seemed he had inadvertently benefited from the G virus. However, her next words poured cold water on him, causing him some anxiety.

"Don't think you're safe just because you defeated a few ordinary zombies. According to my data, zombies infected with the T virus can also evolve. The zombies you killed just now were low-level T1. If you encounter evolved T2 zombies, who knows who might perish?"

"What are T1 and T2?" 

"After being infected with the T virus, all humans turn into zombies, classified as T1. These zombies are slow-moving and relatively easy to deal with, but their numbers are vast. Currently, there are billions of T1 zombies worldwide. After a period of evolution and predation, T1 zombies will become T2. T2 zombies have significantly increased strength compared to T1 and, like mutants, gradually differentiate into those with enhanced strength, agility, constitution, or mental capabilities. They are much more formidable than T1 and very challenging to deal with. However, the probability of this evolution is low, only about one percent."

"One percent," Xiao Ran chuckled bitterly. While the probability sounded low, with billions of T1 zombies as the base, the number would still be significant. It had been almost a month since the zombie outbreak, and T2 zombies were likely to have evolved. Not to mention this small town with a population of five or six thousand, which could already have dozens of T2 zombies. Let alone those cities with populations in the hundreds of thousands or millions. It seemed that in the future, if he could solve the food problem, he would have to try to hide in sparsely populated rural areas and deep mountain forests.

"The evolution of the T virus is not limited to humans alone. Infected poultry and wild animals are often even more terrifying, and they generally inhabit sparsely populated areas. Therefore, evasion is futile. To survive better, one must continually defeat powerful monsters to enhance one's strength. That is the right path." Chris seemed to sense Xiao Ran's thoughts and opportunistically added her next sentence.