In the days after the apocalypse when the ice and snow had melted, a new challenge arose – the return of blowing sand and dust. Without vegetation to anchor the soil and moisture, the spring winds carried yellow sand and dust everywhere.
In the outskirts of T City, the traces of mutated animals occasionally appeared, each establishing its own territory, clearly adapting to this new world.
In a cluster of buildings not far from the main T City, the people who had escaped from the villa base had successfully made this place their temporary home. They had established defensive positions near this residential area once again, taking advantage of the snow cover during the winter.
Before the apocalypse, tall buildings had become popular in various cities, especially in later developments where high-rise apartments were favored. So, in this living area occupied by the members of the villa base, there were also high-rise buildings.
For various reasons, these people did not directly reside in the high-rise buildings but instead used them as watchtowers, especially to observe the situation in the city.
After the snow had completely melted, the traces of mutated animals began to appear in the nearby wilderness. The excellent visibility allowed them to use high-powered binoculars to catch glimpses of activities on the outskirts of the city. Drones could approach and capture images of situations they wanted to investigate more deeply. Then, a group of people gathered with puzzled expressions, discussing the situation.
“What are they doing?”
“Why are there so many holes in the city? Are the zombies filling them with soil?”
One person remained silent for a while with a solemn expression before announcing to the group, “I told you these zombies already have leaders! Look, they have even learned how to farm!”
The shocked expressions of the group were exchanged several times, still with some disbelief. “But… what’s the point of zombies farming? They don’t need to eat!”
The person who had just spoken fell silent again for a moment before continuing, “Perhaps the awakened zombies are gradually regaining the instinct to eat? There are so few humans left now, and there are not enough for them to feed on, right? And do you remember the last time? Even though we offered ourselves as a meal, they didn’t catch us and instead tried to drive us away. It seems their dietary habits may have changed.”
With that said, the group’s gaze inevitably shifted back to the only person present who had a background in medicine.
We’re sorry for MTLers or people who like using reading mode, but our translations keep getting stolen by aggregators so we’re going to bring back the copy protection. If you need to MTL please retype the gibberish parts.
The man was wearing a lab coat that had long lost its color and, upon seeing the situation, rolled his eyes impatiently and shouted at the group, “How many times do I have to say it?! I’m not studying zombie behavior patterns! I’m already doing you a favor by analyzing the zombie virus, okay?!”
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“Don’t get angry, don’t get angry,” someone stepped in as a peacemaker, along with a few others, trying to prevent the two from getting into a fight. “Let’s focus on what we should do now.”
The group’s attention once again turned to the large screen. They had originally planned to wait until the snow had melted completely and they could see the situation in the city clearly before making any plans. However, now that they could see clearly, they were even more confused.
“…Regardless of whether they are really farming or not, there is a high probability that this city is being controlled by one or a group of intelligent zombies,” someone suddenly spoke, then looked at the others.
“If possible, we might be able to establish contact with them and seek their permission to enter the city.”
Most of the others, despite their furrowed brows, agreed with this idea.
“What about the base?”
“While there is a chance to cooperate with the base, the likelihood of cooperation is greater, but since we never had a good impression of them from the beginning, it’s better to maintain a wait-and-see attitude regarding our previous cooperation.”
“Right, and they started kicking people out one by one since last winter,” commented one person. The fact that various bases were expelling people with low body temperatures was not a secret. When the people from the villa base left, they encountered those who had been expelled, and they had also intercepted secret radio signals exchanged between the bases.
Back when satellites were still operational, they could pick up satellite signals, and now that most bases had switched to using conventional radio waves due to satellite malfunctions, it was easy to find the frequencies.
“If the leading zombie in this city is truly intelligent and rational, then this matter should be negotiable,” the people nodded in agreement. Most of them were traders, and for traders, there were no permanent enemies, only permanent interests. As long as they were willing to give up their humanity, even becoming vassals under a powerful force wouldn’t be too difficult for them.
Especially now that it seemed that all the zombies in the entire T City had been unified, there might indeed be a zombie king in T City who could be persuaded. Obtaining a place to settle in this city might not be too challenging.
The number of people in their base who had turned into zombies was increasing. In the small living area where they had settled now, there were originally not many zombies. When they entered, they didn’t dare to completely eliminate those zombies either. If all the zombies were killed, they would be even more isolated and defenseless if someone or mutated animals came along.
So, even though their primary goal was to provide a place for their former companions to settle, they still needed to have a talk with the current leader of the zombies in T City, who was the closest to them now.
After the successful conclusion of the zombie conference, Wei Xuan didn’t immediately return home; his mission for this outing was not yet complete.
So, he pointed at one of the square plastic water tanks used as a sample in various containers and instructed his zombie underlings, “On the way back, prioritize finding containers that look like this. If you come across a large quantity of them, inform me. If there are only a few, bring them back with you.”
These water tanks were specifically designed for water storage, each with a volume of one cubic meter, a dedicated lid, and a side tap. They were well-sealed and could hold around a ton of water inside.
Wei Xuan had found a couple of these water tanks before, and they were much more convenient for his purposes compared to other shapes of water storage containers.
The second priority was to find square storage boxes or rectangular shallow plastic boxes used in supermarkets. These containers were ideal for drying snowwater because they could be neatly stacked.
Of course, Wei Xuan had no intention of competing with the majority of zombies in T City for these items. He just needed to take a portion and replace the ones at home. Moreover, he could use the containers he already had and exchange them with the zombies, so everyone would benefit.
The zombie underlings enthusiastically promised to complete the task, and the zombie leaders who had just finished the meeting with Wei Xuan also joyfully scattered in various directions to claim their territories. While Wei Xuan was still in the territory of the little zombie girl, the entire city underwent yet another significant transformation.
The few surviving people who had remained in T City since the winter of last year looked at the streets near their residential area once again with eyes filled with disbelief. Dust and dirt filled the air, and everywhere they looked, there were zombies filling up holes!
The zombies that had been thought to have disappeared somewhere a few days ago were now crawling out of these pits, filling them up with soil they had dug, and then running around aimlessly. Some of them were carrying trash cans without holes, while others had large bathtubs strapped to their backs, and after running around the city, they would carry these items into various buildings.
The surviving observers went from initial surprise and astonishment to numbness. After all, the zombies outside had been acting crazy for a long time. They could do whatever they wanted to do…
Near the technology tower, Bai Guangnan who was working hard to dig holes for snow was pulled out of the pit by two zombies. To his dismay, he watched as two other zombies actually filled up the hole he had just dug!
What chance did a healing-type superpower user have against zombies in combat? So, despite his struggles and attempts to fight back like a live fish, once the zombies let him go, the hole he had just dug was completely buried.
“Are you all insane?! First, I fell into the pit because of your digging, and now you won’t let me dig?! My wife and neighbor are waiting for me to bring takeout home!!”
However, no matter how loudly he shouted, as soon as he started digging a hole, even in a concealed location, it wouldn’t be long before more than one zombie came to fill it up…
Of course, he wasn’t empty-handed. Bai Guangnan always chose to dig holes near the cracks in the buildings, where he could find snowflakes from relatively shallow depths. He quickly scooped up a bag of soil before the zombies arrived, and when he got home, he could slowly pick out the snowflakes, which would be enough to serve as their food for several days.
After nearly a week of searching and wandering around the outskirts of T City with his zombie companions, Wei Xuan finally found what he needed.
It was a factory specializing in the production or transfer of plastic water tanks, and each zombie brought back about three of them. Wei Xuan simply informed the wild zombies that were searching nearby to notify the leaders of this area to come and take these items.
With three water tanks each and some of the plastic crates and shallow boxes that Wei Xuan needed, his zombie companions were like exemplary movers.
Thanks for the chapter!
Thanks for all the awesome work translating ❤️❤️❤️
Poor Bai 🤣 he wasn’t on the meeting. Thank you for the chapter ❤️
Haha, Wei Xuan forgot to inform him about the new zombie society preservation.