Chapter 430 Intelligence
Steven and his group returned to the shelter and sat in the living room to rest.
The women in the house thoughtfully brought hot drinks and food to help them replenish their energy.
Elinor stood behind Steven, gently massaging him to relieve his stress.
However, despite successfully repelling the zombie horde again, Steven's face showed no sign of relief.
Instead, a cloud of doubt loomed over his heart, making him look worried.
This expression made Earl, who was joking around with Henry, feel strange. "Captain, why do you look so unhappy?"
Everyone noticed Steven's unusual expression and cast concerned glances his way.
"Yeah, what are you thinking about? You look so serious."
"If there's a problem, we can all discuss it together!"
Steven glanced around, took a deep breath, and laid it out: "Yesterday, we wiped out most of the zombie horde. But today's attack? Even more of those freaks showed up. This virus is spreading fast—chances are, the dead are turning into zombies. If that's the case, sooner or later, Starlight City's gonna be crawling with them. I can't even picture how we'd survive that."
His words killed the mood—everyone's smiles dropped.
They all lowered their heads in thought, their faces showing the same worried expression.
Cindy, sitting in her wheelchair, took a slow sip of coffee and chimed in, "But for now, it's not that obvious. Otherwise, they wouldn't just send a few thousand zombies at us each time."
She paused, her face turning dead serious. "But if we don't figure out what's really going on with these things, they're gonna screw us over big time down the line."
Aubrey let out a heavy sigh. "If only it were summer! Those freaks would rot down to bones in no time."
Steven cut in, "The real nightmare isn't their numbers—it's that they've got some kind of controller, so they're not just mindless freaks. On top of that, they're a pain to take down. Burning or chopping them up is the only way. Makes this whole mess even harder to handle."
Cindy said, "So the key is to deal with their controller, right?"
Steven laughed, "Easier said than done! Where the hell do we even start? Every time we're halfway through wiping them out, they bolt. I can't even tell if there's a controller in the mix. And with supernatural crap…"
He shrugged, "It's all over the place. Logic doesn't exactly apply here."
They couldn't easily venture deep into the subway.
Because there were definitely more zombies hiding there.
Even though their combat power was exceptionally strong, Steven wouldn't leave the shelter's protection unless absolutely necessary.
As everyone was discussing, Elinor, standing behind Steven, spoke softly, "Actually, I have a hypothesis."
Steven instinctively craned his neck to look behind him, but his view was blocked by two curves, so he couldn't see Elinor's face.
"Oh?" Steven gestured for Elinor to continue.
Usually, Elinor, as a doctor, didn't directly participate in combat planning.
But this time, her expertise as a doctor came into play.
She knew more about the virus than anyone else in the shelter.
So her input was very valuable.
Encouraged by Steven, Elinor began to speak, "So, I've been digging into the zombies' bodies the past couple of days and stumbled on something wild—this virus-like thing. It's rock-solid in extreme cold, surviving even at 173 Kelvin, and it can hijack the nervous system, taking over the body. But…"
She furrowed her brow. "It doesn't line up with modern bio definitions of a virus. Its structure's somewhere between a virus and a cell, leaning more cell-like, yet it invades and controls the host like a virus. Weird, right?"
Steven, who had forgotten most of his knowledge after graduation, was confused. "Elinor, can you speak English?"
In this house, very few people could understand Elinor's explanation.
At least three of the men were completely lost.
Elinor gave a sheepish smile. "Post-apocalypse, biology's been turned upside down thanks to gamma radiation. Let's just roll with 'zombie virus' for now. Simply put, it's got traits of colonies or even social animals. When zombies are in a pack, they move in sync and show some smarts. But in the lab, the zombie parts I've got? Their reproductive drive is weaker, and they're way less reactive. So, my guess is this virus operates like a biological population—there's probably a 'mother virus' controlling them remotely."
Steven straightened up on the couch. "Remotely control? Seriously?"
Elinor quickly waved her hand. "Of course, not from a very long distance. For example, animals can communicate through scent. This mutated virus must have its own way of transmitting messages."
Steven said, "You mean, if we kill the mother virus, these infected zombies will die too?"
Elinor shook her head. "That's hard to say. At the very least, they wouldn't be able to act on such a large scale and with some intelligence."
Intelligence!
Steven finally realized what was causing the sense of incongruity!
"I think I'm catching on!" Steven broke it down for the group. "You've noticed how the zombie attacks these past two days seem aggressive but also kinda smart, right? But when you look closer, their tactics are pretty basic—like, they always bail after some zombies get taken out. It's like a toddler learning to talk, only managing one word at a time."
When Steven put it that way, everyone thought it made a lot of sense.
The zombie horde still seemed clumsy; even when attacked by flamethrowers, they wouldn't scatter and attack.
But they knew to avoid Steven's Dimension Door and to retreat when the situation looked bad.
They had intelligence, but not much.
"Wait a minute, Steven! I think I understand what you're saying."
The speaker was Lily.
She folded her arms, her expression cautious. "You're saying our enemy could be some kind of smart zombie. Maybe a human who mutated after dying, or a virus that hijacked a human body and turned into this 'mother virus.' Either way, it's like it's just starting to figure things out—still learning how humans fight."
Steven figured this theory made a lot of sense.
The way they fought didn't feel like it came from a fully human brain, but it wasn't completely random either.
'If there's really a mother virus, it's probably some kind of zombie king. I already know there are two ways to get supernatural powers—either by nearly dying or through external triggers like Frostheart. So, gaining powers after death was not impossible.' Steven had a quick flash of memory, but he kept that detail to himself.
Log in with Google Account
Chapters
Favorite
Settings
