Chapter 486 Mummy
Otha's face was a blank slate.
He casually told everyone, "This is just the start. Maybe the horde is still watching us, but we gotta be patient."
"It's like fishing, a test of who can wait longer, the angler or the fish."
No plan is foolproof; they were just winging it based on the intel they had.
If it flopped, they'd just try something else.
Since the zombies weren't making any moves, they had nothing to lose but time.
Nobody had a better idea. Right now, no one dared to send out a team to scout.
So they had to keep waiting, planning to watch a bit longer.
During the meeting, Steven secretly checked out Neil and Natasha's faces.
Nothing seemed off, which made Steven feel a lot better. It looked like his actions hadn't been found out.
But he also wondered if that so-called forbidden area might not be such a big deal after all.
Otherwise, the Snowfall Cult would have guarded it more tightly.
Anyway, Steven still planned to study the stuff he had snagged.
Late that night, Steven woke a few folks up and showed them what he had found.
When everyone heard Steven had broken into the Snowfall Cult's forbidden area, they were a bit nervous but also kinda excited.
That thrill of peeking into someone else's secrets is pretty intense.
Steven pulled out the red fruit, the branches and leaves, and the cocoon.
When he took out the cocoon, everyone's faces got a bit weird—its size was perfect for wrapping a person inside.
Steven said to Elinor, "Elinor, you're the dissection expert. You handle opening them up!"
Steven had all the lab tools in his space.
Here, she could totally dissect and study them.
Elinor said, "The fruit and branches need to be studied slowly back in the lab. This place isn't right for it."
"But this cocoon is super strange. It looks like a mummy!"
As soon as she said this, everyone nodded in agreement.
Steven also hoped it was a mummy and not some bug egg.
Under everyone's eager eyes, Elinor took out her surgical tools.
But she didn't rush to dissect it; instead, she grabbed a small flashlight and shone it on the cocoon.
Under the light, everyone could vaguely see what was inside the cocoon.
It was definitely a human-like figure, but super skinny, almost just bones.
"It really is a mummy!" Steven let out a sigh of relief; a corpse was still something they could deal with.
"I think I get what this thing is for." Steven had a hunch.
"Spill it, what do you think it is?" Lily asked, curious.
Steven grinned and said, "Let's open it up first! Maybe it's not that mysterious."
Elinor nodded. She took out the knives, laying out many sharp small ones.
She picked one up, her slender and steady hand skillfully cutting open the dark red leaves from the head.
Sure enough, after cutting open the leaves, a skin-and-bones corpse appeared inside!
Steven remembered the abandoned building, where thousands of such corpses were hanging on the walls, and he already figured out the plant's purpose.
Under everyone's puzzled looks, Steven explained, "The abandoned building has a giant mutated plant. It probably absorbs nutrients from the corpses and then produces this red fruit."
"We also saw many Snowfall Cult followers eating such red fruit."
"This is probably their food source. In other words, their forbidden area is actually a living granary. No wonder they're so cautious and don't let any outsiders near."
After figuring it out, everyone felt a bit let down.
They didn't lack food and weren't interested in a mutated plant that could feed thousands.
Sure, the plant was impressive and valuable, but Steven and his crew didn't really need it.
Elinor poked the corpse with a scalpel and found it completely drained, with no flesh or blood left.
It seemed the corpse had indeed been fully converted into nutrients.
Steven said to Elinor, "Analyze the components of the fruit and branches when we get back, see if there's anything unusual."
Steven had actually lost interest in the plant. He was just being cautious as usual, so he reminded Elinor.
Elinor nodded. "Give me some time! This plant is pretty easy to study. I'll make a slice and observe it under a microscope with some biological reagents."
On the investigation team's side, Eris took off her white gloves, looked at the dissected corpse in front of her, and said to Otha not far away, "It's just a corpse drained of nutrients, nothing unusual."
"As for the fruit, it has some hallucinogenic effects. It can help the Snowfall Cult's leaders better control their followers."
"But no pathogens were found, and it has a high sugar content, so it should be considered a nutritious food."
Otha adjusted his sunglasses. "Got it."
"When we get back, take some of the roots and see if the lab experts can cultivate it. This thing is very useful."
Deep in the abandoned building.
Neil stood in front of the Bloodfeeder Vine, looking up at the hanging cocoons.
"3968, 3969, 3970... one less again." He sighed helplessly. "Their curiosity is really strong!"
The next day, there was still no sign of the zombie horde, which made everyone increasingly uneasy.
The longer the horde didn't appear, the more likely it was that they were preparing for a terrifying attack.
Otha had already used resources from the Silvercrest District, using satellites to monitor the entire Starlight City, trying to find the zombies' movements.
Finally, with the help of high technology, they indeed found some clues.
Otha called everyone over and told them the latest news.
"The horde is gathering, and it's heading to us."
"Preliminary estimates put the number of zombies at over 100,000. You need to be prepared; this will be a tough battle!"
"100,000 zombies?"
This number made everyone frown.
They currently had just over 2,000 combat personnel.
To deal with those hard-to-kill monsters, and possibly face Bronze Elite Zombies with combat power comparable to high-level Psychics, this battle would be extremely dangerous.
Steven, however, thought to himself: 'There are definitely more than 100,000 zombies!'
Otha's words could be listened to but not fully believed.
To get everyone to act as bait and attract the main force of the zombie horde, he naturally had to keep everyone calm.
So the number of zombies he mentioned had to be at least doubled.
Just in the remote Floral Springs Line, Steven had found tens of thousands of zombies!
Now that the entire Starlight City's zombies were gathering here, even a million-strong zombie horde would be believable!
But Steven didn't say it out loud.
After all, they were few in number and could retreat at any time.
The worst-case scenario would be to take everyone and flee Starlight City.
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