The three Corpse Kings of Yuzhou set off in different directions. The Corpse King heading towards Hubei Province, which initially numbered over 200,000 upon leaving Yuzhou, swelled to over 700,000 after sweeping through several cities. This massive horde of zombies advanced downstream along the Yangtze River, targeting the numerous cities in the central Hubei region.
Soldiers in Hubei faced the zombie tide and swiftly organized a defense, mustering over 10,000 men. They successfully repelled this wave of the zombie horde. The Corpse King’s whereabouts were unknown, but two days later, it reappeared slightly to the north, having gathered another 50,000 zombies.
The people of Hubei had hoped for safety after repelling the zombie tide, but unexpectedly, a plague began to spread among the population. The contagion, originally from the zombies, had now infected humans. In this chaotic era, with a severe shortage of medicine, people died in batches, with very few receiving treatment.
In Luzhou City, the plague also began to spread. By the time Chang Jianyi discovered it, over a thousand people were already infected. Such a large number necessitated isolation, and the supply of medicine was insufficient. For these individuals, it was a matter of leaving them to fate.
"How did the plague appear?" Chang Jianyi asked, frowning. "The tap water is purified, and all drinking water is boiled. The zombies outside haven't breached the city, and there are no zombie bodies within the city. How could a plague break out?"
Chang Jianyi was truly perplexed. Despite their stringent precautions against the plague, it had still appeared within the city.
Ultimately, Professor Chen, who taught anatomy, questioned the patients and discovered that many had eaten the meat of mutated rats, which had caused the plague!
Upon hearing this, Chang Jianyi was furious. "These people only cause trouble!" she exclaimed angrily. "Is rat meat easy to eat? Now that the plague has appeared in the city, are they going to drag everyone down with them?"
Professor Chen analyzed, "I suspect that mutated rats can travel through the sewers to reach the outskirts of the city. Coincidentally, many zombies died outside the city, and these rats consumed their bodies, becoming carriers of the pathogen. When these people ate the rat meat, it led to the outbreak of the plague."
Chang Jianyi sat behind her desk, deep in thought, unable to come up with a suitable solution. The zombies were still surrounding the city walls, showing no signs of leaving. Meanwhile, a plague was spreading within the city. Although many had been isolated, there was no guarantee that some were not carriers of the pathogen. If the plague continued to spread, this city of over 100,000 people would be doomed!
"What should we do?" Chang Jianyi hesitated. She had been trying to contact Shen Feng for days, but she had lost contact after he went to Rongcheng. Now, she couldn't seek Shen Feng's advice, leaving her without any guidance.
Chang Jianyi's greatest concern was the widespread transmission of the plague within the city. If her people were to perish from the plague instead of the zombies, it would be a tragic fate. Moreover, Luzhou lacked the necessary medicines, and antibiotics could not be produced. The influx of too many outsiders also made management difficult, making it impossible to curb the spread of the plague!
"Could it be that we can only escape with our people when absolutely necessary?" Chang Jianyi suddenly had this thought.
In Chang Jianyi's view, if the plague continued to spread, more and more people in Luzhou would die. The ensuing panic would further worry the populace, and it was possible that Luzhou would be internally conquered by the plague. In such a situation, escape would be the only option.
"Ah Feng, I might not be able to hold Luzhou!" Chang Jianyi thought helplessly.
Professor Chen, seeing Chang Jianyi's prolonged silence, continued, "Deputy City Lord, we must do something now. For example, isolate and treat patients, or mandate that people wear masks and purify the water. Otherwise, the spread of the plague cannot be stopped."
Chang Jianyi nodded. "I understand. I will arrange for people to do these things. Don't worry."
Professor Chen then departed, knowing that he had said all he could. The outcome was beyond his control.
Chang Jianyi leaned back in her office chair, feeling the immense weight of her responsibilities pressing down on her. Although she had agreed to Professor Chen's suggestions, in reality, she could do little more than ensure people drank boiled water. Luzhou had very little in the way of antibiotics. While there were a few pharmaceutical factories, the lack of raw materials made antibiotic production unfeasible.
"Now, we can only make masks. I hope we can get through this," Chang Jianyi thought to herself.
The Corpse King launched two attacks on Luzhou, both of which were repelled by hastily assembled forces. Fortunately, the firearms and ammunition previously supplied from the Three Gorges region allowed them to defend the city walls. After that, the Corpse King seemed to realize that the city walls were not easily breached and ceased its attacks, but it continued to surround Luzhou without moving.
The City Lord's Mansion subsequently issued a notice recruiting personnel to produce masks and also prohibited the consumption of rat meat!
As soon as this notice was issued, it sparked widespread dissatisfaction. Some immediately cursed, "These people in power are full of shit. We don't have enough food, and we can't kill all the zombies outside. We wanted to catch rats to supplement our protein, but now they won't even let us eat rats. How shameless!"
Many echoed these sentiments: "Exactly! If the daily food supply were sufficient, we wouldn't say anything. But we only get a bowl of rice each day, no vegetables, no meat, and we're not even allowed to catch rats to eat!"
"In my opinion, those in power eat too well and are out of touch with the suffering of the common people. The people in the City Lord's Mansion should experience our lives."
A group of people gathered around the notice board and began to curse, all believing that preventing them from catching rats was immoral. In contrast, rational individuals understood that eating rats could lead to the spread of the plague. However, these people ignored the facts and only vented their grievances, regardless of the truth.
Lin Yue walked home hand-in-hand with Fu Ya after work. Seeing the group of people cursing, he showed a helpless smile and shook his head. "These people only talk the talk. If they truly dared to resist, they wouldn't be here complaining."
Fu Ya looked at the agitated crowd with a hint of unease. She then asked, "What if the plague spreads? We'll be in danger too."
Lin Yue put his arm around his girlfriend and smiled. "Don't worry about that. I know how to make penicillin using traditional methods. Even if you contract the plague, I can still produce penicillin."
Fu Ya looked at Lin Yue with surprise. "You know how to do that? How did you learn?"
Lin Yue confidently replied, "My family has a book passed down from my great-grandfather called 'The Barefoot Doctor's Handbook.' I read it when I was bored as a child, so I learned these traditional methods. That's why knowledge is never useless."
Fu Ya finally felt relieved. The two then returned home with their day's wages, which, in reality, was just a pound of rice. They couldn't finish the rice between them, so they ate half and saved the rest, planning to use the remaining rice as travel expenses back to Yuzhou.
After returning home, Lin Yue suddenly reached into his pocket and produced a warm apple. "Xiao Ya, look what I have!"
"Did you steal an apple?" Fu Ya was surprised to see the apple in Lin Yue's hand. She knew his job was to guard a mutated apple tree and that it was quite leisurely, with people specifically assigned to guard it.
Lin Yue proudly said, "Even with someone guarding the apple tree, I found a way to bring one back! Come on, eat it quickly. We've been eating dry rations all this time, and you need some vitamins!"
"Let's share it!" Fu Ya said with a smile.
For dinner, they each had a plate of unpeeled apples and a bowl of plain white rice. Despite the lack of vegetables and meat, they ate warmly. Both were high school students who had been diligently preparing for the college entrance examination when the zombie outbreak suddenly occurred, killing their families. They could only drift to Luzhou.
Although Lin Yue and Fu Ya dreamed of returning to Yuzhou, they were also acutely aware that the plague in Yuzhou was likely even worse. Perhaps Yuzhou was already a dead city, and they might never be able to return. Saving the leftover grain from each day had become a habitual practice, a futile hope.
As night gradually fell, Lin Yue and Fu Ya chatted for a while before preparing to sleep.
However, at that moment, an air raid siren sounded in the city. Lin Yue immediately realized that the zombies were likely attacking again! They had stopped attacking for three days, yet the zombies were still not giving up and wanted to break in for a feast.
Lin Yue reluctantly got out of bed and said to Fu Ya, "When the air raid siren sounds, the City Lord's Mansion personnel have to assemble. I'm going out. You stay home and be careful. Don't open the door for anyone."
Fu Ya nodded seriously. "I know. Go with peace of mind. I'll take care of myself, and you take care too!"
Lin Yue quickly left. The salaries at the City Lord's Mansion were quite high because the daily food allowance was enough to support a family. As for other workers, the food they received daily was barely enough to fill their stomachs, making it difficult to support a family. This was why many had resorted to eating rat meat. If it weren't for the lack of food, who would eat mutated rats?
Of course, there was a downside to working at the City Lord's Mansion: during critical moments, these individuals were forcibly conscripted without the right to refuse. Lin Yue had been conscripted once before, so he was quite familiar with such matters.
Lin Yue was neither a soldier nor an evolved person, so he didn't need to fight. His role was to maintain order among the populace, ensuring that people didn't cause trouble. The actual combat against zombies was the responsibility of the professional personnel.
Lin Yue rushed to the City Lord's Mansion to assemble and was assigned to the east city to maintain order, ensuring no one roamed the streets. He was issued a knife, which looked quite new. With the knife in hand, Lin Yue felt a bit more courageous.
Chang Jianyi hadn't expected the zombies to attack again. She assumed it would be similar to the previous two assaults, but when she arrived at the city walls, she discovered a large number of mutated zombies gathered in the northwest. The appearance of these mutated zombies indicated that the zombies were about to launch a full-scale assault!
"It seems the Corpse King is ready to fight to the death. Very well! If we hurt the zombies badly this time, they'll leave!" Chang Jianyi thought to herself.
Just as Chang Jianyi was thinking this, her phone suddenly rang. She quickly picked it up to answer a report from a soldier on duty at home: "Deputy City Lord, the young master has woken up and says he wants to see you!"
Chang Jianyi felt a great deal of relief upon hearing this news. Her younger brother had finally woken up after six days of high fever. Now, he should be an esper, shouldn't he?
"Bring him to the northwest city wall. Be careful on the way," Chang Jianyi immediately instructed.
Suddenly, the zombies below the city walls began their assault, a vast horde surging forward. However, this charge was purposeful, as the zombies formed a gentle slope below the city walls. The mutated zombies then began their charge up this slope, using the bodies of ordinary zombies to reach the city walls.