One night passed, and Shen Feng, along with the eight hundred-plus members of the combat team, set out again. The ship was loaded with a large amount of food, as they would be fighting outside for a long time, and supply issues could not be allowed to occur. This also made the ship's space quite crowded.
Chu Chaoyan and Yu Renshu were the only two women on the ship and naturally stayed together. The two had barely spoken to each other before, but now they were chatting animatedly. After more than an hour, they reached the dock, and the combat team began their operations. There were many wandering zombies near the dock, and these zombies had to be dealt with.
Yu Renshu held a sharp knife in her hand. The knife looked dark, with only the edge sharpened. Shen Feng guessed that this knife might have been a butcher's knife that Yu Renshu found from a vendor, as the knife's shape was very distinctive. However, there was a slight issue; the knife seemed a bit too short.
Before long, the nearby zombies were cleared out, and the butcher's knife in Yu Renshu's hand was stained with blood. She was expressionless and appeared very calm while killing zombies.
Shen Feng watched clearly from atop a shipping container. Yu Renshu fought with particular ferocity, deliberately charging into areas with more zombies. This struck him as odd; why would a researcher be so eager? Was she perhaps venting her frustrations?
After the battle ended, Shen Feng walked over to Yu Renshu and asked, "Why didn't you use your abilities? I feel like your water-control ability is quite good. Also, what's the name of your knife? It's very unique!"
Yu Renshu calmly replied, "You should understand the limitations of water-control abilities; its killing power is limited, and the water I can control must be in a physical form. Do I have to carry a bucket of water with me everywhere I go to fight? As for my knife, its name is 'Suits of Time'."
Shen Feng pointed to the two long swords at his waist and said, "These two swords are named 'Heavenly Sword' and 'Dragon Slaying Sword.' That sounds much more imposing."
Yu Renshu shrugged and said, "What's the use of an imposing name? It still can't stop a zombie horde. I think you should focus more on planning our next move."
Reminded by the doctor, Shen Feng immediately began gathering his people to find a suitable battle location. A plan was finalized: some people would stay on the ship as bait to attract zombies, while others would carry speakers and tour the city. Once enough zombies were attracted, they would return.
Shen Feng was too lazy to attract zombies himself. His current speed was such that zombies couldn't catch him, so there was no need for him to do such troublesome work. He was about to assign Yang Chang to lead a group to attract zombies when Chu Chaoyan stepped forward and volunteered to attract them.
Afterward, Chu Chaoyan set off with the speakers. Not long after, she returned to the dock with five hundred zombies. At this moment, Shen Feng really wanted to add, "Leave the cough syrup behind."
It wasn't that Shen Feng's imagination was too exaggerated; it was just that faced with so many zombies chasing a beautiful woman, he could only think of that classic advertisement: "Why are they chasing me?"
Upon returning to the dock, everyone hid, allowing the zombies to be lured to the edge of the dock. Then, seeing the people on the ship making noise, the zombies rushed towards the cruise ship. Unfortunately, as soon as they charged forward, they lost their footing and fell into the water. The zombies were then submerged and washed away.
"Plop, plop," the zombies jumped in one after another like dumplings, and then they all drowned. The people on the ship laughed heartily at the sight. These zombies were simply too unintelligent, charging forward so foolishly. They deserved to drown.
However, when only about a hundred zombies remained, they stopped advancing. After some thought, they began to retreat. They completely ignored the people on the ship who were continuously making noise.
Seeing this, Shen Feng was shocked. Had the zombies started learning? Once they realized they couldn't reach the ship, they were no longer willing to advance. And there were over a hundred of them, seemingly all unwilling to risk their lives.
Yu Renshu also saw this and then said, "It seems the zombies are gradually learning to avoid harm. Once they discover potential danger, they no longer charge forward. Zombies will become increasingly difficult to deal with in the future."
Shen Feng heard this and then asked, "Then, will zombies eat food other than animals? If zombies do the same, won't they compete with humans for food?"
Currently, Shen Feng's biggest worry was the food supply. After all, zombies could be dealt with, but food was a problem. Zombies wouldn't engage in production. If agricultural activities were impossible for the next few years, China could rely on its existing grain reserves to last for at least a few years. During this time, the problems caused by zombies could be resolved. However, if zombies also started eating grains, then the amount of food humans could obtain would definitely be greatly reduced.
"Then why don't you go and see for yourself?" Yu Renshu couldn't answer Shen Feng's question and instead urged him to go and investigate.
Shen Feng didn't want to delay. He took out a map, confirmed the location of the farmers' market, and headed straight for it. Previously, Shen Feng hadn't had a good opportunity to observe zombies; he had always killed them on sight or flown over from rooftops. Now, to observe their behavior, he had to observe them carefully.
At this moment, Shen Feng also became curious. Humans, when starving, can generally survive for seven days. A fatter person might live for up to half a month. But these zombies had been alive for nearly a month. If they didn't eat, they certainly wouldn't have survived this long!
After Shen Feng left the dock, Yang Chang walked over to Yu Renshu with a smile and said, "I almost forgot, you are also the Vice President. Since the President is not here, Doctor, why don't you lead our next plan?"
Yu Renshu smiled and demurred, "It's better for you professionals to command. As for me, I'll just follow your orders."
Yang Chang nodded and then returned to Ren Jing's side, whispering, "She didn't fall for it. It seems her goal isn't to seize command."
Ren Jing glanced cautiously in Yu Renshu's direction and whispered, "It's best if she's not trying to seize command. After all, in the combat team, besides the President, you and I are the highest-ranking. If she were to join, it would be too troublesome."
Shen Feng had handed over the combat at the dock to the combat team. After all, this location was advantageous for both offense and defense. If there were too many zombies, they could simply flee to the ship, and the zombies couldn't catch them. Moreover, after fighting for a long time, they should have learned to cooperate. He only needed to attend to more important matters.
Upon arriving at the farmers' market, Shen Feng, in order to observe carefully, used "As the Wind Follows" to directly reach the steel frame of the market's roof. From here, the view below was unobstructed, allowing him to clearly see whatever the zombies did.
Shen Feng first observed the grain stores. These places usually sold agricultural products. The rice and flour in the stores seemed to have been opened, while other seasonings were untouched. However, other edible items seemed to have been taken, which gave Shen Feng a bad premonition. Could these zombies already be eating grains?
His premonition was not wrong, because soon a zombie entered a grain store. Upon finding ham sausages on the shelf, it directly took them down and began to tear them apart and eat them. Shen Feng witnessed this scene and was speechless. He now helplessly realized that zombies had indeed learned to eat grains, and this would put humans at a severe disadvantage.
Previously, Shen Feng had wondered if zombies would starve to death if they didn't eat. But now it seemed that zombies were not foolish. When they couldn't find humans to consume, they also knew to eat whatever edible things were around, such as grains and some stored dried goods.
"So, the reason there were so many zombies outside the granary was that they weren't idle, but rather wanted to eat the grain inside, but couldn't open the door!" Shen Feng muttered to himself. Now that zombies had learned to eat, the troubles for humans would increase.
If zombies learned to eat, they could exist long-term. If zombies also learned to avoid harm, they would essentially form a new species, making them extremely difficult to eliminate in the future. Furthermore, zombies could continuously mutate, meaning that the傻乎乎 (silly) zombies of the past would become powerful.
"Do zombies sleep?" A question suddenly arose in Shen Feng's mind. He continued to observe and found that zombies often stood still or simply fell to the ground, appearing to be in a deep sleep.
Shen Feng took out a bone spike from his person and threw it directly, hitting a zombie's head. The zombie did not struggle and instantly fell to the ground.
The zombie's body hit the ground with a dull thud. This commotion instantly woke the zombies, both those standing still and those lying on the ground. Upon seeing the dead zombie, the zombies fell back into their slumber and became still, but some of them walked over and began to eat the flesh.
"This is not good!" Shen Feng looked at the actions of the zombies below, his heart filled with worry.
Zombies could eat their own kind to replenish energy, but humans couldn't do that. Moreover, when zombies had nothing to do, they could sleep, seemingly entering a dormant state, which could greatly conserve energy. This was also something humans couldn't learn. In summary, for a long time to come, zombies and humans would likely coexist.
Having seen this, Shen Feng got the answer he wanted and quickly left the farmers' market. At this moment, he was determined to quickly eliminate the zombies in Luzhou, otherwise, the zombies would continuously consume the stored food in the city, which would indirectly reduce the food supply for humans.
"Based on a one-in-ten possibility, there could be billions of zombies. It seems that next year, famine will appear on a large scale. After all, agricultural production will be impossible in the second half of this year. Therefore, to protect ourselves, we must ensure that agricultural production can be organized promptly after retaking Luzhou!" Shen Feng's heart was filled with worry. At present, they did not lack food, but what about next year? And the year after?
When Shen Feng returned to the dock, he immediately issued an order: "After killing the zombies, immediately go and rescue people. The most important thing is to collect food! For rooms where no one is present, kick them open and search inside!"
Ren Jing and Yang Chang quickly asked, "President, what happened? Didn't you say we should retake the granary step by step?"
Shen Feng said helplessly, "Plans can't keep up with changes. I just went to observe the zombies and found that they can eat grains. So, if we continue to delay, there will be very little food left in Luzhou. The more people we can rescue, the better. We can worry about management later, but we must accelerate the collection of food."
Upon hearing Shen Feng's words, the members of the combat team understood the upcoming mission and could only brace themselves and work harder, hoping to occupy the granary sooner.
Then, Shen Feng quickly made a decision, "First, let's go to Luzhou Academy and rescue all the students here. If anyone disagrees, don't say anything more, just beat them up! Even if school leaders obstruct us, ignore them and take them away. They have no right to resist now!"
At this moment, Yu Renshu volunteered to go along. Chu Chaoyan considered it and also requested to go.
Yu Renshu looked at Shen Feng with bright eyes, thinking, "As long as I can build my own force, then you and Chang Jianyi won't be able to exploit me arbitrarily. Perhaps, I will even become an indispensable force for you. Just wait, I will seize this opportunity to form my own team."
Shen Feng agreed to their requests. After all, they only needed to follow behind; the actual decisions were in Ren Jing's hands. Shen Feng did not plan to go to the academy. He planned to take Yang Chang to rescue people from several nearby residential areas and also take away all the existing food in those areas.
Shen Feng quietly called Yang Chang over and instructed him, "At a critical moment, remember to play the good cop, understand what I mean?"
Yang Chang nodded excitedly and said, "President, don't worry, I'll handle this! At the critical moment, I will definitely step forward."
With Yang Chang's affirmative reply, Shen Feng finally showed a smile. It could be said that no matter how much zombies evolved, their intelligence could not surpass humans in a short period. Therefore, zombies would definitely not be able to learn human cooperation.
"Alright, let's go. Let's be quick!" Shen Feng made his decision and led the group to clear the zombies in the nearby residential areas.