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墨書 Inktalez
The battle had ended, and everything had returned to calm. The entire Gathering Place was filled with laughter, joyous shouts, tears of happiness, and soft sobs that echoed in the air.
These were the sounds brought by the news of comrades and loved ones lost. Although they had emerged victorious, over forty people remained on the battlefield, never to return. Their souls would return to their homeland, while their bodies would be buried on the hillside behind the New Gathering Place.
There, a grand monument would be erected to mourn all those who had died for the Gathering Place.
Not only the martyrs but also ordinary people who had perished for the sake of the Gathering Place.
Some had been killed in surprise attacks by Zombies while organizing logistics on the battlefield, while others had met with accidental deaths during combat. They would receive substantial compensation, and their families would receive monthly allowances.
This was what they deserved. Zheng Yifan feared that it might not be enough; these were young lives lost for others, for the entire Gathering Place.
"Leader, a Survivor has been found in Hercules Building." Zheng Yifan slowly savored the "fine wine" in the General's Office of the Gathering Place. This was fruit wine brewed by Su Qin, made from fruits he had placed in the General's Office, learned from the chef there.
The taste was sour enough to make one shudder, yet he still relished it; within it lay Su Qin's hopes and care.
That was enough for him.
On the table before him sat a row of thumb-sized plastic bottles filled with Essence.
These were all A-Level Essence, extracted from Man-Eating Flower Essence fruits—five bottles in total. One bottle had already been awarded to Li Ning, and there were nineteen bottles of Demonic Fountain Tree Essence.
Among them was one bottle that stood out; while ordinary Essence was light purple, this particular Essence was a pale gold.
This was the only S-Class Essence, refined at the cost of ten bottles of A-Level Essence and ten thousand Zombie Crystal s.
During the refining process, Zheng Yifan discovered an important issue.
There was a possibility of failure during refinement; if it failed, all Essence would vanish, and all consumed Zombie Crystal s would be wasted.
The success rate for refining S-Class Essence was 80%, while that for SS-Level Essence was a mere 0%. This highlighted just how rare SS-Level Essence truly was.
Zheng Yifan had already set his sights on a target for the S-Class Essence: Han Rui, the woman who had been following him all along.
She was the one he needed most. The scars on her face would heal with the use of the Essence, and after using the auxiliary Essence, he would lose his means of gaining power. His influence in the Gathering Place would also diminish accordingly. Although he still held a high position, the authority he once wielded would gradually become a threat to him.
Even though Zheng Yifan trusted her, such uncertainty could not exist within the entire Gathering Place.
"Are there Survivors? That's normal. The Demonized Fountain Tree clearly targets Zombies; humans within it won't be attacked and can easily survive. Observe for a month, and after that, grant them civilian status." Zheng Yifan waved his hand, wanting to dismiss the person in front of him.
This was the secretary Han Rui had arranged for him! And it turned out to be a man! This truly gave Zheng Yifan a headache. In television shows, secretaries were always cute and easy to handle!
"Chief, these Survivors are different. They are researchers from the Hansui City Biological Sciences Research Institute who escaped from the Original Han Sui City Zombie Research Center. They already have preliminary research results on Zombies," the secretary had to remind Zheng Yifan again.
"Is that so? Then let their leader or organizer come over. It’s just right to see what they can contribute; we don’t keep useless people in the Gathering Place." Zheng Yifan waved his hand again to dismiss him. The secretary immediately ran out.
It was truly remarkable how a single word from a leader could send subordinates running until their legs broke. Zheng Yifan genuinely felt what it was like to be in charge.
However, when he lowered his head, his headache intensified. The Zombie Crystal s in his Storage Space had reached 100,000, enough to upgrade to the Third Stage. This was nearly all of the Zombie Crystal s in the Gathering Place; what remained was reduced to single digits.
It was fortunate that he had collected over 10,000 Zombie Crystal s from the Demonized Fountain Tree. That Demonized Fountain Tree had absorbed so many Zombies by itself; he hadn’t dared to touch the Zombies trapped by it since they were its food source.
The Hercules Building had been decided upon for sealing off; in the future, a passage would be opened above while all surrounding doors would be sealed shut.
He discovered that there was actually a connection beneath the fountain leading to the Sewers.
According to the blueprints, the entire waterway could allow people to walk through and connected closely to Ruiguan and Gathering Place.
The re-planning had already begun. The passages outside Ruiguan and those inside Ruiguan, along with the Sewers, would be opened up in the future. That area would become another cremation ground for Zombies, and the Demonized Fountain Tree would deal with Zombies even more effectively while producing Essence—truly a win-win situation.
The new planning scheme included two Gathering Places: one at the resort and another within Ruiguan.
Of course, in the future, the vast majority of humanity will move to live in resorts. All the houses are included in the statistics, and distributing one residence to each family is quite manageable. Moreover, there will be luxurious homes available for those who become prosperous in the future.
However, the prices will be extremely high.
As Zheng Yifan pondered, more than thirty people quietly arrived outside the door. These individuals were well-dressed and did not appear as disheveled as Zheng Yifan had imagined.
But it was easy to understand; there were many shops waiting to open in the Hercules Building. The warehouses inside were gradually filling with goods. Post-Apocalypse had stockpiled some drinks, bottled water, and food inside, waiting for the resort to start operations and sell to the workers.
With these supplies, they were not afraid of running out of food; it just felt like being trapped in a prison.
Aside from the entire Hercules Building, they dared not venture elsewhere because there were zombies—terrifying zombies. They didn't even dare to roam around the Hercules Building for fear that the Demonized Fountain Tree would absorb them or that those zombies would escape from its confinement.
"Leader! We have research results to contribute to you; we have experimental data to offer!" Among this group, a middle-aged man in his forties rushed in, practically crawling as he knelt before Zheng Yifan.
"I am the head of the Post-Apocalypse Hansui City Biotechnology Laboratory. I have been overseeing this area since the end times began, and we managed to bring most of our experimental data with us. We have also made preliminary progress in our research on Zombie Crystal." His first words reflected their value.
He was not merely a scholar; his role in the laboratory was primarily as a supervisor, urging his subordinates to work while seeking research funding from above.
He was not responsible for specific research tasks; he acted more like a bridge between people.
Now that the apocalypse had arrived, he wanted nothing more than to survive. He knew that those thirty-two scientists were his ticket to survival and a better life.
Thus, after the apocalypse struck, he never relinquished his authority under the supervision of the managers at Han Sui City Gathering Place. Even when disaster struck and he fled, he never abandoned any of his scientists. He didn't dare give up even when his life was in danger multiple times.
Because he understood that with these scientists alive, as long as he survived, there would be a way forward—a chance for wealth and prosperity. But if these scientists died, he would be worth less than nothing; no one would care about him.
"Oh! Introduce your experimental results to me. If I am satisfied, I will provide you with a good opportunity and favorable living conditions," Zheng Yifan said, smacking his lips as he continued drinking that painfully sour fruit wine.
For now, let’s just call it fruit wine; Zheng Yifan had no idea what it really was—he just hoped it wouldn't kill him.
"This is the three main projects of our experiment. The primary focus and initial understanding is the research on the essence of Zombie Crystal. We have preliminarily analyzed the composition and usage hypotheses of Zombie Crystal. The second project is the study of Superpowered Individuals, which has just been initiated and framed; specific research has not yet begun mainly because there are too few Superpowered Individuals, and each one holds significant power and status, making it difficult for us to conduct research on them. The final project is the study of Mutated Plants. We already have a rough hypothesis for this, and we just need the specific funding and research objectives to be in place."
He then slowly fed Zheng Yifan information about the research findings.
When introducing the composition of Zombie Crystal, there were a lot of technical terms that Zheng Yifan mostly couldn't understand. However, the one thing he could grasp was that Zombie Crystal is a substance that stores and generates a special kind of energy. It is a product born from the evolutionary errors that turned humans into Zombies, accumulating the energy that bursts forth from Zombies.
From Zheng Yifan's perspective, Zombies are not merely transformed by viruses or similar factors. Instead, they are the result of a wild evolution that causes their entire genetic structure to collapse, resulting in bizarre products. The intention behind this evolution may be good, but the outcome is terrifying.
The powerful Vital Energy brought about by genetic mutations condenses into Zombie Crystal. Moreover, Zombies rely on Zombie Crystal for sustenance, much like a Nuclear Power Plant combined with a storage unit. It generates the energy needed by Zombies and stores all their essence; thus, when Zombie Crystal falls off, Zombies naturally die because Zombie Crystal is their Heart.
As for Superpowered Individuals, their research is quite lacking; they only categorize Superpowered Individuals and make possible speculations about their origins. Zheng Yifan feels that the most plausible theory is that the Awakening Essence used by Superpowered Individuals is derived from plant extracts of Vital Energy exuded from Zombie bodies, condensed into fruit. This fruit is not meant for reproduction but is merely waste since plants do not absorb this substance.
However, this substance can activate genes within the human body and significantly weaken the violent evolution that Zombies undergo, making it acceptable for humans.
Regarding Mutated Plants, they have only researched carnivorous plants and have only a superficial understanding of how they changed and the birth and types of Mutated Plants.
Nevertheless, one particular chart pleased Zheng Yifan greatly because it introduced over forty types of Mutated Plants.
From carnivorous plants that Zheng Yifan already knew about to more than forty other types he had never seen before, each was described in detail, even specifying their growth locations clearly. The only unfortunate aspect was that they were all located near Hansui City.
And right now, that area still belongs to Zombies.
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