Chapter 171

This time, when the zombie virus broke out, the internet was eerily quiet.

The only posts anyone could see were pleas for help, and there were such posts from almost every major city.

The largest forums were national in scope, so it was clear that, just like the last outbreak, this disaster had spread across the entire country.

Even those well-known forums only saw a new post every now and then.

Someone might ask, “Is anyone still out there?” After a long while, someone else would reply, “I’m in T City. What about you?”

After that, there would be no further word.

It was as though the frantic online chatter during the first outbreak—when everyone had been trapped at home and could only contact one another, communicate, and exchange information over the internet—had all been nothing more than a dream.

Ever since the first disaster began, no information from overseas had appeared online.

The “Foreign News” sections on the major news portals had stopped updating as well, and even after the disaster ended, they never resumed.

The news reported by the state was entirely about restoring production and rebuilding the country.

There had been no visits from foreign heads of state, nor had any of the country’s leaders traveled abroad.

The only mention of foreign affairs came in the form of import and export figures. Judging by the data, all imports and exports had come to a complete halt.

In fact, Jiang Cheng’s company had also lost contact with its overseas clients, causing a trade fair that had originally been planned to be canceled and seriously affecting business.

In the past, Mr. Peng might have had to lay off employees just to keep the company running.

But after the disaster, there were hardly any employees left to begin with, so there was no need for layoffs. The company simply limped along as it was.

Usually, the television was left tuned to the national station rather than the local channels.

Deep down, everyone still hoped that the state would have someone—anyone—step forward and tell ordinary citizens, “We’re still here.”

But that never happened, and little by little, everyone’s heart sank.

They sometimes switched through the channels from other regions as well, but all they found were prerecorded programs.

The only provincial channels available were satellite TV stations. Those were different from actual local stations.

For example, the city station in S City—the one Jiang Cheng used for livestreams and public announcements—could only be received in some nearby areas, such as N City. People in the capital could not watch it.

The phone numbers of government departments in other regions, obtained through the municipal government, went unanswered.

Every so often, one would actually connect, only for the person on the other end to say, “I don’t know. We don’t know either. There’s no one left here!”

They sounded like ordinary people who had simply broken into a government building.

Under such circumstances, once the internet stopped being active as well, it became nearly impossible to know what was happening in other regions.

On September 17, twenty days after the second disaster began, Jiang Cheng and Song Jingshuo finally agreed to Zeng Qiang’s “fertilizer plan.”

The main reason was that Zeng Qiang had been eating vegetables grown with zombie fertilizer for so many days, and there had still been no signs of mutation.

Another reason was that the fertilizer shortage had become too serious.

There were too many people waiting to be fed. With farming on such a large scale, the soil simply could not keep up.

If it could have, Song Jingshuo would never have wanted to eat food grown with zombie fertilizer.

He was extremely particular. In the past, he had bought organic vegetables even when shopping at the supermarket.

Now, the food really was organic in the truest sense.

They had no shortage of zombie corpses, and zombie bodies were incredibly rich in nutrients. There was more than enough fertilizer to go around.

It was just that the whole idea made people feel a little queasy.

That was why they chose to bury the zombies as fertilizer at night, working overtime after everyone else had gone to sleep.

Of course, everyone knew that the logistics team was using zombies as fertilizer. But as long as they didn’t see it with their own eyes, they could continue eating with a clear conscience.

The night air was cool. They mobilized all the earth-type ability users, along with some of the other available labor.

First, they dug sufficiently deep pits at each location, then buried the collected zombie corpses inside.

The key was to dig deep enough. Only then could they prevent the smell and keep maggots from breeding.

The drawback was that if the pits were too deep, surface plants would have trouble absorbing the nutrients. But that didn’t matter. This wasn’t normal farming to begin with.

During the accelerated growth process, the roots could simply be driven straight down.

Song Jingshuo had tested it. In just a few seconds, the roots reached the zombies below, and the plants suddenly came alive, greedily devouring the nutrients.

The fertilizer was incredibly potent. Small bok choy grew as large as cabbages, while cucumbers became the size of winter melons. The cafeteria staff didn’t even know how they were supposed to cook them.

Under these circumstances, everyone held a meeting and decided to release a limited amount of fresh vegetables from time to time to improve people’s lives.

Feeding everyone potatoes wasn’t meant to deprive anyone. It was simply a way to keep more people alive under limited conditions.

The ultimate goal was still to help everyone survive. They could never afford to lose sight of that.

After much discussion, they decided that cucumbers would be the first vegetable distributed.

The cucumbers were so huge that they could no longer be counted by the piece. They had to be counted individually as “one cucumber.”

Each household received one.

It was too large to carry in one’s arms without making it difficult to walk, so people had to hoist it onto their shoulders and carry it home.

The cafeteria ladies had developed a soybean paste as well.

There hadn’t been enough time for it to ferment properly, so it wasn’t traditional bean paste. Still, the ladies had done their best.

Song Jingshuo also tried to provide various seasonings, including scallions, ginger, garlic, chili peppers, and peanuts.

In the end, they managed to produce a sauce that tasted pretty good, especially when mixed into mashed potatoes.

The sauce immediately became the best-selling item. Everyone rushed to exchange performance points for it.

The cafeteria ladies who had worked so hard were rewarded with performance points as well, and their lives became rather comfortable.

Jiang Cheng also discussed the use of zombies as fertilizer with the heads of each district.

The method could effectively encourage every district to clear the zombies from its streets.

The areas around human settlements would naturally be cleared first. Even the zombies killed around No. 14 Middle School had been buried.

But many zombies killed by the blade vehicles along the roads outside the settlements had simply been left behind in the city streets, where they rotted and bred maggots.

S City had once been a model city for civilization and sanitation. Now, large swarms of rats could already be seen.

Some people in smaller safe zones couldn’t obtain meat and had even begun catching rats to eat.

The potential health risks were enormous.

Most of the settlements in each district were located in residential areas.

Wherever residential buildings were densely packed, there were usually several small parks or green belts nearby.

If zombie corpses were used as fertilizer, these areas could be developed into food-growing zones, dramatically increasing food production.

The urban environment could be cleaned up at the same time.

Over the past few days, cars other than those belonging to the provisional government had occasionally begun appearing on the city streets.

Many belonged to small safe zones established by small groups of survivors. When they saw vehicles from the provisional government, they would pull over and wave hello.

People from the Technology New District had asked these survivors whether they wanted to move there or seek refuge in a larger safe zone, such as No. 14 Middle School.

Many had refused.

They said that although their safe zones were small, they had everything they needed. There were usually several ability users among them, and they had the means to find food and protect themselves.

They had already developed a sense of security and a dependence on their own communities, and they didn’t want to move to an unfamiliar place.

The people from the Technology New District did not pressure them. They only asked them to stay in contact and seek help from the provisional government if necessary.

The same situation was unfolding in every district.

Like wild seedlings sprouting from wasteland.

Although many parts of the city were still crawling with zombies, life had gradually begun to return.

The vitality of humanity was truly astonishing.

By the end of September, the city looked completely different.

On the main roads, only a scattering of zombies could occasionally be seen.

There were occasional cars on the streets, but there were still no pedestrians in sight.

The entire New Technology District had taken in more than forty thousand refugees.

To solve the problem of feeding so many extra people, Culture Park in the New Technology District had been completely transformed into a food-production base.

The base mainly grew staple crops such as potatoes, sweet potatoes, corn, and soybeans. It also produced a few basic vegetables, including cucumbers, eggplants, and yardlong beans.

More delicate vegetables were still grown within the residential compounds of the Youth Apartments.

The daily consumption was staggering.

The zombies’ conversion into compost had made an enormous contribution.

Zeng Qiang was truly a great benefactor.

After Jiang Cheng announced the New Technology District’s Disaster-Time Public Security Management Measures on television, the district chiefs from the various areas called her one after another.

Jiang Cheng not only kept in contact with those district chiefs; through her efforts, the chiefs also established contact with one another, especially those from neighboring districts that shared borders.

The so-called “districts” were administrative divisions from the old days, but in reality, their boundaries were no longer particularly strict. One could even say that there were no boundaries at all.

They were simply groups of the strongest and most principled people in each administrative area, raising the banner and doing their best to save everyone nearby whom they could reach.

Because they agreed with Jiang Cheng and the New Technology District’s principles, they too had stepped forward under the influence of Jiang Cheng and the New Technology District.

Shared beliefs brought them closer together.

Especially after Jiang Cheng’s speech on the sixteenth, contact between the districts grew even tighter. They helped one another and exchanged supplies.

On several occasions, the New Technology District had been invited to join other districts in hunting down difficult-to-kill mutants.

The most difficult of all was Binhe Sports School.

Binhe Sports School was located in Changxing District. The Changxing District provisional government had lost quite a few people trying to eliminate the dangerous mutated zombies inside.

Since the invention of protective armor, it had become rare for so many combat personnel to be lost at once while fighting zombies in armor.

It was truly heartbreaking.

The sports school contained a great many super-speed zombies. Their speed was comparable to that of wind-type superpowered individuals.

Changxing District had no choice but to ask the New Technology District for assistance.

The people from the New Technology District arrived, and Zhou Wang and Brother Dong went inside to investigate. They nearly failed to make it back out, which gave them quite a fright.

Little Huang was already unable to hold on mentally once he reached the street outside the sports school. His speed was only ordinary, and against such a large number of super-speed zombies, there was practically nowhere he could dodge. Every path was a dead end; there was no way out.

They sent Mo Li inside. Mo Li was not afraid of those creatures and could keep up with them.

However, the zombies knew how to hide and flee. There were too many of them, they were too fast, and they also knew that Mo Li was dangerous, so they avoided confronting her head-on.

Mo Li made one circuit inside and managed to drag only a dozen or so of them out.

The people from the two districts met up and discussed the situation.

Zhao Yi analyzed it. “Judging from the way they avoided Mo Li, they seem to be highly organized. I suspect there’s a psychic-control-type zombie in there.”

Director Guo from the television station had been able to control other zombies with his mental power.

Although they had never encountered a second one afterward, that didn’t mean another one couldn’t exist.

Everyone held a meeting, pooling their ideas and brainstorming a battle plan.

In the end, they settled on one strategy: slowing them down.

They contacted the other districts, and in the end, nearly all the electricity-type superpowered individuals in the city were assembled. Gao Yuxuan held a briefing for everyone and explained the battle strategy.

As for the armor, they had originally planned to have the combat personnel wear full-body armor. But full-body armor was troublesome to manufacture and made movement less agile.

Mr. Xu reminded Cui Haiyang of the “pen holders” they had used during their escape back then. In the end, they adopted pen-holder-style armor.

They found many office chairs in the nearby office buildings and removed the wheels to use with the pen-holder armor.

This time, there was one pen holder for each person, with four wheels on the bottom. Movement was fairly smooth.

Once everyone was equipped, the electricity-type superpowered individuals began entering the school.

Sure enough, with Mo Li absent, the cunning zombies emerged as soon as they saw that those entering were all human.

Each one was as fast as lightning.

But on this planet, humans had always been the most cunning of all.