Outside, there was one more fast-moving zombie, making the already dangerous environment even more tense.
No one knew where the zombie had gone.
Lu Dongnuan didn’t know either.
In a sense, Lu Dongnuan was also a Mutated Infected, except she retained her original appearance and memories.
Mutated Infected were hostile toward each other; even though she could control herself, she couldn’t avoid being attacked.
The phone screen lit up again.
It wasn’t a group message, but a private message from Living On.
This time it was text, a very long paragraph.
“Dr. Lu, you heard that noise outside just now. The situation is worsening faster than imagined. Our Management Group has decided to immediately implement the resource concentration plan and establish a Patrol Team. You are a Doctor; we really need your professional skills. If you join now, you’ll not only get security but the previous unpleasantness will be forgotten. Otherwise… for the survival of the majority, we might have to take some extreme measures. Please consider carefully. In half an hour, we will tally the list again.”
Lu Dongnuan took a look and typed, “Then come over.”
After typing, she clicked send.
The message immediately showed “Delivered.”
This made Lu Dongnuan feel very strange.
She turned off the screen, and the room returned to darkness.
Only the occasional unknown screech from outside and the faint sound of impacts in the distance tore through the silence.
The network was actually still there.
It wasn’t intermittent; it was very stable.
Group messages could be loaded, and private messages were delivered instantly.
She tried clicking on a video website.
The buffering circle spun for a moment, and it actually started playing a funny short clip from before the disaster.
She immediately turned it off.
This wasn’t normal.
It was far too abnormal.
She walked to the window and lifted a corner of the heavy curtains.
Outside was a dilapidated street with several abandoned cars tilted sideways, and further away, there were flames and thick smoke.
As far as the eye could see, there were no intact public facilities.
It was impossible for base stations to still be operating.
Ordinary civilian satellite channels should have also been congested or interrupted under this total collapse.
Unless…
So she went directly for the answer.
“Lin Mo.” She turned around, her voice wasn’t high, but it was clear enough.
“Why is the network still up?” Lu Dongnuan went straight to the point, walked in front of him, and crouched down.
Lin Mo glanced at her and replied, “That’s why I’m obsessed with gathering more survivors.”
“The state apparatus hasn’t collapsed yet?”
“No.” He looked away and said, “The catastrophe came too quickly and bizarrely. Many contingency plans failed before they could even be activated.”
“But fortunately, quite a few parts of the major nations have survived. They will regroup in a year and start searching for survivors. So, the more people we have, the greater our bargaining chips.”
Lu Dongnuan caught the key point: “What are you trading for?”
“You.”
“Trading for me?” Her eyes flickered slightly, carrying a hint of cold mockery.
“Trading for you to stay alive.”
“Wow, I’m so touched.” There wasn’t a hint of warmth in her tone.
Lin Mo glanced at her and exposed her bluntly: “Don’t pretend to be touched. Keeping you alive is to deal with something more troublesome.”
“Didn’t you want to kill me at the beginning?”
“I changed my mind temporarily. If you die too early, I really won’t have any way to deal with that thing.”
“What thing?”
“Shh—” He made a silencing gesture with his right hand.
“What, can it find its way here by its name?” The mockery in Lu Dongnuan’s tone grew stronger.
“Didn’t you just say that keeping me around is to deal with it? If you don’t even dare to mention its name, how am I supposed to deal with it? By using my mind?”
“The name isn’t important, it’s just a codename.” Lin Mo leaned back against the wall as if to save energy.
“You just need to know that it and those things outside that only know how to bite are not the same thing.”
Lu Dongnuan pretended to be serious and nodded solemnly, but in her heart, she thought, ‘You must be joking. I promise I’ll run faster than you.’