“Grandma, wasn’t it that older sister who drove all the zombies away?” The speaker was Li Shige.
Back then, she had stabbed Lu Dongnuan and had been handed over to Lin Mo by her.
The little girl was cute, but she didn’t seem very bright.
The people standing behind Master Chen looked embarrassed.
They were just about to scold her, telling her not to interrupt when adults were speaking, when an old but steady voice rang out from the side of the crowd.
“The child’s words hit the mark.”
Everyone looked toward the voice.
The speaker was an elderly man with white hair and old-fashioned tortoiseshell glasses.
He wore a clean but worn deep gray Zhongshan suit.
His back was slightly hunched, but his eyes were clear.
Leaning on a smooth bamboo cane, he walked slowly out of the crowd.
Those who knew him exchanged whispers, calling him “Professor Shen.”
Shen Boqian was a retired university physics professor and one of the first survivors Lu Dongnuan had brought back from the ruins of a nearby library.
He was upright and knowledgeable. During the initial days of chaos, he often helped mediate minor disputes and used his limited scientific knowledge to guide everyone on how to safely collect water and identify edible plants.
He was highly respected by many.
Professor Shen stopped a short distance from Master Chen.
He tapped his bamboo cane lightly on the ground and looked at Master Chen and the few people behind him with a peaceful gaze.
“Master Chen, and you others — it is a good thing to speak up when you have doubts. In this world, the thing to fear most is keeping silent until a disaster is brewed.”
Master Chen clearly had some respect for Professor Shen.
His tone softened slightly, but he still sounded reluctant, “Elder Shen, you are a man of reason. It’s not that we aren’t grateful. We all remember that Dr. Lu saved us. But… but this requirement of absolute obedience is placed at the very top, alongside those two life-and-death rules… I just feel uneasy. She’s a young girl. What if… what if she makes a wrong judgment? Won’t we all have to follow — “
He didn’t say the rest, but everyone present understood.
They would all suffer, or even lose their lives.
Professor Shen nodded slightly and pushed up his glasses.
His voice was clear and soothing, yet loud enough for everyone to hear.
“In that case, we might as well trace things back to the source. Why are we able to stand here safely and discuss rules, instead of hiding in terror among the ruins day and night?”
He paused briefly, his gaze slowly sweeping across the crowd as if guiding them through a thought process.
“Is it because of this wall we hurriedly built? Or is it because of these terms Mr. Lin has set down in black and white?” Professor Shen shook his head gently.
“These are results, not causes. The true cause is that we possess the ability to clear and temporarily hold this area. And the core of that ability, for now, indisputably lies with Dr. Lu alone.”
“Rule Three is not about deifying a person.” Professor Shen turned to Lin Mo and nodded slightly before looking back at the crowd.
“It is about acknowledging reality. In this specific, extreme environment, our collective probability of survival is highly tied to her actions and judgments. Obeying her orders, at this level, is equivalent to following the most rational survival strategy.”
“This isn’t a personality cult. This is risk mitigation and optimal resource allocation.”
He looked at Master Chen with an earnest tone and said, “Master Chen, you’ve been a mechanic your whole life. You know better than I do which part of a machine is the most critical and irreplaceable.”
“In this ‘machine’ we’ve just cobbled together, Dr. Lu is currently that irreplaceable key component. Protecting her, supporting her, and letting her function to her fullest extent is equivalent to protecting all of us.”
“Questioning is fine, but it must be done through proper channels while acknowledging this premise, rather than shaking the fragile, newly established common understanding in a public setting.”
The middle-aged man opened his mouth.
His face turned from red to pale, and the eyes of the people behind him began to flicker.
Everything was within Lin Mo’s expectations.
He had long foreseen that there would be voices of doubt after the rules were announced, so he had made arrangements in advance.
The “least bright” child and the “wisest” elder in the crowd — one simple, one clever — were both pieces he had placed beforehand.
When both pointed to the same conclusion, the swaying majority in the middle would easily be led in the intended direction.
‘Simply put, if both the smartest and the dumbest reach the same conclusion, will you follow or not?’
Master Chen opened his mouth, his face flushing between red and white.
The people behind him also had flickering gazes, their momentum clearly collapsing.
At this moment, Lin Mo spoke at the right time, his voice steady but carrying an unquestionable weight.
“Professor Shen has made it very clear. Our safety is currently entirely built on the premise that Lu Dongnuan is willing and able to clear the surrounding threats.”
“Rule Three does not grant her privileges. Instead, it provides everyone with the clearest guarantee of survival. Obeying her orders is choosing the highest probability of living on. If anyone still has fundamental doubts about this, you may leave now. The safe zone does not force anyone to stay.”
The color drained completely from the faces of Master Chen and those behind him.
Their lips trembled for a moment before they finally lowered their heads in dejection, sinking back into the crowd, not daring to meet anyone’s eyes again.
The crowd began to truly disperse, carrying their booklets, the new points rules, and their own complex emotions as they headed toward their assigned living areas or registration points.
Li Shige was pulled away by a sorrowful-looking woman — likely her grandmother — and the little girl glanced back at Lin Mo with curiosity.
Lin Mo stepped down from the wooden crate that served as a temporary podium and nodded to Professor Shen, “Thank you.”
Shen Boqian waved his hand, his gaze behind his lenses somewhat complex.
“It was my duty. However, Mr. Lin, logic may be sound, but human hearts are not always easily smoothed over. You’ve lit this fire; you must be cautious about how things unfold in the future.”
“I understand,” Lin Mo replied briefly.
He knew that temporary suppression was not a solution.
He needed time, and more importantly, an opportunity to make these people truly realize what Lu Dongnuan represented — whether as a sanctuary or as… a hidden danger.
However, since she wasn’t here herself, some arguments still lacked force.
He had originally wanted Lu Dongnuan to directly control the zombies and make them kneel on the ground to give these people a shock, but time waited for no one.
There would be plenty of such opportunities in the future.
***
On the other side, deep within the ruins about two blocks outside the safe zone’s walls, Lu Dongnuan was alone, performing the routine clearing Lin Mo had previously assigned.
This had once been an old residential area, where buildings were low and crowded, and alleys were as narrow as a labyrinth.
After the apocalypse arrived, the atmosphere of chaos and death here was exceptionally thick.
She stood at a crossroads and closed her eyes.
Under the skin of her wrists and neck, dark red patterns lit up and pulsed slightly.
In the surrounding buildings and the corners of the alleys, the wandering zombies all froze at the same time.