Chapter 100: The Lost Deserted Village (Part 4)

Chapter 100: The Abandoned Village (Part Four)

After Zhu Ning finished speaking, she really did move. She was actually a bit apprehensive; the world outside the wall was completely different from inside, and she wasn't sure if her unintentional actions would cause trouble.

Zhu Ning tried to move her limbs, stepping over the still steaming corpse on the ground, heading towards the contaminated spores.

Many people around her were observing her. Zhu Ning's condition was the best among them, and if something happened to her, it would prove that this place was too dangerous to control.

The contaminated spores had been mostly contained, with only a few scattered patches remaining on the north side. Even one person could finish the containment.

Zhu Ning now fully understood the significance of those warnings.

During her movement, she even avoided the small flowers and grass on the road, fearing another mutation like the one they just encountered, which could have wiped out their team.

Zhu Ning walked about ten steps and approached the patch of contaminated spores. Due to the time elapsed, these spores had already spread out, becoming more dispersed.

As the dropper approached the contaminated spores, the blood-red spores were contained.

After containing the first one, Zhu Ning paused for a moment, hearing only the wind, nothing else, and the yellow flower didn't return.

Safe?

It seemed fine. Zhu Ning contained three contaminated spores, and then a rustling sound came from beside her. It was Xu Meng and Li Nianchuan, coming to help.

To finish the job sooner and get back earlier, it was a waste of time for one person to do all the work while others watched. Xu Meng and Li Nianchuan understood this; as long as they were careful and didn't make unnecessary movements, everything would be fine.

With Zhu Ning, the three-person team started moving, and gradually others joined in. They had to endure the nausea and overcome their fear while containing the decaying flesh on the ground.

The decaying flesh was mixed with the bodies of their colleagues, and looking down, they could see many severed limbs. Fortunately, the cleaners' task was to contain the decaying flesh, and no one in the team vomited.

Their work was called the "body collection team." They thought they were used to dealing with corpses, but this time they had to face the bodies of their own colleagues.

Because they didn't dare to move recklessly, everyone held their breath while working, moving very slowly and stiffly. What should have taken an hour took nearly two hours to complete.

Zhu Ning added 167 purification points, bringing her total to 8001. Containing contaminated spores was a profitable task for her.

By the time they finished, it was already dark, and evening had set in, with the sun setting.

But due to the overcast sky, the sunset wasn't very noticeable, just a somber red hue behind the village, like a bloody backdrop to the abandoned village.

The good news was that, thanks to their caution, there was no second mutation, and no one died this time.

They initially tried to bring their colleagues' bodies back home but found it impractical and meaningless, unable to even dig graves.

However, plants and flowers that die naturally don't need graves; after death, their bodies return to nature, re-entering the natural cycle.

So they observed a three-minute silence, collected portable mementos, and prepared to withdraw.

The stationed soldiers inspected the scene and finally agreed to lead the team back. Three stationed soldiers, two leading the way and one at the rear, with the cleaners in between.

They had to follow the same route back, heading from the back mountain towards the abandoned village.

No one spoke on the way back, and the team was filled with a deathly silence, making the atmosphere extremely oppressive.

Zhu Ning was near the middle of the line. She planned to ask a cleaner who had been on missions outside the wall. Those who survived were usually those who had been outside, and they were calmer than newbies.

Zhu Ning subtly moved next to him, "Senior, I'm Zhu Ning."

The man frowned when he heard her voice. His mental state was rapidly declining, and he was on high alert, looking at everyone with hostility. But when he saw it was Zhu Ning, his attitude softened slightly, "Jin Tao."

Zhu Ning opened a private channel, so outsiders couldn't hear, "Senior Jin, how many times have you been out?"

Jin Tao had seen Zhu Ning's videos on the forum and had a good impression of her, "This is my second time."

Just the second time?

Jin Tao thought about how long Zhu Ning had been at the cleaning center and guessed she might not know much, so he explained, "Wall-out missions aren't frequently assigned to the same team. Most people go out once or twice, and going out twice makes you a veteran."

Was it because frequent trips outside the wall could cause mental issues, or did they not want the cleaners to learn too much about the secrets outside the wall?

Zhu Ning asked, "Was it always like this?"

Jin Tao replied, "I don't know if you've seen the mortality rate; it's either 0 or 100. Last time, I didn't encounter anything."

Jin Tao recalled his last mission, finding it quite unbelievable. That time, they treated it as a regular mission, contained the contaminated spores, and returned to the city, even enjoying the pastoral scenery outside the wall.

So, those who had been out didn't have much experience to share. Zhu Ning thanked him and was about to return to her position when Jin Tao suddenly said, "But I heard we should be careful of the stationed soldiers."

Huh? Be careful of the stationed soldiers?

Weren't they supposed to be leading the team?

Even though they knew outsiders couldn't hear them, Zhu Ning instinctively lowered her voice, "Why?"

"I don't know," Jin Tao glanced back, also lowering his voice, "A former colleague told me. He said those guys aren't good people, living outside the wall for so long has changed them, making them different from us."

"Rumor has it," Jin Tao's voice became even lower, "they lure people out from inside the wall to feed these contaminants. The cleaners who died before were because of them."

Zhu Ning furrowed her brow. Even if it was a rumor, it was a serious one.

And if it were true, why hadn't the cleaning center intervened in the investigation?

With frequent cleaner deaths, wouldn't the Anomaly Incident Team take action?

"Be careful around them," Jin Tao spoke through gritted teeth, clearly harboring resentment towards the stationed soldiers, "They're not right."

Jin Tao didn't provide much information, which was understandable given the different mindsets inside and outside the wall.

Living outside the wall, were the stationed soldiers' mental states truly stable? They showed no reaction to seeing dead bodies.

Before coming here, their attitude was also quite strange. Although they issued some warnings, they were not severe at all. Of course, every team has its own style.

But their attitude towards death was very calm; they showed no reaction when someone died.

In fact, Zhu Ning could sense that from the moment she first encountered the garrison troops, these people were different from her.

Zhu Ning didn't say much more to Jin Tao. By this time, they had already retraced their steps and entered the heart of the abandoned village. The road was no different from when they came in, still lined with identical derelict houses.

When Zhu Ning turned back, she happened to pass by the house with the statue. She froze; the statue inside was still there, looking eerie, as if it were watching every passerby.

The first time she saw it, it just seemed a bit odd. After experiencing the Yellow Flower, she now felt the statue was truly alive.

This village seemed to be watching everyone.

Although the system hadn't given any prompts, she might have lost some mental points and needed to get back quickly.

Zhu Ning slowed her pace and walked to the back of the group, where a garrison soldier was covering the rear.

Just as Zhu Ning reached his side, before she could speak, he said, "What's your name?"

"Zhu Ning."

"I'm Jiang Ping." He glanced at Zhu Ning, "You're stronger than them; I can tell."

Even though Zhu Ning hadn't taken any action, he had seen the text messages she sent on the public channel. In such a situation, anyone who dared to send messages was already considered brave.

Moreover, Zhu Ning had indeed observed and summarized the movement patterns of the Yellow Flower. They were still alive because of her. Jiang Ping had seen many people, and he could tell at a glance that Zhu Ning had the qualities suitable for survival in the wild. She would definitely make it to the end.

Zhu Ning had come to ask questions but was complimented first, which helped to bridge the gap. At least Jiang Ping didn't seem hostile towards her.

Zhu Ning asked, "Can we return safely by retracing our steps?"

Jiang Ping: "Not necessarily."

Zhu Ning frowned; that wasn't what he had said earlier.

Jiang Ping: "You've already triggered something. Anything can happen on the way back. It's either 0 or 100."

Again, this probability. So once triggered, there's no avoiding it?

While chatting, Zhu Ning kept an eye on the main group ahead. Everyone was on high alert, and panic was spreading through the ranks. They knew nothing about this.

If it really is this probability, will they all die here?

Zhu Ning decided to ask a more practical question, "Why couldn't the flower be killed with gunfire?"

Jiang Ping snorted, thinking Zhu Ning had asked a stupid question, "Are you from inside the wall, thinking that firearms can conquer everything?"

Most of the time, human weapons are effective. People are highly dependent on technology and thermal weapons.

Jiang Ping: "Let me put it this way. When you clear a contaminated area, don't you first find the source of contamination, kill it, and then the other contaminants naturally die off?"

Zhu Ning nodded, "Does this rule not apply outside the wall?"

"It does," Jiang Ping's voice was grim, "but how do you know which contamination source that flower belongs to?"

Zhu Ning was taken aback. That made sense. Most of the land inside the wall was not contaminated, and contaminated areas had clear boundaries.

You enter a contaminated area, find the source, eliminate it, and the other contaminants naturally disintegrate. After the contaminants die, they release spores, and the cleaners come in to collect the bodies and spores.

This was the original workflow.

The logic itself was sound, but outside the wall, all the land was contaminated. Without sealed contaminated areas, isn't the entire natural world a massive contaminated zone? Or perhaps outside the wall, it's countless overlapping contaminated zones.

The area is too vast, and the contaminated zones have no boundaries. How can they find the contamination source?

So the flower couldn't be killed by bullets, and even if it were killed, it would quickly revive because its contamination source was still active.

And this might just be the surface rule for survival outside the wall. Jiang Ping didn't share deeper experiences with her.

Zhu Ning finally felt a chill run down her spine. Entering outside the wall meant losing protection. If she encountered random trouble, it was just bad luck, and there might not be a proper way to escape.

Every warning Fan Minghua gave was true. Entering outside the wall meant entering the world of contaminants, where they had to follow the rules of that world.

Outside the wall, contaminants were gods, and humans were livestock.

All human resistance was futile.

Zhu Ning asked, "Can I ask about your job?"

"What?" Jiang Ping turned to look at her, "You're interested in our work?"

Jiang Ping was very gloomy and not very polite, "Our job is pointless. I thought I was here to protect Zone 103, but it turned out to be nonsense."

"We can only patrol, investigate, and write reports. If we encounter a formed, sealed contaminated area, we assess it and call the cleaning center if it needs to be cleared. They send people to handle it."

The environment outside the wall is complex, with one contaminated area overlapping another. This is Level One Protection outside the wall, and they have a metric: the pollution concentration here must not exceed a certain value.

So they must conduct reconnaissance. If a sealed contaminated area forms somewhere, causing strong pollution, they need to find someone to solve it.

During the investigation, they lose many teammates, making it a very low-value proposition, but the work must be done.

Before Zhu Ning and her team arrived, six teammates had already died when they discovered this contaminated area.

So they were numb to death. Living outside the wall for a long time, people feel aimless and lack any reference point.

Effort, vigilance, intelligence—these words are positive, but they mean little outside the wall.

What they need most is luck. Sometimes, no matter how good your qualities are, you can still be killed by sudden contaminants.

Sometimes, people are just lucky; even if you know nothing, you can pass through the wall unscathed.

They survived to the end, with an immense reverence for nature and life.

Everything was too random.

In that moment, Zhu Ning understood Pei Shu. No wonder he was so dejected after returning from outside the wall. They could clearly sense that their efforts seemed futile, yet they had to continue because of some goal.

In this process, there were no obvious gains, only clear losses. You had to watch your teammates die, unable to do anything.

In the end, you would constantly ask yourself, why did I survive?

Just because I was lucky?

Zhu Ning fell silent for a while, not knowing how to respond. This job, whoever did it, would find it impossible to maintain inner peace.

Jiang Ping: "Do you want to take them back?"

Zhu Ning nodded, "We came together, we should leave together."

Jiang Ping could see that Zhu Ning was different. Although she hadn't done anything major, being the first to respond and step forward to contain the contaminated spores showed her high level of spirit.

Moreover, she had an influence on the team. These people, having experienced the death of their colleagues, were in a low point mentally. Yet, they still trusted Zhu Ning, indicating that this young girl had a unique influence.

She was like a spiritual lighthouse.

In collective actions, influential people are very rare.

Jiang Ping: "A word of advice, be careful about your teammates' mental state."

Zhu Ning frowned; this was one of the rules in the cleaner's code of conduct.

Rule two of the work manual: Always pay attention to your teammates.

Cleaners who have been working for a long time are subject to varying degrees of mental contamination. Their current workload has clearly exceeded the limit, and most of them are on the brink of mental collapse.

Perhaps due to Zhu Ning's subtle influence, they are still maintaining a surface-level calm.

But how long can Zhu Ning's influence last? Once they start doubting her, the team will fall into complete madness.

Jiang Ping: "I've seen too many cases of mutual slaughter."

Zhu Ning was taken aback. This time, their weapon permissions were fully open, as the situation outside the wall was unpredictable, and they needed to be given the right to self-defense.

This was the result of comprehensive consideration from all sides; no one wanted to go out beyond the wall without the ability to use their weapons.

But once opened, things became uncontrollable.

Everyone had weapons, and the gun barrels could randomly point at anyone. It was like giving a batch of firearms to a group of potential mental patients.

The next challenge wasn't the pollutants but humans.