Chapter 27 Heated Discussion

Chapter 27: A Heated Discussion

Everyone’s eyes were filled with confusion and unease…

Upon learning that animals could also mutate, Chen Yi’s body tensed up, feeling as if bugs were crawling all over him. His tightly clenched thigh muscles pressed against Oliver, who protested, "What's with the tense legs? Relax, man."

Chen Yi was newly impressed by Oliver’s calm demeanor. "Aren’t you scared? Even a tiny bug could kill you now."

Oliver, exasperated, clarified, "Not just any bug—mutated bugs."

Chen Yi retorted, "Same difference! We can’t even tell them apart."

Bai Suizhi interjected, "There are some patterns, though."

Clearly, Oliver had already heard their theories, which explained his composed attitude. Otherwise, he would've been panicking and shouting ages ago.

Before Bai Suizhi could elaborate, Kahn curiously asked Chen Yi, "Weren’t you just saying that if we encounter mutated animals, it’s just bad luck? You sounded so indifferent, as if life and death didn’t matter. Why are you so afraid of mutated bugs that aren’t even here?"

Kahn had grown up in a monotonous and isolated environment, surrounded by people who weren’t exactly normal. Thus, he found such subtle contradictions in human psychology fascinating.

Chen Yi replied matter-of-factly, "Not fearing death and not wanting to die are two different things."

Oliver exposed him, "Besides, it’s not that he doesn’t fear death. It’s just that in desperate situations, pretending not to care about resistance makes him look cooler."

Kahn looked utterly confused.

Oliver added, "Don’t force yourself to understand. It’ll kill your vibe."

Kahn nodded, only half-comprehending.

Chen Yi ignored Oliver, as he had more pressing concerns. "Bai, what patterns were you talking about earlier?"

Gu Ze also focused his attention, listening intently.

Bai Suizhi generously shared the information with his new companions. "First, we believe the animals didn’t mutate from the very beginning. There were no reports online of animals attacking people while out of their minds, and official statements never mentioned it either. If the government had discovered something like this, there’s no reason they would hide it from us. So, we infer the animals started mutating around the time of the nationwide blackout and communication breakdown. It’s highly likely that even the authorities know very little about this."

Chen Yi felt his future turn dark upon hearing this.

Gu Ze immediately grasped the key point. "Why would animals suddenly mutate, and why at this specific time?"

Kahn guided him, "Think about what’s special about this period."

Chen Yi ventured, "The nationwide blackout and disaster?"

Gu Ze caught on quickly. "The rescue teams arrived, and humans were gathered for protection."

Oliver remarked, "You’re pretty sharp."

Gu Ze replied, "Any normal person would think of that."

Chen Yi, still completely lost, remained silent.

Kahn kindly explained, "After humans were centrally protected, the zombies lost their targets. They can feel hunger, so what do you think they’d do without food?"

Chen Yi finally understood. "Shift their targets."

Oliver snapped his fingers. "Bingo! They went after animals."

Chen Yi pressed further, "Why not go after their own kind? Internal consumption would be more efficient."

Oliver said flippantly, "When people starve, they eat tree bark. It makes sense for zombies to eat small animals when they’re starving. But have you ever seen starving people eat each other? Similarly, zombies wouldn’t attack their zombie brothers." This was the truth Oliver had come to believe after spending days among the zombies.

Chen Yi almost got tangled in Oliver’s logic but then voiced his doubt uncertainly, "Probably… it happens, right? Aren’t there cannibals or people with pica?"

Oliver stared at Chen Yi in shock. "You have that kind of preference?"

Chen Yi immediately defended himself, "No, I don’t! I’m just saying some people might do it. When people are starving, they’ll do anything, let alone zombies who have no rationality to begin with."

Oliver stuck to his own logic. "Well, maybe some zombies attack their own kind, and some don’t. It depends on whether they have a conscience."

Chen Yi asked, "They have that?"

Oliver replied, "Maybe some do."

Chen Yi exclaimed, "Oh, I see!"

Gu Ze’s temple twitched with irritation. "Both of you, shut up!" He felt his intelligence was being insulted by these two idiots, who based their reasoning entirely on personal experiences and imagination instead of reality.

Bai Suizhi chuckled and steered the conversation back on track. "We still don’t understand how the virus spreads or how far the authorities have progressed in their research. But I have a feeling the virus might be evolving."

Chen Yi and Gu Ze spoke in unison, "Evolving?"

Kahn handed Bai Suizhi a bottle of water and took on the role of explainer. "Yes. The virus might have undergone some significant internal changes, or evolution, expanding its range of transmission. And this change is happening very rapidly. Think about it—how much time passed between humans being centrally transferred to survivor bases and us first discovering animal mutations? And that’s an optimistic scenario. What if animals were affected even before we noticed?"

Everyone’s expressions turned grave.

Oliver suddenly blurted out, "This virus is downright evil."

Chen Yi burst out laughing at Oliver’s accent. "Where did you, a foreigner, pick up that accent?"

Oliver replied, "My roommate taught me. Authentic, right?"

Chen Yi gave a thumbs-up. "Very authentic."

Gu Ze warned, "One more word out of either of you..."

Oliver and Chen Yi mumbled, "Don’t be so serious…" Their words trailed off under Gu Ze’s sharp glare.

After restoring order, Gu Ze said, "So, the essence of the virus’s evolution is survival. And humans and animals are just the carriers chosen by the virus to ensure its survival?"

Bai Suizhi and Kahn nodded approvingly. "Exactly. And the carriers might not be limited to humans and animals. We have no idea how far it will go."

Everyone was horrified upon reflection, feeling as though the apocalypse was just around the corner.

Chen Yi grumbled indignantly, "So, for its own survival, it’s dragging all of humanity—no, the entire biosphere—down with it?"

Oliver quipped, "If humans don’t act for themselves, heaven and earth will condemn them. If the virus acts for itself, it’ll destroy heaven and earth."

Chen Yi praised, "Dude, your literary skills are impressive."

Oliver modestly replied, "You flatter me."

Gu Ze thought to himself, "…Shouldn’t you read that again? Does it even rhyme?!"

Chen Yi asked Oliver, "So, are you so calm because you’re sure we’re doomed?"

Oliver retorted, "No way! I’m the kind of person who’d fight my way back even if one foot is already in the underworld."

Chen Yi’s focus shifted. "Wait, isn’t that hell you’re stepping into?"

Oliver bargained, "Can't it be Heaven?"

Chen Yi retorted, "Then you should do more good deeds."

Oliver replied, "I will."

Gu Ze thought, "…Can’t a zombie just take these two idiots away? My patience has its limits!"

After helping his buddy plan his posthumous route to heaven, Chen Yi returned to the serious matter. "After hearing so much bad news, it’s time for some good news, right?"

He blinked expectantly, "There should be good news, shouldn’t there?" he asked.

Oliver said, "Well… how should I put it? I guess you could call it good news."

Chen Yi’s excitement instantly cooled.

Oliver quickly reassured him, "After hearing this, you won’t have to worry so much about insects ambushing you."

Chen Yi reluctantly raised his expectations a little.

He turned to Kahn, all ears, and said, "I’m ready. Go ahead."

Kahn nodded and dropped a bombshell: "Mutated animals are likely to appear in groups. So you don’t have to worry about not spotting them—they gather together, making them easy to identify."

Chen Yi thought, "…" Though it wasn’t the right time, he was reminded of some movie reviews he’d seen before, where the ending was dumped right at the start without any buildup, not even introducing the protagonist’s name. He had always despised such videos and would blacklist them whenever he came across one.

But it wasn’t Kahn’s fault; he just wanted to quickly ease Chen Yi’s worries.

Gu Ze, who was quite receptive to this straightforward and efficient style of explanation, raised a question: "Did you discover something? Is it because of those mutated ants?"

Kahn confirmed, "Yes, it was observed through the behavior of the mutated ants."

Gu Ze asked, "Isn’t that a bit hasty? Just because they appear in groups, does that mean all mutated animals are like that?"

Bai Suizhi explained, "The combat strength of those mutated ants isn’t very strong—it’s just that they appear strong when gathered together. When we first encountered them, we were a bit flustered and didn’t notice this. But after reviewing the situation, we realized that, unlike zombies, their combat strength doesn’t surge when they’re attacked. Instead, like normal ants, they lose their ability to move almost instantly. So, by separating them and picking them off one by one, we quickly dealt with them."

Chen Yi remarked, "How come this virus has an original version and a knockoff? The enhancement effects are way too different," he said.

Gu Ze immediately grasped the key point: "The virus in the mutated ants is much weaker than the one in humans, so they can’t fight alone. They have to rely on collective strength to hunt successfully."

Kahn said, "Exactly. Also, we’ve been paying attention to the animals along the way and haven’t noticed anything unusual. You haven’t encountered any either, right?"

The other three shook their heads.

Kahn continued, "So we suspect that infected animals either gather together or get eaten by other animals, which would cause the virus to spread among them. But why hasn’t there been a large-scale mutation among animals yet?"

Chen Yi wracked his brain but couldn’t figure it out. Even Gu Ze stayed silent.

Oliver volunteered like a good student: "Because the virus becomes diluted."

Kahn explained, "First, we need to understand that the food chain doesn’t change. So, when those lone mutated animals are eaten by other animals higher up in the food chain, the virus they carry becomes diluted to the point where it has almost no effect on the predators."

Gu Ze remarked, "It’s completely opposite to the food chain rules we learned in school."

Chen Yi’s imagination ran wild, he mused: "Then, as the apex species, aren’t we humans unaffected by them?"

Bai Suizhi burst his bubble: "Did you forget who the virus’s original host was?"

Chen Yi thought, "…" He realized he had been too rash. With humans as such ideal hosts, why would the virus need substitutes?

Gu Ze fully accepted the explanation: "So, infections among animals can only occur within the same or lower species. And since the virus doesn’t affect animals as strongly as it does humans, even if some animals get infected, they aren’t noticeably affected. This explains why infected animals have appeared but haven’t caused a widespread outbreak among animals like they have among humans."

Bai Suizhi cautioned, "For now, that seems to be the case. But it could change later."

As soon as he finished speaking, the cabin went quiet.

In everyone’s eyes, there was confusion, unease, and fear, but also a faint glimmer of hope shining through.