Chapter 154 Possible Antibodies

All told, there are only 66 truly productive people in the entire research institute. The rest, even former colleagues from different departments, have become unemployed now that all projects have been suspended.

To rationally plan the resources of a shelter, everyone must be managed, just like a shelter or base; otherwise, it will fall into chaos sooner or later due to survival issues.

Lin Xi told her only acquaintance in the military about the large number of refugees being taken in, asking if it was possible to obtain more resources or garrison troops from the research institute, given its current semi-refugee status, and treat it as a refuge.

Then she convened a meeting with her former colleagues from the research institute. She was too young; before the zombie outbreak, she was still a graduate student who hadn't graduated and hadn't joined the research institute. Her words carried little weight, and she couldn't intimidate everyone by performing martial arts or brandishing a gun. So she brought out the existing garrison leaders and Song Heng to oversee things.

Nearly a month after the zombie outbreak, everyone had lost a lot of weight, their clothes were not very clean, and they looked somewhat listless sitting in the conference room.

Lin Xi, wearing a lab coat that was no longer so pure white, stood tall and proud in front of the conference room. She cleared her throat, forcibly maintaining an air of righteousness, and began to speak:

"Given the current number of survivors at the research institute, our water, electricity, and food reserves will soon be insufficient. Please don't mind what I'm about to say, the research institute's existing armed forces and resources are all prepared for the zombie virus research project, and we did not originally consider the situation of receiving so many refugees."

Upon hearing this, everyone's expressions changed. Some lowered their heads in embarrassment, some showed disdain for Lin Xi's words, and some were indifferent.

Some people whispered among themselves for a while:

"What does that mean? Is she trying to get rid of 'unrelated people'?"

"Who does she think she is? An intern who hasn't even graduated yet, and she dares to give orders to us seniors?"

"Forget it, their project is humanity's hope. It's already unfair for us to just eat and drink here for free. Let's not worry about it."

"How can you just let it go? Isn't the mission of research institutes to protect lives and promote future development? We're barely surviving now, so what future are we talking about?"

Lin Xi only spoke the first half, calmly watching them whisper, without becoming impatient or forcibly stopping them.

Her first part of her speech didn't imply that she wanted people to leave, nor did it use any particularly harsh language. After a brief period of quiet discussion, the people below became curious about what she was going to say next, and soon everyone quieted down.

Lin Xi continued, neither humble nor arrogant, "Given the actual situation of the research institute, the institute has made the following decision: First, all resources will be allocated to the biological laboratories, as the virus research projects there are related to people's survival."

"The existing water and electricity supply is only sufficient to power the laboratory before it can be used by outsiders. Rest assured, there is a considerable surplus, and with proper planning, it can guarantee everyone's survival. Therefore, we will allocate the water and electricity accordingly, ensuring that each person receives enough clean water each day to maintain a normal life."

"Secondly, regarding food. The research institute originally distributed food to its original colleagues on a per-person basis. Their families who brought them did not have a designated status, and it was common for a family to rely on a single ration to maintain a low quality of life. In addition, with the refugees who came later, we cannot distribute food to everyone without restraint."

Upon hearing this, everyone sensed the disdain in his voice and was about to speak when Lin Xi said in a deep voice:

"In order to ensure everyone's survival and the operation of the laboratory, everyone except the researchers involved in the zombie virus research now needs to earn their own food resources."

"Colleagues from the former 'Biodiversity Research Department' and 'Plant and Animal Research Department', please take the lead in planting. Your former department's laboratory has many surviving plants, including some vegetables, which you can guide everyone in planting."

The Nanhua Institute of Biological Research not only studies viruses and pharmaceuticals, but also has some basic bioengineering and animal and plant research laboratories, which store some plant specimens and seeds. Recently, some staff members have started to cultivate food such as bean sprouts.

Lin Xi added, "During this critical period, the green belts of the research institute can be cleared and replanted, and all unemployed personnel can move around quietly at night."

"Most crops need time to grow, and during this period, we need to find food ourselves. Those who are strong and able-bodied should form teams and go out to find supplies."

The discussion continued.

The previous planting arrangements were perfectly reasonable; everyone was idle anyway, and joining in the planting might yield more food.

The green belts in the research institute are only so many, and even if you add them all up, you don't need so many people to plant them.

However, going out to find resources is a dangerous mission. They had all gone through many hardships to escape to the research institute and were rescued by the guards. Now, they were asked to go out again to find supplies. One wrong move and they would be killed by zombies. Few people dared to go.

"If everyone doesn't open up the source, the food supplies provided to us by the relevant departments will eventually run out, but the zombie research project cannot be stopped. Therefore, in addition to providing water, the research institute can no longer distribute food to the surplus personnel. This is a decision reached by the research institute and the stationed troops."

Lin Xi wasn't one to make tough statements, but the rows of armed forces behind her gave her immense confidence.

Her meaning was clear: all resources were being allocated to the laboratory. There was still a surplus of water and electricity to distribute, but food was scarce. If people didn't go searching for food, the remaining food after supplying the laboratory and the garrison would be distributed to the rest of the population, leaving everyone hungry and destined to starve. To survive, they had to work or find supplies.

This is not a discussion, it is a notification and decision.

After listening to the meeting and expressing his satisfaction, Song Heng, with dark circles under his eyes, went back to his research.

Ever since the last time antibodies were extracted from the brain of the aberrant zombie, Lin Xi had been pondering an idea. She caught up with Song Heng: "Teacher, most zombies currently exhibit mindless attacks and killings upon seeing living people or hearing sounds. If some zombies possess the ability to think, do they also have antibodies in their brains?"

Song Heng's eyes lit up: "A zombie with the ability to think?"

Lin Xi nodded: "The most fundamental difference between humans and animals is that humans can use tools, which is a manifestation of thinking ability. The zombies are behaving like animals that only know how to kill. Ever since we discovered that some zombies retain language function because their brains are not completely infected, I have been thinking whether those zombies with thinking ability also retain some brain function."

Song Heng: "The kind of zombies you're talking about that have the ability to think haven't been discovered yet. Are there any signs of this?"

Lin Xi recalled a past life when she was hiding in her home in a village in the D district of the city. When Yang Xin and Xiao Yue were causing trouble on the roof, the noise attracted the zombies downstairs.

Normally, zombies will try to approach their prey when they are attracted, but most zombies are blocked downstairs because they cannot climb the building. However, Lin Xi saw with his own eyes that the zombie that climbed up looked at the external conditions of the residential building and used various tools such as boxes, security windows, and rain curtains to climb to the roof.

That zombie clearly possessed some level of cognitive ability.

But Lin Xi didn't recognize the zombie, and the small ripples that had just been stirred within her subsided: "I saw a post from a netizen, a zombie that can climb buildings with the help of tools."

Seeing Song Heng's renewed hope, Lin Xi said helplessly, "Zombies are constantly moving, so that zombie is definitely not there anymore."

The appearance of that zombie is also a manifestation of the butterfly effect. If she hadn't built that safe house and security door, Gu Lanjuan would have been killed by the zombies when she came out to borrow rice and food at the beginning of the outbreak. There would have been no subsequent action of bringing Yang Xin and Xiaoyue back. And that special zombie was attracted up there because Yang Xin and Xiaoyue were causing trouble on the roof of her house.

Without these predetermined coincidences, and since Lin Xi didn't know the zombie, searching for it in the D district's urban village would be like looking for a needle in a haystack, making it very difficult to find.

But this idea also provided a new direction for research—contacting the military and police to capture unusual zombies.

Since there have been quite a few talking aberrations, there is likely more than one of these intelligent zombies with the ability to think.