Chapter 856: Escape
The remaining strength from frantically pressing Xu Xiao finally eased a little, and when he released his hand that had been pressing her, Lu Weiyi discovered that the child's arms and body were shaking.
It turns out that little zombies can also be afraid?
"What's wrong with her?" After all, they are not of the same species. They rely on Qin Jin's relationship to maintain superficial peace, but they are still wary of each other. No matter how well Lu Weiyi maintains on the surface, he knows his limits in his heart. He didn't get close to Xu Xiao when she suddenly went crazy.
Now that the distance was closer, he leaned over to take a look.
"It should be affected by radiation." Cheng Qi was squatting next to Xu Xiao, closest to her. He answered and turned to look at Qin Jin, as if he wanted to express something, but Lu Weiyi could not tell the expression of the zombie.
Qin Jin immediately moved closer to take a look, and Lu Weiyi's mental power also stretched out, looking at the two of them carefully, and saw Cheng Qi quietly pinching Xu Xiao's arm and shaking it slightly.
As Qin Jin's gaze fixed on him, Lu Weiyi also looked over and saw that the arm held by Cheng Qi was like a puddle of mud, but the surface of the skin remained intact. Visually, it looked like Cheng Qi was holding an elastic mud and shaping four fingers.
Looking at other places, there seemed to be a soft and sagging situation as well. Lu Weiyi seemed to instantly understand what Qin Jin had said before, melt.
"Is the instrument you just took out for detecting radiation?" Qin Jin asked.
"Yes," Lu Weiyi pretended to know nothing and turned his head away. "When the lightning flashed, I saw the light hidden behind the clouds. I felt something was wrong, so I thought of using a machine to check it."
Afraid that they didn't understand, Lu Weiyi explained in detail, "When a solar storm erupts, the radiation will reach a peak, and after it ends it will slowly fall back to an equilibrium value. What we usually say about the radiation constantly increasing means that this equilibrium value is constantly increasing."
"When I took out the instrument just now," Lu Weiyi noticed that their falling speed had slowed down a bit, and looking upwards, "the value exceeded the limit that the machine can withstand."
After making sure it wasn't his illusion, Lu Weiyi looked at the earth-type zombie in the team and found that black water droplets had begun to appear on the zombie's body. They looked like sweat beads, but the color was gray and black, and it felt dirty. "What's wrong with you?"
Lu Weiyi felt a little regretful that he shouldn't have followed this group of zombies. If they were teammates, he could at least trust them completely. But now this was beyond his understanding - can zombies actually sweat?
Qin Jin also looked towards Zhang Qing, and he obviously knew what had happened, which made his tone even more surprised, "Have you exhausted your powers?"
It turns out that zombies will sweat when their superpowers are exhausted?
Lu Weiyi took note silently and weighed Zhang Qing's psychic. He was a little skeptical. After all, they were S-level zombies. There was no way they could be overdrawn after being transferred over a hundred meters.
He suspected that the zombie in front of him was quite weak.
Then Li Guang, who was not far away from Zhang Qing, suddenly said, "King, our supernatural powers seem to be suppressed."
"Suppress?" The others immediately began to use their special powers as well. It was visible to the naked eye that the plants, metals and even flames in the cave where the few people gathered began to move.
Lu Weiyi used his mental power to prevent these things from approaching, protecting himself and the little monkey, and half-jokingly reminded, "Be careful, don't get close to us. If you hurt me, I will think you did it on purpose."
Several people didn't say anything, but at the same time confirmed Li Guang's words, "The supernatural powers have indeed been affected."
Qin Jin didn't say anything. Lu Weiyi suspected that he was also trying to use his supernatural powers, but he was not doing it in front of them. Suspicious of what they said, Lu Weiyi also extended his mental power. However, as soon as he was exposed to the light from the outside world, he immediately felt the suppression from all directions, which instantly dispersed his mental power.
Their eyes met, and they understood that they both felt it.
"Is this depth okay?" Qin Jin glanced upwards. At this moment, they should be nearly 150 meters underground. .
"It'd better be deeper." Lu Weiyi remembered that during the peak of the last solar storm, the depth of their underground city reached 150 or 160 meters. It could only be deeper now.
Zhang Qing nodded, and tried his best to squeeze out his special powers, and barely placed them about 200 meters away. He then sat on the ground, unable to get up.
Li Guang took out a crystal core from somewhere and handed it to Zhang Qing. Zhang Qing reached out to take it. Lu Weiyi was surprised to find that what he was holding was actually a zombie crystal core.
"Why don't you use the mutant crystal core?" Lu Weiyi couldn't help but ask.
Zhang Qing and Li Guang looked at him at the same time, and there seemed to be something unsaid in their pinhole-like pupils. They did not answer, and it seemed that the secrets of their zombie "race" were involved again. Lu Weiyi turned directly to Qin Jin, and his intention to get to the bottom of it was obvious.
Qin Jin glanced at him and turned his attention back to Xu Xiao, "The upgrade of zombies absorbs zombie energy. Compared with the energy in the bodies of psychics, it is more suitable."
Lu Weiyi said with a sigh of enlightenment, and then he heard Qin Jin continue, "Originally, the crystal core in the body of the mutant contains a lot of zombie energy, but..."
"Who made some bases launch purification crystal cores? As a result, the zombie energy in the bodies of psychics has become less and less, and it is not very useful for upgrading zombies."
Lu Weiyi, “…”
As a leader, this is... a bit embarrassing.
He reached out and stroked the little monkey's fur as if nothing had happened, and informed Zhuang Mingxu of the current situation, asking the base to be prepared as well.
Laoshan was originally obscured by towering mountains. Especially after the research institute concluded that mountains and jungles have the function of blocking radiation, the original narrow strip of sky was completely covered up, and no sunlight could be seen even during the day.
If Lu Weiyi returned to the base at this time, he would find that the current situation of their base was not much different from that of the Kyoto base. The entire area was illuminated by torches.
Upon receiving the news, Zhuang Mingxu immediately had someone pass the message to the research institute. Compared with other places, the base's electricity supply was first provided here, which made the two places appear to be divided by time.
Due to the new researchers coming to the Kyoto base, a major personnel adjustment is being carried out here. The person in charge of astronomy and magnetic field research now is an old academician named Song Jianguo. As one of the scientific researchers who just came from Kyoto, he was successfully passed with a unanimous vote and became the project leader as soon as he arrived.
When I heard the news that there was another solar storm outside, I immediately took my team out to collect data.
After being rejected, he went straight to Zhuang Mingxu's ward with his assistant and wanted to apply to go out.
Zhuang Mingxu shook his head and refused. "The radiation outside caused the B-level zombies to melt. Can you withstand such intensity if you go out?"
Song Jianguo is an earth-type mutant. He is over seventy years old, but his supernatural powers make him look energetic. He has put all his energy into scientific research. His level has just reached A-level, and he is involved in many post-apocalyptic projects. He is one of the few scientific researchers who are directly accepted by the base without the need for assessment, and he is also the first person to calculate the current laws of magnetic field conversion.
He faced Zhuang Mingxu's firm attitude and did not give in at all. The old man was full of energy and said, "If I can't do it, then send someone who can."
"It may sound a bit cruel, but the progress of scientific research has never been smooth sailing. It is full of risks and sacrifices. Without the support of data, we will always be at a loss about the future."
Zhuang Mingxu was aware of the truth in his words, "Our radiation measuring instruments were scrapped immediately after they were taken out."
"Let me see if it's the electronic equipment that's damaged or the excessive radiation intensity?" The person who reacted very quickly immediately caught the loophole. Zhuang Mingxu could only ask someone to fetch the equipment that Lu Weiyi had sent back.
The old man did not hesitate and started to use the tools in the ward. The accompanying assistant was embarrassed and persuaded the old man to take the equipment back home.
"No need. I know the situation after just one look. You don't have to make another trip." The old man waved his hand and asked people to step back. In no time, he disassembled the outer shell of the machine and placed it on the ground.
The ward, which was not spacious to begin with because of the office desk, now seemed even more crowded. Even people who came in to deliver documents had to turn sideways to pass through.
The assistant spoke for the old man, "Teacher is like this, always thinking about discovering something new and giving us more chances to survive."
"Song Lao Da Yi".
"No need to say those polite words. Let me tell you this, data collection is essential," Song Jianguo said to Zhuang Mingxu as he took out the damaged core components. "The changes in the magnetic field follow certain patterns, but after every solar storm there will be a major shift in direction. We need to re-determine the new shift speed."
"This value is related to the intensity of radiation. If we cannot accurately collect these things this time, then continuing to use the results we calculated before will not get us where we want."
Zhuang Mingxu looked over in surprise, and Old Song nodded, "These data are of great significance to us. The hospital speculates that the natural disasters caused before were also related to the intensity. We must have the data."
He held the palm-sized burnt core and handed it to Zhuang Mingxu to see, "It's scrapped due to excessive radiation levels."
"This means that we can continue to use electronic instruments to collect the remaining data," Song Jianguo said, looking at the core in Neqi's hand for a while, "The third-generation core can immediately render this generation scrapped. I'm afraid the instruments won't last long either."
He turned to look at Zhuang Mingxu and said, "We need more instruments to be ready at any time."
"Use instruments to piece together data," Zhuang Mingxu understood what he meant.
Even though most of the products out there today are disposable, there are still essential differences. Some can be repaired, some are easy to reproduce, and all can withstand such consumption. However, this instrument is obviously no longer within this range.
"This is the only way." Song Jianguo works with high-tech precision instruments every day, so he naturally knows it clearly, but this is the only way now.
"Okay, I got it. A team will come to find you later." Zhuang Mingxu went through all the teams that could go out in his mind, and finally found that Lu Weiyi, who was already outside, seemed to be the more suitable.
But from a selfish point of view, he would never let Lu Weiyi do such a thing.
Quickly thinking of the superpowers with sufficient levels, Zhuang Mingxu asked Yin Jin, "How are those people captured by the death squad doing now?"
"They have gone through a round of interrogation, and will be artificially killed once they have completely lost their value." After all, their crystal cores have more uses.
"Go tell Zhao Gang that those who want to survive should bring back the scientific research data and the base will spare them this time." Zhuang Mingxu's words were particularly ruthless. After hearing this, Yin Jin was not surprised at all and turned around and left the ward.
Lu Weiyi, who was thousands of miles away, didn't know about this yet. He only received the message from Zhuang Mingxu again, "Hide and don't go out or rush. The intensity of the solar storm will be affected by the changes in the magnetic field of Yingxiang. I will inform you in detail when there is a result."
"..."Lu Weiyi.
He was in a hurry to get on the road, but he didn't expect that he would be stuck in traffic.
Moreover, looking at Zhang Qing whose supernatural powers were recovering slowly, and then looking at the top of his head without even any cover, it seemed... a bit shabby.
Thinking about the days to come, Lu Weiyi was visibly bored. His gaze unconsciously turned to the clearly separated groups of zombies and finally stopped on Xu Xiao, a healing zombie who was hugging him tightly.
The skin that was dough-like before has now returned to normal. Apart from the fear after being frightened, it is no different from an ordinary zombie. This made Lu Weiyi suspect that what he saw before was fake.
But looking at Cheng Qi and Qin Jin's reactions, and thinking about her special abilities, it didn't seem so strange.
"You said before that the intensity of radiation might melt the zombies." Lu Weiyi suddenly looked at Qin Jin, "With the explosive radiation just now, do you think it's possible to directly melt some zombies..."
He raised his chin suggestively.
"What do you want to do?" Qin Jin, with his eyes closed, didn't know whether he needed to sleep or not. Anyway, he didn't open his eyes when he spoke.
"Do you think if we go out to pick up crystal cores now, we will have a good harvest?"
Qin Jin slowly opened his eyes, and under the specially illuminated incandescent light, the words "there's nothing wrong with you" were clearly visible on his face.
"Do you think that if it has such a big impact on zombies, it will have no impact on humans?" Qin Jin's tone was stern and educational, "You'd better be honest."
Lu Weiyi just said it casually, and when he was refuted, he didn't mention it again and changed the subject, "Our instruments this time were strengthened after the last solar storm. We didn't expect that they couldn't even last two minutes. It shows the intensity of the radiation this time."
Since they react so strongly to Class B zombies, I think people with special abilities won't feel much different, which is like sulfuric acid to humans.
The radiation is indeed increasing, and no one can say whether it will be their turn one day.
In this moment of silence, they all shared the same hopelessness about the future.
Life underground is extremely boring, but fortunately zombies don’t need food, so Lu Weiyi and the little monkey have their own food and don’t have to suffer from financial difficulties.
Qin Jin took good care of him. He went to check the situation outside by himself and had no intention of letting him go out.
Perhaps sensing the danger from the outside world, the little monkey didn't make much noise. Even though there was not enough space for it to stretch its body and turn around, it still stayed quietly with Lu Weiyi.
As Zhang Qing's supernatural powers recovered, the place they lived in became a lot more spacious, and they interacted more often. They also started to take Lu Weiyi out for fun.
Although things are different now, it cannot be changed that we were all human in the past. There were only so many things to do to kill time. Within two days, Qin Jin had a new understanding of Lu Weiyi's nature. Fortunately, even though the zombies were very excited, they did not dare to ask for too high a stakes. It was fun to play with a few zombies alone.
The little monkey gradually began to ignore them from the initial rejection and vigilance, but the animal's instinctive perception of danger made it absolutely not allow the zombies to get too close to it, which made Lu Weiyi rest more at ease at night.
After staying underground for nearly ten days, Zhuang Mingxu received news that the radiation from the outside world had dropped to his safe level.
Before Lu Weiyi could breathe a sigh of relief, another message came: "The research institute is recalculating the changing pattern of the magnetic field, which may take a few days."
Lu Weiyi was completely speechless now.
"You can't leave yet?" Qin Jin asked after looking at his expression. Having been locked up for such a long time as well, he didn't show any unstable emotions at all.
Lu Weiyi shook his head and said, "We can go out, but the changes in the magnetic field will take a few days to recalculate." There is still no way to set off.
Various card games could no longer arouse his interest. Eating and sleeping every day made him feel like a salted fish. The limited space and facing only a few people made him start to dislike everyone.
Once again disturbed by the woman's rustling sound, Lu Weiyi fixed his eyes on Xu Xiao without any emotion.
Even though Yu Li stood in front of her, he couldn't completely cover her, so he tried his best to explain, "She didn't mean it."
She was conscious, but not always coherent, which caused her to behave strangely at times of the day and not understand what others said.
Lu Weiyi understood it in his heart, but the oppressive environment pushed him to his limit, "The most..."
Before he could say the warning, Qin Jin spoke up, "This area used to be a major coal-producing province. Since you can't determine the way back, do you want to get some coal mining supplies?"
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