Chapter 131 They are from Fangzhou!
While the authorities may not teach how to kill zombies, that doesn't mean they'll prevent civilians from teaching each other.
In special times, even if we can't mobilize the entire population to fight, it's good to have more people who can protect themselves.
Everyone was making underhanded moves right under his nose, but Bai Xianglei pretended not to see them.
With everyone's attention temporarily diverted, it was the perfect opportunity to make a move.
The devout believers currently mingling in the crowd are just ordinary people; there's no need to worry about them infecting others.
The believers also felt the pressure of the gazes; the soldiers behind them were gradually approaching. Once they were captured, they feared they would never see anyone else again.
One of them clenched his fist tightly and shouted, "Aren't you going to explain what happened to that corpse?"
"He begged for mercy, why kill him!"
Everyone looked at him, finally remembering this incident.
But they trusted the government and felt there must be something fishy going on; they just wanted an explanation.
Fu Qing looked at Bai Xianglei.
She could explain, but in this situation, it would be more appropriate for Bai Xianglei, who has an official position, to step forward.
The latter understood, his eyebrows furrowing, and he stepped forward, coldly saying, "You want to explain? Fine, I'll explain to you."
He crouched down, and the sharp military knife slashed open the deceased's sleeve, revealing a pale hand with fingernails that had begun to turn blue.
Having seen many zombies, the fat man exclaimed in surprise, "This person is already infected!"
“That’s right, it’s not an ordinary person at all, but an infected person.” Bai Xianglei then used a knife to pry open the victim’s lips, showing everyone its protruding fangs and blackened gums.
“But he can clearly speak!” the believer immediately exclaimed.
"Who says you can't speak if you're infected?" Bai Xianglei glanced at him indifferently. "This person was just bitten, noticed something was wrong with his body, knew he was going to die soon, and was trying to drag others down with him."
"Although he still retains a shred of sanity, he will soon become a complete zombie. His saliva is also poisonous. If he hadn't been killed in time, anyone passing by would have been in danger."
"Tell me, should this kind of scum be killed?"
Bai Xianglei's drink made the man pause in surprise.
He never expected the other party to explain it that way.
—Although the virus has an incubation period, once the zombification begins, people will quickly lose their minds, become unable to speak, and will be unable to utter such long sentences.
He knew perfectly well what was going on, but he couldn't explain it that way. Otherwise, the other party would have a perfectly legitimate reason to arrest him by asking, "How do you know so much about zombies?"
The man opened his mouth, then closed it again, utterly flustered.
Bai Xianglei, however, remained serious and certain, as if that were the truth of the matter.
He was momentarily unsure whether these soldiers were truly unaware of the existence of intelligent zombies.
As the students listened to Captain Bai's effortless glossing over the matter, they secretly winked: Is the ability to lie through one's teeth contagious?
Otherwise, how could the special forces team have changed from "honest and upright people" on the first day to this after only one week in Fangzhou?
As soon as Bai Xianglei spoke, the way everyone around looked at the corpse changed.
While it is true that one should respect the dead, and it is indeed pitiful that he was infected, it is truly hateful that he dragged others down with him when he was about to die.
One of the men in Fatty's group glared hatefully at the corpse: "We've seen this kind of person before. They hide their infection and try to sneak into our hideout. If it weren't for Sister Wang's keen eye and the bloody teeth mark on his body, we probably would have been wiped out!"
Having been hiding outside for so long, this kind of thing is all too common. People think about their own experiences and are filled with rage.
Some people recalled that they had just walked past the man and felt a wave of fear.
"But...but..." The devout believer swallowed hard, pointing to Fu Qing, "I saw it with my own eyes, it was clearly her who did it! She wasn't wearing a uniform, she wasn't a soldier!"
"Who knows if you made up this story to cover up her crime of killing civilians?"
"I'm telling you, aren't you being a bit too unreasonable?" Fatty couldn't stand it anymore, so he yanked his finger off and scolded him, "They've already explained, but you just won't believe them and keep nitpicking. Are you some kind of foreign force trying to sow discord?"
He looked the man up and down suspiciously, and the more he looked, the less he seemed like a good person.
Fang Zhou and the special forces team: "..."
Fatty stumbled upon half the truth.
At this moment, Bai Xianglei said seriously, "For this operation, we deployed a large number of plainclothes officers, as well as volunteer groups from the public to participate in maintaining order. Although they are not in uniform, they are still members of the official team. Do you have any more questions?"
The devout live in a daze.
When Fatty heard about the volunteer volunteers, his mind raced, the clues connected, and he suddenly understood.
"So the reason she was able to know the weaknesses of infected people so quickly and teach them to others is because she had connections with the authorities."
"No wonder, no wonder."
Just as official shelters cannot teach how to kill zombies, there are always some things they cannot do openly, so they have to rely on the mysterious forces of the people.
So she's the kind of law enforcer who hides in the shadows.
He chattered on gleefully, glancing at Fu Qing every now and then, convinced he had guessed the truth.
Fu Qing was puzzled by his gaze. She glanced back at him, and the fat man immediately became quiet and dared not look around anymore.
Bai Xianglei, however, was quite perceptive and miraculously grasped the fat man's thought process, silently sweating on the side.
Rather than saying that the authorities had contact with Principal Fu Qing, it would be more accurate to say that they learned the truth about the apocalypse through her intelligence.
...The cause and effect are completely reversed.
Following his idol's lead, the chubby guy eagerly raised his hand: "You just mentioned grassroots volunteers, are there any requirements for participating? Can I sign up?"
"I can sign up too."
"Me too."
Others were also very enthusiastic.
The group of people are courageous and have experience in killing zombies. Although they can't be on the front lines, they should be able to help Xue Ran.
Xue Ran said directly, "When you get on the bus later, come here and register your name."
"Okay, okay." Fatty rubbed his hands together, happily agreeing, only to realize that it was a little girl who had spoken.
Despite his young age, he had the air of a leader and agreed without even mentioning Bai Xianglei and the others.
He had been completely absorbed by Fu Qing and hadn't paid attention until now. Looking to the side, he realized that Xue Ran wasn't the only young man there.
Song Rushuang, Su Huaijin, Qin Yufei, and others gathered together. Their youthful faces made Bai Xianglei, who was only in his thirties, look much older, as if they were just a few college students doing internships.
Wait, a college student...?
Community volunteers, university students, and this is S City...
With these words put together, a name is about to emerge.
An older woman adjusted her glasses; she was Sister Wang from Fatty's group. "Little girls, you wouldn't happen to be from Fang Zhou's group, would you?"
Fatty and the others had never heard Sister Wang, who was usually so fiery and energetic, speak to anyone in such a gentle tone.
But they didn't care about anything else; their eyes widened when they heard those two words.
“Uh…” Xue Ran could sense that the atmosphere had changed again. He glanced at Fu Qing and said, “Yes, she is our principal. We’re just here to help out.”
The crowd fell silent for a moment, then suddenly erupted in cheers.
"Fang Zhou, are you really from Fang Zhou?"
"Is it Fang Zhou from the internet?"
"Definitely. Could there be another group with the same name that's as good?"
"I saw that their official account posted a message, and the IP address was in City S, so they really are from our local area!"
"Didn't you see the posts from the relatives of those rescued? They all said that Fangzhou is just a local university..."
Some people exclaimed in surprise, some were busy explaining the facts, and many more people crowded around, eager to see what the Fangzhou people looked like.
The devout believers were so crowded among the enthusiastic crowd that they could hardly breathe.
This villain is so undignified. Not only is the public's focus consistently misplaced, but he's also almost squeezed into a meat pie by a group of ordinary people.
Everything started going wrong when that woman appeared...
In a fit of rage, someone flashed a knife from their sleeve, but before they could strike, a sharp pain shot through their wrist, and they stumbled and were pulled out of the crowd.
The rest of the special forces team seized the opportunity and subdued the devout believers hiding in the crowd, pinning their arms and pressing them to the ground.
Those around them noticed the commotion, turned around, and saw the daggers in their hands. Startled, they immediately realized that these people had ill intentions.
"No wonder you kept stirring up trouble just now, ptooey!"
They turned and spat, then looked at the Fangzhou group with renewed interest.
The devout believer: "..."
They're not even worth a second glance when they're arrested!
The group rolled their eyes at the tightly packed trouser legs in front of them, their gazes drowned out by the stench of the shoes.
Those at the front of the crowd were completely unaware that the believers had been taken away in captivity.
The students looked at the wall of people in front of them and felt very uncomfortable.
No one expected that simply mentioning the name "Fangzhou" would provoke such a strong reaction from everyone.
Just over a week ago, during the still-on summer vacation, when they visited relatives and mentioned their school, they would only receive a vague "Oh...".
Fangzhou University was created out of thin air, so it's normal that it doesn't have much of a reputation.
The students were already used to it.
But as the apocalypse arrived, this previously unknown school gained such an astonishing influence in just a few days.
Previously, the news was only circulating online, so they didn't have such a strong sense of reality. Now, standing in person, hearing the exclamations around them, and seeing the flushed, excited faces before them...
They then realized: Oh, their school is really famous.
Some people even pushed their way forward just to shake hands with the students.
They were treated as if they were some great heroes returning home in glory.
They were just doing some ordinary, manageable things...
The students blushed from their necks to their ears, unable to resist such enthusiasm, yet their hearts were pounding with excitement.
Fu Qing had already hidden behind the crowd. She slipped away so quickly that by the time everyone noticed, she had long since disappeared.
She breathed a sigh of relief as she took cover next to a riot control vehicle.
It's not surprising that the citizens of S City reacted this way; Fang Zhou's online fame has made them one of the most proud groups.
Moreover, even setting aside the added sense of honor that comes from living in the same city, the citizens are genuinely grateful for what the people of Fangzhou have done.
However, Fu Qing still found it unbelievable.
Such a change in just one year.
In her previous life, she was much more financially secure than most people around her, and she could often spare the time to take care of those around her. When she encountered people in distress during her adventures, she could usually lend a helping hand.
Nevertheless, "saving the world" was still too far away for her, as far away as an empty and unrealistic slogan that only existed in storybooks, so far away that she dared not even entertain such a delusion.
She can only do very limited things and save a very limited number of people.
But after being reborn, everything is different.
Fu Qing was slightly lost in thought. After watching for a while, Bai Xianglei finally had to stand up and interrupt everyone's endless thanks to get back to the main topic.
Three minutes ago, the red flares were already fired, and they were destined to miss the bus that was supposed to be gathering them.
However, Bai Xianglei emphasized that an exception could be made to call a separate bus for them to take them to the shelter.
This was naturally to manage this group of people in a centralized manner, as no one could be sure whether there were even more deeply hidden believers among them.
Everyone was completely unaware and repeatedly expressed their gratitude for their good fortune.
Under the protection of armed soldiers, they waited patiently in place, and a few minutes later, they boarded the arriving bus as they had hoped.
From now on, they will live under strict surveillance. Of course, this surveillance will not affect their daily lives, and they won't even notice it.
Without this layer of oversight, their lives would be no different from those of other residents in the shelter.
Compared to those who ultimately failed to make it to the meeting time, they could be considered lucky.
Fatty reluctantly got into the car, while a burly man with a face full of scars managed to squeeze out starry-eyed looks like a fangirl, only to be cruelly ignored by Fu Qing.
Even as the bus started moving and drove away, everyone on board kept trying to turn their heads to look at the group of students standing there.
The street was in a mess, and a few people stood on the ruins, their postures as upright as pine trees, as if nothing could shake them.
People watched all the way until the bus drove down the long street and the students disappeared from sight.
...
"What should we do with these people?" Bai Xianglei asked, pointing to the devout followers who were tied up to one side.
With guns pressed against the back of their heads, they kept their heads down, not daring to move an inch. Some even had filthy liquid spreading beneath them.
Zhou Lingxi wrinkled her nose.
They're capable of betraying humanity, and I thought they were incredibly courageous, but they're just a bunch of cowards.
Faith is just an excuse; it's all about pursuing profit.
Bai Xianglei was asking Fu Qing.
Killing is definitely out of the question, but we can still take her advice as much as possible regarding where to take her and how to dispose of her.
Fu Qing pulled out a dagger and pressed it against the chin of the devout believer who had been constantly causing trouble.
Her dagger wasn't cleaned very well, leaving a layer of dark bloodstains on it. The thought that it was most likely zombie blood made the man feel terrible.
The knife tip was only millimeters away from the vulnerable neck; it could easily cut the skin if one wasn't careful. Although the virus is transmitted through saliva, no one can say for sure whether contact with blood would lead to infection.
His jaw was chattering, and he was trembling so badly he couldn't speak.
This guy was clearly just a low-level employee. Fu Qing found it uninteresting and listlessly put away his dagger. "The capital is researching vaccines, so they should need live people for experiments, right? Let's just send these ready-made ones over there. The monkeys in the lab are more innocent than them."
"Isn't becoming a zombie your lifelong dream anyway?"
The man's pupils trembled violently, and the face of Fu Qing reflected in his eyes was almost twisted into a demon. He let out a series of soft sobs.
"The rest, you take half and we'll take half." Fu Qing stood up nonchalantly and discussed with Bai Xianglei in a friendly manner, "The ears and limbs that were cut off before were taken away. Our school's mad scientist has been worried about not having any props lately."
Thump thump.
Several times in a row.
Several devout believers were so frightened that they fainted completely.
Bai Xianglei was speechless: His suggestion of how to handle it didn't seem to be what he meant...
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