Chapter 158 Second Poisoning
Lin Xi's decision was very prescient.
Just three days after everyone had gone without food, with the assistance of the garrison, the research institute issued a message informing the more than 400 refugees outside the experimental building that the research institute was aware of the food shortage and that the research institute would conserve its existing rations to support everyone and stay with them, while also needing everyone's support and cooperation.
Lin Xi specially hired someone from the publicity department of the research institute, which had just returned from the war, to write these promotional materials; the payment was a chocolate.
Finding jobs for so many refugees is a difficult task. Lin Xi couldn't do it all herself, so she gathered everyone together to brainstorm and rewarded them with a small loaf of bread for coming up with two types of jobs.
Other colleagues at the research institute: "You've started implementing a reward system for us too?"
Despite this, everyone is committed to maintaining this temporary shelter.
Therefore, the following main services were issued:
1. Farming. The crops in the greenbelt grow slowly, but they require supervision and care. This task is not demanding and is ongoing; the reward is one-sixth of a compressed biscuit each evening.
2. Go out to search for supplies. The probability of finding supplies has been greatly reduced. Although the supplies found must be handed over to the collective, the issue of hoarding is often overlooked. If no supplies are found, half a compressed biscuit can be earned for each trip. If the trip ends in failure, the biscuit should be given to a family member.
3. Go out to find gasoline. Lin Xi predicted that sooner or later everyone would have to move to the shelter and would need a lot of gasoline reserves. People with cars would find containers to go out and collect gasoline resources. Each time they went out, they would receive half a compressed biscuit.
4. Rainwater collection, filtration, and high-temperature disinfection. This process is crucial to the safety of the entire research institute, and is maintained by guards and construction workers throughout to ensure accuracy. A day's work is rewarded with a quarter of a compressed biscuit.
These are the main tasks that will help the current shelters; it doesn't require more than 400 people at all.
So everyone found some more tasks, such as cleaning experimental equipment, wiping buildings and floors, and other time-consuming and laborious work to distribute, with the aim of ensuring that everyone had something to do and could obtain food through labor under relatively fair rules.
The food they received was very limited; they were lucky to get even a small bite every two days. Everyone lost a lot of weight from hunger, but they were all able to maintain their vital signs.
These measures, on the one hand, make everyone grateful for the care from the research institute, and on the other hand, ensure that people won't starve and therefore won't cause trouble. Even if someone is willing to do so, they are deterred by the threat of firearms and the lack of widespread support, and thus fail to succeed.
The researchers in the lab also entered a low-energy state, reducing their food intake and forcing themselves to focus on the research, which had no immediate hope of success.
The refugees suffered some losses while searching for supplies, but everyone maintained a low level of alertness and coexisted peacefully with the laboratory for a while.
Even with everyone cutting back on their own spending, the research institute's supplies ran out by the end of August.
Lin Xi quietly took several boxes from the truck and filled them in; the whole process was done silently, and only Xiang Xin knew about it.
Although Xiang Xin did not object, she was a little puzzled: "Why did you take it out secretly? You're supporting people in your own name, you should have told them so that everyone would be grateful to you."
Lin Xi retorted while feeling a pang of regret, "Let's not say it. It wouldn't be good if everyone started to hold a grudge against us."
Xiang Xin shook her head and squeezed Lin Xi's arm. They had lived with everyone and hadn't secretly eaten extra meals even with a truckload of supplies. Now, they were thin, and after losing a layer of fat, their muscles were more clearly visible when pinched.
"If this continues, your muscles will be worn down, and your Sanda skills will deteriorate." Xiang Xin tore open a pack of protein bars and stuffed it directly into Lin Xi's mouth.
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September 1, 2025.
On the day that school should have started, the temperature was still very high. Everyone was listless after a month of dieting. The people in the laboratory could barely muster their energy, while the refugees outside were emaciated and on the verge of death, barely clinging to life.
Seeing this situation, Lin Xi was worried that if the underground city base opened, everyone would not have the strength to escape.
With the grain depleted, Lin Xi supplemented the supply in the truck with half of the provisions.
This is a drop in the ocean. Without any additional supplies, relying solely on what's in the truck won't last long for nearly 500 people.
She started to get restless and sent a message asking about the Luwei base.
Also tonight, a change occurred at the research institute, which had been peaceful for three months.
The unexpected turn of events wasn't discovered by Lin Xi until the early morning.
The laboratory building is operating normally, but there is no movement from the refugees; no one is coming out to work or ask for food.
Lin Xi was puzzled, so he asked Xiang Xin to take the drone and patrol the area.
During this tour, they saw faces pasted on the windows of the administration building, which had been converted into refugee accommodation.
Normally, people don't dare to get too close to the windows during the day, for fear of attracting the attention of the zombies roaming outside. Now, people are crowding around the windows in several rooms.
As the image gradually came into focus, it became clear that they were not human faces, but mutated zombie faces.
Xiang Xin rubbed her eyes, refusing to believe it. The closer the drone got, the more ferocious the faces looked at the moving object.
"What happened to them? How did they turn into zombies overnight?"
The research institute's external defenses were not breached, and the building remained intact. The zombies, who had turned into refugees, were mostly staying in their rooms.
Lin Xi immediately thought of that incident: "Poisoning."
Once Lin Xi realized this, he summoned everyone in the laboratory building to stop what they were doing and take their temperatures. While taking temperatures, Lin Xi also carefully observed everyone's expressions. Everyone looked listless, and if someone was unusually excited or ferocious, it would be easy to tell.
After checking, it was found that neither the researchers nor the guards in the laboratory building were infected.
This poison was specifically targeted at refugees.
Everyone was suddenly stopped from their work and brought over for inspection, leaving them all bewildered. Even Song Heng asked listlessly, "What's going on?"
Lin Xi didn't say anything in front of everyone, because the poisoner was very likely among them.
After the group disbanded, Lin Xi explained the situation to Qian Zetao, the commander of the defending army. Although the drone scan showed that many rooms were full of zombies, there were still living people in the corridors.
Because the living people hadn't eaten for a long time, they moved very slowly and made little noise. Occasionally, the slightest noise they made would attract the zombies in the room to the doorway, where they would be blocked.
The administration building is mostly offices and meeting rooms. The doors can be closed, but most of them are unlocked because the keys are missing. Although the zombies cannot perform precise unlocking actions, they may be able to break the locks by ramming them a few times, or they may simply pounce on the doors in groups and break them down, in which case the zombies will still be released.
The few living people inside the building will be infected, and it will be unsafe for the research institute to wander out. At that time, the activity area will really be reduced to the laboratory building.
Qian Zetao was baffled by the events of that night, but his duty as a soldier made him realize that the primary task now was to deal with these potential dangers.
Lin Xi: "Xiang Xin is counting the number of zombies. They are all in the room and it is impossible to count the exact number at the moment, but it is conservatively estimated to be more than two hundred. There are also survivors in some rooms."
Qian Zetao: "I understand. Leave half the people to guard the experimental building, and I will personally lead the team to deal with the zombies and rescue the survivors."
Seeing that he looked ready for battle, Lin Xi shook his head and said, "Captain Qian, the gunfire is too loud. It will easily attract the zombies, and if there are too many of them, it will be difficult to deal with."
Since being ordered to guard the research institute, Qian Zetao has become very familiar with Lin Xi. He can see that this young man is calm and thoughtful, and can put forward many constructive opinions and decisions.
The fact that the refugees have remained peaceful and there have been no riots so far can be attributed to Lin Xi's foresight.
Lin Xi had something to say about the battle, and he was willing to listen.
Lin Xi: "Once someone in a room turns into a zombie, everyone else will definitely be attacked and turn into zombies. What you need to do is lock the door so that the zombies can't get out. I don't know where the key to the administration building is. We'll have to find another way to lock the door, either by binding it or by blocking it, and try to make as little noise as possible."
She added, "I know you also have communicators and equipment, but my friend here is very good at reconnaissance and will assist you in providing real-time information."
She handed over the communication equipment and instruments that could contact Xiang Xin to Qian Zetao.
Qian Zetao led his men there. Locking the door was the safest and easiest method. They dealt with the few zombies wandering in the stairwell through hand-to-hand combat, trying their best not to use guns or make a big commotion.
Seeing Qian Zetao lead his men away, Xiang Xin also entered an empty room to assist in the operation. Lin Xi patted his pocket, took a deep breath, and walked into the laboratory.
Everyone was busy with their heads down, mechanically conducting various tests and recordings on the virus, but the results showed that they could not destroy the virus's structure.
This experiment has been repeated for more than two months.
Lin Xi wasn't supposed to be in this class, but she went straight in.
Everyone was in a low-spirited state, and no one wanted to meddle or talk.
But this was a matter that Lin Xi had to deal with. She didn't interrupt everyone's actions, but walked straight to Ding Yan's side and said coldly, "You are the poisoner."
Ding Yan paused in taking notes, then looked up to reveal a face with dry, lifeless eyes.
She seemed slow to react as well, pausing for a moment before forcing a weak smile and saying, "What... are you talking about?"
Lin Xi: "The research institute was poisoned overnight yesterday, and more than two hundred zombies appeared."
As soon as these words were spoken, everyone gathered around to ask what had happened.
They were all protected in this laboratory building and were unaware of the changes that had occurred in the administration building.
Some people realized: "So you had us take our temperatures this morning to check for infected people?"
Lin Xi nodded.
Ding Yan: "I only found out now, I didn't vote for it..."
Lin Xi: "You voted."
Those around whispered, "What does this mean? Did Ding Yan poison the research institute?"
"Then why did she come back?"
"Which poisoning incident are you referring to?"
These questions made Ding Yan feel a little panicked. She hurriedly defended herself: "Junior sister, although you have a lot of power in the research institute now, you can't frame people."
Lin Xi stared at her intently: "I have surveillance footage."
Ding Yan: "Impossible, the surveillance footage already..."
She suddenly paused, and everyone's gazes pierced her like knives.
Lin Xi: "Yes, the lab's surveillance cameras were off last night due to a power outage, but I also have private surveillance cameras in the lab."
Ding Yan looked at her in disbelief.
Ever since the research institute was first poisoned, Lin Xi had been on guard. The truck that Xiang Xin drove had a lot of spare supplies and equipment, including surveillance cameras. She secretly installed surveillance cameras in several key areas of the experimental building as a precaution.
She didn't actually see the specific scene of Ding Yan stealing and poisoning the drugs, but judging from Ding Yan's reaction, she had already made up her mind, and she analyzed it for everyone:
"The fact that those people in the administration building were infected overnight, and that they were infected while locked in their own rooms, definitely wasn't due to an attack by outside zombies, but rather poisoning."
"Although the research institute is short of food, it has generators and water filters, so there is no shortage of purified water. No one would drink natural rainwater, and the virus content in natural rainwater is not high. It would take several days of fever before it would turn into a zombie."
"Those people turned into zombies overnight, they must have ingested a high concentration of the virus."
"Besides the original poisoner, the high concentration of the virus has also been extracted from the zombie virus in the laboratory for research. Only people in the laboratory have the opportunity to come into contact with the virus."
Her surveillance cameras didn't capture Ding Yan stealing or putting the drugs in the lab. She must have secretly taken them while working, as no one visited the lab at night.
The reason Lin Xi suspected Ding Yan was because she had seen Ding Yan and Li Yuxiang getting along very well. Li Yuxiang was an employee of another department in the research institute. After the zombie outbreak, he was quarantined at home for a while, and only came to the research institute with his family to take refuge when the water and electricity were cut off.
Li Yuxiang is not in the virus research group, but he is also an employee of the research institute. He previously stepped forward to help manage the refugees and made great efforts.
This includes distributing reward materials.
The water was controlled by the military, and the only thing that could be poisoned was the food. The fast food and biscuits that were distributed were not sterilized at high temperatures, which is why people had the opportunity to poison them.
With this comparison, Lin Xi quickly identified Ding Yan as the likely candidate.
She even figured out why Ding Yan and Li Yuxiang did this:
"There isn't enough food, and you don't want to share it with the refugees."
Upon hearing this, some people lowered their heads.
This idea wasn't shared by just one person. Hunger is a terrible feeling. At first, people felt a sense of accomplishment in saving food for refugees by going hungry themselves, but as time went on, they were also affected and couldn't bear it anymore.
Moreover, it's like a bottomless pit.
Ding Yan: "Food will only become scarcer. If we keep dividing it up like this, we'll all die together. We might as well just ignore them. The food was originally meant for the research institute. If we keep it, we can live longer."
Half of the people lowered their heads, seemingly indicating their agreement with Ding Yan's words, and from this perspective, they did not condemn Ding Yan for poisoning.
Song Heng sighed: "But you can't just turn people into zombies."
Ding Yan: "They're alive, and you're afraid they'll riot. But you can't kill all of them. Turning them into zombies and locking them in rooms is a kind of euthanasia, isn't it?"
Cheng Ling frowned at her: "How many times have you done this? The perpetrator of the first poisoning incident at the research institute hasn't even been caught yet, and you..."
Ding Yan vehemently denied it: "It wasn't me the first time! I was at the research institute at the time!"
She only denied the first time.
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