TL: Moonlit
When Wen Qingling and Xiao Hen arrived at the central square of Xiang County, there were already many people gathered there, all of them excited and causing a noisy commotion. But as soon as Wen Qingling and Xiao Hen appeared, the noisy square immediately quieted down.
The central square was filled with people, and even those who were farther away rushed over as quickly as possible, hoping to be lucky enough to be selected as the first batch of vaccine recipients.
The purpose of gathering everyone had already been conveyed, and all eyes were fixed on Wen Qingling and Xiao Hen.
Wen Qingling raised an eyebrow and said, “You gathered everyone quite fast.”
Chang Boheng’s face turned serious again as he replied, “Everyone wants to be the first to receive the medicine.”
With so many people and the gathering being hastily organized, they didn’t even have a loudspeaker. Chang Boheng arranged for a telepathic ability user with a loud voice to relay messages to Wen Qingling, but Wen Qingling declined, saying that there was no need since everyone could hear him speak.
There were still three vials of antidote left, and Wen Qingling allowed the infected individuals to step forward and choose from among themselves.
The entire scene fell into silence, as surprisingly, no one stepped forward.
Wen Qingling swept his gaze across the crowd and understood what was happening. Apart from the seven people who had just been injured in the battle with the zombies, there were no more infected individuals present… or rather, there might have been some before, but they were no longer here.
In a world full of zombies, there were countless infected individuals at all times. Xiang County Base wouldn’t be without them. It had been some time since Wen Qingling took the zombies from Xiang County Base. The people who were infected before either turned into zombies and were killed or left the base before the transformation occurred.
Any responsible base wouldn’t allow infected individuals inside.
Wen Qingling’s gaze fell on a young girl. The girl bit her lip tightly, tears streaming down silently. Her eyes were swollen from crying, indicating that she had been crying for a long time. Her companions were holding onto her, afraid that she would suddenly speak out or do something extreme.
If not for being noticed, the girl might have been able to endure. But when Wen Qingling looked at her, she instantly broke into tears, causing panic among her companions who hurriedly tried to console her. Some even tried to cover her mouth.
The girl broke free from her companions and suddenly cried out, “Lord Wen, I heard that you treat the zombies in the southern city well, is it true?”
Everyone turned to look at the girl who was sobbing. Some whispered among themselves, questioning if the girl had gone mad. What good could it do to be kind to zombies? Would they be spared from being eaten or infected?
The girl cried, “My father got infected. He didn’t want to burden me or make things difficult for the base, so he went to the southern city himself. He wanted to become a zombie in the southern city. Will you treat the zombies in the southern city well?”
The girl fell to her knees, crying loudly, “I beg you, please be kind to them, be kind to my father, don’t let him be killed or eaten by things…”
She had thought about pleading with Lord Wen to save her father, but her father’s injuries were too severe. He didn’t even have time to return to the base, and they didn’t have enough crystal nuclei. Even if they borrowed some, it would take time, and they simply didn’t have enough time!
Wen Qingling looked at the grief-stricken girl. This was the first time someone had asked him to protect zombies, even though the intention was to protect their loved ones who had turned into zombies. But still, they were zombies.
Wen Qingling recalled the memory fragment of seeing Xiao Hen. He knew that his mother had turned into a zombie, but he still wanted to protect her. After Xiao Hen’s father killed his mother, Xiao Hen’s whole world collapsed.
Xiao Hen noticed that Wen Qingling was staring blankly at the girl, wondering what he was thinking.
“What’s wrong with you?” Xiao Hen asked in a low voice.
Wen Qingling suddenly said, “Back then, were you also desperate like her?”
Xiao Hen froze, and although Wen Qingling didn’t explicitly say it, he understood what Wen Qingling meant.
Wen Qingling’s voice echoed in everyone’s ears, “From now on, hunting the zombies around the civilized city is prohibited. If attacked by zombies, you can defend yourself, but you cannot actively hunt them. I hope everyone will supervise each other, and once discovered, punishments will be given based on the severity of the situation. In addition, zombie crystals will no longer be used as currency. Other crystals like the corpse-beast crystal can be used normally.”
The crowd erupted in chaos. Everyone couldn’t understand if Lord Wen really wanted to protect the zombies. It was unbelievable!
For ordinary humans, zombie crystals were only used as currency and could be replaced. However, for ability users, it was crucial for advancing their powers and couldn’t be replaced. Some ability users immediately questioned:
“Zombies feed on humans. If we don’t kill them, they will prey on us. As ability users, without zombie crystals, we can’t enhance our powers. Your command doesn’t make sense.”
Wen Qingling’s gaze remained cold and devoid of emotion. “From today onwards, I will gather all the zombies around Ling City outside the civilized city. As long as you don’t venture into the zombie territory without permission, you won’t encounter zombies. I also mentioned that you can use corpse-beast crystals.”
“How is that possible? Different species. How can humans use corpse-beast crystals? It’s like how animal organs cannot be transplanted into humans.”
“Yes, I’ve heard that absorbing corpse-beast crystals can cause abilities to go out of control, almost leading to spontaneous combustion. It’s very dangerous.”
“It’s safer to use zombie crystals.”
“Using zombie crystals is our freedom. Even Lord Wen can’t take away our freedom.”
“We don’t understand why Lord Wen wants to prohibit killing zombies. They have already turned into zombies and only know how to eat humans. Shouldn’t it be better to eliminate as many zombies as possible for the sake of humanity?”
Wen Qingling’s gaze turned colder. At this moment, Xiao Hen spoke up, “I used to be like all of you, hostile towards zombies, wishing to eliminate all of them. But now, I don’t think that way anymore because zombies are also humans. They’ve lost their autonomy due to the zombie virus and become zombies that only know how to feed. When you clamor to kill zombies now, have you ever thought that one day the zombie virus will be resolved, and zombies can turn back into humans? But you will have killed your own loved ones or others who have turned into zombies. Will you not regret it then?”
Xiao Hen’s words caused the entire room to fall silent.
If zombies were seen as patients, who would be willing to kill all their sick family members and friends?
Their clamor to eliminate zombies stemmed from their belief that zombies were beyond saving. Otherwise, they wouldn’t say such things.
Finally, someone tremblingly asked, “Zombies… can they really… be cured?”
Everyone anxiously looked at Xiao Hen, who in turn looked at Wen Qingling. All eyes were on Wen Qingling, and he nodded slightly. The hearts of everyone present raced, their anxiety reaching its peak.
Xiao Hen said, “I won’t hide it from you all. The civilized city laboratory is researching a transformation agent. This agent can turn zombies back into humans. It’s currently in the experimental stage, and some zombies have already successfully transformed into humans. We are still in the observation phase to ensure the stability of the formula.”
Thunder struck on level ground!
Everyone’s emotions instantly spiraled out of control!
Some people cried out in agony and fell to the ground weeping. Some were too overwhelmed and fainted on the spot. Some hugged each other, crying and laughing at the same time, their expressions oddly comical. Some screamed incessantly, transforming into screaming chickens, unable to express their emotions other than screaming and shouting.
Wen Qingling: “…”
Wen Qingling doubted if this group of people had gone mad. He looked at Xiao Hen with suspicion and noticed that Xiao Hen was also smiling, a reserved and subtle smile.
Standing on the platform, Chang Boheng and others, mindful of their status and reputation, forcefully suppressed their urge to transform into screaming chickens. Chang Boheng struggled to articulate, “Thi-this, thi-this thi-this thi-this…”
“It’s true,” Wen Qingling replied. “Can they quiet down now?”
Chang Boheng immediately tried to control the situation, but it was futile. Everyone was overwhelmed with excitement. They had to send people to calm them down and let everyone be quiet because the Lord was about to speak.
With everyone’s efforts, the venue finally quieted down.
Some people cried until they hiccuped and questioned whether Wen Qingling’s transformation agent was really true. They emphasized that such matters should not be deceived.
Wen Qingling looked at their pitiful appearance with disdain. “The transformation agent is real. Those who want to save their family and friends can start preparing crystal nuclei. Besides zombie crystal nuclei, we will accept any kind of crystal nuclei in Ling City.”
The scene almost lost control again.
Wen Qingling said to Chang Boheng, “Bring some beast crystals. I will personally test them to see if they are really that dangerous.”
Chang Boheng handed over a package containing beast crystals excavated during battlefield cleanup.
Wen Qingling took out a small gray crystal ball the size of a ping pong ball from inside, saying, “This is the crystal nucleus from the brain of a corpse-beast.”
In front of everyone, Wen Qingling absorbed the energy from a corpse-beast crystal nucleus, leaving behind residue that couldn’t be absorbed. He carefully felt it and said, “The energy of an ordinary corpse-beast crystal nucleus is probably… equivalent to the energy of 10 ordinary zombie crystal nuclei.”
Wen Qingling continued, “I didn’t sense anything wrong.”
Everyone: “…”
Their eyes widened one by one. Lord Wen really absorbed it!
And the energy in the beast crystal is so abundant?!
Wen Qingling then took out a blue crystal, as large as an adult man’s fist, with a beautiful color. He played with it in his hand.
Wen Qingling said, “This is an evolved corpse-beast crystal nucleus. With such a large size, the energy inside will definitely not disappoint.”
Everyone nervously watched the beautiful evolved beast crystal, fearing that Lord Wen would spontaneously combust on the spot.
Xiao Hen held Wen Qingling’s hand and whispered in his ear, “Your situation is special. You can directly absorb beast crystals, but not all ability users can. Your case is not representative, and neither is mine. It would be better to take the beast crystals back and let specialists study them.”
Wen Qingling glanced at him sideways. “Is it that troublesome?”
Xiao Hen reassured him, “Lives are at stake… It concerns your reputation. Do you want ability users to explode when they absorb the beast crystals and have everyone call you a fraud? Your credibility will plummet. Do you want that?”
Wen Qingling widened his eyes. “Who dares to insult me?!”
Everyone: “…”
Xiao Hen: “…”
Xiao Hen massaged his temples and said to Chang Boheng, “We need to take these beast crystals back for further research. We will provide you with an answer as soon as possible.”
This was the safest approach, and naturally, no one disagreed.
Seven people were already enough for testing the antidote. The next step was to select ten individuals for the vaccine trial.
Everyone eagerly awaited, hoping that Lord Wen would choose them.
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