Shen Feng was very worried that Yuzhou would be threatened by mutated bird flocks in the future, so he went directly to the research institute and found Professor Niu, expressing his concerns and hoping Professor Niu could help him brainstorm.
However, after hearing what Shen Feng said, Professor Niu frowned and said, "It's not impossible to kill the mutated bird flocks, but it's only treating the symptoms, not the root cause. I know about the mutated birds. I've posted a bounty, and mercenaries have captured hundreds for me to research. There are some kept in the research institute now."
Shen Feng was a little surprised and quickly asked, "What do you mean by treating the symptoms, not the root cause? Elaborate."
Professor Niu offered Shen Feng a seat and slowly sat down himself, then said, "Before, Yuzhou cleared the mutated beasts in the south. This was treating the root cause. But to clear the mutated birds, that's treating the symptoms, and it won't achieve the desired purpose."
Shen Feng listened patiently. He knew that regarding mutated beasts and mutated birds, it was best to listen to the advice of professionals. Since Professor Niu had his own views, Shen Feng should listen.
Professor Niu continued, "Mutated beasts in the mountains are difficult to clear because they band together when they sense danger, forming beast tides. To clear them, you must form a encirclement, conduct a carpet search, and eliminate most of them. The few survivors, under the subsequent hunt of mercenaries, will have no ability to threaten humans. Clearing them is difficult, but once completed, there won't be large-scale mutated beasts for a while, unless mutated beasts from outside pour in."
Shen Feng nodded, agreeing with Professor Niu's assessment.
"Then what's the problem with mutated birds?" Shen Feng continued to ask.
Professor Niu took a specimen of a Chinese hwamei from a nearby shelf. He had prepared it himself, and it still looked as if it were alive.
"City Lord, please look. This is a mutated bird. Compared to mutated beasts, mutated birds are not very strong. Because as soon as the army gathers, they are just a flock of chickens, ducks, and geese, easy prey. Clearing them is simple, but it's not treating the root cause because of their mobility!" Professor Niu said in a deep voice.
Shen Feng's ears perked up at this. He asked, "Their mobility is strong because birds can fly, right?"
"Precisely, that's the meaning!" Professor Niu analyzed seriously. "Birds can fly, but to reproduce, they basically need to build nests. After building nests and hatching eggs, as soon as the army arrives, or even without the army, as long as a large number of mercenaries go into the forest, they can destroy these bird nests. However, we cannot set up an encirclement. These birds will fly away as soon as they sense danger, and it's impossible to eliminate them. Even if they are eliminated after great effort, birds from other regions will easily come and occupy the space."
Originally, Shen Feng thought clearing mutated birds was not a particularly difficult task, but now it seemed completely different. The birds' mobility was too strong, and it was not easy to eradicate them completely.
"Then what should we do?" Shen Feng asked helplessly.
Professor Niu thought seriously and then shook his head, saying, "I have no solution. The only suggestion I can give is to clear them every few months, maintaining a certain number of birds in the forest so that their population doesn't explode."
Hearing this suggestion, Shen Feng didn't know what to say. If they had to clear mutated birds periodically, the task would be too heavy. As the saying goes, the sound of cannons costs ten thousand taels of gold, which is perfectly applicable to logistics. Once war breaks out, it will severely deplete the economy. Sun Tzu's Art of War has similar expressions: "A nation that is strong but fond of war will perish."
"It seems we can only pretend not to see them. It's not easy to deal with these birds," Shen Feng finally said with resignation.
After comparing the situation after going to war, Shen Feng clearly saw the current predicament. If they continuously attacked the birds in the Dabashan Mountains, they would eventually be bogged down. For now, they could only pretend not to see them.
Yuzhou bordered the tail end of the Dabashan Mountains. Even if it was just a section of the mountain range's tail, the dense forests within the mountains meant it was hard to say how many birds lived there. The birds, sensing danger, would spread their wings and fly away. The Dabashan Mountains were so vast that the birds could go anywhere, either to Shuzhong, Hanzhong, or even Hubei. They could return after the clearing operation ended. This was too difficult.
Shen Feng wanted to pretend not to see them, because if he didn't see the problem, it wouldn't be a problem.
However, Shen Feng's intention was ruthlessly shattered by Professor Niu: "You want to pretend not to see them? That won't work, because once the bird population reaches an uncontrollable level, they will attack humans. I have observed many mutated birds and discovered one thing: when these birds have ample food, they will lay eggs madly, and their numbers will increase, even more exaggerated than before the apocalypse."
"They will attack humans? Isn't that a bit exaggerated? I haven't heard of bird flocks attacking people elsewhere, except for raptors like golden eagles. Ordinary bird flocks are only as big as chickens and ducks. Wouldn't attacking humans make them prey?" Shen Feng thought Professor Niu was trying to scare him.
Professor Niu shrugged and leaned back in his chair, saying, "I'm just offering my opinion. Whether you listen or not is your choice. I have no right to interfere, do I? I'm just reminding the City Lord of one thing: just because there are no bird flock attacks on humans now, it doesn't mean there won't be in the future. Don't forget how those migratory birds conducted aerial attacks in Yanjing back then!"
Hearing this, Shen Feng's expression finally became solemn. Clearly, at this moment, Shen Feng remembered the battle that took place in Yanjing more than a year ago. No one could have imagined that the Corpse King had reached an agreement with the Bird King and used aerial attacks to assault Yanjing. At that time, Yanjing was like a pot of dumplings, with zombies constantly falling, resulting in tens of thousands of casualties. With such a painful experience before him, Shen Feng had to take it seriously.
At that time, Yanjing's counterattack was also fierce. After finding the migratory birds' nest, they directly began bombing. The bombs plowed through a swamp, and very few birds could escape.
However, Yanjing's ability to have tens of thousands of fighter jets was achieved by mobilizing the entire nation. Yuzhou did not have enough fighter jets, and lacked air superiority. It was not easy to completely eliminate the bird flocks.
"It seems we have to start clearing the mutated birds. What kind of world is this? The threat of zombies is gone, mutated beasts appeared. Mutated beasts were cleared, and now mutated birds have come. When will there be peace in the world?" Shen Feng said with a sigh.
Professor Niu thoughtfully said, "Unless all the animals in the world stop mutating, but that requires salvaging the meteorites from outer space first. Once the meteorites leave the ocean, the global mutation may stop."
Professor Niu knew that the current global apocalypse was related to the ocean. It was the meteorites that caused the virus mutation in the Pacific Ocean, leading to the appearance of zombies. Moreover, the zombie virus also mutated when it acted on animals, and mutations in the sea might be even more severe. The giant sea beasts that appeared in the sea were likely related to the meteorites. Only by salvaging the meteorites could the mutation of animals be completely stopped, and then peace could be established in ten years.
"Don't say such things. We can think about it, but we can't do it!" Shen Feng shrugged helplessly. Just last year, over two hundred superhumans from around the world gathered in the Pacific Ocean, but they were all killed by the sea beasts. Very few survived. Fortunately, China's captain predicted the sea beasts' plan, thus preserving some people. Otherwise, they might have been annihilated.
Remembering the blue whale that had swallowed the meteorite, Shen Feng felt even more dread. A sea beast a kilometer long, like all warships, was a behemoth at sea. Wherever it went, electronic instruments would malfunction. In such a situation, who could kill the sea beast and retrieve the meteorite?
"The blue whale is too strong, and it can command other sea beasts. It is the undisputed king of sea beasts. Let's forget about salvaging the meteorites," Shen Feng said helplessly.
"There is nothing truly invincible in the world. Even the blue whale, as long as it is a living creature, has weaknesses. It's just that we haven't discovered them yet. City Lord, you must have faith," Professor Niu quickly encouraged Shen Feng. He knew that Shen Feng was a top-tier superhuman globally. If Shen Feng had no confidence, others would have even less.
Professor Niu also did not want Shen Feng to give up the idea of ending this chaotic era. If Shen Feng had already given up on saving the common people, then others would have even less hope. Salvaging meteorites must rely on superhumans; ordinary people could not enter the divine realm.
Shen Feng stood up, seeing that it was time to leave, and began to bid farewell. Professor Niu escorted Shen Feng to the outside.
Finally, at this point, Professor Niu remembered something and quickly reminded him, "City Lord, if you want to deal with the mutated birds, you should operate at night and rest during the day."
Afterward, Shen Feng took Chang Haojie to the homes of the two pilots to apologize. Although becoming soldiers meant they had already pledged their lives to Yuzhou, or more precisely, to Shen Feng, if they were to be ignored like this, it would chill the hearts of those below. Therefore, Chang Haojie knelt down on both knees and kowtowed to thank these families.
The debt of saving a life was a great kindness. Chang Haojie was also very guilty because he had run away from home without permission and encountered danger on the way, which had implicated the two pilots. If the two pilots had not delayed the time, he would not have waited for Shen Feng to come to the rescue.
When the two families saw the Eldest Young Master of Yuzhou kneeling on the ground, they were immediately startled and quickly helped Chang Haojie up, saying, "No, no, it's not necessary. As soldiers, dying in battle is a normal thing. How can you let the Eldest Young Master kneel?"
Shen Feng guaranteed, "From now on, both of your families can live safely in Yuzhou. If you have any problems, you can come directly to me, and I will help you handle them. If you have more children, send them to school. In the future, they can work in the City Lord's Mansion."
The two families were both happy and sad upon receiving Shen Feng's guarantee. They were happy that they could finally live safely in the future, but sad thinking of their sons' deaths. A living relative had died like this, and the treatment they received was due to their sons' sacrifice.
After dealing with the matter of the pilots, Shen Feng also decided to clear the mutated birds in the northern mountains first. The core area of Yuzhou was mostly north of the river. The northern area had relatively flat terrain, and the farming areas were also mostly in the north. If they were attacked, Yuzhou would face a major crisis.
Shen Feng had not yet announced this matter, but instead summoned more than a dozen key figures of Yuzhou to discuss it.
In China, there is a special cultural phenomenon: small meetings for big matters, and big meetings for small matters. A small matter would convene dozens of people for several days of meetings, with extensive reporting, while for major events, a few important figures would discuss and decide. This has not changed from ancient times to the present.
When Shen Feng mentioned the bird flocks in the northern Dabashan Mountains, his intention was clear: find a way to reduce the number of these bird flocks.
But as soon as Shen Feng said this, Zhou Xiaoxiao spread her hands and said, "City Lord, Yuzhou is really out of money. You need to build the outer city, build schools, and improve the medical system. These all require money. If we were to lead an expedition now, we would have even less money!"