"Professor, we've detected activity at the Jiangshui City laboratory. It appears someone is conducting experiments."
The staff member reported to Tang Houde.
"Jiangshui City? Wasn't that city's laboratory lost five years ago?"
"It's been abandoned for so long, would anyone still go there?"
Tang Houde frowned.
That laboratory was where Tang Houde developed the Invincible Pioneer. However, it was later attacked by a monster tide.
All researchers were forced to transfer to the High Wall City via a portal.
The only Invincible Pioneer mecha developed by Tang Houde was sealed in the High Wall City's armory without undergoing any experiments.
"You mean... could Xu Linna have reactivated that laboratory?"
"After all, very few people can move freely in the apocalypse. Xu Linna might have the capability!"
The staff member cautiously reminded him.
"Xu Linna? That traitor from the progress faction. She's obsessed with genetic technology, creating abominations.
"Reactivating the Pioneer laboratory? That shouldn't be her goal!"
"Besides, the Pioneer has blueprints. As a senior researcher, she's definitely seen them. She wouldn't need to conduct experiments..."
Tang Houde shook his head, denying it.
"Then... what's going on? Could it be the Reincarnators?"
"But with their low-level technology, they shouldn't be able to understand our research equipment."
"Also, they come from Earth, and we are on Water Blue Star. The calculation formulas, computer code, and even grammar structures are different.
"To them, this scientific research is like a foreign language. Even if they could accidentally activate it, starting an experiment is quite far-fetched..."
The staff member said, bewildered.
"Unless... the last batch of transmigrators weren't from Earth..."
Tang Houde narrowed his eyes.
The last transmigration was an accidental event that occurred when the world control center was destroyed.
Subsequently, the lighthouse began to fall. Until now, the system center has only just recovered its database module.
It's still impossible to contact the new generation of Reincarnators or receive their data.
If the previous generations of Reincarnators achieved interconnectedness through their rings, then this generation's rings can only function offline.
They can collect, trade face-to-face with rings, store supplies, and upgrade.
But they cannot world chat, nor can they activate the auction system.
Similarly, natives cannot control the Reincarnators with blue rings by weakening their rings.
......
On the other side, 120 kilometers away from the fourth High Wall City, in Jiangshui City.
Xu Ruina and Shirley were strolling through the streets.
A group of zombie rats ran past on the sidewalk, crushing scattered trash cans and bicycles into metal scraps.
Zombie wyverns screeched as they soared in the sky, their chaotic eyes reflecting the city's streetscape.
The entire city had been overrun by zombies.
At the same time, this was a base for Xu Ruina's zombification plan.
Her degeneracy virus could successfully infect mutated creatures of type VII or lower.
Xu Ruina was currently researching a berserk virus that could infect higher-level creatures.
During the experiments, a large number of zombie monsters were produced. These would cause panic among the citizens within the High Walls, so Xu Ruina had them all concentrated in this city.
Initially, there were only a few hundred.
However, these zombie creatures, when out of control, would attack any living thing they saw indiscriminably.
Thus, soon, everything in the city except for plants had turned into zombie creatures.
In shops at the city's exits, cleaners were stationed to prevent the spread of zombie creatures.
Xu Ruina walked through the city like its queen, filled with a sense of accomplishment and security.
Swarms of zombies and zombie creatures slowly moved to shops on the street or into alleys, instantly clearing the path in front of Xu Ruina and Shirley.
Xu Ruina looked at her creations acting according to her will, feeling indescribably satisfied.
The two continued forward for several blocks, and the number of zombies on the road suddenly decreased.
There were also more bloodstains and signs of battle on the ground.
Xu Ruina frowned slightly and turned to ask Shirley:
"Is it around here?"
Shirley looked at the electronic map, confirmed the surrounding buildings, and nodded, saying:
"That's right, it should be around here!"
"When the drone scouted, it saw a massive half-mechanical, half-monster figure here."
"This guy killed a lot of zombie creatures, but it disappears every night."
"The city exits have been confirmed, with no traces of survivors or such strange machinery."
Xu Ruina nodded and said sarcastically:
"Interesting, the progress faction is active in this city and even killing zombie creatures?"
"This doesn't seem like their usual cautious behavior!"
Shirley nodded and added:
"However, judging by the target's combat trajectory, it seems to be trying to break out."
"But every time it fights, the noise attracts zombie creatures from the surrounding districts."
"So, except for this area with fewer zombie creatures, the surrounding areas are almost completely blocked by them."
"One would think that the natives also know the characteristics of zombie creatures. Doing this only traps them further."
"I really can't understand what these natives are trying to do!"
Xu Ruina looked down at her claws and said faintly:
"For survival, the things natives can do are definitely beyond your imagination!"
"Whether it's towards Reincarnators, mutated creatures, or their own people... it's all the same."
Shirley used the survivor detector to scan the surrounding area and quickly locked onto a hospital building not far away.
"The detector shows there are many survivors beneath this building!"
"It must be them!"
Shirley said.
"It's typical of natives to disguise their laboratories underground in hospitals."
"Heh, I didn't expect to encounter natives here. I wonder what they'll think when they see me."
Xu Ruina rubbed her claws together, creating sparks.
"It's a shame the awakening virus hasn't been successfully developed yet. Otherwise, we could control them by semi-zombifying them, and we could get more useful intelligence from them!"
"This would also be of great help to the Master!"
Shirley said with regret.
"No need for regret, I have plenty of ways to make them talk!"
Xu Ruina smiled calmly, then, following the usual routine of the progress faction, jumped directly into the underground laboratory through the elevator shaft.
Immediately, the panicked expressions of the survivors appeared before the two.
However, in an instant, Xu Ruina's movements faltered.
Because among the crowd, she saw a familiar face: Tang Houde!