The hall above was still a vast, empty space, but along the walls were several enormous glass tanks.
Inside, they were filled with the grotesque organs of various monsters, with colorful reagent tubes placed next to some of the equipment.
"These organs... they seem to be collected from zombies!"
Instead of being frightened by these disgusting organs, Zhao Xiyue began observing them herself.
"You... can recognize these organs?"
"Didn't you study to be a flight attendant in college..."
Zhang Chen's expression was full of surprise.
"Oh, I learned these from Doctor Bai!"
Zhao Xiyue gave an embarrassed smile and explained, "Back then, I wanted to learn some medical skills from Doctor Bai, and I saw these tanks there."
"At that time, Doctor Bai was dissecting zombies for research, trying to figure out their body structure and how it differed from humans."
"This massive cyst is from the body of a Giant Tank; almost all Giant Tanks have this cyst."
"That one is the vocal cord of a Wailer, which is also pathological, and that's the nerve center of a Crawler, also in an abnormal state..."
Zhao Xiyue pointed to the organs in the tanks, listing them as if reciting a familiar inventory:
"Doctor Bai said that, in a way, these zombies are patients. Their bodies are not healthy bodies—this has nothing to do with whether they are zombies or not, because apart from these organs, all other parts are healthy."
"The zombie virus causes the body to mutate and simultaneously produces pathological organs. Although these organs are not directly related to killing them, this is still a discovery!"
Zhang Chen nodded. Dissecting zombies was probably something only Bai Hanlin and Xu Ruina would do.
"But... what is Xu Linna researching these pathological organs for?"
"Could it be... that there's important information within these things that she needs?"
Zhang Chen searched the laboratory for a while.
There were no experimental records or anything similar.
He walked up to a reagent bottle and gently touched it.
He then collected the reagent bottle and all the experimental equipment into his ring.
As for these tanks... he'd leave them here. Zombies were easy enough to catch, and getting a few live ones for Xu Ruina to dissect and study wouldn't be a complicated matter.
What's more, with Xu Ruina's abilities as the Zombie Queen, a simple gesture would likely make zombies come and dissect themselves.
Zhang Chen looked around again, confirming there were no other passages. Only then did he return to the lower level, have Xiao Ruan activate the teleportation portal, and the group returned to the seventh high-walled city.
Zhang Chen waited for forty minutes at the teleportation portal of the experimental building until all the轮回者 hidden in the parallel world were captured.
The old principle applied: surrender or die.
Out of over thirty people, a few truly tough guys wanted to confront Zhang Chen head-on. As a result, they were turned to dust with just a wave of Zhang Chen's hand.
The remaining twenty-odd people surrendered automatically.
Living, wasn't that more appealing...
With the sixth and seventh high-walled cities cleared, Zhang Chen could finally rest easy.
All the people were gradually evacuated to the fifth high-walled city, with the sixth and seventh high-walled cities serving as their support.
This provided at least two cities as buffer zones.
While Xiao Ruan was activating the teleportation portal, Zhao Xiyue was busy settling the civilians.
Zhang Chen went to Xu Ruina's laboratory.
Xu Ruina had moved in first and had been busy with virus experiments, with Shirley assisting her.
Seeing Zhang Chen arrive, she stopped her work.
"A rare visitor, the busy you actually has time to come to my place?"
Xu Ruina looked up, and Shirley quickly stepped forward to wipe the bloodstains from her face with a towel.
"It's not that busy, just clearing out the uncertain factors within these high-walled cities, so that the survivors can live here safely."
"The outside is already the ultimate apocalypse, and this state will continue indefinitely."
"Even the original inhabitants eventually abandoned these cities, which indicates they are not a long-term solution. We still need to find other solutions!"
Zhang Chen said with a smile, spreading his hands.
"You are a qualified leader."
Xu Ruina praised him.
"What leader am I? Zhao Longchuan, Zheng Hao, and even Qian Xinxin are the leaders."
"I know that being able to maintain a camp with so many people surviving in the apocalypse without collapsing is not an easy task."
Zhang Chen said.
"They are management-type talents, while you are responsible for the overall direction and strategy. If the overall direction is wrong, no matter how strong the management ability is, it will be in vain!"
"Including what you are doing now, clearing out the high-walled cities, and even seeking more solutions in the future, these are things they are incapable of and would never consider."
"To put it bluntly, your vision is longer-term than theirs. Your scope is the entire apocalypse, while their scope is only this high-walled city!"
Xu Ruina lightly tapped the wall with her claw. Suddenly, as if remembering something, she changed the subject and said gravely:
"Recently, Zheng Hao has implemented a policy to absorb survivors. I don't know if he has consulted you about it."
Zhang Chen shook his head and said indifferently, "I don't manage these things. They just operate them."
Xu Ruina smiled helplessly and said:
"Alright, but I must remind you, admitting survivors will increase the instability within the walls and is prone to creating new factions."
"Undeniably, doing so is beneficial for maintaining the diversity of knowledge and culture, and it will be good after the apocalypse ends... However... the apocalypse may not end so easily..."
"Beware of trouble brewing at home!"
Zhang Chen smacked his lips, thinking: the phrase "trouble brewing at home" doesn't seem quite appropriate here... it feels a bit strange.
"I will pay attention to it. Also, there's something I need your help to look at!"
As Zhang Chen spoke, he signaled for Sean, who was standing at the door, to drag in a heavily wrapped body of Xu Linna.
Sean placed it on the operating table and then pulled away the wrapping cloth.
"This is... Xu Linna?!"
Xu Ruina's pupils contracted.
She still remembered how Xu Linna had shared a lot of biotechnology with her, which had helped her overcome many technical difficulties.
At that time, she had also promised to solve Xu Ruina's claw problem, but she had not delivered, instead playing a trick on everyone.
"Is she dead?"
Shirley asked.
"No, I can't figure out her condition right now. She's between life and death, similar to brain death..."
"But that's not the point, the point is..."
Zhang Chen didn't continue, but instead reached out and pushed aside the hair that was covering half of Xu Linna's face.
"This... she experimented on herself?"
Xu Ruina exclaimed in surprise.