Qin Shilei thought of his own injuries again. Although he could move a little now, he could only exert at most thirty percent of his strength.
He had to speak again and say, "Twenty cans at most, that's all I have."
"I'll trade," Ma Yulian said.
Ma Yulian turned to Luo Hongyi and said, "Hurry up and return my ring. That's my own property."
Luo Hongyi turned and left. He had had enough of this woman who didn't know her place.
"Luo Hongyi, you stop right there. If you don't return my ring immediately, I will definitely report you to the division commander."
Seeing that he ignored her, Ma Yulian started crying and said, "You're all bullying me, a woman. I... my mind is blank, I can't remember any formulas."
Professor Yu saw his colleague crying so much and turned to Qin Shilei and said, "Sir, this potion is not mature yet, and it may not work. You shouldn't think about trading."
"So it's just a semi-finished product," Qin Shilei felt a little lucky that the exchange didn't succeed.
"How is it a semi-finished product? We clearly succeeded in experiments on white mice," Ma Yulian said indignantly.
"Deputy Director Ma, you are also a researcher. You can't tell if the research results are mature yet, can you?"
Professor Yu said sternly, "That white mouse was only injected for an hour, and we had to leave. We don't know if it became a zombie afterward."
Ma Yulian understood this, but she had concealed it because she wanted to trade some food with Qin Shilei.
Now that Old Man Yu had exposed everything, she no longer hoped to get the potion back to trade for canned food.
Her eyes darted, and she spoke to Qin Shilei again, "As you can see, the zombie serum has been successfully researched. As long as we reach the provincial laboratory, we can produce a more mature potion. If you give me ten cans of meat now, I will prioritize supplying you later."
"A blank check," Qin Shilei sneered. "Whether you can even survive to the provincial city is unknown, let alone prioritizing supply to me."
If it were that Old Man Yu, he might have agreed to do him a favor. This kind of woman, even if he gave her canned food, she would probably forget his kindness in a flash.
"How do you speak? I won't die even if you die. The entire humanity relies on me," Ma Yulian glared at Qin Shilei and cursed.
"Yes, yes, yes, the universe relies on you to save it. Live well," Qin Shilei was too lazy to argue with such a woman.
Ma Yulian interjected, "For the survival of humanity, shouldn't you contribute some canned food?"
"Heh!" Qin Shilei snorted and lowered his head to continue eating his canned food.
"Why are you so irresponsible?" Ma Yulian reprimanded, "Even if you don't consider the survival of humanity, you should consider yourself. Without me, the zombie serum cannot be produced. If you are bitten by a zombie later, you will surely die."
"That's none of your business. Please leave," Qin Shilei gestured to the opposite side.
If he were really bitten, he might be eaten whole. What was the use of serum? To put it bluntly, Qin Shilei just didn't want to owe this woman a favor.
"You... you selfish guy." Ma Yulian glared at Qin Shilei and turned to Luo Hongyi.
She threatened, "I don't care. Whether you trade or snatch, if I don't eat meat today, I won't research the serum anymore."
Hearing this, Qin Shilei immediately stopped eating and picked up his weapon to be on guard.
Luo Hongyi was very frustrated. Why did such a woman have to be involved in researching the serum? Furthermore, some experimental data was not collected because they left in a hurry. Now they had to rely on her to research the serum again.
To complete the division commander's orders, for the survival of humanity, he had served her carefully all the way, only to find he had offended an elder.
Professor Yu opened his mouth as if to say something, but ultimately remained silent.
Luo Hongyi gritted his teeth and said coldly, "Deputy Director Ma, right now, countless people are starving to death every moment. It's good enough that we still have something to eat. You're not a child, why are you so greedy for a mouthful of meat?"
After speaking, he ignored her and sat down to wipe his long saber.
Professor Yu also tried to persuade her, "Deputy Director Ma, how many soldiers did Commander Luo and the others sacrifice to protect us? Why are you still making things difficult for him?"
"Why should I, a meritorious minister who has contributed greatly to humanity, not even be able to eat meat, while those people not only eat meat but also drink frozen drinks?" Ma Yulian pointed at Qin Shilei and his group indignantly.
"Unreasonable!" Professor Yu waved his sleeve and reprimanded, "It's precisely because they risked their lives to snatch it from the zombies. We don't even know if we can escape this forest, and you're still thinking about meat."
Seeing that no one was paying attention to her, Ma Yulian looked up and glared fiercely at Qin Shilei.
It was precisely because she didn't know when she would die that she indulged her temper and acted impulsively.
Qin Shilei completely ignored her hostile gaze, but he was wondering if he should secretly give a few cans to that person named Yu. He had plenty of canned food. If that person could really escape, and if there were good research results later, perhaps he could also benefit.
Just then, footsteps could be heard from a distance.
As Qin Shilei was on guard, a group of thirty to forty ragged people, men and women of all ages, emerged.
A middle-aged man in his thirties stepped forward and asked, "Commander Luo, what's the situation here?"
Luo Hongyi shook his head, "The giant bird is hovering over the exit here, and there aren't many tall trees ahead to block its line of sight. It will be difficult to leave from here."
Hearing this, the middle-aged man's forehead furrowed into a deep '川' shape. "What should we do? Not to mention the dangers of this forest, everyone's food is already gone. If we don't get out soon, we'll starve to death." He then looked at Luo Hongyi with hopeful eyes.
Luo Hongyi frowned and said, "We don't have much food either. We can only help as much as we can."
Ma Yulian, standing nearby, suddenly pointed at Qin Shilei and his group and said, "They have food. They were just eating meat cans!"
Immediately, thirty to forty pairs of eyes turned to Qin Shilei and his group.
Qin Shilei's mind moved, and a rocket launcher appeared in his hand. He raised it and aimed at the group opposite.
Everyone was startled and ran away from the direction the cannon was pointing. As the apocalypse progressed, the destructive power of rocket launchers weakened, but their deterrent effect remained.
"Let's go," Qin Shilei said to An Qian and the others.
"Pretty ladies, can you give us some food? My child hasn't eaten for two days," a woman holding a girl of about ten years old asked pleadingly.
The woman's face was sallow, and the little girl was very cute but thin to the bone, looking at An Qian and the others pitifully. An Qian and the others softened their hearts and almost agreed, but in the end, they turned away resolutely, no longer looking at them. With so many people opposite, if they gave to one, they would surely be hounded by the rest.
"Cold-blooded!" Ma Yulian said sarcastically.
Seeing that Qin Shilei was about to leave, Luo Hongyi said, "Please wait. Let's discuss how to leave here."
Qin Shilei waved his hand and refused, "You discuss it. We'll go and check the situation first."
After saying that, he faced them and retreated into the distance.