Because of the sudden appearance of this young zombie lady, everyone’s plan was disrupted, and only after Mr. Fang Zheng carefully conducted a research investigation on the zombie lady did he leave her in the room and then came out.
"Big brother, how are things? Did you figure out what’s up with that zombie lady?"
Seeing Mr. Fang Zheng come out, the others quickly gathered around, and seeing everyone’s curious glances, Mr. Fang Zheng nodded.
"I have some clues, yes... it’s indeed a very interesting situation. Let’s have dinner first, and after we eat, I’ll tell you what exactly happened."
Although Mr. Fang Zheng said this, nobody really felt like eating; after all, it was their first time encountering a talking zombie with self-awareness. Everyone was eager to know what was going on, but Mr. Fang Zheng seemed quite calm. Under the anxious gaze of the crowd, he leisurely enjoyed Midori’s dinner, sipped a cup of coffee, and leisurely ate a pudding as a dessert before leading everyone into the conference room. Then, Mr. Fang Zheng turned on his personal terminal and projected the screen into the air.
Seeing this overly science-fiction scene, Kei Shidou couldn’t help but widen her eyes in astonishment, but she didn’t say much, after all, during this period, Mr. Fang Zheng and others had already demonstrated their extraordinary capabilities. Although Kei Shidou didn’t yet know what Tina had previously mentioned about the Heavenly Dao Palace, she guessed it was probably no different from those superhero alliances hidden in the shadows of the world in comics and novels...
"Well... before that, let me explain to you the information I’ve gathered so far."
As he spoke, Mr. Fang Zheng displayed an image.
"This is the virus that caused the Resident Evil, and from a characteristics perspective, it’s classed as a mild virus...."
"Wait, big brother, this thing turns people into zombies, and it’s mild?"
Little Hei widened his eyes in surprise and incredulously spoke up. Midori, Tina, and Natsuse also nodded. As for Kei Shidou, she looked utterly incredulous. As a native of this world, she knew better than anyone how terrible this virus was; how could it possibly be mild?
"That’s just a classification."
Hearing Little Hei’s query, Mr. Fang Zheng rolled his eyes in annoyance.
"Viruses are divided into virulent and mild viruses, and their infection processes and behaviors differ. Virulent viruses cause the chromosomes in cells to break down upon infection, synthesizing viral chromosome material and ultimately leading to cell disintegration. Put simply, you can think of virulent viruses as dynamite and cells as warehouses; when the dynamite explodes with a ’bang’, the entire warehouse is engulfed in sparks and a large fire ensues, and if the fire is not dealt with promptly it will spread... In short, viruses that can continuously complete adsorption, invasion, proliferation, maturation, and lysis in a short time are virulent viruses, for example, Ebola is one of them."
Having said this, Mr. Fang Zheng switched slides.
"Mild viruses, as the term implies, have a relatively ’mild’ mode of infection. They parasitize in the cell, slowly spreading and infecting as cells proliferate and divide. Unlike with virulent viruses, mild viruses do not cause cell lysis, which means that often times in the early stages of infection, mild viruses do not reveal their effect on the human body."
As Mr. Fang Zheng spoke, the screen quickly displayed the process of viral infection; although everyone watched without fully understanding, they grasped the gist of Mr. Fang Zheng’s words to some extent.
"Alright, now that you know the characteristics of these two viruses, let me continue... The conclusion is that this virus has infected almost everyone in this world, without exception."
At this news, everyone was greatly surprised, and Kei Shidou’s face turned pale with fright.
"Could it be that I also..."
"Listen to me, don’t get agitated."
Seeing the young girls in front of him getting stirred up, Mr. Fang Zheng sighed in resignation.
"As I said before, this virus is a mild virus with a very long incubation period, but not everyone will die from the disease. In fact, most of the time, a healthy immune system is sufficient to resist the effects of these viruses. Relax a bit, your immune system is stronger than you think, and since you haven’t fallen ill so far, it means the virus inside you can no longer produce any effect. As for you... you needn’t worry at all, this virus is only D-level, it’s a dream to affect Zerg Gene, let alone the Intestinal Virus, which is way more powerful than this thing..."
Hearing this, Kei Shidou’s once pale face regained some color, but even so, she still seemed uneasy.
"But some people don’t get sick, yet if they are bitten by a zombie, they still mutate..."
Mr. Fang Zheng helplessly rolled his eyes.
"The virus inside you won’t cause an effect, but you can’t withstand outside ones. Those killed by zombies already have a weak immune system, lacking the strength to fend off a secondary invasion of a foreign virus. Moreover, blood transmission is different from air transmission, even if you are healthy, if I give you an injection of mineral water, you would certainly die, alright?"
Although Mr. Fang Zheng’s explanation was somewhat blunt, Kei Shidou still sighed in relief. But soon, she became curious again.
"But what about that Miss Zombie? According to what you said, Mr. Fang Zheng, the lady didn’t seem to mutate before, so why did she turn into a zombie after dying?"
"This is the interesting part."
Hearing Kei Shidou’s question, Mr. Fang Zheng snapped his fingers with a "pop".
"Logically speaking, once this lady’s vital signs ceased, all activity in her body should have stopped. However, during this process, the virus bodies previously suppressed by the immune system started to act again..."
While explaining, Mr. Fang Zheng played the footage again. Soon, everyone saw a tiny virus body burble out like an escaping prisoner, and then it began to infect the cells again. But just as it started, the remaining white blood cells immediately responded, quickly enveloping and attempting to engulf it.
However, during this process, the virus, instead, provided energy to the cells, creating a standoff, which led to... the previously stopped body slowly starting activity again?
"It’s simple, usually, after death, the virus would slowly infect the body, then completely transform it into a zombie. But now, due to some unexpected factor, this lady’s zombification proceeded only to the physical level and did not affect the central brain and nerves. That means, although her body has transformed into a zombie, her consciousness remains as it was when she was a normal person... Well, it may not be very clear now, but presumably, before long, she would slowly regain her sanity."
Hearing this, everyone was shocked.
"So, does that mean that everyone will become self-aware zombies in the future?"
Mr. Fang Zheng once again waved his hand, dismissing Kei Shidou’s guess.
"As I said, this is a rare occasion, a coincidence, with a probability of one in a million or even lower. The reason coincidences are coincidences is that they don’t happen often, but regardless. Unlike other zombies whose brains are focused only on feeding and hunting, Miss Zombie possesses a very clear self-awareness, and perhaps we can get some information from her. Of course... before that, to avoid any accidents, we should first keep her in a room. From her previous behavior, it appears she still can’t control her strength very well, and even if she doesn’t intend to, she might still harm others. We’ll temporarily confine her, observe the situation, and then decide what to do next."
"It seems that’s all we can do now."
Little Hei sighed, then blinked and looked at Mr. Fang Zheng.
"By the way, big brother, do you know what that zombie lady’s name is? We can’t just keep calling her Miss Zombie."
"I did find a student ID on her."
As he spoke, Mr. Fang Zheng took out a student ID from his pocket and opened it.
"Sanhua Girls’ Academy—Rea Sanhua, that’s her name."
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