Apocalypse: the Most Ruthless Person

”Luezi, how long can the drone’s power last?”

Zhang Su felt the drone’s powerful propulsion and asked with some concern. Just like an internal combustion engine, the more powerful it is, the faster the fuel consumption, for example, a Bugatti can only run for about nine minutes at an extreme speed of 420 kilometers per hour...

While carefully piloting the drone to descend slowly, Wu Lue replied, ”Normally, it can fly for an hour without any problem, but with this low temperature now... well, it can still last thirty to forty minutes on full charge, I guess... If we had to carry cargo, that wouldn’t be possible though!”

The Cyan Dragon Corps found two drones in total, one was a transport drone capable of carrying twenty to thirty kilograms, while the one Wu Lue was operating was a reconnaissance drone that could carry no more than four kilograms.

Hearing that it could fly for half an hour, Zhang Su nodded in relief and focused his attention on the screen, starting to carefully observe the situation inside the fertilizer factory.

The terrain was open with no obstructions or disturbances, making it easy for Wu Lue to operate the drone. The speed may not be fast, but it could leisurely wander around inside the agrochemical factory.

The first area seen was the production zone, and it was apparent that an explosion had occurred there. The factory building had collapsed, cooling towers and chimneys toppled, and various chemicals were scattered. After being washed by previous rains, it was unrecognizable. Terms like reaction zone, crushing zone, and drying zone couldn’t even be distinguished, leaving only ruins.

”Such a pity for these raw materials.”

”Yeah, sigh, no matter how advanced modern manufacturing is, without human control, problems arise in no time!”

”If this agrochemical factory could operate, farming would be much easier for us in the future...”

Looking at the ruined factory, the group was quite sentimental. Pesticides and fertilizers are vital for high-yield modern agriculture. Without them, once the improved seeds are all used, future crops would be increasingly poor in quality.

”Don’t think too far ahead. Let’s focus on this coming winter first!”

Zhang Su was a blend of optimism and pessimism. He remained optimistic when facing personal difficulties but was pessimistic when considering issues from a collective standpoint, as he believed the saying, ”Pessimists are always right, optimists keep moving forward!”

”There’s nothing much to see, let’s go, let’s go.”

”Don’t move!”

Just as Wu Lue was about to maneuver the drone out of the production area, Zhang Su stopped him and pointed at the screen, ”That corner, yes, turn right, now down, zoom in!”

Following Zhang Su’s command, a zombie suddenly appeared on the screen!

The unfortunate zombie was trapped under a pile of steel frames. Upon hearing the drone’s sound, it stubbornly lifted its eyes. The only part it could still move was one hand, which kept clawing at the sky. It was clear that it never had any blood meal supplements, now emaciated to skin and bones. However, thanks to the solar energy supplement, it was still alive. As for how long it could last before death, there was no data on that for now.

”Hmm... can’t tell if it’s a Venom Zombie.”

Wang Xin commented, stroking his chin, with a frown.

The others shook their heads as well.

Zhang Su squinted at it since the camera image couldn’t break through its limits, and the zombie’s clothes were still quite intact, it was impossible to determine. So he said, ”Get a bit closer and see if it shows any aggression, but don’t get too close. It’d be terrible if a single cough breaks the drone!”

Wu Lue nodded and carefully navigated the drone a bit closer to the zombie. The impressive camera could show distances within ten meters. When it got to three meters, he dared not proceed further.

Zhang Su gave it a serious look, curled his lips, and said, ”Let’s go, just an ordinary specimen.”

”Damn... this zombie must be a native of the fertilizer factory. Why hasn’t it mutated?”

Lu Yubo felt deflated too; he revered the Venom Liquid’s explosion.

Zhang Su shrugged and said, ”Who knows why, damn it, if we could mass-produce these Mutated Zombies, it would mean unlimited Venom Liquid!”

”Haha, if that were the case, who would we be afraid of afterward? Celestial Horse Island could directly take control of the entire Qin City, no, the entire Ji Province!” Lu Yubo laughed heartily.

Chen Hanzhou’s eyes lit up after hearing Zhang Su’s words and said, ”Brother Su, I think your idea is promising, let’s go back and discuss it with Dr. Fu!”

Recently, Chen Hanzhou often chatted with Fu Weijun, mainly because Fu Weijun kept engaging him in conversations, wanting to learn more about what happens after being bitten by zombies. During their conversations, Chen Hanzhou was also infected by Fu Weijun’s fervor. His curiosity and desire to explore were stronger than before.

”I feel that the trigger for mutation isn’t that simple, otherwise why didn’t that zombie trapped in the factory mutate... But better to try than not, I’ll talk to Dr. Fu about it when we get back, hey, Luezi, be careful, fly slowly!”

As they were talking, Zhang Su noticed a flash on the screen and felt tense, worried that something might happen to the drone.

”The signal transmission is very sensitive, Brother Su, don’t worry.”

Wu Lue was usually a bit sly, but when he had electronics in hand and wasn’t learning with a teacher, he seemed like a different person—very confident and earnest.

The drone circled steadily inside the fertilizer factory, rising and falling. When the speed decreased to a certain level, the camera remained very stable and could capture the factory’s conditions clearly.

Those standing in front of the screen were all amazed by the power of high technology. Even before disaster struck, they had never interacted with such products. Even Wu Lue, the most interested in electronics, could only play with low-barrier products due to financial constraints, far from this military-grade drone.

However clear the camera was, failing to find what was wanted still caused frustration. Ten minutes passed as the ruined factory was scouted. If they were looking for a set of keys, they might miss it, but human-sized zombies were easily spotted. A total of only three zombies were found, all ordinary types.

”Damn, why are Venom Zombies so rare, like a golden legend...”

Wu Lue manipulated the joystick with frustration.

”Haha, if they were like a golden legend, being rare would be normal...”

Wang Xin was amused by Wu Lue’s comment.

”A golden legend... maybe the Venom Zombie that Dr. Fu dissected was a one-of-a-kind, let’s head back.”

Zhang Su clicked his tongue, flicked the cigarette butt to the ground, removed his gloves, and prepared to get back in the car to continue searching nearby. But just as he gave the screen a final glance, his brows knitted together.

”Luezi, hold still!”

”Scared the hell out of me!”

Startled, Wu Lue jerked, even causing the screen to tremble slightly.

”People, Brother Su, there are people!”

This time, without needing Zhang Su to point out, Lu Yubo had already noticed the anomaly on the screen!

When the drone ascended to a certain height, the camera aimed at the other side of the factory’s wasteland. Beside the clumps of weeds, a squatting figure astonishingly appeared.

Since the disaster occurred in early autumn when it wasn’t cold yet, zombies’ clothes were all quite thin. As time went by, some were already tattered, with the really unfortunate ones having just shreds hanging on them. Meanwhile, the figure hiding by the grass piles was clearly wearing a lot of clothes, making it apparent it was a person, not a zombie!

”Not good, Brother Su, this guy has spotted the drone!”

”Luezi, can you stop with the nonsense? If he hadn’t noticed the drone, would he be hiding there watching? You should say he’s realized we have spotted him!”

Zhang Su corrected Wu Lue’s mistake helplessly. He could clearly see the person by the grass slowly standing up, with tense movements watching the drone. Estimating that they were about a hundred meters away, typically he shouldn’t be able to see the camera aimed at him, but evidently, his vigilance was high.

”Brother Su, what should we do?”

Wu Lue was momentarily unsure how to proceed, finding it awkward to just stare at each other without doing anything.

”Zoom in.”

”Okay!”

Following Zhang Su’s order, Wu Lue zoomed the camera in, soon revealing a clearer image of the figure on the screen.

”What is this guy wearing... such a mess!”

Zhang Su remarked casually, ”This person should be a lone wolf; that’s why he’s in tattered clothing. Look, he’s carrying four packs, likely without a fixed camp, huh? Haha, testing the drone too.”

While the group studied the mysterious figure, he was moving left and right along the field ridges, apparently trying to see if the drone’s camera would follow him.

”Luezi, mess with him a bit, see how he reacts!”

”Alright.”

Gently pushing the joystick, Wu Lue directed the drone towards a more distant area. In such wide-open spaces, it could be controlled even five kilometers away, currently being just four to five hundred meters, with no pressure at all.

Whir.

The drone’s rotors swirled, slicing through the air with extreme speed to approach the mysterious figure, before abruptly halting in midair, quite a flashy move.

The mysterious figure was jolted by the sudden advance of the drone towards him but reacted swiftly, immediately ducking behind a tree four to five meters away, seemingly aware that the drone could carry weapons and fearing an attack from it!

”This guy has some good moves!”

Through the camera, Zhang Su could see his every action, seamlessly executed without any hesitance. Though he seemed tightly wrapped, the figure was very agile. Such capabilities suggested only one possibility: he’d been trained, and it was very systematic training.