After listening to Sun Ya's account, Su Jin was shaken, falling silent for a moment.
According to Fu Hu's description, this old man had spent years in medical device research, development, and manufacturing, boasting extensive experience.
Yet now, every window in the apartment was covered up, and he had a shotgun in hand.
Add in his sharp analysis, and everything pointed to this old man being anything but ordinary.
"Sir, my name is Li Haocheng. May I sit down so we can talk?"
Sun Ya studied Su Jin, slowly lowered the muzzle of his gun, and nodded.
Su Jin stepped forward cautiously, pulled up a chair, and sat across from him.
"How did you know the rain could infect animals? And this setup in your apartment, plus your analysis of the military..."
"I used to work in the defense industry," Sun Ya sighed, caressing the shotgun. "When I noticed people undergoing mutations, I collected some rainwater to test on my dog... The dog went mad, so I shot it. Worried that birds and beasts would get infected too, I covered up all the windows.
"It wasn't until yesterday, when the state announced the termination of functions... that I realized everything was completely finished. We can't rely on the military anymore."
"You know how things work on the inside, but how can you be a hundred percent sure we can't count on them? Even if the military suffered infections, they shouldn't have just declared total breakdown right away. Cities should still have the capacity to mount an armed counterattack. Once credibility collapses, trying to organize people again becomes far harder," Su Jin asked with a furrowed brow.
Sun Ya pondered for a moment. "You're right. Looking at it solely from the perspective of widespread military infection, there really is no reason for the state to give up on itself. But I suspect two possibilities.
"First, insects might also get infected. If insects are infected, humanity's extinction is only a matter of time; the top brass wouldn't be able to protect anyone else and could only look out for their own survival.
"Second... the effects produced by this rain are far from as simple as they appear on the surface. There must be other properties.
"In nature, no virus can cross species and mutate or infect so rapidly... This isn't a virus at all. It's a supernatural disaster."
After finishing, Sun Ya buried his face in his hands and sighed deeply.
Su Jin remained silent, plunged into profound shock and anxiety.
Taking another deep breath and wiping his face, Sun Ya looked up at Su Jin. "I've answered your questions. Now it's your turn to answer mine."
"Ask away."
"Locking down the residents in advance—you didn't just seal off my apartment, did you?"
"I sealed off the entire unit."
"Why?" Sun Ya stared intently at Su Jin.
"A little girl on the fifth floor said the apocalypse was coming. I believed her."
"Heh... So she really does have a screw loose. No wonder you've got an anal plug tied to your waist." Sun Ya spoke with sarcasm, but his expression promptly turned solemn as he began muttering to himself. "Qingdai, that child... I know about her. I thought she had mental problems too, but looking at it now, it's not that simple. How could she have known in advance?"
"Do you believe in nature?" Su Jin asked quietly, casually slipping the plug into his pocket.
"I believe in science, but I also believe nature balances everything. In a disaster like this, even though organization has collapsed, there has to be a solution." Su Jin looked at Sun Ya. "I believe there will be a force to counterbalance this disaster—Qingdai has already proved that. Old sir, looking at you sitting here with a gun, you don't want to die either, right?
"Come with me. Right now is the time to build a team and recruit people. I have a cage of mice; you're a scientific expert, so you can help me run more reliable experiments."
Hearing this, a gleam of vitality returned to Sun Ya's eyes, and he appraised Su Jin from head to toe.
"Build a team? Do you have what it takes? Why should anyone believe you?"
"Because I have a prophet on my side, and I'm the Director of the National Critical Risk Intervention and Implementation Bureau."
Sun Ya narrowed his eyes. "Bullshit! The state doesn't have any department like that."
"It does now!"
Sun Ya gave Su Jin a suspicious once-over, then nodded in realization.
"Fine, fine... You're right. It can have one now. I can help you."
Then Sun Ya's tone shifted. "But you need to understand that I'm nearly seventy, not far from the grave. With the world rotting away like this, living or dying makes no difference to me.
"If you want to be a leader and have me risk my neck for you, you'd better prove you qualify. If you're just a brainless piece of trash, I'd rather put a bullet in my own head right now and end it clean!"
"Then what do you want?"
Sun Ya thought for a moment, then tossed the shotgun straight to Su Jin.
"It's a shotgun, and I have thirty shells left. Go downstairs and clear out those zombies.
"The heart seems to be their weak spot. They react to sound, light, and scent. There are plenty of stray cats and dogs in the residential complex, so keep your guard up. If you can pull this off, even if you're a lunatic, this old life of mine is yours!"
"That was my plan all along. Wait upstairs and watch!" Catching the shotgun, a cold glint flashed in Su Jin's eyes.
Grabbing the ammunition, he walked toward the door, speaking as he went: "Old sir, the neighbor across from you is an expert too, right? I injected glue into his door, but I'll leave the adhesive remover with you. If you can ensure safety, let him out. If you can't handle it, wait until I get back. It's cold in here, so go wait for me at Fu Hu's place."
"Understood."
Su Jin nodded, then came to a sudden halt at the doorway.
He looked back at Sun Ya with an awkward grin. "How do you use this gun?"
Sun Ya laughed in sheer exasperation. "Good grief... and here I fucking thought you were hot shit! Come back here, I'll teach you!"
Forty minutes later.
Su Jin stood in the first-floor stairwell. Under his down jacket, he had layered on a crude, homemade zombie-defense suit fitted with insert plates.
He wore gloves on his hands and a motorcycle helmet on his head.
A silver gun and the shotgun were both tied to his waist with cords, and a machete was tucked into his belt at his side.
After all, he was an amateur; if he got nervous and dropped a gun, trying to get it back would be a major hassle, so he had to be thoroughly prepared.
In the dim stairwell, Su Jin lowered his head and regulated his breathing.
Once his heartbeat had relatively settled, he raised his foot and kicked the unit entrance door!
Thud! Thud! Thud! The heavy banging echoed outside the door.
At the sound, the zombies—which had frozen over with a thin layer of ice in the freezing cold—stirred into motion!
The brittle ice shells over their bodies cracked, and they stumbled toward Su Jin's position.
Before long, more than a dozen zombies were closing in on the unit entrance.
Right at that moment, the sharp pop of a firecracker echoed from the distance.
The zombies that had converged at the unit door turned around and shuffled toward the sound of the explosion.
At the same time, a rapid series of metallic clangs rang out from the handrail inside the stairwell.
Hesitating no longer, Su Jin yanked open the unit door!
Directly outside were more than a dozen zombies with their backs turned to him.
Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Nine shots in rapid succession, emptying all nine rounds.
Su Jin slammed the unit door shut and ducked back into the stairwell.
"Phew..." Exhaling a puff of white vapor, he turned and ran back up to the fifth floor.
Waiting at the top of the stairs to meet him was Fu Qingdai, a joyful look on her face, holding firecrackers in one hand and a wrench in the other.
"Brother, did it work?"
"Yeah... it worked. I think I killed three? Couldn't see clearly. We'll do a few more rounds in a bit." Su Jin ruffled Fu Qingdai's hair with gratification. "Good job!"
Chapter 29