Chapter 85: A Million Zombies Mutate! The Half-Classic Mutation Begins

The Minister of Civil Affairs first demurred with practiced modesty, while at the same time hastily instructing the officials beside him to record the Minister of Science and Technology’s demands.

Before leaving, he clasped the other man’s hand with uncommon warmth and said, “Minister Liu, if you need anything, just say the word. I still have a few ways of getting things done.”

Back in the underground laboratory, the Minister of Science and Technology flew into a rage and decided to alter the direction of his research.

Some time earlier, quite a few researchers had insisted on pursuing things like whether white dwarfs tens of billions of light-years beyond the universe were accelerating away from the Milky Way, the psychological state of the ants of Shenzhen, the social structure of Pacific islanders, the medicinal effects of red wine, and so on. At the time, the Minister of Science and Technology had urged everyone to prioritize the present crisis, only to be scorned by those arrogant scientists, who paid him no mind at all. It was easy enough to understand: the finest scientists had already been taken away by the government, only to perish entirely on the road of flight.

This time, borrowing the authority of the Minister of Civil Affairs, the Minister of Science and Technology finally lost his temper. He immediately drove several so-called geniuses who were completely off the mark down to the Ministry of Civil Affairs’ basic labor brigade. In truth, many of these people were the sons, daughters, nephews, or nieces of academicians from the Academy of Sciences and elsewhere, planted in scientific research departments to coast through life. After explaining the situation, he asked Minister Ma to discipline them properly.

Minister Ma accepted with delight. With a grand flourish, he cut their provisions down to less than even the working-ration allotment, assigned them child-meal rations across the board, and then sent them off to the wilderness cleanup brigade.

Only months later, when Li Fengyi came for an inspection, they fell to their knees in tears and vowed, before the Minister of Science and Technology, to obey the leadership’s arrangements. “If anyone keeps acting out, if anyone refuses to study the undead, we’ll damn well curse his ancestors into the ground!” And so forth. In the middle of it all, there was quite a performance of the legendary Pipe-Poling Professor, but by then new selection measures had already begun, so there was no need to dwell on it.

With enthusiasm stirred and a great many experimental undead supplied, the research results of the Ministry of Science and Technology gushed forth in an endless stream.

The most common conclusion among them was that the cause remained unknown.

The first edition of the Ministry of Science and Technology’s “Undead Research Report,” issued by the Special Committee on the End of Days, stated: the undead are formed through viral infection, and this virus has already been observed under an electron microscope. It is effective against most animals, but usually only stimulates gigantism; the reason is unknown. The undead have begun to show signs of organization and intelligence, and the exact process by which these develop, as well as the trends of that development, is unknown. The undead continue to spread infection mainly through biting; scratches do not transmit the virus. The primary reason is that only the undead brain contains the virus, while the rest of the body does not. After zombification, consuming flesh and blood can accelerate recovery. Without flesh and blood, they will not starve to death within a short time; how long they can endure, and what substitute foods or energy sources might be used, is unknown. The undead are extremely resistant to low temperatures; minus forty-five degrees has no effect on them, and the virus remains infectious. The undead virus is resistant to extreme cold and vacuum, and can remain dormant under the intense radiation of space until conditions become suitable, at which point it will be activated. The undead possess physical strength that meets post-apocalyptic labor standards, amounting to two to three times that of pre-apocalyptic humans. Considering that the undead never account for the injuries caused by overexertion, their actual output is often five to six times greater. Their endurance is astonishing; no undead has yet been found to slow down from exhaustion. According to the general laws of biological evolution, transformation takes place in two forms, gradual and sudden. Regardless of which form it takes, it requires time—sometimes thousands or tens of thousands of years, sometimes only months or years. Humans, for instance, can accelerate species evolution through specific methods to the degree required by human needs. Current analysis suggests the undead are in the midst of such an evolutionary process, though the specific direction and speed of that evolution remain unknown. Mutated animals will wage war with the undead, perhaps to defend their territory, or perhaps because the undead need their flesh and blood; the reason is unknown. Rats raised in the subway are free of the virus and can be used as food for humans. The scientists were practically drooling over that one.

Li Fengyi looked at the thick report and felt that something was wrong no matter how he read it. He glanced at the Minister of Science and Technology sitting before his desk and asked, “What does it mean that the virus has already been observed under an electron microscope?”

“Well,” the minister said uneasily. After a few mumbles, he blushed and admitted, “Actually, the top-tier personnel from various scientific departments were activated on the day the end came, placed under emergency evacuation measures, and left with the central authorities. People like us usually worked on rather marginal directions, or on work that could not directly help with the crisis. Quite a few of us were simply relatives of those academicians and the like, drawing a salary in the research departments to get by.”

So it was only now that the remaining personnel had managed to identify the virus, because all the separable samples had been taken away. Li Fengyi felt his teeth ache with irritation.

Seeing the playful look in Li Fengyi’s eyes, the minister hurried to explain, “The highest-level evacuation plan could only evacuate the principal individual. That day I couldn’t bear to leave my daughter, so I secretly stayed behind from the evacuation convoy. The underground laboratory is very well sealed, and the reserves are sufficient. I thought we could hold out for a long time...”

Li Fengyi kept looking at him without speaking. The minister knew he could not slip through this one, so he gritted his teeth and said, “I’ve been in the scientific strategic planning department for less than two years. I was the most junior person there, so I was ordered to remain on duty.”

What followed was nothing more than the usual claims that he was indispensable to scientific strategy and planning, that he had merely been overlooked for various reasons, and that he had still achieved one accomplishment after another.

Li Fengyi knew very well that in such circumstances, people always argued that they were immensely important. When someone retired, for instance, they would often tell others that after they joined the unit, this department or that one declined, whereas when they were there, they had done this wonderfully and that excellently.

The Minister of Science and Technology had a clear, efficient way of thinking befitting a civil servant, and among those who had taken the exam at the time, he had been one of the outstanding candidates. That was the reason he had been able to become a minister.

Scientific research had its own peculiarities, and Li Fengyi, being in technical work himself, understood this well. So he said nothing. He simply insisted that all the ministry’s efforts must revolve around the undead as the central research topic. If they still failed to produce results, things would become troublesome. To drive the point home, he even pretended to tidy up his things and knocked over his lunch box, spilling a table full of meat, eggs, and side dishes. The Minister of Science and Technology watched it all while swallowing hard.

Li Fengyi also required the Ministry of Science and Technology to properly manage its staffing. If anyone wanted the same treatment as the elderly at home, they could help search for news of them, and until such news was found, the Civil Affairs Ministry would handle their arrangements.

“If the Ministry of Science and Technology causes any more trouble...” Li Fengyi said, lifting his eyelids and glancing at the minister, then fell silent.

Later, the minister would describe it as a strand of cold light; at that moment, he knew that humankind would surely prevail.

After he returned, there was naturally no need to spare anyone’s dignity. For academicians and leaders’ children who had been coasting along and putting on airs, the minister simply showed them the regulations of the Special Committee, and then the Civil Affairs Ministry, together with the Public Security Ministry’s baton police, hauled them out.

At once the atmosphere in the Ministry of Science and Technology changed completely, and everyone began to work in a far more practical manner.