Cannon fodder in the Interstellar

As soon as Lin mother woke up, she heard that her daughter, who had just returned, was going on another adventure. She grabbed her hand and wouldn’t let go, feeling extremely worried.

For her daughter, who had returned after being lost, Lin mother truly wished she could protect her tightly and prevent her from facing any more danger.

Even Lin father wore an expression of disapproval, hoping she would stay.

“Mom, you know the world has changed now. If I don’t go, my brother will have to go. He’s so weak, if he goes, it will likely end badly for him, but for me, there’s really no danger. You and Dad don’t need to worry. My combat skills are very high now, and I’ve brought back a lot of advanced weapons. Unless we encounter an eighth-tier mutated animal, no matter how many mutated animals we face, they’ll just be like food for us,” Ruo Manni comforted her mother.

“Even with hundreds of soldiers, Brother Song couldn’t deal with the mutated animals, but I can easily solve them with just a sword. I don’t even need to use a handgun.” To ease her mother’s worries, Ruo Manni didn’t mind boasting a little about her abilities.

“Mom, don’t worry. What my sister says is true. Brother Song told me that on their way to B City, to capture mutated animals, they had to stop in the wilderness at night and even used car headlights to attract them. Last night, when Brother Song and the others were escaping, they suddenly saw these creatures and even suspected they were dealing with ghosts or spirits,” Lin Kexin said, laughing at the thought.

“Mutated animals are deadly for ordinary people, but for us and other ability users, they are the best source of food. That’s why we want to capture as many as we can. There are many mutated animals in Pingyang, which is exactly what we need. Mom, don’t worry,” Ruo Manni reassured her.

“Wife, our daughter is confident, so don’t worry,” Lin father persuaded.

Lin father had a broader perspective than Lin mother. He believed that his daughter was not lying, and he knew that a great disaster was coming. They needed to gather more supplies before it arrived.

Since entering the base, Lin mother had not gone out, but because her son was the base leader, she was still very concerned about the situation outside. She knew that the highest level of mutated animals outside were only fourth-tier, and at most, they could reach the fifth-tier.

After drinking the medicine her daughter had brought back, Lin mother felt much lighter and stronger after sleeping. She could clearly feel her physical condition improving, which made her realize that her daughter really had come back from a highly advanced future world.

Although she couldn’t tell exactly how skilled her daughter was, she knew that her daughter and her companions were not ordinary people.

Moreover, if her husband and son were not confident, they would never let her go on such an adventure.

Lin mother could only remind her daughter to be careful at all times.

Song Changlong’s actions went very smoothly. Thanks to Ruo Manni’s advice to resolve things quickly and gather as many supplies as possible, Tamaki Kazia and Sheila had been clearing the way in front. Their formidable skills earned them the admiration of Song Changlong and his men throughout the journey.

Originally, Song Changlong thought it would be very difficult to enter the city center of B City because there were so many zombies there, and clearing the path would take a lot of time.

However, with the experts leading the way, they easily swept through the area, leaving no chance for others to fight. As a result, they managed to search the entire B City in just half a day.

Excited by the success, Song Changlong decided not to return to the base that night and continued heading toward C City.

Ruo Manni and Hebrew Adam, following the coordinates provided by Lin Ruihai, transformed their flying car into a helicopter and flew directly to their destination.

In the over 1,000 kilometers of their journey, they encountered two groups of mutated flying birds and one group of zombie birds in the sky.

If it had been an Earth helicopter, it would have crashed long ago due to the bird flocks, but Ruo Manni’s flying car remained steady no matter how the birds collided or attacked it.

Moreover, because of the flying car’s movement, the mutated bird flock and the zombie bird flock clashed. The mutated birds clearly feared the zombie birds and quickly fled, with the zombie birds hot on their tail.

The people inside the flying car watched as some of the mutated birds, pecked by the zombie birds, turned into zombie birds themselves in less than a minute and flew off to join the chase. They marveled at how powerful the zombie virus was.

“Why is this happening? These zombie birds and those zombies look like they have no life left. Why do they still have such a desperate urge to feed?” Mina-Olli had already started pondering this.

No one could answer Mina-Olli’s question because this situation had never been seen or heard of in the space age.

Ruo Manni had read about it in novels during the Earth era, but this was the real world. No one knew where the zombie virus had come from or why it had spread so quickly across the entire planet. It had been over three months, and no one had any answers.

“The source of this disaster is said to have been caused by a meteorite crash,” Ruo Manni thought aloud.

“This world wasn’t formed in just one or two years. Even the development of human society has a history spanning thousands or even tens of thousands of years. During this time, meteorites must have fallen before. Why didn’t anything like this happen in the past, but now it has?” Mina-Olli continued.

Ruo Manni sharply looked at her. “Did you discover something?”

Mina-Olli nodded. “I did some research, and I think this virus doesn’t seem like a natural occurrence. The most direct effect of this virus is that it reduces the infected creature to just the instinct to feed. The energy taken from food directly forms crystal cores in the creature’s brain, and the more they eat, the bigger the crystal core becomes.”

“Mina, are you saying that someone, or some intelligent being, deliberately released this virus in this world to harvest the crystal cores?” Hua Deli immediately understood Mina-Olli’s point.

“That’s what I believe. A virus with such a specific function couldn’t have evolved naturally in nature,” Mina-Olli said.

Ruo Manni’s heart grew cold. Mina-Olli’s theory made a lot of sense because they had studied related virology at Xuan Gu Military Academy.

The various behaviors of the zombie virus strongly suggested that it wasn’t naturally occurring.

The elite team in the flying car all agreed with Mina-Olli’s conclusion.

Ruo Manni had a sudden doubt. If Mina-Olli’s hypothesis was correct, then who was the mastermind behind all this?

“There are unknown enemies in this world. We should be cautious and not let them know our true identities,” Hebrew Adam said.

Seeing Hebrew Adam’s expression, Ruo Manni noticed that he didn’t seem surprised and quietly asked him, “Did you figure it out too?”

“We’ve all suspected it for a while,” Hebrew Adam looked at Ruo Manni with a slightly puzzled expression. “Actually, it’s pretty obvious. Didn’t you notice at all? Why are you being so slow this time?”

Ruo Manni felt a bit embarrassed. She realized that her thinking had been influenced by movies and novels she had seen before. She had a fixed idea in her mind that the zombie virus was likely a virus carried by a meteorite, which mutated on Earth, causing the appearance of zombies. As a result, she hadn’t thought in other directions.

If Mina-Olli’s theory was correct, it meant that the zombie virus had been deliberately released on Earth by someone, aiming to turn the planet into a source of crystal cores.