Currently, the land around the three houses in Lin Qiao's space had been developed by Lu Tianyi. The disaster hit the base severely, so Lu Tianyi felt that it would be such a waste if his sister's space wasn't used for farming.
So, Lu Tianyi was in Lin Qiao's space at present, refusing to come out.
Lin Qiao let him do whatever he wanted. Still, she would go there to help him fetch water from the lake from time to time. She was the only one able to approach the lake after all.
Meanwhile, the three creatures who were allowed to play happily on the grassland were driven into the woods.
"Owooo…" Bowwow sat at the edge of the woods, barking at the three houses grumpily. The grassland that he and his little friends used to play on was gone. Lu Tianyi had removed all the grasses. His next step was to loosen the soil.
Lin Qiao sent Xiao-xiao, Pesticide, and a few other zombies into the space to help Lu Tianyi.
She returned to the base at night. The new result from the research of Lin Hao and Leng Xuantong gave her a headache.
"So, are you saying that the people whom we thought were safe, are no longer safe? What does 'possible development' mean? Is there a hidden problem?" Lin Hao read the materials with a frown, Lin Hao sitting in front of her.
"I was thinking about it. If that material is from the gas that came from underground, everybody should have inhaled it." After all, all the people needed to breathe.
Lin Hao folded his arms and thought for a moment, then said, "So, I did some experiments with my blood and Leng Xuantong's. I found that the material is hiding in our blood indeed. It requires certain conditions to trigger it."
He ran electricity through his blood and Leng Xuantong's. The material that was hidden in their blood was triggered by electricity with different intensity. After that, he ran the same experiment with the blood of some other people. As a result, he found that the trigger point for each person's blood wasn't the same.
Some people's blood boiled under fifty-volt electric shock while some required over ten-thousand-volt. The trigger point varied from person to person.
"How could this happen? So, you and the other people might lose your minds at some point, or under some kind of stimulation?" Lin Qiao furrowed her brows and looked at him.
"That is bad news. But, we have good news too," Lin Hao nodded and said with glowing eyes, "The mania seems to be a one-time thing. Leng Xuantong has tested the blood of the ones who have been through that. Their blood no longer contains that material. We are not sure yet. But if we're right, they won't go crazy again."
"Really? How can you be sure about that? Didn't you say that there might be an incubation period?"
It could be counted as good news indeed if it were true.
"I just said that we're not sure yet," Lin Hao shrugged and said.
Lin Qiao sighed, "Alright, I get it."
Lin Hao finished the report and then left. Lin Qiao leaned against the back of the chair, looking outside the window into the darkness of night. Her eyes glowed dimly.
She didn't need to breathe. But still, she could tell that the air pollution was growing more and more serious. If it kept turning worse, the air would become highly harmful for human beings.
The living condition for humans was becoming more and more critical.
Lin Qiao entered her space and stood before a house, watching Lu Tianyi, Xiao-xiao, Pesticide, and about twenty zombies working in the field without taking a break. Days and nights didn't exist in her space, and those zombies didn't need to rest.
Mrs. Lin had been sitting in the house quietly since she drank Lin Qiao's blood. Lin Qiao glanced at her hair and clothes. Her clothes had been changed, but her hair still looked a little messy.
Lin Qiao grabbed a chair from the house and put it outside, then waved at Mrs. Lin, "Come and sit here. I'll brush your hair."
Mrs. Lin was still afraid of Lin Qiao, but was also obedient toward her. When she looked at Lin Qiao, her eyes were mostly filled with confusion.
As her mother sat down on the chair, Lin Qiao found a comb from the house. Qiu Lili and Liu Jun had a lot of those. She quickly brushed her mother's hair, then tied it up into a ponytail at the back of her head, making her look better than before.
After that, she put the comb in Mrs. Lin's hands, then walked to the lakeside while looking at the peaceful, dark-green lake. Two figures slowly walked up behind her.
"The environment of the earth is becoming more and more difficult for humans. The earth isn't dying though. Is it healing itself? After all, human beings have been causing damage all these years," Lin Qiao said without looking back.
The two stood about one meter away from her. She was a couple of meters away from the lake water, so the two zombies were able to walk near her.
The two heard what she said, but neither of them responded to her.
Lin Qiao turned around and glanced at Mo Yan's head, then continued with, "You're healing slowly. At this rate, it might take you years to regain all your power, right?"
Mo Yan's face was still covered those weird black marks. He wore no expression, looking cold and wicked. Standing by his side was that pretty female zombie in a white dress. She had faint dark circles under her eyes.
Those two were inseparable.
On hearing Lin Qiao's words, Mo Yan showed a sullen look. He could feel that he was healing very slowly. Who could tell what the world would become like in a few years? Everybody was growing stronger, yet he was turning weaker.
However, what Lin Qiao said next cheered him up.
"You might not know that mankind has suffered a second apocalypse during these days," Lin Qiao turned back to the lake and said blandly, "Every base has lost a large number of residents. Some of them turned into zombies. The plants died or mutated. But, it seems to have nothing to do with you."
While speaking, she gave Mo Yan another glance.
Mo Yan felt a little speechless. 'Why did you tell me about it then?' he thought.
Lin Qiao understood the look in his eyes, so she added, "I'm just telling you about the news from the outside so that you won't be too bored in here."
Mo Yan was bored indeed. There was nothing for him to do in the space. Only Lin Qiao would talk to him occasionally. The other people or zombies wouldn't communicate with him at all.
Lin Qiao soon exited the space and returned to her room to absorb energy.
She had stopped wearing belts already, and switched her shirts to loose-fitting men's shirts. She always put on a combat coat to cover her body, so other people didn't notice her bulging belly.
She put a hand on her belly. Sensing how her body changed every single day, she expected the baby increasingly. She hoped that Viney would come to the world in the shape of a human.
She was aware that her body could not breed a healthy human baby, but still wanted her baby to at least look like a human being.