Chapter 431: Successful Development
While madly collecting crystal cores, Su Tao poured all her energy into the task of capturing mutant zombies.
She was so busy that she often skipped meals, and even Lei Xing and the others, who had returned to Taoyang, couldn’t see her.
Zhuang Wan shook her head at Lei Xing and said:
“Captain Lei, don’t bother looking for her. Let our boss have some peace. Her pressure is immense—only by keeping herself as busy as a spinning top can she find some relief.”
Lei Xing took her advice and didn’t disturb Su Tao. Instead, he joined the team preparing for her birthday.
No matter how busy or tense things were, the people of Taoyang were determined to stay up late and give their boss a wonderful birthday celebration.
It seemed like there was an unspoken competition across Taoyang to see who could stay up the latest.
Even Shi Zijin, who patrolled every night, was leading Cen Tianjiao and the others to help with preparations.
Cen Tianjiao and his team were exhausted. They were so overworked that they even dreamed of their boss floating midair during a battle, asking if the pink helicopter was ready.
Su Tao, completely absorbed in her zombie-catching mission, didn’t notice the secret preparations. When she saw how exhausted everyone looked, she assumed it was due to their overtime efforts and pushed herself even harder.
If she was going to work herself to the bone, she would drag Shi Zijin along with her. She not only made him check in every night but also assigned him extensive patrol duties.
Shi Zijin felt this was borderline ghost labor exploitation—but he didn’t dare complain and kept floating around while squeezing in time for birthday preparations.
Su Tao didn’t just exploit ghosts—she exploited birds and cats too.
Lingyu and Black Sesame were drafted into her intelligence-gathering team.
Thanks to the intense and high-frequency capture efforts, the results were striking—death rates across the region dropped by 40%.
The research at the experimental base also accelerated. What was originally estimated to take two months was compressed into two weeks. Finally, one early morning, Shen Wencheng gazed at a vial of blue-green liquid, shimmering under the lab lights.
His throat tightened.
It worked. It really worked…
He buried his head in his arms, his shoulders trembling.
The surrounding researchers, dusty and exhausted, also quietly shed tears.
Suppressing his emotions, Shen Wencheng asked his assistant to call Su Tao.
Groggy from just falling asleep, Su Tao answered the phone and was stunned. She dashed to the experimental base in her pajamas.
When she saw the vial in Shen Wencheng’s hand, it felt like she was staring at the light of salvation through the three-milliliter liquid.
Shen Wencheng led her to the specimen chamber. He sliced off a finger from a captured “Hua Pi” zombie and placed it in a dish. He then dripped a single drop of the new reagent onto it.
“Boss Su, look.”
Su Tao’s eyes widened as the reagent touched the severed finger. It ignited like a spark hitting dry tinder, and within seconds, the finger disintegrated into ash.
Even the ashes themselves gradually corroded in the air—disappearing completely.
“Only three milliliters are needed to kill a mutant zombie completely.”
To further prove its effectiveness, Shen Wencheng used the reagent on a freshly captured mutant zombie. As soon as the liquid touched its skin, the zombie disintegrated within a minute, writhing in agony before turning to dust.
“It has no harmful effects on humans,” Shen Wencheng added, dripping a drop onto his arm.
Having witnessed the terrifying disintegration, Su Tao was a bit apprehensive—but the liquid evaporated harmlessly, just like alcohol.
She was overwhelmed.
So, if they could produce enough of this reagent… this damned apocalypse could finally end.
Now that it had actually happened, it felt almost unreal.
Yet, tears still rolled down her face.
Shen Wencheng’s eyes were also red. “Boss Su, we’re 99% there. All that’s left is mass production. Please prepare helicopters to disperse the reagent and capture as many mutant zombies as possible. We need samples to scale up the production.”
“When our helicopters soar over the Federation’s lands, this nightmare will be over.”
The hardest part was done—only the final stretch remained!
Su Tao wiped her tears and nodded firmly. “Got it. Leave it to me!”
She only shared the news of the reagent’s success with a few key leaders.
When the Old Commander heard about it, he bowed his head in silence for a long time. When he raised his head again, his eyes glistened with tears.
“If only Old Liao had held on a little longer, he could have heard this news himself. Why couldn’t he have hung on just a bit more? He was the most stubborn when we used to argue.”
Unable to bear his sorrow, Su Tao quietly left the room.
The Taoyang lab entered a new wave of feverish activity.
They had reached the final sprint—every second meant saving lives.
Su Tao cut her sleep to just three hours a day, tirelessly chasing down mutant zombies. At the slightest sign of trouble, she would arrive immediately, her eyes gleaming whenever she spotted a zombie.
To her now, mutant zombies had transformed from terrifying monsters into symbols of hope.
The more she captured, the more reagent Shen Wencheng could produce—and the closer they came to ending the apocalypse.
However, her relentless efforts made it increasingly difficult for the Sirens to gather their forces, and their hostility toward Taoyang grew fiercer.
The Sirens soon caught wind of the fact that Taoyang was not only the center for reagent and vaccine production but that the successful cure was imminent.
Although the precise effect of the reagent on them remained unknown, they were sure it would be disastrous.
Taoyang was a thorn in their side—a threat they could no longer ignore.
Since covert operations had failed, the Sirens decided to go all out.
They broadcasted a message to all hidden mutants: Attack Taoyang!
“Taoyang is the enemy capturing our kin! Instead of hiding in the shadows, we will strike openly! Only by crushing Taoyang can we dominate humanity and claim this world as ours!”
“We refuse to remain outcasts, hidden and broken! We possess power and intelligence equal to humans—we are the rightful rulers of this world!”
“If we stand united, even Taoyang’s strongest defenses will crumble before us!”
The bold declaration sparked global panic.
The Sirens were no longer hiding—they had formally declared war on humanity.
And their primary target was Taoyang—the beacon of hope.
From the shadows, countless mutant zombies bared their fangs and surged toward Taoyang like a raging storm.
