"Delayed gratification?" Su Jin frowned, a flicker of confusion in his eyes.
"Precisely. Their bloodlust is overwhelming; they will strike the nanosecond an opportunity presents itself. The man who died yesterday instinctively began hunting the moment his true nature was exposed." Sun Ya offered a grim smile, jerking his thumb back at Rat No. 3. "And look at our friend here. Once it realized its cover was blown, it hasn't stopped attacking the cage. It gets fatigued, it needs calories, but the moment it recovers, the endless assault resumes."
"Little Su, do you see the pattern?"
Su Jin's brow furrowed into a tight knot before suddenly smoothing out. "You're saying... we can engineer a trap? Bait them into exposing their predatory instincts to flush out the traitors?"
"Exactly! Now you're thinking!" Sun Ya slapped his thigh and leaned forward intently. "We drafted the entire operational blueprint last night. It's viable."
"We still have a decent headcount of survivors in this complex. Shortly after the storm hit, emergency broadcasts and mass texts explicitly warned against touching the rainwater or tap water. Your average citizen would avoid it. The concentration of the gray substance in the municipal plumbing shouldn't be lethal, and the warnings went out early, limiting the infection pool. And statistically, those who did get infected are far more likely to mutate into a standard Zombie than a Disguised Infected."
"The casualty rate in the adjacent building backs up that hypothesis. That acts as our first screening net."
"As for any Disguised Infected barricaded indoors, their instincts won't let them sit idle while fresh meat is nearby. They'll either break containment or hunt their roommates. Since they don't transmit the virus passively, the current survivors are overwhelmingly likely to be clean. A mandatory, fully naked physical inspection will filter out the remaining physical anomalies. That's our second net."
"They also possess a sense of self-preservation. They fear Zombie attacks and require Supplies to function, so holing up is a logical survival strategy for them," Wei De chimed in.
"Undeniably," Sun Ya continued. "But even relying solely on the first two filters, our recruitment risk drops exponentially. If we can establish a third line of defense, we can effectively zero out the variables and aggressively expand our roster."
"Post-recruitment, we implement strict operational protocols. The buddy system, zero isolation. Denying them the opportunity to strike suppresses the Disguised Infected's impulse to trigger a mutiny. Even if a few slip through, as long as we maintain a chokehold on their leash, they become our assets."
Su Jin stroked his chin, calculating. "This third net involves baiting their bloodlust, right? But how exactly do we execute that? It's unfeasible. I can't just toss a living civilian into a room with them as a canary."
"The Disguised Infected possess human intelligence, not rat brains. They aren't going to fall for something that obvious."
"Correct. The logistical and risk costs of using human bait are astronomical, and the trap must appear entirely organic. That leaves us with a single variable: small biological test subjects." Sun Ya pointed at the cage.
"Their predatory drive extends to non-human organisms. Rat bait perfectly fits our operational parameters. We commandeer authority—acting as state actors—and use the pretext of delivering rations to smuggle a rat into their unit. We mandate they remain locked in their bedrooms under penalty of execution. This confines the testing area, forces an encounter, and prevents flight. We track the aftermath, and boom—the third line of defense is sealed."
"We only have two or three normal rats left in inventory," Su Jin pointed out, his frown deepening. "Furthermore, how do we establish a tracking mechanism? If the rat gets swallowed whole, how the hell would I verify it?"
"Ah, yes." Sun Ya arched his eyebrows, the academic enthusiasm draining from his voice. "Therefore... we need to procure a massive supply of live rats. And alongside the rats, we need Sodium Fluorescein. A biochemical dye to mark anyone who consumes the bait."
"It's freezing outside and the world just ended. Where am I supposed to source a rat colony?" Su Jin asked, his expression souring. "And this chemical reagent, where do we loot that?"
"We've already mapped the logistics for you. Longshan Medical University houses a subterranean laboratory. It's a premier domestic facility equipped with an emergency, independent power grid maintaining constant temperature and humidity. The test subjects inside are guaranteed to be alive. Even factoring in starvation, a cannibalistic equilibrium would ensure a surviving population. That lab holds stockpiles of Sodium Fluorescein and Portable UV Light. Secure those, and our testing kit is fully operational."
"A college has a bunker lab that high-tech?"
"Universities are elite research hubs; their facilities vastly outclass standard hospitals. Besides, surely you're intimately familiar with Longshan Medical University?"
"Uh... Right. Obviously."
Sun Ya and Wei De shared a loaded glance before hastily looking away.
Wei De unhooked his glasses, polishing the lenses with the hem of his shirt. He kept his head bowed, his tone conspicuously casual. "Yes... Little Su definitely knows the place..."
"Why are you two acting so shady all of a sudden?" Su Jin's eyes darted suspiciously between the two elders.
"Ahem, it's nothing at all!" Sun Ya forcefully pivoted the conversation. "Actually, a thought just occurred to me, Little Su. That Fleshy Orb... you can absorb it, but is it viable for others?"
"What kind of question is that? We literally debriefed on this last night. The biological payload inside the Fleshy Orb is a completely different compound from the gray mist. I processed it for a physiological upgrade without mutating; statistically, you all can do the same. Why? Do you think I'm running on a different set of organs?"
"No, no, no, of course not..." Sun Ya waved his hands frantically, immediately fishing a leather-bound notebook from his breast pocket and sliding it across the table.
"This is the formalized operational plan we drafted this morning. Review it."
Su Jin snatched up the notebook and scanned the pages. By the time he flipped the cover shut, the heavy crease between his brows remained.
He looked up. "I have zero structural issues with this proposal. Tactically speaking, it is the optimal protocol for our current reality. However, executing this means we abort all urban expansion plans. It locks us into the military district extraction route."
"Correct. It confines our secure recruitment radius strictly to this complex. We can scrape together enough manpower to form a reinforced company. Pushing beyond that perimeter risks total systemic collapse." Sun Ya paused. "You're concerned the Disguised Infected have the same strategic map, aren't you? That they'll target the military district as well."
"Affirmative. We already have evidence of upper-echelon infiltration. They retain human intelligence and tactical reasoning; it's highly probable they'll zero in on the biggest armory in the region."
"You're projecting standard human psychology onto mutated apex predators. Their core drive is immediate slaughter; long-term strategic development fundamentally contradicts their biological imperative. Furthermore, don't overestimate the bureaucratic elite. The government has its fair share of idiots. They simply possessed higher security clearances, not superior intellect."
Su Jin drummed his fingers on the table, closing the notebook with a soft thud.
"It's all theoretical. There are no zero-risk variables on this board. We're betting blind."
"Precisely," Wei De sighed heavily. "But our primary concern is the logistics of the vanguard. The shortest route from this complex to Longshan Medical University is roughly four miles. An eight-mile round trip. And your only viable tactical escorts are Cheng Du and Fu Hu. That distance... it's a tightrope walk over an open grave."
"Little Su, the final call is yours. Greenlight it or scrap it... If the risk is too high, we pivot and brainstorm alternatives."
Su Jin shifted his cold gaze to the mutated rat violently gnawing at the steel mesh of its cage. A look of naked, calculating malice spread across his face as he muttered to himself.
"I'm sure you professors have already run this simulation but didn't want to spook me... These new mutants retain their intellect. Extrapolating that data, the standard Zombies could very well evolve cognitive functions as they adapt. We might eventually see a convergence of the two species. Hell, we might even face apex mutants capable of commanding a Zombie Horde like an army."
The two elders simultaneously lowered their heads, a heavy, suffocating silence swallowing the room.
"So what the hell are we hesitating for? If we paralyze ourselves analyzing the risk margins, we'll rot in this room." Su Jin pulled his gaze from the cage, a sharp, unhinged smile cutting across his face. "This is our silver bullet. We're taking the shot."