Justice Partners

"You two must be the awakened ones she mentioned," Zhuang Wugou said as he stood up from his seat, extending his hand towards Ning Yu and Shen Yiyue.

Ning Yu stepped forward to shake his hand first.

They shook hands for several seconds, but nothing happened.

What? Ji Mengyao didn't say he was an awakened one with intelligence-related abilities? But now there's no hint at all.

Through physical contact, the system can determine the origin of the other person and their corresponding awakened abilities.

That means Zhuang Wugou in front of them is not an awakened one.

So where did his knowledge come from, and why did he claim to be an awakened one with intelligence-related abilities?

Zhuang Wugou didn't notice any reaction from Ning Yu and then turned to shake Shen Yiyue's hand.

"Since she brought you here to meet me, it seems you've decided to join the Ark exploration team?"

"Welcome to you both!"

He smiled warmly, looking very enthusiastic and happy to have new members join the exploration team.

However, Ning Yu couldn't see any joy on this man's face, nor any goodwill or malice.

He seemed devoid of emotion; the smile was just a movement of his facial muscles.

"Can you tell me why you want to join the Ark?"

"With your abilities, you should be able to live relatively easily outside, right?"

After the handshake, he looked at Ning Yu and Shen Yiyue, his smile not yet fading, but clearly in a scrutinizing state.

However, Ning Yu and Shen Yiyue had already prepared for this question before coming.

Ji Mengyao had told them that Zhuang Wugou would ask this.

"We think the Ark's concept is fantastic; the situation outside is getting worse, with terrifying mutated monsters roaming."

"To fight against such things, if we don't unite, it's like having no hope at all."

Shen Yiyue answered according to Ning Yu's instructions.

Zhuang Wugou's eyes lit up when he heard the phrase "if we don't unite, there's no hope":

"Well said!"

He couldn't help but say, nodding his head as if very satisfied.

"Is this also the purpose of your creating the Ark?"

Shen Yiyue followed up with a question.

"Yes, I don't know how this disaster started, but what's more important now is that if we want to survive, we must stick together."

Zhuang Wugou's gaze grew deep, as if contemplating a very serious topic.

"Why do you take on such a heavy burden yourself?"

Hearing Zhuang Wugou's words, Shen Yiyue felt a sense of unreality; could there really be such a noble person?

"Hahaha, good question."

Zhuang Wugou suddenly burst into laughter, and this time Ning Yu could see his genuine joy.

"It might sound a bit funny, but I've always wanted to be a partner of justice since I was a child."

He jokingly teased himself.

"For me, the continuation of humanity is the absolute justice that nothing can compare to."

Ning Yu's mouth twitched slightly; being a partner of justice, friend, that's a dangerous ideal.

"Besides, I'm not the one carrying this burden alone."

He changed the subject, pointing at Ji Mengyao:

"They are all my comrades; everyone gathered here for similar purposes."

"So I'm not shouldering this burden alone."

Ji Mengyao, who was boredly playing with her nails, suddenly felt embarrassed when she was mentioned.

After all, she had never thought about such a serious topic.

"By the way, Laozhuang, they want to visit the underground power generation layer, is that okay?"

Ji Mengyao, as if suddenly remembering, asked Zhuang Wugou.

This was something Ning Yu had mentioned earlier; she was curious about how this genius idea was implemented.

"Oh?"

Zhuang Wugou looked Ning Yu and Shen Yiyue up and down.

"This is the first time anyone's shown interest in this."

"Yeah, I never thought those living dead outside could have such a use."

Ning Yu pretended to be naive and said.

"Haha, no problem, I'll take you to see it."

Zhuang Wugou laughed and walked out of the office.

"Laozhuang, hearing them talk about it, I also want to go see it."

Ji Mengyao, who was also free at the moment, asked to go along.

"Come on, follow me."

Zhuang Wugou gestured for them to follow.

The group followed Zhuang Wugou to the elevator of the building, which was different from other apartment buildings, as it had a downward elevator.

After entering the elevator, Zhuang Wugou pressed the button for the -2 floor, which should have been the second level of a double-decker underground parking lot but had been modified.

"The air down there is bad; you should be mentally prepared."

As the elevator descended rapidly, Zhuang Wugou warned everyone.

Sure enough, when they reached the -2 floor, they could already faintly smell the familiar stench of rotting zombies.

"Aaah!"

"Ugh!"

As the elevator doors opened, the dense and chaotic roars of zombies filled the air.

Shen Yiyue and Ji Mengyao tensed up, as if ready to enter combat.

"Don't worry, they're all contained."

Zhuang Wugou, seeming to notice their state, said with a chuckle.

His expression didn't change at all, not even a frown, as if he couldn't smell the stifling stench.

The group exited the elevator and passed through a small corridor to the area that used to be the underground parking lot.

As soon as they reached the entrance, Shen Yiyue and Ji Mengyao widened their eyes.

The entire second underground level was filled with rows of iron cages, each containing a zombie.

They were placed on a machine resembling a treadmill, with their hands and feet bound by something on the machine.

In front of the machine, rotting meat, hanging from a mechanical arm, swayed tantalizingly close.

The zombies, seeing the food within reach, roared with desire, wildly flailing their limbs to get closer.

But it took a lot of effort for them to bite even a tiny piece of the meat.

Before they could enjoy it, the meat was cleverly moved away.

So they had to continue flailing their limbs, trying to get closer to the meat again.

All the zombies in the cages repeated this process.

Everyone stared at this incredible sight.

"How long can each one last?"

Shen Yiyue asked the first question, approaching one of the iron cages.

The zombie inside, seeing more fresh meat approach, flailed its limbs even more frantically, generating electricity more vigorously.

It roared, but it couldn't scare Shen Yiyue.

"Well, it depends on the supply of meat. With the current supply method, which is the best ratio calculated, one can last for several weeks."

Zhuang Wugou didn't give a specific number, just vaguely answered.

"And... what happens when they're used up?"

Shen Yiyue continued to ask.

"Used up? When they run out of strength, they will die completely, and the T-virus in their bodies will lose its activity due to lack of nutrients."

"Then just throw them away and replace them with the next one."

He described these zombies as if they were ordinary industrial consumables.

Ning Yu's ears, however, caught a familiar term: "T-virus."

Zhuang Wugou actually knew this virus was called the T-virus.