You were supposed to hoard supplies, why the heck did you hoard zombies!-Chapter 291 - 290: The Characteristics of Corpse Worm

Dr. Zhao saw the urgency in Zhang Ye’s demeanor and knew he was indeed at his wit’s end.

He took a deep breath and then said seriously, "Actually, there’s an approach we could try, which is to use the natural enemies of rats to control their numbers."

"Natural enemies?" Zhang Ye was momentarily taken aback, "You mean cats? Eagles? Or snakes? Can these creatures handle so many rats?"

Dr. Zhao shook his head, "Cats and eagles are for dealing with ordinary rats, but they probably won’t be very effective against mutant rat swarms."

"I remember you mentioned before that apart from the Mutant Canine, another common Mutant Beast in the city evolved from what used to be feral cats."

"Hmm."

"These feral cats all look like leopards now."

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"They mostly hide in those abandoned high-rise buildings, lying low during the day and emerging at night. People out on missions usually avoid them."

"That’s it."

A smile crept onto Dr. Zhao’s face.

"Even if these mutant feral cats’ bodies have changed, their habits probably haven’t altered much. If I’m not mistaken, their main diet should consist of zombies and other Mutant Beasts, right?"

Zhang Ye, hearing this, was slightly stunned but immediately shook his head:

"Not just that."

"They eat anything that’s alive."

"So usually, when a building is found to have these mutant feral cats lurking inside, the combat department’s personnel prefer to retreat, to avoid unnecessary casualties."

He didn’t finish his sentence.

Even though the combat department did their best to steer clear of these dangerous enemies, there were still frequent instances of people being carried away by the cats, and by the time they were found, usually only gnawed-clean skeletons remained.

Cats, regardless of their size, are infamous for their incredibly agile speed and their ability to appear and disappear unpredictably.

Once targeted, it’s very difficult to escape in the confined spaces indoors.

Dr. Zhao, of course, understood what he meant.

But now was clearly not the time to consider how dangerous mutant feral cats were to humans.

Even with their large appetites, at most they could kill one or two people per day, but the massive swarms of rats were different; they were the real disaster that could swallow the entire city.

And what he intended to suggest was far from being as simple as utilizing these Mutant Beasts.

"I’ve been studying the characteristics of Corpse Worms lately."

"Do you remember what I said last time?"

Upon hearing this, Zhang Ye quickly recalled the scene he had witnessed in the lab before.

He nodded and said, "I remember."

Dr. Zhao looked at him, a strange expression crossing his face, and then continued, "Do you also remember the difference between symbiosis and parasitism?"

Zhang Ye, of course, remembered it very clearly, as it was one of the few chances he had had to observe under a microscope.

Especially such a bizarre sight.

"Of course, I remember."

"But what does that have to do with the topic we’re discussing today?"

"It’s very much related," Dr. Zhao said, with a hint of pride suddenly on his face.

He then reached over to the table beside him and picked up a bottle containing some sort of liquid that appeared faintly red.

"The liquid in this bottle was recently extracted from the bodies of zombies that were brought in."

"It has gone through numerous purifications and analyses."

"It’s all Corpse Worms, just a drop is enough to infect everyone in the medical center and turn them into zombies."

Zhang Ye’s pupils constricted sharply, his gaze instantly fixed on the palm-sized bottle in the man’s hand, and his body instinctively began to back away. Explore stories on novelbuddy

But reason quickly overcame fear, and he calmed down again soon.

He didn’t speak, only looking at Dr. Zhao.

"Corpse Worms?"

"You’ve successfully extracted Corpse Worms?"

The other party nodded, looked down at the bottle in his hand, and said calmly, "Strictly speaking, they are not Corpse Worms as they are too small. I could only continuously mix and separate the body fluids of the zombies for analysis."

"But for the problem we need to solve, it should be sufficient."

Zhang Ye still didn’t quite understand what he meant.

Although the extraction of Corpse Worms did shock him, what necessary connection did this have with solving the crisis brought by the rat swarm?

Dr. Zhao could naturally see the confusion in the eyes of his superior and said with a smile:

"The characteristic of Corpse Worms is that they do not parasitize on the host’s body tissues like ordinary parasites but merge their genetic sequences with those of the hosts."

"What if I said we could utilize this characteristic for gene modification?"

"Gene modification?"

"Holy shit! For real?"

Zhang Ye was completely shocked.

He had just thought to try his luck by visiting.

After all, Dr. Zhao usually kept a low profile. Except for showing some of his capabilities while handling an infectious disease at the base a while back, he typically played the role of an invisible man at other times.

Although he was in charge of the entire medical center, in reality, most of the work was done by a few colleagues.

Two fellow doctors and the young nurse Chu Yan were busy every day.

The person in charge hardly ever showed his face.

Who knew that not showing up would have been fine, but the moment he did, he stunned Zhang Ye with something big. Originally, he thought asking for some rat poison would suffice, but now it had leaped straight to genetic modification?

Are all doctors with overseas education so impressive?

Dr. Zhao was pleased with his reaction.

Although he rarely spoke, his personality was very proud, and seeing Zhang Ye with an expression of encountering a big shot instantly satisfied his vanity.

"Simply put, it is about utilizing the Corpse Worms’ ability to change the genetic sequence of the host to modify a certain type of creature."

"For instance, making those natural enemies of rats even more powerful."

"Or, making them more inclined to eat rats."

"Rather than people."

Zhang Ye still looked at him in some amazement.

Making Mutant Beasts even more powerful sounded like a double-edged sword; if not handled well, it could backfire on themselves.

But what if they could change these Mutant Beasts’ habits, making them eat only rats from now on—

Even if it were just a tendency.

What would be the consequences?

He didn’t need to think much to guess that this would be a change affecting the entire city and even the whole world!

The main enemies that survivors currently face outside are naturally zombies.

But those omnipresent Mutant Beasts are equally dangerous.

The casualties they cause account for at least one-third of the total casualties among the company’s survivors.

If from now on, these Mutant Beasts’ habits changed to no longer eat humans, or rather, were more inclined to prey on zombies and other Mutant Beasts in the streets, the safety index for human survivors active outdoors would increase by several times!

And this sounded like something that would never happen.

Dr. Zhao, is it possible?