Chapter 8

But to his surprise, the call to 120 couldn’t get through.

Stunned, he tried several times, only to find that his phone had no signal at all when he checked the screen.

"How could this be... Could it be because we're in the countryside, there's no signal?" Chu Nan muttered to himself, trying to call 110 and 119, but none of them worked.

"It’s no use, can’t get through." Chu Nan could only give up.

Tang Sanli looked at Lu Tianming, who was almost in a semi-comatose state, sighed, and said, "Let’s rest here until dawn. He’s in no condition to move. As for them..." He sighed again, looking at the middle-aged peasant woman and the villager in his forties.

The middle-aged peasant woman and the villager had stopped struggling. The peasant woman’s eyes were wide open, as if she couldn’t rest in peace.

Dongzi squatted on the ground, took out a pack of slightly crumpled cigarettes, which were the 20-yuan-per-pack Five-Star Wan, and handed one to each person.

Although they were detainees, some capable individuals could still obtain cigarettes through the guards.

Tang Sanli was the head of Cell 7 and could get cigarettes every day, but this time, the earthquake prevented him from bringing any. He hadn’t found any cigarettes in the car earlier and was already craving. Seeing that Dongzi had cigarettes, he quickly took one and put it in his mouth.

Dongzi took out a lighter and lit it for him, his face somewhat gloomy, and said, "Brother Tang, do you think... they might... turn into zombies?"

These words sent a chill through everyone’s heart.

Dongzi also lit a cigarette for Chu Nan. Chu Nan didn’t have a smoking habit, but he occasionally smoked. After the terrifying and dangerous events of the night, he lit a cigarette, took a deep puff, and let the smoke slowly escape through his nostrils. For the first time, he realized how wonderful smoking could be.

It had to be admitted that in a terrifying and uneasy situation, smoking could help stabilize one’s nerves.

Looking at the dead middle-aged peasant woman and the villager in his forties, Chu Nan shook his head and said, "They probably won’t turn into zombies. Although I don’t know the reason, it seems that those who are killed don’t turn into zombies. The ones who have turned might have some specific reason."

Tang Sanli exhaled a puff of smoke and said, "That’s hard to say. Maybe they need some time after death to turn into zombies."

"If you’re afraid of them turning, there’s another way," Chu Nan said, standing up.

Dongzi became interested and asked, "Oh, what way?"

Chu Nan thought for a moment, picked up the rebar in his hand, and walked to the middle-aged peasant woman, lifting the concrete attached to the rebar.

The other remaining villager in his thirties cried out, "What are you going to do?" and stood up.

He and the middle-aged peasant woman seemed to know each other. Seeing Chu Nan’s actions, he hurriedly stood up to stop him.

Chu Nan glanced at him and said, "Don’t worry, I’m not being disrespectful to the dead. You should know that these dead people might turn into zombies. Haven’t you noticed that as long as their heads are completely destroyed, they will die completely?"

Tang Sanli nodded and said, "I understand. So you’re going to destroy their heads to be safe?"

Chu Nan didn’t respond, looking at the villager in his thirties and asking, "Do you understand now? Are you still going to stop me?"

The villager pulled at his face, finally turned away, and no longer tried to stop him.

Chu Nan raised the rebar with the concrete and smashed it down heavily.

With a "thud," it hit the middle-aged peasant woman’s head.

Her head caved in deeply.

The villager couldn’t bear to watch, while Dongzi, with a cigarette in his mouth, gave a thumbs up and said, "Brother Chu Nan, you’re really something. If you were on the streets, your methods would make you a big shot anywhere."

Everyone had seen Chu Nan’s actions with the dog with the torn ear, and Dongzi’s praise was not without reason.

After smashing the middle-aged peasant woman’s head, Chu Nan quickly found a small, reddish-brown bean-like object, no bigger than a soybean, in the mushy brain matter. However, this bean-like object was already withered, and the energy it once contained had dissipated.

Chu Nan nodded to himself and then smashed the head of the other dead villager, finding a similar withered bean-like object inside.

"It seems to be the case... The dog with the torn ear killed them... and absorbed the energy from these bean-like objects in their heads... so they won’t turn into zombies... and the dog seems to have evolved... Could it be that the energy in these bean-like objects is responsible?"

Chu Nan mused, touching his forehead. He could clearly feel that there was a similar bean-like object in his head, and after killing several zombie-like creatures and absorbing the energy from their bean-like objects, the energy in his own bean-like object had become much stronger.

"This must be the pineal gland, based on its location."

Chu Nan had studied medicine and had some knowledge of human anatomy.

"According to traditional Chinese medicine, this is the third eye, located below the Baihui point, between the eyebrows, and behind the Yintang point. Western medicine calls it the pineal gland, which is located between the anterior and posterior thalami... However, there is still much debate about whether the pineal gland, considered a vestigial third eye in humans, is truly functional."

Chu Nan pondered, unsure if his guess was correct.

Looking at the withered bean-like object, he remembered the magnifying glass he had found earlier and took it out of his pocket, then turned on his phone.

Using the light from the screen, Chu Nan examined the reddish-brown bean-like object through the magnifying glass, trying to observe its shape and composition to confirm whether it was indeed the pineal gland.

If it was the pineal gland, then the human body had it from the beginning, and the earthquake might have just activated its abilities. If it wasn’t the pineal gland, then this bean-like object must have appeared in the human brain after the earthquake.

"Chu Nan, I didn’t expect you to have this kind of hobby. Oh, I remember, you said you were a doctor. Indeed, a doctor’s interests are different," Tang Sanli remarked, shaking his head. To them, Chu Nan was studying human brain matter, which seemed a bit perverse.

"Like this, they shouldn’t turn into zombies," Dongzi stood up, looked at the two bodies with destroyed heads, shook his head, and didn’t want to look anymore.

They had seen too many similar scenes that night and were somewhat numb. Even if they felt nauseous, there was nothing left to vomit.

Chu Nan ignored them and continued to study and observe the magnified bean-like object through the magnifying glass. Suddenly, he noticed that the bean-like object in his hand was slightly warm.

Chu Nan was startled and examined it closely, finally realizing that the faint red moonlight, focused through the magnifying glass, had converged on the withered bean-like object.

Under the focused red light, the withered bean-like object, as if absorbing the energy it needed, began to swell, and a faint warm energy reappeared inside.

This sudden discovery shocked Chu Nan, and his heart raced. He tightly gripped the bean-like object and looked at the magnifying glass in his hand.

The magnifying glass looked ordinary, and there was nothing special about it. He had almost thrown it away when he found it by chance, but kept it because it could reflect the moon in the sky, which looked quite beautiful.

"A magnifying glass can focus light, and even in bright sunlight, it can focus sunlight to light a match or paper. Just now, the magnifying glass focused the moonlight. Could this moonlight be the energy the bean-like object needs?"

Chu Nan knew that even the bean-like object in his head, which he suspected was the pineal gland, needed this energy. He had a vague feeling that when this energy reached a certain level, there might be some special changes.

The dead zombie-like creatures suddenly became incredibly strong, which was definitely due to the energy in these bean-like objects.

"Right now, it’s not clear whether it’s the magnifying glass itself or the moonlight that’s the cause. I’ll try another magnifying glass or something similar later to see what happens."

Chu Nan thought to himself, looking at the withered reddish-brown bean-like object in his hand. After being focused by the magnifying glass, it now contained a flow of energy that he could clearly feel.

He gently squeezed the swollen bean-like object, and it quickly broke apart. The energy, like a warm current, was absorbed by Chu Nan and ultimately consumed by the bean-like object in his head, merging with the energy it already had.

The bean-like object, having lost its energy, withered again, its surface losing all moisture and cracking, eventually breaking into pieces of dust.

"It seems... using the magnifying glass to refocus and recharge the bean-like object can only be done once, after which it will shatter." Chu Nan mused, and tried another withered bean-like object, which, under the focus of the magnifying glass, quickly absorbed the focused energy and became swollen again.

Chu Nan crushed it and absorbed the energy again, and the bean-like object, now devoid of energy, shattered once more.

Absorbing the energy from two fully charged bean-like objects was equivalent to killing two zombie-like creatures.

Feeling the energy in the bean-like object in his head become even stronger, Chu Nan felt a surge of excitement.

This was a sudden discovery. Killing a zombie-like creature allowed him to absorb the energy once, and then using the magnifying glass to refocus the withered bean-like object allowed him to absorb the energy again.

"Can the magnifying glass recharge these withered bean-like objects, and can I directly absorb the energy?"

Chu Nan extended his hand, letting the moonlight focus through the magnifying glass onto his palm, but after a while, there was no reaction.

"It seems that direct exposure to the human body doesn’t work. I need to use the bean-like object, which is likely the pineal gland, as a medium." Chu Nan retracted his hand, gaining a clearer understanding of the magnifying glass.

(Brothers, do you still have any recommendation votes? If you think it’s good, be sure to add it to your collection~)

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