Chapter 23: The Thorn

"Dr. Mei, please, state your requirements." Zhao Qiang finally reached his limit. Throughout the entire monologue, he had only grasped a few scattered terms; the rest sounded like gibberish. Seeing Mei Qiu looking as though she had much more to say, he couldn't help but interrupt.

Mei Qiu paused, startled, then realized how much time had passed. She glanced at her watch and noticed she had been speaking for nearly an hour. With her team members having missions to carry out, she said apologetically, "My apologies. I lose track of time whenever I start talking about professional matters. You're right, I have two requirements."

"First, I need you to provide me with fresh test subjects every day." Mei Qiu paused for a moment before continuing. "Second, from now on, regardless of who among you is bitten by a zombie, I require the wounded to be brought to me within two hours. Is that understood?"

"Two hours? Isn't that a bit too tight?" Zhao Qiang asked. After the Fierce Tiger Squad had suffered consecutive heavy losses, he no longer dared to be arrogant. In the past, minor bites could heal completely within half a day through their own recovery abilities, but once bitten by a zombie, the only outcome had always been death.

"Two hours is already quite generous." Mei Qiu shrugged. According to her calculations, once the Z-enzyme entered the human body, it took an average of only two hours to assimilate all the white blood cells. By that point, it would be too late for any intervention. "Oh, and by the way, it would be best if you didn't get injured at all. My research is still in the theoretical stage and has never undergone any in vivo testing. So, even if you don't turn into a zombie, you might still die from my medication."

"Oh, I see. Well, if that's all, we'll be going." Zhao Qiang leaped from his chair and beckoned his team toward the parking lot, leaving a bewildered Mei Qiu standing there alone. *Is being a lab rat a trend these days?* Mei Qiu wondered, watching them depart. Generally, drug development was divided into three stages: basic research, experimental or animal trials, and clinical trials. Only through these stages could a drug's efficacy and safety be proven. Seeing the team's nonchalant expressions, she couldn't help but wonder: which stage was this, really? Animal testing or clinical application?

...

"Brother Qiang, I've prepared a gift for you all." Deng Lei led Zhao Qiang and his team into a massive factory building.

"What is this?" Zhao Qiang looked at the behemoth covered by a colorful plastic tarp, feeling confused. If this was a gift, it was far too large.

"You'll see, I guarantee you'll like it." Deng Lei said mysteriously. He clapped his hands, and the workers immediately operated the machinery to pull away the giant tarp.

What appeared before Zhao Qiang was a monster the size of a coach bus.

On its body, the faint remnants of the word "POLICE" were visible. Its rectangular frame suggested to Zhao Qiang that this beast was once the modified armored bus.

The workers at the Jianglu Machinery Factory had pushed the creative ingenuity of the laboring people to the limit. Under their efforts, the entire bus had been transformed into an absolute engine of aggression—a steel beast that embodied the aesthetics of extreme violence.

First, the chassis had been completely overhauled. The original four wheels had been replaced with twelve, all fitted with specialized bulletproof tires for armored vehicles. The tank-inspired chassis design ensured the bus could handle any off-road terrain.

To end the bus's passive role of being besieged by zombies, half-meter-long triangular spikes had been installed around every wheel. As the bus moved, these high-grade carbon steel spikes would rotate at high speeds. Even a formidable Crusher, upon encountering them, would end up truly "crushed."

The riot shields fixed to the windows had been removed and replaced with rows of steel grilles, also made of high-grade carbon steel. The interior windows were completely replaced with bulletproof glass, reducing weight while increasing the vehicle's overall defensive capability.

Around the exterior of the passenger cabin, at heights of one-and-a-half, one, and half a person, three thin steel wires were wound using a pulley system. As a hallmark of this violent aesthetic, these three wires served as a defensive weapon: the line-saw. Once a zombie breached the defensive net of triangular spikes, a hydraulic system inside the bus—controllable either manually or by remote—would cause these three wires to move at high speeds in different directions.

The bomb-disposal robot that Wei Tao had retrieved from the SWAT unit hadn't gone to waste, either. The workers spent nearly a week completely repairing and modifying it. Yes, modifying it. High-tech equipment like a bomb-disposal robot didn't stump the workers at Jianglu. After a few veteran masters put their heads together and tinkered for half a day, the robot's nimble mechanical hand was gone, replaced by a 12.7mm W95 heavy machine gun.

Deng Lei had originally planned to integrate the tank's fire-control system into the robot, but found the two systems incompatible and had to give up. In the end, they relied on the high-definition camera feed from the robot, allowing an operator to control the heavy machine gun remotely.

Cai Jiashu couldn't praise the big guy enough. Whenever he recalled sitting inside the bus, it was always a mix of stifling heat and depression—stuck in a dark cabin, listening to countless zombies pounding on the walls, and constantly worrying that a Crusher might appear and flatten the vehicle into a pancake. Now, they could attack when advancing and defend when retreating; at a distance, they could rely on the robot for precise remote fire, and at close range, the zombies couldn't even get near them.

"Give this big guy a name!" Deng Sen made no effort to hide the pride on his face; this was the gift he and Deng Lei had given to the base.

"How about 'Fierce Dragon'?" Cai Jiashu suggested.

"No, we're the Fierce Tiger Squad. If it's called Fierce Dragon, it’ll overshadow us!" Zhao Qiang curled his lip and said, "What about 'Evil Thorn'?" This steel monster, oozing a steampunk vibe, somehow seemed to carry a hint of malice.

"Why not 'The Flying Dutchman'?" Chen Ergou joked. "We shouldn't use the word 'evil,' but I think the name 'Thorn' is good. This big guy is covered in spikes; 'Thorn' is quite fitting."

"Fine, 'Thorn' it is!" Seeing that everyone had no objections to the name, Deng Lei slapped his thigh and immediately grabbed a paint bucket to brush the characters "Thorn" onto the front of the vehicle.

...

When the Fierce Tiger Squad arrived at the location provided by the ill-fated survivor camp, the excitement the team felt from testing the combat capabilities of their steel beast began to fade.

Traces of a battle were everywhere. From the scene, it was clear that the survivors who had gone out for supplies had been ambushed by a massive horde of zombies. A dozen zombie corpses were scattered along a long path, and the ground was littered with bricks, iron bars, and the like, ending at a pool of blood.

"We're too late." Cai Jiashu reached out to touch the congealed blood on the ground and sighed. There were no more zombies in sight.

"Maybe he managed to escape." Zhao Qiang looked along the path, though he didn't believe his own words. That pool of blood said it all.