MMB Chapter 304 This world is truly about to change.
Chapter 304 This world is truly about to change.
"Where would all those pets be kept together?"
Hearing Lin Fan's words, Night Owl looked at him.
"stadium."
Lin Fan said,
"I remember cleaning that area before."
The fence is high enough, the space is large enough, and the few entrances and exits make it easy to manage.
Each type of animal is kept in a separate area and guarded by people 24 hours a day.
If any individual begins to show signs of abnormality, report it immediately; do not handle it without authorization.
"What does 'unauthorized handling' include?" Howard asked.
"Including killing them." Lin Fan looked at him. "No one is allowed to touch them without my order."
"receive."
"There's one more thing."
Lin Fan's tone suddenly changed.
"During the search, pay attention to the direction outside the city."
Drone footage showed signs of mutated animal activity outside the city.
They haven't come this way yet, but that doesn't mean they won't. The area within the mycelial wall's defensive range should be safe, but outside the wall, everyone is heavily armed.
After the meeting, the three search teams assembled within half an hour.
Zhao Lei selected twenty people and divided them into four groups of five. Each group was equipped with a vehicle, a set of communication equipment, and basic catching tools—fishing nets, ropes, iron cages, and a pair of thick welding gloves for each person.
"You're going to catch cats and dogs, not to fight a war."
Zhao Lei leaned against the car door and said to his subordinates,
"Don't use guns. Frightened animals are harder to catch than mutants. Lure cats with food, and observe dogs for aggressiveness first. If they are aggressive, catch them with a fishing net first."
"Boss," a team member named Xiao Jie raised his hand, "there's something I don't quite understand."
"explain."
"Since Young Master Lin says these animals are about to mutate, why should we capture them? Wouldn't it be safer to just get rid of them? What if they mutate in the cage—"
"Have you ever owned a pet?" Zhao Lei asked.
I once owned a cat.
"Does your cat recognize you?"
"Uh... I do acknowledge it, but I'm a bit arrogant and don't really pay attention to me."
Zhao Lei smiled:
"That's right. Cats are generally not very friendly to people, and they might still be friendly to people even if they mutate, but at least they won't attack you on their own initiative."
Needless to say, dogs are even more so; if you raise one for three years, it will remember you for a lifetime.
Mutation does not equate to memory loss. Researchers have stated that mutated domesticated animals will most likely retain their previous memory patterns.
Xiao Jie seemed to understand a little: "So... they're still obedient after the mutation?"
"More than just obedient," Zhao Lei patted his shoulder. "Imagine a German Shepherd, twice its size, twice its speed, with claws that can tear through metal. But it also recognizes its owner and obeys commands. What do you call that?"
"That's called..." Xiao Jie thought for a second, "...Awesome?"
"You big idiot, this is called a strategic resource," Zhao Lei corrected him. "Alright, enough nonsense, let's get to work."
The search operation began at 1 p.m.
Surprisingly, there were more stray animals in the city than expected.
After the apocalypse, many pets were abandoned by their owners and left to fend for themselves in the city ruins.
They hide in the basements of empty houses, squat under supermarket shelves, and some gather in small groups, surviving by rummaging through garbage cans.
Zhao Lei's team discovered a litter of stray cats in the underground parking garage of a residential building; the mother cat had four kittens.
The mother cat was alert, arching her back and growling softly.
Xiao Jie squatted down, took out a compressed biscuit from his pocket, broke it into pieces, and put it on the ground.
The mother cat stared at him for a long time, hesitated for a moment, and then slowly moved closer.
Xiao Jie didn't move.
The mother cat picked up a crumb of biscuit and went back to feed the kittens.
"Alright, take your time," Zhao Lei said from the side. "Don't rush them, let them go into the cage by themselves."
However, unlike Zhao Lei's smooth sailing, Howard's team encountered trouble in an abandoned warehouse in the industrial area.
Seven or eight stray dogs occupied the warehouse, led by a mixed German Shepherd, which was quite large and had its teeth bared wide.
"This thing... doesn't look friendly," a soldier muttered.
Howard looked around and took a bag of dried meat out of the car.
He tossed a few pieces of jerky over. The German Shepherd hesitated for a moment, sniffed it, picked up a piece, and ate it.
But it didn't move aside.
"Leader dog".
Howard told his men...
"It will only back down once it's certain we pose no threat. Everyone step back five paces and put your weapons away."
The soldiers did as instructed.
Howard squatted alone at the warehouse entrance, slowly tossing the jerky forward from a distance of ten meters, getting a little closer each time.
Half an hour later, the German Shepherd finally accepted his approach.
It wasn't because of trust, it was simply because the dried meat smelled so good.
"Good lad." Howard patted its head, and the German Shepherd growled but didn't bite him.
He turned to the soldiers and said, "Don't put this one in a cage yet. Tie it up and put it in a separate area. It's a good dog."
At this moment, the young soldier next to him couldn't hold back any longer:
"Sir, I have to ask you something. Is all this effort we put into capturing these cats and dogs really going to be effective? What if they mutate and turn on us?"
Howard stood up and dusted off his hands.
"Hey kid, have you ever owned a dog?"
The young soldier shook his head.
Howard sighed:
"I used to have one. It was a Labrador named Buddy."
For a period of time, I was stationed overseas for fourteen months. When I returned, Buddy had aged considerably.
But as soon as I walked in, it rushed over and pounced on me, wagging its tail nonstop.
He paused.
"It still remembers me even though we haven't seen each other for fourteen months."
You think you forgot about it after it got bigger?
No. Unless something fundamental changes, but the research team said that the mutation alters the body, not completely changing memory and behavioral patterns.
certainly……"
He emphasized, "This is a domesticated one. Wild ones are another story."
"What if they actually turn against each other?"
Howard patted the pistol at his waist:
"Then kill them. But before that, give them a chance. Young Master Lin said mutation doesn't mean out of control."
The operation continued until evening, when the three search teams returned to the stadium to regroup.
Everyone worked hard all afternoon and reaped a rich harvest.
A total of 23 stray cats, 31 stray dogs, 4 pet birds, 2 hamsters, and... were found.
A raccoon.
Zhao Lei looked at the snarling raccoon in the cage, then turned to Xiao Jie and asked, "Where did this come from?"
"Next to the garbage station."
Xiao Jie looked completely innocent.
"It's rummaging through the trash cans. I figured since it's called Raccoon City, there should be a raccoon, right?"
Zhao Lei was both amused and exasperated, and waved his hand: "Alright, keep it locked up for now."
Of course, compared to the gains of both sides, Night Owl and his team achieved far greater results.
Throughout the entire safe zone, they eradicated all the rats that might appear.
In this process alone, they killed no fewer than several hundred rats, and they also poured chemical poison into the rat holes.
At this time, the entire stadium had already undergone simple partitioning modifications according to Lin Fan's requirements.
The large dog area, small dog area, cat area, and bird area are all separated by special steel mesh and steel plates, and each area is also equipped with food, water and basic lighting.
Twenty people were assigned to guard the area in three shifts.
Each staff member on duty is equipped with a walkie-talkie and must report any abnormalities immediately.
"Young Master Lin, the stadium setup is complete."
Zhao Lei reported to Lin Fan via walkie-talkie, "All the animals collected today have been confined to designated areas. No signs of abnormality have been found so far."
"it is good."
Lin Fan's voice came through the walkie-talkie.
"Keep searching, scan again tomorrow."
In addition, residents who own pets in the community are notified to send their pets to the gymnasium for unified registration and management.
"It's voluntary, but they must be informed of the risks; if they don't send it, they will bear the consequences of the mutation."
"receive."
Zhao Lei turned off the walkie-talkie and glanced at the cages and fences in the gymnasium.
He shook his head.
Who would have thought?
The most important strategic reserve for a post-apocalyptic human settlement is not guns and ammunition, nor food and water, but a bunch of cats and dogs.
This world is truly about to change.
---