Uesugi's Experiment

"Then... about this..." Frank raised his hands, showing off the shiny handcuffs.

"Let me help you with that, Frank, we'll be counting on you next!" Koike took the key and unlocked Frank's handcuffs, smiling as he did so.

This time, a group of five men and three women arrived. They were survivors from nearby areas and had rushed here after seeing the message in the regional chat channel, as the zombies here had already been mostly cleared out.

"Welcome, welcome to the big family of our survivor camp!" Frank greeted the new arrivals with a big smile. While he might not have many skills, his ability to build relationships was top-notch. Within just a few minutes, he had the initially wary survivors laughing heartily, significantly lowering their guard.

Shima, standing next to Koike, whispered, "The tall man has reached the human physical limit in strength, and the skinny black guy is unusually strong!"

"The fat woman is also strong; the others are just ordinary people!" He, too, possessed the Eye of Insight ability. After all, these abilities aren't unique like the Subjugation Potion blueprints; they aren't even considered rare, just less commonly obtained in the early days of the apocalypse. As time goes on, such basic abilities will become more widespread.

"There are still powerhouses at the physical limit around?"

"It looks like we really struck gold this time!" Koike nodded in satisfaction.

After another fifteen minutes, three or four more survivors joined, and Koike ordered someone to drive them to the camp in a van. He, along with Shima and Frank, continued to wait for new survivors to arrive.

"Ah... I envy them, getting to stay in such nice rooms, living a happy life!" Frank watched the van drive away and couldn't help but express his feelings.

"Don't worry, Frank, once your job here is done..."

"You will definitely enjoy a far superior living environment than them!" Koike assured Frank. "Plus, the councilor will assign you an important position to manage these people."

"A position so exalted, only second to one, above tens of thousands—I even feel envious of you!" Koike laughed in agreement.

...

At the back of the hot spring hotel, in the swimming pool:

This pool was designed for diving and seasoned swimmers and is about 4 meters deep. The water had long since dried up. The pool is surrounded by a three-meter-high wall topped with a large iron net.

At the bottom of the pool stood seven survivors, holding various weapons picked up from the pool floor—axes, kitchen knives, samurai swords, all looking nervously at an iron grille on the wall.

Some were cursing loudly:

"Frank, how dare you trick me! When I get out, I'll chop your head off!"

"Damn it, I knew there was something off about these people, but to actually trap us!"

"There's no such thing as a free lunch... why didn't I realize this before..."

"Hey, you've got it all wrong; we're not your enemies, we came to join you! Let us participate in battles, gather food, just let us out!"

"With things as they are, stop being naive, will you? If begging them worked, we wouldn't be thrown in here!"

The floor of the pool was covered in bloodstains and occasionally, clumps of something viscous. The air was thick with the stench of rot.

Although it was unclear what lay behind the iron grille door, it definitely wasn't anything pleasant.

On the diving platform, Councilor Uesugi watched the people in the cage expressionlessly. Beside him stood two figures: the burly head of security, Nakajima Takeshi, and his female secretary, Akatani Yoko.

Uesugi was teleported here on his way to a meeting, along with his secretary and a fully armed bodyguard team. Under Uesugi's cunning and deceitful leadership, and with the formidable combat power of Nakajima Takeshi's bodyguards, they quickly consumed many surrounding camps. Those who submitted were assimilated; those who did not were thrown into the bottom of this swimming pool to test zombie weaknesses.

The habits of regular zombies are now well understood, including that breaking their necks can also kill them. After death, it takes 25 seconds for a person to turn into a zombie. If a living person is injured by a zombie, depending on their physical strength, they die within 4 to 24 hours and turn into a zombie 25 seconds after death. These data weren't obtained through just one or two live human tests. In pursuit of accuracy, they were compiled at the expense of many survivors' lives.

Like other survivor camps, Uesugi's camp also needs food. Although he currently has plenty of food, in the post-apocalyptic world, no one thinks they have too many resources. Just as in peacetime, no one thinks they have too much money.

"How far have the experiments progressed?" Uesugi inquired.

"The research on regular zombies and Venomous Creature Breeders is complete!" the secretary reported. "We are now researching the weaknesses of Crawlers. So far, the head, limbs, abdomen, and cervical spine are not weaknesses of Crawlers. Based on our predictions, the weak point is likely on the most fortified part—the back of the Crawler."

The secretary detailed the report holding a folder.

"Alright, give these guys a hint to attack the Crawler's back," Uesugi slowly said.

"Understood. Shall we proceed as usual with the experiments, releasing a fresh Crawler for combat?" the secretary asked again for confirmation.

Several damaged Crawlers were also present in the hot spring hotel.

It's easy to lure these creatures; just a loud shout from a survivor can draw them into traps, leading them step by step into holes dug in advance near the poolside. But killing them is not easy, especially given their formidable strength, tough keratin layers, and sharp claws. Even a slight scratch could be fatal.

"Yes, for the accuracy of the experiment, we must release a healthy Crawler!" Uesugi commanded.

"Understood, we'll proceed with that," the secretary replied, giving orders into the walkie-talkie.

Soon, the latch on the iron gate of the pool was pulled open with a rope from above. A strong smell of blood filled the air, seeping out slowly from the gate. Then, the chilling sound, enough to make one's scalp tingle with fear, echoed repeatedly in the pool...