So far, not a single zombie case had appeared in Daxia, or if similar incidents had occurred, they were swiftly and secretly contained. Unless directly involved, no one would ever know.
At least, Li Dong hadn't seen any such news in the Doomsday Chat Group.
In this regard, Daxia had performed exceptionally well, responding with remarkable speed.
Throughout November, while engaged in nationwide disaster relief efforts, Daxia mobilized government agencies at all levels to mandate rabies vaccinations for all citizens, even providing subsidies to cover the costs.
Every enterprise was also mobilized to subsidize employee vaccinations.
There would be tax exemptions later to compensate businesses.
Li Dong himself received the notice and ensured all his employees got vaccinated.
With the entire population inoculated, the infection rate of the virus within Daxia dropped significantly.
After all, the virus's transmission rate wasn't high to begin with—it was merely an upgraded variant of the rabies virus.
Thus, the rabies vaccine still offered some preventive effect.
However, as December arrived, a flood of zombie videos began circulating wildly across domestic media platforms, filling Li Dong with a sense of impending crisis.
Daxia's population was simply too large, especially in densely populated megacities with millions or even tens of millions of residents.
Even if only a tiny fraction were successfully infected, that would still amount to thousands or tens of thousands of cases—the subsequent panic and societal impact would be catastrophic.
Currently, most citizens dismissed the viral zombie footage as cleverly edited clips from some movie.
The first-person perspective made it all too realistic.
That very realism made some skeptical, attributing it to rapid advancements in film technology that blurred the line between fiction and reality, lacking obvious special effects.
Besides, these incidents were supposedly happening far away in the Western Continent.
With no similar reports domestically, many instinctively assumed this was just promotional material for a new zombie film—albeit shot with unprecedented authenticity.
Others, too detached from society, refused to believe the videos outright, dismissing them as more internet fakery amidst endless online rumors.
The silence from authoritative state media, which neither confirmed nor denied the reports, further fueled doubts about their veracity.
But as time passed, more people would come to accept the horrifying truth: the zombie crisis had arrived.
According to Li Tiang, by mid-December, Daxia's biomedical research departments would release a new vaccine specifically targeting the Rabies Virus Variant Upgrade.
Another nationwide vaccination campaign would further reduce infection rates.
Truthfully, zombie outbreaks had never posed an existential threat to humanity.
With current technology, exterminating zombies and eradicating the pathogen would be straightforward.
Just deploy armored divisions—no carbon-based lifeform could withstand being crushed by tens of tons of tanks or survive high-caliber gunfire and flamethrowers.
However, the issue lies in the fact that the Western Continent nations are turning a blind eye, with those old immortals behind the scenes manipulating the situation.
They are using this virus to screen for Evolved Humans, researching life-extending or evolutionary serums.
Because those old immortals want to live longer—they don't want to die.
So even if the military wanted to intervene, they couldn't.
Moreover, this virus originally broke out and spread from within the military itself.
Add to that the ongoing war on the Eastern Front of the Western Continent nations—no one dares to stop now.
These actions have also led some countries to openly sever ties with certain Western Continent nations on the international stage, arguing that troops should be deployed to cleanse and eliminate all these mutated monsters.
Not just ignore them.
By December,
Li Dong, even without stepping outside, could sense a subtle tension in Blue Star's supposedly most stable and orderly nation, the Great Xia. It wasn't just because of the viral zombie videos flooding the internet.
He could also detect shifts in society through Aunt Liu's words—things were no longer as they used to be.
Today, when he went out, Li Dong noticed a rapid increase in patrol officers maintaining order in Dongjiang City. Police cruisers were nonstop on the streets.
The patrol teams were fully armed, equipped with Riot Shields and Riot Forks, clad in Riot Armor.
Even the number of regular patrol officers had noticeably grown.
Many officers had even brought out rifles—normally stored in the armory—along with sniper rifles.
Through these societal changes, Li Dong could feel the undercurrents of a looming crisis beneath the seemingly calm surface.
From business contacts, he also learned that factories and companies producing Riot Armor, Riot Shields, and Riot Forks had received massive orders—almost all from the government.
This was no small move.
Similar actions were being taken nationwide, almost uniformly.
Of course, many others also sensed the shift in the social atmosphere—it was growing more oppressive.
Combined with the Great Xia government's forceful vaccination campaign the previous month and the videos circulating online, it wasn't hard to guess the real reason.
As a result, many began stockpiling supplies.
Especially emergency response materials—their prices were skyrocketing.
This also revived half-dead factories, bringing them back into production and hiring workers en masse.
Even arms factories received large orders, ramping up production of bullets and firearms.
For a time, nearly the entire industrial chain of Great Xia was in motion.
Massive resources were funneled into producing various goods, driving up prices—though the government was struggling to regulate the inflation.
But the effect was minimal.
...
Li Dong opened his phone and entered the doomsday shelter chat group.
Mainly to see what new intel the members had gathered.
Hunter Zhang Ge was speaking: [I'm preparing to return. The Western Continent is no place for humans anymore. Besides, my mission is complete.]
[What mission? Brother Zhang, are you with the government?]
[I'm half-official, you could say.] Hunter Zhang Ge didn't outright deny it.
A month and a half ago, he had been approached by Great Xia officials, tasked with obtaining samples of the Zombie virus and delivering them to relevant personnel for domestic research.
Then he spent a month and a half running around for this, until now when the thought of returning home struck him.
Because Hunter Zhang Ge had seen it clearly—the Western Continent was no longer a suitable place to live.
[Ah? Big bro, are you really going back home? Does that mean the Western Continent has become extremely dangerous?]
[Yeah, the number of Mutated Monsters here keeps increasing. Though they're not as absurd as in the movies, the community order here has completely collapsed. If I don't leave now, I won't be able to later.]
[Videos of Zombies from the Western Continent have started appearing on domestic platforms too. The platforms can't keep up with deleting or reviewing them all. Brother Zhang, do you think we'll end up like…]
[Don't overthink it. It won't happen.]
[How does Brother Zhang plan to get back?]
[Driving back [image][image][image]. This is my Doomsday RV. I've stored all the ammo and firearms from the underground warehouse inside it. I plan to cross dozens of countries from the Western Continent all the way to the Great Xia border.]
[Of course, I'll avoid the frontlines of any conflicts.]
[Holy crap, isn't that super dangerous?]
[Brother Zhang is a legend, so badass! But you gotta be careful on the road.]
Li Dong couldn't help but admire Hunter Zhang Ge's sheer audacity—this guy was on another level.
Of course, it was also insanely risky.
Without plot armor protecting him, he'd probably die halfway through the journey.
...