"I get it, I get it."
Although she felt something was off, Lianne chose to ignore it. After all, she still wanted to rely on Lux's team to survive.
So she outright refused to analyze this anomaly with her above-average intelligence, instead forcefully accepting Lux's explanation through self-hypnosis.
Everyone having the same answer as Lux wasn't a bad thing. At least it meant that someone like her, who could offer new ideas, would be far more valuable to him.
"Let me share my view on this disaster."
Lux nodded, looking at Lianne expectantly.
"There are two initial possibilities. Honestly, I don't know whether I should feel lucky or unlucky. If it's the second possibility, humanity might really be heading toward extinction."
Lianne sighed softly.
"Does the way the disaster started really matter to humanity's survival?"
Lux asked, puzzled. He had never really thought about this, or rather, he was too busy trLuxg to survive to think further.
"It does, and it's very important. Let's start with the more optimistic possibility — the one where humanity can continue."
Lianne nodded seriously.
Everyone's gaze focused on her.
"This better possibility is something like in the movies: an immensely powerful multinational corporation like Umbrella, whose laboratory leaked a virus. Whether they released it deliberately for experiments or it was an accident doesn't matter. In that case, humanity still has hope."
"??? Wouldn't that mean there'd be tons of powerful monsters? Things like Lickers, and those terrifying Tyrants — wouldn't those be incredibly dangerous?"
Candice said in fear. Resident Evil was such a famous sci‑fi horror series that her father had shown her several movies, so she vividly remembered the monsters.
"If it was leaked by a company, that at least means they had been researching the virus. They might already understand it to some extent, or even have control over it and be capable of developing a vaccine."
"From a broader perspective, at least the core members of that company would protect themselves well. As infuriating as it is, these people would represent the fact that humanity wouldn't go extinct because of this."
Lianne didn't directly answer Candice, continuing her explanation instead. Lux frowned slightly; he roughly understood what Lianne meant.
"But this possibility is very small. I don't believe any huge corporation could carry out targeted bio-attacks across all cities and even military zones in our country in such a short time. No force has that capability."
"Why would it need targeted releases? Aren't zombies spreading the infection through bites, blood contact, or saliva?"
Sten joined the discussion, asking in confusion.
"The infection rate wouldn't be enough. Our country has 1.4 billion people. Relying solely on zombies biting others couldn't possibly cover the entire nation within three days."
"Even in densely populated areas, like a school outbreak, a zombie doesn't just bite one person and immediately move on to the next. Its actions are driven by hunger — it needs to eat flesh. Realistically, if one zombie could infect an entire school in a day, that would already be impressive."
"So if a company created the virus, it would have to establish as many initial infection points as possible. And given the vast size of our country… it would require targeted bio-attacks in every city. Not to mention whether the company even has that many people, I don't believe they could act so recklessly under government scrutiny."
This time, it wasn't Lianne speaking, but Lux, his brows tightly furrowed.
"Wow, Brother Lux, you thought of that too? I had to do some calculations to conclude that this plan was basically impossible."
Lianne said in surprise. That Lux could keep up with her train of thought was impressive. Back in school, she had often been told her thinking jumped too fast for others to follow. Yet Lux not only kept up, he articulated what she had already calculated.
That meant Lux was also smart — at least his intelligence wasn't much lower than hers.
"No, I only thought of it after hearing you explain. A virus leaking from a lab doesn't sound very realistic. Tell me about your other idea."
Lux asked.
"Alright. To be honest, this possibility is more likely — but if it's true, humanity may really be nearing its end, with only a slim chance of survival."
Lianne sighed, drank some hotpot broth, and set down her lunchbox.
"The virus emerged due to some higher civilization, dimension, world will, or even nature itself — something beyond what modern science can explain."
"Is its purpose to evolve humanity? Or perhaps to promote the evolution of species? We really can't be sure."
"Take a simple example: if everyone became zombies, nature wouldn't be polluted by technology anymore… it could be seen as a sort of special protection mechanism for the environment."
"There are all sorts of reasons behind it that I can't fully understand or judge. If it's based on these factors, humanity might indeed face extinction, because there could be further disasters targeting the surviving humans. Essentially, it's aimed at our destruction."
"That's ridiculous. Aliens and nature and all that…"
AA-12 frowned, displeased as she ate a purple sweet potato ball.
"Ordinary zombies have evolved to be immune to fatal factors like heart failure or blood loss, leaving only the brain as a weak point. You could say they're not fully evolved yet. The existence of zombies itself is absurd. I don't want to believe humanity might be finished, but zombies… we can see them right outside."
Lianne didn't get angry at AA-12 interrupting; she simply responded with a hint of helplessness.
"Hmm…"
AA-12 turned her head, feeling a bit frustrated. Lianne was speaking based on facts; there was no way to argue with that. Zombies had indeed evolved to some degree. Beyond their loss of reason and bloodthirsty brutality, their vitality had greatly increased.
"So, this 'sliver of hope' you mentioned… what is it?"
Lux asked curiously, increasingly feeling that Lianne joining this team had been a jackpot.
"That's this: the disaster might not be about destruction, but about pushing species to evolve to another level. Biologically speaking, survival of the fittest. The emergence of mutated zombies makes me feel it could be a form of evolution."
"In short, humans haven't evolved for thousands of years, right?"
"How could we not have evolved? Compared to ancient people, we live longer, we have airplanes to fly into the sky, and countless things ancient humans couldn't achieve, all possible through science. That's evolution, isn't it?"
Lux sounded confused.