The ward was messy, primarily due to the abundance of medical equipment in the small space. Nurses moved in and out, constantly monitoring Yue Hengyi's condition.
Qin Kewei watched Yue Hengyi's closed eyes, silently awaiting his awakening. She had applied medicinal paste to his body, and the burnt areas had been debrided of dead flesh. Clean gauze wrapped almost his entire body. Even his once handsome face was half-covered in bandages, indicating he was disfigured.
Yue Hengyi was the most severely injured among them. It was due to his misfortune; the explosion occurred closest to him. Before he could react, he was thrown by the massive shockwave, hitting a tree and losing consciousness. He was then burned by the flames, and his survival was a miracle.
If Hou Xiaohua suffered burns, it wouldn't be a major issue, as he could shed his skin with his abilities, regenerating new skin. But others couldn't do that; they lacked such robust regenerative capabilities and had to endure the injuries.
Yue Hengyi slowly began to regain consciousness. The first thing he saw upon waking was Qin Kewei by his side. Recalling the previous night's events, his heart ached, and he poured out his feelings: "Sister Qin, I love you. Please marry me."
Qin Kewei had been relieved when Yue Hengyi opened his eyes. As long as Yue Hengyi was safe, that was enough.
However, Yue Hengyi's first words upon waking were a marriage proposal, which Qin Kewei found difficult to accept. She quickly said, "You must have hit your head in the fire. You're talking nonsense. Stop rambling and focus on recovering."
Qin Kewei quickly changed the subject, unwilling to dwell on the matter. Her face flushed slightly, clearly surprised by Yue Hengyi's sudden declaration of love.
Yue Hengyi became anxious. "My head is fine. I'm speaking seriously. I've admired you for a long time. Especially when we went down into the cave in Yanjing together. I became a burden to you, but you never gave up on me and led me out of the underground. That's when I knew you were a kind-hearted woman. I didn't dare confess before, but after the sudden danger on the battlefield, I know some things must be said sooner rather than later, or there might not be another chance!"
Yue Hengyi expressed his thoughts and feelings. His mindset had changed after facing immense danger. He had been worried about various issues, preventing him from revealing his affection. In the apocalypse, danger could strike at any moment, and if he didn't speak his true feelings now, he might never have the chance.
At this point, Qin Kewei stood up and left the ward. As she walked, she said, "I'll find a nurse to check your condition. You're not well right now."
After speaking, Qin Kewei left the ward, specifically finding a nurse to care for Yue Hengyi, and then headed to the front lines herself.
Qin Kewei didn't give Yue Hengyi a clear answer. She knew she couldn't provide a suitable one, so she decided to leave Yuzhou, allowing Yue Hengyi to recover and avoiding awkwardness during their interactions.
The nurse assigned to care for Yue Hengyi was young, beautiful, and unmarried. Upon closer inquiry, it turned out this young nurse was only sixteen years old, having just graduated from vocational school and begun working with basic nursing knowledge.
The young nurse clearly paid close attention to Yue Hengyi's health, checking his condition frequently.
"Your body has severe burns. On one hand, you need to avoid infection, and on the other, you must pay attention to your body's water and salt balance. As an ability user, you should recover in about ten days, but you will have many scars. You need to be mentally prepared for this!" the young nurse told Yue Hengyi.
Yue Hengyi nodded, saying listlessly, "Yes, I understand. Thank you for your care!"
"It's no trouble, no trouble!" the young nurse replied politely, waving her hands.
Yue Hengyi's body had many burnt areas, and the tissue fluid easily soaked the gauze. Changing the gauze was necessary. The young nurse patiently cared for Yue Hengyi, often asking questions only ability users would know.
During the day, Shen Feng also contacted a helicopter to pick them up. The area within the encirclement was filled with mutated beasts, making walking back to the military camp unrealistic. Therefore, taking a helicopter was the most suitable option.
Flat ground was scarce in the mountains, so when the helicopter found Shen Feng and his group, it lowered a twenty-meter rope ladder from the air. To board the helicopter, they had to climb the rope ladder.
Fang Qinghao and Jiang Kui were both injured, with several broken bones. Any exertion caused them pain, so they couldn't climb.
Fortunately, Shen Feng and Ke Yiming were still mobile. The two carried the injured and climbed onto the helicopter. Li Keyi covered their rear. They encountered no harassment from mutated beasts during this time. Perhaps the explosion and fire from the previous night had scared them, preventing the hundreds of thousands of mutated beasts from approaching.
The fires on the battlefield had spread, burning all the trees on two entire mountains. The mountains were pitch black, but fortunately, there were many streams, preventing the flames from spreading further. The fire did not cause significant damage.
Upon returning to the military camp, Shen Feng found clean tents for Fang Qinghao and Jiang Kui, allowing them to recover peacefully. The fighting on the front lines resumed. Most of the golden-haired monkeys had been killed, and the remaining ones had lost their pollen weapon, causing the beast tide to fall into disarray again.
Lu Kaiyang directed the soldiers to restart the grinding mill plan. On the first day, the northern front line initiated the operation, driving the mutated beasts far away. Subsequently, the southeastern and southwestern front lines took turns.
Ke Yiming observed Lu Kaiyang's tactics and his eyes lit up. He praised, "Shen Feng, you truly have many talented individuals under you. This plan is excellent. Continuously driving away the mutated beasts, exhausting their stamina, and also sharing the combat pressure, preventing any single front line from being overly strained. Such a plan is not implemented by headquarters."
Hearing Ke Yiming's words, Shen Feng couldn't help but shake his head. "Headquarters has vast resources, lacking nothing like planes and cannons. They can directly bombard the mutated beasts. Why do they need to painstakingly encircle and annihilate them like me? This is just a desperate measure. If I had a thousand fighter jets, I would have started bombing long ago!"
Shen Feng didn't feel honored by Ke Yiming's praise. Their actions were always considered low-level. If they had sufficient ammunition, he could have easily swept through the enemy without such arduous efforts as the grinding mill plan.
Ke Yiming, hearing Shen Feng's self-deprecation, said seriously, "Shen Feng, don't underestimate yourself. As long as you can kill mutated beasts, any method is worth using. Moreover, in places like the Northeast and Qinling Mountains, there are even more mutated beasts. Tens of thousands of people have been eaten by mutated beasts. Conversely, in Yuzhou, the early encirclement and annihilation of mutated beasts resulted in minimal casualties."
Ke Yiming possessed a lot of information, allowing him to see things more clearly from a God's-eye view. While headquarters had a vast territory, it also meant their defense areas were too extensive. With the slightest carelessness, mutated beasts could cause devastation. Yuzhou, though smaller in area, had plains suitable for agriculture, mountainous regions that prevented zombies from roaming freely, and the Yangtze River as a vital shipping route. Its safety was actually superior to many other places.
"Is that so? Then I really should be proud!" Shen Feng shrugged helplessly. He hadn't expected Ke Yiming to praise him one day.
Shen Feng couldn't help but recall the first time he met Ke Yiming. At that time, Ke Yiming was ordered to escort supplies and looked down on Shen Feng, speaking dismissively. Now, Ke Yiming's attitude had undergone a complete 180-degree change.
Over the next week, Lu Kaiyang directed the three front lines to execute the grinding mill tactic, continuously driving away the mutated beasts within the encirclement. Tens of thousands of mutated beasts died daily, and the encirclement gradually tightened. Finally, after seven days, all three front lines advanced simultaneously near the Yuanbai Forest, annihilating the remaining tens of thousands of mutated beasts.
Shen Feng specifically instructed the personnel counting the mutated beast corpses to pay attention. If they found any golden-haired monkey corpses, they were to take it seriously and report it immediately.
Shen Feng was reminded by Li Keyi to be wary of primate mutations. He did not wish for new species to emerge with intelligence comparable to humans, ultimately threatening humanity's position. Therefore, Shen Feng hoped that this encirclement would eliminate all the golden-haired monkeys.
However, the corpse counters did not find any golden-haired monkey corpses. Over thirty golden-haired monkeys seemed to have vanished without a trace, and it was unclear how they had evaded the tightening encirclement.
Eventually, Yang Chang accidentally spotted golden-haired monkeys fleeing southeast, eventually entering the Wuling Mountains. It seemed these intelligent monkeys had found a way to avoid the tightening encirclement, thus avoiding complete annihilation and escaping into the southeastern mountains. This area was already within Guizhou province, and Shen Feng could not dispatch personnel to pursue mutated beasts across the border.
Shen Feng was very concerned about this matter and found Lu Kaiven to inquire, "These golden-haired monkeys have begun to evolve, and we failed to eliminate them. What should we do?"
Lu Kaiven heard Shen Feng's question, spread his hands, and shrugged. "Worrying about nothing. Just a bunch of slightly smarter monkeys. Why are you so concerned? City Lord, you should focus on what happens after we go out to sea."
Li Keyi had been staying close to Shen Feng recently. So, when Shen Feng consulted Lu Kaiven on this matter, Li Keyi also heard Lu Kaiven's answer and immediately became displeased.
"Mr. Lu, we personally witnessed the golden-haired monkeys gaining higher intelligence. They can already draw murals and eat people. If you don't believe us, go and see for yourself! If we don't pay attention now, when will we?" Li Keyi asked urgently.
Lu Kaiven shrugged, sat on the ground, and began drawing on the ground with a stick. As he drew, he said, "Miss Li, please look at the map. Modern humans emerged from the Great Rift Valley in East Africa. It took millions of years of evolution to reach their current state. Biological evolution is not easy. Even if golden-haired monkeys learn to wear clothes and draw, they are still imitating humans. Such creatures still have millions of years of development ahead of them. You're worrying too much!"
Lu Kaiven drew a simple map on the ground, showing the seven continents and four oceans, and lines originating from the Great Rift Valley in East Africa. Humans emerged from Africa and traveled as far as Easter Island. Human settlements existed in the Arctic ice caps and deserts. His point was clear: even if golden-haired monkeys were to evolve intelligence comparable to humans, it would take a very long time.
Li Keyi frowned and said, "But now it's the apocalypse. The rainwater is full of zombie viruses, causing various animals to mutate. If the golden-haired monkeys' evolution speeds up..."
"Miss Li, what is your field of study?" Lu Kaiven interrupted Li Keyi.
Li Keyi replied, "I study physiology and inorganic chemistry, mainly researching the effects of various substances on the human body when acted upon by viruses."
Lu Kaiven nodded and said, "Therefore, Miss Li, different fields have different specializations. You think evolution is a simple matter, but I don't think so. Currently, animals are mutating physically; brains don't evolve easily. These golden-haired monkeys haven't even entered the Stone Age. Even pigs can draw. Don't overestimate the golden-haired monkeys' abilities."
At this point, Lu Kaiven was implying that Li Keyi's knowledge was insufficient. Since she was not a biology student and did not understand the process of biological evolution, she should not talk nonsense all the time.
Hearing this, Li Keyi became somewhat angry. She stomped her foot and said, "Then we'll just have to wait and see. Don't say I didn't warn you. If new intelligent beings appear, Yuzhou will be the first to suffer. That's all I have to say!"
With that, Li Keyi turned and left. She felt her good intentions were misunderstood. She was offering a well-intentioned reminder, from the perspective of all humanity, to guard against threats from new species to humanity's position, but it was not taken seriously, and she was even mocked.
"City Lord, quickly go and comfort her. As for the golden-haired monkeys, don't worry about it!" Lu Kaiven said calmly.