Teacher Niu continued, "Actually, the dogs' mutations didn't appear on a large scale. What we see are dogs that gathered after they mutated. Luzhou does have tens of thousands of dogs, but the over a thousand dogs gathered here should be all the mutated ones! After all, dogs often move in packs, and mutated dogs would likely do the same."
"How long did the mutated dogs stay in the town?" Shen Feng continued to ask.
Teacher Niu thought for a moment and said, "They stayed for about a month. In short, all the zombies in the town were eaten, so the mutated dogs started eating people. We couldn't stay any longer and had to escape. To be honest, after waiting for rescue for so long, we could only save ourselves in the end."
After getting the answers he wanted, Shen Feng continued to inquire, "You're a biology student, right? Then I'd like to ask why the zombie virus caused all humans on Earth to be infected? And the mutated virus can also cause many animals to mutate. At least dozens of animal species have mutated now!"
Teacher Niu could only shrug helplessly upon hearing this question, "I don't know why such a large-scale mutation occurred. Perhaps only by finding the source of the virus can we know why. Haven't humans figured out where the virus came from after all this time?"
Shen Feng found some relevant information from his desk. This information was gathered from official and underground websites. To avoid losing it later, he had printed it all out. He handed it to Teacher Niu and said, "We only know the virus came from the Pacific, but the specific location is unclear!"
"The Pacific?" Teacher Niu kept looking at the documents, only to find many speculations about the virus. Some said it was a lab leak from a certain country that dared not admit it, some said it was caused by nuclear wastewater secretly discharged by a certain country, some said it was due to the melting of Antarctic glaciers, leading to the re-emergence of ancient viruses, and some even displayed immense imagination, claiming that a meteorite that fell into the Pacific a few months ago contained extraterrestrial viruses...
After reading these speculations, Teacher Niu first set aside the article about the virus in the meteorite and said, "This speculation is absolutely untenable. When a meteorite enters the Earth's atmosphere, it experiences intense friction, and its temperature will reach thousands of degrees. Viruses cannot survive under such conditions."
Shen Feng casually asked, "What if there really were live viruses in the meteorite?"
"If the virus really came from a meteorite, I'll eat all this information! I'll keep my word!" Teacher Niu was very confident. He had studied biology for decades. If he didn't even have this much courage, he would be letting down his studies.
Then, Teacher Niu took out the article about the lab leak and said, "This virus could not have been created by humans. It's zoonotic and spreads rapidly. This isn't some kind of pneumonia virus that can be easily cultured."
In the end, Teacher Niu sifted through the information and felt that there were only two possible sources for the virus: first, the melting of glaciers leading to the emergence of ancient viruses, and second, the mutation of viruses caused by wastewater. These two possibilities were the most reliable articles for Teacher Niu regarding the virus's origin. Apart from these, others were unlikely after analysis.
Shen Feng and Chang Jianyi listened patiently. After all, they were not biology students and had no idea about the reasons for animal mutations, so they could only listen to Teacher Niu's analysis.
Just then, Luo Qing entered the office holding a report and said, "City Lord, this is intelligence from headquarters regarding the mutated dogs in the town."
Shen Feng took the report and carefully read its contents. It contained satellite overhead views with corresponding text, stating: "Over 1,120 mutated canines are advancing towards Luzhou and are expected to arrive in two days. Please maintain defense."
"I didn't expect these dogs to actually come to Luzhou!" Shen Feng muttered to himself.
Teacher Niu confidently said, "I said it, didn't I? These dogs lacked food, so they would definitely chase after us, as they were originally dogs that escaped from Luzhou."
Shen Feng shook his head helplessly and said to Chang Jianyi, "Senior sister, gather everyone for a meeting. We've only rested for a few days, not even a full week, and now we have to fight again."
Chang Jianyi nodded and went to arrange a meeting for the people in the City Lord's Mansion. Shen Feng then looked at Teacher Niu and his student and said, "You two are scholars, and it would be too much to ask you to do manual labor. How about this, if you don't mind, please work in the laboratory or the library. It's relatively quieter there. If you're interested in medicine, working in the hospital isn't a bad option either."
"We'll go to the library," Teacher Niu decided for his student, and then the two left the City Lord's Mansion.
Shen Feng gathered people for a meeting. Although the enemy this time was only a thousand dogs, this was still the first battle after the establishment of the City Lord's Mansion. If they failed, they would have no face to show. Moreover, one of the paths to becoming an evolutionar was to eat the meat of mutated beasts.
Half an hour later, the important personnel of the City Lord's Mansion had all arrived. Everyone was puzzled. It was almost lunchtime, so why was there a meeting at this time?
"Over a thousand mutated dogs are heading towards Luzhou and will arrive in about two days. Everyone needs to decide how to resist these mutated dogs. Preferably, we should annihilate all of them. Eating their meat also offers a chance to become an evolutionar, as their meat contains many viral proteins that can facilitate evolution," Shen Feng briefly explained the situation and then asked everyone for suggestions.
Guo Pinming, upon hearing about the arrival of the mutated dogs, could only shake his head helplessly and said, "The subordinates have only been trained for one day, and they've only learned to hold a gun. It's unrealistic to expect these people to form combat power."
Zhou Xiaoxiao stood up and said, "I believe that to defend against the mutated dogs, we need sufficient city defenses. For the next two days, I will mobilize most of Luzhou's workers to the west and strive to raise the western city wall to over one meter. This will at least provide a defensive line."
Shen Feng lightly shook his head and said, "You don't seem to have grasped the main point of my words. I'm talking about annihilating these mutated dogs, not how to defend against them. The soldiers below only need to learn to shoot. The city wall also only needs a foundation, but have you considered that the mutated dogs will run if they sense something is wrong?"
Upon hearing Shen Feng's words, everyone realized that the City Lord was not worried about the mutated dogs being difficult to resist, but rather worried about them escaping. It seemed the City Lord was confident of victory, believing this battle would be won.
Yu Renshu also explained, "Since the mutated pythons eaten before could lead to evolution, then the meat of these mutated dogs might also lead to evolution!"
Hearing this, everyone realized that the President wanted to obtain the meat of these mutated dogs. This explained why they wanted to annihilate all of them, as obtaining their flesh and blood might allow the soldiers to become evolutionars.
Yang Ye looked at the map and pointed to the western city wall, saying, "There's a commercial street outside the city on this side. Why don't we deliberately set up bait in the commercial street? Once the mutated dogs pass through the commercial street, one group will guard the city wall, and another group will go around to the rear of the commercial street to attack from both sides."
Shen Feng, however, felt this was not secure enough and said, "What if the dogs don't fall for it? I mean, what if the dogs aren't attracted? Do you know what dogs like?"
"What dogs like? Don't they just like to eat that stuff?" Yang Ye said softly.
Everyone present couldn't help but suppress their laughter at Yang Ye's words. What do dogs like to eat? As the saying goes, wolves travel a thousand miles to eat meat, and dogs travel a thousand miles to eat... well, everyone understood what Yang Ye intended to use to attract the mutated dogs, and they couldn't help but want to laugh.
In fact, Shen Feng's successful capture of Luzhou City relied on human feces. By creating dysentery among the zombies, causing them to dehydrate or lose their combat effectiveness, they were able to retake the city. Yang Ye's current method was similar. Since dogs liked to eat this stuff, why not use it to attract the dogs?
"I don't think this method is reliable. These mutated dogs, over a thousand of them, have survived by eating zombies in the town during this period. Their canine wildness has long since returned. Attracting mutated dogs with feces is probably useless. I think it's better to catch some zombies from the distant suburbs to attract the dogs," Chang Jianyi shook her head.
"Then why not place both zombies and feces in the commercial street? Let these dogs eat whatever they want. Perhaps we can also put some cured meat. This way, the mutated dogs will definitely be fooled," Yang Ye suggested.
"Why don't you just put out two hundred yuan and let them buy whatever they want? Don't think dogs have no intelligence!" Li Xiang said indignantly. "Putting everything on the street might even backfire, making these dogs afraid to pass through the commercial street."
Li Xiang's family had previously kept dogs. Although they couldn't afford expensive breeds, they could afford Chinese pastoral dogs, so he knew very well that dogs also had intelligence and shouldn't be treated as fools. Piling all sorts of food on the street might make the dogs vigilant.
"Then you tell me, how do you attract those dogs!" Yang Ye sat down, having proposed a suggestion only to have everyone find fault with it.
Li Xiang was not shy and directly stood up, saying, "City Lord, we already have firearms, so why should we stick to defense? Let the mutated dogs charge first, and we'll give them a head-on blow. If these dogs try to run, we'll chase them by car, with one person driving and another shooting. I don't believe we can't kill all these dogs!"
"Hmph, nonsense!" Yang Ye pointed out the flaws in this plan without hesitation. "Do you think these dogs will foolishly run along the road? What if they run into farmland, how will you chase them? What if they run into the mountains, how will you chase them? Dogs can even swim, so what if they jump into the Yangtze River, how will you chase them?"
Seeing that Li Xiang and Yang Ye were about to argue, Shen Feng quickly stepped in to mediate, "Everyone calm down. We are discussing how to annihilate the mutated dogs, so don't argue. Everyone just needs to state their suggestions."
Tu Xuhuai looked at the map and said nothing. He was never good at combat; he preferred to control the overall situation rather than engage in battles on the battlefield.
However, Tu Xuhuai noticed something strange and then said, "A large open space has been cleared along the city wall. Why not fight here?"
Zhou Xiaoxiao looked at the location and explained, "This is indeed an open space, but there are too many surrounding streets. If the dogs want to run, they can slip into the alleys and immediately break into smaller groups, and we won't be able to catch them."
"Then why not block all these exits?" Tu Xuhuai continued to ask.
"It's impossible to do!" Zhou Xiaoxiao pointed to these intersections and said, "Mutated dogs are different from zombies. You can't block intersections with just a few cars. Blocking these intersections would require a lot of materials. Everyone also needs to repair the city walls, so where would we find the time to block the intersections?"
"I see." Tu Xuhuai finally understood why everyone wasn't trying to deal with the mutated dogs in this open area but was trying to lure them through the commercial street.
However, at this moment, Chang Jianyi smiled and said, "It seems Mr. Tu's suggestion is good. As for blocking the intersections, leave that to me!"
Shen Feng realized that the reason Senior Sister agreed with Tu Xuhuai's suggestion at this time was likely because she wanted to use her special abilities.
Then, Chang Jianyi confidently said, "I have a way to block these intersections. This way, everyone doesn't need to worry about how to attract the zombies. You just need to kill the mutated dogs behind the city wall. As for cutting off their retreat, that will be your task!"
Shen Feng quickly said, "I'll lead the personal guards to cut off their retreat. It's a good opportunity to test my own strength."