You were supposed to hoard supplies, why the heck did you hoard zombies!

Dozens of eyes were all fixed on the old man who ate the shrimp meat, and everyone's expressions were extremely tense.

In the event of a zombification, Zhang Ye and the three women's safety had to be secured first.

"Heh.... Hehehe..."

"This meat..."

The old man's body suddenly stiffened; from his bowed head came bursts of strange sounds, like crying and laughing, as the shaking of his shoulders made the noise grow louder.

All weapons were instantly aimed at him, and the two zombie guards closest to him were already poised to pounce.

Zhang Ye's gaze also tightened suddenly, subconsciously pulling the three women back.

It seemed to be a failure.

But just then, the convulsing old man suddenly knelt on the ground, then began holding his head and crying bitterly.

"My son!"

"Dad will never have the chance to eat the crayfish you make again!"

The courtyard suddenly fell eerily silent.

Everyone looked at each other, their faces revealing bitter smiles as they put away their weapons.

Station manager Zhou Xiong wiped the cold sweat from his forehead and quickly leaned in to whisper to Zhang Ye, "Director Zhang, it looks like there's no problem with the meat, you see—"

But Zhang Ye just shook his head slightly, his gaze still fixed on the old man on the ground.

"It's too early to come to a conclusion now."

"Go find a few more people."

"After they've eaten, lock them up somewhere straight away, and check again after three days."

Zhou Xiong thought to himself that it was no wonder he was the boss, his thoughts were meticulous, and he immediately called the guards to lock the old man in the storage room.

New volunteers were quickly found, as there was no shortage of hungry people here.

Moreover, the compensation offered by the company was indeed tempting. Experience tales with empire

If they were lucky enough to survive, they could find a job at the company afterward, with a salary sufficient to support themselves and their families.

If they were unlucky and died, the outcome would depend on the situation.

For those with families, the company would provide employment for the family members; for those without families, they could choose a close person to take their place.

If there were neither, then it was just bad luck.

A tombstone would be erected after death.

The three days passed quickly.

Just as Zhang Ye had guessed, not only did the five tested people show no abnormalities, but they also became more vigorous, clearly benefitting from some much-needed nutrients in the shrimp meat.

So the aquatic breeding project was officially put on the table.

But this time, the situation was different.

Aquatic products.

Which aquatic products?

The river had more than just crayfish.

From tiny insects and shrimps to catfish and beavers, there were at least a thousand varieties.

And this river was just a tributary of the Dragon River, with the main river stretching over two thousand kilometers and the widest point reaching hundreds of kilometers, containing even greater diversity of fish and shrimp.

If even crayfish could come ashore to eat people,

What about the other creatures?

Still eating mud?

Zhang Ye thought about this and immediately dismissed the idea of sending people by boat to catch fish and shrimp in the river,

Lest all his precious employees become fish food.

But without going into the river, how could they catch fish?

Wait for them to come ashore themselves?

He was soon stumped by this problem, and the company's management at all levels was also at a loss, unable to find a solution.

Xu Lin's idea was simple: just find a few large boats.

By then, not even crayfish two to three meters long, or even whales from the sea, could avoid becoming sashimi.

This idea was good and received unanimous approval from everyone.

But it was good for nothing.

The tributary where the hydroelectric power plant was located was called Huangshi River, with the deepest part being only a little over twenty meters, making it impossible for large ships to pass over it.

Most importantly, where would you find such large boats at this time?

There were indeed quite a few boats.

But based on current observations from the hydro power station, it seemed there really was something much larger than mutant crayfish in the water.

Once you set out on a boat, there was an eighty percent chance you wouldn't come back.

"Shall we just forget about it?"

"There's no need to sacrifice lives just for a little fish and shrimp."

Ai Bing hesitated for a moment but still spoke up, as she saw that the company didn't really lack food sources at the moment.

The mutant rats were breeding like they cost nothing.

Compared to meat, it was the metallic materials used for making cans that were in short supply.

Everyone else had similar thoughts, but aside from Ai Bing, nobody dared to openly oppose his suggestion in the meeting.

Zhang Ye, however, didn't utter a word, just shook his head slightly.

He still felt somewhat unwilling to let it go.

To finally find a new source of food only to be able to watch it and do nothing?

What was the difference between that and sitting on a pile of treasure but not being able to spend any of it?

The thought alone was uncomfortable.

Just as Ai Bing was about to persuade him further, Wang Hu, who had recently been promoted to branch manager, suddenly said, "Why not use people as bait like we did in the beginning?"

"And then set up an electric net?"

"An electric net?"

Zhang Ye paused, then quickly understood his meaning.

Was this about recreating the situation when they first encountered the mutant crayfish?

Wang Hu's suggestion sounded fine at first, but the expressions of the others sitting at the table were noticeably complex as they looked at him.

Live humans as bait.

Even though the people present had grown accustomed to all kinds of cruel acts, they still felt it was somewhat infeasible.

It wasn't because they couldn't bear it, but because of the company's reputation.

The impact would be too negative.

But then Luo Xin suddenly exclaimed with a face full of surprise, "Then why not replace the living people with zombies?"

Upon hearing this, everyone was initially a bit stunned, but they quickly caught on.

Yes, why not use zombies instead of living humans?

"This is a good plan!"

"The boss's wife is right, I think it will work!"

Luo Xin had a self-satisfied look, clearly full of confidence in her own plan.

But whether it would actually work still had to be tested.

That very afternoon, by the riverside.

A zombie was howling frantically inside a cage.

It was slender and agile, completely lacking the slow-wittedness of the past, almost a completely different creature compared to the zombies from three months ago.

The noise from the cage was especially loud on the empty sandy ground.

Yet, there were several cars stopped on the road above.

Zhang Ye was inside one of them, watching. He and the others in the car had been waiting for a full half hour, yet had still not seen anything emerge from the water.

"Could it be that we're not close enough?"

"Have the crayfish in the water not noticed the commotion above?"

Liu Qingqing said softly beside him.

Her voice was as faint as a mosquito's buzz, as if afraid her own voice would scare away the prey that had yet to appear.

Zhang Ye thought it was possible, considering there were so many things in the water, and the crayfish might not necessarily come ashore to eat.

But just as he was about to send a few more zombies to push the cage closer, a dark undercurrent suddenly surged in the water, and a teal-grey crayfish had already crawled ashore amidst the rolling waves.

"It's coming, it's coming!"

"It really came up to eat!"

Luo Xin immediately started shouting excitedly, pointing at the cage below with a face full of excitement.

This was the first time she had made a constructive suggestion!

How could she not be excited?