The Apocalypse Survival Manual (Three Days Before Doomsday, I Stockpiled Billions) novel Chapter 276

Chapter 276

Victor came back with a machine: a rat trap.

The authorities had assigned the project to him, and he had spent months developing it. 1

It worked on a principle similar to ultrasonic fish-stunning devices. The machine released sound waves that targeted the rats’ brains, overstimulating their nervous systems and throwing them into a hallucination-like state that slowed their movements to a crawl.

Once affected, they stayed dazed for nearly two hours.

Nicole thought about it for a second. “So basically like cats with catnip?”

Exactly. Catnip had actually been Victor’s original inspiration.

The rat infestation had already reduced countless homes to chaos, and plenty of survivors outside had

been bitten.

Hospitals and epidemic prevention teams were doing everything they could, but restarting

pharmaceutical production under these conditions was nearly impossible. For now, they could only rely

on the most basic treatment methods, and the situation wasn’t looking good.

Victor’s proposal was simple. The two floors would continue working together and wipe the rats out

completely.

Nicole agreed immediately.

Even with Cola guarding the place, a dog still had limits.

Over the past few days, he had lost noticeable weight. He was so exhausted that he barked and twitched in his sleep, like he was still fighting those red-eyed rats in his dreams.

And in this kind of heat, life was brutal for a dog that could only cool itself by panting. Drinking too much

water could even lead to water intoxication.

Nicole didn’t want to see either happen.

So everyone gathered to test the rat trap on the spot.

They opened the hallway windows on the 17th floor, along with the doors and windows of the other two

apartments.

The moment the machine was plugged in, a low mechanical hum filled the hallway.

About ten minutes later, giant red-eyed rats began crawling up through the drainage pipes.

They circled the machine nonstop, squeaking as their movements gradually slowed. Their blood-red eyes glazed over with a strange, blissed-out look.

Honestly, they looked completely stoned.

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+15 Bonus

A few minutes later, the rats dropped to the floor in twisted heaps.

More rats kept climbing up after them, and in less than half an hour, over a dozen had gathered.

Jeremy and the others stared in stunned silence. This was the power of technology!

The partnership was finalized almost immediately.

The 18th floor would take charge of round-the-clock trapping and extermination, while the Goodmans provided the machines.

Both sides would alternate delivering the dead rats to the neighborhood committee for registration, and the canned food rewards would be split evenly.

No one on the 18th floor was particularly excited about canned rat meat, but the infestation had already driven everyone to the edge of paranoia. If this could make the building livable again, they were all in.

So the trap was moved to the 18th floor, and the hallway doors and windows were left open.

Everyone rotated through day and night watch shifts.

Based on the apartment order, Zeph took the first shift. Every two hours, he stepped outside to kill the hallucinating rats and dump the bodies into burlap sacks.

By the following morning, they had killed 106 rats, adding up to well over 100 pounds altogether.

That was far too much weight for an ordinary person to carry alone.

When it was Nicole’s turn, she barely had to lift a finger.

Cola practically handled the whole thing himself.

There were fewer rats during the day, but they still killed more than 70.

Zeph carried the motorboat downstairs on his back, while Nicole dragged an entire sack of rats beside

him.

Underneath their medical-grade protective suits, both wore temperature-regulating clothing, with masks sealed tightly over their faces as they headed toward the neighborhood committee by motorboat to turn

in the rats.

Trash still drifted across the floodwaters here and there, but thanks to the authorities’ aggressive cleanup efforts and nonstop public campaigns, the environment looked far better than it had in their previous life.

At the very least, no epidemic outbreaks had been reported yet.

Back then, the disease had already spread everywhere by this point.

Quite a few people came to exchange rats at the neighborhood committee, but most only brought a handful Anyone carrying more than a dozen already drew attention.

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+15 Bonus

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