Two days later, Zhang Jue and Tang Mao arrived outside of Chlamydia. They scope around the area. The inside of the town was already in ruins, with dilapidated houses, collapsed streets, and a few black smoke slowly drifting into the sky in the distance. The town's perimeter was fenced off and surrounded by a fort that had just been built. The air was filled with smoke, and there were many bullet marks and explosion traces on the fort, which looked like they had undergone several very fierce battles.
Inside the fort, a team of heavily armed MTF members, holding their sniper rifles, were guarding on the ground, standing by as if they were afraid that something might suddenly appear inside the town. Looking at the scene in front of him, Zhang Jue was suddenly in a bit of a trance. If he hadn't just been playing a game on the plane, he would have thought he had traveled to the battlefield of World War II.
"The situation is rather complicated." Tang Mao said. "At first, the town's residents caught a cold and fever one after another, and people thought it was a common flu, but then they realized things weren't that simple. This virus is very contagious. Several large hospitals are overcrowded, but there is still no way to cure them, and the number of the infected is increasing." Tang Mao said here. Zhang Jue suddenly waved his hand to interrupt him.
"Wait, can I ask? In what way is the virus spreading? Have you taken any countermeasures?"
"The small town of Chlamydia was so remote that no one thought of the matter so seriously at that time, and they didn't even use masks. Until a few days later, when the government found that things were out of control, and only then did they ask the Foundation for help." Tang Mao sighed and was helpless.
"You know, the President of Mei Province, Tebukao Park is a very... very… what's the right word? He will never admit that his decision was a failure, and by the time we arrived here, the whole town had been turned into a dead city."
"Dead city?" Zhang Jue looked around and pointed to the fort that had just been built, "So you're shooting at a bunch of devils with submachine guns? That sounds pretty exciting."
Tang Mao scratched his head in embarrassment, "It's true that 'devils' is a bit exaggerated, but I really don't know how to describe them." Zhang Jue lifted his chin, signaling him to speak freely.
"Those who infected with the virus, most of them died and died very tragically. Usually with seven stages of bleeding, only a small portion of their body remained. Which would turn into a kind of fake death." Tang Mao continued, "That fake death, although they will also experience brain dysfunction, their hearts will still keep beating weakly, and after a few hours or days have passed, they will be resurrected."
"Resurrected?" Zhang Jue raised his eyebrows.
"Yes, they are resurrected." Tang Mao said, "And after they're resurrected, they become so aggressive that they start tearing up the normal people around them. Like the zombies in The Walking Dead."
"But zombies aren't hard to deal with." Zhang Jue said.
Tang Mao hummed, "At that time, the government hadn't sent a plea to the Foundation for help, and they sent a team of soldiers to Chlamydia to execute people as soon as they found them turned into zombies. But then, something bizarre happened."
"When they executed the first batch of zombies, the ones that appeared since a certain point became fast and would move in groups, specifically killing those in uniform. That group of soldiers was consumed within a week. From that point on, the whole thing began to move in an uncontrollable direction."
"After the first group of soldiers was killed, President Tebukao sent another group of soldiers. The group lasted three days before they were all wiped out, and the town had already fallen by then."
"Finally, the Mei governmental army surrounded Chlamydia, and the forts you see now were built at that time."
Zhang Jue looked at the surrounding fences, knowing that Tang Mao had one more thing to say that he hadn't been able to get out. Looking around the area, the defense may not be the only reason to keep those who have turned into zombies. Of course, some things could only be understood, not spoken.
Zhang Jue looked at the town in the distance and said, "It looks like even with the forts from the Mei army was built, they still haven't been able to stop them."
"Yes." Tang Mao nodded, "According to the information they provided, those zombies are very scary, not only do they have extreme speed, some of them have evolved wings, and there was even a zombie that dived out to the river next to the town and attacked the Mei army from the rear. The Mei army only had a moment to conduct a round of bombardment on the town before they collapsed under their attack."
"It was also from this point that the Mei upper echelons realized the seriousness of the matter and turned to the GOC (Global Occult Coalition). The GOC came and suppressed those zombies within the town, but if they couldn't solve the underlying problem, it would be useless even if they killed all the zombies. If someone else got infected with the virus, everything would be back to square one, but the GOC is not good at this. So, they contacted the Foundation."
Tang Mao's mouth was almost dry when he finally gave Zhang Jue a rundown of what had happened. Zhang Jue nodded and understood why they had called Yang Xue to do the job. The Foundation wanted to analyze what kind of virus could turn a normal person into this.
It's okay to just turn into a zombie but grow wings and swim? If the Foundation came two days later, would they still be able to go to the sky?
"Wait, I think I know what that thing is." Zhang Jue suddenly slapped his thigh, "A virus that will make the host evolve, isn't this SCP-016?"
-----
SCP-016 is a blood-borne pathogen with an incubation period ranging from 24 hours to two years. Initial symptoms are similar to the common cold and include itchy eyes, runny eyes, cough, and body aches.
When the virus enters the body to the final stage, the host will collapse and bleed profusely throughout the body, with blood gushing from all orifices, including the nostrils, tear ducts, pores, mouth, and urethra. If the patient survives this stage, the pathogen will be inactivated and go back into dormancy, returning to the incubation period.
Those infected with the virus become aggressive, and even more bizarrely, when the host is in a state of stress (e.g., under life-threatening conditions), the pathogen changes its survival strategy from simply replicating itself to recombining with the patient's DNA, promoting cell division and the growth of limbs (e.g., wings and gills) that do not conform to the host's body structure to solve the problem being encountered.
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"But that doesn't seem right either." After carefully recalling SCP-016's information, Zhang Jue shook his head and dismissed his thoughts, "They don't behave exactly like SCP-016's characteristics." Tang Mao was just about to speak when Yang Xue's voice came from behind them.
"The reason is simple. Because what these people are infected with is the mutated variant of SCP-016."
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Hearing the familiar voice, Zhang Jue turned his attention, "Wow, isn't this the great Dr. Yang who combines beauty and talent? A day without seeing you is like three years without seeing you. May I ask how you have been?"
The two had not seen each other along for a long time, and even though Zhang Jue said that word with a very serious look, Yang Xue still discerned that hint of roguishness in his tone.
She gave Zhang Jue a helpless look and continued what she had just said, "The SCP-016 here and the SCP-016 sample in the Foundation's lab, although similar in structure, have many differences. To put it simply, they have mutated and are two different viruses from SCP-016, which we will temporarily call it SCP-016-A."
So that's how it is. Zhang Jue nodded. Yang Xue's words sort of solved a doubt in his mind, but the whole thing still made quite a lot of sense to him.
"Two questions." He said. "First, if I remember correctly. According to the Foundation's containment procedures for SCP-016, the nuclear bomb should be detonated to prevent it from spreading when the virus could not be effectively suppressed. SCP-016-A is obviously more dangerous than SCP-016. Why didn't we just do it before? It's been like this for two weeks, don't tell me the Foundation's approval process has not been completed. We have many times in the world, and those pigs are discussing nonsense stuff."
Zhang Jue looked at Tang Mao and pointed out another finger. "Secondly, since you have discovered the virus and managed to hold it to this point. What's my job here? Listen to your little science project here?"
It wasn't any wonder that Zhang Jue was so suspicious. Because, in his opinion, the entire incident smells suspicious. It seemed reasonable as far as the course of events Tang Mao had just described. But it was so full of discrepancies that it didn't stand up to the fact, and Zhang Jue could casually pick out several places where the logic didn't make sense.
However, he didn't speak until this point. He focused only on himself because he could understand Tang Mao's difficulties. He had hidden something from him, and there could only be one reason for doing so—the Foundation's upper echelons, who didn't want him to know those things.
Tang Mao was a little embarrassed, not knowing how to answer Zhang Jue's question for a moment. Suddenly, another familiar voice rang out from afar.
"Advisor Zhang, please don't make things difficult for my subordinates. The reason why this town was not completely destroyed and the reason why you were invited here is the same. I will explain it to you later." Zhang Jue turned around, only to see a familiar face appear in front of him.
"Lei Shan? What brings you here?" He had just seen Lei Shan on the news the day before, and he should be in Europe on business at this time.
"Hello, Advisor Zhang. My name is Lei Shui, and Lei Shan is my brother. He asked me to relay this message to you." Lei Shui smiled, and his deep eyes were exactly the same as Lei Shan's.
The Foundation had commandeered a farm five kilometers from the town of Chlamydia as a temporary camp. The farm owner had fled anyway because of the plague in Chlamydia. There are only four of them inside a private room. Zhang Jue, Yang Xue, Lei Shui, and Tang Mao sat around a table.
"I've prepared this place for us to have a conversation. Please, Mr. Zhang Jue, have a seat." Lei Shui said.
Zhang Jue waved his hand, "I'm tired of you guys talking about these useless polite words. If you don't mind, can we switch the place?"
"Of course. Advisor Zhang had traveled far. If you can't even meet such a small request, it's a bit unjustifiable. Tang Mao, please make a report and apply to the headquarters."
Lei Shui's tone was natural, without the slightest hint of reluctance, as if he really wanted to apply for a conference room with better conditions for Zhang Jue.
Seeing Tang Mao stand up, Zhang Jue hurriedly stopped him, "No, no, no, no. It's fine. This is enough."
It was rare to see Zhang Jue get defeated, and Yang Xue smiled. Usually, he was the one who made trouble for others, but this time he was afraid he had met his match. Yang Xue glanced at Lei Shui. She had been here for almost a week and had met him several times, refreshing her mind each time they met.
Lei Shan and Lei Shui were twin brothers, almost identical in appearance. But the two gave her a completely different feeling. If we say that contact with Lei Shan, there is a sense of spring breeze. Then Lei Shui is like flowing water.
Outside the small town of Chlamydia, the number of people surrounding it was a lot. The Foundation, the GOC, the Mei military, and the state government. Each party has its own agenda, each with its own different purposes.
But Lei Shui was able to arrange them properly, firstly because his status was high enough to suppress them, and secondly because his mind was really powerful.
Several forces outside the town are working well without any disobedience as far as Yang Xue knows if someone made a mistake and they enter his office. They will be out of the office without any problem at all and continue their job.
Yang Xue thought, could he be brainwashing his worker? Of course, this can only be a joke. With the identity of Lei Shui, he must have something hidden in him that he doesn't want others to see.
This old Lei family's second boy is cheeky, more than his brother. Zhang Jue thought so, a little upset about it. But knowing the current situation, he did not bother to take it into account.
He picked up the glass of water on the table and took a sip, and said, "Older Lei, you just said that the reason for keeping this town and inviting me here is the same. What does that mean?"
Lei Shui smiled, "It's actually very simple. Because we want to explore this town."
"Explore?"
"Yes, explore." Lei Shui answered, "According to the Foundation's investigation, there is something very important somewhere in the middle of the town. We don't know its exact location yet, so we can't take those extreme ways of killing those mutants with a wide range of strikes. We can only sneak in and after we obtain what we want. Everything will be very simple."
"Ohhhh," Zhang Jue pulled out long awe, "So you guys are just going to let me go as cannon fodder?"
"It's not like you think." Tang Mao waved his hand before Lei Shui could say anything, "Advisor Zhang, you have misunderstood something. After Dr. Yang developed the virus vaccine, two MTF teams had already entered Chlamydia, but they both failed to come out."
Hearing Tang Mao say this, Zhang Jue was shocked. Two MTF teams went in and didn't even come out, and you guys still wanted me to go? And you had the audacity to say that you're not using me as cannon fodder?
He took the time to glance at Yang Xue, but this chick was also quite capable. Only a week after arriving here, the vaccine had been researched.
"The Birds of Prey team leader will personally carry the remaining team members for the third exploration mission. You are only responsible for them to carry out some necessary guidance work if you judge that there is danger. You can also step ahead and withdraw from the exploration team whenever you can. You can put your own safety in the first place."
As the Foundation's Special Advisor, Zhang Jue's rank was not lower than Lei Shui. But with Lei Shui here, he has a similar role to a commander-in-chief. The authority given to him by the O5 Council must be very high.
He had pulled a small meeting and personally explained the mission to Zhang Jue, which was considered enough for the situation. Unless Zhang Jue wanted to face off with the Foundation, he would have to go on this exploration mission even if he didn't want to.
Thinking this through, Zhang Jue nodded his head. "I have one last question." He said, "Why did I have to go in? Did the two previous expeditions encounter anything in particular?"
"Advisor Zhang is really as powerful as my brother said." Lei Shui said, "I'm not going to hide it from you. The first two expedition teams have found what we want. But they all didn't come back, and we couldn't locate their position according to the GPS. The two teams had disappeared from this world."
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