Chapter 102: A Storm is Coming
Translator: Letty Editor: DarkGem
For almost a month, Zhizhi, Jing, and Chang spent their days in peace.
There was a troop of soldiers chasing them, but Chang and Zhizhi were able to backtrack the pursuers before they got close. Countless times, the troop hunted for nothing. In the end, they would disappear from Zhizhi’s olfactive perception range, probably just returning to the military as they aborted the impossible mission.
In the city of Zhengzhou, quite a few explosive news spread.
The first news was that a month ago, which was five days after Chang retrieved their worm box, The Agent Orange plan was well-implemented and completed in time. Most of the non-cultivation fields were sprayed with the chemical. And as Zhuo had anticipated, these affected areas became barren. The devastated plants lost their color, and their feeble stems lay flat on the ground.
Once Zhuo’s goal was achieved, the government and the military tasted the sweetness of convenience. They also began clamoring to clear the highways that connected the cities using Agent Orange.
However, the clamor only lasted for a few days. The decision was stalled for a long time, and in the end, still not made. No one knew whether it was because the regional political struggle made the authorities yearn for more power and hence they didn’t want to connect with the central government that would take away their freedom to do as they wished, or it was because the research institute ran out of Agent Orange, which resulted in the mission having to be aborted since the amount of the chemical was insufficient to implement the plan. Either way, the clamor was settled down.
Civilization restored itself once the plants, which were shelters for predators, withered. The animals were either killed off by the army or fled to the jungle as Zhuo had expected.
Once the citizens were granted safety, it meant that the old industrial activities could be resumed, and the people were assigned to different infrastructure projects. Their wages were the seeds of the Crystal Pea—the more they worked, the more they would be awarded; and if they chose not to work, they wouldn’t get any seeds since the distribution stations were going to be cancelled soon. It was a simple solution, and Zhuo’s ruled civilization continued to flourish.
And that was the first news.
The second was a political storm.
During the prolonged political struggle in Zhengzhou, the military, which owned all the armies in Zhengzhou, took over the control of the city. It also disintegrated the government, completely transforming the city into a city-state with political and military power fused together. During the revolution, Zhuo was again pushed to the center of the storm, becoming one of the most influential and powerful men in the newly born system.
Zhuo was like the sun shining high in the sky.
But while he was desired by both the system and the people, the food preservation method based on irradiation that he had endorsed caused unexpected mutations. Almost all the higher-ups in Zhengzhou were affected.
A hypermutable bacteria that was born during the irradiation process ravaged the military government, causing more than half of the high officials to die from infections. The bacteria had strong multidrug resistance, and the current antibiotic treatments failed to suppress its replication. Those who were infected were isolated, and had to wait for death to bring them away from their torment.
The hierarchy of the ruling system became fragile again…
In the research institute.
In Group Alpha.
“Qing Shui, what is all that mess?” Zhuo stood beside Qing Shui, his brows tied. “The preservation method I used should be perfect, that hypermutable bacteria simply shouldn’t exist.”
“The irradiation method was absolutely safe to preserve food if you used it before this apocalypse,”Qing Shui answered in calm voice, gently shaking the testing tube in his hand. “But irradiation has become unstable now that it became extremely easy for the bacterias and viruses to mutate and evolve. Not to mention the effect of the surroundings, the red fog. I told you not to use this method before, but you were too rash in making that decision.”
“I do admit it’s all my fault. But I still think this hypermutable bacteria wasn’t a usual occurrence.” Zhuo glanced on Qing Shui’s expressionless face, then continued, “It wasn’t a bad thing either. The infection wiped out quite the amount of higher ups, so we’ll have less opposition from now on.”
“True, most of the higher ups were too weak to resist the infection themselves. They all passed away on the first night of the bacteria’s leakage.” Qing Shui smirked imperceptibly to himself, . “No one will dare to stand against us. But I think you need to be more cautious, since the power system is reconciling.”
“Why should I be?” Zhuo laughed wildly as he heard Qing Shui’s advice. “Who doesn’t know my special force in Zhengzhou? I have more than a hundred gene-altered soldiers. Even if they might not be as useful as a normal regiment, they are still more than capable in a raid. No one can stop them, no one!
“Whoever voices out to be against my plan, I’ll make them silent. There shouldn’t be any other people making the decisions except me, and all I need are people who implement my plans...”
“Sure.” Qing Shui nodded.
“By the way,” Zhuo said suddenly. “Even if I’ve said something arrogant, I want you to speed up the development of the antibiotic. We can’t afford to have the bacteria reach normal citizens. In the worst case scenario, the whole city might go extinct.”
“I got it.” Qing Shui brought two testing tubes in front of his eyes, observing the chemical reaction. “The preparations are done. Although it can’t cure the infection with one shot, it’ll suppress the bacterial cell division.”
Qing Shui’s eyes twinkled with confidence, affirming Zhuo’s concern.
“Good to hear that.” Zhuo’s eyes squinted as he smiled.
“One more thing,” Qing Shui added in a casual tone. “I heard that the water plant was clogged by something unknown. Initially I thought it was some sort of mutated algae occupying it, but the troop I sent a few days ago didn’t return to report. And the other troops I sent later didn’t return, either. The last time, I dispatched a company of soldiers. They suffered heavy casualties, but two returned with news.”
“What news?” Zhuo was intrigued.
“A monster in the Yellow River, they called it Yessie.” Even though Qing Shui was speaking about something horrifying that had taken more than a hundred lives, his emotions didn’t change a bit. “But I don’t think it’s a monster.”
“What do you mean?”
“It’s simply a super life.”
“A super life?” Zhuo supported his chin, leaning on the table. “Does it mean it’s a highly mutated life? It killed off its competitors and happened to become the most aggressive in the Yellow River?”
“Exactly, It’s extremely powerful. I was fortunate enough to meet one before.”
“How powerful is it?” Zhuo was filled with excitement.
“I don’t know about it in detail, we only met once. I didn’t even see its full body.” Qing Shui placed the tube back onto the rack. “If it grew in accordance to my calculations, the super life I met is five thousand times stronger than an average human.”
“The base number you used is an average human...” Zhuo’s face was distorted with terror, but his expression made it seem like he had acted this way intentionally. “This is impossible! If it’s as powerful as you tell me, I doubt it can be destroyed even with nuclear weapons!”