Mutations

Zhang Jue formulated his "plan" with a smile on his face.

Seeing that he seemed to be getting something out of it, Klein asked, "Advisor Zhang. Have you found something?"

"Yes." Zhang Jue nodded, "If I'm not wrong, our current location should be inside SCP-1351."

SCP-1351? the Moebius Cave?

Klein thought about it and frowned, "Advisor Zhang, as far as I know. The location of this SCP should be in Mammoth Cave National Park in Kentucky, which is thousands of miles away from here, and its entrance has been sealed off long ago."

Captain Klein was knowledgeable and always skeptical about what Zhang Jue had said, but Zhang Jue liked working with people like that. When working in a place like the Foundation, no little detail could be spared.

Zhang Jue said, "Captain Klein. Inside SCP-1351, time and space are distorted. No matter how long or big it is, it's impossible to measure its exact size. The national park could be one of its entrances. Who knows if it has other entrances. Of course, this is just my speculation, and perhaps it may turn out that I am wrong in the end."

Although Zhang Jue's words could not be confirmed, they couldn't disprove it either. Klein thought about it carefully, then nodded. Sort of approving his explanation for the time being.

Since Zhang Jue had been exploring in the right direction for a few hours and the exploration squad had only just explored the cave for an hour. After discussing the matter, both sides decided to continue moving in the direction Zhang Jue was heading.

As he walked, Zhang Jue said, "Captain Klein, haven't you found anything special since you came down here?"

"No." Klein shook his head, "There were all these weird rocks along the way." Klein kept looking ahead vigilantly. Even though he had just walked an anomalous road, he was a cautious man, and he did not let down his guard.

It looked like it would be difficult to get the word out of this captain. Zhang Jue was thinking of how to keep the conversation going when the squad member in charge of guarding the back suddenly fell to the ground, covering his stomach and letting out a painful groan.

"What's wrong?" Klein rushed over and took off the squad member's mask. Found that his face was white, his pupils were dilated, and he could no longer speak.

"Robert, see what's wrong with him!" Klein yelled.

The squad member called Robert unpacked his backpack and took out a medical kit. He first used a flashlight to check its pupils and then took a stethoscope to listen to its heartbeat. Although Robert is a professional medical soldier, the condition is obviously not a normal disease. The cause of the disease is yet to be known.

"You guys better stay away from him." Zhang Jue said.

Klein looked up at Zhang Jue, his eyes sharp, "Are you hiding something from me?"

"It's not that I'm hiding it from you. It's just that there's no point in talking about it." Zhang Jue shook his head.

"You came down early, so some things may not be clear. A few days after the hole was discovered, the entire town of Chlamydia was infected with a virus that was later confirmed by the Foundation to be a mutated variant of SCP-016. According to my analysis, the source of its spread was because of this cave. The second exploration squad has been vaccinated, but yours are not. If I am correct, this member of your squad should have been infected with it."

"SCP-016?" said Klein, obviously aware of the SCP.

He looked over at his team member. Only to see that their comrade's entire body had already started to ooze blood, exactly the symptoms of being infected with SCP-016. If not executed immediately, the consequences would be unthinkable when this squad member mutated in this narrow hole.

Klein slowly closed his eyes, "Robert, end him quickly."

Robert hesitated to move.

Klein frowned, "Robert?"

The medic named Robert slowly turned around. His eyes also began to spurt blood. Not only him but all the squad members started to bleed from their orifices. They all looked at Klein with an indefinable gaze.

Klein was frozen for a moment. Robert rushed up at once, opened his mouth, and bit into his neck.

Zhang Jue kicked Robert away in the nick of time and shouted, "Klein! Wake up! You are an MTF captain!"

Klein finally regained his composure. No one could accept the fact that all of his teammates, who had been living together for so long, had become infected with the virus in an instant. But as Zhang Jue said, he was a well-trained MTF team member, the leader of this exploration team. Anyone can be under pressure, but not him.

Klein gritted his teeth and prepared to go forward to help, but Zhang Jue shouted at him, "Don't come over! Be careful not to get infected!"

Zhang Jue had already blocked the attacks of the first two infected. This time, the weapon Zhang Jue had manifested was the one known as the most simple weapon of all – a folding stool.

One at a time, he smacked all of those who had mutated to the ground. The reason why Zhang Jue didn't use a long and sharp sword was that he was afraid that the spilled blood would spread the virus into the air.

Because Klein wasn't vaccinated, if even he were infected, there would be no way to learn the truth of the problem himself.

Zhang Jue quickly purged all seven infected people. Because they had just mutated, they hadn't yet developed all sorts of strange physical features. Otherwise, Zhang Jue wouldn't have made it so easy.

The only two people left in the cave were Klein and Zhang Jue. After meeting up with Zhang Jue, Klein lost all his teammates at once, and it would be wrong to say that he did not have resentment in his heart. But he knew that there was no one else to blame.

Before they went down the cave, that cheeky bastard had already told him that there might be danger inside, and he had actually prepared his mind for the worst situation. However, Zhang Jue felt very bad for him because it was a tragic moment for Klein.

Zhang Jue sat beside him, ready to comfort him with words of encouragement. Klein looked like the kind of very trustworthy partner. He will certainly be another MTF captain shortly after he finishes with this mission.

Otherwise, Lei Shui and Jeffrey should not have given him such an important task like this mission ever again. Unlike someone like Zhang Jue, who was open to the outside world, he was just an ordinary person.

Klein sat in the corner, shocked, for a few minutes. Zhang Jue patted his shoulder and was about to speak, but Klein was the first to open his mouth.

"Advisor Zhang. You are from the Foundation, right?" His voice was a bit hoarse.

Zhang Jue nodded, "Yes."

"But you don't seem to know much about our mission."

"Heh, because Lei Shui doesn't want me to know too much. My mission was only to be an advisor for the third exploration squad, that's all." By this time, Zhang Jue didn't feel the need to continue hiding it.

Klein raised his head, his eyes were red, and two lines of blood tears flowed from the corners of his eyes.

"If you want to know anything, just ask. I don't have much time left."