Chapter 28 - Vaccine

Staring at the city which looked like the ghostly underworld, Lin Xiang couldn't help but tremble. He could even hear the sound of his teeth grinding against each other.

Right now, it was just a city.

In the future, will the virus spread throughout the world?

"Bastard——"

Lin Xiang, whose thoughts were occupied by fear and anger, shot out blazing flames from his palm, instantly enveloping the young woman's body. Her delicate face was scorched into a series of blisters by the high heat, chunks of cooked muscle fell off, and the innermost plasma and membrane became black attachments... soon, the beautiful young woman was completely burned to ashes, leaving only a few scraps of bones emitting a faint heat in the aftermath.

Prying open the hands that were clutching his ankles, he used his thick soles to crush the now brittle body into black powder. Lin Xiang struggled to control his anger that was close to collapsing, took unsteady steps, and struggled into the zombie horde that was coming back to life.

He no longer had the power to release his bio-flame, but he could still use his dagger to penetrate the skulls of the undead and send the dead spirits back to darkness.

One.

Two.

Three.

The bodies of those who have had their heads removed lay scattered on the empty street. Dark red blood flowed from the neck wounds, forming an irregular stain on the dry ground. The arms remaining on the torso twitched unconsciously, the filthy fingers quivering and reaching towards the shoulders, searching for the missing head. The legs, controlled by remaining nerves, kicked and twitched in an attempt to find a reliable support to stand up, but never succeeded.

Lin Xiang felt that every drop of blood in his body was boiling. The turbulent liquid rushed against the fragile blood vessels, burning his brain with a terrible heat. The rapidly depleted energy could no longer maintain his body's normal operation and the scarce oxygen made him feel nearly suffocated. He became increasingly clumsy as he could not maintain his agile pace. He collapsed next to a cold and heavy wall of water-worn stone, like mud.

The consumption of physical strength had reached its limit.

Behind him, on the street, were more than fifty bodies with their heads cut off, lying upside down.

In the distance, more zombies are crawling out of the ruins, swaying their bodies, taking unsteady but not falling steps towards here. The eyes swollen with yellow-green decay water release a thirst and greed for fresh meat.

Lin Xiang feels like a tired lion, and the gradually approaching corpses are the pack of hyenas surrounding him.

There's no doubt that a powerful lion can easily tear apart any hyena. Similarly, hungry hyenas will not miss the opportunity to hunt a lion that has exhausted its strength.

The body of the strong is also meat, and it will be more tender and nutritious if eaten.

"Divide and eat, is this my fate?"

Looking at the dense corpses in the distance, Lin Xiang's mind is blank. He is unable to resist and just wants to fall asleep like this and never wake up again...

"Boom-"

A huge red flame, accompanied by a piercing screech, exploded in the center of the corpses. Blood and broken stones were scattered everywhere.

This is the power only possessed by 70mm rocket projectiles.

In a daze, Lin Xiang focused his gaze on the top of his head with the last of his strength. What he saw was a military "Z-15" armed helicopter, and in the transparent cockpit, the familiar face of Qi Yue.

.....

"We need vaccines."

"It is impossible to stop the attack of mutated creatures without immunity,"

"What are the research departments doing? What's the use of spending so much money every year for the country? Why is it always impossible to get what we need most when it's critical?"

Looking at the thick stack of reports on the table, the frustration and anxiety was clearly evident in the old eyes of the Chief of Staff, Lu Yulin.

The 21st Army Group, which returned from the Southwest Front Line, is currently replenishing personnel and weapons. Surprisingly, the officers of the various levels of the troops seem to not care about this, and the two words that appear most frequently in the battle reports they submitted are "vaccine."

Withdraw the two battalions from the rear first. Under normal full-strength conditions, the number of soldiers should be over 40,000. However, the number of survivors who returned from the front line is only eight percent of this number.

More than 90 percent of the casualties are considered to have been "annihilated". However, in the casualties lists of the two battalions, the number under the "death in battle" column only accounts for 17 percent of the total number of soldiers.

The rest are wounded.

Either they lost their limbs or suffered minor, non-fatal injuries, but none of them survived. According to orders, all wounded must be "dealt with" within six hours. Thousands of confirmed wounded, regardless of severity, are executed on the spot.

Fighting the mutants means that being wounded means death.

The series of cold numbers on the report form made Lu Yulin's heart bleed.

Killing their own people is something that has never happened in the history of the republic.

But they had to do it anyway.

Once the time limit is exceeded, the injured soldier will be infected with the virus and become a cruel, black monster that craves killing. At that time, there will be even more dead people.

Vaccine.

When can a vaccine be developed?

This is not just the wish of the general, but also the most pressing expectation of all people who hope to end the nightmare forever.

...

National Military Research Department of the Academy of Sciences, 12:45 a.m.

Staying up late is the biggest killer of a woman's beauty. This phrase doesn't seem to apply to Fang Yujie.

The spacious white uniform can't cover her curvaceous, slender figure at all. Her long, straight neck is as white as snow, and although she has no makeup, her simple face still shows a beauty that most women envy. Especially the coldness and pride that radiate from her, make people feel a latent attraction and an unapproachable chill.

Fine fingers gently adjust the electron microscope's focus, staring at the thin drop of nutrient under the lens, and a faint wrinkle forms on the smooth forehead of Fang Yujie.

Like all viruses, R12 must be parasitic within living cells and replicate in order to survive.

That is not a normal concept of parasitism, using words like "occupation" and "plunder" to describe it seems to better express its terrible features.

Viruses have a high degree of parasitism, relying entirely on the energy and metabolism system of the host cell to obtain the substances and energy needed for life activities. Once out of the host cell, it is just a large chemical molecule, stopping activity, and can be made into a protein crystal, making it a non-living entity. However, when it encounters a host cell, it will display typical life features through adsorption, entry, replication, assembly, and release of offspring viruses, so viruses are a primitive life form between biology and non-biology.

R12 is completely different from the ordinary meaning of viruses.

It also relies on the host cell to maintain life, but forcibly changes the cell's inherent survival mode, promoting the cell to divide at an abnormal rate, thus leading to a frenzy demand for energy. It forces the host to obtain supplements from the outside world at a faster rate. This has been proven from the captured live corpses in the 21st group army.

Fighting R12 was not as difficult as imagined. As long as one could suppress the insane speed and slow down the burning of cellular energy, it was no different from a regular virus. The problem was, how could this be done without changing the chromosomal characteristics and biological gene chain? Countless experiments had proven that the fragile human matrix protein was completely unable to withstand the strong debilitating vaccines. Once injected, while suppressing R12, it would also cause various physiological functions to terminate within 24 hours. The only role of this thing was, perhaps in the name of "humanity," to allow those infected to die painlessly.

Fang Yujie was looking for a balance point between degeneration and expansion. But where was it...

"Bang!" Suddenly, a vague metallic collision sound came from outside the window, mixed with indistinct roars and miserable screams.

Fang Yujie had no interest in finding out what had happened. She still sat on the leather swivel chair, looking through the black-framed glasses on her nose and seriously observing the densely packed analytical data on the computer screen. The chaos that was happening outside had no effect on her.

This is a military control area. Regardless of what happens, it's handled by the guard force.

Half an hour later, as the distinctive rhythm of soldiers' footsteps echoed down the hallway, the figure of the duty officer appeared on the electronic intercom next to the experiment platform.

"Dr. Fang, we just captured a middle-aged man who broke into our jurisdiction. He claims to have something important to talk to you personally," said the duty officer.

"I don't want to see him..." Dr. Fang's tone was cold and tough. It wasn't because of her natural aloofness, but because too many people who lusted after her beauty had used these annoying methods.

"But he mentioned R12..." The duty officer cautiously interjected.

"What?" Dr. Fang was shocked and showed a few signs of surprise on her clear face.

The existence of R12 is confidential. Only relevant personnel within the system will know the meaning represented by this special symbol. They could have a legitimate appointment with themselves, so why bother with the unusual method of breaking in?

"Has the identity of the other party been verified?" She took a deep breath and regained her calm.

"All the details have been reviewed," the duty officer looked at the interrogation records in his hand: "His name is Qian Ziming and he is a level four researcher at South Medicine Company. ID number..."

"Bring him to the reception room immediately, I'll be there in five minutes," she said with a rigid and impatient tone, closing the intercom and opening the electronic lock on the door of the laboratory.

South Medicine Company is one of the private organizations involved in vaccine research.