Chapter 65

Chapter 65

After several days in a coma, Academician Ji Shi Ping finally woke up.

The first thing he mumbled upon waking was, “My experimental data…”

His student, Lin Shu Yang, who had been attending to him, hurriedly leaned in and said, “Don’t worry, teacher, we’ve brought all the materials out, nothing was lost.”

The old man muttered something else that was incoherent, vaguely something about “a few people.”

Lin Shu Yang understood and said, “Xiao Li and the others are all fine, none of us were harmed.”

Academician Ji vaguely said 'okay,' then fell into unconsciousness again.

It wasn’t until half a month later that he truly regained consciousness.

Upon waking, Academician Ji noticed some new faces around him and heard that they had reestablished contact with the Northern Base, which had sent people over. He became excited again and had to be pressed down by the doctor for a while before he could calm down and speak slowly.

Weakened and unclear in speech, he was still preoccupied with his experiments.

“I was in lab 8027… the experiment started… many samples and materials were left behind… couldn’t bring them with me… later in Jin'an, Xilin… again… lacking laboratory equipment…”

Lin Shu Yang didn’t let him talk for too long, quickly reassuring him, “I’ve already briefed them on the situation, teacher, please rest well for now.”

Yang Luo and Wen Yi both came to visit and sat nearby.

Yang Luo spoke first to comfort him, “Academician Ji, I am Yang Luo, a student of Academician Qi Zhenguang. Rest assured, we’ve brought an entire research team to assist you in developing the virus vaccine. The priority now is for you to recover so you can lead us better!”

Seeing him speak so passionately, Academician Ji smiled and then looked towards Wen Yi, saying with effort, “Your teacher… is Rong Lan Jia… She told me about you…”

“Yes, my name is Wen Yi. Over the past three years, my teacher has made some breakthroughs in virus research at the Northern Righteousness Base. I’ve brought all the materials over. I’ve also seen some of your research, Teacher Lin, and have gained a lot of insights. I have some new ideas and hope to receive your guidance.” Wen Yi leaned in, speaking softly and slowly.

“Good, good, everyone is working hard, together…” Academician Ji said.

Seeing him smile happily at Wen Yi, Yang Luo subtly pursed his lips. He had long heard that Academician Ji had a closer personal relationship with Dean Rong and that his favoritism was quite obvious.

Once Academician Ji’s condition improved slightly, he became eager to continue his previous research.

The Long'an Ancient City was initially just a temporary refuge, a place with no research facilities at all.

Academician Ji hoped more to return to lab 8027, where there were ready-made instruments, as well as the samples and data he had left behind initially, and it was also close to the area where a large-scale meteorite impact had occurred.

After detailed understanding and consideration, the team’s commander decided to first arrange for a group of people to go to lab 8027 to clear out the zombies.

The rest of the people would temporarily stay in the Long'an Ancient City, and once Academician Ji’s condition stabilized completely, they would head to lab 8027 to regroup.

Xue Ling and Wen Jiu Zhe were in the first batch of people going to lab 8027.

Lab 8027 was a secret laboratory hidden in the Gobi, existing for several decades.

“The northwest is so desolate, I heard that lab 8027 is surrounded by vast stretches of Gobi, and there probably aren’t many people in the research institute, how did it fall?”

Someone curiously asked a soldier who had been protecting Academician Ji and was following him closely.

This soldier was Li Shi Xi, who had climbed onto the roof and made first contact with Xue Ling.

He smiled wryly and explained, “There are no cities around lab 8027, but there is a legion stationed nearby.”

“When the apocalypse arrived, it was said that they were in isolated training.”

No one really knows what exactly happened, but by the time they discovered it, there were no living people left inside, only a group of zombies trapped there.

They were searching for food in the surrounding area when they accidentally found this military base. Excited to seek help, they inadvertently released the zombies, leading to the siege and occupation of Lab 8027.

The location of Lab 8027 was too remote, making it very difficult to obtain supplies, and even more so in the post-apocalyptic world to secure the food supply.

They were already short-handed, so they split their resources—some searched for food every day, while others stayed behind to protect Academician Ji and the others.

Ammunition was quickly depleted, and after managing to escape the zombie siege, they began to wander around.

Li Shixi didn’t explain it too clearly, but everyone understood the kind of situation it must have been, and they fell silent.

But the silence didn’t last long; those who had survived the apocalypse had already seen too many tragedies.

When the cars stopped to cook, a group of people holding steaming, fragrant meals began to smile again.

The past couldn’t be changed, and the future was uncertain, but being able to sit in the wilderness and eat a hot meal was a simple joy.

The two in the team who couldn’t eat were walking around outside.

They planned to rest in this area for the night. There was an abandoned power plant nearby. Xue Ling, curious about the tall cooling tower, proposed checking it out, and Wen Jiuzhe suggested they go take a look.

The two of them were in the same situation now; neither had to stay outside while the other waited. They could act together.

There were zombies in the power plant. As they passed by and made noise, the zombies howled and scratched restlessly at the metal doors.

Xue Ling also made noises outside the door, but hers were light and cheerful, like happy humming.

There wasn’t much to see in the power plant. The cooling tower that looked tall from a distance wasn’t particularly special up close, but Xue Ling was still eager to climb to the base and find the entrance to explore.

Wen Jiuzhe went with her for a tour. Two zombies gazed up at the sky framed by the cooling tower.

After they came out, they climbed another observation tower.

Climbing the rusted, peeling handrails, they reached the top of the tower, where they could see their temporary camp not far away, with a few lights on and some figures moving among the motorcade.

Looking further into the distance, the horizon faded into the distance.

The sunset’s afterglow was slowly swallowed by that line, turning into a dark blue.

Wen Jiuzhe sat on the platform, and initially, Xue Ling sat next to him, but gradually she lay down on his legs, viewing the sunset in a more comfortable position.

When it was completely dark, Wen Jiuzhe didn’t suggest leaving, and Xue Ling lay there quietly.

The wind was strong up high, but who cares? Zombies didn’t catch colds.

One sitting, the other lying, the two of them stayed there quietly for a whole night, watching another sunrise before going down the tower and returning to the team, following the motorcade continuing on.

Moving ahead, they would enter a no-man’s land.

A long road stretched across the yellow landscape, with no cars or zombies in sight, only the team.

Wen Jiuzhe finally realized, belatedly, how popular Xue Ling was in the team.

It started when he found a beautiful stone in the Gobi desert and handed it to Xue Ling, who carried it around daily.

The soldiers in the team, noticing how much she enjoyed it, would collect pretty stones for her when they found them on the road.

The first soldier who brought her a stone was observed by Wen Jiuzhe for a while. By the time the second, third, and subsequent soldiers came, Wen Jiuzhe stopped watching them and started focusing on Xue Ling.

"What do they mean by that?"

"To thank me," Xue Ling told Wen Jiuzhe, "Because I brought them some necessary items during missions, everyone takes good care of me."

Because they had been taken care of by her, they thanked her.

"What about that guy, he's from Captain Shen Zhang's team, hasn't been taken care of by you, right?"

He also came to give a stone?

Xue Ling said matter-of-factly, "He must have been taken care of by you, so he's giving me a stone to express his gratitude."

Wen Jiuzhe, who hadn't taken care of anyone in the team: "..."

On the other side, a soldier who tentatively sent a stone returned to his teammates. Everyone asked him, "How was it? Did Wen Jiuzhe react when you gave him the stone?"

The soldier said, "He stared at me intensely. I think he remembered me! This method of building relationships works!"

After a group of people rushed to give stones to Xue Ling, Wen Jiuzhe grabbed Xue Ling under her arms and lifted her away from the crowd.

With her hands raised, shaped like a clothes rack, Xue Ling said: "..."

How ridiculous, was he jealous? But she's a zombie? Her appearance will soon be as alien-like!

His jealousy wasn't very serious though; he even helped select some pretty stones from the ones others gave her, keeping a few.

The Gobi desert was desolate, and Lab 8027 was in the uninhabited area. After a certain stretch of road, there was a symbolic fence by the side of the road.

A local soldier remarked, "This area used to be off-limits, and people were not allowed to enter. If any self-driving tourists reached this road, they would be turned back."

But the mysterious Lab 8027 hidden here wasn't a high-tech place, nor did it have the high-tech metallic feel like in some sci-fi movies.

In fact, when they turned onto a small road and arrived, it was just a small cluster of structures, three or four stories high, unassuming and somewhat aged.

In front was a small playground for basketball, a small canteen, laboratory buildings, dormitories, and a small power plant.

The soldiers put on thick protective gear, divided into small teams, and covered each other, starting to skillfully clear the zombies outside.

Xue Ling and Wen Jiuzhe entered the rooms to scout the internal situation, avoiding dead angles and blind spots where zombies might hide and ambush, effectively lowering the casualty rate of the cleanup team.

These tasks weren't too complicated, and after one or two days of handling them, they just waited for Academician Ji and his team to arrive.

While waiting for them, Xue Ling and Wen Jiuzhe visited the meteorite impact site.

The yellow earth was full of pits, and some pits had signs, probably placed there by Academician Ji's team earlier.

They arrived earlier than expected, and once they did, a group of researchers rushed into the lab, working tirelessly day and night. Academician Ji, who sat in a wheelchair and received daily IV drips, also remained in the lab, refusing to leave.

Other members of the team were busy searching for food, looking for oil to maintain the power station, patrolling the area daily to clear out zombies, protecting researchers as they collected samples from the meteorite zone... everyone was occupied.

Soon, a string of good news arrived: their research had new breakthroughs.

A new virus named Re by Academician Ji could deactivate the zombie virus. After zombies were injected with this drug, they would die within ten minutes to an hour.

Unfortunately, this substance was hard to extract, existing only in some meteorites in small quantities, and currently couldn't be synthesized artificially. Otherwise, it would become the most effective weapon against zombies, surpassing firearms.

When combined with the findings of Academician Rong Lanjia's team, the developed drug could make the zombie virus lose its infectivity.

Zombies injected with this drug would no longer attack humans and would not die immediately, still retaining some level of activity.

For those infected who hadn't fully zombified, injecting them would cause them to die, but they would stop the zombification process midway. The metabolic rate of many cells in their bodies would increase several times during this process.

The researchers were elated for several days, and even Wen Yi wore a smile.