Zhou Rong turned an emotionally charged near-death experience into something off-script, to the point where his copied TV drama lines failed to achieve a sentimental effect. He could only go to the hospital canteen to buy a bowl of sweet tangyuan to coax Xiao Nan into being happy.
Romuel’s knife had struck very deep. Even with the headquarters urgently dispatching fighter jets to assist, Sinan was sent to the operating room with a ruptured spleen causing massive bleeding, and was saved after three hours of emergency treatment.
However, his rapid healing ability helped a lot, and he woke up in the intensive care unit seven days later, with preliminary test results showing no major issues.
Yan Hao, Chun Cao, and Guo Weixiang took turns bringing fruits and sweets to the hospital room, offering care and comfort, and even Tang Hao came by in his wheelchair.
Tang Hao was staying in the adjacent hospital room. His penetrating gunshot wound to the calf was somewhat troublesome, but the doctor said it wouldn’t affect walking after healing, though returning to his original fighting level would require considerable rehabilitation.
He expressed envy and jealousy towards Si Nan’s incredible recovery speed. If Zhou Rong hadn’t let him borrow some “European luck” before the final battle, he might have left his leg in the canyon.
“Don’t listen to that Zhou guy’s nonsense,” Tang Hao scoffed. “I asked around, it’s all because Si Nan has high luck value that brought our team good fortune. Next mission, I’m definitely teaming up with Si Nan.”
Si Nan kept nodding in agreement, but everyone else’s expressions were indescribable.
Ding Shi was also staying on the same hospital floor as the two of them.
As the last person to obtain the ultimate antibody on the battlefield, Ding Shi desperately protected the antibody test tube when surrounded by zombies on the hillside. On the returning helicopter, Zhou Rong personally administered the second-level antibody but was uncertain if he could survive with a fifty percent survival rate. At the time, everyone was prepared for the worst outcome.
But Ding Shi pulled through.
Covered in blood, he was sent back to Nanhai. Zheng, the general, was so excited that he insisted on writing and stamping a report on-site to help him get a promotion, so when Ding Shi woke up, he inexplicably became a captain.
Although in terms of military rank, Ding Shi still had a long way to catch up to his “little golden flower”, his survival of the second-level antibody indirectly proved his excellent genetic grade. Zhou Rong immediately sold this recommendation to Major Jin Hua, saying:
“Ding Shi, a hardworking and outstanding man, will always be your most loyal choice!”
Jin Hua: “I don’t necessarily want to have an Alpha child, thank you. Say one more word and I’ll report you for sexual harassment, Colonel Zhou.”
However, she later took the initiative to visit Ding Shi, and everyone was happy for them, except for Guo Weixiang.
After Ding Shi’s promotion, he now had the lowest rank in the entire team.
“Totally embarrassing my grandfather,” he said sadly.
The antibody test tube, stained with Ding Shi’s blood, was carefully transported by fully armed soldiers into Ning Yu’s research lab.
From that day on, Ning Yu never stepped out of the laboratory.
Everyone was strictly isolated, with only Si Nan being called in once for a blood test.
This biochemical laboratory was vastly different from what he had seen before. Formulas and calculations covered the walls and ceiling, the floor was scattered with discarded note papers, and many previously unseen professional equipment surrounded the experimental table. In the center of the circular hall stood a silver-white supercomputer. Si Nan glanced at it twice, vaguely guessing what it was.
“Simulating the immune system,” Ning Yu opened the cursor, numbers jumping in rows on the screen, reflecting on the gold-rimmed glasses and casting a blue on his pale face.
“Modeled after the one in the B Military District underground research facility. The adjacent Science Academy named it ‘Seed One’.”
But humans, with their hands, groped forward in the dark apocalypse and ultimately ignited a spark of survival.
“Capable of completely simulating human immune functions, including innate and adaptive immunity, with an accuracy and coverage rate of over 99%,” Ning Yu paused, then smiled, “If only it had been made earlier, saving all that effort of using live subjects.”
Si Nan looked at him. Ning Yu adjusted his glasses, as if concealing some emotion.
“Come on,” he turned around casually, “Let’s finish quickly. The antibody research is in its final stage, and I have plenty to do.”
As if destined for humanity to welcome the dawn of hope, on the day the ultimate antibody experiment was declared successful, the mainland front finally brought good news – through the bloody battle of rescue teams from the first to the twelfth, and the cooperation of five major survivor bases nationwide, the military finally repaired enough ground stations and signal towers.
The Beidou system was operational again, and short-wave communication was restored in most parts of the country.
On the day the military broadcast spread across the continent, Zhou Rong stood by the seaside, with wind sweeping from the distant land, long and unceasing.
He heard distant wailing mixed in the sea breeze.
·
Outside the central hall of the Nanhai Science Academy, the tall bronze doors were mirror-like.
This was the first time they had seen Ning Yu in formal attire.
He was thin, seemingly neurotic, occasionally tugging at his tie, as if it were a noose constantly tightening around his neck.
Just as everyone was about to break and Si Nan was preparing to remove the tie, the bronze doors slowly opened. A white-haired academician walked out, stopped, and made a “please” gesture.
“Ning Doctor,” he said with a solemn expression on his deeply wrinkled face, “please go up and speak.”
Ning Yu calmed down.
He took the test tube box from Si Nan’s hand, his Adam’s apple moving dramatically, and stepped through the door that symbolized humanity’s highest scientific sanctuary in the apocalypse.
August 2020, the 11th month since the zombie virus outbreak globally.
National leaders, political rulers, and top scientists gathered via satellite signal, with communication displays on all vacant seats. Looking down from the highest podium, the central hall was bustling and fully occupied.
However, everyone remained motionless and silent, the massive circular space eerily quiet.
After a while, Ning Yu raised his hand and opened the test tube box.
“The Pandora virus, also known as the zombie virus, is a single-stranded negative-chain RNA virus that infects through bodily fluids, affects early cell replication, kills the brain, and controls the body through bioelectricity, transforming humans into bloodthirsty creatures.”
“The virus’s lethality means that no matter how attenuated, even the slightest contact causes complete infection, making traditional vaccine development impossible. Moreover, during the process of integrating its RNA into human cell DNA, the mutation efficiency is astonishingly high, making it difficult for the immune system to generate antibodies in time. As a result, in the past eleven months, billions of casualties have occurred globally.”
“Today, I announce that by inducing Pandora virus evolution and stabilizing its form, we have finally developed an ultimate antibody applicable to the vast majority of humans.”
“This antibody was extracted from the B cells of the first infected individual globally, and to date, the only natural survivor. By decoding the antibody gene map, we have achieved large-scale laboratory cultivation, effective when injected within six to eight hours after the virus enters the bloodstream.”
