Chen Yajing breathed heavily, trembling with veins bulging on the back of her hand. Her leg blanket slipped off, revealing that her muscles, previously slack due to paralysis, were gradually tensing up. Seconds later, she pressed on the wheelchair armrests and slightly stood up!
Wan Biao exclaimed in joyful surprise: “It’s working?!” Ning Yu, however, firmly said: “Wait!”
Chen Yajing’s face turned a mix of blue and red as she left the wheelchair by a few centimeters, but then she suddenly lost strength and heavily sat back into the wheelchair!
Her trusted men rushed forward to support her, but Ning Yu raised a hand to stop them. Extreme pain caused Chen Yajing’s face to spasm, her left cheek scar twisting, cold sweat streaming down her pale cheeks, looking somewhat horrifying.
Yet, no one around showed any sign of looking away; instead, everyone’s expression was grave, and Wan Biao closed his eyes heavily. Several minutes later, the pain gradually receded. “……Failed again,” Ning Yu said hoarsely, putting down the empty syringe. Wan Biao’s disappointment was barely concealed: “Why is this happening? Dr. Ning, didn’t you say the vaccine research had made breakthrough progress and was close to success?!” Ning Yu wanted to explain, but Chen Yajing stopped him: “Don’t be like this, Wan Biao… this isn’t Ning Yu’s fault.” She sat up and scanned the grave faces in the office, smiling sadly: “From the moment we accepted the virus injection, we knew anything could happen. The fact that I’m still sitting here is already a very good result, isn’t it? At least we still have hope for success.” “No, Yajing,” Ning Yu packed up the medical kit and stood up, slowly saying: “Your immune system can no longer withstand more modifications and experiments. Even one more failure could be fatal. You could die from immune disorder, or worse…” “You could completely zombify,” he finally said this sentence amidst the shocked gazes around him. Wan Biao roared: “Dr. Ning!” Chen Yajing gently lowered her eyelids.
Ning Yu said: “I’m certain the vaccine’s research direction is correct, but in the evolutionary history of primates, no virus has ever been so powerful and deadly that the fragile human immune system simply cannot generate sufficiently strong antibodies to compete with it. I once thought the serum in Romule’s hands could help me perfect the vaccine, but Romule clearly already…” He raised a hand to his forehead, seemingly suppressing his emotions, and shook his head, saying no more. ”Yes, Ning Yu,” Chen Yajing said calmly: “Sometimes, ‘close to success’ and ‘actual success’ are separated by distant, dim distances of decades or even generations. The Black Death that ravaged the European continent from the 14th to 18th centuries, the smallpox that killed Egyptian pharaohs three thousand years ago, and HIV for which no effective cure has been found… If someone told me the zombie virus would persist on Earth for hundreds of years, I wouldn’t be surprised at all.” ”But,” she said, “this doesn’t mean our generation can sit here and quietly wait for it to naturally dissipate from the Earth. We must still fight it to the death.” The office was very quiet, with only the sound of people’s breathing. The door was knocked twice. ”Come in.” A guard entered quickly, walking over and whispering: “Miss Chen, Captain Zhou you requested has arrived and is waiting outside.”
Certainly! Here is the edited version of the article:
” Chen Yajing and Ning Yu quickly exchanged a glance, asking the guard: “What about the one called Si Nan?” ”He didn’t come.” Wan Biao signaled to his subordinates, who quietly entered another door in the office—a separate rest room. Only after the rest room door was half-closed did Chen Yajing nod to the guard: “Please let Captain Zhou in.” The guard complied and left. Ning Yu, holding the medical kit, stepped back, facing Chen Yajing’s pale face. Footsteps from Zhou Rong could be heard approaching from afar. Ning Yu opened his mouth, his voice soft but clear: “The last time.” Chen Yajing smiled: “We should say, at least there’s one more chance.” Zhou Rong pushed the door open. Ning Yu spun around, his white coat sweeping in an arc, brushing past Zhou Rong without looking at anyone, striding quickly out of the office. ”…” Zhou Rong watched Ning Yu’s figure quickly disappear down the corridor, seeming somewhat surprised, and turned to glance at Chen Yajing: “Are you not feeling well?” ”Just a routine physical examination,” Chen Yajing raised her hand: “Please sit.” Zhou Rong said: “It’s fine, I’ll stand.” Chen Yajing narrowed her eyes thoughtfully, and after a while, laughed: “I just realized that Captain Zhou has never sat down in front of me.” ”Is that so?”
Chen Yajing asked this with a surprisingly calm tone, even with a hint of curiosity. Zhou Rong looked down at her and smiled:
“No, soldiers are just used to standing.”
Chen Yajing nodded, accepting the explanation: “Understood, Captain Zhou.”
She paused, then continued: “I asked you to come today to discuss the maritime supplies… I’ve written a list, which is the maximum help I can provide within my current capabilities. Please take a look.”
Chen Yajing opened her folder, using two fingers to gently push a piece of paper across the desk towards Zhou Rong.
Meanwhile, in front of the cafeteria.
Yan Hao awkwardly averted his gaze: “How’s it going?”
“Wrench.”
Yan Hao took a wrench from the toolbox and handed it over.
Brilliant noon sunlight scattered on the open ground, with a slight dust rising from the distant playground. People wearing light jackets walked in small groups, and the air carried a slight warmth of early spring.
“Do you want help?” Yan Hao asked, crouching down.
Si Nan’s voice came from under the car: “No.”
“…Shall I get you something to drink?”
“No.”
Yan Hao looked bewildered and confirmed again: “You really don’t want help?”
Si Nan poked his head out: “Really, I can handle it myself.”
Si Nan lying down, Yan Hao crouching, they looked at each other for a moment. Si Nan finally couldn’t help but ask: “Why aren’t you helping Chun Cao fix that bus? I can really do this myself. Is it your Alpha pride that can’t bear to watch me fix the car alone?”
“No,” Yan Hao said helplessly, “The captain ordered me not to let you be alone, so watching you is my mission… though I feel it’s a form of mental torture.”
“?”
“Can look but can’t touch,” Yan Hao mumbled, “I might as well fight to feel better.”
Si Nan reached for a screwdriver and slid back under the car: “I don’t know, but the fighting, competition, and sadistic behavior between you two hardcore A-types is probably a kind of fetish. I don’t want to understand this.”
Yan Hao crouched on the ground, holding his forehead, almost powerless: “That’s a superior-subordinate relationship in the military…”
“In our ordinary people’s eyes,” Si Nan couldn’t help but laugh, “that’s called S|M.”
Si Nan tinkered for a while, finally screwing in the last screw. He slid out from under the car and climbed into the driver’s seat, shifting gears and pressing the clutch.
The armored vehicle’s engine started with a dull roar.
“Done!” Si Nan removed his oil-stained gloves and casually tossed them: “Later, have someone replace the bumper, change the headlights, and it’ll be good.”
Yan Hao leaned against the car door, his melancholic expression making it hard to tell if he was disillusioned or self-defeated. After a long moment, he mustered the courage: “Can I ask you a question?”
Si Nan: “Never been in love.”
“…” Yan Hao was helpless: “No, I want to know why you ultimately chose the captain… Is it really just because when you were trapped in Changsha, the captain was the one who jumped from the helicopter and ultimately found you, not me?”
Si Nan’s hand paused as he pulled out the car key.
