"I'm infected." Liu Yan leaned wearily against the corner of the wall: "Bring the bandages, stay away from me... Cassia? That's great, you are alive."
The person who was going to bandage him immediately stopped moving. Meng Jianguo took the bandage and said in a deep voice, "Let me come. You all sit over there, including the children."
Liu Yan leaned on his side, and Meng Jianguo bandaged his arms and calves with his own hands. The bandages were tightly tied, and the bleeding stopped.
Jue Ming wiped the blood off Liu Yan's face, Liu Yan intermittently reported the progress of the mission, Meng Jianguo just listened in silence. Finally, Jueming said, "Where is my dad?"
Liu Yan said: "It's on the eleventh floor, I'll be down right away."
The surrounding was quiet, and Meng Jianguo said, "Take a rest first."
Liu Yan was lying on his side, pillowing on Jueming's lap, who was still sitting with Meng Jianguo.
"Will he die?" Jue Ming asked.
Liu Yan: "Yes."
Meng Jianguo: "I don't know."
Liu Yan: "Do you want something? It will be yours after I die, dear. I will give you a tablet computer."
Jueming said, "I don't want it, can I get an injection?"
Meng Jianguo: "Liu Yan, is your position important in the mission?"
Liu Yan said: "Perhaps, I have to follow the last link of the mission. Zheng Feihu specifically told me that there may be unexpected situations in the large console. Only the technician in the central workshop can open the maintenance system. If I am allowed to sleep in advance, this mission It's probably over."
Meng Jianguo was silent for a moment, and then said: "Then after completing the task, try injecting you with dormant serum, maybe k3 is still there... but you need to look for it. After the injection, you will fall asleep directly..."
Liu Yan said: "Will it hurt the brain?"
Meng Jianguo did not answer.
Liu Yan: "You will become a fool, right? An idiot? Lose all your memories?"
After a long silence, Meng Jianguo said: "Or let them complete the task as soon as possible and send you to the second district, where you can directly inject the dormant serum, provided that you have not turned into a zombie before then."
Liu Yan said: "Oh, I'd rather be a zombie. I feel that being an idiot is better than becoming a zombie. At least it can save you some food."
Meng Jianguo agreed: "You are very conscious, and I think so too."
Liu Yan: "..."
Jue Ming stopped talking and patted Liu Yan's head.
Liu Yan lost a lot of blood and his body temperature was freezing. Jueming took off Meng Jianguo's military jacket and covered him.
"Father." Liu Yan said.
"What?" Meng Jianguo said in a deep voice.
Liu Yan said: "If I become a zombie before Meng Feng comes, you are responsible for killing me with one shot, and Jue Ming can't do it, can you?"
Meng Jianguo said: "Yes."
"Feng Hua, you can interview him as you like." Liu Yan whispered, "Don't be too loud, let me sleep for a while."
Xie Fenghua cried softly, with tears in his eyes, and patted Liu Yan's head.
No one here even knew Liu Yan, he was just a stranger to them—a strange stranger who crawled out of the vent.
No one spoke, Liu Yan fell asleep in the tranquility, his dream was trance and erratic, as if his soul had left his body, penetrated through the walls, and floated towards the top of his head involuntarily.
There is a blue light at the highest point, flickering on and off, as if calling him.
It was a signal, just like the call heard in the mountains of Dengfeng, but the two were completely different. Its light made people feel quiet and comfortable, like throwing themselves into the heaven between the final destination and the vast sea of stars.
Another signal came from nowhere, and continued to interfere with his will, like thousands of whines of resentment and pain, vaguely confronting the blue light, and the two strange spiritual forces pulled each other, as if to tear Liu Yan apart into pieces.
He was sweating profusely, panting and opening his eyes.
"Have you got a fever?" Meng Jianguo's voice was still calm and safe: "Find some water and apply it to his forehead."
Putting a cold cloth on Liu Yan's forehead, Liu Yan felt better.
"Father." Liu Yan said.
"Is he Meng Feng?" Someone asked at the other end of the cafeteria.
"No." Meng Jianguo replied, "His name is Liu Yan."
"Then why did he call you 'Daddy'?" Yang Yushan asked.
Meng Jianguo explained: "He is also my son."
Everyone fell silent, and after a long time Liu Yan said, "Can you answer a few questions for us? It has nothing to do with family affairs."
Meng Jianguo said: "Your curiosity is too strong, this is not a good thing."
Liu Yan: "I heard it in the morning, and I will die in the evening. I don't have any other thoughts."
Meng Jianguo said lightly: "Ask."
Liu Yan: "Feng Hua, you ask. My information is not detailed."
Xie Fenghua sat with her knees hugged to the left of Meng Jianguo. The pain caused by Liu Yan's injury had gradually calmed down. She asked in a volume that was just enough to be heard by several people, "General Meng, the nineteenth floor What secrets are there in the biochemical laboratory?"
Meng Jianguo was silent for a moment, and then said: "There is a research sample there, which is the 'core' of the Oaks complex."
The answer was right, Liu Yan no longer doubted, he asked: "Where did the 'nuclear' come from?"
Meng Jianguo shook his head slowly: "There are no research results so far, maybe there has been some progress."
Liu Yan thought for a while, his mind was confused, his whole body was cold, and his thinking speed was much slower. After sorting out his thoughts, he asked: "'Core' can gather all the dead bodies after the second death and become a giant. What is their ultimate purpose? ?”
Meng Jianguo said: "According to the top-secret information I know, their destination is the Mariana Trench in the western Pacific Ocean. After leaving the continental shelf, the pressure of seawater will shrink their size, and the virus will be restricted by water pressure."
"Mariana... the deepest ocean trench in the world." Liu Yan murmured, "Where does the ocean channel lead to at an altitude of 11,000 meters?"
Meng Jianguo said: "It doesn't lead anywhere. After they enter the trench, they are crushed into waste by water pressure and completely perish."
Liu Yan was silent, Xie Fenghua said: "We got a blueprint, which is about the analysis of 'nucleus'..."
"Yes." Meng Jianguo said: "The Seventh District reported earlier that they believed that the composition of the 'core' of the Aggregate Oaks complex is called a string, and they named it the Earth String."
"What is a string?" Xie Fenghua asked.
Meng Jianguo said: "I'm not a physics major, but do you know the grand unification model?"
Xie Fenghua shook his head blankly. Liu Yan knew something about it, but he didn't have a deep understanding of classical physics.
"Scientists believe that the elemental particles that make up our world are molecules. Molecules are decomposed into atoms, and atoms are decomposed into protons, neutrons, electrons, photons, etc..." Meng Jianguo said: "I try to explain it with my understanding , but it may not be fully understood by you.”
Xie Fenghua nodded, and Meng Jianguo said again: "Particles can be decomposed again to become quantum particles such as quarks. Scientists believe that they can be decomposed again, so as to obtain the most primitive composition in the microscopic world model-strings."
"The string hypothesis believes that these gadgets are a kind of closed curve. Imagine a two-dimensional circle. When it moves, it becomes a ball. This is the principle of two-dimensional motion to form a three-dimensional space. These closed lines have a certain curvature. , each of them constitutes all the particles in our world according to a certain vibration frequency. According to different frequencies and vibration modes, they have different energies from each other and form a variety of quarks.”
"And these particles combine again to become the ever-changing world in front of us."
"Then what does it have to do with... the giant of the Oaks Complex?" Xie Fenghua said.
Meng Jianguo said: "The grand unified model proposed by superstring theory can explain almost all things that we can't see or touch, including thoughts."
"The Seventh District believes that thinking consciousness and brain waves are a set of specific basic strings. In layman's terms, even the 'soul' we often refer to may be a manifestation of the original strings."
Liu Yan said: "Free consciousness?"
Meng Jianguo said: "That's right, so the seventh area believes that the blue light is the free consciousness of the earth itself. It is responsible for releasing the gravitational force, condensing all waste materials together, and destroying them. There is a hypothesis on the nineteenth floor, which compares the earth to human beings." , and compare this blue light to the white blood cells in the adult body."
"White blood cells are responsible for the body's immunity, phagocytosis of other harmful cells, and then clear them." Meng Jianguo said: "Just like what has been confirmed so far, it just happens to be exactly right."
"Then the difference between you and District Seven is..." Xie Fenghua said with a frown.
Meng Jianguo said: "The removal of the virus."
"We killed a lot of people and finally got to the source of the outbreak. The original sample with the virus infection was a rotting plesiosaur under the ice cap of Antarctica."
Liu Yan took a breath.
Meng Jianguo said: "This is all I know. The plesiosaur is said to have been frozen in the Antarctic glacier as early as the Ice Age. I don't know where the virus in its body came from..."
Jueming said, "Could it be brought by aliens?"
Meng Jianguo said: "Maybe there is this possibility. On a certain day in ancient times, an asteroid brought a virus and hit the earth, causing a large-scale ecological extinction. After entering the Ice Age, everything ended temporarily, and the infected samples were frozen under the ice layer. The long In human history, the greenhouse effect caused the ice to melt, the plesiosaur began to rot, the virus began to spread with the ocean currents, and the coastal cities of all countries became the concentrated outbreaks of the first wave of zombies."
Xie Fenghua said: "In other words, if we do nothing, these zombies will be cleaned up by the immune system of the earth itself, right?"
Meng Jianguo said: "Some people do think so, but I don't think so. This is the difference of opinion between the military and the scientific research center."
"First of all, if the earth string itself has thoughts, why don't you communicate directly with people?" Meng Jianguo said: "The blue halo you saw on the nineteenth floor and the recorded blueprints are the analysis of the string's fluctuations, and there is no clue yet. "
"Secondly, the virus has already begun to evolve." Meng Jianguo said: "They no longer follow the most primitive eating instinct, and gradually evolve into individuals with simple thinking ability. Except for your Hurricane Team, the battle reports sent back by other search and rescue team members indicate that In an organization with a unit of 100,000 individuals, there will be a mutation, and one or more zombies will have the ability to communicate and become the leader of all the zombies... Liu Yan, you understand the consequences."
Liu Yan's previous fear was also due to this, tremblingly said: "Not only that, they also shifted their targets to animals."
"Yes." Meng Jianguo said: "The evolution of this virus is out of control, and animals are gradually infected. If we don't take a thorough bombing, maybe even plants will be infected... Then... the result can be imagined. "
Xie Fenghua said: "My last question, the Alaska Research Institute in the United States was destroyed, the Russian Siberian underground research base was besieged by zombies, and now it is the high seas of China, and the United Front Work Department was captured by this deep-sea animal... General Meng, you should know what I want to ask What is it?"
Meng Jianguo was silent for a long time, and then said: "I'm sorry, Ms. Xie, I'm not allowed to intervene in this research project. It's not necessarily the summoning effect of the earth string on zombie creatures. Besides, as far as I know, the Alaska laboratory uses small white mice. They did virus experiments but didn't clean it up, and were eventually captured by hordes of zombie rats."
Liu Yan said alertly: "You mean... those zombie octopuses were summoned by the blue light from the nineteenth floor?"
Xie Fenghua said: "Are there any earth string research samples in the central spire?"
"Yes." Meng Jianguo said: "Perhaps the director of the Seventh District Special Team can answer your question."
Xie Fenghua: "Why are octopuses infected with viruses?"
Meng Jianguo: "It's not clear yet. Perhaps a large number of Oaks complexes entered the trench and were partially eaten by octopuses, or it may be... Forget it, this is not something you should know."
Xie Fenghua said softly: "The biochemical laboratory in the sixth district discharges the experimental waste into the trench, right? General Meng?"
Liu Yan opened his eyes wide, and Meng Jianguo said indifferently: "I am only responsible for the three things of being scolded on TV, supervising the search and rescue process in the mainland, and promoting the implementation of the Long Night Project. The rest are all out of my control, and I can't do it if I want to." Intervene."
"I know it's out of your control." Xie Fenghua said, "But you have the responsibility to remind them."
Meng Jianguo said coldly: "Miss, you think things too simply, how do you know that I didn't remind Admiral Zhou? He has enough information in his hand that he thinks is credible, and will not be used by others. Opinion depends."
Xie Fenghua said sympathetically: "It means that you have been ... excluded."
Meng Jianguo: "I believe you will not write this in your report, because General Zhou will come to trouble you soon after reading the report."
Xie Fenghua teased: "I really want to write it like this, because at that time, you will somehow become one with me, maybe he will think that you ordered me to write it like this."
Liu Yan couldn't help laughing, secretly thinking that Xie Fenghua was really too cunning.
Meng Jianguo: "..."
Xie Fenghua said: "Well... let me think about it, how can I help the handsome and charming General Meng without causing trouble..."
Meng Jianguo said lightly: "No need, I understand General Zhou, as long as he thinks he is right and is determined to go to the end, it is fine. Don't change the plan temporarily after listening to the opinions of the seventh district, otherwise you don't need to write anything , I will get rid of him first."
Xie Fenghua: "But can he be responsible for the whole country by himself?"
Meng Jianguo asked rhetorically: "The greater the power, the greater the responsibility. He has the final say on everything. If he is not responsible, who is responsible?"
Xie Fenghua was a little surprised, and said with a smile: "I think now, you are indeed very attractive, General Meng. I'd better not say anything for the time being."
Meng Jianguo said politely: "Thank you, and you are the same. A gentle girl who is considerate and understanding is the most attractive. Would you like to have lunch after going out?"
Xie Fenghua said lightly: "I already have a boyfriend, General Meng."
Liu Yan closed his eyes with a smile, Xie Fenghua thought about the news that Meng Jianguo had revealed earlier with a thoughtful smile, and several people fell into a long silence.
Two hours later, there was a slight muffled sound outside.
Meng Jianguo went to open the door, and under his feet, Lai Jie led his team to the tenth floor.
Meng Feng was the first to climb up. Liu Yan was very tired. It had been almost fifteen hours since he entered the underwater ruins, and he didn't even know that Meng Feng had come.
Standing still trembling, Meng Feng took off the military jacket covering Liu Yan's body.
Liu Yan woke up.
The blood from the bandages on his shoulders had dried to a deep black, and his face was pale and sweaty.
The first thing Liu Yan said when he saw Meng Feng again was:
"I'm infected, Meng Feng."
Meng Feng knelt down and stroked Liu Yan's hair in a daze.
Meng Feng: "Liu Yan."
Liu Yan said: "I can hold on for a while, let's go... continue with the mission, I can't do the next mission without me. Be strong, Meng Feng, let's go to the end together... Then give me an injection and let me sleep... remember you don't…”
Meng Feng hugged Liu Yan, and cried three seconds later, like a lonely and helpless child.
He hugged Liu Yan in front of him and buried him painfully on his shoulder, crying in despair and pain, like a dying beast.
Meng Jianguo's heroic eyebrows were raised, and with a hiss, he gave Zheng Qi a look.
Zheng Qi: "??"
Meng Jianguo made a "tell him" mouth shape, blocked the eyes of the others, and pointed to Liu Yan, Zheng Qi suddenly realized.
"Is your name Liu Yan? You have no chance of being infected." Zheng Qi in the corner said, "My dad vaccinated you."
Meng Feng stopped crying.
Liu Yan: "???"
Meng Feng: "..."
Meng Jianguo nodded slightly, ignored the young couple hugging each other, packed up his guns and got up.
Zheng Qi said: "That's right, it's you. Uncle Hu said that you saved his life before and wanted to repay you. He wholesaled a lot of vaccines from Uncle Meng and handed a copy to my dad for him to give to you. Give you an injection, because you belong to Uncle Mum…”
When Xie Fenghua heard the gossip, his eyes lit up instantly, and he reached out to touch the recording pen.
Meng Jianguo immediately said, "Zheng Qi, why are you running the train with your mouth full again? Just tell him that he has been vaccinated!"
Zheng Qi didn't stop for a moment, and said too much, covering his mouth immediately after being scolded.
"I heard it all." Xie Fenghua said with a playful smile in his eyes, "General Meng, how many vaccines have you wholesaled?"
Meng Jianguo said coldly: "Miss, it was specially approved by the military, and it has nothing to do with me."
"But you also signed the form, didn't you?" Xie Fenghua put the recording pen into her bag and didn't plan to interview any more, but she still couldn't help teasing with a smile: "Hu Jue should come to talk to you in person, right?" ? What did he promise? You just sold him the vaccine?"
Meng Jianguo said politely: "Miss Xie, if you ask again, I won't invite you to lunch, maybe you will lose your job."
Xie Fenghua smiled silently.
Meng Feng hugged Liu Yan, raised his head and asked blankly: "What do you mean? Zheng Qi, your father vaccinated Liu Yan?"
Liu Yan was also very at a loss, but when he remembered that Zheng Feihu came to see him off that day before his trip, he suddenly became enlightened.
"I understand..." Liu Yan said, "It's... Brother Hu asked Zheng Feihu to inject me."