This was the second time Qiu Shi experienced life in the inner city as if it were another world.
The room where he was assigned to rest was clean and tidy, the bed was soft, there were many lamps on the table, in the corners, on the ceiling, and there were even several hanging paintings on the walls.
There is also a bathroom in the house, which is great for the corpse collectors who have to go to the hot springs over the corpse cave in groups of three and take turns keeping watch.
However, Qiu Shi didn't go in to wash up. He now distrusted everything in the inner city, and he didn't want to be exposed to such a life too much.
After walking around the room, he leaned against the bedside. There was a little pet on the small table next to him.
He picked up the little pet and gently threw it up. The little pet flashed its light.
"Contact..." He wanted to see if this thing could contact the outside world. Just as he was about to report the name of Captain Xiao Lei of the Security Department, Xiao Chong interrupted him.
"You do not have permission to make external calls."
"Then get lost." Qiu Shi slapped the little pet back on the table, turned around and opened the door to the room.
Standing outside the door were two soldiers holding guns and wearing full protective clothing.
"Thank you for your hard work." Qiu Shi closed the door.
Time passed very slowly. Qiu Shi lay down on the bed. He originally wanted to sleep for a while, but the dense information of this mission kept his mind in a state of excitement. When he closed his eyes, he saw all the shaking biochemical bodies, black forest trees, and black The bag of human flesh bacteria, and Xing Bi’s smile when he walked into the box...
He could only stare and wait for his break to be over.
When Director Wu walked into the room with the technical team, his eyes were a little dull.
"I'm going to take you for a comprehensive examination now," Curator Wu said. "Don't worry, it won't cause any harm to your body."
Qiu Shi got up, followed them out of the room, turned around and reached the corridor, only to realize that he was still in the hospital last time. The room was alone at the end of a corridor.
Apart from them, it seemed that there was no one else on this entire floor.
Qiu Shi changed into hospital clothes and walked into the examination room. This examination was almost like taking a rest. He lay there with different machines around him scanning back and forth, and finally drew a few tubes of blood.
"You are not infected, you can leave..." Curator Wu walked into the dressing room and was stunned mid-sentence, "Why haven't you changed your clothes yet?"
Qiu Shi was sitting on a chair, wearing only a pair of underwear, and in front of him was a combat uniform that he had changed into to prepare for a meeting.
"Where are my own clothes?" Qiu Shi asked.
"You have to wear this suit today," Curator Wu is a technician and has no skills in speaking. "Just change into it. Don't wear your own..."
"Why?" Qiu Shi asked rudely.
"Because they represent different meanings." Li Feng turned in from outside the door.
"What's the difference," Qiu Shi said, "Is it that when I put on this combat uniform, I feel like I'm one of yours?"
"They, they." Li Feng corrected him.
"Putting on this combat uniform, am I one of theirs?" Qiu Shi said.
"That's not the case," Li Feng said. "For them, this dress represents obedience. They just don't want to see the body collector."
We are not under the management of Yuncheng.
Qiu Shi remembered that he had explained to Zhao Lu before going out.
"Change on," Li Feng tilted his head towards Director Wu and the others. Director Wu led the people out, and when he followed him out, he turned back and whispered, "Don't be stubborn about such trivial matters, learn from Xing Bi." "
"Huh?" Qiu Shi looked at him.
Li Feng didn't say anything else, closed the door and went out.
"I will preside over this meeting," said Colonel Xu, sitting at the end of the round table with a simple whiteboard behind him. "The main purpose is to go through the entire mission, complete the missing parts, summarize and analyze the mission content and some Question…”
Colonel Xu looked at the circle of people sitting around the table: "Everyone is directly involved in the mission. Please keep strict confidentiality..."
"You can ask me if you don't understand anything," Li Feng sat next to Qiu Shi and whispered, "Be careful what you say."
"Yes." Qiu Shi responded, looking at Xing Bi, who was sitting across from him, who was also wearing a combat uniform, and looked at Colonel Xu with calm and cold eyes.
"The people here are from the operations department of the general, and the ones next to Xing Bi are from the company's emergency affairs department. This department is managed by Mr. Long himself." Li Feng introduced him in a low voice.
"Won't Colonel Xu be kicked out of the project by talking to each other like this?" Qiu Shiye whispered, "Don't I have to leave you a way to survive?"
"I specially applied for it," Li Feng said. "She didn't want you to be too out of character at this meeting."
In addition to the people present when their mission started, there were two or three more people attending the meeting. Colonel Xu gave a general introduction to the operation.
There was a biochemical invasion in the inner city two years ago, but it was only claimed to be a refugee attack caused by a security breach. After this incident, in order to ensure the safety of the inner city, Mr. Long and the general decided to reactivate the hidden submarines...
"It's fake," Qiu Shi asked Li Feng in a low voice, "Hasn't it been enabled before?"
"First-class submarine," Li Feng said, "the art of language."
"Until small nests began to appear outside Cloud City..." Colonel Xu said.
According to Colonel Xu, two hundred years ago, due to the increasingly harsh living environment and the loss of a large number of people, humans created biochemical bodies to assist human production and life. For a long time, they had a relationship with humans like friends.
Until an infected person appears.
The terrible fungus that humans cannot resist, but biochemical bodies can be immune to. After the initial panic and confusion, humans began to clean up the infected area with the assistance of biochemical bodies. However, during this process, differences arose between the two sides, which were ultimately irreconcilable, leading to war...
"What's the difference?" Qiu Shi asked.
"The degree of cleanup, whether it should be preventive cleanup, the cleanup work is done by biochemical bodies," Li Feng said, "but for them, it goes against the principles to clean up healthy humans in contaminated areas."
Qiu Shi frowned.
"There are differences among human beings," Li Feng said. "Of course, we wouldn't be human if we didn't have them. Some people think that maybe we should try to coexist."
"Huh?" Qiu Shi was stunned, and the infected people he had cleaned flashed before his eyes, "They are no longer human, how can they still coexist?"
"They feel that without what we consider human thoughts and human emotions, they are not human beings and should be eliminated," Li Feng said. "What about biochemical bodies? Most of them do not have human thoughts or human emotions... They But being called a ‘friend’…”
Qiu Shi said nothing.
This is how the chaos started. Some people think that biochemicals will eventually replace humans because they cannot be infected. Others think that if they are divided in this way, most biochemicals will never be human and can be eliminated at any time just like infected people. non-human beings... and compared to humans, biochemical bodies have purer and nobler emotions...
The final result is that some first-level biochemical bodies begin to "awaken". After all, they are not friends of mankind, so they choose to betray, and they want to replace mankind.
And humans had no choice but to raise their swords against their former friends.
"Did this happen back then?" Qiu Shi asked.
"This is history written by human beings. Nothing else matters," Li Feng said. "Human beings don't need 'friends'. Human beings just have to face 'enemies' constantly. In such a world, everyone who lives is cruel."
Qiu Shi looked at Xing Bi. For many people, these erratic, undetailed, legend-like stories in history have long since lost their truth. But for Xing Bi, what would it feel like
Has he experienced it
do you remember
"It was also when nests began to appear near Yuncheng," Colonel Xu said, "that we discovered that biochemical bodies can choose to live symbiotically with the infection. Compared with human infected people, the symbiotic biochemical bodies have poor thinking and action abilities. will be affected, so clarifying the relationship between the nest and symbiosis is also one of our important tasks in this operation.”
Qiu Shi was still looking at Xing Bi, but Xing Bi never looked in his direction. He just turned his head and listened to Colonel Xu's introduction attentively.
"The reason why this operation is urgent is not only because the nest is growing and expanding," Colonel Xu said, "but also because the two towns closest to us, Donglin and Xingchuan, have lost contact. We have reason to suspect that there are It has fallen, everyone, I am not exaggerating to say that another war has arrived... "
… It turns out that these two rarely mentioned places were not made up by Yun Cheng to create the illusion that humans still have allies.
Qiu Shi usually doesn't think about too many things, and there doesn't seem to be much to think about in the world he lives in. Now while listening to Colonel Xu's words and Li Feng's supplements, he had begun to feel that his brain was spinning because of It was too fast and I felt sleepy.
It wasn't until Li Feng poked him twice that he realized that he had fallen asleep, and Colonel Xu was sitting opposite and looking at him.
"I'm asking about your mission status during the interruption of contact," Li Feng said, "Do you have anything to add?"
"No." Qiu Shi saw the video records of their previous missions projected on the whiteboard behind Colonel Xu. He must have watched them again.
"In other words, what is basically certain now," said Director Liu of the Ministry of Emergency Affairs, tapped his fingers on the table and looked at Director Wu, "is that the workers building the wall must be removed first. Those are the nutrients for the nest. , can you understand it that way?”
"Yes." Curator Wu nodded, "Judging from the condition of the skull, it is absorbed bit by bit. The fungus layer thickens significantly when it is close to the center. There should be... human bodies underneath."
"But according to statistics from the Security Administration, this figure exceeds the number of missing people," Director Zhang said. "There should be other sources. Whether biochemical bodies are feeding them needs further verification."
"The No. 1 lair has declined. What is the reason?" Minister Liu quickly wrote down in the small book in front of him with a pen.
Director Wu glanced at Xing Bi.
"Because the symbiote has such a nest." Xing Bi said, "When the symbiote disappears, the nest will decay and decompose."
"Decompose?" someone asked.
"Return to its original size." Xing Bi said.
"Which generation of first-class submarine are you?" someone from the operations department asked.
"The second generation." Xing Bi replied.
"Then you have... experienced the early stages of infection."
"Well," Xing Bi said, "I have some memories related to the infection."
"Only those related to fungi," Curator Wu added, as if to once again emphasize Xing Bi's controllability, "Except for some of the memories we enabled to seal this time, we currently have no means of restoring those that were previously locked."
"How many years ago was the second generation?" Qiu Shi asked Li Feng in a low voice.
"More than a hundred years ago," Li Feng said.
"Be more respectful to your great-grandfather from now on," Qiu Shi said.
Li Feng glanced at him.
"Will he get rusty?" Qiu Shi asked.
Li Feng was silent.
"Does his joints need lubricating oil?" Qiu Shi asked again.
Li Feng was silent.
"Does he have spare parts?" Qiu Shi continued to ask.
"No, no, no need," Li Feng looked at him, "What do you want to say?"
"Is the symbiosis experiment reversible?" Qiu Shi turned his head and looked at him, "Have you seen the symbiosis we brought back?"
"Yeah." Li Feng looked at the people discussing at the table.
"Xing Bi is the only controllable first-level hidden guard," Qiu Shi whispered, "but he is not the only first-level hidden guard. They are going to use more, right?"
"Did I miss something?" Li Feng asked.
"Colonel Xu leaked it," Qiu Shi said.
However, it doesn't matter if it is leaked or not, because this is the purpose of the symbiosis experiment.
"The general hopes that we have a team that can fight against crises. Only Xing Bi and Qiu Shi are not enough," Colonel Xu said. "We need more strength, higher obedience and stronger combat effectiveness..."
This sentence was obviously talking about Qiu Shi. He glanced at Li Feng, and Li Feng's eyes seemed to have written a line of words, "Thank you for not opening your mouth to choke her."
"It will be more reasonable for controllers to choose among our well-trained soldiers, and they will be more efficient..."
Qiu Shi couldn't help but glance at Xing Bi again.
Xing Bi was looking at him. When Colonel Xu said this, Xing Bi smiled.
Qiu Shi didn't know why he could still laugh. Emotional stability was probably the greatest advantage of a biochemical body. It was indeed not a human being.
"Currently, only Qiu Shi is immune to infection," Minister Liu said. "How can our soldiers cooperate?"
"Xing Bi's symbiosis experiment has begun," Curator Wu said, "He has been infected..."
As soon as this sentence came out, the scene suddenly became chaotic.
"Please calm down, everyone," Director Wu quickly stood up. "The infection only exists in Xing Bi's body. The wound at the infected site has been closed. As long as he is not injured, people who come into contact with him will not be at risk of infection."
Colonel Xu motioned for him to continue.
“I am not in a position to disclose the specific experimental process,” Director Wu said, “but it can be roughly understood that the symbiont uses the connection between fungi to sense and control them. If the direction is correct, a first-level latent The guards can control multiple low-level sneak guards. Our soldiers only need to cooperate with short-acting inhibitors to establish connections between partners and complete tasks within a fixed period of time..." "Is there a sense of crisis?" Li Fengmin said? When I arrived at Qiu, I whispered in my ear.
"Do you already have the inhibitor?" Qiu Shi looked at Director Wu and asked.
"In the final stage." Director Wu replied.
"Not yet." Qiu Shi also whispered in Li Feng's ear.
But he also knows very well that the "only" was his talisman before, but now, the "only" may be his greatest danger.
"At the same time, the symbiosis experiment may also allow us to figure out why biochemicals appear in large numbers outside Yuncheng," Director Wu said. "Whether biochemicals can be powered by symbiosis, so that they can continue for longer periods of time or even... No need to recharge." able activities.”
"If this is confirmed," Director Zhang frowned, "we are facing a tireless battle with an enemy."
The meeting finally ended. Sitting in the car with Li Feng in the exhibition hall, Qiu Shi looked out the car window and realized that the conference hall was underground in the city hall.
"Has the Security Administration gone bankrupt?" Qiu Shi said. "The cars are rubbing against the exhibition hall."
"You can ask whatever you want to ask now," Li Feng glanced at Director Wu, who was sitting in front with the driver, "He can't hear you."
Qiu Shi glanced at the box next to him and flicked it twice with his fingers: "What about my partner? Can you hear me?"
There were also two sounds of fingers hitting the wall of the box.
"No, I can only feel the vibration." Li Feng said.
"Where did I come from?" Qiu Shi asked.
Li Feng turned to look at him: "Refugees, they must have escaped from some small stronghold that was destroyed by biochemical organisms or infection."
"I've known you since I was a teenager," Qiu Shi said, "and I've never seen you pay any attention to another refugee child who escaped from a small stronghold that was destroyed by biochemicals or infection."
Li Feng sighed.
"Once I ask about this kind of thing," Qiu Shi leaned back in his chair and looked out the window, "it means there is no need to hide anything."
"Didn't the old man on the second floor tell you?" Li Feng asked.
"Who?" Qiu Shi turned around.
"He brought you here. You were just able to walk. You were injured and your head was bleeding," Li Feng said. "You were thrown at the entrance of the tunnel."
"Director Li?" Qiu Shi stared at him, "Don't remember a missing person and make it up."
"That's what my former director said," Li Feng said. "How old was I when you were brought here? I was a teenager and still in school. My ideal was to be a patrolman in the City Defense Department."
"I don't remember it at all," Qiu Shi said. "When I remember it, I was alone outside the city."
"Well," Li Feng nodded, "after all, it was the head that was injured."
Qiu Shi glanced at him.
"State a fact without swearing," Li Feng said. "When I approached you, it was the old director's instruction. At that time, I didn't know where you came from, let alone that you were immune to infection."
"Where's the old director?" Qiu Shi asked.
"He died a long time ago." Li Feng said.
"Did you kill his superior?" Qiu Shi said.
"Am I that kind of person?" Li Feng frowned.
"To me, you are quite right," Qiu Shi said, "Where is the old man?"
"I don't know, I can't find him," Li Feng said. "I've been looking for him, but there's no news."
"The biochemical body didn't kill him," Qiu Shi said, "Why?"
"Maybe he is like you," Li Feng said. "These days, it is unlikely that he will be an ordinary person if he lives to his age."
"If," Qiu Shi suddenly sat up straight, "he is like me, is it possible that there are others like me? In this case... "
"In this case, are you the hope to save the world?" Li Feng laughed, "Don't be naive, you will only become medicine."
Qiu Shi said nothing.
"You'd better hope that Lao Wu's short-acting inhibitor can succeed, at least for now," Li Feng said, "otherwise you will end up like this sooner or later."
"I won't end up well anywhere," Qiu Shi smiled and looked back out the window, "Director Li, do you feel sorry for me?"
"I don't know," Li Feng was silent for a long time, "No way."
The car drove directly into the exhibition hall as before, and the people and the car went directly from the transport cabin to the laboratory.
"Qiu Shi," Curator Wu got out of the car and took the work clothes handed over by the staff. He put them on and walked around to the car door, "You can't go back for the next two days."
"Huh?" Qiu Shi looked at him.
"Xing Bi's experiment has begun. We need you to do some simple tasks with him and have some chats like you did during your tasks," Curator Wu said. "It is convenient to compare the differences between various data and usual data. His usual data is basically They are all with you, so I need your help.”
Qiu Shi didn't want to say anything more, and he didn't even feel irritated or unhappy anymore. He just looked at Li Feng and said, "I want to talk to Xiao Lei."
"Director!" Xiao Lei appeared with a very excited face, "Do you have any work for me?"
"Me." Qiu Shi waved to him.
Xiao Lei was stunned for a moment after seeing the picture clearly, and then stood up excitedly: "Qiu Shi! It's you! You're still alive! They all said you might be dead! Wait a minute, I'll call Zhao Lu !”
A group of brothers who feel like you are dead every day.
Xiao Lei ran towards the bunker passage and shouted back: "They are all fine!"
"Why did you bring this fool to my place?" Qiu Shi couldn't help asking this question again.
"I didn't think about it, but he is a reliable person." Li Feng said.
Qiu Shi looked at him, guessing that if something happened to Xiao Lei one day, Li Feng would still say "no way".
"Brother Shi!" Zhao Lu and Hu Xiaoling's faces crowded onto the screen at the same time.
"Stand up and let me take a look!" Hu Xiaoling said, "Are your legs okay? Why are you sitting?"
Qiu Shi stood up and jumped twice.
"Is Mr. Li around?" Zhao Lu asked.
"Here," Qiu Shi said, "just wait until I get back to scold people. It will take two days."
"Okay." Zhao Lu nodded.
"How are you today?" Qiu Shi asked.
"It's the same as usual, even if everyone is holding back," Zhao Lu said in a low voice, "There are soldiers outside, so we don't need to go out, we just stay in the bunker."
"Have some fun yourself." Qiu Shi said.
"Can I go to the outer city for a walk?" Hu Xiaoling came over.
"Go," Qiu Shi said, "I just asked you not to get involved with those soldiers. I didn't ask you to leave the house."
"I'll go too." Xiao Lei said.
"What's the matter with you?" Hu Xiaoling said.
"My treat." Xiao Lei said.
"I'll call you soon," Zhao Lu said immediately, "I haven't been to Dayan since it reopened, so I can bring back two more bottles for Brother Shi to drink when he comes back."
"Go." Qiu Shi said.
"Don't be too desperate," Zhao Lu stood up, "I know something big must have happened, but your words have to be applied to yourself. We are not under the control of Yuncheng, so don't be too desperate. The worst we can do is go with you. It’s not like Yuncheng is the only place in the world that still has people alive.”
"Yeah." Qiu Shi smiled and nodded.
The author has something to say:
I didn’t stop at the key position today, right? I’ll stop for one day tomorrow and continue the day after tomorrow.
This chapter is basically "Instructions for the Past and Present Life of Biological Forms and Humans" (Revised Human Edition). Some vague points will be revealed later. After all, if you expand it all at once, it will really become an instruction manual. It will be very boring [┐ \'_\'┌].