Chapter 77 Experiment

Returning to the base wasn't as easy as Jiang Zhendong had hoped. The floodwaters receded as quickly as they had come, and due to the geographical layout of Luyi and its dense urban structures, it was difficult to navigate by boat or armored vehicle.

In the end, they had to borrow a helicopter from Luyi to return.

Upon arriving back at Hongshan Base, Jiang Zhendong immediately got busy handling base affairs. Although they had built walls, preliminary statistics showed that over two thousand people had turned into zombies last night, with a total of more than three thousand casualties. Two of Jiang Zhendong's capable subordinates had also become zombies, causing widespread panic.

As a researcher, Zhong Botao had little to do at the moment, so he wandered into the medical building.

The medical building was located in the inner city of Hongshan Base, with a high safety index and armed guards on duty 24/7.

Zhong Botao walked into the hospital amidst salutes, entered the farthest office, and locked the door behind him.

The laboratory had no windows; starlight could not penetrate inside, nor could the darkness within escape.

The moment Zhong Botao turned on the light, he was suddenly pushed aside, followed by the dull sound of flesh colliding. Looking up, he saw a person in a patient gown fighting a muscular, tall man.

Shenchi's movements were softer and more agile, while the tall man excelled in strength and speed. Both displayed formidable combat skills.

Zhong Botao straightened his slightly disheveled lab coat, closed the door calmly, and slowly put on silicone gloves after tapping a few buttons on the wall.

Five minutes later, Shenchi was pinned to the ground with his right hand twisted behind him. Before he could gather strength for another attack, his arm was brutally pulled back—

"Snap!"

Shenchi's eyes widened, his lips tightly pressed together, and large beads of sweat dripped down his face almost instantly.

Zhong Botao's eyes behind his glasses narrowed in displeasure. "This increases my workload."

The tall man, intimidated by the seemingly gentle doctor, bowed his head. "I'm sorry, Doctor."

Zhong Botao had no choice but to prepare an injection, which he then administered into Shenchi's arm, slowly pushing the liquid in. "Help me lift him up."

The man helped Shenchi sit up. In just a moment, Shenchi had lost all strength in his limbs. At this point, even if placed on a chopping block, he would be helpless.

Zhong Botao grabbed Shenchi's broken hand and shook it. Despite losing his strength, Shenchi still felt pain, and another bead of sweat trickled down his forehead. Zhong Botao then swiftly reset Shenchi's hand.

Zhong Botao stood up. "Alright, put him on the bed."

The man complied, spreading Shenchi's limbs and pressing a button at the head of the bed, which automatically restrained Shenchi's arms and legs with handcuffs and leg cuffs.

Shenchi's hair stood on end.

The man, clutching his chest where Shenchi had hit him, stepped back. Zhong Botao approached and scrutinized Shenchi from head to toe. "Do you know why I brought you back?"

Shenchi stared at him with bloodshot eyes.

Zhong Botao moved the cart closer. "Do you know Pan Xiaoming? He's right there!"

He pointed to the wall on the left. "He was the first spatial ability user I studied. I always believed that the space of a spatial ability user exists in a higher dimension, not limited to merely storing items. It should be alive, and the spatial ability user is the bridge between our world and that one!"

"If humans can enter, we can even rebuild a new world inside! But every experiment tells me it's not possible."

Zhong Botao looked down at Shenchi, his gaze even more frenzied than before. "Now I think perhaps my idea wasn't wrong, just the subject of study. Are you willing to cooperate with my research?"

Shenchi remained silent.

Zhong Botao shook his head. "What a pity."

He took a syringe from the cart, drew a sample of blood from Shenchi's arm, and then used scissors to cut out a piece of skin. Shenchi's chest began to rise and fall deliberately.

Zhong Botao noticed. "Humans are truly fascinating creatures. They know suffering awaits them yet stubbornly refuse to speak, only to break under the pain and say anything."

He seemed puzzled. "Why can't they just hold on?"

Zhong Botao took a scalpel and made a deep incision along Shenchi's arm, exposing the bone.

Shenchi's hand involuntarily twitched.

Zhong Botao advised him, "Don't move, or it will hurt more."

He used a retractor to separate soft tissue and tendons, suctioned away blood, placed a metal plate, and then switched to an electric drill.

"Ahhhh!!" Shenchi finally let out a scream.

Zhong Botao glanced at him, set down the drill, and picked up something else under Shenchi's hateful gaze.

"Aaaaaahhhhhh!!!!"

Outside Hongshan Base, in a twelve-story building, Cao Kun, Ming Jing, and Gu Yibei had taken refuge.

Gu Yibei had chased after Zhao Xiong as soon as he heard about his departure. Logically, he should have caught up quickly since Zhao Xiong was only level three with a single person. However, despite chasing for hours, he couldn't find their trail.

Fearing they might have a backup plan, Gu Yibei returned to the base to wait and inquire if any colleagues had noticed anything unusual. He learned that Zhao Xiong had already returned alone.

Gu Yibei brought this news back to the safe zone and led Cao Kun and Ming Jing to follow Jiang Zhendong back to Chuanshan City. Afraid of being discovered, they kept their distance, but as soon as they entered the city, it was announced that the gates were closing.

Cao Kun watched helplessly as Zhao Xiong joined Jiang Zhendong and left together. If not for Ming Jing stopping him, Cao Kun would have climbed over the wall.

With anti-aircraft missiles and numerous ability users, a direct assault would likely prevent him from even seeing Shenchi. The irrational Cao Kun ignored these risks, but Ming Jing's words calmed him down.

Ming Jing stopped him with a single sentence: "What if Brother Shen did this intentionally?"

Zhong Botao was very attentive to Shenchi, sleeping only four hours a day and spending the rest of his time in the medical building or the research room, either studying Shenchi or on his way to study him.

The ward was equipped with an ability-blocking device, rendering all ability users powerless once activated.

Occasionally, Zhong Botao would risk turning off the blocking device, using injections to stimulate Shenchi's abilities and monitoring the energy fluctuations in real-time to determine whether to increase the stimulation further.

All the wails and screams were buried in this room of less than ten square meters.

The tall man always followed Zhong Botao, his duty was to protect Doctor Zhong.

Shenchi observed him every day, noticing his growing anxiety, knowing that it wouldn't be long now; just a little more patience...

After the flood, more and more people in the base fell ill. By the time they realized what was happening, the plague had already resurfaced, and within a week, the number of casualties was increasing at an alarming rate.

Not only was there a shortage of medicine in the base, but there were also very few medical personnel, many of whom were students pulled in from medical schools, unable to cope with the situation.

Currently, all the base could do was strengthen quarantine measures and isolate the infected patients in the outer city to contain the source of the disease.

Many in the base had fled here after surviving last year's southern epidemic. They knew that their fate was death, so they often caused disturbances.

Jiang Zhendong was overwhelmed with work, and upon learning that over twenty of his men had been infected in a short time, he exuded a low-pressure aura.

This wasn't something that could be solved by simply throwing them out. The epidemic was worsening, and soon everyone would be in danger. Without people, who would guard the city gates?

Shen Tian dared not provoke Jiang Zhendong when he was in a bad mood. After some thought, he cautiously suggested, "Why don't we just take care of them? It would save our brothers from having to watch over them."

Others nodded in agreement.

Jiang Zhendong sighed, "Is there no new news from Luyue?"

Jiang Leming replied, "No, but I heard that the fourth-generation C1S9 vaccine is close to being developed."

Jiang Zhendong leaned back, exhausted, "Handle it discreetly and suppress the news."

Everyone breathed a sigh of relief and began discussing other matters. Suddenly, someone knocked on the door.

Outside the door, "Leader, Li Jiu says he has something important to discuss with you."

Jiang Zhendong, "Let him in."

The person who entered was the tall man who had broken Shenchi's arm.

Jiang Zhendong, "What does the doctor need?"

Li Jiu, skilled and assigned to protect the doctor, had met these people before but felt inferior due to their different statuses. Feeling their gazes on him, he became nervous.

Li Jiu took a deep breath, "Report to the leader, it's not about the doctor, but I have something important to tell you." His eyes flickered towards the others.

Jiang Zhendong waved his hand impatiently, and everyone except Zhao Xiong left, including Shen Tian.

Seeing the door close in front of him, Shen Tian felt a surge of anger. He glared at Jiang Leming, who seemed amused, and stormed off.

A'Jie wanted to follow him, but Jiang Leming grabbed his shoulder, "Why bother with that kind of person? Come on, let's go drinking. Tonight, I'll help you with your work! How about that, good enough?"

Shen Tian walked to the medical building, entered the research lab, and approached the ward. As he stood before the door, his urgency faded.

Standing outside the ward, Shen Tian looked through the large glass window at Shenchi lying inside.

Shenchi's head was shaved, with a bandage on it. His eyes were closed, brows furrowed, lips tightly pressed together, and his body writhed in sweat, clearly in great pain after surgery.

Shen Tian's agitated mood finally subsided as he observed Shenchi abruptly open his eyes and rise, gazing directly at him. He was aware that Shenchi could only perceive a wall, yet some individuals were perceptive enough to detect scrutiny from the other side, thus he was not astonished.

Looking at Shen Tian approaching, Shenchi said calmly, "I thought you weren't coming."

"How could I not? The sight of you suffering and screaming has been haunting me." Shen Tian examined Shenchi from head to toe, summarizing excitedly, "You look terrible."

Author's Note:

Thank you to those who voted for me or watered the nutrient solution, my little angels~

Thank you to those who cast [landmines]: Xiao Guai 1;

Thank you to those who watered [nutrient solution]:

Wuziqi, Clover 1 bottle;

Thank you very much for your support. I will continue to work hard!