Chapter 215 The One and Only You

The convoy gradually advanced to the safest area closest to the "Tomorrow" base, where it was to split into two groups.

They escorted the wounded who needed to be transferred to Tomorrow's Base one way, while others stayed here to wait for others to join them.

The main purpose was to transfer Song Heng so that he could receive treatment at the "Tomorrow" base, where medical care was better, and to return some of the manpower and equipment that Liang Hui had borrowed from the "Tomorrow" base.

Since the research institute was involved, Lin Xi got out of the car to help them change vehicles.

With her feet on the ground, Lin Xi subconsciously began to resist getting close to the rescue vehicle.

Song Heng and his research team are all inside. What's the situation inside?

The festering wound and the radiation aftereffects that Lu had not described flashed through Lin Xi's mind.

She walked heavily to the door of the rescue vehicle. There was some noise inside, including discussions, footsteps, and some crying.

Lin Xi climbed the steps, and Zhao Jing was cleaning up the hair that had fallen on the floor; it all belonged to the accompanying staff.

The moment the door to the secret laboratory inside the White Shield base opened, although the radiation-infected zombies didn't directly approach them, they were still exposed to radiation, though their symptoms were milder than Song Heng's.

As for the extent to which it has progressed, no one has a deep understanding of this field.

The stench in the carriage grew even stronger. Lin Xi could catch a glimpse of a red mass on the hospital bed at the far end with just a slight glance. Her gaze drifted off, and she subconsciously avoided looking at Song Heng's face.

But she forced herself to move forward. The data on the vital signs monitor was already extremely dangerous. The military doctor was helpless and could only wait for the convoy to make arrangements to go to the tomorrow base and transfer her to a more specialized hospital.

Song Heng was in a deep coma and unconscious. He had the foresight to have already told everyone what he needed to say while he was still conscious.

Xiang Xin's voice came through the earpiece: "San San, the convoy is ready. Please disembark and move to the new vehicles if you are not involved. We are about to depart."

"Um."

Lin Xi looked up at everyone and said, "Those who are not going to the 'Tomorrow' base can get off and go to car number 4."

She had previously told the rest of Song Heng's team that they were free to choose to stay with Song Heng at the "Tomorrow" base or travel with her to the "Watch" base.

Upon hearing this, everyone fell silent.

Zhao Jing, representing the remaining team, responded, "We have already discussed it, and we have decided to go to the new base with you."

Zhao Jing had loose hair on her shoulders, red eyes, and looked extremely haggard.

Noticing Lin Xiruo's seemingly surprised gaze, she mechanically replied, "Our teacher asked us to go with you to the new base to continue our vaccine research. Everyone wants to fulfill our teacher's wish and continue our scientific research."

That is the shared goal and belief of their entire team to this day.

“Yes.” Regardless of any past grievances or personal grudges they might have, Lin Xi believed this to be true.

As they were about to part, everyone looked back at Song Heng with deep emotion.

Everyone knew that this parting was forever.

They all followed Song Heng from the Nanhua Research Institute to where they are today. Song Heng is their teacher and also their superior.

They secretly resented Song Heng, calling him an unreasonable research fanatic, and even gave him a nickname. But deep down, everyone admired Song Heng's dedication to scientific research.

Since the end times, they have not been relatives, but they have seen each other almost every day, gone through life and death together, and moved towards a unified goal. Their relationship has long surpassed that of ordinary colleagues and teachers and students.

The sadness was amplified before the parting, and Lin Xi was no exception.

For a moment, she seemed to be transported back to a distant afternoon when she stood in Hongwen Hospital watching her mother on the verge of death.

The crying didn't last long. Everyone knew that lingering there would be pointless and would only hinder the main force's progress, so they obeyed the arrangement and moved to another vehicle.

Lin Xi returned to her car with the newly retrieved medication from the medical vehicle.

Liang Hui and Xiang Xin were all ready to go, and they even accompanied Lu Wei before their departure.

Lu Wei is currently lying unconscious, his hands handcuffed.

Knowing they were about to depart, Liang Hui patted his face to force a half-smile and said to Lu Wei, "Brother Lu, we'll be right back. Hopefully you'll be awake when we return."

Xiang Xin patted Lin Xi on the shoulder: "San San, Lu Ge is with you for now, we'll be back soon."

"Um."

The car doors closed, and the convoy set off.

As Lin Xi watched the medical vehicle gradually disappear into the distance, she knew that Song Heng inside was still alive, and she also knew that this trip meant they would never see each other again.

The hardships they had endured together and the rifts that followed seemed insignificant in the face of death.

Lin Xi sat silently beside Lu Wei, processing everything.

Lu Wei, who was standing in front of them, had been in a coma with a high fever for five hours. His body temperature had once been so high that it was difficult to measure.

The color of her lips and skin was reversed; the red parts were pale, and the white parts had an unnatural red tinge.

Lin Xi has used all available medications to stop the spread of the virus as much as possible and to make Lu Wei, who is still a "human," feel more comfortable with his fever.

But he showed no signs of waking up.

Before Song Heng left, he had already prepared several versions of the vaccine adjustment plan.

Lu Wei was injected with an untested first-generation vaccine. Throughout history, vaccines have often undergone many modifications and adjustments from research and development to use. Lin Xi could not accurately estimate whether this vaccine was effective or what side effects it might have.

Will Lu Wei develop antibodies to resist the virus? Even if he does, there is no cure for the zombie virus in his body.

Lin Xi suddenly felt as if a heavy stone was pressing on her chest, making it hard to breathe.

This was the first time she had felt the fear of death since her parents passed away.

She used to be indifferent to life and death, disregarding the deaths of others and not caring about her own life.

But in this life, she picked up too many things and possessed too many things she had never had before.

Once a person has something they care about, they will fear losing it and be unwilling to die.

Song Heng will suffer and die just like Lu Wei did before.

Lin Xi realized once again how terrifying it was to witness the death of another person.

After her parents passed away, she remained aloof from society, interacting with people but never developing deep relationships. She had no particularly close friends or people she cared about, and she felt that this was fine.

It is said that parents are the most reliable people, and that they are always there for you.

But she's gone.

Even parents can leave us, so how can other relationships last forever?

Fearing the breakdown of intimate relationships, they simply choose to remain detached and avoid having them.

She couldn't help but start thinking about all the different kinds of people she had met in this life. The people she was closest to were Lu Wei in front of her, Xiang Xin and Liang Hui who had just left, and perhaps Song Heng.

Song Heng is dying, and Lu Wei's fate is unknown.

Xiang Xin and Liang Hui had just left.

Why are the familiar cars suddenly so empty? It's as if she's all alone in the world again.

Lin Xi had a splitting headache and subconsciously leaned her head down, closed her eyes, and tried to control her emotions, using the sound of another person's heartbeat to comfort herself that the situation wasn't so bad.

After an unknown amount of time, a burning sensation gently rested on her shoulder.

Lin Xi opened her eyes and suddenly sat up.

He quickly grabbed a notebook and pen from the side and pretended to record his breathing and heart rate readings.

Lu did not open his eyes. Perhaps due to the high fever, his eyes were filled with a dazed, watery light.

Based on his experience, Lin Xi judged that there were no signs of mutation in the land currently in existence.

Lu Wei was even able to use his handcuffed hands to prop himself up on the makeshift bed. He glanced at Lin Xi's notebook and said in a slightly hoarse voice, "It's 24."

"ah?"

Lu Wei: "You wrote it wrong. I just breathed 24 times."

"..." Lin Xi frowned: "I'm a doctor, listen to me."

“…Okay.” Lu Wei didn’t dwell on the topic.

Lin Xi put down her notebook and asked in a calm tone, "How are you feeling now?"

Lu Wei stared blankly for a moment, then looked at Lin Xi in silence for a while before slowly saying, "I felt like I was dead just now. When I woke up and saw you, I realized I was still in 'this world.' It's so good."

These words didn't sound like something Lu Wei would say, but Lin Xi understood.

He was probably afraid that if he opened his eyes he would wake up in an unfamiliar place, a place that was another world.

But it is also a real world. He will wake up in a certain year and month, surrounded by familiar surroundings, with his family and friends still there. That world is peaceful and tranquil, and all the terrible things have not yet happened.

Lin Xi felt a pang of sadness.

She took a deep breath and said in a calm voice, "I mean the physiological aspects. I need to keep records of the vaccine testing."

Lu Wei: "Aches, heat, nausea."

"Hmm, it sounds like a normal fever." Lin Xi silently made a note.

"What time is it now?" Lu Wei asked.

Lin Xi: "You were unconscious for five hours."

She explained the current situation to Lu Wei: "Song Heng... has been exposed to radiation and urgently needs treatment. Liang Hui and Xiang Xin took him to Tomorrow Base to pick up some supplies. We are currently in a safe area near Tomorrow Base, and we will set off for Watchtower Base together after they return."

"Hmm," Lu Wei responded softly, looking at his handcuffs.

The carriage was silent for a while. Suddenly, Lin Xi remembered something, took out a thermos and a thermal food jar from the side, and poured water and porridge into them for him.

Lu Wei has not mutated; he is now just a normal person who is "sick".

Although their hands are bound, it is not difficult to hold a cup to drink water or a bowl to drink porridge.

But this porridge is just... awful.

Lin Xi observed his expression.

He was initially very sad, but seeing that Lu Wei had also been hit by his boomerang, he suddenly found it funny.

"You know how awful porridge tastes when cooked in a thermal cooker, right?"

"..."

After a simple meal, Lin Xi asked some more questions about her specific feelings and wrote them down in her notebook.

Lu Wei was conscious and showed no obvious physical abnormalities. However, he seemed to be struggling with the handcuffs on his wrists, which were red from being constricted by them while he was unconscious.

Lin Xi noticed this: "You... Shall I unlock your handcuffs first?"

Lu Wei shook his head.

He asked, "What if I still turn into a zombie?"

Lin Xi lowered her head and continued writing to hide her emotions: "Of course they were beaten to death."

Zombies should all be killed.

Lu Wei sighed: "That's good."

"..." Lin Xi was stunned for a moment, her eyes dimming.

She didn't want to sit face-to-face with Lu Wei and have her expression observed, so she changed seats and sat next to Lu Wei.

Lin Xi jokingly said in a seemingly relaxed manner, "I'll smash your skull open and let you feel what it's like to have your head blown off."

"..." Lu Wei paused for a moment before replying, "I'm infected with the virus that hardens zombies. My bones are hardened, so hitting my head probably won't do any good."

"That won't change." Lin Xi coughed lightly, trying to make her voice sound confident. "Can't you have some confidence in our research results?"

“…” Lu Wei was silent for a while, “Yes, I believe you.”

The carriage was quiet; the two noisy, joking people were gone. He suddenly felt like sharing his thoughts from just now.

"I thought about some things while I was unconscious."

Lin Xi: "He's capable of thinking, so he's not too confused."

They still have the ability to count their own breaths.

Lu Wei, however, did not lighten up by following her topic.

He continued, "We can both be reborn. Have you ever thought about what would happen if only one of us died?"

Lin Xi: "The one who died will go to a new world, and the one who is alive will stay here."

She had confirmed this with Lu Wei.

Lin Xi didn't want to assume someone else would die first, so she used herself as an example: "If I went to a new world, but the 'real you' is still stuck in this world, and I went to find the initialized you to save the world, would you join me?"

Lu Wei thought for a moment: "Yes, he will. That lawyer isn't as powerful as I am now, nor does he have my current rank or status. But he will support what you're doing now."

Lin Xi nodded, imagining that possibility.

Lu Wei has always been a steadfast survivor. He actively sought out survival partners and even tentatively extended an invitation to Lin Xi, but at the time, Lin Xi only wanted to survive alone, so they went down two different paths.

If Lu Wei in version 1.0 saw Lin Xi saving the world, he would join in to help. Not only for the world, but also for himself.

Lu Wei's current situation is special, so Lin Xi did not assume that he would die first.

But Lu Wei hypothesized about himself: "If I went to a new world, I would continue what I didn't finish in this life, and I would recruit companions. Liang Hui and Xiang Xin would definitely be persuaded. You..."

Lin Xi thought about his hypothesis for a moment: "If you came to the original version of me and told me that a zombie outbreak and the apocalypse were coming, I... might not believe it at all, and then when the zombie outbreak happened, I would be trampled flat at the company gate, or maybe I would become a zombie and wander around."

She chuckled self-deprecatingly again: "Maybe they'll believe it, and then frantically hoard supplies and build safe houses to hide in."

Anyway, the "Lin Xi" of that time didn't have the awareness she has now.

Lu Wei did not refute her assumption, and remained silent for a long time before saying, "You are unique in this world."

Despite being reborn multiple times, Lu Wei's core nature has never changed. He has only improved in terms of ability and cognition due to the information gap he has gained from each rebirth.

Liang Hui and Xiang Xin do not have the ability to be reborn, but they will be persuaded just like in this life.

Only Lin Xi has become what she is now through repeated deaths, and only one world has a Lin Xi like this.