The strange gale blew the surrounding mushroom bushes wildly, leaving the ground covered in a thick layer of pale yellow spore powder. The corpses were covered in a gruesome, scaly powder.
"Holy crap, what are you all standing there for? Hurry up and count the people!"
In the noisy crowd, someone shouted out.
The eighteen bases, with their many members and chatter, were startled by the shout and immediately began to quickly count heads. However, everyone was covered in dust and grime from the wind, their faces and bodies smeared with spore powder and dust. The large group haphazardly wiped their faces while searching for their respective organizations.
Lu Sheng held Sun Tiantian's wrist tightly, and half of Sun Tiantian's body was locked in Xiao Yu's arms like a hen brooding over its eggs. Zhang Xiaojuan and Han Rui were left like two problem children, each being carried by one of Xu Yi's hands.
Thankfully, everyone is safe.
Achoo!
The annoying powder got into their noses, and Sun Tiantian and Han Rui immediately started sneezing repeatedly.
Lu Sheng took out nasal irrigators from his spatial storage and tossed them to the two people, while also distributing dust masks to everyone. Such dark places are ideal breeding grounds for bacteria and viruses, so it's best to be cautious.
Xu Bing's performance at this time also demonstrated the responsibility of the host. All the personnel accompanying Yaoguang Base were mobilized to help each base count the number of people.
The chaotic situation lasted for more than ten minutes.
"Thank you, Commander Xu. Our Lingfeng Base suffered no casualties." The middle-aged man, covered in sweat, breathed a sigh of relief.
"People from our Tiger Base are all here too."
"Everyone at Demacia Base is here!"
"The fan club is safe!"
With the dust settled, all eighteen bases reported that they were safe and sound.
The atmosphere on site suddenly became strange after the last base also claimed that all its personnel were in place.
All eighteen bases had their personnel counted carefully, and not a single person was absent.
Lin Xiaobao's expression was subtle as he peeked half his head out from behind Ma Dongmei. "You... none of you are missing anyone, so whose body is that on the ground?"
"Don't scare me... Please search again! Are there any people we missed?"
"A group of people in their fifties or sixties, can't they even do addition and subtraction within ten?"
A moment of panic broke out in the crowd.
Zhao Weigang, the base commander of Lingfeng Base, was a middle-aged man in his forties with an upright appearance. Seeing the chaos in the crowd, he immediately spoke up to stabilize the situation, "Everyone, don't panic, let's take a look at these corpses first."
After saying that, he winked at his base.
A boy of about seventeen or eighteen years old, who looked about six-tenths like Zhao Weigang, immediately stepped forward, took out a pair of rubber gloves and put them on.
He carefully put on his mask and gently dragged the body from under the tree to the group.
Zhao Weigang smiled with satisfaction and introduced his son, Zhao Mujia, to the people around him, saying, "My son is a freshman at the Capital Medical University."
The Lingfeng Base is among the top five in the entire H province, and upon seeing this, the people around immediately began to skillfully flatter it.
"Like father, like son! Young Master Zhao is also a talented young man."
"I really envy Brother Zhao for having such an outstanding son, unlike mine."
"This kind of good fortune is not something everyone has; you can't envy it."
Although he knew it was all flattery, Zhao Weigang, like any other ordinary parent, listened with a smile.
Zhao Mujia is his only child, and he has devoted countless efforts to raising him to be successful. He brought his son to Yaoguang Base this time so that his son could see the world and become familiar with the company, paving the way for him to take over in the future.
Zhao Mujia took out a professional small brush from his military bag and carefully brushed away the powder on the corpse.
Only after removing all the coverings from the corpse were the true face of Mount Lu finally revealed.
But after seeing the corpse's face, everyone's expectations immediately plummeted.
The corpse's facial skin was almost entirely covered by layers of bumps, leaving no unscathed area on its face; it was enough to trigger trypophobia in anyone who saw it.
Even Ma Dongmei, who always claimed to be able to eat anything raw or cold, felt a little nauseous.
“No, we can’t see the face clearly. We can only tell if it’s a man or a woman, nothing else.” Zhao Mujia looked troubled and gently touched the largest lump on the corpse’s forehead. “The whole body is covered in these soft, bulging lumps.”
Zhao Weigang gestured with his eyes, and Zhao Mujia nodded, took out a scalpel from his pocket, and deftly made a cut on the largest lump.
*Pfft*
A distinct hissing sound, like the sound of a balloon being popped with a knife.
Zhao Mujia instinctively leaned back.
But the expected scene of blood and gore did not occur.
After the huge lump was pried open, not a drop of blood flowed out. Instead, it slowly shrank down as if it had lost water.
Zhao Mujia frowned and used a scalpel to make a small incision in the lump.
Beneath the red and swollen skin, there was no fat or flesh, but rather a plump, soft lump that looked like an oyster mushroom.
Strands of white silk trembled and peeked out from the tear.
Xu Bing squatted down in surprise, about to touch it with her hand, when Zhao Mujia stopped her, "Don't touch it, it's fungus."
"Fungi?" Han Rui stood behind Xu Yi, peering around curiously. "The fungal zombies we encountered in Qinhuai City had black mycelia. Is this white one also a fungus?"
Xu Yi nodded. "Fungal hyphae can be black or white, and these in the mass are indeed hyphae."
Lu Sheng pursed her lips and subtly observed the people around her.
Judging from these unrecognizable corpses, they must have all died from fungal parasitism.
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