Temporary isolation medical area on the ground floor of the "Firefly" community center.
The air was thick as solidified gel, a mixture of disinfectant, the stench of blood, medicine, and despair. Pale emergency lights cast a cold glow on the low ceiling, illuminating faces—some pale, some bruised, some twisted in pain—like ghosts. Groans, stifled coughs, and the intermittent cries of children, intermittently weaved through the oppressive silence, forming a heartbreaking elegy.
Dr. Qin's isolation suit was already soaked with sweat, sticking to his body with a sticky feeling. He leaned over the bedside of a violently twitching teenager, his bloodshot eyes fixed on the monitor connected to his body. On the screen, the curves representing his vital signs flickered and faded like a candle in a gust of wind.
"Sedative No. 3! Maximum safe dose! Quick!" His voice came through the mask, with a hoarseness that was almost on the verge of collapse.
The nurse next to her was frantically preparing the medicine, and the needle tip was trembling.
"It's... it's no use..." Next to the young man, a gray-haired, haggard old woman tightly grasped her grandson's burning hand, turbid tears silently falling onto the pale sheets, "Qin... Dr. Qin... let him... suffer less..."
Dr. Qin's hand trembled violently, nearly dropping the syringe. He looked up, seeing the dead despair in the old woman's eyes, the young man's lips purple from lack of oxygen, and a sense of powerlessness gripped his heart like a cold iron clamp. He opened his mouth, but no sound came out. The brilliance of science seemed so dim and powerless in the face of this raging neurological plague of unknown origin. The first batch of vaccines, developed by reverse engineering fragments of the "Lighthouse" database, had little effect and even triggered a more complex immune response. The spark of hope faltered in the raging storm of reality.
Just then—
The airtight door of the isolation area made a heavy sound of pressure release and slowly slid open.
A rough, cold air, tinged with the dust of the wasteland, suddenly rushed in, dispelling some of the suffocating smell of medicine. In the light and shadow of the doorway, two figures, supporting each other, emerged as if crawling out of the depths of hell.
Lu Chencheng almost put the entire weight of his body on Wen Shifei's thin shoulders. His face was the pale gray of a death, his lips were cracked and scabbed, his eye sockets were sunken, and deep in his pupils was a violent struggle and an inhuman coldness. Every breath was accompanied by a heavy, hissing sound like an old bellows, and dark red blood foam kept oozing from the corners of his mouth, soaking his scarf. He pressed one hand tightly against his temple, his knuckles white from excessive force, as if he was fighting for control of his brain with an invisible monster. The skin under the patch of the brain wave stabilizer took on an abnormal color with dark blue veins, and the device itself emitted a rapid and sharp overload beep.
Wen Shifei was equally disheveled, her protective suit ripped in places, her face stained with dust and dried blood. But her eyes, like quenched stars, shone with startling brilliance, filled with a reckless determination. Half-dragging and half-carrying Lu Cheneng, her gaze piercing the oppressive atmosphere of the isolation zone, locked onto Dr. Qin, who stood beside the bed.
"Doctor!" Her voice was hoarse, but like a lightning that tore through the darkness, it clearly penetrated all the moans and cries. "Coordinates! The complete coordinates of the Ark! And... the core database of the lighthouse! It's all here!" She struggled to raise the portable terminal that was also covered with scars in her other hand. The screen flickered with a faint blue light in the dim light, symbolizing infinite possibilities.
The entire quarantine area instantly fell into an eerie silence.
All eyes, filled with pain, despair, and numbness, were focused on the two figures who had suddenly intruded, carrying the last hope. Even the twitching of the dying boy seemed to have weakened slightly.
Dr. Qin jerked his head up, his bloodshot eyes fixed on the terminal in Wen Shifei's hand. He then glanced at Lu Cheneng, who was beside her, clearly in an abnormal state, on the verge of collapse. Shock, ecstasy, worry, and a huge sense of responsibility washed away the fatigue on his face like a tsunami!
"Quick! Come in!" Dr. Qin's voice was distorted with excitement. He practically rushed over and, along with the medical staff beside him, carefully took the nearly unconscious Lu Cheneng from Wen Shifei and placed him on the nearest empty bed. They quickly and professionally connected various life monitoring devices.
"His condition..." Wen Shifei felt heartbroken and choked with sobs as he watched Lu Chenshang's unconscious convulsions and more blood foam flowing out of his mouth when he was carried to the hospital bed.
"I know! I know!" Dr. Qin spoke rapidly, but his eyes never left the terminal that Wen Shifei handed over. "Give me the data first! Terminal! Quick!"
Wen Shifei thrust the terminal into Dr. Qin's hands without hesitation. Dr. Qin's fingers trembled with excitement, but his movements were astonishingly fast. He quickly connected the terminal to a nearby, relatively intact analysis terminal and initiated the highest-level data transfer and decryption program.
On the screen, a progress bar representing a massive data flow began to scroll rapidly! Countless dazzlingly complex structural diagrams, formulas, and log fragments washed over the screen like a waterfall!
Dr. Qin's breathing nearly stopped, his bloodshot eyes fixed on the swirling data, like a hungry traveler finding an oasis. His fingers moved across the virtual keyboard so quickly they left afterimages behind: filtering, searching, locating... He was racing against time, racing against death!
"Found it!" A few minutes later, Dr. Qin let out a short, hoarse roar! He pointed fiercely at a core data stream that was highlighted in the center of the screen!
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