Chapter 50 The Darkest Hour for the Entire Base
The hospital at Base 091 was actually just a few converted bungalows.
The conditions were rudimentary and the equipment outdated.
But at this moment, this place has become the eye of the storm in the entire base.
The piercing alarm shattered the tranquil night sky over the Gobi Desert.
That wasn't an air raid siren, but rather the highest-level emergency medical alert within the base.
This alarm has never been sounded since the base was established.
Countless figures in white coats rushed out from every corner, running frantically toward the brightly lit emergency room.
The entire base instantly plummeted from the peak of revelry into a cold abyss.
All ongoing celebrations have been suspended.
Squads of heavily armed soldiers blocked all the intersections around the hospital.
The atmosphere was as tense as during wartime.
But this time, the enemy did not come from outside.
It came from that tiny figure battling death in that small emergency room.
The emergency room door was tightly closed.
The area outside the door was packed with people.
It was pitch black, yet eerily quiet.
All that could be heard were heavy breathing and suppressed sobs.
Lin Jianguo stood right in the center of that door.
Like a stone sculpture that has been eroded by wind and frost for thousands of years.
He was still wearing his brand-new military uniform, but it looked so disheveled at that moment.
His face was covered in mud splattered from running, and his eyes were empty and blank.
He just stared straight at the door, without moving.
It was as if as long as he kept watching, the door wouldn't open and the bad news wouldn't come.
His mind was a complete mess.
All I could see was my daughter's pale little face.
And that burning hot body temperature.
Why is this happening?
He was perfectly fine just a moment ago, still munching on a chicken leg and gesturing to him about a big crab.
How could it happen so suddenly...?
Did I fail to take good care of her?
Was the wind in the Gobi Desert too harsh, and it damaged her?
Should I have made her come to this godforsaken place to suffer?
Endless self-blame and regret gnawed at his heart like venomous snakes.
He was a soldier who had been on the battlefield and killed the enemy; he hadn't even blinked when bullets flew past his ears.
He thought he was afraid of nothing.
But it wasn't until this moment that he understood.
It turns out that there really are things in this world more terrifying than death.
That is watching helplessly as your hope is extinguished little by little before your eyes, while you are powerless to stop it.
Chen Zhiyuan, Commander Zhang, and the group of senior academicians who had just come out of the laboratory all surrounded him.
These usually powerful figures, who commanded respect and influence, now looked like defeated roosters, dejected and crestfallen.
Chen Zhiyuan's glasses were fogged up, and his lips trembled as he tried to comfort Lin Jianguo, but he couldn't utter a single word.
Commander Zhang leaned against the wall, smoking one cigarette after another. Amidst the swirling smoke, his usually stern face was filled with pain and helplessness.
"Oh God..."
"Open your eyes and look..."
"If you have a problem, come at me! Come at us old folks!"
"Don't torment that child!"
Mr. Hua from the math group, the old man who said he would teach Zhaodi to count using calculus, was squatting on the ground, holding his head, tears streaming down his face.
"She's only three years old..."
"She hasn't even had a proper look at the world yet..."
"I...I'd give my life for her safety..."
"Yes! Use mine!"
"And mine too!"
A group of national treasure-level scientists were crying like children at that moment.
They were willing to trade their life's achievements and the little lifespan they had left for that little girl's health.
Because they know it in their hearts.
Zhao Di is more than just a child.
She is the soul of this base.
It was a magic lamp that suddenly lit up when this country was groping in the dark.
If the light goes out.
And so everyone returned to that boundless darkness.
Time passed by, second by second.
Every second felt like an eternity.
The emergency room door finally creaked open.
Everyone's heart jumped into their throats instantly.
A doctor wearing a mask and covered in sweat walked out, his steps heavy.
"how's it going?!"
Commander Zhang threw away his cigarette butt and rushed forward to grab the doctor's arm.
The doctor took off his mask, his face extremely grave.
He glanced at the expectant looks in everyone's eyes and shook his head with difficulty.
"Commander...the situation...is very dire."
"The child has been malnourished for a long time, and his health is too poor."
"Given the strong winds and harsh climate in the desert, he probably caught a cold."
"He now has acute severe pneumonia, a persistent high fever, and has developed pulmonary edema."
“We…we’ve already used the best medicine, we’ve even started penicillin, but…”
The doctor paused, a hint of despair in his voice.
"But the high fever just wouldn't come down."
"The child's body is too weak; he simply can't withstand it."
"If it keeps burning like this... I'm afraid... I'm afraid we won't make it through the night."
"You...should prepare for your funeral."
boom--
These words were like a bolt from the blue.
It scorched everyone present until they were charred and cracked.
Preparing for the funeral?
Whose funeral arrangements are being made?
For that lively, energetic, and cheerful Zhao Di?
impossible!
That's absolutely impossible!
"Bullshit!"
Lin Jianguo's empty eyes instantly turned blood red.
Like a beast driven to the brink, he grabbed the doctor by the collar and lifted him up.
Say it again!
"My daughter will be alright!"
"She's perfectly fine! How could anything have happened to her!"
"You can't cure her, can you! You quack!"
Lin Jianguo has completely lost control.
His hands, like iron clamps, were gripping the doctor's neck tightly.
The doctor's face turned bright red from being pinched, and he almost suffocated.
"Jianguo! Let go!"
Commander Zhang and the other soldiers rushed over, and it took several people working together to pull the crazed Lin Jianguo away.
"I'd rather die than let her die!"
Lin Jianguo roared, his voice so shrill it was inhuman.
He broke free from everyone's restraints and frantically rammed into the wall.
He's going to be with his daughter!
"Stop him!"
In the midst of the chaos, no one noticed.
An eerie silence fell over the entire 091 base.
All the machines in the workshops have been stopped.
All the lights in the labs went out.
The chants on the training field have disappeared.
Thousands of people put down their work and stood silently in place, heading towards the hospital.
They are praying.
With the most sincere heart, I pray for a miracle to happen.
That night.
It was the darkest night since the establishment of Base 091.
The newly launched "Dongfanghong" satellite is still singing a lonely song in the sky.
But the people on the ground felt no light or warmth whatsoever.
Their sun is about to go out.
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