Chapter 38 Plague
However, in just a dozen days, the Wan's Business in the wilderness no longer used simple mobile houses, but instead had a brand new high-rise building. The exterior coating of the walls was even decorated with scales and feathers of mutant beasts. The fusion of modern technology and mutant beasts in the wilderness created a strange beauty.
Inside the luxurious office, the leather sofa is covered with a layer of gorgeous fur cushions.
"Please have some tea. This is the Da Hong Pao produced before the cold wave." Lin Qi said. She took the purple clay teapot in her own hands, filled the small white porcelain cup, and then gently pushed it in the direction of Gu Nian.
Gu Nian picked up the white porcelain teacup and took a sip: "It smells good."
"Ms. Gu, what's the matter with you coming here today? Is the development of the new drug going smoothly?" Lin Qi asked with concern. Although she acted calm and composed in front of the assistant, she was actually worried that she had made a mistake. After all, no one expected that after Gu Nian got the Shuiyun Lotus Seed, there was no news for a whole week.
"That's why I came here today," Gu Nian said. She handed a small wooden box to Lin Qi.
Lin Qi took it and opened it. Inside were five pills that were as smooth as pearls and glowing brightly. A strange fragrance filled her nose. "What is this?" Lin Qi was surprised and delighted. Just by looking at the appearance, she realized that this pill was not an ordinary item.
"The Vajra Pill can increase the user's strength by nearly 50% in a short period of time. The duration depends on the user's physical fitness." Gu Nian said. "I only made ten pills from the eleven lotus seeds you provided. According to the agreement, five of them will be given to you."
After thinking for a while, she added, "Have you heard about the mysterious operation organized by the government to go to the wilderness? The leader of the second operation team used this powerful diamond pill and finally killed a monster."
Wilderness Operation? Of course Lin Qi knew. These things have been making a lot of noise in the wilderness recently. After all, when this team entered the depths of the wilderness, everyone saw it, and the leader of the team was Yu Ziqiu, the leader of the second action group. It is said that the military and the forum have sent people to participate, which can be said to represent the top combat power of Jiangcheng now. Although the purpose of this operation in the wilderness was kept strictly confidential by the authorities, some details of the process were revealed, especially when it was heard that the official team brought out an extremely large monster from there, which was listed as the highest threat level A of the wilderness mutant beasts.
Because of this rat hunting operation, Jiangcheng has made unprecedented efforts to develop the wilderness with the help of the city's residents. People have begun to know more and more mutant beasts and spiritual plants. In addition to selling maps, the official supply point has also opened a new business in time - selling mutant animal and plant illustrations. Among them, all mutant animals and plants are divided into grades A to E according to their abilities. It can be said that everyone in the wilderness has a copy of the atlas.
I didn't expect that Yu Ziqiu also used the power of this pill to kill the monster! This is a great gimmick! Lin Qi thought about it and quickly thought of the best way to sell the pill. She suddenly felt confident and said to Gu Nian: "We will hold an auction at Wan's next week. I think these five pills will meet many buyers who know the value of the goods. Why not put these five pills on the auction for auction."
Gu Nian nodded and decided to leave these buying and selling matters to professionals like Lin Qi. For her, no matter how much money Lin Qi could give her after selling these five pills, she could keep five Vajra Pills and get the spiritual spring. It was a sure win no matter how you looked at it.
Now that I think about it, the hunting team that got the Shuiyun Lotus seeds probably mistakenly entered the spring before that crazy guy named Qiu.
Holding these five pills, Lin Qi was delighted. She didn't expect that Ms. Gu was so powerful. These elixirs made from mutant plants that were difficult to develop were endless in her hands. Lin Qi asked for advice and decided to make friends with Gu Nian. She waved her hand, and the assistant next to her immediately took out a booklet.
"These are some interesting materials that we Wan's have received recently. Ms. Gu, please take a look and see if you are interested." Lin Qi said with a smile.
Gu Nian searched carefully and actually found some materials. She was now consciously hoarding some mutant plant and animal materials, so she simply picked out a few and returned with a full load.
When Gu Nian walked out of Wan's Trading Company, she suddenly noticed that many people passing by had flushed faces. It was an extremely abnormal kind of red bloodshot. Looking closely, even their pupils were red.
Gu Nian frowned, feeling something was wrong. For some reason, those red pupils reminded her of the group of mutant rats with red eyes.
"The plague...is coming soon." Unexpectedly, Gu Nian remembered the mumbling of the madman named Qiu.
Gu Nian quickened his pace and went to the parking lot to pick up his car and go home.
Jiangcheng News was broadcast on the car radio: "Currently, a new type of influenza is spreading in the city. The early symptoms are red pupils and red bloodshot complexion, and the later symptoms are fever, swollen lymph nodes, and red papules on the skin... Citizens who have the above symptoms are requested to go to the hospital immediately..."
As soon as she arrived at her villa, Gu Nian flashed into the farm space. She clicked on the purchase page of the kitchen recipe and swiped quickly.
Found it!
[Two-star formula] Epidemic-breaking Pill: Removes epidemic poison and eliminates miasma.
Plague is also a kind of plague.
Gu Nian chose to buy it without hesitation.
The formula for the epidemic-breaking pill was slowly unfolded in front of Gu Nian.
Purple grass, spotted orchid, sky blue and white, dragon horn powder...
This epidemic-breaking pill is made of materials from mutated spiritual plants and mutated beasts, but the quality is not high. After Gu Nian looked through it, she found these materials in the material library she had collected.
The faucet was already installed in the kitchen. Gu Nian turned it on, and the spiritual spring water gurgled out, and it tasted sweet. Following the instructions of the kitchen recipe, Gu Nian began to make the epidemic-breaking pill...
-------------------------------------
Yu Ziqiu had never expected that after she had finally returned to Noah Research Institute with the laboratory data, she would be faced with a new crisis.
"What? The plague has begun to spread?" Yu Ziqiu couldn't believe it.
"That's right. The incubation period of the plague is usually only two to three days before it breaks out. However, the plague spread by the mutant rats has an incubation period of about twelve days! This also means that the plague has already spread among the population in the early stages, and then suddenly broke out..."
"What's worse is that our original plague antibiotics have no effect on this mutant rat plague. This is a brand new disease. From now until we develop a viable drug, it will take at least three months, and this is the ideal premise that there are no failures in the experiment!" He Cong said with a wry smile, and his heart sank. The natural disaster had just passed, and it was time to hunt rats again. It was so hard to calm down. Humans had just breathed a sigh of relief, and there was a new disaster? Could it be that Jiangcheng was destined to be destroyed?
Shi Hong's wrinkled face was so bitter that bile could be squeezed out: "Three months... How can this be possible? After three months, all the people in Jiangcheng will be dead!" He turned to look at Yu Ziqiu: "Have you found any clues about the Bethida sect?"
He Cong also cheered up after hearing this. The plague brought by the mutant rats was obviously part of the extermination plan made by the laboratory deep in the wilderness. If they wanted to find the antidote for the plague as soon as possible, it might be faster to start with the Bethida sect.
Yu Ziqiu shook his head helplessly.
She turned on the projector in the laboratory, and on the projector was a photo of the statue enshrined deep in the laboratory.
"We have contacted the most famous historians, religious scholars, and semioticians in the country to study this statue. We can't see any connection with the mainstream sects currently known on the Blue Water Planet. The most likely possibility is that it is an emerging sect that has integrated the characteristics of an alien god."
"This new type of sect believes in gods from outer space and the ancient universe. This god Pelshida may be the incarnation of such a god. But we haven't found any information about this Pelshida sect yet."
"But Mr. Qiu's information has been found. According to DNA comparison, his full name is Qiu Yongkang. He is originally from Yangcheng. Before the cold wave, he was a senior executive of a biotechnology company and was considered a member of the social elite. However, all his assets were in real estate and stocks, and his cash flow was not much. During the cold wave, real estate and stocks were difficult to cash out, and his life fell into a slump. His parents froze to death, and all the food in the house was said to be left to him, so he survived. According to the neighbors' accounts, Qiu Yongkang left his residence two months ago and never returned to Yangcheng. We suspect that it was at that time that he received the so-called divine inspiration and went to Jiangcheng to set up a laboratory."
"We are currently still cooperating with official agencies in Yangcheng and plan to continue the investigation," said Yu Ziqiu.
It seems that this clue will be difficult to break through in the short term.
Shi Hong pondered and asked He Cong, "Will the X-files brought back from the laboratory by the action team be of any help? Can the biotechnology used by this laboratory on mutant mice help you speed up the development of a specific medicine for the plague?"
He Cong replied helplessly: "We have sorted out all the information in the laboratory. The technology recorded in it has exceeded our research level. It can even be said that it has exceeded the biotechnology system of Blue Water Star." He said this with great confidence. He is a leading researcher in the entire Dragon Country and has a general understanding of the forefront of biotechnology on Blue Water Star. But even so...
He Cong's face wrinkled, revealing an expression of a collapsed worldview: "Let me put it this way, after reading the information taken out of this laboratory, if I were not an atheist, I would even say that maybe this is really biotechnology from outer space, or in other words, magical alchemy."
"Even if we don't understand it, is it possible to replicate the laboratory's results according to the experimental data?" Shi Hong asked the key question. A mutant scorpion lion beast like that, which has already shown a certain degree of intelligence, will also be a very important combat force once it can be successfully replicated.
"Sorry. I'm afraid there's nothing we can do." He Cong said with a wry smile: "We have joined forces with the military to interrogate the captured laboratory personnel. Their confessions all pointed out that Qiu Yongkang had received divine revelation that pointed out the location of a spring, and Qiu Yongkang built a laboratory next to the spring. This spring has also become an important material for the experiment. However, after the laboratory collapsed, perhaps the water veins were affected. We did not find any water source outside the laboratory, and the discount coupon cigarettes seemed to have disappeared."
"Important materials are missing and we cannot replicate them," He Cong concluded.
Shi Hong also felt sorry when he heard this. Such an important spring disappeared because of the cave collapse... He cheered up and encouraged He Cong a few words, and finally said: "Publish the relevant information to other cities as soon as possible, and see if we can use everyone's research power to conquer the plague as soon as possible."
This was the only way to do it. Although everyone present knew that this method actually had little hope.
Yu Ziqiu's phone buzzed. She opened it and saw that it was a message from Gu Nian.
"Are you interested in buying the formula for treating plague? I have a finished product that you can try out for its effects."
Yu Ziqiu was so surprised that her eyes almost popped out. She followed Gu Nian on the forum, so she knew that the ID "Holding Gu Xiaogu" had once sold a kind of cold-proof soup on the forum, which caused a stir on the forum. She also knew that Gu Nian was a pharmacist and had sold a kind of blood-clotting ointment in the wilderness. After all, the law enforcement team patrolling in the wilderness was originally an ordinary execution team under their Action Group 2. She also knew that Gu Nian should be a pretty good pharmacist, because when she killed the scorpion lion beast, it was thanks to a kind of explosive pill given by Gu Nian.
But Yu Ziqiu never thought that Gu Nian could find a formula to treat the plague!
She looked up and wanted to tell Shi Hong, but then she changed her mind and felt that it would be safer to verify the efficacy of the medicine first and then tell anyone.
-------------------------------------
In the city's Third People's Hospital, all the wards are packed with patients.
"Ventilator, bed number 10 has swollen lymph nodes that have ruptured and caused pneumonia, and needs a ventilator urgently..."
"The drip solution has run out. When will the new medicine arrive..."
Doctors and nurses were busy coming and going, and the air was filled with the smell of disinfectant. Yu Ziqiu and Gu Nian walked in. They had agreed to meet here.
"Where is the special medicine?" the doctor in white coat asked hurriedly.
Yu Ziqiu handed him a pill. "Director Wang, this is it." When they met, Gu Nian had already handed the pill to Yu Ziqiu.
Director Wang took the pill and looked at it carefully. The pill was as black as ink and looked like an ordinary Chinese medicine pill. To be honest, if it weren't for the guarantee from the action team leader of Noah Research Institute, he would never dare to use this kind of three-no medicine. However, the number of patients is increasing, and they all rely on ventilators and infusions to survive. If this continues, I'm afraid all these people will die...
Director Wang gritted his teeth and said, "Please sit down for a moment. We have found a critically ill patient who is willing to try the drug. However, I will first ask the analysis room to test the ingredients in the pills to confirm that they are harmless to the human body. This is also responsible for the patients. I hope you understand."
Director Wang took the pills and went out, while Gu Nian and Yu Ziqiu stayed in the director's office waiting.
Ten minutes later, a nurse knocked on the door and asked them to go to a nearby ward.
Lying on the bed was a girl in her teens, still at the age where she could act coquettishly in front of her parents without restraint, but red papules had appeared on her exposed arms and black and purple bloodstains had appeared on her neck. These were all severe manifestations of the late stage of the plague. Many instruments had been inserted into her body and she had a ventilator on her face.
Standing next to them were the girl's parents. The mother looked haggard, with her hair disheveled over her shoulders, and the father was just trying to keep himself together.
Director Wang was also standing next to the patient. When he saw them come in, he said, "These are our drug trial volunteers."
He turned to the girl's parents and said, "We are going to try out the new medicine soon. Please confirm. If there is no problem, we will start giving it to you."
The girl's mother looked up and said sadly: "It doesn't matter if it works or not, we have to give it a try..."
The girl had lost the ability to swallow on her own, so the pills could only dissolve in the drip and be quietly injected into her body.
Drops of liquid medicine fell from the drip bottle. The girl's parents supported each other, looking at the bottle helplessly, their hearts clenched tightly.
The nurse who was observing the instrument nearby suddenly shouted in surprise: "Director, look! The patient's vital signs have begun to gradually return to normal!"
Director Wang rushed over and said, "Impossible! His breathing signs have clearly recovered and his heart rate has returned to normal... It's a miracle, it's simply a miracle!"
Gu Nian couldn't understand those medical instruments, but there were more obvious signs than the values on the instruments: the purple-black bloodstains on the girl's face were gradually fading at a speed visible to the naked eye, and the papules were also fading.
"This special medicine is really effective! The patient can be saved!" Director Wang exclaimed in delight.
The whole ward was filled with joy and excitement. The girl's parents hugged each other and cried bitterly. No one knew how much pain they had endured during this period.
Seeing is believing, Yu Ziqiu no longer doubted the efficacy of the pills in Gu Nian's hand. She pulled Gu Nian away and asked simply, "Name a price for the prescription of this anti-epidemic pill."
Gu Nian thought for a moment and asked, "I heard that there is a hidden list in the contribution exchange list?" This is the information Gu Nian recently found on the forum. The information that can be released to the public is always filtered.
Yu Ziqiu did not hide it from her: "Yes, it is true. The version released to the public only contains some basic content. If certain conditions are met, the official internal exchange list will be different. It is not wrong to describe it as a hidden list."
Gu Nian thought for a moment and said, "I want 500,000 contribution points, and I want the permission to redeem the hidden list."
This amount... is a bit large. Yu Ziqiu smiled bitterly, and she indicated that she was going to make a phone call. When she came back, Yu Ziqiu said, "I have just applied to my superiors for this contribution, but the amount is really large. Now 250,000 contribution points have been transferred to your account as a deposit. After this formula is tested on a large scale and we confirm its effectiveness, the remaining 250,000 will be credited to your account as soon as possible."
It seems that even with Yu Ziqiu's guarantee, it would be difficult for her superiors to approve 500,000 contribution points at once. After all, this is a huge sum of money. Gu Nian nodded and sent a file to Yu Ziqiu on her phone. "I've sent you the formula. I'll wait for the rest of your contribution points."
Three days later, a huge sum of money appeared in Gu Nian's account. At the same time, Yu Ziqiu also gave her a contact information so that she could find this person to exchange the money at any time.
-------------------------------------
"The contribution points of your account have been verified successfully, a total of 600,000 contribution points, here is the exchange list, please choose." The official staff handed over a tablet computer with both hands. When Gu Nian was concentrating on checking it, he couldn't help but secretly look at it with envy. The staff didn't expect that the rich man who could own such a huge fortune was actually such a young lady.
Gu Nian's finger slid down and flipped through the exchange list. There was a column specifically listing underground city properties. A 200-square-meter house required 50,000 contribution points, while a single-family villa required a full 200,000 contribution points.
Gu Nian frowned.
The staff member immediately noticed her doubt. Nowadays, those who can be transferred to work in the VIP room are all top experts who have passed many tests before they can be employed. For example, the staff member who exchanged money for Gu Nian was a top business manager of a well-known financial institution before the cold wave.
"Ma'am, because the cost of building the bottom floor of the underground city is too high, the land has become extremely expensive. In the future, the per capita living area in the underground city will be strictly limited, and toilets, bathrooms, and kitchens will be forced to be shared. Ordinary residents may only be able to purchase a maximum of two square meters of living space. Therefore, the original 100-square-meter house will appear in the public list of the Mouse Hunting Operation as a benefit to the people. The villas are all single-family houses with their own gardens. The land for building villas is enough to build a ten-story building. Therefore, the contribution of 200,000 for this villa is already a very favorable price."
The staff member whispered, "In the future, I'm afraid that just the qualification to purchase a villa will be able to fetch a sky-high price in the underground city. And according to inside information, the underground city will be open to residents very soon."
Gu Nian groaned. The natural disaster would not just pass. The cold wave was just the beginning. The weather would only become more and more extreme. The underground city would become a new urban form for humans. Sooner or later, Gu Nian would have to move underground. "I want one."
The clerk quickly tapped on the tablet, "You can take a look at the area."
Gu Nian picked out an underground villa, and spent 50,000 contribution points to buy a bone bow, and 30,000 contribution points to buy a □□. Both were made of rare A-grade mutant materials and were made by the official top weapon designers. It can be said that they represent the top level of today's weapons.
As for the folding space box, Gu Nian also bought one. With the folding space box, it would be convenient for her to hide in front of people.
Gu Nian also selected some guns and bullets, storing 500 rounds of each type, and these weapon consumables also cost 50,000 contribution points. There were also many daily necessities on the list, and Gu Nian bought some for the family, especially a lot of seafood, which were not expensive. He bought a lot of them, but only spent less than 10,000 contribution points.
After exchanging all the things she wanted, Gu Nian still had more than 100,000 contribution points left. Noah paid Gu Nian 30,000 contribution points to find a laboratory in the wilderness. Adding the income from selling blood coagulation cream and the income from selling the formula of the epidemic-breaking pill, she saved a total of 600,000 contribution points. Gu Nian was very satisfied that she could get so many contribution points on her own in such a short period of time.
Gu Nian walked out of the VIP room and stood in the lobby of the official contribution exchange agency.
The high-ceilinged hall is brightly lit, but it is no longer illuminated by electric lamps. Hanging high in the hall are spherical lanterns made of mutant begonias, and between the lanterns is a newly emerged floating light insect. Both the mutant begonias and the floating light insect can provide light sources, and the best thing is that the floating light insect feeds on begonia leaves.
It seems that Gong Hong's research plan is very successful. While walking through it, Gu Nian thought of the shy female researcher who talked to him about research in the wilderness.
There are many people coming and going, all of whom are people like Gu Nian who come to exchange contribution points. However, because the amount they exchange is small, they only need to handle it in the lobby.
"I exchanged for those stretch shoes! Just like in the old Hollywood blockbusters, I can take a step forward three or four meters! God, I never thought I would be able to get this kind of equipment one day!" A young man said excitedly. He was dressed like a typical wilderness hunter.
"My contribution is too little. I changed into a pair of iron wire vine gloves. They can provide protection when I pick spiritual plants in the future..."
Gu Nian heard their conversation as she walked by and couldn't help but smile. Thinking about it carefully, Gu Nian also assisted in the research of the items they mentioned.
She walked out of the Contribution Exchange Hall, and what appeared before her eyes was a huge underground city. After a long period of construction, the huge underground city construction plan finally unveiled its mysterious veil to the residents of Jiangcheng. All official offices have been moved to the first floor of the underground city. In the deep underground city, these offices are always lit, as bright as day.
The new materials provided by the wilderness have brought new impetus to the technology of Jiangcheng. The new items produced in the wilderness have gradually become indispensable daily necessities for people. Expensive mutant beasts have entered the tables of the rich, and wild plants have gradually been introduced to Jiangcheng for planting, and new technologies and lifestyles have also emerged.
Changes have already occurred in Jiangcheng. Neon lights and high-rise buildings are gradually fading, and a new jungle is born. However, in the underground city and the wilderness, civilizations and technologies that are completely different from the previous ones are also being nurtured. Perhaps in another hundred years, when the newly born humans talk about the technological era before the natural disaster, it will be no different from when Gu Nian talked about the ancient times when he was in school. Of course, the premise is that everyone can survive.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com