Chapter 1 The Emperor chooses his concubine.
"Number 11, Chu Yi, graduated from Xifeng Medical University, Master's degree, 25 years old."
In the open space of Jiangzhou Experimental Base, dozens of young women who responded to the call were queuing at the door waiting for their documents to be reviewed, each with an expression of nervous anticipation on their face.
"Yes."
The woman's voice was soft and sweet, and the man in charge of the interview couldn't help but look up at her again.
She had a low ponytail, a round face, almond eyes, and was wearing a plain white T-shirt and jeans. She looked as if she hadn't slept for days, and there was unconcealable fatigue between her brows, but it couldn't hide the youthfulness of her body.
"Twenty-five? He looks like a high school student."
Shu Lan lowered her head, a little shy: "Everyone says I look young."
"Have you awakened your superpowers?"
"No."
“Any history of genetic diseases?”
"none."
"Do you have a boyfriend or husband?"
"single."
"Very good." The man nodded and handed her the resume. "Go over there and wait for the news. Next one."
Shu Lan took the paper, walked quickly past the armed soldiers on both sides, and stood with the three girls who also passed the interview.
A year ago, a highly contagious biological virus swept the world. It would increase the physical strength of living things several times, but at the same time it would cause them to lose their sanity and cognition.
The virus initially appeared in animal carcasses, and then entered people's mouths after batches of frozen meat carrying the virus were shipped around the world and cooked or processed.
The infected humans fell ill without warning on an ordinary morning. They rushed into the streets and bit each other. Anyone bitten or scratched would be infected with the virus and would be assimilated into zombies within half an hour, then attack the next person.
Unfortunately, the medical level of Blue Star is completely insufficient to fight the virus. The virus spreads from organisms to humans, and then from people to people. One city after another is captured by zombies. The civilization of Blue Star regresses a thousand years, and the world becomes like hell.
In this situation, those who managed to survive were called survivors. Fortunately, some of the survivors' bodies underwent mutations, and after the high fever, they possessed powerful special abilities that could compete with powerful zombies. These lucky people were called superpowers.
Shu Lan was not one of the lucky ones and had never awakened any special powers, otherwise she would not be standing here today, interviewing for a researcher position at a biomedical experimental base.
"I heard that there's a person with superpowers in the experimental base who saved half of East Lake Province. They're using his genes to research the key factors for awakening superpowers."
The interviewees next to each other seemed to know each other and started chatting while waiting.
Shu Lan had been running for her life and had not paid attention to this information. She had only heard from others that the base was recruiting female employees, providing food and accommodation, and also had soldiers and people with special abilities to protect them.
So, as a newly-adult, she asked someone to make a fake resume and came to see if she could successfully get this good job.
The interviewer said she looked like a high school student, and there was nothing she could do about it. Given her age, it was hard to imagine she didn't look like one. Fortunately, there was no internet at that time, so the authenticity of the resume could not be verified. She could just lie however she wanted.
The girl next to her was still chatting, so she moved closer.
"The Jiangzhou Experimental Base's headquarters in Donghu was captured by zombies, so they fled to Ci'an. Half of the medical staff died along the way, so they started recruiting people."
"Ah? Dr. Zhao, the one who said that everyone would eventually awaken their superpowers, is still alive?"
"Of course. He is the hope of all mankind."
Shu Lan curled her lips slightly. If all the hopes of mankind were placed on one person, that would be the end of it.
Even if Dr. Zhao really develops a medicine or some medical method to awaken people's superpowers, it will probably not be used by ordinary people like them.
Shu Lan touched her stomach and sighed inwardly. In order to get this job, she gave the last three packs of instant noodles she had to the person who helped her forge her resume. She had been hungry for a whole day and night.
It was becoming difficult for her to even get enough food, so she couldn't even think about awakening her superpowers.
The two girls were chatting excitedly. The girl in the light yellow skirt accidentally dropped her resume. The wrinkled paper spun in the air and landed at Shu Lan's feet.
She bent down to pick it up, quickly scanned it, and then naturally started talking to them: "Are you a graduate of Normal University?"
The girl took the resume and looked her up and down with a hostile look on her face. "What's wrong with the Normal University? They don't stipulate that you have to be a medical major to interview for a research fellowship."
"Nothing serious," Shu Lan said with a friendly smile, "They want five people. Maybe we'll be colleagues in the future."
The girl rolled her eyes: "There are so many people interviewing, who knows if you can be selected."
Shu Lan retracted her smile, not being annoyed by the other person's attitude, and pondered secretly.
This base recruits people under the name of researchers, but there is no restriction on majors. As long as they are women, they must be young women under 30 years old, in good health and single.
Wow, it’s like the emperor choosing a concubine.
After a while, the interviewer came over and announced the results: "Chu Yi, Chen Jie, Xiao Qingqing... the five of you stay, the others can go."
The other interviewees left unwillingly. Shu Lan's eyes quietly swept between those who stayed and those who left, and she had an idea in her mind.
Those who stayed were girls who were slightly more attractive and looked younger.
Tsk tsk, it looks more like a concubine selection.
The interviewer handed the five people an "Employment Agreement" and succinctly stated, "Sign this, go to the dormitory and change into your work uniforms. From now on, you will be part of our experimental base. Hurry up, the zombies may catch up here at any time, and we won't give you enough time to adapt."
Under his urging, the five girls could only hastily scan the agreement and sign their names on it.
Shu Lan only had time to see one sentence——
"All researchers must unconditionally cooperate with the experimental work."
She raised her eyelids slightly, said nothing, and signed the pseudonym "Chu Yi".
No matter how weird it was, Shu Lan had no other options. She could either starve to death or become a zombie. Even though this place was a dangerous place, at least it was full of living people.
Not to mention how many reliable soldiers and psychics there are in the base, food and accommodation are provided here! Who can resist this temptation now?
The base allocated dormitories, and the empty rooms that looked like bare houses were filled with makeshift iron beds.
The uniform was a nurse's uniform that she had scavenged from somewhere, and it was a short skirt. Shu Lan hadn't worn a skirt in years. In the October weather, her legs felt cold after putting it on.
Fortunately, the dinner was pretty good, just simple white rice and stir-fried cabbage with vegetable oil, plus a spoonful of chili sauce, which all five of us devoured.
Because the virus can spread between the corpses of living things, all human beings began to switch to a vegetarian diet. Fresh vegetables and carbohydrate staples were in short supply. Shu Lan had been eating biscuits and instant noodles for nearly a year, and her desire to survive was almost at its lowest point.
I heard that some people with special abilities have the ability to create a space of a certain size with water and air in it, which can not only hold things but also allow them to grow vegetables.
Occasionally when she couldn't eat, Shu Lan would sigh and wish she could awaken such a skill.
After dinner, a middle-aged woman appeared at the dormitory door, wearing the same white coat as the interviewer.
In comparison, the nurse uniforms of these five young girls look out of place.
The girls, who had just had a big meal, did not dare to express their opinions even though they had doubts about the uniforms.
The middle-aged woman's nasolabial folds were as deep as if carved by a knife. Her hair was neatly tied behind her head, revealing her smooth hairline. She looked very serious.
She said, "Everyone go to the bathroom and tidy up your appearance. If you brought any makeup, use it. We are going to the lab."
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