Chapter 92
To be honest, Carlo didn't know what help he could be on Franklin Star. After Sena restricted access to the area, he was forced to take on the task of contacting Jiang Lan and the others for support. Although he had enthusiastically said he wanted to pull off a big heist when he voted, he found that there were many difficulties everywhere when it came to actually doing it. That's when he understood why Miss Feng Ran looked at them like they were idiots.
But none of that matters. The point is, if he's going to deliver supplies, why the hell did he have to bring the prosecutor from the Ceylon family along? Carlo was genuinely worried that before he even landed, this guy would pull out a pair of handcuffs and say he was under arrest, or that, based on the intelligence he and Tingyun had gathered these past few days, given this young master's stubbornness, he might just shoot him the moment he found out he was a fugitive.
They spent more time on the road than expected because Fengran initially researched the alien inhibitor out of personal interest. It wasn't until just before the annihilation operation of Black Hole No. 5 that they said they would try to use it in the war. For this reason, they bought a small chemical plant. Moreover, because many of the materials used in the inhibitor required approval and were controlled substances, they had already gone to great lengths to clear the raw material channels when preparing that batch of inhibitors for Hilde and the others. Let alone now.
Carlo took Orville to the planet Ivy, where the factory was located. There, looking up at the sky, he realized for the first time how slow the efficiency of mechanical intelligence was. It was a long and difficult wait before the shipment was finally delivered. Although Fengran had agreed to this, Carlo was still very afraid that the prosecutor from Ceylon would pull out a sticker and seal it off the moment he saw the unlicensed factory.
Even though Feng Ran had instructed him beforehand to remain calm and ignore him, Carlo was still very resistant to the imperial officials. Along the way, he either sighed or pretended to be clueless and gave Orville a perfunctory answer to questions. Fortunately, the dilapidated starship finally made it to Franklin Star after traveling day and night.
Orville, a man with a strong thirst for knowledge, was eager to uncover the secrets of Feng Ran. Seeing that the starship had finally entered Franklin's territory, only to land in an abandoned factory area on the outskirts of a third-tier city, he looked at Carlo, who was sitting in the pilot's seat, idly fiddling with the terminal:
"Why don't you just dock in the starship port like we did when we came? With your skills, the port staff wouldn't be able to identify or detect you anyway."
Perhaps because they were finally approaching their destination and could leave Lan Ge behind, Carlo's mood improved slightly, and he finally stopped ignoring him: "Didn't you notice anything strange after entering the country?"
In Orville's opinion, there were many suspicious things along the way. Not only could the unlicensed starship freely enter and exit various port centers without being tracked down, but the suspicious chemical plant was producing suspicious drugs that were to be sent to a suspicious border planet, and Feng Ran refused to reveal anything. Orville was starting to suspect that she was testing him.
But he had promised to keep this trip a secret, otherwise he might have found a lot of dirt on Feng Ran and Shen Shiqian. Once a person has regrets, they will inevitably resist the predetermined outcome. So, unlike the happy Carlo, Orville was so agitated that he didn't care about the environment outside the porthole. Only after Carlo said that did he look out the window.
The border planets were simple and shabby, completely incomparable to the prosperity of Qilia, and even the interstellar routes were so scattered that they were practically deserted.
Orville stared at the small fleet of frigates that finally appeared after a long while, then frowned: "Does Franklin only have one port of entry and exit?"
But Franklin is, after all, a population-based planet with fourth-level political functions, and according to regulations, it should be equipped with at least three ports of entry and exit.
"Entry and exit restrictions?"
Carlo: "Yes, and it's a no-go zone."
Orville frowned: "Controlling the entry and exit of people without proper procedures and official announcements is a violation of imperial law."
Carlo remained unmoved: "Oh, then go and talk to their planet's lord later."
There was a small truck in the starship's hangar. All the emergency medicines and protective equipment for this trip had been packed and loaded onto the truck. At first glance, there wasn't much stuff. Orville silently followed Carlo into the pickup truck and watched as the vehicle drove off into town on autopilot.
Their destination was Cabin, a city that was eerily deserted despite being a weekday. Most of the shops were closed, making it look strange and desolate.
Orville: "What happened to Franklin Planet?"
Carlo: "You'll have to ask their lord."
Baisha, or rather the stronghold of the Bright Society, a small local organization led by Jiang Lan, was located in a wholesale market for mechanical parts. It was a relatively underdeveloped area in Cabin City with a relatively low population density. Nevertheless, some residents in the surrounding area were infected and were housed in the only restaurant in the market.
Not long after the pickup truck stopped, two or three people, all bundled up, came out of a shop on the street. Carlo followed suit, found gloves and a mask and put them on. Before getting out of the truck, he threw a set to Orville as well.
Perhaps it's because he's been lurking here for too long and has become too localized, but Brother Lan looks incredibly weathered just by looking at his physique.
"You must be tired from your journey, Carlo."
"This is nothing to me. Brother Lan, your situation is much more difficult. I don't know how useful this batch of protective equipment will be, and I don't know how long it will take to develop Miss Fengran's adaptability drug."
Although he wasn't very optimistic about it.
Before Carlo arrived, Xing Tong had mentioned a few things about the research and development of human antibody drugs for alien viruses. The gist of it was that alien organisms have their own unique energy cycle, and the drug chemical reactions between normal organisms and alien organisms are not compatible. In other words, they cannot be weakened to produce antibodies that can generate immunity like in a regular viral infection. It is necessary to first build an energy cycle for the alien organism in the human body before proceeding to the next experimental reaction.
In other words, if a part of the human body's cells or organs is transformed into a different species, and this mutated tissue reacts to produce antibodies, if the fusion is not properly controlled, immune death is the least of the problems; the entire human race could potentially mutate, which is terrifying to think about.
Jiang Lan looked at Orville, who didn't look very familiar to her, and asked, "And who is this?"
Carlo: "Ignore him, he'll be gone in a bit. Let's finish what Miss Fengran asked us to do first. Where are the patients?"
In addition to a batch of emergency protective equipment and inhibitors, Fengran specially asked Carlo to bring a lot of medical instruments and equipment for him to use for sampling and analysis. Of course, the data is directly integrated into Xingtong's database through the cloud, so there will be no problem with operation.
Although Orville had a rough idea in his mind, he silently followed them to the second floor of the restaurant where the patients were temporarily housed. He frowned at the pungent chemical smell in the air, either out of resistance or disgust.
Until one after another, thin bodies came into view.
Like a rusty leaf rotting in the soil, soft and damp, easily blown away by the wind, its withered limbs are bluish-black and bloodless, and in its turbid pupils, one can see the aura of decay and death.
An unfamiliar pathological condition, but not entirely unfamiliar either; it is physical exhaustion.
In fact, the various news media of the empire rarely report in detail on patients with physical deterioration, because such records are too cruel. This is because it is a terminal illness that is written incorrectly at birth. The probability is very low but not zero, and most of the people in this extremely rare case do not even live to adulthood.
Unavoidable misfortune is like a solid rock blocking the path of human civilization. It cannot be moved and can only be bypassed. Therefore, most people remain silent about this disease because it is a human problem and a sign of the empire's incompetence.
"What's wrong with these people?"
Carlo's face, hidden behind his mask, was contorted in a grimace. In the extremely oppressive atmosphere, Orville's question made him somewhat irritable: "Didn't I tell you to ask that fat bastard Sena?!"
But he quickly changed his mind: "Forget it, you should hurry back to Chilia. Anyway, the goods have already been delivered. It would be a loss if we really went to confront that fat guy and got ourselves into trouble. Let's do this before we get infected with the virus."
"What stage is this batch of patients in?"
Jiang Lan's terminal lit up at the right moment, and Feng Ran, wearing a white coat, appeared in front of everyone as a holographic projection. She remained unmoved by what she saw with her naked eye, calmly examining everything.
Jiang Lan: "The fourth day after the incubation period ended and the body began to weaken."
Feng Ran: "Then let's continue to use the special nutrient solution to maintain their vital signs, while paying attention to preventing contact transmission. After the specific indicators have been tested, we'll ask them if they'd be willing to be test subjects for the adaptive drug."
In fact, when Feng Ran first proposed to make the adaptive medicine, everyone was surprised and resistant, because in people's minds, aliens were chaotic, dirty, evil, monsters that only had destructive power and only knew how to plunder. Humans' self-esteem could not accept that they would become like that.
Even though Jiang Lan clearly conveyed the message that not accepting it might mean certain death, most people still resisted. Transforming them into mutants was even more despicable than Sena, who infected them with the virus. Thus, self-esteem and self-awareness became the biggest problems.
After a moment of silence, Orville finally spoke up again: "Miss Fengran, could you please explain?"
Feng Ran acted as if he had only just noticed him: "Oh, Mr. Ceylonka is still here, but I remember that our agreement included a clause about keeping it confidential, so there's not much to explain to you."
"Isn't the work in parliament very busy? Don't you want to go home earlier?"
Besides the patients, the small second floor where the patients were housed also housed family members of the patients and members of the Light Society who acted as temporary caregivers. Upon hearing Feng Ran's words, their eyes quickly turned to Orville.
"Sri Lanka? Is that the Sri Lanka that's always in the news?"
"If it's parliament, wouldn't they have the right to deal with Sena? Could they help us?"
"My lord, please..."
The scene erupted into chaos, like water droplets splashing into a pan of oil. The heavy weight of hope tormented people's hearts, scorching them into a backdrop of failure. Orwell was trapped within it, speechless.
“It’s no use surrounding him. Didn’t you hear what Miss Fengran said? He has no intention of reporting it. If it weren’t for Miss Fengran, how could the prosecutor from Qilia have come to a poor, remote place like ours?”
The young man who spoke was named Caffro, the former leader of the Light Society. He was a talent who, after experiencing the Empire's encirclement and suppression, the death of Feng Ran, and a near-planetary collision explosion, almost dragged the Empire from a stable ruling order into war after Princess Sherry ascended the throne.
Orville wanted to deny it: "No, I just didn't know. Of course, I'll do my best to help you..."
Feng Ran interrupted him: "Sena, Cohen, and Nabjo are in cahoots. The governance of the northern border is quite filthy. The person they bribed is Frerick, the district chief of the Second District. Do you know which parliamentary official Frerick has the closest ties with?"
Orville: "...Who?"
Feng Ran: "Working overtime to check the accounts and ending up in the hospital, how could you not know that your biggest protector was right next door? There's a reason why I look down on the parliament, okay?"
"Oh, so you mean Rogers, the one you said I laid a hand on? Because he's one of your own, you actually turn a blind eye to his financial inflows? Or is the Imperial Prosecutor's Office really so useless that it can't find anything out?"
"You've clearly become their accomplice without even realizing it. What promises can you make to them now that you're here?"
"Isn't the justice you insist on just self-righteous hypocrisy?"
Unable to refute, feeling like a fishbone stuck in his throat, it seemed that anything he said would be a pale and powerless sophistry, but Orwell didn't know why things had developed to this point.
It seems that he is the only one facing various environmental pressures, overwhelmed by reality, breathless, and with no other choice.
My daily routine of diligently fulfilling my duties and maintaining fairness seems to have become a self-righteous and complacent monopoly. My faith has collapsed, and my trust in the world has crumbled like snowflakes, trampled on the ground, wet and cold.
Orville was stunned by the sarcastic remark without using any profanity. Even Carlo, who had been annoyed with him the whole way, felt a little sorry for him for this moment. Of all people to mess with, he had to mess with this lady who was the least worthy of his attention.
Jiang Lan didn't think Orville was innocent, and he knew Feng Ran's wickedness. He calmly expressed his opinion: "I don't think letting him go back would be a good idea."
Feng Ran replied casually, "That makes sense. Then I'll leave it to you to handle."
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