94: Chapter 94 The Ambiguity Escalates, Academician Chen's Face Turns as Red as a Monkey's Butt

The air in the office instantly became even thicker than before.

If it had been an ambiguous shade of pink just a moment ago, it was now the suffocating color of scorched earth.

"Quick! The buttons! The buttons!"

Academician Chen Shuyin sprang up from the sofa like a cat whose tail had been stepped on.

She scrambled to straighten her professional attire, the neckline of which had been pulled askew. The fanaticism of "devoting herself to science" vanished in an instant, replaced by the panic of a young girl caught red-handed by her parents after doing something bad.

"You hurry up too! Pull up your pants... no, wait, fasten your belt!"

While hissing at Jiang Chen in a low voice, she quickly picked up the innocent data pad from the floor, pretending to be engaged in serious academic research.

However, because her hands were shaking so violently, she was holding the data pad upside down.

Jiang Chen was in an even worse state.

As he fumbled to button his shirt, he mentally greeted all eighteen generations of Zhao Gang's ancestors.

What the hell is this?

Why couldn't he have come earlier or later? Why did he have to pound on the door at this critical moment?

"Ahem... Come in!"

Jiang Chen took a deep breath, trying to calm his heart which felt like it was about to jump out of his throat. He used his foot to kick the throw pillow that had fallen onto the floor back onto the sofa, attempting to cover up the traces of the "fierce struggle" that had just taken place.

He plopped down behind his desk, picked up his cold teacup, and assumed a dignified posture that screamed, "I am very busy, I am very serious, and we haven't done anything."

"Creak—"

The heavy solid wood door was pushed open a crack.

Zhao Gang's rugged face, bearing a hint of anxiety mixed with a touch of hesitation, cautiously poked inside.

"Boss, that..."

He stopped mid-sentence.

His eyes, which had undergone special training and could distinguish the sex of a mosquito from hundreds of meters away, scanned the dim office, and his pupils instantly dilated in shock.

What did he see?

His boss was sitting behind the desk, disheveled, with his shirt buttons misaligned, revealing a large expanse of his chest, and his face was as red as if he had just finished a five-kilometer run.

And that usually aloof and untouchable Academician Chen was sitting on the sofa with her back to the door. Although he couldn't see her face, the tips of her ears were as red as a monkey's butt, and her slightly trembling shoulders all indicated what kind of fierce "hand-to-hand combat" had just taken place here.

What was even worse was that the air still retained a mixture of sweat, perfume, and a certain indescribable, sultry heat.

Zhao Gang swallowed hard, feeling that he had truly messed up this time.

How was this "something happened"?

This was clearly him ruining the boss's "good time"!

"That... ahem!"

Zhao Gang's feet felt as if they were nailed to the doorway; he couldn't go in, and he couldn't go out.

He gave a dry laugh, his expression uglier than if he were crying. His hand was already on the doorknob, ready to run at any moment:

"Boss, how about... I go wait outside?"

"I see you two are... ahem, are engaged in deep technical exchanges. It's late at night, so I won't disturb you."

As he spoke, he couldn't help but glance over at Academician Chen Shuyin, secretly clicking his tongue in his heart:

Goodness, I couldn't tell.

Academician Chen is usually so gentle and weak, yet when she really gets physical, she can actually force the boss into this state? Even his belt was almost undone?

Is this also a form of "dimensionality reduction attack"?

"Stop!"

Jiang Chen saw that lecherous look in his eyes and immediately knew what kind of dirty thoughts were running through this guy's head.

If he let him run away, the entire base would know by tomorrow that he was a kept man who had been "pinned down and ravished in the office by a female academician"!

"Come back! Close the door!"

Jiang Chen slammed his teacup onto the desk. "What are you running for? Am I the type of person to be obsessed with beauty?"

Zhao Gang closed the door and stood at attention, but he didn't dare look Jiang Chen in the eye, staring only at the ceiling as he answered loudly:

"Report, Boss! You are not! You are Liuxia Hui who remains unmoved even with a woman on his lap! You are a gentleman!"

Even he didn't believe what he was saying.

Academician Chen Shuyin, sitting on the sofa nearby, was so ashamed upon hearing the term "gentleman" that she almost buried her head into the crevices of the sofa.

She had only one thought now:

Just destroy everything.

Do it quickly.

If there were a crack in the ground, she would definitely crawl into it without hesitation, even if it were a radioactive Wasteland sewer underneath.

"Alright, stop with the nonsense."

Jiang Chen rubbed his throbbing temples, feeling mentally exhausted. "Speak, what on earth happened? If it's not a matter of the sky falling, you can prepare to go dig coal with those alien monsters."

Mentioning business, Zhao Gang's expression finally returned to normal.

The cold, murderous aura belonging to a soldier instantly replaced the previous awkwardness.

He walked quickly to the desk, pulled a military tablet from his chest, unlocked it, and pulled up a piece of intelligence that had just been intercepted through special channels.

"Boss, this time the sky really has fallen."

Zhao Gang handed the tablet to Jiang Chen, his tone as heavy as ice:

"Just half an hour ago, the US suddenly announced it was entering a 'National State of Emergency'."

"It's not because of an economic crisis, nor because of our Photonic Chip sanctions."

"It's because of... a plague."

"A plague?"

Jiang Chen took the tablet, his brow instantly furrowing. "The flu? The season isn't right for that."

"It's not the common flu."

Zhao Gang shook his head, pointing at the shocking pictures on the screen:

"It's a new type of biological virus never seen before, codenamed 'X-99'."

"The outbreak point is a secret biological laboratory on the US West Coast, allegedly due to an 'accidental leak.' But the transmission speed of this virus is simply ridiculously fast; in just a few hours, it has already spread to three states!"

"The most terrifying thing is its mortality rate..."

Zhao Gang took a deep breath, his voice trembling slightly:

"Over 30%."

"And after infection, it rapidly triggers pulmonary fibrosis and multi-organ failure. Current antibiotics and antiviral drugs... are completely ineffective."

Jiang Chen's finger swiped across the screen.

In the photos, those patients lying in the emergency room had pale, blue faces, difficulty breathing, and were gasping desperately like fish out of water. The hospital corridors were crowded with panicked crowds, and the National Guard, wearing full protective gear, were sealing off the streets.

This scene was even more apocalyptic than the Wasteland.

"This isn't normal."

Academician Chen Shuyin had approached at some point without anyone noticing.

Although the flush on her face had not yet completely faded, once she saw something in her professional field, the scientist's instinct instantly overcame her shame.

She adjusted her glasses, looked at the pathology reports, and her eyes instantly became as sharp as a knife:

"The virus's RNA structure is too perfect."

"Viruses evolved in Nature always have some redundant segments. But this thing... it's like code that has been precisely edited; every single base pair exists for the sake of slaughter."

Academician Chen Shuyin looked up at Jiang Chen, her tone firm:

"This is man-made."

"And it's a highly targeted genetic weapon."

Jiang Chen narrowed his eyes, tossed the tablet back onto the desk, and let out a cold laugh.

"Man-made?"

"Heh, the US is really getting desperate."

"They can't beat us with chips, their aircraft carrier bullying failed, and now they're starting to play Resident Evil?"

He stood up, walked to the window, and looked at the pitch-black night outside.

Although the virus was still on the other side of the ocean, in this era of globalization, even a mosquito carrying the virus could bring disaster to the whole world within a few days.

"Boss, what's even more disgusting is..."

Zhao Gang gritted his teeth and added, "The US media is now frantically shifting the blame. They say... this virus is suspected to have come from the East, and some are even implying that it's a retaliatory measure created by our Chenxing Technology."

"Retaliation?"

Jiang Chen laughed in anger.

"I have Photonic Chip technology, I have interstellar warships; do I need to use such low-class methods to retaliate against them?"

"Wouldn't it be more exciting if I just flew the luan bird directly over The White House and hovered for ten minutes?"

He turned around, looking at Zhao Gang and Academician Chen Shuyin. The playfulness in his eyes vanished, replaced by a calm and domineering air that put people at ease.

"Alright, don't panic."

"It's just a virus, isn't it?"

"As it happens, my friends in the Wasteland, besides being good at mining and fighting, are best at—"

Jiang Chen's lips curled into a meaningful smile:

"In the garbage heaps, by eating all kinds of expired medicine and pesticides, they have trained bodies that are immune to all poisons."

"Academician Chen, prepare the laboratory."

"We're going to release a new product again."

Academician Chen Shuyin was stunned for a moment: "A new product? You mean... the antidote?"

"No."

Jiang Chen shook his head and turned to walk toward the safe that connected the two worlds:

"The antidote is too slow; research and development will take several days."

"We're going straight for... the pesticide."