375: Mutant bacteria

"Nothing happened last night, it's just that there were a lot of mosquitoes."

Su Liuyuan pulled up the sleeve of his jacket, revealing the red welts on his arm from mosquito bites.

"If I hadn't covered my head with my jacket last night, my handsome face would have been ruined."

Jiang Fei took out a bottle of mosquito bite cream made by Xiao Chuxia and gave it to Su Liuyuan:

"You go back to the car to rest. If you feel any discomfort, tell me immediately."

"We don't know about the disaster in Ling Province yet, so we have to be careful about everything, including mosquitoes. It would be troublesome if they were poisonous."

"Alright."

Su Liuyuan took the cream and got into the car. Jiang Fei then went to ask Xu Qianyao and Zhu Xiaowu.

The two only heard a few insect chirps last night and didn't find anything unusual.

The team set off for the logistics warehouse in Tianshui City.

They didn't see a single living person along the way, but they did see many animals.

Wild rabbits, pheasants, wild boars, and wild deer had taken over the empty city, leisurely eating the plants on the ground.

When they heard the sound of cars, some were scared and hid, while others continued to eat without lifting their heads or opening their eyes, as if they were the masters here.

Jiang Fei and the others had enough food, so they didn't hunt any more animals.

Upon reaching the logistics warehouse, Jiang Fei went in alone to collect supplies.

After relocking the gate, she notified the team members to install the trackers.

Then, they headed to the next city with a logistics warehouse.

Sometimes, they would see corpses lying by the roadside.

They had likely been gnawed on by animals, with pitted flesh and exposed white bones.

After passing through five cities in a row, the team hadn't encountered a single living person.

Su Liuyuan and Xu Qianyao chatted on the walkie-talkie.

"We've been in Ling Province for almost half a month, and we haven't seen a single person. Is it because the natural disaster here is over, and the survivors have gone to find new homes?"

Xu Qianyao: "Ling Province has lakes and is suitable for planting, so there's no need for survivors to relocate."

Zhu Xiaowu: "Perhaps they heard about the Huaxia Base and all went to Yang City... cough cough cough."

Zhu Xiaowu in the RV took a big gulp of water and then said, "I need to eat lighter food lately. You don't need to call Tian Jie and me when you make spicy food."

"After eating spicy instant noodles this morning, both of our throats became inflamed and sore."

Upon hearing that their throats were inflamed, Jiang Fei frowned slightly and took the walkie-talkie from Su Liuyuan:

"Besides your throats, do you have any other discomforts?"

"No more," Zhu Xiaowu said carelessly:

"Team Leader Jiang, don't worry. Tian Jie's and my sore throats are from eating spicy instant noodles."

"We have pathogen detection reagents in our car. We tested ourselves this morning, and we're perfectly fine."

Jiang Fei, however, didn't relax: "Don't get out of the car today. Observe for a day."

"Better safe than sorry."

No sooner had she spoken.

"Ugh—"

A retching sound came from the other end of the walkie-talkie.

At the same time, the RV following behind stopped.

"Tian Jie, what's wrong with you?!"

"Water... I feel a little nauseous... Ugh—!"

"Hold on! I'll get you water right away!"

"No... I want to throw up too..."

The communication was suddenly cut off, and Jiang Fei quickly told Lu Yu to stop the car.

After waiting for nearly ten minutes, there was still no sound from Zhu Xiaowu and Yan Tianjie on the walkie-talkie.

Jiang Fei decided to go check.

For safety, she took out protective gear and put it on. Only then did the three of them go to Yan Tianjie's RV.

Xu Qianyao also put on a protective suit and went.

Inside the RV.

The driver's seat was a mess.

Lu Yu and Su Liuyuan were responsible for cleaning it up with tools.

Jiang Fei found the two in the bathroom.

Yan Tianjie and Zhu Xiaowu were weakly slumped on the floor, their faces red from vomiting.

Calling Xu Qianyao for help, Jiang Fei helped the two out of the bathroom and settled them on the bed in the bedroom.

Immediately, Jiang Fei turned her back and took out a bottle of spring water and a thermometer.

Xu Qianyao fed water to Yan Tianjie and Zhu Xiaowu, while Jiang Fei measured their temperatures.

Both were normal temperatures.

Could it be gastroenteritis caused by expired food?

Jiang Fei asked Zhu Xiaowu: "When were the instant noodles you ate from?"

After drinking the spring water, Zhu Xiaowu had the strength to speak:

"This year's... produced by Huaxia Base..."

"We used to eat them every day... nothing ever happened... only today we changed to a spicy flavor..."

"And we also took the special medicine this morning... logically, even if the food was spoiled... we wouldn't have problems..."

Zhu Xiaowu stiffened: "It couldn't be that the medicine expired, could it..."

Xu Qianyao: "No, the batch of enhanced special medicine Director Ning prepared for us was produced by Underground City just before last year's tsunami."

"Xiao Wu and I took the first-generation special medicine..." Yan Tianjie explained in a low voice:

"We didn't want to waste good medicine, thinking that Ling Province was fine, so we took our own first-generation special medicine..."

"You two really, you save where you shouldn't and foolishly save where you should. Can the first generation's effectiveness compare to the enhanced version's?" Xu Qianyao said helplessly:

"Regardless of the generation, the special medicine's shelf life is five years. You couldn't have taken expired medicine."

Yan Tianjie was confused: "Then what happened to Xiao Wu and me..."

"Unclear. You two take the special medicine first."

Xu Qianyao found the enhanced special medicine and fed it to the two.

Lu Yu and Su Liuyuan cleaned up the filth in the RV.

The four sat on the sofa, observing Yan Tianjie and Zhu Xiaowu's condition.

Jiang Fei secretly took out two life-saving pills, just in case.

In less than an hour, the two began to develop a fever, their body temperatures soaring to 39°C, and their consciousness became blurry.

Xu Qianyao immediately gave them another enhanced special medicine.

He brought alcohol, and he and Su Liuyuan physically cooled the two down.

After a night of tossing and turning, Yan Tianjie and Zhu Xiaowu's fever subsided, but they didn't wake up. Their bodies continued to sweat, gradually soaking the bedding.

To prevent dehydration, Jiang Fei found the medical supplies in the car and gave them intravenous injections of saline.

It wasn't until noon the next day that Zhu Xiaowu was the first to wake up, saying in a hoarse voice:

"I think I slept for a long time..."

"You were unconscious for almost a day and a night." Xu Qianyao picked up the water cup by the bed and fed Zhu Xiaowu.

After Zhu Xiaowu finished drinking, he asked him: "Are you still uncomfortable now?"

Zhu Xiaowu shook his head: "I just feel weak all over..."

"My throat doesn't hurt anymore either..."

Xu Qianyao: "It seems the enhanced special medicine is effective for your illness."

"Don't try to save money indiscriminately anymore. The first-generation special medicine can cure too few viruses."

Zhu Xiaowu obediently assented:

"Thank you, Brother Xu, Team Leader Jiang..."

"We're all on the same team, no need to say such things."

Not long after, Yan Tianjie also woke up.

After confirming that the two were fine, Jiang Fei and the other three used the disinfectant in the car to thoroughly sanitize the RV.

Including the protective gear they wore.

After all this, they returned to their respective RVs to catch up on sleep.

After resting in place for three days, Yan Tianjie and Zhu Xiaowu completely recovered and regained their spirits.

Zhu Xiaowu immediately found the vomit in the trash bag and performed a laboratory test.

On the day the results came out, Zhu Xiaowu called Jiang Fei and the others together, his expression uncharacteristically serious.

"Team Leader Jiang, Tian Jie's and my discomfort a few days ago was due to a mutated bacterium."