194: Is this poisoning?

Finally, Li Shilan and Ai Guosheng couldn't bear Mo Li pestering them anymore, so they had to say that Ai Yue had always been the decision-maker in their family, and as long as she agreed, they would too.

Hearing this, Mo Li glanced in the direction of the escape pod, quickly shook his head, and decided to temporarily abandon the idea, as he didn't want to get beaten up.

Yingjin Safety Tower.

Gu Xiheng was handling base affairs as usual.

Just then, his office door was suddenly knocked upon urgently.

Gu Xiheng frowned slightly and called out, "Enter!"

A soldier pushed the door open and said with a grim expression, "Young General, something has happened."

Gu Xiheng's expression remained unchanged. Were there ever few incidents happening now?

There wasn't a day without some mess to clean up; no matter what happened next, he wouldn't show any surprise.

"What is it?"

"Yesterday, the Li Nan Squad was ordered to go out and investigate the Nameless Monster. They returned this morning, but now, several of them suddenly fell ill and started biting people wildly. Those who were bitten immediately fell into a coma."

Gu Xiheng's frown deepened upon hearing this.

"Poisoning?"

"We don't know!"

"Call Yan Li, let's go take a look." Gu Xiheng put down his pen, stood up, and strode out with his long legs.

"Yes!" The soldier followed immediately.

Gu Xiheng quickly arrived at the location. He saw that everyone in the Li Nan Squad was tied to pillars, looking utterly inhuman.

Every one of them was baring their teeth, struggling fiercely against the ropes with savage expressions.

Furthermore, their entire faces had turned black, their eyes were bloodshot, and terrifying black veins bulged on their arms, making them look extremely frightening.

Gu Xiheng's expression grew much heavier as he looked at them.

The periphery was packed with onlookers who were whispering amongst themselves.

Onlooker A: "Oh my god, what happened? Why did they turn out like this?"

Onlooker B: "I don't know. I heard they went out on a mission and came back like this."

Onlooker C: "Oh dear heavens, this looks too terrifying. It's scarier than the mad dog I used to own."

Onlooker B: "Hey, look closely. Don't they look like the foreign zombies we used to watch on TV?"

Onlooker D: "You know what? They really do look alike!"

Onlooker A: "Ptooey, ptooey! What are you talking about, zombies? Living is hard enough already. If a zombie virus appears, will anyone be able to survive? We might as well just die and spare ourselves the torment."

Onlooker D: "Don't get angry. I was just saying. Why take it seriously? Everything on TV is fake. How could that possibly exist in reality?"

"Exactly, exactly..."

Onlooker B: "But..." His lips moved, but he ultimately said nothing, instead walking away quietly with a look of fear.

Gu Xiheng also heard the onlookers' discussion, and he signaled to Yan Li with his eyes.

Yan Li understood immediately and led people to disperse all the onlookers.

"Young General, the people they bit are in that room over there. Would you like to go see them?" Yan Li asked, pointing at a nearby building.

"Alright!"

Gu Xiheng saw the bitten people lying unconscious in bed, with several medical staff performing various checks beside them.

After a long moment, Professor Ke, the lead researcher, said to Gu Xiheng, "Young General, through blood tests, we found that their bodies are being rapidly invaded by a large amount of unknown toxins, and we have no way to curb this poison."

Gu Xiheng's lips were pressed tightly together, and he asked seriously, "Professor Ke, how contagious is it?"

"As long as the virus doesn't come into contact with an open wound, there's no problem. But if even a tiny bit of this virus enters the body through a wound, it will multiply rapidly, leaving no possibility of rescue," Professor Ke said with a heavy tone.

"Are they just waiting to die?" Gu Xiheng whispered.

Professor Ke shook his head and sighed, "Alas, if it were just waiting to die, that would be fine. The terrifying part is that this virus causes people to go mad, bite anyone they see, and eventually be controlled by the virus, turning into harmful, walking corpses."

The more Gu Xiheng listened, the drier his throat became. His Adam's apple bobbed a few times before he managed to croak out, "Zombies?"

Professor Ke closed his eyes, his expression bitter. "You could say that!"

Gu Xiheng's face was extremely grim now. He struggled to speak to Yan Li behind him: "Tie them all to the beds. Tie them tightly!"

Yan Li felt completely numb. He hadn't expected the virtual world to bleed into reality.

Gu Xiheng then said to Professor Ke, "Professor Ke, please collaborate with the Underground Laboratory to crack this virus!"

Professor Ke nodded solemnly: "We will certainly do our utmost!"

Gu Xiheng nodded, "Be careful!"

"Understood. Please rest assured."

"Yan Li, help Professor Ke and the others transport these few people to the Underground Experimental Base. Everyone be extra careful!" Gu Xiheng said.

"Yes, Young General!" Yan Li quickly led his men to get busy.

Gu Xiheng walked outside again and carefully observed Li Nan and the others tied to the pillars.

He noticed that as long as he stayed far enough away, Li Nan and the others would calm down. But as soon as he approached, their eyes would suddenly turn crimson, and they would become agitated and struggle violently, trying to lunge at him.

Gu Xiheng's expression was grave, more so than ever before.

He had also watched foreign blockbusters about zombies—horrific films where, as soon as a zombie virus appeared, the entire country would quickly fall, and humanity could only defend isolated areas.

He hadn't expected the Nameless Monster issue to be unresolved when a zombie virus suddenly appeared. This was truly adding insult to injury.

The most important thing now was to find the source of the zombie virus transmission. As long as the source was cut off, the zombie virus wouldn't be terrifying.

He recalled that Li Nan and the others contracted this virus while investigating the Nameless Monster.

Could this virus be related to the Nameless Monster?

Gu Xiheng pondered silently, and the more he thought about it, the more he felt the matter was indeed connected to the Nameless Monster.

He immediately issued an order for three elite squads, equipped with drones, to rush to Chiluo Safety Tower and observe the Nameless Monster comprehensively.

Currently, that Nameless Monster had adopted Chiluo Safety Tower as its base camp and settled there temporarily, showing no signs of moving again.

Gu Xiheng also informed the heads of the major Safety Towers about the zombie virus, hoping they would not underestimate the threat and would take extra precautions.

He hoped the zombie virus would not spread widely.

He also issued an emergency order to close the base's entry and exit channels. Anyone who absolutely needed to go out or enter a Safety Tower had to undergo strict inspection, and only those without wounds or pathological changes would be allowed through.

This measure by Gu Xiheng caused panic within the base; the people, already fearful of the endless natural disasters of the Apocalypse, became even more terrified.