#15 - Chapter 15: Revealing the News
"According to the monitoring data, the entire urban area is under martial law. All entrances and exits of the urban area, including highway intersections, have been completely closed. Today alone, a total of 36 zombified virus-infected individuals have been killed. A total of 234 suspected infected individuals are under isolated observation," Xiao Lin reported.
"Okay! What news is there in the media today?" Dongfang Chen continued to ask.
"This morning, multiple departments in the city formed a virus prevention and control team and held a press conference. At the meeting, the public was reminded to strictly implement the temporary control policy prohibiting going out. The Municipal Center for Disease Control and Prevention has collected 20 batches of virus samples so far, and multiple pharmaceutical companies have jointly established a research and development center to conduct research on the samples."
"There is one more thing. A vacant lot on Shuguang Road in the Xicheng Development Zone of Binjiang City began to gather a large number of construction teams and mechanical equipment this morning. Judging from the content of the comprehensive press conference, a Shuguang Hospital should be newly built."
"Is there any way to count the specific number of current infections?" Dongfang Chen frowned.
"I'm sorry, Commander. Without the necessary data, it is impossible to count," Xiao Lin replied.
"Then is there any way to reveal some key information to relevant units without exposing our situation?" Dongfang Chen asked.
"Yes. May I ask, Commander, is there a range limit for the information disclosed? I can send information to relevant functional departments through anonymous and virtual IP methods," Xiao Lin asked.
"Two conditions: First, our specific identity, including any personal and company information, must not be exposed. Second, all virus intelligence should be shared as much as possible, provided that condition one is met," Dongfang Chen thought for a moment and replied.
"However, Commander, if we do this, once the news spreads, I am afraid it will cause panic," Xiao Lin reminded.
"There is no other way. Living is the only thing that matters!" Dongfang Chen replied decisively.
"Yes, Commander," Xiao Lin replied.
"Alas! I hope that after the news is sent out, more people can survive!" Dongfang Chen thought to himself.
......
Virus Prevention and Control Headquarters.
"Is the news reliable?" Mayor Gong asked anxiously after reading the information.
"Not sure. The news was sent anonymously. We have not found out who sent the message," Secretary Liu replied.
"Is there any discrepancy with the information we currently have?" Mayor Gong continued to ask.
"From what we know so far, there is basically no discrepancy," Secretary Liu replied.
"Then it seems really serious! Neurotropic virus…, zombification…, zombies…, blood transmission…, who sent it? Why is it so detailed?" Mayor Gong muttered, frowning.
Then he turned his head and said:
"Secretary Liu, share the news. By the way, emphasize that the news has not been verified and is for reference only."
"Mayor Gong, maybe it's not necessary," Secretary Liu replied.
"Huh? Not necessary? What's not necessary?" Mayor Gong looked at him and asked in confusion.
"Everyone knows now, and it has spread all over the Internet," Secretary Liu replied awkwardly.
"Outrageous! Who is it? Investigate, continue to investigate, and find out the person behind it!" Mayor Gong was so angry that his lungs were about to explode. His eyes, which had not rested all night, had turned red with extreme anger.
"Okay!" Secretary Liu nodded vigorously and turned to walk out.
"Wait! Forget it, let's not investigate for now. The most important task now is to put out the virus as soon as possible," Mayor Gong raised his hand and stopped Secretary Liu.
Immediately afterwards, in order to appease the public's panic, the virus prevention and control team urgently held an online press conference.
It is recommended that people stay at home, close doors and windows, and repeatedly disinfect their homes.
For a time, mosquito coils, toilet water, insecticides, sprays and other disinfection agents on the Internet were all removed from the shelves, and even window screens could not be bought (even if they were bought, they could not be delivered)…
Under the strict control measures of the virus prevention and control team, all the sprinkler trucks and fire trucks in the city, except for basic emergency vehicles, were dispatched to implement full coverage and repeated disinfection in the urban area.
Under strict control measures, the spread of the virus quickly slowed down.
The next day…
The third day…
In the past two days, only 8 zombification cases have occurred in the urban area.
However, due to the long incubation period of the virus and the inability to completely eliminate virus-carrying mosquitoes, it is almost impossible to completely eliminate the virus transmission chain. Xiao Lin estimated that a new round of mutations is expected within a week at most.
......
Emergency Response Department of China.
"Is the news that has been circulating wildly on the Internet these past two days leaked from here?" the director asked.
"No," the secretary replied.
"Then have you found the source of the news?" the director continued to ask.
"The other party's methods are very clever, and the Security Department has not tracked it down," the secretary replied.
"Who could it be? They have more comprehensive information than we do!" the director muttered to himself.
The secretary did not answer.
......
Binjiang City Underground Base.
"It's not good! It's not good!" someone shouted.
Then there was a burst of noise.
"What's going on?" Dongfang Chen heard the sound and hurried over to ask.
"I just saw a very big spider, and it disappeared in the blink of an eye!" A woman gestured with her hands and said loudly.
Dongfang Chen has placed TVs in the public areas of the base's living area. So everyone now has a basic understanding of the situation outside and the characteristics of the virus. Therefore, the woman's reaction was particularly strong when she saw the bug.
"It's okay, it's okay, you're wearing your watch, right?" Dongfang Chen comforted and asked.
"I'm wearing it, I'm wearing it," the woman replied慌忙.
"Okay, it's good that you're wearing it. Brother Zhang, let's go take a look," Dongfang Chen said to Brother Zhang after comforting her.
"Okay!" Brother Zhang agreed readily.
Several people spontaneously followed Dongfang Chen step by step in the direction the woman pointed, and found nothing unusual even after walking to the end. Then a few people turned around and looked for it separately, but couldn't find it either.
Dongfang Chen suddenly thought of something and turned to walk towards the office on the second floor underground.
Sure enough, in the center of Dongfang Chen's office, a metallic, spider-like robot stood quietly. It was only about 3 centimeters in size and was very close to the color of the floor, so it was hard to notice if you didn't look carefully.
Dongfang Chen walked over, squatted down, and observed carefully. The robot did not respond.
"Commander, the Queen Bee robot has successfully arrived at the base," Xiao Lin reported on the screen.
Dongfang Chen stood up and replied:
"Okay, I see it. What's next?"
"Commander, the Queen Bee's operating program has been packaged. May I ask, should it be pushed?" Xiao Lin asked.
"Push it!" Dongfang Chen issued the order.
"Okay!" Xiao Lin replied.
At the same time, the progress of the push was displayed synchronously in the lower right corner of the big screen.
Because the first-generation Queen Bee integrates a satellite communication chip, the space station can directly connect with the Queen Bee.
"Now that the Queen Bee has arrived, can we proceed to the next step?" Dongfang Chen asked.
"Yes, Commander. However, due to the poor craftsmanship of the first-generation Queen Bee, the speed of manufacturing mechanical bee ants will be much slower," Xiao Lin explained.
"How slow?" Dongfang Chen asked.
"It can manufacture 2 miniature mechanical bee ants per hour," Xiao Lin replied.
"That's not bad. That's all we can do for now. Does the Queen Bee need extra energy or raw materials?" Dongfang Chen asked.
"No, Commander. After the program is pushed, the Queen Bee will automatically find energy and materials to manufacture. However, before the supercomputing center is built, only the most basic control tasks can be sent through the space station, and complex instructions cannot be completed," Xiao Lin explained.
"It doesn't matter, just let it roam freely. It won't be of much help in the short term, so just focus on manufacturing bee ants," Dongfang Chen said.
"Okay, Commander," Xiao Lin replied.
Just as Dongfang Chen was about to turn around and leave, the Queen Bee moved, it should have finished pushing the program. It turned around twice in place and ran towards the door.
Seeing this scene, Dongfang Chen said:
"Uh…, by the way, Xiao Lin, give the Queen Bee an instruction to stay away from the crowd!"
"Okay, Commander," Xiao Lin replied.
"Oh, right, also, can you check where Niu Xingwang is now?" Dongfang Chen suddenly remembered that he hadn't heard from Niu Xingwang for the past few days and asked curiously.
"Please wait a moment…" Xiao Lin replied.
"Report, Commander, Niu Xingwang's information has not been found yet," Xiao Lin quickly gave the result.
"I…" Dongfang Chen wanted to curse.
But thinking about it, his phone must have been taken away. Without a phone, it's normal that he can't be found.
Returning to the first-floor living area, everyone was waiting for Dongfang Chen.
"Everyone, don't panic, I have already killed the spider, it's okay," Dongfang Chen lied.
"Good, good, good! It's good that it's dead," Brother Zhang smiled heartily.
"Everyone doesn't need to worry too much. As long as you don't take off your watch, you will basically not be bitten by bugs," Dongfang Chen comforted everyone.
Two more days passed, and the training area, office area, medical area, and isolation area on the second floor underground, and the material area on the third floor underground were basically cleaned up. Except for the elderly and children, everyone was basically not idle, and made a simple division of labor according to their respective expertise and abilities.
