Chapter 1169 Expert Team
Night market in Guanshan District, frontline inspection checkpoint
This place was originally a major traffic intersection, but it has now been transformed into a strong defensive stronghold.
Four high-powered searchlights mounted on the temporary towers and armored vehicles, like four giant lightsabers, slowly rotated at a fixed frequency, scanning the surrounding leveled streets, twisted steel frames, and mountains of construction debris.
Wherever the light reaches, there are the cruel marks left by the war.
At the center of the intersection and several key directions, multiple barricades made of thick steel pipes and covered with sharp barbs were set up. They were stained with dark brown, dried blood and bits of flesh, silently telling the story of the fierce battle that had taken place during the day.
Several Type 99A main battle tanks and Type 04A infantry fighting vehicles, like tired steel behemoths, were quietly parked behind bunkers reinforced with sandbags and rubble.
Their armor was covered with bullet holes and scratches, and even more shocking were the large patches of blackened, congealed blood and indescribable viscous tissue, which reflected a greasy sheen under the searchlight, as if they had just escaped from a mountain of corpses and a sea of blood.
Fully armed soldiers, relying on tanks, sandbag fortifications, and the remaining low walls at the intersection, vigilantly held their posts.
They were all wearing sealed gas masks and completely covered in airtight digital jungle camouflage protective suits. Even the hands holding the guns were covered with light green rubber gloves.
The weapon safety was off, and his finger rested lightly on the trigger guard, ready to deal with any threat that might pounce from any corner.
Phew—bang!
Another flare exploded in the sky above an open area not far away, illuminating a patch of ruined residential buildings and briefly dispelling the shadows in the area, while also revealing the soldiers inside the outpost, who looked like local soldiers.
Just then, a relatively brisk engine sound, out of place with the surrounding environment, came from afar.
Under the close escort of four 04A infantry fighting vehicles (two in front and two behind) whose tracks were covered in mud and blood, three specially made white vans with conspicuous red biohazard markings and the words "Central Plains Theater Biological Research Center" slowly drove into the outpost area.
These biological containment vehicles have a unique design, with noticeably thicker walls, high-strength bulletproof glass for the windows, and specially designed puncture-proof tires, creating a stark contrast with the rugged military equipment around them.
Guided by soldiers at the checkpoint, the convoy stopped in a relatively safe area.
As soon as the vehicle came to a stop, the rear door of the 04A infantry fighting vehicle in the middle of the convoy opened, and two fully armed guards jumped out. Immediately afterwards, researchers wearing white positive-pressure heavy protective suits followed suit.
Leading the way was Dr. Chen Mingyuan, deputy director of the Central Plains Theater Biological Research Center. He was 51 years old this year and was a renowned authority on virology and bioengineering in China and even the world before the apocalypse.
Following closely behind was a tall, slightly curly-haired, deep-set-eyed foreign scholar, Dr. Erich von Reichstädter, 48 years old, a German biologist specializing in evolutionary biology and anomalous biological behavior.
He was conducting academic exchanges in Chongqing before the apocalypse. After the catastrophe, he was trapped. Due to his outstanding talent, he was recruited by Yu Zhengguo's 77th Legion and served as the chief biological advisor.
After the 77th Army Corps was incorporated into the Central Plains Theater, he naturally entered the Theater Biological Research Center and became one of the core experts.
At this moment, his face was filled with undisguised astonishment and curiosity as he looked around at the scene that resembled a painting of hell.
Several other experts, renowned in the fields of biology and medicine in China, also disembarked afterward. Their expressions mirrored those of Dr. Ehrlich—a mixture of fervent enthusiasm for researching the unknown and an instinctive unease at being in such a perilous situation.
The pungent smell of gunpowder smoke mixed with the stench of decaying corpses filled the air. Although filtered by the positive pressure heavy protective suits, the harsh environment still made several experts who were used to the clean environment of the laboratory frown.
In particular, the faint echoes of gunfire and explosions could be heard in the distance; overhead, flares continued to rise intermittently, casting pale light that was then swallowed by darkness.
The rapid shifts in light and shadow, and the alternating clashes of sound and deathly silence, create an extremely unreal and unsettling atmosphere.
“My God…” Dr. Ehrlich exclaimed in a low voice in accented Chinese. His gaze swept over the charred remains stuck in the tracks of a tank, then looked towards the distant ruins of a building, still burning fiercely after being ignited by a salvo of rockets.
"This...this is the front line? It's even more...impressive than I imagined. Even hell couldn't be more extreme than this!"
As top scholars, especially those engaged in professions highly relevant to the apocalypse, Dr. Chen Mingyuan and Dr. Ehrlich, apart from experiencing a brief period of chaos in the early stages of the apocalypse, have always been well protected by the military.
A clean lab, priority resource allocation, a comfortable living environment, plus spending every day in the lab without seeing the light of day...
It's no exaggeration to say that their fear of the apocalypse has almost completely disappeared, replaced by the exhilarating feeling of having new materials every day and research results as easily as picking up seashells on the beach!
If this project hadn't been impossible to move and required to be done on-site, they might have lived their entire lives in the research 'Eden' built for them by the military!
So when suddenly faced with such a scene, the researchers present all showed great discomfort... If they didn't have a background in biological dissection, some experts might have already vomited.
As the deputy director, Dr. Chen Mingyuan has more access to external information, so he is more composed. He adjusted his glasses and calmly analyzed the situation:
"The destruction is complete, but it is precisely because of this that it is possible for unprecedented 'miracles' to emerge from the ruins... or rather, 'nightmares'."
As he spoke, a thirst for knowledge shone in his eyes, a strong desire to uncover the mysteries of how life mutates under extreme pressure.
At this moment, a captain in charge of the sentry post strode over and saluted.
"Experts, it's not safe here. Please come with us to the temporary 'advance research station' in the rear as soon as possible. It's relatively better equipped there."
His words, and the invisible aura emanating from the surrounding soldiers—exhausted yet disciplined and armed—formed a solid barrier, dispelling some of the chill in the experts' hearts.
Under the protection of such absolute force, even on the verge of hell, they felt a sense of indescribable peace of mind.
This allowed them to focus more attention on the true purpose of their trip—the terrifying creations born from destruction, which they needed to study and understand.
Chen Mingyuan nodded and said to Ehrlich and the other experts, "Let's go, the real 'treasure' is still waiting for us ahead."
His gaze seemed to pierce through the layers of ruins and land on the area that was once known as the "Guanshan District Maternal and Child Health Hospital," which was now under strict isolation.
