Extreme germ phobia

Chapter 205 A worthy death
Ouyang loosened his fingers and looked up in surprise.

The wind and snow were fierce, and the light was dim. Apart from a blurry black shadow, nothing could be seen.

He immediately raised his rifle, and through the scope he could clearly see not only the rifle, but also the tall figure charging at the forefront, which was none other than Andrew!

The mycelium covering Andrew's body was frozen brittle and hard by the low temperature, and it broke off easily with the slightest movement, and no one knew where it was blown away by the cold wind.

Ouyang's thoughts were slightly disordered when he suddenly realized that the special infected people, led by Andrew, had been out of sight for quite some time.

No one knows when they will get out, when they will be hiding in the snowdrifts, or how they managed to survive in such cold weather.

Led by Andrew, a group of special infected individuals swarmed forward and launched a suicide attack without regard for the consequences.

The already tense guards immediately opened fire. Bullets pierced Andrew and the others, but not much blood flowed out.

Their bodies were almost completely eroded by fungi, and there was no more blood to flow.

Andrew was like a war god from mythology, smashing into a guard with bullet holes all over his body, fighting desperately with his fingernails, his teeth, and everything he could.

They are as tenacious as an unkillable cockroach.

The flashing gunfire, like the strobe lights in a dance hall, illuminated the constantly shifting figures of the special infected, their posture changing with each flash.

Zhu Yiming's eyes nearly popped out of their sockets: "That's too intense!"

Jiang Yuwei's eyes were filled with grief and indignation: "Their bodies have been constantly eroded by fungi, and their flesh is covered with hyphae. They are no longer in a normal physiological state. Even if they are pierced by bullets, they will not suffer fatal injuries such as massive bleeding... But the hyphae only delay the onset of the injury. They look brave, but in reality, they are overdrawing their lives!"

Zhu Yiming had originally wanted to say a few words, but after hearing what she said, he immediately swallowed back what he was about to say.

Regardless of his identity or stance, he must give these specially infected individuals sufficient respect.

Ou Yang said in a low voice, "They didn't have much time to begin with, so what difference does it make whether they overdraw their time or not?"

Through the scope, the tearful Caroline appeared to be insane, lunging at a guard and clinging to him tightly with her arms and legs.

But her strength was too weak to restrain her opponent.

The rifle was too long and inconvenient, so the guard immediately drew his pistol and pressed it against Caroline's body to empty the magazine.

The little girl had several bloody holes blown open on her back and her spine shattered by bullets, but she refused to let go. In her last moments, she used all her strength to gouge out the guard's eyes, her slender fingers piercing into his eye sockets.

The guard covered his bleeding eye socket, screamed, and collapsed to the ground, twitching a few times before falling still.

Caroline remained entangled with the guard, and too, fell silent.

A cold wind blew by, and a thin layer of snow covered her body, as if it were a final farewell.

Caroline is not an isolated case. In the pursuit of revenge, all the special infected individuals are fearless of death. Although they are unarmed, they risk everything and cause considerable casualties to the guards.

Compared to them, the Revenge Society is a bunch of cowardly and incompetent fools!

More people leaned out of the windows, staring in astonishment at the breathtaking scene.

Although the infected were brave, their courage to die was not enough to overcome the equipment gap. The guards quickly regrouped, regained their footing, and used their superior equipment to shoot down the infected.

A sharp glint suddenly flashed in Ou Yang's eyes, and with a gunshot, he swiftly and decisively killed a guard.

The sound of gunfire was an order. Old Mi, who had a gun in his hand, suddenly realized what was happening and immediately joined the firing. More than a dozen guards fell to the ground.

Ouyang contributed at least one-third of the kills and more than half of the casualties.

The situation quickly turned around.

We are all victims of the black market for organs, and we empathize with the tragic experiences of Andrew and others. We share the same plight and a common hatred of the enemy, so how can we not lend a hand?
In the chaos, the doctor struggled to shovel through the snow, crawling into the cabin on all fours, frantically pounding on the cockpit: "Take off, take off now!"

Outside the aircraft, the guards protecting the doctor as he exited the cabin were entangled with the intelligent zombies, but the doctor selectively ignored them.

As the person in charge of the entire base, the doctor naturally knew what was locked in the basement of the warehouse, but he never expected that these damned things would not only escape, but also have the audacity to attack him!
As the name suggests, a "wise corpse" is a corpse with intelligence!
Initially, New Eden only offered transplant services. During one surgery, a doctor had a brilliant idea: he asked the doctors to transplant the diseased lungs of an infected person into the body of an immune person whose lungs had been removed.

He was eager to know what the consequences of doing so would be.

If the immune system can kill the fungi in the diseased lungs, you can wait until the diseased lungs recover before switching back!

This is not a pointless exercise. After all, a transplanted lung belongs to someone else. Not only does it require genetic matching, but it also necessitates lifelong medication, making it far less effective than one's own.

If given the chance to switch back, no one would refuse.

You pay once when you get a lung transplant, and again when you get it back. You also have to pay once when the diseased lung becomes a healthy lung.

If this research is successful, the revenue from lung transplants could triple, making it an extremely profitable venture.

Note that it's at least three times!
The doctor had high hopes for the experiment, but the diseased lungs implanted in the immunized individuals not only failed to recover, but the lesions continued to grow and eventually eroded the entire body.

Disappointed, the doctor discovered that immune individuals could also be infected with fungi, and that the disease progressed much more slowly in immune individuals than in ordinary people.

The doctor suddenly realized that the course of disease after a fungal infection varies among ordinary people. If human resistance to Pneumocystis pneumonia is divided into ten levels, with level one having the fastest disease progression and level ten being immune to spores, then what exactly is the difference between level nine and level ten? Is it just a matter of taking the final step to enter the ranks of the immune?

Is there a way to stimulate the immunity of the ninth class and make them immune?
Would eight gears work? Would seven gears be feasible? Is six gears even possible?
If we can't find a way to defeat Pneumocystis jirovecii, it's good to let some people be invincible for now!
Realizing this, the doctor was extremely excited and immediately threw himself into the research, working day and night.

The result, of course, was nothing.

Pneumocystis pneumonia is rampant in the Americas, and research institutions around the world are studying how to deal with it. If it were that easy to find a solution, why would tens of thousands of researchers be working day and night?
However, while one problem may be solved, another arises. Further research revealed that immune individuals who received transplants of diseased lungs showed minimal impact on their intelligence once they entered adulthood.

Even if their bodies are riddled with holes by the mycelium and they are only one step away from death, it is no exception.

Therefore, the doctor named it "intelligent corpse," meaning a corpse that has preserved intelligence, a condition he called the "intelligent corpse phenomenon."

The doctor was convinced that he was the first person to discover the phenomenon of intelligent zombies, but because the process violated human ethics, the research results could not be published.

To this end, the doctor designed several experiments, intending to create intelligent zombies through normal means in order to publish his findings.

Experiments have shown that even if an immune person inhales the hyphae into their lungs, they will not be infected with phantom lung bacteria; only when a diseased lung is transplanted will the phenomenon of "phantom lung infection" occur.

Although the doctor was unwilling, he had no choice but to give up on the idea.

Research on intelligent zombies did not stop despite the setbacks.

If it were an ordinary person, their first reaction would probably be to eliminate all the intelligent zombies, destroy all the research data, and never reveal this secret until their death.

But researchers have wildly different minds. The PhD student was eager to know whether the phenomenon of intelligent zombies was an isolated case or a widespread phenomenon, and even more so, he wanted to know why intelligent zombies retained their intelligence. As we all know, immune individuals only make up one-tenth of the total population. In the face of disease, regardless of poverty or wealth, everyone is on the same starting line.

If we can figure out the reason for the emergence of intelligent zombies, could we create a new treatment that allows incurable infected individuals to retain their normal thinking after entering the growth stage?

From the perspective of all humanity, the doctor's idea is outrageous and the effect is certainly not as good as a lung transplant. However, for a small group of wealthy and powerful people who are infected with fungi, it may be a lifeline.

Without the ability to think, what's the difference between being alive and being dead?
Even if we take a step back and assume that this research can uncover the secrets of Pneumocystis jirovecii infection in humans, or even serve as a starting point to find a way to treat this stubborn disease, what if it does?

Many great discoveries in the history of scientific research were accidental and serendipitous.

For example, penicillin.

Fleming could do it, so why couldn't Lorraine?
So, while pushing forward the group's lung transplant business, the doctor also conducted secret research, for which he did not hesitate to create hundreds of intelligent zombies.

The group also gave full support to his research, and no fewer than a thousand immune individuals died directly or indirectly at the hands of the doctor.

How many people could imagine that Dr. Lorraine, who appears so respectable on the surface, is actually a blood-soaked executioner with his hands stained with the blood of immune patients?

The doctor discovered that the physical condition of immune individuals differed, and the effects of transplanting diseased lungs varied. Some individuals were no different from ordinary people, but the disease progressed rapidly, and they lost their intelligence after entering the growth period, making them completely worthless for research.

It accounts for approximately 15% of the total.

The remaining 85% of cases progress at varying rates, but fortunately, they all retain their intelligence until the fungal growth stage, when some individuals experience an impact on their intelligence as the fungal hyphae grow into their brains.

It accounts for approximately 37% of the total.

The last 48% retain their intelligence until death.

They were the focus of the research. In order to get the desired results, the doctor used both humane and inhumane methods on them. Many of them could not bear the torture and died tragically on the experimental table.

The doctor has done everything he could, but the research on the intelligent zombies has yielded no results, and he can't find the reason at all.

The intelligent zombies locked in Warehouse 4 have all been studied by the Doctor, so the hatred between them runs deep.

The doctor was well aware of what he had done. He was cold-blooded and ruthless when facing the intelligent zombies fixed on the experimental table, but when faced with the freed intelligent zombies, he felt only fear and dread, wishing he could hide at the bottom of the Pacific Ocean immediately.

Upon receiving the doctor's instructions, Brick didn't even consider the safety of the other guards and immediately took off in the helicopter, the spinning rotors kicking up large swaths of snow.

Several intelligent zombies that tried to approach were covered in snow. By the time they wiped the snow off their faces, the plane had already closed its doors and was slowly taking off.

As the plane lifted off the ground, the doctor breathed a sigh of relief. All his fear vanished, replaced by a sense of relief at surviving a close call. He began to plan how to deflect responsibility and restart the research once he returned to the company.

The guards, still battling the intelligent zombies, were nearly driven mad, all silently cursing the doctor's female relatives... In their desperate fight against the intelligent zombies, they didn't even have time to utter a curse.

The helicopter climbed higher and higher, and it looked like it was about to leave.

Inside bay number 4, Ou Yang took a deep breath, aimed at the helicopter, pulled the trigger, and fired a precise long burst.

All seven bullets hit their mark, with at least three hitting the pilot's seat. Whether the pilot was prone or lying down, at least one bullet had to hit!
Before the smoke had cleared, the helicopter, which had been ascending steadily, suddenly veered to the right and began to descend instead of ascend.

Zhu Yiming patted Ou Yang's shoulder hard, his joy overflowing: "Well done, well done!"

There must be a very important person on the plane. How could we let the culprit get away?

Inside the tilted cabin, the doctor slammed against the bulkhead, clutching his seat in terror and letting out meaningless screams.

The helicopter continued to tilt, and the sharply angled propellers kept approaching the ground. Several guards and zombies who couldn't dodge in time were hit by the blades and were instantly turned into mincemeat by the spinning propellers, as if they had been stuffed into a meat grinder.

In an instant, blood and flesh flew everywhere, broken bones and shattered internal organs flew all over the sky, and the snow was covered with spots of blood, like blooming plum blossoms in the cold.

Whether it was the guards on the field or the immune patients in Warehouse 4, everyone who witnessed this scene was stunned by the horrific sight.

Ou Yang considered himself quite knowledgeable, having come into close contact with at least a thousand or eight hundred corpses, but he had never heard of such a way of dying.

It's like inhaling a jet engine, that's about it, right?
On the field, the remaining guards were all stunned and abandoned the intelligent zombies, running away as fast as they could.

The intelligent zombies simultaneously lunged at the guards, clinging to their targets and refusing to let go.

The propeller drew closer, and the guard let out a horrified roar, but the mottled face of the intelligent corpse only showed a relieved smile.

The propeller swept into the snow, kicking up a large cloud of snow, which then swept over the intelligent zombies who were unwilling to escape, as well as the guards who wanted to escape but could not.

After slicing through more than a dozen people, the propeller tip touched the ground, the blades broke in half, and the flying fragments pierced through several more guards.

Ouyang suddenly heard a series of snapping sounds, which startled him so much that he shrank back.

That was the sound of propeller fragments hitting the cabin walls!
With a muffled thud, the helicopter crashed to the ground, the engine stopped running, and only the propeller at the wing root spun twice more before stopping.

The cabin was deformed and the glass was shattered.

The plane probably didn't fall high enough, so it didn't explode.

Seven or eight intelligent zombies immediately abandoned their opponents and rushed forward. The guard, who had narrowly escaped death, scrambled away and fled the scene as quickly as possible.

But they didn't get very far before they were shot dead one by one by the gunmen in Warehouse 4.

The intelligent zombie crawled into the deformed cockpit, dragged out the critically injured and dying doctor, and desperately pulled and tore him to pieces on the spot, ending his evil life.

Andrew stood on the crashed helicopter, clutching a piece of meat that he had torn off from somewhere. He stuffed it into his mouth and bit down hard, tearing and chewing it repeatedly. He laughed maniacally after each chew, and blood flowed from the corner of his mouth, making him look like a bloodthirsty demon crawling out of the depths of hell.

But what did he do wrong? He was just an ordinary immune person!
The doctor and the New Eden behind him are truly heinous and deserve to die!

The other intelligent zombies were also biting into the doctor's flesh, some howling and shouting, others wailing and lamenting, each venting their pent-up frustration in their own way.

Many people witnessed this scene, and some with soft hearts couldn't bear to watch, feeling that it was too much.

But Ouyang and the vast majority of immune people felt no sympathy for the doctor's plight, only a sense of satisfaction at having gotten revenge.

Every wrong has its perpetrator, and every debt its debtor; retribution may be delayed, but it will come soon enough!
"Good riddance!" an old American said angrily. "All those people in the organ black market deserve to die!"

Some people suspected that the zombies had completely lost their minds, but they immediately saw Andrew, who was covered in bullet holes, bend over and break down in tears.

There were no tears, yet the sorrow was utterly genuine.

At this moment, Andrew was exhausted and his cries grew fainter and fainter until he fell silent. His mangled body, riddled with bullet holes, knelt in the wind and snow, gradually being covered by ice and snow.

(End of this chapter)