Extreme germ phobia

Chapter 283 All the hard work comes with joy
Duan Shuxun dialed the number, but there was no sound on the phone. He looked at the phone in confusion; there wasn't a single bar of signal.

He immediately turned around and waved his phone at Secretary Liu.

Secretary Liu immediately took a satellite phone from the car and handed it to Duan Shuxun.

He dialed the number again, and it was answered after only two rings: "Dongzhou number, please speak!"

"Hello, I am Duan Shuxun!" Deputy Director Duan said solemnly. "Is Ambassador Gao here?"

A voice on the other end whispered, "Yes, but the ambassador hasn't slept for a day and a night. He just lay down. Is it urgent?"

Duan Shuxun hesitated for a moment: "No rush, but it's very important!"

There was a very obvious hesitation on the other end: "Then I'll go take a look..."

"Never mind, where's Vice Envoy Gong? Is he here?"

"Vice Envoy Gong is here!" The other party visibly breathed a sigh of relief. "Wait a moment!"

The call was transferred, and someone answered quickly: "Hello, this is Gong Jing."

Her voice betrayed an undeniable weariness.

"Hello, Vice Minister Gong, I am Duan Shuxun..."

“I know you,” Gong Jing interrupted, “from the Salleton office, right?”

"Yes, you still remember me."

"Of course I remember. You should be heading towards Xiushi Stew, right? Did you run into some trouble?" Gong Jing asked.

How could she not remember that Salleton was the first city in the entire United States to be completely evacuated?
"We've definitely run into trouble. We've encountered a US military unit and engaged in firefight."

Gong Jing's brows furrowed immediately: "US troops? They've even exchanged fire?"

"Yes, I contacted the higher-ups before to inquire about the origins of this US military force. They replied that the US president and the US's second-in-command both denied any connection with this US military force."

"Oh, I remember now." Gong Jing suddenly realized, "You called to say that..."

"We have defeated this American force..." Duan Shuxun explained the situation and then waited for instructions from the Dongzhou.

Gong Jing thought for a moment: "Bring the prisoners back to Xiu Shi Dun, and keep it a secret!"

The two exchanged a few more words before hanging up. Duan Shuxun strode into the car and said, "Let's go. Take the prisoners with you and tell everyone not to talk about anything related to them."

Secretary Liu asked doubtfully, "Director, is it appropriate to take it back like this?"

They clashed with the US military on US territory, captured more than a dozen prisoners, and even wanted to take the prisoners back with them.

Isn't this like protesting too much, blatantly telling everyone who destroyed this US army?
Duan Shuxun sighed: "I just found out too. This is not the first time the US military has lost control. Several US military units that were originally outside the epidemic area or stationed in the quarantine zone have inexplicably run into the epidemic area. The US Congress accused the second-in-command of causing trouble, and the second-in-command said that the US Congress was behind it. But neither side can produce any evidence."

Everyone looked at each other, bewildered. What was all this about?
Ouyang couldn't help but ask, "Didn't both sides say they had nothing to do with this US army?"

"That's what they say, but who knows if it's true or not? Think about it, if you were the president or the second-in-command, and a US military unit under your command suddenly went out of control, would you admit it?"

Ou Yang thought about it and realized that it made perfect sense.

Duan Shuxun continued, "Dongzhou said there's an unconfirmed rumor that these out-of-control US troops have been controlled by an underground force using a new type of drug."

"No way?" Secretary Liu could hardly believe his ears. "Using drugs to control the US military? That's too far-fetched!"

Upon hearing this, the trio all perked up their ears.

Could this so-called underground force be the same group behind New Eden?

Secretary Liu understood: "The higher-ups intend to find a breakthrough through the prisoners?"

Duan Shuxun nodded: "The higher-ups mean we must find out the truth about the US military's loss of control as soon as possible."

He had another question he didn't say: if this new type of drug can control the US military, then what about other people?

At this moment, Ouyang was absolutely certain that this new type of poison was definitely related to spores, and a strange feeling arose in his heart.

When most people hear the word "spore," they think of infection and danger. How could anyone think of using spores? How did they even come up with that idea?

At this moment, Ouyang was unaware that the source of the new drug was in Kamed, and even less aware that it was this very substance that destroyed Kamed.

Otherwise, the old man who went north might not have been able to get any advantage from the local residents, and the series of unexpected events that followed would not have happened.

The convoy passed through the battlefield and continued south.

As darkness fell, everyone's nerves tightened further.

In this situation, the daytime encounters are nothing special, but the nighttime is the real test—such a large convoy, and it's even using the name of the University of Tokyo. In broad daylight, you can recognize the origin of these vehicles from a distance. Unless you're out of your mind, you'll almost certainly avoid conflict.

At night, things are different. There is insufficient light and limited visibility. You can only see a row of car lights, but you can't tell where the vehicles are coming from. The possibility of a conflict is far greater than during the day.

Duan Shuxun wished he could have someone hanging above the convoy, suspended by the sun.

Everyone hoped for a smooth journey, but what you fear most often comes to pass. Not long after it got dark, the drone spotted a pickup truck blocking the road ahead.

The convoy had a contingency plan for this situation and immediately stopped moving forward. Everyone went on alert, and the drone expanded its search area to find the target. Soon, they found a young couple in the bushes by the roadside.

The drone continued its reconnaissance but found no one else.

A drone turned on its lights, illuminating the young couple.

The young man was carrying a gun, but he raised his hands without hesitation, his mouth opening and closing incessantly.

The sound didn't reach the convoy, but judging from his lip movements, it seemed like he was saying "help".

The guards cautiously approached the young man and quickly relayed the message: they were not a couple, but a brother and sister. The sister had suddenly developed a high fever and had to stop passersby to ask for help.

The journey was filled with robberies and fierce battles, so when they encountered someone asking for help, everyone was quite surprised.

Duan Shuxun agreed to provide the necessary assistance. A guard gave the young man half a box of antipyretics, and the young man gratefully moved the pickup truck aside.

As Ouyang passed by the pickup truck, he happened to see the young man feeding his sister fever-reducing medicine. A thought suddenly popped into his mind: He had also had a persistent high fever before. Could this girl be immune?

However, since the other party wasn't one of their own, Ouyang had no intention of causing any unnecessary trouble.

The rest of the journey went much more smoothly than expected. Ouyang insisted on not sleeping, but the roar of the engine was like a lullaby, making his eyelids keep drooping. He didn't know when it happened, but he fell asleep as soon as he closed his eyes.

The next morning, Ouyang opened his eyes to a slight swaying.

Only the driver and the guard on duty remained awake in the car; everyone else was sound asleep, their bodies swaying gently with the movement of the vehicle.

Looking out the window, dawn was just breaking, and the morning star shone brightly in the dark sky. But only a moment later, the sky was already bright, and the remaining starlight disappeared.

Ou Yang quietly watched the scenery rushing past outside the window, naturally emptying his mind, his thoughts as calm as still water, without a ripple.

A moment later, the sun rose, a thin morning mist rose, and a city hidden in the morning mist came into view at the end of the line of sight.

It's blurry and indistinct, I can't see it clearly.

The car suddenly swayed. Zhu Yiming stretched and rubbed his eyes, noticing Ou Yang looking outside. He then came over and asked, "What are you staring at? Why are you so focused?"

Ou Yang pointed to the city in the distance, and Zhu Yiming's sleepiness vanished: "Is this Xiu Shi Dun? Is this Xiu Shi Dun?"

Jiang Yuwei took out her phone, opened the electronic map, and waved it at Zhu Yiming: "That's right, it's Xiushi Stew!"

"My God, this is so delicious!" Zhu Yiming exclaimed excitedly, pressing his face against the car window and greedily gazing at everything outside.

Everyone who witnessed this scene, including Duan Shuxun and his secretary, looked at Zhu Yiming with astonishment: What's wrong with this guy? Has he lost his mind?

Secretary Liu nudged Ou Yang: "Is he alright?"

Ou Yang shook his head: "It's nothing, I was just too excited."

Not only Zhu Yiming, but Jiang Yuwei's face was flushed, she was tightly gripping Ou Yang's arm with one hand, and even her eyes were red.

Ou Yang was equally excited, but unlike Zhu and Jiang, he didn't show it outwardly.

He whispered, “When the pandemic broke out, we were all in Brown Bear City. By some twist of fate, we ended up together. At the end of August, we left Brown Bear City. Our goal at that time was to find a boat and travel south along the Honey Creek River, first to Xin'ao'er Liang, and then to Xiushi Dun…”

At this point, Ou Yang recalled his experiences along the way, remembering Lei Yong, Lao Ma, and Song Lei.

Overwhelmed with emotion, he thought, "Alas, plans never keep up with changes. We went to Snow Bear first, then to White Maple Town, from summer to autumn, then from autumn to spring. We finally made it out of Bear Prefecture, almost losing our lives several times. Today, we've finally... finally arrived..."

Only the three of them know the hardships they have endured along the way. If they had made even one wrong step, they wouldn't have the chance to sit here today.

Secretary Liu wanted to say something, but didn't know how to comfort her.

Duan Shuxun waved his hand at him, signaling him not to speak.

At this point, just give the three of them some time; there's absolutely no need for comforting them.

As expected, it didn't take long for Ou Yang to compose himself and let out a long sigh: "Oh, please excuse me, it's just that this journey has been so difficult."

“I understand. If it were me, I would definitely be even more excited than you,” Duan Shuxun said.

He didn't know exactly what the trio had been through, but they had come all the way from Brown Bear City, so they must have experienced a lot of danger.

Regardless of anything else, just the fact that these three men always had guns with them shows how insecure they were.

“However, Xiushi Stew is not our destination.” Duan Shuxun smiled. “Don’t be too disappointed, there will definitely be another opportunity to come in the future.”

"Who's disappointed!" Zhu Yiming retorted, puzzled. "We came here to find our own people!"

His serious expression amused Duan Shuxun: "Yes, yes, that's right!"

By this time, the convoy had reached the outskirts of the city, and Ouyang could even see heavily armed American soldiers standing on the edge of the city.

But the convoy didn't get any closer; instead, it took a detour south and soon arrived at the port.

Although it was still early, a giant cargo ship was already docked at the pier, with tall cranes constantly going up and down, lifting containers off the ship one by one and stacking them neatly together.

On one side of the dock, a line of large trucks were waiting, loaded with containers and immediately heading towards the city.

The convoy circled the dock and continued forward. As the angle changed, Ouyang was astonished to see two prominent words painted on the ship on the dock: Galaxy!
I go!

Ouyang rubbed his eyes hard. Was this the galaxy he knew?

At that moment, a strange feeling suddenly arose in his heart.

A weak nation has no diplomacy.

More than 30 years ago, the United States fabricated a baseless accusation that the ship was carrying chemical weapons materials, triggering a diplomatic conflict that shocked the world.

Feng Shui turns.

More than 30 years later, the US is relying on the supplies carried by this ship to survive. Even if the ship were loaded with supplies, or even if it were loaded with chemical raw materials, would the US dare to seize the ship?
They should have the guts!

Ou Yang's divergent thinking: Could it be that the higher-ups deliberately sent this ship to embarrass the US?

As the convoy drove further and further away, and the massive silhouette of the cargo ship gradually disappeared from sight, Ou Yang's heart remained unsettled for a long time.

Shortly after bypassing the port, a large area of ​​prefabricated houses came into view.

Duan Shuxun breathed a sigh of relief: "We've arrived!"

The trio immediately craned their necks and kept looking outside.

The prefabricated houses aren't very attractive; they're exactly the same as those used in China. The only difference is that there's a ship anchored on the distant sea, with various pipes extending from the dock all the way to the residential area.

Duan Shuxun explained, "All the prefabricated houses were transported from China."

Ouyang asked curiously, "What's that ship for?"

“That’s our logistics support ship,” Duan Shuxun said. “This place is far from the city, with zero infrastructure, and a lot of our compatriots have moved here. The higher-ups arranged for this ship to come here for two reasons: first, to solve the water and electricity supply problems; and second, because we don’t trust the Americans. If their water supply system has a problem, wouldn’t we suffer as well?”

Ouyang nodded in agreement.

The power supply is secondary; the water supply is a real problem. If it gets contaminated with spores and goes undetected, it could lead to a major disaster!

Soon, the convoy was stopped by guards on the outskirts of the residential area. A group of guards who had been waiting there drove away the vehicle carrying the prisoners.

Ouyang immediately began to imagine the scene of interrogating the prisoners, hoping to get some useful information out of them... If all else fails, he could give the prisoners some spores and, with a little proper guidance, it wouldn't be difficult to get the truth out of them.

Okay, I'll tell Duan Shuxun about this method in a bit!
After taking the prisoners away, everyone else got off the vehicle for inspection.

If they are confirmed not to be infected by spores, they are considered qualified, but they cannot enter the residential area immediately. Instead, they are arranged to go to the outer quarantine area.

If a case of pneumococcal infection is detected, or if an infection is suspected, the individual must be isolated in a separate prefab house far from the camp.

Ouyang soon discovered that there wasn't a single person in sight in either the quarantine area or the residential area; everyone was obediently hiding in their rooms, at most peeking out of their windows to watch the commotion.

Clean, tidy, and orderly—that was his first impression of the place.

(End of this chapter)