Extreme germ phobia

Chapter 293 Apostles
Upon hearing this, Ou Yang was stunned: "You recognize this thing?"

This was the first time he had ever heard the name "phantomin," but as the name suggests, he immediately knew that it was a hallucinogenic substance extracted from spores.

Lu Wei nodded: "This is a new type of hallucinogenic substance that has recently emerged. Because of its strong hallucinogenic effect and few side effects, it has become widely popular as soon as it appeared, occupying at least half of the hallucinogen market in the United States!"

"That's so exaggerated?" Ou Yang couldn't help but be a little surprised.

The United States is the world's largest consumer of leafy greens. What does it mean to have half of that market share?
“It’s not entirely due to the phagocytic fungus itself,” Lu Wei explained casually. “The pandemic is severe in South America, and Mexico is an even bigger disaster area. The shipment of traditional hallucinogens has decreased significantly, and the phagocytic fungus is filling the market gap.”

Ou Yang was utterly incredulous: "How can Lao Mi be so careless? Even at a time like this, he's still smoking opium?"

Lu Wei asked in surprise, "Do you have some misunderstanding about Lao Mi? There are no good people among drug addicts. What does the epidemic have to do with them? They only care about how to get some drugs and take a few more leaves."

Ou Yang thought about it and realized that normal people would at most hide in the wilderness to avoid the epidemic, but poisonous insects don't think normally, so why would they care about so much?

If they knew that the spores had hallucinogenic effects, those poisonous insects might flock to the epidemic area in droves, just to inhale more spores and enjoy a moment of euphoria.

Does it matter whether you get infected or not?
As the two men were speaking, the medic pulled a deformed magazine from the magazine pouch of the 27mm magazine, and everyone else's expression changed simultaneously.

"Is 27 alright?" Lu Wei asked.

"He's alright." The medic quickly checked him over. "He was shot twice, but the bulletproof vest blocked both shots. He has a cut on his leg, but it's not a big problem. However, he inhaled too much hallucinogen, so he definitely can't participate in the operation."

"Then send him back. What about the wounded upstairs?"

Then everyone remembered the injured person on the third floor. The two team members quickly went upstairs and carried the injured person down in no time.

"How is the situation?" Lu Wei asked with a stern face.

"The bleeding has stopped, but the injury is quite serious and surgery is needed as soon as possible!" the medic replied crisply.

Lu Wei immediately called for a drone to secure the two wounded soldiers beneath it, but he was worried about letting them return alone.

He considered having Ouyang escort the wounded back, but considering the role Ouyang had played, he changed his mind and assigned another team member to escort them instead.

The drone took off and flew away with the wounded.

The five people who remained still had a lot of things to solve.

Luo Han and another team member carefully inspected the off-road vehicle and, in addition to the enemy's corpses, found the remains of the last of their own personnel in the trunk.

Lu Wei contacted the warship to report the situation: "Everyone has been found, only one person survived with serious injuries, four enemies were killed, and a can of hallucinogen was captured... Yes, it's very likely someone from the Apostles... We must immediately alert the other directions... How is Group One doing..."

Ou Yang felt increasingly uneasy listening to this, but not wanting to disturb Lu Wei, he rolled his eyes and moved closer to Luo Han: "Brother, can I ask you something?"

Luohan quickly replied, "Go on!"

The military is a place where the strong are respected. Although Ouyang is not a real soldier, his performance just now has won over the other team members.

Ouyang asked curiously, "What are apostles? Are they a religion?"

The last time he encountered this word was in an animated film.

"Oh, this!" Luo Han said somewhat awkwardly, "I'm not quite sure either."

“The Apostles are an extremist organization composed of immune individuals.” Lu Wei finished the call at that moment and immediately took over the conversation. “This organization was established in the epidemic area. They believe that their immunity to pneumococcus is a gift from God. They believe that humanity has fallen to an incurable state. They think that the epidemic is a natural disaster sent by God to cleanse the world of sins. Only the chosen ones... that is, the immune individuals, have the right to survive. Everyone else should be purified by the epidemic!”

Ou Yang suddenly felt that he had heard of this organization somewhere before.

Lu Wei continued: "According to the intelligence we have, the Apostles were originally just a mutual aid organization formed by immune personnel to fight against various dangers. However, now, this organization has become one that prioritizes the immune and opposes all research and treatment of pneumococcus. To date, at least twenty research institutions have been destroyed by this organization."

"So inhumane?" Ouyang was a little confused. "Then what did they mean by attacking the office? Because we provided the purification equipment?"

The Apostles are an organization that champions immunity above all else, while New Eden is a scourge to the immune and a tool to treat the upper class... Neither of these organizations are good people, and their fundamental interests are extremely opposed. If they ever clash, there will definitely be a good show to watch!

No, the real show has already begun!

The USSR split, with the old USSR's upper echelons splitting in two, and the New Eden and the Apostles causing trouble everywhere.

This is only what we already know. There are certainly many other extremist organizations that we don't know about. Inside and outside the epidemic area, there are countless small and medium-sized organizations and temporary teams that have been formed for self-protection or other purposes. Perhaps one of them will develop into an extremist force that will give everyone a headache in the near future.

“It’s not that simple.” Lu Wei’s gaze fell on the SUV. “I guess these people were waiting here on purpose, planning to release the hallucinogen when we arrived.”

"Let us kill each other?" Ouyang immediately thought of the outcome, but then felt that doing so didn't seem particularly special.

Is the other party simply destroying things for the sake of destruction?
"It's not that simple." Lu Wei shook his head. "Fighting among ourselves is nothing. What if we get trapped in the illusion and attack the nearby old Americans, and the apostles record it and spread it around? What do you think would happen?"

Ou Yang's eyes twitched, as if a bucket of ice water had been poured over his head.

He wasn't an analysis expert, but he knew what situation his own people were in the US. Despite the fact that the US was lacking in this and that and heavily reliant on various products from Japan, the vast majority of Americans still held a superior attitude, thinking they were the best in the world and looking down on everyone else.

He appears humble on the surface, but actually looks down on everyone.

If one's own people launch an attack on the US, regardless of whether they are under the influence of hallucinogens or the attack is a misrepresentation or a tsunami of edited footage, it will inevitably trigger a massive media frenzy among the US.

No matter how they defend themselves or what tone they use, it will be difficult to clear their name, and their strategic deployment in the US may be greatly affected.

By then, our side will have lost a huge amount of rice in the market, and the Rice Palace will have lost a high-quality and continuous supply of materials. The already serious situation may very well slide into a complete loss of control.

And what about the apostles?

Our relationship with the US has soured; purification equipment is scarce; more areas have fallen; more people are infected; more people are becoming immune…

On the one hand, it absorbs immune individuals to enhance its own strength; on the other hand, it undermines international cooperation and isolates the Yonex Palace.

Even if the Americas fall completely, it doesn't matter. Their ultimate goal is to overturn everything that exists and reshape a new world with only the immune.

Ou Yang became more and more horrified as he thought about it. This was no longer just a simple extremist organization; it was practically a world-destroying demonic cult!

wrong!

Ou Yang suddenly snapped to attention: "Old Ya, quickly notify the other teams! We absolutely cannot make a mistake!"

He meant to call him Lao Lu, but realized he shouldn't. He didn't have time to change his mind, so he ended up calling him Lao Ya instead.

But at this point, nobody cared about that.

Lu Wei remained quite calm: "We've already been notified from above, and we're currently looking into the situation in other areas."

Upon hearing this, everyone breathed a sigh of relief. Ou Yang then looked outside the courtyard: "If the Apostles wanted to take photos secretly, where would they hide? Would they lie in ambush nearby?"

He was burning with rage, wanting to drag out the hidden enemies and kill them one by one.

Well, although 27 was trapped in an illusion, he was fighting against the enemies in the illusion from beginning to end. Even if he was filmed, it would not have any adverse effects.

Lu Wei glanced at the time: "We have more important things to do, we don't have time to catch mice!"

The words had barely left his mouth when he received a communication from the warship: "This is the second team... um... um... understood. Provide support to Dina Street as quickly as possible!"

As they were talking, the drone had already landed beside them.

Lu Wei hung up the line, gestured to Luo Han and the others, and then pointed to the building.

The team members immediately rushed over and used the miniature landmines and grenades they carried to set up several makeshift traps and block the doors and windows.

Before leaving, they left a warning in Chinese.

Then, the group covered each other and took off one by one. They only set off together after everyone had gathered in the air.

On a building in the distance, various cameras and lenses were hidden behind floor-to-ceiling windows, all pointing in one direction.

The leader, Old Mi, had a tadpole-like symbol tattooed on his forehead and watched the drone fly away with a stern face.

Behind a table to the side sat a young man with his head wrapped in a floral headscarf. He asked resentfully, "Boss, can I take down all these Easterners?"

Tadpole Pattern shook his head: "Remember, our goal is not to kill a few Easterners, but to enrage them, to thoroughly enrage them, do you understand?"

The woman in the floral headscarf reluctantly agreed and fell silent.

The tadpole pattern turned to the other side, where a young man wearing glasses was guarding several laptops.

Did you capture anything useful?

The bespectacled man shrugged and shook his head: "Not many are usable."

"Whether it's useful or not, keep it. You never know when you might need it." Tadpole Pattern turned his gaze in another direction, his eyes seemingly piercing through the wall.

By this time, the drone formation had already flown over two city blocks.

As usual, Lu Wei assigned tasks: "Attention everyone, we have already contacted the other offices. The situation on Dina Street is the most serious. We have been ordered to rush there to provide support as quickly as possible!"

After saying that, he passed on the information he had just received to everyone.

The image was projected again onto Ouyang's glasses: a large group of Americans were surrounding a building, and countless bullets were being fired at them like a deluge.

Everyone was stunned.

"What's going on?" Ou Yang asked in surprise.

He couldn't understand why, even if his office had a conflict with the Americans, it shouldn't have attracted so many Americans to attack him.

Lu Wei responded: "According to reliable sources, some people are spreading false information among Americans, saying that the explosion in the city was caused by us."

Wow, that works too!

It's obvious without asking that the uninformed Americans took the rumors as fact, and with the apostles or some other organization stirring things up, a group of furious Americans, filled with righteous indignation, surrounded their own office with their treasured weapons.

At this moment, he really wanted to grab an old American and ask him, "Don't you all lack brains?"
However, Ouyang also knew very well that this situation was not purely a momentary impulse, but the result of the continuous accumulation of contradictions.

Unfortunately, there was already considerable conflict between our side and the US before the pandemic, and it only increased after the outbreak. Even under the premise of global solidarity in fighting the pandemic, many Americans still harbor hostile attitudes.

The rumors were just the last straw that broke the camel's back.

"These are all American civilians? How do we solve this problem?"

Lu Wei continued: "Our mission is to cover the evacuation of our trapped personnel. Anyone who dares to fire at our people is our enemy, regardless of their identity, and will be treated as an armed rioter!"

“What if someone takes a picture of it?” Ou Yang asked.

Having experienced so much, he showed no mercy to either rioters or those infected.

Those infected can at least say they were acting against their will, but rioters are simply evil.

But if the news of our side fighting against Old Mi gets out, wouldn't that be fulfilling the apostle's wish?

"Take photos and post updates, prioritize the safety of your own people!" After saying that, Lu Wei added, "This is what the higher-ups want."

Hearing this, Ouyang felt relieved.

As they drew closer, the gunfire ahead grew increasingly intense. Ouyang was astonished to discover that, two streets away from their target, a large group of Americans carrying weapons were already heading towards the office below.

The team did not fly directly to the office, but instead headed to a rooftop more than 200 meters away.

It is the highest point among all the nearby buildings, offering a commanding view of the office buildings.

A group of American soldiers, about thirty or so, had gathered on the rooftop. Some were carrying sniper rifles, others were holding hunting rifles, and some even had several Barrett rifles.

The sudden appearance of the five-man group stunned everyone. Some of the Americans wanted to ask where these guys dressed like futuristic warriors came from, while others realized that the newcomers were up to no good and immediately turned their guns towards them.

While still suspended in mid-air, Ou Yang couldn't wait to land. He suddenly unbuckled his seatbelt and landed heavily on the rooftop, along with his equipment.

The Americans around were even more stunned. Jumping from such a height? Could he really be a futuristic warrior?

Ouyang stood up, raised his gun without hesitation, and fired, killing the enemies at his feet one by one.

Some of the older Americans tried to retaliate, but were either knocked down by Ouyang or hit by bullets from above.

In just over ten seconds, all thirty-odd old men collapsed to the ground.

From the moment they opened fire on the office, these Americans were no longer civilians, but outright enemies.

Lu Wei ordered Luo Han to land and occupy the rooftop with Ou Yang, while the others immediately moved to another high point.

One high ground has a limited area of ​​control; two or three must be occupied to gain full control of the battlefield.

(End of this chapter)