Extreme germ phobia

Chapter 384 Comfort
The operation continued into the afternoon, and with the help of drones, more than seventy people were rescued, a number exceeding the number of sailors on the Tongshan.

This makes the situation a bit complicated.

The frigate was small in tonnage and had few compartments, so there wasn't enough suitable space to house the rescued personnel, which gave Zhu Ting a major headache.

Note that it's not that there's no space, but rather that there's no suitable space!

The Tongshan is, after all, a warship. It's not a problem to temporarily house the rescued personnel on the warship, but the location must be carefully considered. It's not something that can be done by simply finding any cabin.

The most important thing is to stay away from sensitive spaces, such as the command center or ammunition depot, so outsiders definitely cannot be assigned there.

After careful selection, they not only made room for all the sailors' cabins, but also cleared out the hangar to temporarily house the rescued personnel.

A group of people boarded the ship one after another. At the hatches leading to the ship's interior and flight deck, sailors wearing full protective gear stood guard with guns, their vigilant eyes constantly scanning the group.

At first, no one said anything, but soon an old man, at least sixty years old, became unhappy: "Hey, hey, what's going on here? What do you take us for? Do we need to have people guarding us?"

The sailors on the sentry post said nothing and remained standing in place, dutifully performing their duties.

Some others remained silent, some were indifferent, and others watched coldly.

Upon hearing this, the military doctor who had been temporarily assigned to maintain order in the hangar came over and said, "Hello, can you tell me what you need?"

The old man glanced at the name on the officer's chest: "He Yu, right?" He pointed at the sentry with his neck stiff, "This, and this, what does this mean?"

He Yu patiently explained, "It's like this, we have very limited information and don't know the specific situation on the cruise ship. There may be hostile personnel among the rescued people, but there are no professional personnel on board and no conditions for on-site identification, so we can only temporarily gather everyone together for management..."

"Don't give me that nonsense!" the old man interrupted rudely. "We're not prisoners, why are you pointing guns at us?"

Ouyang, who happened to be passing by, heard these words and was immediately furious.

It's one thing for him to cause trouble himself, but he also drags others into it, making it seem like everyone is dissatisfied.

Without saying a word, he took off his shirt and handed it to Luohan, intending to go up and argue with the old man.

Lu Wei grabbed him: "What are you doing?"

"What are you doing? Can't you guess what's going on?" Ou Yang sneered. "How did we end up rescuing such a thing!"

"Don't be impulsive." Lu Wei held Ou Yang tightly, preventing him from getting involved.

Just then, a handsome young man in his early twenties stepped out from the crowd: "Wait a minute, sir, that's not right of you. You can bring up whatever you're dissatisfied with or don't like, but just do it in your own name. Don't use 'we' or 'us' tactics. I'm not on your side!"

"Exactly, it's no big deal. It's just part of our job. Why are you nitpicking? If it weren't for Xiao Tongsheng, you'd still be stuck on the cruise ship. How could you be spouting nonsense here?"

"You're right. You've only just come out and you already think you're someone special, haven't you? Can't you speak properly? Can't you ask questions properly? At least we're sitting here, while they've been standing there in the wind and rain. Don't you feel ashamed?"

Hearing this, Ouyang was less agitated.

The statement that there are still more good people than bad in the world is a bit of an overstatement, but most people have a pretty good sense of right and wrong. After all, people like the old man who go looking for trouble are a minority.

Very few!
"Don't give me that nonsense!" The old man looked at me with an expression that said, "I'm not listening to you, I'm not listening to you. I'm just asking, why are you treating me like a criminal!"

He Yu quickly explained, "Nobody thinks you're a criminal."

The handsome young man immediately objected: "I'm a prisoner, they're all here to watch me, it's none of your business, okay? I've seen unreasonable people before, but I've never seen anyone this unreasonable!"

The old man's eyes widened: "What did you say...?"

He rushed forward while talking, looking like he wanted to fight.

"Enough!" He Yu roared, staring at the old man with a stern face. "We tolerate your unreasonable behavior because we have rules. If you cause trouble again, don't blame me for being impolite!"

"Oh, getting angry now?" The old man feigned innocence. "I'd like to see what you can do to me."

He Yu didn't waste any words: "Guards, take him away!"

Two sailors immediately came over and swiftly subdued the old man.

The old man persisted, "Hey, what do you want? What right do you have to arrest me..."

The old man was full of energy and in good health, but no matter how strong he was, he couldn't break free from the sailors' grasp and was inevitably taken away by them.

The ending was relatively satisfying, and Ouyang's emotions gradually calmed down.

He Yu, however, wasn't so relaxed. He clapped his hands to attract everyone's attention: "Everyone, if you have any questions, you can talk to me. But setting up sentries is for security. As the saying goes, when the nest is overturned, no egg remains unbroken. It's not only to ensure the safety of the warship, but also to ensure everyone's safety..."

"It's okay, I understand."

"Don't worry, we understand."

"..."

Ou Yang couldn't help but sigh: People online always say that bad people get old and so on. This old man is not only bad, but also stupid!

Being bad is just a matter of character, but being stupid is an innate natural disaster that no amount of money can cure.

He really wanted to ask, what kind of confidence allows this person to be so arrogant?
Fortunately, the vast majority of people are intelligent enough not to be infected by the stupidity of a few individuals; otherwise, the world would be completely doomed.

As Ou Yang and the others discussed the little incident that had just occurred, they walked onto the flight deck.

The helicopter had just landed, bringing back the robot dog that had carried out the mission.

Moments later, flames erupted on the cruise ship as drones ignited the corpses piled on the deck.

Not only on the deck, but also inside the cabins, a fire was set off simultaneously in multiple locations until the entire ship was burned through. Thick smoke billowed out from every cabin door and porthole in sight.

The reason for doing this was not to vent anger, but to eliminate all the spores on the ship!

As is well known, Pneumocystis jirovecii cannot survive in seawater, and the cruise ship was located too close to Santoro Island, so it was necessary to dispose of the wreckage as properly as possible to minimize the chance of the spores spreading to the island.

Fortunately, it was a rainy day; otherwise, the spores would have already reached the island, and there would have been no chance to deal with them.

The burning wasn't the end of it. To prevent spores from remaining in any cabins, the Tongshan detonated pre-placed explosives, instantly shattering the cruise ship from the inside. A huge fireball rose into the air, forming a small mushroom cloud.

They then launched several more rounds of fire at the cruise ship until it was completely destroyed. After dealing with the aftermath, the Tongshan turned around and headed back at full speed, but instead of heading to Saint-Va Island, it went straight to Belling Island.

During the journey, the Tongshan carried out necessary sealing of the cabins and hangars where the rescued personnel were housed. Witnessing this, everyone's faces were grim, but no one raised any objections and silently cooperated with the sailors' work.

They were well aware that they were being treated as potential carriers, but after being in contact with a large number of infected people on the cruise ship for so long, even they themselves were unsure whether they had been infected.

Some people couldn't withstand the immense psychological pressure and burst into tears.

At first, it was just a few people sobbing quietly, but tears seem to be contagious, and soon there was a chorus of crying.

Only a few who firmly believed they were immune to Pneumocystis remained unmoved, displaying a rather detached attitude.

He Yu kept reassuring them, repeatedly emphasizing that the isolation was only a necessary preventative measure, explaining that their research on Pneumococcus was very thorough, and that even if spores had been inhaled, as long as timely intervention blocked the infection, the chance of infection could be negligible.

Seeing how confidently he spoke, a middle-aged man asked with some skepticism, "Brother, is everything you're saying true?"

"It's true, it couldn't be more true!" He Yu put on her most sincere expression. "Let me tell you this, it can not only block it, it can even cure it!"

"It can be cured?" The older brother's expression changed drastically. "Who are you trying to fool?"

The gazes of others also turned to skepticism and wariness.

We've all been stuck in America for over a year. We wouldn't say we know everything about Pneumocystis jirovecii, but we're at least very clear about it and its dangers and characteristics.

Despite all the effort and money spent, the old man still hasn't found a cure for pneumopulmonary bacteria.

This person is something else. He just opens his mouth and says he can cure it. If he really could cure it, would he let the epidemic keep spreading?
He Yu wanted to slap herself twice. Why did she have to bring this up for no reason?
"I'm not lying to you, why would I lie to you? But I've also heard that this disease is not only very difficult to treat, but also very expensive. It seems to be related to stem cell transplantation, the same method used to treat leukemia!"

He spoke with such conviction that everyone looked at each other, finding it quite plausible, yet deep down they still harbored some doubts.

He Yu scratched his head in frustration: "Hey, I just heard it from someone else. I don't know the specifics, I just know that such a thing happened."

When everyone heard this, they exclaimed, "Oh, you didn't know that?"

I don't know, but you still dare to spout nonsense? Aren't you just making a fool of us?

The remaining doubts were amplified and regained dominance.

Some people, unwilling to give up, asked: "Is it curable or not? Can you give me a definite answer? It keeps going up and down, and I'm about to have a heart attack."

"It's my fault, it's my fault. I shouldn't have said things I didn't know." He Yu immediately admitted her mistake. "How about this, I'll go and find out right away and give everyone a definite answer, okay?"

"Okay, then hurry up!" The crowd watched He Yu leave with seven parts doubt and three parts expectation.

Then, everyone started discussing it amongst themselves.

Some say it's absolutely impossible, otherwise the pandemic would have ended long ago.

Someone immediately chimed in: "Everyone says it's expensive and troublesome to treat. Do you understand what they mean? It can be treated, but it can't be promoted. Take leukemia for example. One treatment would cost at least 300,000 to 500,000 yuan. 300,000 to 500,000 yuan per person, 30 million to 50 million yuan for a hundred people, and hundreds of millions of people in the entire America. How can we treat that?"

There are fools and clear-headed people; this hit the nail on the head, and everyone immediately started discussing the issue of promotion again.

At this time, He Yu found Zhu Ting, and Zhu Ting then found Lu Wei.

Lu Wei has some understanding of research, but he is not a researcher. He has only listened a little more than He Yu. He can explain it, but whether he can explain it clearly is another matter.

But Lu Wei immediately nudged Ou Yang: "Hey, isn't your little girlfriend Zhou Lao's student? Go and explain things to her."

Ou Yang was speechless: "No, she's the one doing the research, not me. What do you want me to explain?"

In an attempt to shift the blame, Lu Wei ignored him, saying, "Just go when I tell you to, stop with the nonsense!"

Luo Han also felt that Ou Yang definitely understood, at least better than others.

And so, Ouyang was forced into the role of answering everyone's questions and solving their problems in the hangar.

Faced with everyone's questions, Ouyang looked bewildered. Fortunately, although he hadn't participated much in the research, his experience was much richer than that of the average person. He immediately grasped the key points and explained in detail the method of cloning lungs from stem cells and then curing phantom lung disease through transplantation.

This is currently the only medical treatment that can cure phantom lung disease.

As for other treatments, I neither know them well nor can I explain them clearly. Although I know a little about them, I'd rather not mention them.

After calming everyone down, the rest of the trip went very smoothly. By the time they arrived at Belling Island, the rain had stopped and the sunset was painting the sea red.

The Tongshan slowly docked, where a large group of fully equipped medical personnel were already waiting. An inflatable pipe made of plastic film connected the laboratory to the Tongshan, sealing the entire process so that not a single spore would escape.

Once everything was ready, the hatch opened, and everyone left the cabin one by one as instructed, entering the underground research institute along the passageway.

There were guards and medical personnel everywhere along the way, and the sheer number of them made it quite a spectacle. It made people uneasy, giving them a chilling feeling that they were about to be sliced ​​up at any moment.

Even with the military's endorsement, some people still refused to leave the cabin.

However, on the issue of the pandemic, neither the military nor any other department can back down or compromise in the slightest.

After repeatedly emphasizing that active cooperation is one form of treatment and non-cooperation is another, the few rescued individuals who refused to cooperate were unsurprisingly subjected to forced entry and taken into the research institute by guards.

After repeated counts, the number of people boarding and disembarking matched one by one, confirming that no one was left on board, and the transfer operation was finally completed.

Next, the Tongshan was sealed off on site, and the research institute was responsible for thoroughly disinfecting the warship to ensure that no spores remained.

Ouyang also disembarked from the ship in the crowd.

A row of prefabricated houses has been erected on the open space of Belling Island. These were the houses that were discarded after the new city was built, but I didn't expect them to be used here again.

When Ou Yang left the ship, he was fine, but after walking halfway, he suddenly became disoriented and stumbled. He had to grab Lu Wei to keep from falling.

"What's wrong?" Lu Wei asked.

Ou Yang shook his head: "It's nothing, I'm just a little dizzy..."

Before he could finish speaking, the world spun around him, and he involuntarily collapsed. Then everything went black, and he lost consciousness amidst Lu Wei and Luo Han's desperate cries.

(End of this chapter)