Extreme germ phobia

Chapter 392 Light
Having had enough of the darkness in the passageway, Ouyang jumped into the doorway without hesitation and began searching the floor, refusing to believe that such a large space couldn't be filled with anything that could provide light!
After a brief walk around, I found that the ward was full of infected patients who had already been infected by bacteria. It was clear that the infected patients near the elevator door were not isolated cases, and the research subjects here were more deeply infected.

However, the subjects of the study were different, but otherwise there was not much difference; nothing was found that could be used for lighting.

Ou Yang then conducted a detailed search of each ward and found that the infected patients in several wards had a higher degree of bacterial infection, with the mycelium emerging from their bodies covering half of the ward.

However, all the mycelia were completely dehydrated and would break at the slightest touch.

Given the current environment, there are simply no conditions for mycelial growth; the mycelium has most likely already broken through the body before the enclosure.

In the end, only a few bottles of medical alcohol could be linked to combustion.

He tore a piece of cloth, wrapped it around the steel pipe, poured alcohol on it, and lit it to use as a torch. But this thing would definitely not burn for long, so after hesitating for a while, he still didn't pour the alcohol on it.

First, they were unwilling to accept it; second, they couldn't find a spark.

Even if you want to start a fire by rubbing sticks together, you need to have wood first!

There are videos online showing that potassium permanganate combined with glycerin suppositories can spontaneously combust, but he couldn't find either potassium permanganate or glycerin suppositories.

Such a large ward can't even be equipped with the most basic medicines. Thumbs down!

Despite having many methods for starting a fire memorized, Ouyang was extremely frustrated because he couldn't use any of them.

The only feasible solution was to remove the junction box and ignite it with an electric spark, but after much hesitation, we decided to abandon this tempting idea.

Dismantling electrical circuits by hand is too dangerous; he hasn't reached the point where he has to risk his life to survive.

Ouyang was unwilling to give up, so he came up with a compromise: he first took some fabric scraps from the curtains, soaked them in alcohol, and stuffed them into the closed switch. By repeatedly opening and closing the switch, he generated an electric spark, which ignited the fabric scraps.

The idea was good, but this was an underground research institute, and all the switch circuits were made of the highest standard fireproof materials. No matter how hard he tried, the cloth stuffed into the switch wouldn't light.

Ouyang was furious and frustrated, scratching at the wall in frustration, but he just couldn't come up with a solution.

In the end, they could only set off in the dark, feeling rather dejected.

After walking along the corridor for a while, he finally found the next area. After prying open the elevator door, he discovered that this was the research area he had been longing for.

Ou Yang was both surprised and delighted, and couldn't wait to start searching.

The research area is truly unique; each room is a research lab, filled with a large number of instruments, equipment, medicines, and specimens. There's even a dedicated room for specimen preparation, displaying many semi-finished products.

Some of the human tissues even had mycelium growing on them.

However, similar to the previous area, the mycelium here has also dried out and become inactive.

He suddenly had a feeling that the humidity here might not be a coincidence, but rather deliberately kept low to prevent the mycelium from growing disorderly and to reduce spore activity.

It should reduce spore activity... right?

Ouyang had pinned his hopes on the laboratory, hoping to find something useful, but he found nothing there. Instead, he found an alcohol lamp, various heating containers, and half a box of paraffin in the specimen preparation room!

Upon closer inspection, several unfinished human tissues were found encased in solidified paraffin wax.

Making specimens with wax? He only knew about formalin soaking; this was the first time he'd ever heard of wax preservation.

Ouyang didn't care about the specimens at all; what mattered were the tools used to make them!

Ou Yang was overjoyed and immediately began preparations. He first found several large test tubes, but feeling that test tubes were not very reliable, he also got several small beakers.

Next, I found a few boards, tore them into strips, and twisted them into cotton cores.

He still couldn't find a lighter or anything else that could start a fire, but that didn't matter. There were plenty of cooking utensils here. He found an electronic balance, removed a battery, connected the positive and negative terminals with a wire, short-circuited it, and with a flash of sparks, the alcohol lamp was successfully lit.

Heat the container filled with wax blocks until the paraffin melts, then pour the melted wax into a test tube beaker containing a cotton wick. After cooling, it becomes a candle.

Moreover, Ouyang also found some spores for research.

He hadn't originally intended to touch this thing, but while waiting for it to solidify, he got bored and suddenly had a brilliant idea. He got some dried mycelium, mixed it with spores, put it in a container, and poured in melted paraffin while it was still loose. After it solidified, it could not only be ignited, but also had a faint spore smell.

The spores are encased in paraffin, posing no risk of spreading; only a small amount of phagocytic toxin is released.

This stuff is useless to others, but it's different in Ouyang's hands. A whiff of it is refreshing and invigorating, and it might play an unexpected role at some crucial moment.

The research area felt like a treasure trove waiting to be explored, with many places yet to be searched. Ouyang didn't rush to leave but continued searching.

He could find a lot of things in each lab, but very little of them were actually useful. What disappointed him most was that he couldn't find any food!
Ouyang even had the idea of ​​cooking a pot of mushrooms to eat.

With so many laboratories, there must be a lot of researchers conducting experiments. Didn't you prepare some food and drink for them?
It turned out he was overthinking it; this place was purely for research.

That makes sense. Every researcher here has to face the danger of Pneumocystis pneumonia at all times. Even with spore collection devices, they cannot be guaranteed not to get infected. Therefore, it is very necessary to prohibit eating and drinking in the laboratory.

Disappointed, Ouyang left the research area, but this time with test tube candles, he didn't have to face the darkness anymore, and his speed increased significantly, quickly reaching the next area.

The elevator doors had long since fallen off, and even the lights in the corridor were off. Looking around, it was pitch black and you couldn't see anything, as if something had happened.

Shining a candlelight on it, it was still the structure of a ward. There were no infected people in sight, nor were there any corpses or bacterial colonies.

Ou Yang speculated that the infected people in the passage earlier likely came from this area.

He had no interest in getting to the bottom of things, so he continued along the passage. After passing through several wards, a fork in the road appeared on his left.

Ouyang didn't know which way to go, nor was he clear about the complexity of the passage. To avoid getting lost, he immediately carved an arrow marked with the number 1 at the corner.

This indicates that this is the first intersection he has passed.

After a moment's hesitation, Ouyang decided to go straight.

Not long after, we came to a second fork in the road, still on the left.

He couldn't help but feel a little nervous. Could these passages really be as complicated as a maze?

Continue straight ahead, and after the third fork in the road, you'll reach the end of the passage, still on your left!
Ouyang sketched out the three-dimensional structure of the shaft, the horizontal passage, and the three branching paths in his mind, and stepped into the third branching path without hesitation.

He believes that the underground passages may be complex, but they are definitely not a complete mess. There must be some kind of distribution rule. As long as you walk around and look around, you will soon figure out the pattern and find the exit!
(End of this chapter)