RIACMET chapter 224

 

After Cheng Jing woke up, the team and the legion returned to their normal daily operations, and each group completed their tasks on schedule.

By mid-August, the weather entered its hottest phase, just as the weather forecast predicted.

Daytime temperatures approached 70 degrees. Despite the base’s efforts, many people were still dying of heatstroke daily.

The satellite radio broadcast more and more emergency messages daily.

After Cheng Jing and the others left for Guanshan Prison, Nancheng Base sent several rescue teams on missions, bringing back many survivors.

In addition to coordinating his team’s efforts to withstand the heat at the base, Jiang Nian visited the grocery store to discuss supply issues with Li Shuhui.

Their shop was the only one on the street open to the public. Li Shuhui refused to take a break, saying that staying in the shop was no different from staying in the dormitory.

Now, her customers were all people with superpowers, and selling only sugar, salt, and tea earned her quite a bit of money.

People with superpowers are far more resistant to extreme weather than ordinary people, but they also have much higher physical energy needs.

Because of that, products like powdered milk, milk tablets, cheese, high-sugar foods, and energy-replenishing powders had all become popular.

Despite the soaring prices, people still bought them.

Coincidentally, Jiang Nian had stockpiled a lot of these items, so their team had plenty of supplies and didn’t consume any of them.

Besides earning points, the team obtained a lot of supplies by completing the Guanshan Prison mission.

There was a box of powdered milk with individually wrapped portions among them. The expiration date was approaching, so the team refused to drink it. After a group discussion, they agreed to put it on the shelves for sale.

There was a breeding farm at the base. With the development of basic life-support chemicals, such as soil improvers, agriculture would soon be back on track. In less than a year, fresh dairy products, vegetables, and fruits would be available again.

It was best to take advantage of peak prices, leaving some for personal use and storing some as backup. The rest could be sold as needed to earn a profit while helping others.

According to Minister Wang, who was in charge of infrastructure development, the base would continue to expand as the population grew and eventually connect with other base shelters.

A Crystal Core Power Plant was under construction. Once electricity was fully restored, industrial planning would be added to the agenda.

If this trend continued, every base would become a new city by the end of the world.

To revive the economy, the government would open up resources, and whoever had more chips would win.

Buzz buzz buzz——

Buzz buzz buzz——

“Hello, Minister Wang?”

At 9 p.m., while Jiang Nian was patrolling the base with his team, he received an urgent call from his superior.

The situation was urgent, so Minister Wang got straight to the point:

“Jiang Nian, the rescue team has returned. Five people were accidentally infected, and it’s been over five hours now. You need to come to Laboratory Building No. 3 immediately.”

“Understood. I’ll be right there.”

This wasn’t the first time. After hanging up, Jiang Nian exchanged glances with Tang Ji, signaling for him to lead the patrol. Then, Jiang Nian turned around and rode his Black Knight back.

These days, he rode a black motorcycle to and from work every night. The way he coolly parked the bike in front of the guard post made others envious. His uniform even matched his motorcycle.

The distinctive rumble of the engine came to a sudden stop in front of Laboratory Building No. 3. Jiang Nian braked with a slick tail swing, turned off the engine, and dismounted. He stored his helmet and brushed his hair in the side mirror.

His movements were smooth and natural—he had become quite skilled.

Chu Yi was waiting at the entrance of the lab building. He let Jiang Nian in without using the access control and gave him a thumbs-up.

“Looking sharp!”

Jiang Nian shook his hair proudly and asked shamelessly:

“Brother Chu, are you praising the bike or the man?”

“The bike’s nice, but you’re even better.”

Chu Yi answered without hesitation.

Jiang Nian was pleased and patted his shoulder.

“Brother Chu, I love hearing that. I’ll bring you a big bag of snacks later.”

Chu Yi grinned.

“Alright, thanks.”

Food supplies had recently been restocked.

The two of them quickly reached the special observation room on the second floor. Two soldiers with live rounds guarded the door.

The observation room, about the size of a standard ward, had already been cleared.

The surveillance had been turned off, and all unnecessary equipment and items had been removed. Now, only five beds remained, each holding a soldier who looked like an infected corpse.

They didn’t have superpowers or wear specialized collars. They were simply strapped down and gagged on the beds.

The soldiers were still conscious, but their hunger for flesh and blood had surfaced. Their eyes were gradually turning feral and cloudy.

There were no experimental researchers present, only Minister Wang, who looked grave, and his guards.

The extreme heat made Minister Wang, who had no superpowers, appear extremely fatigued. Thankfully, the guards and medical staff around him took good care of him.

After Jiang Nian entered, Minister Wang nodded at him and Chu Yi.

“Jiang Nian, I’ll leave this to you. It’s the same as before—Chu Yi will assist.”

After reiterating safety reminders several times, Minister Wang left with his guards.

Chu Yi checked the soldiers’ restraints to ensure they were tight and secure. Jiang Nian didn’t waste time. He pressed his palm to the wall, and in an instant, a wave of purification power swept through the observation room.

According to the current infection speed of ordinary zombie viruses,

1 to 6 hours was considered early stage, 6 to 15 hours was mid stage, and anything beyond 15 hours was late stage—at which point a person could lose their sanity at any moment.

Today, all five soldiers were in the early stage. Since soldiers generally have strong mental willpower, it wasn’t too difficult for Jiang Nian to purify them all at once.

“Ugh—”

The man strapped to the bed, now wrapped in purification energy, began to struggle in pain. A dull growl came from his throat; his expression was twisted, and he was drenched in cold sweat.

Jiang Nian was very experienced in purifying and saving lives. Situations like this were considered “routine.”

If he saw them in obvious pain, he would pause, chat with them, and then continue. They were all still salvageable, so there was no need to panic.

An hour later, Chu Yi and Jiang Nian walked out of the observation room.

Chu Yi transferred the unconscious patients to the experimental ICU, where they would rest until they woke up and had their blood drawn to develop a detox serum.

Jiang Nian went to find Gao Xuyang’s room, intending to purify him. Instead, he found Yang Kai, who had just finished his shift, squatting on the ground with his head lowered and knocking on the door. It looked like he’d been there for a while.

“Teacher Gao, I was wrong. Please let me in…”

“I’ll explain everything to you later…”

“Xuyang, I really know I messed up…”