The moment that “Godfather” came out—
Just as Zhu Gaofei stepped off the plane with one foot, he was so startled that he wobbled, head-heavy and feet-light, and fell straight to the ground, rolling forward once before finally getting back up.
By the time he stood, his face was already covered in tears and snot.
“Xing Xing!” Zhu Gaofei ran forward.
“Godfather!” Jiang Xinghuai ran, too.
“Xing Xing!” Zhu Gaofei spread his strong, broad arms.
“Godfather!” Jiang Xinghuai opened his arms as well.
Zhu Gaofei closed his eyes, satisfied, and hugged him tightly. Then his feet left the ground, and he was lifted straight into the air.
He was held up by Jiang Xinghuai.
Jiang Xinghuai swung him around twice, gritted his teeth, and braced himself to swing him again. But halfway through, he lost strength and accidentally dropped him to the ground.
Zhu Gaofei: “…………”
Jiang Xinghuai’s face turned red with embarrassment. He said, “How did you get so fat?”
Over the past month or so, Zhu Gaofei had lost more than ten jin[mfn]about 5 kg[/mfn], yet he crawled up from the ground with tears in his eyes and nodded: “Yeah, I gained over twenty jin[mfn]about 10 kg[/mfn]. No wonder you couldn’t lift me.”
Fu Yan stepped forward, wiping the fine beads of sweat from the tip of Jiang Xinghuai’s nose, and said, “This place isn’t very safe. Let’s move somewhere else.”
“The car’s already been called to come over,” Zhu Gaofei said seriously, then furrowed his brows and asked, “Mr. Fu, didn’t you go to Beijing to meet your friend? Why are you on this plane?”
“We went to Beijing, and we found his friend,” Jiang Xinghuai frowned. “But…”
“Fei Ge!” A male voice rang out.
Everyone turned toward the sound. Several vans were speeding in their direction.
“The car’s here. Everyone get in first,” Zhu Gaofei called, helping people down from the vehicles to carry the wounded. Then, taking advantage of the others handling the injured, he leaned toward Jiang Xinghuai’s ear and asked quietly, “Did you find your dad?”
“He was knocked out when the plane landed. He hasn’t woken up yet,” Jiang Xinghuai said, casually pointing to the back of the group.
Jiang Liangyuan lay unconscious with his eyes tightly shut. A woman held a boy by his side. When she saw Zhu Gaofei looking over, she gave a soft greeting.
Zhu Gaofei nodded without speaking, then lifted Jiang Xinghuai into the car: “From now on, you’re my son.”
“No.” Jiang Xinghuai chuckled, then leaned toward Fu Yan, who was tending to someone’s wounds in the car, “My new dad is busy saving lives over here.”
Zhu Gaofei: “…………”
Fu Yan patted his head and gave a helpless smile.
Once everyone was in the vehicle, the rear doors slammed shut, and the car started moving forward.
“Hello, I’m Kang Cheng.” Kang Cheng extended his hand toward Zhu Gaofei. “Former member of Team 13, Special Forces of the General Military District, now Captain of the Special Rescue Fourth Squadron.”
“Hello, I’m Zhu Gaofei.” Zhu Gaofei straightened his posture and returned the gesture with a salute. “Former Captain of the First Battalion, Tiger Special Forces, retired ten years ago due to injury.”
Kang Cheng was momentarily taken aback, then quickly returned the salute.
Zhu Gaofei patted his shoulder and asked, “What exactly happened here?”
“Our shelter was suddenly attacked by a large number of mutants. Out of 56,718 people in the entire base, only twenty-seven of us survived,” Kang Cheng said.
Zhu Gaofei was silent for a long moment, then slowly spoke: “Alongside dozens of brothers, I established a small-scale compound next to Mr. Fu’s villa. We recruited volunteers and trained them, carrying out small-scale search-and-rescue operations in this city. Up to today, we have successfully rescued three hundred and twelve people.”
The vehicle fell into silence.
Zhu Gaofei looked around: “So what I want to say is, this sudden virus left us seemingly powerless. Our society has fragmented in just two months. But the people’s mutual care and support will be our greatest strength in resisting. If we unite, if we work together with one heart, we will achieve victory…”
The vehicle arrived at the destination half an hour later.
The villa was completely surrounded by barbed wire and various obstacles. Outside, armed men patrolled, while inside, many tents had been set up. The warm scent of food wafted through the air.
The people who had escaped the crisis clearly exhaled in relief after getting out of the car. This place was safe.
Once Zhu Gaofei had organized everyone, Jiang Xinghuai quickly asked, “How’s Old Geng?”
“Teacher Geng…” Zhu Gaofei hesitated, then sighed, “His condition isn’t good.”
“What’s wrong with him?” Jiang Xinghuai grew anxious.
“After you left with Mr. Fu, we followed Mr. Fu’s instructions to give him daily glucose to maintain his vital signs,” Zhu Gaofei said as he led them into the villa. “But just within this past week, the black lines around Teacher Geng’s wounds have begun to spread, and they’ve reached his body. None of us understands this. The only doctor looked at him and simply said Teacher Geng’s condition is deteriorating.”
“Yes. The virus keeps mutating. Temporary doses can’t suppress this self-evolving virus. He could transform into an infected at any moment or die immediately,” Zheng Yi said.
“I have antibodies in my body, don’t I? Old Geng should be okay, right?” Jiang Xinghuai whispered, seeking reassurance.
Fu Yan paused and didn’t respond.
“What’s wrong?” Jiang Xinghuai suddenly felt a pang of anxiety in his heart.
“Without experimental data and time, the chances of success are very low,” Zheng Yi replied quietly from the side.
Jiang Xinghuai: “But—”
“What antibodies? What antibodies!” Zhu Gaofei turned in surprise.
Fu Yan stopped them both: “We’ll explain upstairs.”
As the group went upstairs, Zhu Gaofei grabbed Jiang Xinghuai: “What’s happening with you—”
Bang!
A room door at the far end of the corridor was suddenly thrown open.
“Da Chun,” Zhu Gaofei’s brow twitched sharply. “What’s wrong?”
“Fei Ge.” Da Chun’s face was grim. He tried to suppress his voice. “Teacher Geng… he’s not going to make it.”
Jiang Xinghuai immediately surged past everyone and ran into the room at the very end of the corridor.
By the time the others reacted and followed, they saw Jiang Xinghuai standing frozen outside the glass enclosure, motionless.
Inside the glass enclosure, Geng Manhong, tied to the bed, opened his completely clouded eyes that had lost all consciousness, wildly struggling against the restraints binding him.
Zheng Yi glanced at him and immediately said, “Prepare for a blood draw.”
“At this stage, he’s almost fully turning into an infected. Will injecting antibodies even work?” Kang Cheng asked.
“This virus is a new type—a highly infectious strain that mutates rapidly. I participated in this experiment. In its early stages, this strain was originally intended solely for therapeutic research. In the later experimental phase, they changed the research direction, which led to a loss of control. The virus has an incubation period. During the incubation period, there are no symptoms. Once the incubation period passes, the virus mutates within the human body,” Zheng Yi explained quickly and simply while turning to select the tools needed for the blood draw. “And in some infected individuals, after being consumed, secondary mutations occur. That’s the type called the Skeleton, the so-called secondary infected. Academician Qian refers to them as mutants. Those are the real monsters. Their ability to transmit the virus can be reduced to just a dozen seconds.”
“Real monsters?” Kang Cheng frowned, catching the key point. “What exactly does that mean?”
“On the way to Beijing, I observed a first-level infected. They instinctively react to things like seeking shelter from the rain, some unconscious, survival-based responses. Academician Qian also ran experiments and reached the same conclusion. Although it hadn’t been completed or been successful before the military district was destroyed, samples already existed. Academician Qian hypothesized that once a vaccine is developed, first-level infected, within three to five days of infection, if they don’t have large-scale injuries or fatal wounds, they might have the possibility of regaining consciousness after vaccination,” Fu Yan added.
“You’re saying they’re still human?” Kang Cheng’s eyes widened.
“In theory, yes. But that’s only a hypothesis. No one can prove it yet,” Fu Yan said calmly as he took out a syringe. He looked around the room at everyone present. “From the moment they lose consciousness and begin attacking others as virus carriers, they are no longer themselves. I want you all to understand this.”
Kang Cheng sank into his seat heavily.
“Clench your fist.” Fu Yan lightly tapped the veins in Jiang Xinghuai’s arm, then tied on a tourniquet.
Jiang Xinghuai tilted his head, watching the figure inside the glass struggle and emit low growls, his heart plummeting with every movement.
Teacher Geng had been his homeroom teacher since the first year of high school, staying with him all the way through to senior year.
He wasn’t an obedient student. He could even be called a “bad” student. Fighting, skipping class, and ranking last on exams. No one liked him. Not his family, not his classmates, and even the teachers gradually stopped noticing him.
Only Old Geng, again and again, tirelessly told him: don’t give up, don’t avoid, don’t fall apart.
Bright red blood slid through the transparent tubing into the thick syringe.
Fu Yan watched the tube, then looked up at Jiang Xinghuai’s pale face.
“Xing Xing,” Fu Yan called softly.
“Mm?” Jiang Xinghuai lifted his head.
Fu Yan leaned closer and gently kissed the corner of his lips.
Jiang Xinghuai froze for a moment.
“You’ve grown a beard,” he said.
“It pricked your face,” Fu Yan smiled.
“Like being kissed by a sea urchin,” Jiang Xinghuai murmured softly.
“……” Fu Yan withdrew the syringe and handed the blood sample to Zheng Yi.
Teacher Geng’s condition was critical. He could go into shock and die at any moment. So, over the next ten minutes, Zheng Yi and Fu Yan repeatedly verified in the shortest time possible, finally obtaining a single syringe of pale red “antibodies”.
The liquid in the syringe was slowly pushed in. The violently struggling Teacher Geng gradually calmed down.
But it lasted only half a minute. In the next instant, Teacher Geng’s eyes flew wide open, and his mouth and nose began gasping forcefully.
“Ah…”
Then the body on the hospital bed began to thrash violently. His chest heaved excessively, and in an instant, his neck and face swelled into a blue-red hue.
Fu Yan lunged forward, pressing down on his chest, shouting urgently, “Breathe! Keep breathing!”
Jiang Xinghuai clenched his fists, his face pale beyond belief. His thin white T-shirt was soaked through with cold sweat.
Zheng Yi rushed over and checked Teacher Geng’s pupils: “…It’s not looking good.”
No sooner had Zheng Yi spoken than the struggling Teacher Geng suddenly stopped all movement, including breathing, as if someone had pressed a pause button. His entire body froze abruptly, holding the exact pose he had been in just a second before.
Everyone in the room stiffened simultaneously.
Until Zheng Yi placed his hands over Teacher Geng’s wide-open eyes.
“What are you doing?” At that moment, Jiang Xinghuai couldn’t even hear his own voice. He stepped forward two paces, his throat feeling as if it were clogged with sand. After a long moment, he finally managed to speak again: “What does this mean?”
“Failed…” Zheng Yi frowned.
Fu Yan took a deep breath, his hands trembling from exhaustion as he slowly closed them. He looked at Jiang Xinghuai, whose expression had turned blank and dazed in an instant, frowned, and spoke with difficulty, “Xing Xing—”
“No… that’s not possible…” Jiang Xinghuai shook his head, cutting him off. He pushed at Teacher Geng’s arm, which had grown so thin, and called out, “Old Geng… Old Geng… wake up… Old Geng…”
“We need to handle this immediately. The virus mutates fast. Its transmission method still isn’t fully confirmed.” Zheng Yi gestured to the people outside the glass door, then gently laid a white cloth over Teacher Geng’s head.
“Get away!” Jiang Xinghuai shoved him aside and slapped his hand hard against Teacher Geng’s chest. “Old Geng! Old Geng! You damn fatty! Wake up!”
“Xing Xing!” Fu Yan wrapped his arms around his waist, trying to pull him back.
“You damn fatty, get up, damn it!” Jiang Xinghuai struggled wildly, kicking the edge of the metal bed, shouting in fury and grief, “Didn’t you say you’d see me through the college entrance exam? Get up! I swear I’ll score zero in every subject! I’ll say it’s all because you taught me! You—”
Before Jiang Xinghuai could even finish his threat, Geng Manhong’s body on the bed gave a violent twitch.
Teacher Geng exhaled deeply.
He woke up in shock.
Check my carrd.co for more.
