The red moon returns

Chapter 412 Autopsy (Two chapters in one)

It's just a chance to take advantage of the situation, it's not even a lie.

The bodies that were dug out were put to use, but the citizens who were tricked by the housekeeper into defending their ancestors were in trouble.

When I was in elementary school, I was often tricked into doing voluntary labor. Lin Qi was very familiar with this routine. Now that you are here, if the leader asks you to do some work beyond the arrangements, can you still refuse?

This of course also includes easy and simple tasks such as moving corpses.

Not a problem at all.

So, someone quickly ran to the guard at the west gate to borrow a cart and a pile of hay, and then sadly carried several rotten corpses onto the cart, roughly covered them with hay, and then pushed the cart to the fortress camp in the north while vomiting.

The fragrance spread far and wide along the way, attracting the attention of passers-by. They were all seriously discussing whether these people had surrendered to the zombies and were preparing lunch for them.

The privilege was indeed pleasant. Lynch and his three companions didn't have to do any of the dirty work. They didn't even have to follow the car to smell the fragrance. They just had to follow behind and watch from a distance.

Butler Rocky did not follow. He was still loyally guarding the cemetery with the remaining five or six strong servants. He did not shrink back because of the decrease in the number of people. Instead, he patrolled more seriously.

This made Lin Qi and the others couldn't help but sigh softly when they left. Perhaps he really didn't know what he was doing for his master, but this made it even more sad.

Everyone has their own life. There's no need to worry about the plot NPCs, otherwise Officer Natalie will give her a lecture again. Now she's already worried about him getting too close to Dr. Swen. If he starts worrying about others, he'll probably be pinned to the ground and beaten up by this girl again. Hiss, why are you suddenly glaring at me? Girl, can you read minds?

After being glared at by the sharp eyes, Lynch dared not to have any random thoughts and followed obediently. On the way, he met Knight Terry who came with his troops to inquire.

As expected, nothing was found outside the south gate. After a thorough investigation, they simply closed the city gate temporarily on the grounds of unknown danger. Knight Terry, who was originally dejected, suddenly heard a citizen running to report that a group of zombies rushed into the city with spare food, spitting acid water on the roadside as they walked. They must be marking their territory.

So they rushed over in a hurry with a few soldiers, and then the civilian laborers who were vomiting as they walked were replaced by soldier laborers who were vomiting as they walked. Everyone looked at the Lord Knight who was hiding at the back and pretending to understand the situation with Dr. Sven, their eyes were full of resentment. They didn't know why the brave Lord Knight was talking all the way behind when something could be explained in a few words, but they didn't dare to ask and could only resign themselves to carrying the corpse.

After returning to the military camp, they did not go into the closed dungeon again, otherwise no one would be able to enter for several years. Instead, they simply dragged the corpse to the patio training ground in the center of the fortress and sealed off the surroundings to prevent the soldiers from peeking.

The six bodies of travelers plus Kemit's body, a total of seven, as well as... Leonard who was theoretically still alive and the four guards of the south gate.

Yes, zombies also need to be dissected. To be precise, zombies are more valuable.

Soon, the zombies bound by chains were dragged to the training ground. Although their mouths were gagged, the five infected people continued to make suppressed roars.

The stench, the corpses, the hideous faces, the crazy roars, for a moment the training ground seemed like an R-rated horror movie was being played out.

'The time now is morning...about ten o'clock, weather, sunny, inspectors: Stephen Swain, Diana de Valente, observers: Natalie Angell, Lynch Leviev, Judy She doesn't say.'

Lynch imitated the habit of the forensic autopsy in his previous life and recorded it quickly in his notebook.

The six participants all wore thick clothes, without exposing any skin. The two chief inspectors in particular wore bird-beak masks provided by Miss Diana, with purified drugs stuffed in the beaks to minimize the risk of infection.

Preparation is about to begin.

Doctor Swain was the lead surgeon, assisted by Miss Diana. They started with the rotting corpse, chopping open the chest and abdomen with the axe. An increasingly strong stench instantly filled the open air venue.

But everyone present was a man of strong will. They relied on purifying drugs to endure the physical discomfort and stared at the autopsy scene intently.

"hiss……"

As the sharp blade cut open the abdominal cavity, several people gasped subconsciously. Even Dr. Swen stopped his hand, raised his head and looked at each other in confusion.

"The first corpse is a male. The appearance is moderately decayed. The fatal wound is a puncture in the neck. After cutting open the chest and abdomen, it can be seen that the heart and lungs have stopped functioning. The organs are slightly decayed. The stomach..." Miss Diana originally suppressed her emotions and gave a simple and emotionless description according to Lynch's instructions. But the shock in her voice could no longer be concealed. She reluctantly continued, "The stomach and intestines are moving slowly, and there are no signs of decay."

"No wonder they like to tear flesh." Officer Natalie wiped the sweat from her palms and said softly, "If they can enter a hungry state after death and be dominated by their appetite instinct, then their behavior is not surprising."

"I'll continue." Dr. Swen's expression could not be seen behind the bird-beak mask, but her voice was a little dry. "Looking at this, there's not much hope."

As she spoke, she tried to keep her hands steady as she cut open the corpse's stomach.

The stomach was so empty as if I had been hungry for half a month, there was no stomach content at all.

"Damn it, is he alive or dead?"

Knight Terry spoke a language Lynch couldn't understand, and he had begun to doubt his life.

There were mysterious creatures like resurrected corpses in this world, so although the dead moving was dangerous, it was not enough to scare a professional soldier like him. But the resurrected zombies were just bodies that stood up again under the influence of mysterious forces, and their bodies were still dead in essence. It was very rare for the digestive tract to remain active like this one.

"Where's the brain?" Lynch frowned and asked, "Cut it open and take a look."

“This is not easy to cut.”

Dr. Swain muttered to himself, but his movements were frighteningly skillful, and he soon cracked open the corpse's skull.

"The brain has lost its vitality and is moderately decayed. There is no abnormality in color." Miss Diana continued to describe, "Other examination results are normal and consistent with the actual time of death."

"Next one."

"Wait a moment."

Seeing Terry about to push another rotten corpse over for dissection, Lynch stopped him, thought for a moment, and pushed a South Gate guard in front of the doctor himself.

"Those are probably failed works. If the stomach had been moving for such a long time, the contents would have been consumed long ago. There's no need to rush to dissect them. These are successful works. And the onset of the disease has only been about ten hours. Perhaps we can find something."

"Are you sure?" Looking at the infected person who was fixed but still struggling and roaring, even Dr. Swain couldn't bear it anymore. After all, the psychological pressure of vivisection was not something that everyone could bear.

"Let me do it." Lynch sighed, "This is my suggestion. I have the obligation to get blood on my hands."

However, Dr. Swain pushed him aside, and Miss Diana pushed him further away. The two doctors glared at him and picked up their tools to attack the living person.

"Roar!"

The crazy infected person was still roaring, and the chains rattled as he struggled. Even though his chest and abdomen were exposed, he was still full of strength.

Looking at the contents of the chest and abdomen, the six people present fell silent.

Most of the infected's organs have stopped functioning, taking on an ominous dark brown color, especially the respiratory and circulatory systems.

The heart stopped beating completely, and the lungs only tried to expand when roaring. The rest of the time they were deflated like a deflated balloon.

Theoretically, this is a dead person, except that he is still alive and kicking.

"The blood has already coagulated, but the muscle tissue is still active and has great explosive power. The activity of the digestive organs is far beyond that of normal organisms. Eight hours have passed since the onset of the disease, and the contents have been completely digested. The organs themselves are also slowly dissolving. Hiss, they have to gnaw and swallow things, otherwise they will digest themselves as well."

Miss Diana's voice was dry and hoarse due to shock, but no one paid attention to it. Everyone was deeply shocked by this half-dead disease.

"Where's the brain?" Lynch felt his breathing become a little rapid, and his blood vessels were boiling.

At this moment, this group of people are no different from the evil villains in the movies of the previous life, and are even crazier than those villains. But now there is no need to worry about it. Everything that is discovered now may be a guarantee for leaving the strange object alive.

What's more crucial is that the plague in the real world outside is likely to be of the same origin as the one here, or even exactly the same. In other words, the more you learn here, the fewer detours you will take in the future, and the more people will survive in the real world.

Lynch is not a saint and has no interest in speculating whether the people in the memory world are human beings or have human rights. In order to protect the real people outside, he would rather be a crazy researcher.

What's more, these people are theoretically dead, and their necrotic organs cannot be rejuvenated. They are equivalent to using dead people for experiments, which does not violate ethics.

Trying hard to find various reasons to convince himself, Lynch kept his eyes fixed on Dr. Swen's actions, watching her pin the victim to the table like a professor, and skillfully knock open the victim's skull to reveal the brain inside.

"There are no signs of damage to the brain, no blood flow, and the color is grayish white. Slight tremors can be seen in the brain, which can be used as evidence of activity." Miss Diana continued to narrate responsibly, "Wait, Ms. Swain, you are..."

Doctor Swen had already raised his knife and was about to stab it: "I remember that I successfully killed an infected person by smashing his brain yesterday. Now that I opened his skull, he is still alive."

The beak mask on Miss Diana's face was trembling a little. She was obviously very upset, but she nodded in the end:
"Now it's a lethal test. The subject's internal organs are removed one by one. The heart, lungs, liver, spleen, stomach... the digestive system has been removed, but the subject remains alive. The last test is on the brain. Exposure to the outside world will not affect its activity, but once it is damaged..."

The narration stopped abruptly, and after a pause, he sighed softly: "Once the integrity of the brain is destroyed, all signs of life of the infected person will disappear immediately, including the organs connected to the body that were originally active, which will also lose their vitality at the same time."

Lynch lowered his head and took notes quickly. He didn't have time to look up, nor did he dare to look up. Just listening to the reporter made him tremble with fear. It was one thing in the movie, but it was unbelievable that there was a thing in front of him that had most of its internal organs cut off and was still roaring with full energy. This was completely beyond the scope of what could be explained by physiological knowledge. I'm afraid only the mysterious second round of power could support such a weird performance.

It was not until Miss Diana stopped narrating that Lynch wrote down the final result in his notebook:

'At 11:27 am, the second subject lost vital signs and was confirmed dead.'

"It seems that our attempt today has failed." Doctor Swen stepped back and sighed deeply. "This is the latest person to fall ill without external injuries. If we can't even find anything in their stomachs, I think it will be useless even if we dissect the other bodies. What a pity."

This sentence made everyone present look unhappy. In fact, everyone thought so in their hearts, but they still felt unwilling when they really said it out loud.

Officer Natalie bit her lip and said, "But at least we have solved some questions and proved some conjectures. Those travelers who died before were definitely the victims used by the culprit for the experiment, and those wounds were just a means to cover up their purpose. Now that the experiment is complete, we have these real living dead. There is only one way to deal with them, which is to destroy the brain. Otherwise, even if the head is chopped off and the body loses its activity, the head will still be aggressive."

As he spoke, he pointed to Leonard, whose cervical vertebrae were damaged by Miss Diana, but whose head remained active.

“So today’s work wasn’t in vain, although in the end we still couldn’t determine whether the source was what we ate.”

"In fact, we still have a trump card that we haven't revealed yet. It might be the trump card." Lin Qi finally stopped writing, looked up from recording, squinted his eyes and said thoughtfully, "We haven't lost yet. It's too early to be sure that we can't find the source."

Ok?
In an instant, five pairs of expectant gazes focused on him one after another.

"Ten hours is not the shortest time for the onset of disease in our sample. We have another sample in which the onset of disease to confirmed death should not exceed one hour."

As he spoke, Lynch looked at Kemit's body.

Everyone's eyes lit up.

Yes, although this man has wounds all over his body, he, like Leonard, is one of the first successful plague samples, primary rather than infected.

"When I treated him the night before yesterday, he still had blood flow and all his vital signs were normal, which means he hadn't fallen ill yet. So he actually fell ill in the early hours of yesterday morning, and then he was killed. Yes, he survived for more than an hour at most. You are right, Lynch."

While Dr. Swain was muttering, he had already picked up the knife stained with blood and mucus. The petite Miss Diana couldn't even wait for Lynch and Terry to push the body, and rushed to push Kemit's body to the center of the patio.

The two doctors looked at each other, nodded vigorously, and dropped the knives in their hands.

For a moment, the other four were so nervous that they forgot to breathe, as if they were in a life-and-death gamble, and the last card was revealed.

The abdominal cavity opened, and then the two doctors burst into shrill screams at the same time.

There is a half-full stomach in the abdominal cavity, but in everyone's eyes, it is not a stomach, but the hope of discovering the truth.

(End of this chapter)