It’s a strange invasion, is it okay for me to fight back?

Chapter 599 Patching

The sudden murder cast a shadow over the Second Inpatient Department, affecting everyone to varying degrees.

Ling Feiran was very bothered by the hostility she sensed, but in her subsequent work, she never felt that way again. The patients were still the same patients, weak and pitiful. Whenever she appeared in the ward, the patients' eyes always showed dependence and trust, without any aggression.

Could she really be hallucinating? ...That's not impossible; death may have shocked her, causing problems with her emotions and cognition.

Ling Feiran was full of doubts and couldn't come to a conclusion, so she wanted to consult someone.

She planned to talk to Wang Xunmei and Lin Pengpeng about it after get off work, since she had only held the cards for a short time and might have overlooked something.

During the lunch break, Pei Xianjue, the highest-ranking official in charge of the isolation ward, personally inspected the work of the second inpatient department. Ling Feiran glanced at him from afar and felt that he looked much younger than he did on TV.

Pei Xianjue and the Minister of Medical Affairs met with the head nurse of the inpatient department.

This is the third volunteer death in the quarantine area. The first was due to infection caused by falsely claiming to possess a card, the second was due to sudden death caused by pregnancy, and the third is today, when a volunteer committed suicide by jumping off a building.

Although there are different reasons for each, the frequent occurrence of murders inevitably raises questions about Pei Xianjue's management abilities, which is a major headache for her.

"All three of them had incidents in the second inpatient ward," Pei Xianjue said with a headache. "It's too much of a coincidence."

"To be precise, only the last two volunteers had their issues in the second inpatient ward. The first volunteer, because they didn't have a badge, quickly developed infection symptoms after arriving at the isolation area, which is why they were transferred to the second inpatient ward," the medical director said.

Pei Xianjue sighed and rubbed his forehead. "The public won't scrutinize these things. Once the accident report is released, someone will definitely notice this coincidence and make a big deal out of it."

The Minister of Health suggested: "If news of a volunteer's suicide gets out, it will indeed have a huge negative impact on public opinion. So, should we consider publicizing it as an accidental fall? If our volunteer accidentally fell while trying to help refugees, this would not only give the public an explanation, but also benefit the deceased's reputation."

The head nurse frowned, as if she wanted to say something, but opened her mouth and then hesitated before closing it again, remaining silent.

Pei Xianjue remained silent.

In her position, she is often surrounded by two types of people—

One type of person looks down on her and often disobeys her orders in name only, which she finds disgusting; another type of person looks up to her and even more so to the Pei family behind her, accepting all her orders regardless of whether they are right or wrong, and flattering her to the point of obsequiousness, which she also finds disgusting.

“There’s no need to cover up the cause of death. Complicating things and making it seem like a conspiracy will only invite criticism sooner or later.” Pei Xianjue glanced at the Minister of Medical Affairs indifferently. “Don’t assume that I like to do everything just because I had someone write articles for the sea monster. I just like to add icing on the cake, not to fabricate things out of thin air.”

The Minister of Health, unfazed by being exposed, nodded and said, "The incident report will be released this afternoon. Later, we will arrange an online psychological assessment for all volunteers in the Second Inpatient Department to provide timely psychological intervention and play a preventative role. In addition, the head nurse must be more careful when scheduling shifts and, in principle, avoid situations where volunteers are left out."

The head nurse frowned and replied, "We've always worked in pairs here, but we've recently received a large number of infected people, and we're severely understaffed. We can't guarantee that no one will be left alone."

The Minister of Health said, "I understand the difficulties, but we must do our best to overcome them. I will coordinate a group of staff from the First Inpatient Department to come and provide support. However, we expect to receive about 300 more infected people next week, so the task remains arduous. Please prepare in advance to ensure that similar incidents do not happen again."

She paused briefly, looked at Pei Xianjue, and asked considerately, "Do you think there's anything I can add?" Pei Xianjue said, "Seal off the rooftop, install fall protection nets on the corridors of the third and sixth floors, and also install them at the volunteers' apartments."

She knew that doing so was a bit like locking the barn door after the horse had bolted, but she had to take some action to avoid being seen as indifferent.

After the first person died, she increased security measures to prevent ordinary humans from sneaking in.

When the second person died, she added medical examination items and excluded volunteers who were pregnant.

If a third person dies, she needs to install fall protection nets and arrange psychological evaluations...

Pei Xianjue felt like she was constantly patching up the quarantine zone, but no matter how many patches she applied, she could never finish, and unexpected situations would always arise.

"Please, please, let the Iron Curtain project proceed smoothly!" she prayed in her heart.

In the evening, the painted-skin ghost that Pei Xianjue had found for Feng Ling arrived at the quarantine area.

To maintain secrecy, Pei Xianjue personally received the other party and, after completing the deception of Huangfu Miaomiao, sent her onto the private plane bound for Risa.

That evening, Bao Changzhi came to discuss with Pei Xianjue, bringing with him the psychological evaluation results for the volunteers sent by the medical department.

This matter is not Baozi's responsibility, and there was no need to bother Pei Xianjue, but out of caution, Baozi felt that he should still ask Pei Xianjue's opinion.

“One volunteer said during her psychological evaluation that she sensed hostility and resentment at the scene. She wanted to know if it was possible that the deceased was hypnotized or under mental control, which is why she ended her life in such an extreme way,” Baozi said. “My card abilities are mental, so the medical department sent me the report and asked for my opinion. Do you think I should go to the second inpatient department for further investigation?”

Pei Xianjue pondered for a moment, “Since we started building the quarantine zone, we have closed the bridge and strictly controlled the number of refugees entering the country. This has indeed caused many refugees to harbor resentment towards us. It is normal for some patients in the hospital ward to have hostile feelings. It may not necessarily be related to the suicide incident, but it is good to investigate. At least it can alleviate the anxiety of the volunteers.”

She looked up and asked Baozi, "If you go to investigate, how long will it take? There have been several batches of goods coming in and out of the warehouse recently, and I don't want it to affect your job. We need to do everything we can to ensure the progress of the Iron Curtain Project."

“Actually, it won’t take long,” Baozi frowned slightly, “but the investigation might not yield results, because emotions are constantly changing, and even if we find someone who harbors hatred towards the volunteers, we can’t prove that they used mind control or similar methods. Ultimately, we have no evidence, unless…”

“Unless what?” Pei Xianjue asked.

Baozi thought for a moment, "Unless we find an administrator or a card holder with the ability to spy, we can find out whether there is someone in the second ward who is using mind control to make others commit suicide."

Pei Xianjue immediately shook her head, "The Bureau of Supervision did recently take in an administrator, but that talking parrot is now the Bureau's prized possession, and it's impossible for us to borrow it."

Huangfu Miaomiao was watching cartoons inside when she heard this and raised her hand, saying, "Me? I can do it!"

(End of this chapter)