Extreme germ phobia

Chapter 188 Exchange of Messages
Christina's life ended in the snow-covered wilderness, and the wriggling mycelium quickly froze in the cold wind.

People's joys and sorrows are not shared. If they knew her experience, the three of them would have some sympathy. However, all the past and unbearable things disappeared with her passing, like a speck of dust, silently annihilated in the long river of history.

Not even a wave was left behind.

In contrast, Ou Yang was more interested in the silk she spit out. He picked up a branch and tapped it twice, but there was no movement at all.

I sniffed closer, but still couldn't smell any spores.

Zhu Yiming looked disgusted: "What are you doing? Are you a pervert?"

What's so good about the stuff a dead person vomits?

"Get lost, you know nothing, what are you yelling about?" Ou Yang's face darkened and he felt his empty pockets. "Do either of you have anything suitable for this?"

"No!" Zhu Yiming shook his head.

Jiang Yuwei thought about it and shook her head as well.

Ou Yang was scratching his head. After thinking about it, he decided to use a branch to penetrate the mycelium ball, pick it up and walk back.

"What are you doing? You can't take this thing back!" Zhu Yiming quickly stopped him.

Although he was not afraid of infection, he felt a chill in his heart when he thought about what this thing was.

Zhu Yiming had little contact with mycelium and had a natural psychological resistance to it.

Ou Yang said calmly, "I've never seen mycelium in this form before. Take it back and study it."

Unlike Zhu Yiming, he has come into contact with all forms of phantom lung fungus, whether it is mycelium, spores or mushrooms, and has long been desensitized to it.

"Research?" Zhu Yiming seemed to have heard a huge joke. "Hey, I'm not doubting you, but you're not a medical student. What can you research?"

Ou Yang sighed: "Have you ever heard of the saying that long-term illness makes a doctor?"

Zhu Yiming nodded, but was puzzled: "Don't change the subject!"

Ou Yang said quietly, "The same logic applies. If you've been studied so much, you'll definitely understand how to study it."

"What the hell?" Zhu Yiming suddenly felt that his brain was not enough, and he thought about it for a few times before he understood the meaning of the words.

Jiang Yuwei reacted much faster, staring at Ou Yang's back and biting her lip.

After returning to the camp, Ou Yang took out a plastic box from the car, put the mycelium in it, sealed it, and then took it into the warm car.

After a while, the mycelium thawed. I shook the plastic box and the soft but tough mycelium bounced a few times in the box.

After standing still for a while, the silk ball slowly unfolds, like swaying coral in the sea.

Zhu Yiming asked curiously, "What can you figure out by just watching?"

Ou Yang pointed at the plastic box and said, "Short-term freezing cannot kill the activity of the mycelium!"

Zhu Yiming was stunned. He wanted to refute but he had nothing to say.

They are right, this ball of mycelium is indeed still active after thawing.

In his impression, research is either about being fully armed with various beakers and test tubes, or carefully fiddling with various instruments and equipment.

How can it be considered research if you just stare at it?

Ou Yang picked up the box, took it outside, and found a safe place to put it.

"What are you researching?" Zhu Yiming asked.

Ou Yang said as a matter of course: "Freeze it for a while longer and see if it can recover."

Zhu Yiming...

So the only thing you can study is freezing and thawing, right?
"If you ask me, you'd better not bother with that. Hasn't this thing been frozen under the glacier for over 10,000 years?"

Ou Yang was petrified instantly and scratched his head awkwardly: "Yeah, how could I have forgotten about this?"

Jiang Yuwei burst out laughing.

However, Ou Yang did not give up and still sent the plastic box outside: "It's okay, give it a try, what if there is something to gain!"

With Christina's death, all the Lao Mi who occupied Baifeng Town were gone, and the daily lives of the three groups returned to normal.

Logging, hunting, and patiently waiting for the arrival of spring are simple but fulfilling.

In the blink of an eye, it was mid-January of the following year. After a heavy snowfall, the temperature dropped sharply.

Zhu Yiming opened the car door and a chill hit him in the face, instantly chilling him from the outside to his bones.

The cold air instantly dispelled the only warmth in the car.

I took a breath of cold air, and the tip of my nose immediately became numb, as if it didn't exist; I quickly exhaled, and the tip of my nose became warm, leaving behind a tingling sensation like a needle prick.

Zhu Yiming rushed out of the car, grabbed some firewood, and rushed back inside. He immediately shut the door and huddled beside the stove, shivering like a featherless quail. He shivered constantly, "Why... is it so cold... ah? What's the temperature?"

As far as he could remember, he had never experienced such cold weather.

Jiang Yuwei is very experienced: "Between thirty-five and forty degrees below zero!"

"How much?" Zhu Yiming thought his ears were frozen.

Jiang Yuwei pointed to the cockpit and said, "Look in the front, the temperature in the car is okay, but there's such a thick layer of ice on the windows. It's about this temperature."

Zhu Yiming was stunned: "You can see that?"

"In my hometown, the lowest temperature every winter is below minus 30 degrees Celsius," said Jiang Yuwei.

Ou Yang put a piece of firewood into the stove and said, "Don't go out for the next few days. Just stay here."

The weather was too cold and he unfortunately caught a cold, his voice was dry and nasal.

The fire burned and the temperature slowly rose.

Jiang Yuwei took out two pills, held them in her palm and handed them to Ou Yang: "Take the medicine."

"It's okay." Ou Yang refused. "I can handle it."

"Stop talking nonsense!" Jiang Yuwei was surprisingly strong. She slapped the pill directly into Ou Yang's mouth, handed him a glass of water, and pretended to force him to drink it.

Ou Yang didn't insist anymore and took the medicine obediently.

Jiang Yuwei said with satisfaction: "Taking medicine is not to cure the cold, but to prevent complications."

"Okay, okay, I get it." Ou Yang said helplessly.

Although Jiang Yuwei is just a medical student, she is extremely persistent in treating the disease.

Zhu Yiming chuckled wickedly, feeling warmed up. He pulled out his radio and tuned to a different frequency. A low voice came over the radio: "Today is January 1th. The latest news: The Shuishi area has completely fallen. According to experts' estimates, the death rate of local residents is over 12%..."

Ou Yang sighed, silently spread out the map to find the Water Lion area, and painted the entire area red.

The report continued: "Infected people have been found in the Red Wolf area and are listed as high-risk..."

Ouyang painted the Red Wolf area orange again.

His map originally only marked the routes out of the epidemic area, but now it is red, orange, yellow and green, with each area having a corresponding color.

Red represents a complete outbreak of the epidemic and a complete loss of social order. Orange represents a large number of infected people and an irreversible situation.

Yellow means that there are infected people, but the situation is still under control.

Needless to say, green represents the safe zone.

The three people were in the wilderness, isolated from the outside world. The radio was their only source of information. Listening to the radio had become their only way to learn about changes in the outside world, and it was also a regular daily routine.

Without mobile phones or internet, they finally began to understand why the older generation listed the radio as one of the four major items in a certain historical period.

Zhu Yiming kept adjusting and Ou Yang kept painting. There were more and more red and orange areas on the map, and even the yellow areas increased a lot. Only the green areas became less and less.

Ou Yang couldn't help but feel infected: "The situation is getting more and more serious!"

Zhu Yiming happened to tune into a new frequency when an angry voice boomed over the radio: "Hi everyone, this is Old John. I've just received news that Migong has secretly launched a sanctuary project, intending to evacuate top talent in medicine, scientific research, pharmaceuticals, biology, and other fields to an unnamed island. They plan to establish a research center there to combat phantom lung fungus."

"Oh my god, this is unbelievable. The epidemic has been going on for more than half a year since July, and they still haven't found a way to deal with the fungus? Are all the officials in the Mi Palace cuckolds? Forgive my inappropriate words, but the only thing I want to say to Mi Palace is swear words, and also ask where that island is..."

"Oh no, Mimiya plans to build a wall in the water to surround the island and isolate it from the outside world... Which son of a bitch came up with this idea? I have reason to suspect that what Mimiya is building is not a research center at all, but a refuge for some important figures. As long as the high wall is built to isolate the island from the outside world, they can hide in it forever and never come out, even if the world ends..."

The three of them looked at each other, and all felt that although such speculation was a bit dark, it was indeed something that some big shots could do.

Although underground shelters are good, they cannot be moved. Unless they are secret shelters, it is difficult to avoid being found.

No matter how strong the door is, it cannot stop the crazy Mi. It is still safer at sea.

It would be safer if the shelter could be built underwater.

Ou Yang's thoughts suddenly wandered: If he contacted Lao Mi at this time, would he send a plane to take him, a special immune person, out of the epidemic area and send him to that island?

But he was just having a brain cramp and was just thinking about it.

If you really contact Lao Mi, it will be easy to get out, but once you are on the island, it will be difficult to leave. You may even be sliced into pieces by Lao Mi, and he will call it a sacrifice for all mankind.

Ou Yang is not that great. He just wants to live a good life. He doesn't want to fall into anyone's hands, and he doesn't want to give up his life and property.

Old John continued to talk non-stop: "Oh my God, those big shots raised by bitches, not only want to escape, but also issued a traffic control order, especially the roads leading to the epidemic area, all must be blocked, and all bridges must be blown up..."

Next, he made a scathing comment on the US government's handling of the epidemic, criticizing all of the US responses.

Although the language was radical, the three people nodded repeatedly and felt that what Old John said made a lot of sense.

Ou Yang suddenly asked, "Can we get in touch with this person?"

Zhu Yiming was stunned: "Why contact him?"

Ou Yang said softly, "I want to know what's going on in Southern America, what's going on in Maple Leaf Country to the north, and whether there are any other areas experiencing the epidemic...especially at home."

"I want to know too." Jiang Yuwei said.

Zhu Yiming nodded: "I'll try."

He waited for a while, and when Old John's broadcast was about to end, he suddenly sent a signal: "Calling Old John, can you hear me? Old John, please answer!"

The radio station was silent for a moment, and then suddenly Old John's voice came out: "Who is calling me?"

Ou Yang's eyes lit up and he exchanged a look with Jiang Yuwei: That's a possibility!
Zhu Yiming's brows relaxed: "You can call me the Elf King."

"Wow!" Old John said in an exaggerated tone. Just by hearing the sound, one could imagine how exaggerated the expression on his face was. "Elf King, are you very handsome?"

Zhu Yiming felt a lump in his chest, but he quickly recovered: "I used to be very handsome, but now I'm neither human nor ghost, barely surviving."

"Oh, it sounds like you are also a person with a story. What can I do for you?"

Zhu Yiming directly stated his malicious intentions: "I just listened to your comments. If I'm not mistaken, you must have a viable information channel..."

"That's right, but I won't tell anyone about the channel. Note, no one!"

Zhu Yiming had the urge to roll his eyes. This old man was so good at answering questions quickly?
The problem is that he didn’t answer it correctly at all!
"I'm not interested in your channels," Zhu Yiming said. "I just want to know some information, such as the changes in Nanmi."

"Ha, of course no problem." Old John agreed immediately, "But the information is not free. What can you provide me with?"

Zhu Yiming smiled: "What's the news from the epidemic area? First-hand news."

"An epidemic area?" Old John was a little surprised. "You are in an epidemic area?"

Zhu Yiming remained noncommittal: "I'm quite familiar with the epidemic area."

"Understand?" Old John was very skeptical. "To what extent do you understand?"

Zhu Yiming gave Ou Yang a look, and the latter nodded slightly.

"On July 5th, I was in Brown Bear City." He said this not only to reveal his own situation, but also to test Old John's character.

If we don’t even know where and when the epidemic first broke out, then the other party’s information may not be very accurate.

Old John's tone suddenly became very urgent: "Are you sure?"

Zhu Yiming said without hesitation: "Of course!"

"Well, I want to know what happened when the epidemic broke out!"

"Deal, but first I need to know the development of the epidemic, the situation in Southern America, and whether there are any other areas of the world that have experienced the epidemic besides America."

"The situation in Nanmi is dire. Over 70 percent of the cities have fallen, and the remaining ones won't be able to hold out for much longer. The various governments have either disbanded or gone into exile. Only Zhili can still control the situation... It's your turn."

Zhu Yiming responded readily: "On the first day of the outbreak, the US military blocked Brown Bear and banned flights over the city. Long Sik and his bodyguards hijacked a civilian airliner and took off forcibly, but were shot down by a military aircraft."

"Lonske? You mean Lonske?"

"Yes, what's wrong?"

"Impossible!" Old John said firmly, "Lonske wasn't even in Brown Bear City during that time."

What the hell?
When these words were spoken, all three of them were stunned.

Well, that Jiangsike back then was actually a Westerner?

Zhu Yiming immediately asked, "Are you sure?"

"Not sure." Old John said matter-of-factly.

Zhu Yiming thought of a possibility: "Does Longsk have a stand-in?"

"How would I know?" Old John said unkindly. "From July until now, there's been non-stop reports about Lonske. Either what you saw was just a stand-in, or Migong created one to calm people down."

Oh my god, is Lao Mi so good at playing?

Ou Yang's mind was a little confused: "Don't talk nonsense with him, ask about the real thing!" No matter if it was a substitute or the real person who died, it had nothing to do with them, a few outsiders.

Zhu Yiming nodded: "What's the situation in other regions? I mean, except for Mizhou."

"It's okay, I haven't heard of any outbreak outside of Mizhou yet.

The three of them breathed a sigh of relief when they heard this.

I hope everything is fine back home.

(End of this chapter)