Plague Doctor

At four o'clock in the morning, the sky was still dark.

In the wasteland covering an area of ​​five square kilometers, frontline personnel were transferred in batches by the command center, but they did not know that this was an emergency evacuation.

From the beginning, frontline personnel have conducted a series of radiation tests there, and no high-intensity abnormal radiation has been detected, but of course there is natural radiation.

It's just that no one at the top is sure whether there is a kind of "alien radiation" in those "natural radiations" that can invade human genes?

What did human DNA look like before?

This "before" refers to the origin stage of mammals many, many years ago, hundreds of millions of years ago.

Before modern humans complete whole-genome sequencing, it is difficult to believe the fact that approximately 5-8% of the information in the human genome comes from ancient viruses. Most are retroviruses, which can invade host cells and then implant their own genes into the host's DNA to achieve parasitism.

These viral genes will participate in the operation of the host cell and modify it to the way they want it to operate. Retroviruses can also be transmitted to the host's next generation through sperm or eggs, and then to the next generation, thus becoming endogenous retroviruses.

The reason why humans are what they are today, what they look like, the body organs and tissues, the nerves and thinking in the brain... are inseparable from these viral genes.

After hundreds of millions of years, humans and these viruses have become symbionts.

Not only humans, but also mammals have this condition.

If some of these viral genes are knocked out, the scientific community has done relevant experiments on white mice before, and the mice will die soon.

These viral genes are in a relatively stable state in the human body, and if any new virus wants to join this symbiosis, such as the HIV virus, which is also a retrovirus, then there will be a big problem, which will cause The so-called disease is a disease that is very difficult to treat.

However, implanting a virus carrying a specific foreign gene into the human body to achieve therapeutic effects is one direction of gene therapy.

So, is it possible that the pathogen of locust disease is a specific piece of genetic information that is implanted into human genes through radiation or causes specific gene mutations?

“The carrier and acute infection hypothesis” and “parasitic gene hypothesis”

Wang Ruoxiang's two hypotheses about locust disease were immediately taken seriously by the command center.

She has always been a top student and a smart person. Although these are unconfirmed hypotheses, there are good reasons.

The first is that the patient's entire body can be transformed into alien locusts, which is likely to be at the cellular, DNA, and genetic levels.

The second is the possible connection of mutated areas. Nuclear radiation can mutate DNA and have genetic effects.

In fact, before this, the scientific research department had already done some DNA testing and comparison, comparing patients with parasites, and patients with each other, just to see if there were any traces of virus invasion. Now the command center has also supported these hypotheses from the scientific research department, but testing will take time.

Except for the six test patients who had alien locusts in their bodies, who were urgently transferred to another empty isolation building, other patients could not be transferred for the time being.

The infection range caused by Principal Cui's self-destruction - that is, the possible radiation range, with him as the center point, has a circular area of ​​about 8,000 square meters.

“I always thought, what’s so special about all that weird dirt?”

This is another reason why Wang Ruoxiang made such a hypothesis. There is no difference in the composition detection, but has the soil there been contaminated by another kind of radiation? Is it different that cannot be analyzed by existing detection technology? The eggs in the soil are not the key at all. They may also be the product of radiation.

Among her thoughts, this one made Tong Ye and the others even more anxious in an instant.

If that wasteland is really another abnormal area... then it is only more dangerous than the nuclear radiation abnormal area.

They can't even figure out where the dividing line is. There is no obvious radiation, movement or change. Or maybe there is a change but they can't notice it, because wasteland and grassland are the same everywhere. There are already sparsely populated areas. As long as the buildings, roads, etc. do not disappear, No one knows even if there are some subtle changes.

"If the wasteland is also connected to a different space, things in the two spaces can only enter and exit their respective spaces, just like the mutated area. But what if the insect carriers like Li Yuhao are not? Can they enter the different space?"

Wang Ruoxiang's idea is also very reasonable. Even if Mobei is a vast place with few people, with the technology and manpower of the Tianji Bureau, it will be difficult to find their whereabouts when there are more than 300 people on the other side. Existing surveillance clues indicate that they either headed toward the wilderness or that the car was still parked there.

So where did they go? Another space? Like that calico cat, like the coming and going of those locusts.

Compared with these people, the command center's top priority now is to deal with every person who has visited the wasteland area.

Will these people also become carriers?

If radiation is really transmitted, and the carrier's own radiation before self-explosion is not strong enough to infect others, then the only good thing is that a large number of contacts or indirect contacts do not need to be isolated and monitored. In addition, there may be a dose equivalent. People who exceed the safe value will develop the disease, and people who do not exceed the safe value will be in the recessive period.

Principal Cui and the others stayed there for about 1.5 hours that day without any protection. This is a precise and testable value.

Some of the garrison personnel have been there for more than thirty hours and have worked shifts, but the temporary camp is still there.

Even if you wear protective clothing, you will be exposed to radiation for dozens of times longer...

Therefore, this evacuation was carried out in secret and could not arouse the suspicion of frontline personnel, because no one knew their current status.

As for the goa concentric team, they were hastily recalled from the nuclear radiation mutation area.

A total of 12 members entered the wasteland at that time, including 6 members of the Tianji Bureau, Lou Xiaoning, Feng Wei, Deng Ximei, Peacock, Mo Qing, and Uncle Dan. They arrived and left at the same time. They all stayed for 31 minutes, were transferred once, and then were transferred again.

Therefore, these 12 people are all likely to be infected, but due to different physical constitutions and inconsistent dose equivalents, the symptoms they show are also different.

Among them, peacock is the most symptomatic.

At this time, the Tongxinzhe team was still on the way to evacuate, and Peacock was in a car alone, doing a small experiment.

She let Catherine take control of her body and retreated into her second personality. After this change, Catherine suddenly felt a weird feeling of physical influence. Because she did not have the mental strength of a peacock, the impact was even stronger, "I'm so hungry... I want to eat dirt, but there is a resistance that tells me not to." explain……"

On the contrary, Peacock felt much more relaxed.

Ever since she suddenly had the idea of ​​eating alien locusts, she had been telling herself not to think about it but it still lingered, but now she is calm.

This also means...that their bodies are indeed infected with locust disease.

There was silence in the secret command room. Tong Ye, Yao Shinian and others all looked very ugly, and the situation was getting more and more slippery towards Wang Ruoxiang's hypothesis.

Before they could think about it, another bad news came out urgently from the communication station, "There are people on the front line of the wasteland who refuse to evacuate! There are people who refuse to evacuate!"

5 staff from the Magic Department, 10 staff from the Old Seal Department, and other agencies and departments, a total of 163 people.

These 178 people are all frontline garrison personnel, operating in an area of ​​two square kilometers of wasteland.

"Get me through over there!" Mr. Tong said calmly. The person in charge there was Yu Xiaoyong from the Conjuration Department.

Yu Xiaoyong was the former captain of the Arctic Wolf Team. He had always performed well and had high hopes for joining the Magic Department. However, he later suffered a mental disorder due to the syndrome of practicing the "Seven Secrets of the Earth". Together with Wang Ruoxiang and others, Yu Xiaoyong He was placed under house arrest, but was reinstated last year.

Tong Ye tried his best to re-employ people like Wang Ruoxiang and Yu Xiaoyong. If any of them rebelled again, everyone would be affected.

And now, with the current situation, Tianji Bureau does not need more chaos...

Soon, an image from the wasteland front line appeared on the communication screen. It was Yu Xiaoyong's tense face in the temporary camp headquarters.

Behind him, there is a team of people, all familiar faces to Tong Ye and Yao Shinian, who were personally selected by them to join the Curses Department and the Old Seal Department.

"Master Tong... we ate a lot of mud at first, but suddenly... I couldn't help it..." Yu Xiaoyong's messy words quickly became slightly trembling, and his eyes were red, "We couldn't help it, I think. I said it, but my body suppressed it, as if there was a voice stopping me, and I couldn’t resist..."

It turns out that these people haven't lost their minds yet, they haven't gotten that sick yet.

But they know what they are in now, and they can guess that this personnel transfer is not easy.

"I can feel that some parts of my body are transforming... I can see bugs in my palms..." Yu Xiaoyong choked, "There's no way to save it. There's nothing we can do. We ate too much mud." , it has been transformed enough... If we go back and have no mud to eat, we will lose our minds. If we stay here, we will also go crazy. We people will always lose control..."

Tong Ye, Yao Shinian and other elders were also at a loss for a while.

The rational monitoring stone did not work. This was not dark erosion, but radiation and mutation.

"The suicide note we wrote before departure was used this time... There are 163 of us here, 82 of them are willing to commit suicide, all of the people in the spell and the old seal are willing, and we will not force the remaining colleagues. But I suggest that we use missiles Blow this place up, don't let them go, they will become enemies...

We have to act, while we still have sense, while we are still ourselves... Mud, we want mud, if we eat more, we can see God... There seems to be a voice saying this, maybe I can do magic, I listen To more...Migratory Locust Team, I think I can become a migratory locust...No, I am Yu Xiaoyong...

Now, don’t look at the screen, but recording it may be valuable... Mr. Tong, sirs, I’m sorry, our battle ends here..."

Yu Xiaoyong saluted the camera, then pulled out the pistol from his waist with his right hand, pointed it at his head, and pulled the trigger.

Bang! The bullet passed through the head, splattering blood and traces of white translucent locust larvae.

Others behind him also raised their guns with pain, struggle and determination.

Bang, bang, bang, bang, bang...

Fifteen shots were fired in total.

Love the Plague Doctor.