Chapter 194: Terror Strikes
Chen Chen was always under the impression that the Galaxy pendant had other outlets for releasing its energy apart from using such primitive methods of collisional release.
Unfortunately, Chen Chen could not find any alternative methods for releasing its energy apart from resorting to such primitive methods. He had tried immersing it in a chemical solution, attempted to simulate it using extreme heat and cold, and many other experiments but to no avail.
It made sense he would have trouble with it considering it was alien technology. In the movies, they were an advanced civilization that had long developed interstellar travel technology where they were capable of obliterating the Earth with just one shot. Therefore, it was no surprise that Chen Chen was unable to solve the mystery behind the Galaxy pendant using the technology currently available to him.
Just as Chen Chen returned to the laboratory and was getting ready to continue practicing his “Field”, his phone suddenly rang. Chen Chen took out his phone and saw it was Qian Wenhuan who was calling.
“Boss, there’s an epidemic going on in Windhoek, Namibia’s capital.”
There was a sense of urgency in Qian Wenhuan’s voice. “More than three hundred people in Windhoek have been hospitalized since last evening. They all displayed symptoms such as nausea, vomiting, internal bleeding, external bleeding, fever, and such. The hospitals in Windhoek are all overcrowded. The Ministry of Health just requested a.s.sistance from our company.”
“Are those people properly quarantined?” Chen Chen turned into a frown.
“The officials say that they have been quarantined,” Qian Wenhuan answered.
“In that case, donate 500 isolation suits and some tools for disinfection to them for now.”
Chen Chen thought for a moment. “Based on the symptoms you just described, it’s likely Ebola. This isn’t all that surprising. Ebola usually breaks out in the Western African region but they occasionally happen in the Southern African region as well. This virus isn’t very contagious anyway so there shouldn’t be much to worry about here.”
“Understood.”
Qian Wenhuan took note and ended the call.
Chen Chen did not let this piece of information trouble him. After all, this was not the global pandemic that broke out three years ago. The world and its countries were well informed of the terrors of Ebola and spared no effort in stopping it.
Besides, Ebola was a powerful and lethal virus. Its high fatality rate even proved to be detrimental as it tended to kill its hosts before they were able to spread it. This was the reason that a true outbreak never happened.
Therefore, Chen Chen was not worried about Windhoek being unable to contain the spread of the virus. A simple setup of a quarantine zone should suffice.
With that, Chen Chen turned to look at a deck of poker cards set on a table. In one swift motion with his hand, the deck of cards flew and landed on his palms like a pigeon returning to its nest.
At this point, Chen Chen’s mastery of “Field” already rivaled that of the protagonist in Chronicle to around the midway point of the movie.
This was the fruit of Chen Chen’s hard work over the past few months.
Of course, Chen Chen still had much to improve in terms of strength. Up till this point, Chen Chen had only absorbed no more than thirty pieces of crystalline fragments which were barely one percent of the amount which the protagonist had absorbed.
As a result, the potency of Chen Chen’s Field was increasing at a snail-like pace. Even till now, Chen Chen was only capable of moving objects weighing up to 500 grams at most.
With that said, whatever he lacked in terms of Field potency could be compensated with the appropriate weapons.
When Chen Chen invoked a thought, a box levitated out of his pocket. With a soft click, the box opened and several almost completely transparent graphene cards came flying out of it.
When Chen Chen extended his palm, the cards magically danced around atop his palms as if they had come to life.
With a gentle snap, the graphene cards launched off one after another and nailed themselves into the head of a mannequin positioned five to six meters away.
Chen Chen was visibly pleased with what he saw. As opposed to suddenly gaining immense powers that were difficult to control, he would much rather experience gradual growth like this one step at a time. This way, he was able to effectively maximize his strength.
After training for some time, Chen Chen seemed to have suddenly recalled something. He sat on the desk and turned on the computer while at the same time instructing, “X, help me hack into the internal network of Namibia and get the latest update of the virus spread.”
“Understood!”
Little X responded almost immediately. After that, the computer processor began operating at full speed as countless web pages were closed as soon as they were opened. After half a minute of this routine, several specially selected web pages appeared before Chen Chen.
“These are the latest updates concerning the spread of the virus. A total of 1,230 people in Namibia’s capital, Windhoek, are suspected of contracting a hemorrhagic fever. These areas are now locked down completely. 321 of these patients are currently receiving treatment in the hospital. The Windhoek City Hall are falsifying their claim by saying that there are only three hundred infections.
“That’s not the end of it. With Windhoek acting as the central point, its surrounding cities including Bergland, Okahandja, Wilhelmsthal, Sul Lovatyre, and seventeen other cities as well as fifteen villages in the surrounding area all reported similar outbreaks. The earliest case dates back to three days ago.”
Chen Chen frowned when he heard the news, “This means that Windhoek is the core of the outbreak and it was able to spread the disease to populated regions up to hundreds of kilometers away in just three days?”
“Yes,” Little X replied.
“Something’s not right. This doesn’t line up with the rate of infection of Ebola which is transmitted via body fluids.”
Chen Chen thought for a moment before instructing again, “Expand the search range. Go through all of the intranets of all countries in the African continent. Compile all of the details of similar outbreaks and send them to me.”
Little X immediately got to work.
The search this time took considerably longer. After close to ten minutes later, a thick sheet of detailed report densely packed with relevant data was printed.
“In the African region, eight countries including Liberia, Sierra Leone, Guinea, and Congo have all reported similar diseases.”
Little X elaborated, “The earliest reported case was as early as seven days ago. However, since there had been plenty of similar outbreaks of infectious disease in the past in Congo, it was simply overlooked. The outbreak in Congo has now spread into 13 cities and 25 villages. More than 5,000 cases of infections have been discovered.”
There was a heavy shadow cast over Chen Chen’s face. While listening to Little X’s reports, he looked at the foot of the report and noticed a shocking number displayed on it.
The total number of reported infections and covered-up infections in all countries combined had exceeded thirty thousand!
“Something’s off, something’s really off here...”
Chen Chen muttered to himself and further instructed, “Look up the data of the count of people infected by Ebola outbreak over the last 40 years as well as the scope of those outbreaks. Compare that data with the current outbreak.”
Following Chen Chen’s orders, a graph charted with comprehensive data appeared on the computer display.
“The first appearance and outbreak of the Ebola virus were reported in the year 1976, which claimed 270 lives before disappearing. The second outbreak was reported in 1995, claiming 245 victims. The most recent outbreak was reported in 2018, in which 1,600 people were infected and a thousand of them died from the virus.”
As Little X’s robotic voice began to report the findings, Chen Chen could see from the charted graph that all of the readings, whether it was infection count or scope of the outbreak, were all at least ten folds of the previous instances of outbreaks.
“I knew it, these cases are unlike regular Ebola virus.”
This revelation only served to further cement Chen Chen’s previous belief. A dark gloom cast over his face. “If this disease was allowed to spread in Africa, it’s going to greatly impact Eco Science City’s business.”
Chen Chen got up as he instructed, “X, issue the order. All staff is prohibited from leaving the city range in the following period. Also, dispatch all of the B.S.S. and Black Knights members. Completely lock down the Eco Science City and don’t allow any locals to enter!”