Chapter 235 – Hypothesis – Phase 3
The situation outside was worse than expected.
We discovered something we had never seen before while monitoring the occupied Honam Plain and the hordes of infectious agents in the area from the air.
“Jinsu, there is something you need to check.”
Artemis showed an enlarged view of several parts of the destroyed land.
It was a cocoon. No, should we call it a chrysalis?
The shell is large enough to fit a human being, and the shell is wet and pulsating. There were several such things.
Each cocoon contains pieces of corpses, whether human, livestock, or infected. Arms and legs, hands and feet, and sometimes heads were attached. The last expression imprinted on that face was fear and despair.
“Is it some kind of nourishment?”
Artemis said.
As always, her analysis of the phenomenon itself took priority over her feelings about the cruel scene.
“Something like fertilizer?”
“Look at the remains of corpses stuck together. “It’s only been a day, but it’s strangely deformed, right?”
Certainly, as she said, the placenta is shriveled or mushy.
No matter how intense the battlefield situation was, such chemical damage, rather than physical damage, does not easily occur.
“There is absolutely no corruption. Rather than that, it looks as if it is melting and sucking bodily fluids from the inside. “Like a spider’s meal.”
“What’s in there?”
“I was lucky enough to film one.”
In the new video that appears on the screen, there is a walker.
One of his arms has fallen off, and he is wandering around in a dazed state, naked. Up to this point, this is a commonly seen appearance of a walker. But suddenly his whole body started shaking.
Eventually, like a pilgrim, I blindly moved in one direction. A hurried gait with a clear sense of purpose rather than the shambling movement typical of infected organisms.
The place he headed was where corpses were rolling around. After he stopped there, he didn’t even move.
“Let me fast-forward.”
The video was at double speed. Minutes pass by as quickly as a second.
“Here.”
Playback has returned to normal speed.
Tentacles began to pierce all over the guy’s skin. Just like ants infected with Cordyceps sinensis.
The tentacles wrapped around the entire body, and some of them flew into pieces of corpses scattered around, got stuck in them, and were snatched up.
After some time had passed, it had turned into the ugly cocoon it had been when we first found it. It looks like a potato hot dog from hell surrounded by pieces of corpses.
“I’m going to turn. “What is going on in there?”
“Maybe something even more terrible than Walker is being created.”
“Are the variants we’ve seen so far created this way?”
Artemis shook her head.
“That won’t be it. If that were the case, the robots that went out to explore would have discovered it at least once.”
“That’s true too.”
Since the restoration of the shelter, the number of times the robot exploration team has been dispatched has already reached three digits.
They went in and out of the city countless times to secure minor technologies and raw materials.
If mutants were really created in that form, there would be no way that they would not have been discovered even once among the many external activities.
“So this is a new type of infectious agent ecology?”
My headaches are aching.
“I have one suspicion. Do you remember the scientist who appeared in the data obtained from Bloodtech? The chief researcher who participated in the biological experiment at the time.”
Artemis said.
“The person who went around giving euthanasia injections to people who had completed the experiment?”
“That’s right. What’s important now is the hypothesis he came up with.”
Artemis played a video.
[The direction of infection has changed. If up to now it was Phase 1 focusing on mass expansion, should we say it is Phase 2 from now on?]
A scientist with a bright face said while gesturing enthusiastically.
Immediately afterward, the video ended with the appearance of a juggernaut grabbing a tank’s main gun and tearing it apart, and a multipronged bug monster climbing up a building like a snake.
“Infection spreads indiscriminately in Phase 1, inflicting a great deal of damage simultaneously to the entire civilization.”
“And in Phase 2, noise trees, marine monsters, and various variants on land appear to finish off the scattered survivors.”
As I explained to Artemis, she smiled for the first time today.
“Exactly. Then the answer is simple. We are now entering a new phase.”
Our eyes turned to the cocoon on the screen. At that moment, the severed leg that was stuck in it fell off.
The inside of my leg was empty, like an ant whose bodily fluids had been sucked by a spider. The skin is dry to the point of crumbling, the bones are dry, and there is no trace of meat.
“You will soon find out what that means.”
Artemis’ gaze, with her arms crossed, was directed to the cocoons broadcasting on various screens.
And the next day we found more cocoons. Among them, there was even a cocoon the size of a juggernaut.
That’s not all.
We confirmed that the noise tree we had burned was growing again.
Although it is still only the size of a seedling, its growth rate is incredible. I was able to see the size change every few hours.
“It was also found inland. “It’s almost meaningless to count the number of objects.”
Artemis had a stern face.
The disgusting white sprouts were sprouting all over the Gyeonggi-do area, the south, and other regions.
If this continues over time, not only will remote control of robots outside the shelter be blocked, but radio transmission and reception from low-orbit satellites may also be cut off.
Suddenly, you become a blind person trapped underground.
From Artemis’ perspective, this will be a more serious change than any crisis it has experienced so far.
“More and more Taisan.”
It was literally a mountain beyond a mountain. Maybe even this is just a part of the storm to come.
“Still, our city will be safe from any disaster.”
Artemis said.
But that voice, which always spoke confidently and confidently, was lackluster today.
* * *
Boo!
The helipad at the top of the shelter opened, and a helicopter loaded with relief goods took off.
Most of the supplies are medicines. Maximum relief effect can be achieved with a small volume.
The destinations are several areas where refugees and the military protecting them are temporarily staying.
Additional helicopters carrying relief goods from the warehouse are preparing to depart.
To be honest, this kind of free support is a bit burdensome. No matter how abundant our city’s resources are, it is impossible to unilaterally distribute them to so many people outside.
Morally, even with the spirit of service as a former soldier, there are limits.
But if even this is cut off, people will definitely die in proportion.
This is because large groups of colonies were beginning to move south again.
People trying to evacuate again without even having time to recover from their wounds, people collapsing, and people shaking in safe areas.
It was truly a crucible of chaos.
Since we started from the east, where there are many mountainous areas, it will take quite some time, but the survivors who have experienced the bitter taste are on high alert.
The empty warehouse of supplies, the back of a helicopter flying dully, and the communication with Lee Seong-bong, who looked embarrassed for the first time.
I bit my lip as I thought about all of that.
“Is that the only way?”
The only solution that can end this situation once and for all, and the final legacy left behind by civilizations in the universe.
Vaccine.
Other than that, I couldn’t think of any other alternative.
Solaver said he would go alone to retrieve the vaccine. It is a body that is not much help in battle due to excessive modifications.
If he fails, we have lost our only guide and any chance of a vaccine is lost forever.
If I join, the force will increase by three, including me. In percentage terms, an increase of 150%.
Yes, it is still only a handful, but there is a world of difference between two soldiers operating a facility capture or takeover mission and one officer and four soldiers operating an operation.
The latter can be described as a very difficult mission, but the former is simply impossible.
There is a huge difference in the operations that can be used, the ability to respond in crisis situations, and even early detection.
What put an end to my confused worries was the new movement of the infectious agents.
“I confirmed another swarm.”
When I rushed to the central control room in response to Artemis’ emergency call, what I saw was a huge army of infected agents rushing in the direction of our city.
“Are they really targeting our city?”
“No.”
Satellite photos, which began to show very faint noise, showed the expected path of a large group of black infectious agents. It’s a little different from our city.
That number is not something we can handle in an all-out war. Our military can demonstrate its true power when it sends a strike force to the outside while its base is safe.
“Based on the direction, I think it’s heading towards where the spaceship landed.”
“Will it end after just one spaceship?”
“… That is unknown.”
Changes in a world that is rapidly changing. They quickly narrowed my options.
“20 hours to arrive.”
Artemis informed us of the calculation results.
“There is nothing to worry about anymore.”
I stood up.
Now the only problem I faced was how to convince her.
