One of the captain's confidants, who had been instructed beforehand, said, "Captain, just tell us your plan. We don't understand these strategies; we just follow your orders."
The captain nodded in satisfaction: "Good, I plan to try diplomacy first and then force. I'll talk to the major. If we can reach an agreement, everything will be fine, and everyone doesn't need to be too nervous. But if we can't reach an agreement, we'll need the brothers' help. There might be some minor casualties."
The captain's other confidant stood up: "Captain, go ahead and talk with confidence. We'll be waiting for you outside. We'll definitely help you and Mr. Zhao get this done." Major, although your rank is higher than ours, we know what kind of ability Mr. Zhao has. With him as our backer, what can't we do successfully, let alone research a virus treatment drug? When we succeed, we'll be heroes all over America and the world.
The captain clenched his fist: "Good, I'm relieved to hear you all say that. I'll go in and talk to the major right away. You all stay outside and keep watch, and act on my signals."
The captain knocked on the major's office door. This place used to be a warehouse in a corner of the school, but now it had become the army's temporary command post, and also stored weapons and food.
The major was drinking coffee. "Come in."
The captain entered the command post, and the major pointed to the chair in front of the desk and said, "Sit down, let's have a cup of coffee. In a while, we might not even be able to supply hot water, let alone coffee. Sigh..." The major sighed. Of course, everyone had seen the situation in New York, and no one wanted to live in such chaotic post-apocalyptic conditions.
The captain sat down, and the major poured him a cup of coffee. It was instant, but the aroma was so tempting. The captain hadn't had a proper meal in two days. He took a sip, and a look of satisfaction appeared on his face.
"Major, I have something to discuss with you." Although I had drunk the major's coffee, I still had to say what needed to be said.
The major said, "Oh, what is it? New York is in such a mess right now, we should support each other. If it's within my power, just tell me what's wrong."
The captain said, "Major, I have a research scientist on my team."
The major was confused: "Captain, what do you mean? Researchers? What does this mean for us?"
The captain said, "Of course, this researcher says he can develop a drug to treat the virus."
The major couldn't believe it: "What? Captain, are you crazy? You actually believe something like that? As far as I know, no government experts have made such a promise. We are completely helpless against the virus right now."
Volume Two [702] Seizure of Power
[702] Seizure of Power
The captain said, "No, no, Major, you have to believe me. He really has the ability, but he just needs to use the equipment in the university laboratory."
The major was somewhat surprised: "What? We need to use the equipment in the lab? Captain, I received strict orders from headquarters to carefully guard those devices. No one except researchers sent by headquarters is allowed to enter the lab."
The captain said, "Major, you should think this through carefully. If we let him in to conduct the research, he might very well develop a drug to treat the virus. Not only will we all benefit from it, but the entire population of New York City will be grateful to us. This would be a great military achievement, and we would be remembered for generations to come."
The major said, "Captain, I think you've gone mad. What if he can't figure it out? What if he's lying to you to sneak into the lab? Unless there's an order from headquarters, I can't let anyone in."
The captain stood up: "Major, I hope you will seriously consider my suggestion. That Chinese man is very capable; we've seen it with our own eyes. Perhaps he really does have a way to develop a cure for the virus..."
The major was even more angry and surprised. "You mean to say that researcher is Chinese?"
The captain nodded, and the major said loudly, "If that's the case, we absolutely cannot let him into the lab. Headquarters said that those devices are extremely advanced and cannot be seen by foreigners."
The captain said, "Major, I've already promised him. Please don't make things difficult for me. We should try as long as there's even the slightest chance, don't you think? We mustn't let some bullshit orders ruin everything. In the face of this virus, there are no international boundaries; we are all human beings."
The major scoffed, "A big deal? That Chinese guy is a big deal?"
The captain asked, "Does the major mean he's not allowed into the lab?"
The major replied firmly, "Yes, I have military orders to follow. I'm in charge here, and no one is allowed to approach the laboratory for any reason."
The captain snorted coldly: "Major, always leave yourself a way out. Don't push things to the extreme in these chaotic times."
The major said, "Captain, are you threatening me? I don't know what reason you have for helping him, but let me tell you, you are now just one of my soldiers, and you must obey my orders."
The captain slammed a cup down on the table, the loud crash startling those outside. The captain's men were prepared; upon hearing the signal, they subdued the guards the major had assigned to the door and rushed into the command post. The major's face was ashen; he had never imagined his own men would turn on each other. He had already lost the initiative, and if he resisted, he might be killed.
The major continued to persuade the captain: "Captain, it's not worth it for you to do this."
The captain said, "Major, you're wrong. Trying won't kill anyone, so why insist?"
The major said, "I don't trust Chinese people. You'll be deceived by him, and even if you achieve great merit, you'll still be punished by headquarters."
The captain snorted and said, "That's for later, Major. Let's focus on the present. The important thing is to avoid getting infected with the virus, and if we do get infected, to have medication to treat it. Are you stupid to still be thinking about the orders from headquarters?"
With a calculated move, the captain's men were positioned at the door, waiting for a crucial opportunity. The major's guards were disarmed before they even knew what was happening, and the other soldiers, being too far away, had no idea what was going on. The major was cornered in the room by the captain with a pistol, not even having time to draw his own. He was furious; who would have thought the captain would suddenly turn on him like that?
The captain was surprised that things went so smoothly and that he was able to subdue the major so easily. He immediately ordered the man to be tied up and kept under guard. Then the captain went to Zhao Qiang for instructions.
Zhao Qiang was very satisfied with the captain's actions and gave him a large bag of food he had collected along the way as a reward. The captain was naturally very happy. Although the virus outbreak had only been going on for a few days, the suddenness of the event and the fierce attacks of the infected mutants had disrupted the supply of materials, and everyone had barely had a proper meal. They had been surviving on just a few sips of water for the past two meals and were already starving. The food Zhao Qiang gave him was far more useful than any military merit.
"Mr. Zhao, what's the next step? There's another team outside the lab. Should I send someone to take them by surprise, or threaten the major to force them to compromise?"
Zhao Qiang said, "Captain, if we want to get through the next 60 hours safely, we need to rely on the soldiers to guard the area. So it's impossible to control everyone, and we don't have that many people to use. So it's best to find a way to get them to obey your orders."
The captain said, "If the major dies from the mutant attack, then I can rightfully take over the guard force here at the school..."
Zhao Qiang chuckled: "I understand. Captain, please wait a moment. However, I suggest you don't actually kill the person. Just do it for the soldiers. Once our research is complete, the major will naturally forgive you."
The captain said, "Thank you for your consideration, Mr. Zhao. It would be best if it could be done this way, but for now, we still need to deceive those soldiers."
Soon after, a sharp alarm blared throughout the school, and shouts of "Mutant attack! Mutant attack!" echoed through the air.
The clanging of gunfire lasted for several minutes. Someone shouted at the entrance of the school's garrison command post, "The major has been killed! Avenge the major!" Then came even more intense gunfire, as if everyone was united in their desire to avenge the major.
The scene was somewhat chaotic, and for a moment people didn't know where the mutants had come from. The soldiers were even more confused after hearing that the major had been killed. In the end, it was the captain who stepped forward to take command, and the mutants who had appeared out of nowhere were quickly eliminated. Upon closer inspection, it was clear that the captain was the highest-ranking officer in this unit on the university campus. So, without saying a word, the captain immediately became the commander-in-chief, and no one complained.
With just a few words, the captain moved the troops stationed at the laboratory to the outside to defend it, and then sent his own men to guard the door. Zhao Qiang, Yang Shiyun, and Lina easily entered the laboratory. In fact, this laboratory was originally built by Yang Shiyun—also known as Xiao Wei. Now, it was so difficult to get in, which really made Yang Shiyun angry, but there was nothing she could do. After all, she had secretly built the laboratory in the laboratory building of an American university.
"The experimental materials here are still insufficient," Yang Shiyun said.
Zhao Qiang said, "Don't worry, you and Lina can do it first. I'll go out and collect the data for you. I've already explained the specific research approach to you. As long as we follow this goal, I think we should have results within two days. At the very least, it won't be like Professor Martin's treatment, which only delays the results by 20%."
Zhao Qiang and Yang Shiyun chatted as they entered the laboratory. The staff who were already walking around in the laboratory looked at the two of them, wondering why there were Chinese people in the lab. Finally, someone couldn't help but step forward and ask, "Who are you? How did you get in? What are the guards outside doing? Don't they have any sense of security?"
Zhao Qiang said, "We were sent by the captain to assist you in your research."
"Captain?" The researchers clearly did not recognize him.
Zhao Qiang said, "Yes, the highest-ranking official here."
The researcher asked, "The highest-ranking officer? Where's the major?"
Yang Shiyun said, "I'm sorry, I heard that he was just killed by mutants, but everyone has avenged him. The mutants who attacked him have all been killed."
"Ah!" The researchers were terrified by the attack by the mutants and rushed into the laboratory without even thinking about Zhao Qiang and Yang Shiyun.
Zhao Qiang assigned tasks to Yang Shiyun and Lina. He left the laboratory, knowing he had a lot to collect. He knew he wouldn't be idle and would also need to find more food to replenish his energy, as monsters kept attacking and he was the main force; relying on the soldiers to stop the monsters was simply impossible.
Twelve hours later, Zhao Qiang returned for the first time. Using the anti-gravity device, he brought back a lot of things, mostly ammunition and weapons. He had eaten most of the food outside, but he still had enough strength. If there were another large-scale attack by mutants, he could still kill them instantly.
"Captain, what's the situation?" Zhao Qiang asked the captain.
The captain was surprised to see the pile of weapons and ammunition behind Zhao Qiang. "God, Zhao Qiang, how did you get all this? It must be hard to move so much stuff, but I didn't hear any cars entering the university campus."
Zhao Qiang said, "Captain, you don't need to worry about this. I've said before that I have special abilities, so I can't use ordinary people's theories to make judgments. Take these weapons and distribute them to the soldiers so that everyone can be on high alert. When I came back, I saw a large number of mutants converging on this side. I estimate that they will launch an attack in a short time."
The captain's expression changed. His biggest fear was an attack by the mutants. He knew they only had about a hundred armed men, and even withdrawing the defenses outside the lab building was insufficient. But with these new weapons, they could expand their force. After all, there were still dozens of survivors who had arrived with them, plus the survivors from the university. Expanding to a force of over a hundred wouldn't be difficult. Americans were already familiar with firearms; although their accuracy might be slightly lacking, mutant attacks were always in large groups, and anyone who knew how to shoot would generally not miss.
Zhao Qiang handed the weapons and some food to the captain, who was tasked with expanding the combat force and distributing the food. Zhao Qiang entered the laboratory, where Yang Shiyun and Lina were already working diligently. Initially, the researchers were quite resentful of Yang Shiyun and Lina, and even tried to obstruct them. However, after being reprimanded by Yang Shiyun, they became obedient. When they saw that Yang Shiyun and Lina's research was indeed effective, they came over to help, since solving the viral infection was everyone's common goal.
"Zhao Qiang, you're back." Yang Shiyun put down her work.
Zhao Qiang said, "How's the progress? The situation outside isn't good. The mutants seem to be planning another attack."
Yang Shiyun said, "Then you can go outside and keep watch. According to your plan, we are progressing smoothly. However, you need to handle these calculations. My chip has insufficient power, and if it is used to calculate these programs, it will affect the progress of the research."
Zhao Qiang said, "Okay, give me your notes. I'll send the data to the lab once I have the results."
Yang Shiyun handed a laptop from the table to Zhao Qiang, one of the researchers, who said, "That's mine..." Yang Shiyun glared at him, and the man lowered his head and remained silent. He had been kicked by Yang Shiyun a few times; that Chinese woman was very strong and fast, and these grown men were no match for her.
While browsing through the notes, Zhao Qiang said, "I'm going to take a walk outside. You guys continue. There's still some food and water here. If you're tired, take a short rest."
Volume 2 [703] Ammunition
[703] Ammunition
The captain was intensely training the new recruits. Zhao Qiang watched for a while. After seeing Zhao Qiang, the captain arranged for two soldiers to continue his training, while he himself walked over to Zhao Qiang and asked, "Zhao Qiang, how's it going?"
It would be a lie to say the captain wasn't nervous; the major was still locked in his room, and something could easily go wrong.
Zhao Qiang said, "It went very smoothly. How's the defense setup? I see the mutants are getting restless. You need to keep a close watch on them."
The captain nodded: "I'll be careful. I hope things go as you expect, otherwise I don't know how we'll handle this."
Zhao Qiang reassured the captain, "Don't worry, you definitely won't take the blame."
The captain said, "I hope so. By the way, I heard a few messages from other garrison units."
Zhao Qiang asked, "Oh, what's the news?"
The captain said, "It seems that command intends to abandon us survivors, including civilians and troops that were deployed earlier, because if these people are rescued, they may spread the virus outside. Therefore, command should not send any more reinforcements, at least not ground reinforcements. The issue of airdropped supplies and fighter jet reinforcements is unclear at the moment."
Zhao Qiang said, "Your country wouldn't be so heartless, would it? Don't they know that the troops here are almost out of ammunition and food?"
The captain snorted: "If we can contain the virus within New York City, I think the country will pay any price. But if things really get out of control, we might only have a nuclear bomb to face."
Zhao Qiang remained silent for a long time before finally saying, "So let's all pray that the research succeeds soon. This is probably the only way to turn the tide. As long as we have a treatment, we will have a chance to escape."
The captain grabbed Zhao Qiang's hand: "So you have to work hard. As for the mutants outside, let us deal with them."
Zhao Qiang said, "Go and patrol the area. I'm afraid the others might overlook the mutants' unusual movements. Be careful and report to me immediately if anything happens."
The captain saluted: "Yes, sir. I'm at your service."
Zhao Qiang started calculating the results in his notebook and then sent them to Yang Shiyun in the lab. At the same time, Zhao Qiang also had to wander around the campus. It wasn't that Zhao Qiang didn't trust the captain, but he dared not let his guard down. After all, the captain and the others were just ordinary people with limited abilities in various aspects, while Zhao Qiang had X-ray glasses and could see many things in advance.
Bang! A gunshot rang out in the distance, followed by the crackling of machine gun fire. The armed civilians who were training immediately panicked. An American soldier shouted, "Calm down, pick up your guns, and follow me!" They had only trained for a few hours, so it was a bit of a stretch to put them into battle, but there was a severe shortage of manpower, so they had to use new recruits.
Zhao Qiang put down his laptop and ran towards the sound of gunfire. The captain happened to be patrolling there. He and several American soldiers were nervously lying on the back of a garbage truck, which was considered a heavy vehicle on campus. Several other American soldiers had set up machine guns on the roof of the garbage truck, the muzzles spitting fire forward. One by one, the mutants that charged at them were shot down, but they kept charging forward without caring about casualties. Fortunately, their attack area was not wide, so the two machine guns could keep up. However, because they had not been refilled with ammunition, the two machine guns could not fire for long.
Rat-a-tat-tat, gunshots rang out from another direction. The captain's expression changed, and he turned to look at Zhao Qiang, saying, "Zhao Qiang, it seems you were right. The mutants are about to attack. We don't have enough bullets, and we can't hold them off by relying on the soldiers alone."
Zhao Qiang said, "Hold on for as long as you can, and I'll take care of some more for you." With that, Zhao Qiang took out a compression gun in one hand and an electromagnetic acceleration gun in the other and charged into the enemy ranks. The mutants shouted loudly as they attacked. They seemed like a group of mindless machines, trying to use their bodies to open a path through the hail of bullets.
Zhao Qiang activated his armor, a way to conserve energy. If they were just mutants, they couldn't break through his armor at all. So Zhao Qiang moved as if he were in an empty field. When he encountered a large group of mutants, he used the compression gun to bombard them. When he encountered scattered mutants, he used the electromagnetic acceleration gun to snipe them. He single-handedly held the line in one direction, killing the mutants without any chance to fight back. However, Zhao Qiang also wasted a lot of energy, since he had to manufacture bullets for the electromagnetic acceleration gun and charge the compression gun from time to time. But it was much less energy-intensive than simply using energy to fight.
The American soldiers defending this direction were watching a science fiction movie; they had never seen such a skilled individual soldier. Zhao Qiang would even occasionally fly through the air, allowing him to better target the mutants. Because of Zhao Qiang's presence, the mutants were unable to encircle the school. After attacking for half an hour and leaving behind thousands of corpses, they temporarily ceased their assault. The defenders on campus cheered; it was a major victory.
The captain rushed over and showered Zhao Qiang with flattery. Although Zhao Qiang knew the captain was just trying to curry favor, he still felt quite pleased. However, when he heard the captain mention that ammunition was critically low, Zhao Qiang frowned. Leaving with Yang Shiyun would be easy, but until a cure for the virus was found, Zhao Qiang and Yang Shiyun had to stay. Staying meant holding off the mutants, and Zhao Qiang alone couldn't do it. To utilize the capabilities of American soldiers, they needed weapons and ammunition.
“I’ll go out and figure something out. Also, can you give me some suggestions, like where to find ammunition? After all, I’m not familiar with New York,” Zhao Qiang said to the captain. He was telling the truth; he really didn’t know if Americans had a habit of storing large amounts of ammunition in cities.
The captain said, "There shouldn't be another unit nearby, so seeking help from friendly forces is out of the question. As for airdropped supplies, we don't dare to count on it either. However, I know that the headquarters must have left behind a large amount of weapons and ammunition when they retreated. If we can retrieve them, it will be a huge help, and holding out for two days will not be a problem."
Zhao Qiang nodded: "What you said is possible, but we need to investigate first. We don't want to arrive with people and vehicles only to find nothing. This place is not close to the headquarters."
The captain said, "I also think this method might not work, but I can't think of any other ideas for the time being."