Zhao Qiang said, "Captain, you're not trying to kill us, are you? We can't stay here. We demand to retreat with you."
Louis said, "Alright, I won't force you to come along, but you must remember that we can only take care of our own people. If anything happens to you along the way, don't blame us."
Yang Shiyun said, "Okay, it just so happens that we can only take care of ourselves. If something happens to you, you can't blame us."
Louis snorted coldly; he had no time to lower himself to the level of a mere brat like Yang Shiyun.
Boom, boom! Three off-road vehicles carrying a platoon of soldiers, each armed with two heavy machine guns, sped out of the university campus. In just a few hours, a large number of students were infected. A sizable group of lunatics gathered at the campus gate. Hearing the sound of the car engines, they swarmed towards them. These infected people desperately needed fresh human flesh as food, but now everyone was avoiding them.
Louis roared, "Fire!" Two heavy machine guns opened fire, unleashing a deluge of bullets. Although these infected were much stronger and faster than ordinary people, it was impossible for them to withstand the bullets. Under the fierce barrage, their bodies were shattered. Even if a few lunatics managed to jump up and attack the off-road vehicle from the air, these American soldiers were not to be trifled with. Before they could even land, they were shot down with rifle fire.
The SUV sped out of the campus. The number of infected college students was only a little over a hundred, but the dense crowds and abandoned vehicles on the main road were a headache. Louis waved his hand, and the lead SUV drove into a side road. It was the right road, quiet, with few infected people. The heavy machine gun could easily take them out with a few sweeps.
However, alleyways always come to an end, and eventually the three SUVs reached the main road. Infected people and normal people were mixed together, and there were scenes of infected people chasing and biting ordinary people everywhere. Louis gritted his teeth as he watched. As a fellow countryman, he could not stand by and watch his countrymen suffer, so he ordered his soldiers to fire.
The infected individuals did not possess much combat power at this time. They were more than capable of dealing with ordinary people, but they were far too incompetent against armed soldiers. These American soldiers focused their attacks on their heads, with almost every bullet resulting in a headshot. Gradually, a group of ordinary humans gathered under the SUV and followed along.
Zhao Qiang said to Louis, "Captain, it's dangerous for these people to follow our car."
Louis said, "Nonsense, we can protect them to headquarters, where there's a quarantine zone."
Zhao Qiang said, "Once they get infected, or if a large number of lunatics are brought here, our vehicles will be blocked on the road, just like those other vehicles." The main road has now become a narrow path. This was a road that the military vehicles that patrolled in the morning had just cleared. Now, there are no more patrol vehicles in sight. Most of them have been transferred to important institutions to carry out protection missions.
Louis gritted his teeth: "Our affairs are none of your business, otherwise get off the bus. I have many compatriots who want to sit in your seat."
Since Louis said so, Zhao Qiang remained silent, and the group continued to move forward at a snail's pace. Yang Shiyun, who was sitting next to Zhao Qiang, reached out and hugged his waist, saying, "Brother, don't worry about them."
Besides the driver, only Louis, who was shouting and directing the team from the passenger seat, was in the other vehicle. Martin and the box were in another car. Zhao Qiang asked Yang Shiyun, "What exactly happened? Tell me quickly!"
Yang Shiyun said, "It's very simple. When you disappeared, I started researching the combination of humans and machines. Later, I learned that you had been resurrected, which gave me a lot of inspiration. However, I found that China's scientific research level was far too poor. To realize my plan, I had to come to the United States."
Zhao Qiang said, "I don't understand now, are you Xiao Wei or Yang Shiyun?"
Yang Shiyun said, "Didn't I tell you that we'll be able to merge soon? You can think of either of us as you like. When we're alone, I hope you'll call me Xiaowei, but when we're in front of others, I hope you'll still call me Yang Shiyun."
Zhao Qiang felt his mind was a bit confused. "Why choose her?"
Yang Shiyun said, "Firstly, judging from the process of modifying my brother's body, he has to go through a period of amnesia and reboot. I'm afraid my system won't wake up, and then I won't be able to be with my brother. So I have to choose someone who might interact with my brother to modify. Of course, in my initial idea, I designed myself to be a robot with independent thought, but this plan ultimately failed. Even with the current technology in the United States, we can't reach that level."
(Thanks to Chunjiang Xinyue for the 100-coin reward and to Laoshuchong for the monthly ticket support)
Volume 2 [689] Dual System
【689】Dual System
Yang Shiyun wrapped her arms around Zhao Qiang's, and their intimate state was enviable. However, Zhao Qiang looked embarrassed. After all, Xiao Wei was currently using Yang Shiyun's body, who was his sister-in-law. The more crucial issue was that Yang Shiyun was currently conscious. It was similar to the feeling of having sex with two women at the same time. While being intimate with one, he also had to consider that there was another person watching.
"Brother, if one day artificial skin technology becomes more advanced, I can transform myself into an independent intelligent being." Xiao Wei was actually quite bothered by the fact that the two of them shared one body, but she had no choice but to rely on someone else's body because of technological limitations.
Zhao Qiang said, "Don't think that far ahead. You're fine as you are now. As long as I can see you, I'm happy no matter what form you take."
Yang Shiyun hugged Zhao Qiang even tighter. "Brother, you're so good to me. Do you know how much resolve it took for me to leave you? I was in so much pain back then. Luckily, you weren't by my side, otherwise I definitely wouldn't have been able to make this decision. Seeing all those girls fawning over you, I really couldn't bear to be trapped in a virtual world. I don't want to be a computer anymore; I want to be with you, brother, just like they are..."
Zhao Qiang wiped the sweat from his forehead. Xiao Wei's intelligence was too high; she actually possessed human emotions. Now, Zhao Qiang dared not treat her as a machine.
Xiao Wei continued, "...So with the help of energy, I secretly came to the United States. After a period of investigation, I thought Yang Shiyun was the best substitute for me. At first, I only planned to use her hands and the environment to help with my transformation, but later I realized that it was not realistic to create a complete robot, so I changed my plan. I transformed Yang Shiyun's body into two systems. Her original brain was not damaged, but I divided her nerves into two parts. However, the part connected to my control chip needs a period of time to grow before it can function. This is also the reason why I have not been able to meet my brother for a long time, because it has not yet completed the connection with my own chip."
Xiao Wei's transformation process and Zhao Qiang's body reboot are completely different concepts. Xiao Wei didn't simply install an auxiliary chip in Yang Shiyun's brain; she transplanted herself into Yang Shiyun's body. If such a large chip were placed in the brain, Yang Shiyun definitely wouldn't be able to withstand it. Therefore, the chip had to be installed in another part of the body. In order for the chip to have an effect on the brain, it needed to be connected to the nervous system. Artificial nerves are not a new technology in the United States, but nerve growth takes a very long time, which is why Xiao Wei has not been able to wake up for a long time.
Zhao Qiang asked, "What's this about the virus?"
Yang Shiyun stuck out her tongue: "Brother, don't be in such a hurry to scold me, I'm so scared of you."
Zhao Qiang pinched Yang Shiyun's nose: "I didn't see that coming. I haven't even bothered you with your unauthorized departure, and now you've created this domineering virus. I'm afraid you'll destroy the Earth. Do you know how many people have already died because of this? The price is enormous. You absolutely cannot tell anyone about this. Just pretend we never knew anything about it. We have no idea how the virus came about."
“Thank you for caring about me so much, brother,” Yang Shiyun continued, “In order to carry out a series of modifications to my body, you know, brother, simply transplanting the chip is not enough. I don’t want the body I’m inhabiting to be so vulnerable, so I need a laboratory to rebuild this body. You’ve seen that laboratory. At the same time, I also need a group of experienced doctors to perform surgical modifications on my body. So those people at Dorothy Hospital became the targets. Afterwards, I also need to hypnotize them to erase their memories. I just didn’t expect that you would create a memory restoration device and awaken the auxiliary chip in Lina’s brain. Now she only obeys my orders.”
"So you've implanted auxiliary chips to control them," Zhao Qiang said.
Yang Shiyun said, "Yes, they are just the lowest-level auxiliary chips. I can't be sure if they can evolve. Besides, I have turned off all their chips. It won't be easy to turn them back on."
Zhao Qiang nodded. Currently, only Lina has 'awakened,' but it would be too difficult to create another memory recovery device. Zhao Qiang also had no intention of waking up the doctors. It would be fine for them to continue living like this. Once the people died and their bodies were cremated, the chip would disappear.
"I rebuilt Yang Shiyun's skeleton, which was necessary to adapt to more advanced equipment in the future. An ordinary person's skeleton would definitely not be able to withstand it. I also implanted a large number of advanced equipment into her body, such as the invisibility function. Other functions still need to be adjusted. What we lack most now is energy. Because Yang Shiyun has too many functions transplanted into her body, almost her entire body has been modified. Therefore, it will take a long time to recover. To reach the level of energy control I used to have, I think it will take at least two years to complete."
Zhao Qiang said, "You're just trying to bite off more than you can chew."
Yang Shiyun said, "Because I want to have a perfect body, brother. Do you think I'm pretty?"
Zhao Qiang carefully examined Yang Shiyun and said, "Beautiful."
Yang Shiyun asked, "How does it compare to other girls?"
"You have an advantage over them."
Yang Shiyun was very happy: "It's all worth it after all these days of hard work. No matter how much suffering I endured, it was all worth it. Let's continue talking about the virus. It was during the modification process, new cells created to study invisibility. At first, I noticed that they reproduced too quickly, but I didn't expect them to have such a strong ability to engulf human cells and control the entire human body. Later, I deliberately let Professor Martin accidentally 'discover' this virus. Professor Martin was overjoyed and immediately began research. He found a mixed drug, but it could only inhibit part of the virus cells' reproduction ability. At that time, I was in a hurry to return to China to see you, so I put this matter out of my mind. I don't know how this virus spread outside and was used as a biological weapon by someone with ulterior motives."
Zhao Qiang said, "It's no longer realistic to trace the virus's leak. It must have been done by a researcher in the lab. Now that the entire university has been destroyed, it's too difficult to find the person responsible. Even if we punish him, it won't make much difference. So our task is to find a cure and quell this matter as soon as possible."
Yang Shiyun said, "Well, with my own research capabilities, I'm afraid it won't be possible to find a cure in a short time, so you'll have to help me, brother."
Zhao Qiang said, "Don't worry, there's nothing we can't do together."
Boom! The SUV was suddenly and violently rammed. Zhao Qiang peered out and saw, holy crap, infected individuals had appeared among the crowd near the vehicle. Because the people were packed so tightly, it was difficult to escape the infected, so soon a large number of more infected appeared. They first attacked those around them, then charged at the SUV. Without weapons, they relied on their bladders to bite and ram recklessly, even at the cost of their own lives.
Louis's face turned pale. Attacking with so many infected at once was no joke, especially since they were so close to the car. Zhao Qiang had advised him not to take these people with him, but he hadn't listened. Now it was too late to regret it.
Professor Martin's face was even paler than Louis's. He knew his time was running out and he had to find a cure. Otherwise, the injection he had just received wouldn't last long. A 20% effectiveness rate didn't mean it could cure 20 out of 100 people; it only suppressed the virus's cell reproduction.
"What do we do? What do we do?" Professor Martin felt a chill run down his spine as he looked out the car window at the increasing number of infected people. The driver said, "Charge out!" and slammed on the gas, sending the SUV lurching forward. Martin almost lost his balance and fell over.
Louis stuck his gun out of the car and fired the first shot: "Fire! Shoot them hard!" He didn't care whether the people outside were his compatriots or not. If he could manage, he would consider taking everyone with him, but now it was beyond his control. He might even lose his own life inside.
Yang Shiyun glanced at Zhao Qiang. Whether or not to help was up to Zhao Qiang. Xiao Wei used to listen to Zhao Qiang without question, and she would do the same now. Even if Yang Shiyun's ideas were dominant, she would still listen to Zhao Qiang's opinions.
Zhao Qiang pulled out a compression gun: "Go ahead and fire. We have to take care of this."
Louis's rifle ammunition was limited, and the heavy machine gun began to roar. The infected in front were felled like wheat being harvested, but the infected on the side could not be stopped. Louis's rifle made a clicking sound as his magazine emptied. The infected immediately swarmed in, and the driver's side window was being smashed loudly. It was likely that the window would be smashed in the next minute. If they could just stick their little fingers into the driver's body, that person would be done for.
"Bullets, bullets!" Louis shouted, but there were no soldiers in the vehicle. The driver was too busy driving to provide Louis with bullets. The vehicle ran over the corpses and couldn't be lifted. Not to mention, a large number of infected people blocked the vehicle's progress with their own bodies. As soon as the SUV that was clearing the way passed, they surrounded the vehicle from the side. The two vehicles behind were having a very hard time moving.
Zhao Qiang pulled a spare magazine from the driver's waist and tossed it to Louis. Louis nodded to Zhao Qiang: "Thanks, you can help with your weapon." Louis was referring to the rifle on the driver's body. In his view, Zhao Qiang was unarmed. At this critical moment, even if Zhao Qiang had anything that made him suspicious, he couldn't care less. Having more firepower would reduce his pressure.
Zhao Qiang and Yang Shiyun had actually taken out their compression guns, but they were so small that they were practically invisible if hidden in their palms or covered by their sleeves. They rolled down the car window, and thankfully, the military off-road vehicle's windows were bulletproof. Although the zombies smashed the glass until it was covered in blood, they couldn't break through it for the time being. Suddenly, the car window rolled down on its own, and a large number of infected people reached their hands inside, each wanting to grab a fresh person to satisfy their gluttonous desires.
Boom! Zhao Qiang fired, the horn-shaped compression gun shooting out a burst of high-pressure gas. The compressed gas resembled liquid plasma, exploding wherever it touched. A clearing was immediately cleared on one side of the SUV. Louis, who was firing wildly in front, turned around in surprise, hardly believing his eyes.
Volume 2 [690] Opening the Way
[69o] Open the way
Boom! Another explosion rang out, and the other side of the SUV was instantly cleared of an area. A large number of infected people were blown into mincemeat, and the blood-like mincemeat sprayed more than 30 meters away. This rain of blood-like mincemeat caused several infected people to stagger and even blinded them, making it temporarily impossible for them to see the direction of the attack.
Louis had run out of bullets again, but he remained frozen in his firing stance, his eyes fixed on Zhao Qiang and Yang Shiyun behind him. He hadn't even seen how they fired, nor could he see the guns in their hands. Could it be that the Chinese really possess magic, like in ancient legends? They shouldn't be underestimated.
Boom, boom! Zhao Qiang and Yang Shiyun fired another shot, and the infected on both sides of the SUV were completely cleared out. Among them were some uninjured Americans who were mixed in with the infected and could no longer be distinguished. Zhao Qiang and the others were focused on escaping and could not care about their lives.
Louis saw Zhao Qiang and Yang Shiyun harm uninfected Americans, but he said nothing. In this situation, he didn't care if anyone could save him, even if it meant killing all the Americans present. Louis finally saw Zhao Qiang and Yang Shiyun's weapon—a tiny handgun, yet it displayed such great destructive power.
At this moment, the heavy machine gun in the off-road vehicle leading the way fell silent. The troops had not anticipated that the battle would be so fierce when they came out. In addition, they had already fought several battles, so they were severely short of ammunition. The recent barrage had used up all their ammunition. Now the machine gunners could only hold on with rifles and pistols. As soon as their firepower weakened, the infected immediately surrounded them in a fan shape.
Louis pointed to the SUV that had cleared the way and said to Zhao Qiang, "Please help them, I beg you."
Zhao Qiang poked his head out, observed the situation ahead, and then fired a burst of compressed gas. The infected people surrounding them were immediately given a large opening, and the SUV sped through them. Yang Shiyun then fired a shot, and the gap widened further, allowing the next two SUVs to pass through smoothly.
Louis asked Zhao Qiang, "What weapons are you using?"
Zhao Qiang asked, "What, are you interested?"
Louis said, "Of course I do. May I borrow it to take a look?"
Zhao Qiang said, "Of course not." Even if it were shown to the Americans, it wouldn't be someone as insignificant as Louis; he wasn't qualified to speak with Zhao Qiang.
Louis's tone hardened: "Now I, as the highest-ranking officer on the scene, order you to hand over your weapon to me."
Zhao Qiang said, "Come on, Captain Louis, don't try to pull this on me."
Louis said sternly, "Who's playing games with you? As a citizen, how dare you possess weapons in our country? Do you know how serious your mistake is?"
Yang Shiyun said, "We don't know, but I do know that if you keep nagging, you'll be in trouble."
Louis pointed at Yang Shiyun: "You..." He wanted to make a move but then remembered that Yang Shiyun was a girl, and Americans still valued gentlemanly manners.
“What do you mean, ‘you’? If you want to go back alive, don’t say anything or ask anything, otherwise…” Yang Shiyun didn’t finish her sentence, but with a bang, a shot was fired, and more than a dozen infected people fell victim, their flesh and blood torn to shreds. Louis shrank back in fear. If Yang Shiyun shot him, he wouldn’t be able to defend himself. This small weapon was simply too powerful. It was probably only comparable to the small handgun in the movie “Black Cop”. But “Black Cop” was made by Americans. How could the Chinese possibly make such a gun? The Chinese have always been associated with the word “backward”.
At this point, the infected in front no longer attacked the off-road vehicle in clusters, but were scattered. In fact, this made them even more difficult to deal with, requiring exceptional marksmanship to shoot them.
Louis had run out of bullets, and he pinned all his hopes on Zhao Qiang. The road ahead became increasingly difficult, almost to the point of being impassable. Numerous cars were abandoned in the middle of the road, some even on fire. The SUV leading the way couldn't proceed and had to stop on the side of the road. Louis's car surged forward, and Zhao Qiang raised his hand and fired a shot. With a deafening roar, the cars in front were pushed aside by a tremendous force, the first few cars being jostled together, and the road immediately became clear.
Zhao Qiang, the driver of the car, was very observant. Seeing the road cleared, he stepped on the gas and took the lead, followed by Professor Martin and the medicine, and then the SUV that had cleared the way. Yang Shiyun then raised her gun as well. Seeing that the road she had just cleared was blocked by cars again, she fired a shot casually. This way, she and Zhao Qiang exchanged shots, and the car was able to continue moving forward.
"Infected!" Louis shouted, pointing to the side of the car. Infected people appeared in twos and threes from the buildings along the roadside. They stared at the car but didn't rush to attack. They followed the car forward under the cover of the buildings.
The pace of progress is slowing down because a lot of time is spent clearing a path. The infected are gathering in increasing numbers, constantly harming uninfected humans. Infected humans quickly become infected themselves, and then they unite to attack even more humans, creating a vicious cycle.
Louis, being experienced, said, "More and more of them are following us, and it might be difficult to deal with if they explode. But they're using the buildings for cover, so your weapons might not be very effective. Besides, the distance is a bit far. Can your gun even reach them?"
Zhao Qiang put the compression gun back into its holster on his waist, then took out the electromagnetic gun. This gun was much larger, so it was impossible to hide it anymore. Louis looked on curiously: "You have other weapons? You've hidden quite a lot of stuff. What is this?"
Zhao Qiang didn't answer. He activated the glasses' scanning function and immediately captured ten of the closest targets. The electromagnetic gun was connected to the brain's biochip via a neural control chip. The coordinates of the ten targets were immediately input into the electromagnetic gun. Bang! Ten bullets were fired at the same time, and the ten infected people hiding in the building were instantly blown off in the head without missing a single one.
Louis was no longer just shocked. He seemed to have seen the gun in Zhao Qiang's hand split into nine muzzles like a phantom, and each muzzle fired a bullet. But these ten muzzles, like a giant spinning wheel, disappeared after firing the bullets. What was this thing? A thing he had never heard of before.
Zhao Qiang took down ten infected in his first round of shooting. Without pausing, he continued scanning the surroundings and found ten more infected entering the target area. Judging from the scan, they were indeed following and accumulating strength. If things went wrong, they could repeat the same mistake as before. After a few rounds of shooting, Zhao Qiang eliminated these infected who had not yet completed their deployment. Ten deaths at once was a devastating blow to infected who had not yet formed a fighting force.
The convoy stopped in front of a collapsed building. The road was completely blocked. A twenty-story building had collapsed for some unknown reason, cutting across and blocking the entire road. New York was no longer the prosperous city it once was; now all that could be seen was a scene of desolation. Zhao Qiang felt a little guilty because the source of all this was Xiao Wei.
Louis stared at the electromagnetic gun in Zhao Qiang's hand. He swallowed hard. Since the car could no longer move forward, he jumped out of the SUV. "We'll walk. The headquarters is not far away. It'll only take about ten minutes to get around here. I know the roads around here very well."
Martin was helped off the car; his condition was dire. However, given his special status, it was impossible to abandon him at this time.
The group entered a commercial building, which was in a mess. Occasionally, a few normal people would peek out from inside to observe, but there were no more troops on the street. Their hope of escape was slim. Suddenly, they saw Louis and his group appear, and the people immediately surrounded them.
"Take us to a safe place," everyone urged.
Louis said, “Everyone, it’s not that I don’t want to take you away, but we don’t actually want to leave the city. There’s a command post not far from here. If you’re not afraid of danger, head over there. As far as I know, the command post is heavily guarded.”
The group huddled together and discussed it for a moment before saying, "We'll go with you."
Louis said, "Okay, but I'm making it clear in advance that we have other missions to attend to. If there's danger later, we won't be able to take care of everyone. And if there's an infection, we will not be lenient."