The words spoken by Elder Yi Potian shocked everyone in the conference hall, and they couldn't help but secretly applaud him. As soldiers, they admired people who were grateful and kept their oaths. Although Yi Potian's behavior was inappropriate in terms of both emotion and reason, it could not stop the old generals from recognizing and praising him.
“Then let him stay. The Yi family of Yanji is an extension of the military, and their loyalty to the country and the nation is evident. Yi Potian staying will not violate any rules.”
The chairman resolved the matter satisfactorily with a single sentence, and no one objected. Liu Daoqi and Situ Wentian returned to their seats with subtle smiles on their faces, no longer making things difficult for Yi Potian.
"Lin Yao, I have three things to tell you."
The meeting was chaired by Yue Taiqun, the number two figure in the military and the father of Yue Bufan, who had a grudge against Lin Yao. The first item on the agenda was to announce the purpose of summoning Lin Yao back to Beijing.
"The first thing is about the matter concerning Jiang Liu reported by the Yi family. I heard that only you know the most about it, so I would like you to explain it to everyone."
"Yes, that's fine."
Lin Yao cleared his throat, speaking softly. Elder Yi Potian immediately brought the microphone close to Lin Yao's mouth so that everyone could hear what he was saying in the softest voice.
“I told the Grand Elder before that Jiang Liu had obtained an ancient magical artifact, but the truth is a bit different. This thing can be called a magical artifact, or it can be used to ride a creature. Jiang Liu has been parasitized by this creature, and his thoughts and personality will change drastically. If we continue to judge him according to the thoughts and behaviors of ordinary people, everyone will suffer.”
Lin Yao paused, allowing everyone time to process this fantastical tale before continuing, "This organism, composed of numerous microorganisms, bacteria, and viruses, can control the mutation of almost all bacteria and viruses. That's why we have the novel coronavirus outbreak and another new virus that hasn't yet been released. Both of these viruses are extremely infectious and deadly, and are things that all of humanity should guard against in the future."
"In my judgment, these two viruses are just the tip of the iceberg. Jiang Liu must have other new viruses. The current human epidemic prevention system and drugs are ineffective against the new viruses he has created. As for broad-spectrum preventive drugs, that is nonsense. Minhong Pharmaceutical is just cooperating with the government to do some publicity. Even if preventive drugs are produced, they can only defend against a certain part of a certain family of variant viruses or bacteria. If a new virus really causes harm, we must analyze the specific situation and produce targeted drugs on a temporary basis."
"One thing is certain. That is, the time for us to develop and produce drugs will definitely be delayed until the time of the virus outbreak. Therefore, it is inevitable that people will die when the epidemic occurs in the future. We can only try our best to make the impact and consequences as minor as possible."
"Furthermore, everyone must stop treating Jiang Liu as a human being. He can no longer be considered human, although he still retains some human memories and emotions, such as his hatred for the Yi family."
As soon as Lin Yao finished speaking, the entire conference hall fell into a deathly silence. The chairman and the generals were terrified by the crisis Lin Yao described. As the greatest contributors to solving the epidemic in Yanji City, no one doubted Lin Yao's words, and they couldn't even raise alarmist questions. This was because such a thing, which only existed in legends, was far beyond everyone's knowledge and imagination. Even if they wanted to object, they didn't know how to say it.
"How should the state deal with the rivers? Or rather, how should it deal with the creatures that parasitize the rivers?"
The chairman was the first to regain his senses, breaking the silence of the meeting room.
"Chairman, judging from the current situation, only those who have reached the Heavenly Realm can cause trouble and some damage to Jiang Liu. Therefore, in the future, we will have to rely on Heavenly Realm power to deal with Jiang Liu."
Lin Yao gave the final answer, which disappointed everyone. No one was sure whether a Heaven-level expert could stop Jiang Liu. Just by looking at how Jiang Liu, despite being seriously injured, had beaten two military "enforcers" to the brink of death and seriously injured in a short time, it was clear that a Heaven-level expert was not very effective in front of him.
"Jiang Liu is injured, how do we find him?"
The chairman's questions hit the nail on the head, which impressed Lin Yao. He was impressed that the chairman could quickly regain his composure and find the key points after hearing such an unbelievable story. His mental fortitude and reaction speed were extremely strong.
"Chairman, I don't know. It's hard to find him because, as far as I know, Jiang Liu can easily transform his body after being parasitized, making it easy for him to change into the appearance of another person."
"If the epidemic breaks out again, how will we find him? I heard that you also found Jiang Liu this time, although with the help of a detoxified person." The chairman continued to ask questions.
"Chairman, all I can say is that if I were on the front lines of the epidemic, and Jiang Liu happened to be there as well, I could find him as quickly as possible. Of course, that would only be possible if I were fully recovered; right now, there's nothing I can do."
"If the river recovers even faster now, wouldn't we be left with no choice but to passively wait for the epidemic to break out?" The chairman frowned, his expression very serious.
"That's unlikely. Jiang Liu's injuries are much more serious than mine, so he probably won't recover as quickly as I have. I don't even know how long it will take me to recover, let alone Jiang Liu."
A bitter smile appeared on Lin Yao's face, but his heart was filled with pain. The little grass was still half-dead and dormant in his chest. This situation made Lin Yao want to stab Jiang Liu a few times and kill that evil person.
Lin Yao suddenly remembered that it was General Tian, who was in charge of the overall command, who insisted on reporting to ZY for instructions, which prevented several Heavenly-level experts from providing assistance. Otherwise, Jiang Liu would have been killed long ago. Thinking of this, Lin Yao couldn't help but feel resentful towards the high-ranking military officials present, and a sense of displeasure arose in his heart.
"I heard that you made the greatest contribution when dealing with Jiang Liu, Xiao Lin. Does that mean your personal strength has already surpassed the Heavenly Realm?"
Yue Taiqun suddenly interrupted, his gaze fixed on Lin Yao, revealing neither joy nor anger.
"Well... I can only say that I am good at medicine and can make some medicines to cure diseases and save lives. This ability is exactly the opposite of Jiang Liu's current ability, so it seems that my destructive power is greater, but that is not actually the case."
Lin Yao felt there was something wrong with the question, so he chose to continue to conceal his strength. He didn't care how much the other party knew, since he wouldn't admit to being very powerful anyway.
"Second question: Is it true that the drug you developed cannot be industrially produced? Then how come Minhong issued a statement saying that it has made substantial progress and that a new drug will be available soon?"
Yue Taiqun continued to chair the meeting and raised the second question.
"Generals," Lin Yao looked around the entire conference hall before continuing, "I am also a practitioner of ancient martial arts, but I am more inclined towards ancient medicine. Therefore, I can produce medicines with special abilities after processing medicinal materials through special methods. However, even my father could not master this ability, so the current medicines are really not suitable for industrial production."
"As for Minhong's new drug, it was only to suppress panic. There was actually no progress. It's just that I personally have gained some understanding of this new virus. If I fully recover, I am confident that I can develop a production process."
After Lin Yao finished speaking, he felt his throat was a little dry, so he picked up the teacup in front of him and took a sip of water.
"Can the future processes be made public?" Yue Taiqun pressed.
"Of course, I've already spoken to that epidemic prevention expert. Minhong will provide the process, formula, and cluster bacterial samples. There are no secrets here. However, it's very difficult to induce bacterial growth. The only solution I can currently use is to rely on personal ability to induce growth. I'm sorry, I can't help with that."
"Then why is it only supplied to Minhong members?" Yue Taiqun immediately asked.
"Excuse me, I thought this meeting was about military matters. Has General Yue been reassigned to a new role?"
Lin Yao immediately shut Yue Taiqun up. This kind of thing was under the government's jurisdiction and had nothing to do with the military. It was not Yue Taiqun's place to criticize him, so Lin Yao didn't even bother to explain.
"Alright, the third question." Yue Taiqun wasn't angry at all, which was unlike a general who should be straightforward. "The troops participating in the epidemic control work this time include the 38th Army Infantry Division in Baoding. Judging from the results, all the troops had people infected with the virus, but only the officers and soldiers of the 38th Army Infantry Division were not infected. In fact, after discovering this phenomenon, the epidemic prevention experts recruited soldiers for experiments and found that they had a strong degree of natural immunity to this virus. What does this mean?"
Yue Taiqun glanced at Lin Yao with ill intent. "The commander of the infantry division is Yi Fei from the Yi family. We understand that all the officers and soldiers of the infantry division were ordered by Yi Fei to take a drug. It is because of this drug that they have achieved a rapid increase in their personal combat power and thus have immunity to the virus. What do you have to say?"
Lin Yao glanced coldly at Yue Taiqun, his voice as calm as ever, "There's nothing to say. Yi Fei wanted to try to improve our military's defense capabilities, starting with individual soldier skills, so I cooperated with him in conducting experiments and provided him with some drugs to adjust human skills and enhance personal abilities."
"I guarantee that this drug has no side effects. It will not affect a person's mental state, physical health, or even lifespan. That's all."
"Then... could this drug be made more widely available?" The person who interrupted Yue Taiqun, who was about to speak, was Hong Wei, the commander of the Lanzhou Military Region, who was most concerned about this matter.
"I'm sorry, this medicine is very precious and difficult to manufacture."
Lin Yao immediately refused, "Of course, even if I wanted to get it out now, it would be impossible because I'm injured. Even if I weren't injured, the price I paid would be very high. So if the military has any ideas, they can contact the relevant personnel at Minhong. This is not free."
The generals immediately showed their disappointment, but they couldn't really blame him. After all, Lin Yao looked like he was about to die, and even if the military had ideas, it wasn't the right time to bring them up.
"Lin Yao, things are over here. You're coming with me to Zhongnanhai. There's a meeting there that you need to attend."