The slum of Marrigoni City, Niger, is home to approximately 100,000 civilians living in makeshift shantytowns.
The houses, particularly those with corrugated iron roofs, could hardly be called houses; they were merely crude iron shelters to shield against wind and rain, with small spaces crammed full of entire families.
Dark skin and malnutrition had resulted in the residents being tall and lanky, yet skeletal. The children, in particular, were mere skin and bones, evoking pity. It was hard to imagine such poverty existed in the world.
The slum was littered with garbage and was filthy, making it impossible for even small vehicles to enter. The residents lived in complete disorder, leading to an extremely poor environment with rampant bacteria. It was no wonder the Red Demon Plague virus could break out.
In addition to the Red Demon Plague, other infectious diseases were also present, but none were as virulent as the Red Demon Plague, which caused a 100% mortality rate.
Currently, the Red Demon Plague was raging through the slum, having claimed 5,800 lives to date!
Therefore, dealing with the corpses posed a massive problem. The Marrigoni government was reluctant to intervene, as they were already overwhelmed by the separatist forces, leaving them unable to address the slum. This allowed the Red Demon Plague virus to spread into Niger City. Although the death toll was not as high as in the slum, the city had already descended into chaos.
The task of handling the bodies of those who died from the virus was undertaken by the Chinese peacekeeping forces and other UN forces, who buried the corpses in large pits.
Failure to dispose of the bodies properly would lead to a massive outbreak of the Red Demon Plague virus.
However, many bodies were still casually buried by local civilians in ditches by the roadside. Consequently, Wan Yunting, Huang Hongying, Nie Xiaoyu, and Yang He Guang led their teams into the slum and discovered bodies discarded in pits, awaiting burial.
These corpses, killed by the Red Demon Plague virus, were decomposing. Swarms of flies filled the air, and a nauseating stench permeated the atmosphere. Some bodies even had maggots wriggling on them…
*Gag…*
Witnessing such a horrifying scene, Zheng Xuelan and Hou Feiyan, the two young women, couldn't help but vomit immediately…
“Quick, get out…”
Seeing someone vomit, Luo Guowei, wearing protective gear and a gas mask, shouted.
Zheng Xuelan and Hou Feiyan were quickly escorted back to the vehicle. Long Xingyu, upon seeing the horrific scene in the pit, also felt nauseous. Wan Yunting, walking ahead, turned back, also wearing a gas mask, and said, “If you can’t take it, go back to the car.”
Long Xingyu’s eyes widened, and he forced himself to swallow. He scoffed, “Who said I’m going to vomit.”
“Let’s go,”
Huang Hongying said, following Luo Guowei and the others into the infected zone of the slum. They saw civilians lying in the crude iron shanties, infected with the Red Demon Plague. The severely ill were black and red all over, festering and emitting a strong stench, left to lie there and await death.
“Dean Huang, we’ll stay outside,”
Luo Guowei warned that proceeding deeper into the slum would lead them to encounter terrorists.
Soldiers like Nie Xiaoyu and Yang He Guang, clad in protective suits and gas masks, held their weapons with stern vigilance. They would issue immediate warnings upon spotting any suspicious individuals approaching.
“Alright,” Huang Hongying nodded, then said to Lin Dongxiang, Huang Guoqi, Wan Yunting, and the others, “Let’s begin…”
Everyone nodded and started conducting a series of examinations on the civilians infected with the Red Demon Plague virus, collecting data for research experiments…
Yang He Guang, Nie Xiaoyu, and their team of soldiers maintained stern expressions, their sharp eyes fixed on the infected civilians around them, who resembled walking corpses. These infected individuals also looked at Wan Yunting and his team with a mixture of confusion and hope. Some infected people even approached them begging for help, but Huang Hongying and the others were powerless…
Two hours passed, and the sky gradually darkened. Luo Guowei checked the time, noting it was 5:40 PM. He called out to Huang Hongying, “Dean Huang, hurry up. We must return to the base before dark.”
“Understood.”
Huang Hongying nodded, urging Long Xingyu, Zheng Xuelan, and the others to work faster to collect as much virus data as possible for research…
*Bang, bang, bang…*
Suddenly, gunfire erupted from deep within the slum, instantly putting Nie Xiaoyu, Yang He Guang, and the other soldiers on high alert. Huang Hongying and Lin Dongxiang also tensed up. Long Xingyu shouted, “What’s going on?”
“It must be terrorists. Let’s go quickly.”
Luo Guowei immediately drew his pistol and, along with other soldiers, anxiously stared in the direction of the ongoing gunfire, urging Huang Hongying and Lin Dongxiang to leave quickly…
“We’re almost done. Let’s go.”
Huang Hongying saw that the virus data collection was nearing completion. She immediately had Long Xingyu and Zheng Xuelan pack their equipment. Under the protection of Nie Xiaoyu and Yang He Guang, they began to run out…
“Everyone, get in the cars, let’s go…”
They reached the intersection outside the slum where the vehicles were parked. Luo Guowei instructed Huang Hongying and Huang Guoqi to board quickly. As Wan Yunting got into the car, he removed his gas mask.
However, in just a few seconds, a fully armed foreigner on the second floor of a two-story building not far away clearly saw Wan Yunting’s face through binoculars!
Immediately, the foreigner took out a satellite phone, dialed, and connected. He spoke in Mexican, “Morton, it’s confirmed, it’s that Chinese person!”
In a command center within a secret base tens of kilometers away, a Mexican-faced foreigner, dressed in mercenary military attire, sat in an office chair with his legs crossed on the desk. Upon hearing his subordinate’s report, he immediately put down his legs and asked, eyes wide, “Are you sure you saw him clearly?”
The subordinate stated with certainty, “No mistake, it’s him!”
Morton’s brown eyes widened, and the anger that had been simmering within him boiled over. He gritted his teeth and said, “Keep a close watch on him!”
“Understood.”
The subordinate in the slum acknowledged, hung up the call, and immediately alerted his accomplices to go downstairs and pursue Wan Yunting’s convoy…
On the other side, Morton’s face was grim. He never expected that the person who not only killed their boss, Carlo Cujin, but also his superior, Herman, in Mexico back then.
Morton, the副队长 of the Ace Armed Guard, had never forgotten this debt. Later, he broke through and led a group of his subordinates to leave Mexico and seek a new life in Marrigoni, Africa. However, he had been continuously gathering information about Wan Yunting.
Ever since Wan Yunting returned to China from Mexico, Morton had been helpless against him.
Because China was a forbidden zone for all mercenaries, Morton knew that with his limited strength, he could not infiltrate China to kill Wan Yunting.
However, Morton had not forgotten this grudge. He had recently received news that Wan Yunting was likely coming to Marrigoni!
When Wan Yunting and his group landed in the capital of Marrigoni yesterday, Morton’s men had spotted them. That was why he had instructed his men in the slum to keep a close watch and confirm if it was that Chinese person.
Now that it was confirmed that the Chinese person, Wan Yunting, had indeed come to Marrigoni, Morton’s anger surged. He immediately summoned his subordinates, preparing to seek revenge on Wan Yunting!
At this moment, Wan Yunting was unaware that he had been targeted by Morton.
After all, during the major battles against drug trafficking organizations in Mexico, he had no idea that Morton, the副队长 of the Ace Armed Guard, had escaped the deadly clutches of the local government army and left Mexico to come to Marrigoni in Africa.
Even more unknown to Wan Yunting was that Morton was now under the control of a certain major power!
The Chinese peacekeeping forces’ convoy left the slum and headed back to their base two kilometers away. However, they were unaware that a jeep was following them about a kilometer behind. The foreigner continued to report to Morton until the convoy entered the Chinese peacekeeping forces' base, where he stopped far away.
Meanwhile, Morton was also formulating his revenge plan!
“Phew, we’re finally safe.”
As the vehicles stopped in the small square of the base, Long Xingyu and Zheng Xuelan got out, heaving sighs of relief along with Lin Dongxiang and Huang Guoqi.
Luo Guowei also said, “Those terrorists usually have backing, and they generally don’t dare to attack our peacekeeping forces’ base.”
Huang Hongying nodded and asked, “Does the base have a research laboratory?”
“Yes.”
Luo Guowei immediately pointed to a building in the distance and said, “According to your needs, we have already moved the equipment over.”
Huang Hongying nodded, then turned to Lin Dongxiang, Huang Guoqi, and Long Xingyu, saying, “After dinner, we will begin researching the virus.”
“Yes…”
Zheng Xuelan, Zhou Luolin, and the others nodded. Huang Hongying also said to Wan Yunting, “Dr. Wan, if you are interested, you can also participate.”
Before Wan Yunting could speak, Long Xingyu said sarcastically, “Dean Huang, I don’t think it’s necessary. Dr. Wan is a traditional Chinese medicine practitioner. Even if he participates, he probably won’t understand our Western medical research, will he?”
Wan Yunting turned to look at Long Xingyu and smiled, “Whether I understand it or not is none of your concern.”
“Alright, let’s go organize the data we collected,” Huang Hongying interrupted Long Xingyu and turned to return to her accommodation…
A single room was also arranged for Wan Yunting at the base. After changing out of his protective suit and into his military uniform, he emerged and joined Huang Hongying and the others for dinner in the mess hall. Afterward, they proceeded to the research laboratory to conduct scientific research on the Red Demon Plague virus.
However, Long Xingyu was proven correct. Wan Yunting truly did not understand Western medical research. After observing for a while, he directly came out.
Seeing this, Long Xingyu couldn’t help but let out a triumphant哼. He continued his research on the Red Demon Plague virus under the guidance of Huang Hongying and the others…
Wan Yunting came out, put on another set of protective gear, and donned a gas mask before entering the adjacent building to help Zheng Xuelan and Peng Yuxiang care for the infected peacekeeping officers.
In the afternoon, another soldier died. Furthermore, two soldiers responsible for handling corpses in the slum were also infected and had been sent back to this adjacent building for treatment.
“They are all young men in their twenties…”
Old Zhang, the military doctor, watched as the thirteen infected soldiers lay in bed, groaning in pain. As doctors, they were helpless, which was driving them to despair.
Not to mention their despair, even Peng Yuxiang and the dozen or so others who had been taking care of these soldiers for just one afternoon felt deeply distressed by their suffering and felt on the verge of collapse.
Currently, there were no drugs at the base to control these infected soldiers. Wan Yunting also felt powerless.
They could only wait for tomorrow when the person in charge of the South African medical clinic, Li Yuxiu, would deliver the Bai Hu Tang Jia Yin Qiao traditional Chinese medicine. Then, they could try it on these infected soldiers to see if it could control the spread of the virus in their bodies…