from my heart [last days]

Exhausted after driving all night, but there was a strong smell of smoke in the car, Xie Congxin opened the rear window, and finally felt a little more comfortable after the cool morning breeze poured in.

Driving across the Longhe Bridge, Zhou An said: "Don't you two explain? We are still at a loss."

"That's right!" Peng He didn't feel drowsy anymore, and couldn't hold back his curiosity, "I still don't believe the captain said you will come, did you get some secret signal?"

Xie Congxin rubbed his sore shoulders and said nothing. Pei Ze took out the national atlas from the cart, turned to the page marked with a red pen, handed it to Zhou An, and said, "Yichang, Zhengzhou , Shijia|zhuang, is not the shortest route back to Beijing."

"That's it?" Zhou An took the atlas and flipped through it, confirming that there was nothing else on it except for a few red circles and a red line. He glanced at Xie Congxin, who was looking out the window, and then at Pei Ze, who was expressionless as usual, with a subtle tone, " The two of you are telepathic? We didn't hear it."

Of course there was no telepathy, but there was no way to explain it clearly.

That may be due to the strong intuition during face-to-face conversations, and the judgment of Xie Congxin—a smart person seeks advantages and avoids disadvantages, and a fairly smart person protects his life wisely. Only stupid people go forward bravely, and Xie Congxin said that he is not too stupid.

Xie Congxin noticed Pei Ze's gaze, and finally said miserly: "Actually, I originally planned to meet you in Yi|chang, but I didn't expect you to wait here."

Pei Ze said: "Take the national road to Yi|chang, this is the only way to go."

Chongcheng is nearly a thousand kilometers away from Yichang, not to mention how Xie Congxin will get there alone, Zhou An said, "What if we didn't wait for you?"

Xie Congxin smiled: "I thought that with Captain Pei's ability, it wouldn't be possible to fail to understand such obvious hints."

The wind was too loud, so he closed the window and asked, "Is there anything to eat? Anything."

"It's all in the trunk." Cheng Yinshang handed over a pack of egg rolls from the front row. He brought it out from the school supermarket and ate half of it last night. "Let's eat this first."

Xie Congxin took it, and Pei Ze gave him a bottle of water, "It's not safe here, drive [-] kilometers before stopping."

Chongcheng must have found out about Xie Congxin's departure, and Xu Shan might send someone to chase after him. The Longhe Bridge is only 160 kilometers away from Chongcheng, so it is easy to catch up.

After all, the opponent is a regular army. If they are caught up and exchanged fire, they will definitely not be able to please them. They can only distance themselves as soon as possible to avoid encounters.

Everyone understands the truth. Peng He stepped on the gas pedal and drove up to [-] yards on the cracked asphalt road due to the earthquake. Fortunately, the jeep did a good job of anti-vibration, and it was still stable.

Cheng Yinshang looked at the back row from the rearview mirror, and said hesitantly, "Academician Xie..."

"Ask." Xie Congxin chewed the egg roll with little interest.

"Why do you insist on returning to Beijing? I thought the conditions in Chongcheng were pretty good and safe enough..."

"I have to go back to the National Academy of Sciences," Xie Congxin put it down after eating two egg rolls that had been left out overnight, "It's like you must go back and return to your life."

Cheng Yin said: "Since you must go back, why do you pretend to stay?"

"Otherwise?" Xie Congxin made a slight nasal sound, as if asking why you still ask such a simple question, "I don't agree, do you think you can get out of the city?"

Xu Shan and Professor Wen learned from Xie Yiming that he was bitten but not infected. In addition, Professor Wen's ignorance of the experiment back then determined that he had clues to the vaccine. Xu Shan had no intention of letting him go at all.There are only five of them, so it is not the best strategy to go head-to-head with the entire military region.

Cheng Yinshang asked again: "Then why does Commander Xu have to keep the academician?"

"I was about to say this," Xie Congxin calmly wiped off the debris on his hands, "How much do you know about this outbreak of virus?"

There was no one in the car to answer the call, and there was three seconds of silence.

Knowing little, or even nothing, Xie Cong understood, "Let's start from the beginning. On the night of October 2028, 10, a meteorite shower fell, and one of them fell into the upper reaches of the Yangtze River, causing a major earthquake in the southwest region."

He turned on the computer prepared for him by Zhongcheng, called up the photos taken when the meteorite fell, and turned the screen to Pei Ze and the others.

The mighty meteor shower pierced the night sky, from near to far, countless silver lights tore through the sky. It is hard to imagine that this magnificent and gorgeous moment is actually the beginning of a disaster.

"The observation report of the Chongcheng Observatory shows that there are far more than one meteorite," Xie Congxin said. "The communication network is unavailable. At present, we can only confirm that at least seven meteorites have fallen in China. The approximate places where they fell were in Sichuan Province, Dunhuang, the Inner Mongolia Grassland, and the Northeast Plain. , Dongting, the estuary of the Yangtze River, and the South China Sea, and the rest fell abroad, and the total number in the northern hemisphere alone exceeded [-]."

Cheng Yinshang asked in surprise, "So many?"

Not to mention other countries, the first seven have completely covered the vast territory of China in the southeast and northwest, as if they were deliberately placed by someone.

"Yes, so many, global disasters," Xie Congxin briefly concluded, "The situation in the southern hemisphere is unknown, and I'm afraid it's not optimistic."

The atmosphere suddenly became heavy, Zhou An asked: "What the hell is going on with the zombies? What does it have to do with meteorites and earthquakes?"

"I was about to say," Xie Congxin switched the screen, and clicked on a set of electronic display virus imaging, "This is a new type of virus that we extracted from the infected, which is what you call zombies."

Zhou Andao: "Academician Xie, let's just say it straight, we don't understand these things either."

Xie Congxin closed the computer screen, "In the February 2018 issue of "Astrobiology", someone once put forward the hypothesis that viruses may have originated from outer space, speculated that a series of super viruses such as HIV are very likely to have originated from the universe, and pointed out that the Cretaceous period dinosaurs became extinct. , perhaps not only because the meteorite hit the earth and caused the earth's environment to change drastically, but also because of some kind of deadly virus carried in the meteorite. After all, the death caused by the environmental change is usually slow and leaves room. Only infectious diseases have such a large scale And rapid lethality."

What he said was not succinct, and he even deliberately increased the difficulty to blur the meaning of the audiovisual, but because his natural voice was clear and clear, and the words and sentences were well-cohesive, he could still understand him. Pei Ze pondered for a moment, and said: "You mean, this A new type of virus originated from a meteorite that fell ten days ago."

Xie Congxin smiled: "Captain Pei has a good understanding."

"Dinosaurs..." Zhou An said, "So we might become extinct too?"

"Nothing is impossible," Xie Congxin said, "but it is more likely to survive. The natural infection rate of this virus is between one-fifth and one-fourth, which means that every five people on average There will be a natural infection in one person. The probability of this is not high enough to wipe out nearly 100 billion people on the earth in one go."

After speaking, the car suddenly fell into a strange silence.

Unlike the silence when he couldn't understand just now, Xie Congxin caught a flash of strangeness in Pei Ze's eyes.

Xie Congxin raised his eyebrows, "What's wrong? What's the problem?"

"It's indeed one-fifth," Zhou An sighed. "Academician Xie doesn't know, does he? The team of the Ministry of National Security is actually composed of five people."

Xie Congxin reacted very quickly, "So you have teammates..."

"It's a natural infection," Pei Ze said, "on the afternoon of October 10."

Of the team of five, only four reached the heavy city.

Xie Congxin remembered that when he first met, he blamed Pei Ze and others for being "too slow". Pei Ze said "sorry" and some irrelevant reasons, but did not mention it.

If it was an ordinary person, they would probably say "sorry" at this time.But Xie Congxin seemed to be born lacking the nerve that governs sympathy, so he dismissed the topic as if he hadn't heard anything, and continued: "Infections among the surviving people are still happening, and the number of living people will be less and less."

Peng He curled his lips: "Then we will all be finished sooner or later?"

Xie Congxin said: "If you let it go, it will happen soon."

Zhou An asked again: "Has there been any countermeasures for the heavy city?"

Xie Congxin said: "It's not a countermeasure, it can only be considered as an attempt. They speculated on the cause of the first batch of infections, and they are more inclined to water source infections. Most of the tap water in the heavy city comes from the Yangtze River. After the meteorite fell, the virus entered the river water. The tap water purification system It cannot be completely filtered. The first batch of infected people is likely to be due to direct drinking of water carrying the virus."

Zhou An looked at Pei Ze, and Pei Ze said in a deep voice, "Yin Shang."

Cheng Yinshang paused for two seconds, then said softly: "Brother Zhang did drink tap water at noon that day, that's when the minister called..."

Pei Ze frowned, his forearm rested on his leg, and his back was as stiff as a tight bow.

Zhou An sighed lightly, sat next to Pei Ze, put his hand on his shoulder, and said in relief, "This is not your problem, none of us have thought of it."

Pei Ze lowered his voice: "...I understand."

He has always been seldom talkative, looks stern, and the occasional expression of such emotions also appears to be depressed.

Xie Congxin raised his eyebrows watching the two people's intimacy, and continued: "Chongcheng has begun to try to purify the water source, which should be able to effectively reduce the natural infection rate. If it can be controlled below one-eighth, it will win a lot for vaccine production. buffer time."

Having said so much, the first two questions were still unanswered. Cheng Yinshang asked: "Then why didn't Academician Xie stay in Chongcheng? There will be a lot of time delay on the way back to Beijing."

Xie Congxin smiled slightly: "Because I am the only one who can make a vaccine, I must ensure that I am in an absolutely safe place with full strength."

Throwing thunder on the ground, everyone looked at him in surprise, but Xie Congxin didn't move. He tapped the computer case twice with his fingertips, and his voice was as calm as talking about someone else's business.

"23 years ago, my teachers and parents participated in a scientific research project hosted by the National Academy of Sciences. They extracted a set of strange RNA from a meteorite that fell that year - a brand new virus genetic information carrier, which does not belong to any A known virus. After repeated animal experiments, they found that once an animal is infected with this virus, its body functions will be greatly strengthened, and its brain activity will also increase rapidly. Some mammals even evolved in a short period of time. Human-like imitation and memory abilities."

This result caused a shock in the group at the time. Su Shiqing said that many people firmly believed that this virus was "the light of human evolution."

"However, the project was stopped soon," Xie Congxin pointed with his fingertips, "The infected animals showed strong aggressiveness, and even herbivores have evolved sharp and sharp in a short period of time." They ignore the rules of the food chain and attack other organisms, and their lifespan is very short. A large number of viruses parasitize the cerebral cortex, cerebellum, spinal cord, and medulla, causing the blood demand in the brain to skyrocket, and the blood vessels in the whole body to expand, resulting in hair loss and swollen limbs. Large, protruding eyeballs, most of the animals only survive for a few months after being infected."

Zhou An said: "This virus..."

Xie Congxin said: "They call it LDV, Living Dead Virus, which comes from the word 'zombie' in English, very appropriate, isn't it?"

"..." The name was really simple and rude.

"At first, I was just skeptical. The pathological manifestations of LDV are very similar to the one that is currently breaking out," Xie Congxin smiled. "After comparing the structures, I suspect that they are manifestations of different strains of the same virus. I am not sure yet. But □□ is not far from ten."

Pei Ze said, "So they want to keep you?"

"Yes, that's why they want to keep me, but the National Academy of Sciences wants you to take me back to Beijing." Xie Congxin said, "All the materials left by my parents are in my hands. I have to go back to the National Academy of Sciences."

Cheng Yinshang nodded in a daze, struggling to digest the sudden huge information, Pei Ze said: "Those three people pretended to be us and kidnapped you for this information?"

"I think so." Xie Congxin nodded, "There were quite a few insiders who participated in the project back then, but all other materials have been destroyed. Only the RNA translation code left by my mother and several sets of animal experiment data are important for cracking LDV. role, that's what they want."

"Where did you put the information?" Zhou An asked, "Is it impossible to carry it with you at all times?"

Xie Congxin smiled, "It's not safe to put it anywhere, so I have to put it in my head."

Cheng Yinshang was puzzled: "Why do they want this information? If it's for a vaccine, wouldn't it be the same whoever made it?"

Xie Congxin said: "Of course it's not just for vaccines, it's for evolution."

"……evolution?"

"The Red Queen's race, the Red Queen's theory," Xie Congxin narrowed his eyes slightly, a subtle disgust floated in his eyes, but it was fleeting and no one noticed, "the biological evolution hypothesis that is also known as Darwin's theory of evolution—"If you don't enter, you will die." For retreat'. Many people in the biological world believe that if human beings want to be human forever and stand at the top of the biological hierarchy forever, they must obtain further evolution before the deterioration of the earth's environment. Troubled times are not necessarily bad for human beings. Opportunity, LDV may not become a higher ladder for human beings, and the RNA code I have may be the key to whether they can climb this ladder."

The topic rose to an incomprehensible level, everyone was silent again, Xie Congxin explained: "As I said, LDV will promote the rapid evolution of biological physiology."

Even if its side effects were more serious than simple lethality, so it was stopped by the high-level at the beginning of the research, there are still a large number of people who firmly believe that it can bring unprecedented opportunities to mankind, such as his father Xie Lin, who is the leader of many The most utterly insane of all lunatics.

"So they are looking for you," Pei Ze said, "There are people from them inside Guoan."

"There are too many people looking for me," Xie Congxin said with a sarcasm, "Ministry of National Security, National Academy of Sciences, the enemy is always in the dark, and there will definitely be people along the way."

Saying such words, the tone is confident, as if everything is under control.

Pei Ze looked at him, and it happened that the scattered morning light from the mountains shone into the car window, shining in his light-colored eyes, dyeing his pupils a bright golden color, like a burning little sun, the rays of light lofty.

Xie Congxin is undoubtedly smart.

Whether it is academic ability, the false promises he made when dealing with Xu Shan in order to obtain materials and information, or the complicated but coherent words he said to them at this moment, and the words that could not hear the flaws, all of them showed that he was different from Xu Shan. The calmness and wisdom of ordinary people.

Yet he is not sincere.

He was a little cunning, and the beauty he showed was probably to cover up other unspeakable secrets. Pei Ze had a strong feeling that they were no different from Xu Shan to Xie Congxin.

He needed more information about the virus, so he pretended to stay in Chongcheng and got a computer full of information;

He needed to return to Beijing, so he said these words to them enough for them to realize his importance, forcing them to put his safety first.

Xie Congxin is like a fox.

Insight into people's hearts and proper measure are all just right.

But these have nothing to do with them.

They just accepted the order to send Xie Congxin back to Beijing. What kind of person Xie Congxin is has nothing to do with him or the third team.

Two seconds later, Pei Ze said, "Since we have accepted the order, we will definitely send you back to the Academy of Sciences."

Xie Congxin smiled slightly: "Of course, I believe in Captain Pei."