"Alas, seeing those soldiers sacrifice while we could do nothing, it feels truly awful…"
Lin Dongxiang and Huang Guoqi, along with others, went downstairs. They were in the first-floor disinfection area, removing their protective suits. Looking at the young soldiers who had died from the Red Demonra virus, they, as doctors, were helpless, forced to watch them die.
It was no wonder Long Xingyu had broken down and roared before, and why Huang Guoqi and the others wanted to find a place to vent their pent-up emotions. But they couldn't.
After sterilizing, the group came out together. Huang Hongying coughed lightly a couple of times, her complexion not looking good. Wan Yunting, who was following, asked with concern, "Dean Huang, you look unwell. Are you alright?"
Huang Hongying waved her hand and shook her head, saying, "I haven't slept much. I'm fine."
Lin Dongxiang said, "Dean Huang has been staying up late in the laboratory these past two days, barely closing her eyes."
Li Yuxiu said, "This won't do. Your body will collapse."
"If it collapses, it collapses. As long as we can research a medicine to cure those soldiers, I'm willing to die," Lin Dongxiang said indifferently.
To develop a drug that could control the Red Demonra virus, everyone was staying up late every day, sleeping only three to four hours. Consequently, Zheng Xuelan, Zhou Luolin, Zhao Peng, Zhang Guoyuan, and the others all had terrible complexions.
Wan Yunting could only shake his head, knowing that persuading them was useless.
"Cough… Doctor Wan, how are you all? Have you come up with any good prescriptions?" Huang Hongying coughed a couple more times, then asked.
"Last night, I thought about it with Doctor Li, and we decided to try adding Apricot Leaf Ginseng. Hmm, the medicine should be ready soon. Let's go first." Suddenly remembering the decoction was still simmering, Wan Yunting informed Huang Hongying and the others, and hurried with Li Yuxiu to check on the medicine…
"Honestly, I really admire Wan Yunting," Huang Guoqi said seriously all of a sudden.
Lin Dongxiang, Zhao Peng, and others turned to look at him. Huang Guoqi couldn't help but tease, "Old Huang, I thought you always had a problem with Doctor Wan."
Huang Guoqi glanced at him and said before heading towards the laboratory, "My silence doesn't mean I have a problem with him."
"Ha, this guy…"
Lin Dongxiang pointed at him and shook his head, smiling.
Huang Hongying also said to Zheng Xuelan and the others, "You guys go back and rest first. We'll go to the slum to test the medicine at noon."
"Okay, Dean Huang…"
Hou Haiyan and the others nodded and quickly returned to their accommodations to rest.
Huang Hongying coughed lightly again and walked towards the laboratory. Lin Dongxiang and Zhao Peng followed, along with Zhang Guoyuan and a few others. They said with concern, "Dean Huang, you should go back and sleep for a while too. Don't overwork yourself."
Huang Hongying waved her hand, indicating it was alright, and said, "Let's prepare the experimental medicine first, and I'll come back to rest tonight."
Seeing this, Lin Dongxiang stopped trying to persuade her. Everyone entered the laboratory and began preparing the medicine to be taken to the slum for experimentation in the afternoon…
On the other side, Wan Yunting and Li Yuxiu arrived behind the mess hall. Squad Leader Niu had already taken out the pot of medicine. Wan Yunting and Li Yuxiu each tasted a sip of the medicinal soup. After waiting for an hour, they personally delivered it to the isolation building, asking Peng Yuxiang, who was on duty inside, to take the medicine in and feed it to the soldier Xiao Qiu.
Xiao Qiu had always been a severe patient and had almost died before. It was Wan Yunting who had forcibly pulled him back from the brink of death using acupuncture and bloodletting. Xiao Qiu was also willing to be Wan Yunting and Li Yuxiu's guinea pig and had cooperated with the drug testing during this time, but it had always been unsuccessful.
"How is it?"
Li Yuxiu was dispensing medicine in the mess hall's storeroom. Seeing Wan Yunting approach, she asked about Xiao Qiu's reaction after drinking the medicine.
Wan Yunting shook his head slightly and sighed, "It's the same as before. After adding Apricot Leaf Ginseng, the medicinal properties of all the drugs cannot be utilized. It's ineffective."
Hearing this, Li Yuxiu stopped her action of grabbing herbs, her delicate eyebrows furrowed. She then said, "Are we on the wrong track?"
Wan Yunting walked in, looking at the stacked boxes of Chinese medicinal materials, all hundreds of types flown in. He said, "Perhaps. But we've hit a dead end now."
Li Yuxiu nodded and said, "Then let's think of other prescriptions."
Immediately, Wan Yunting crossed his arms and leaned against the storeroom doorway, raising an eyebrow. "Do you think there's a medicine that can both detoxify and balance the toxicity of other medicinal ingredients?"
Li Yuxiu continued to sort through the medicinal materials. "We've tried every medicine we could think of. We should have another approach now."
"No!"
Wan Yunting raised his hand and waved it, his gaze very firm. "I always feel there should be a medicine that can directly resist the Red Demonra virus. It's just that we haven't thought of it or encountered it yet."
Li Yuxiu paused in her movements and turned to Wan Yunting, saying, "How about we go out into the wild for some inspiration?"
Wan Yunting's expression froze. He asked, "Can we find good medicine in the African wilderness?"
Li Yuxiu nodded. "I don't know about the Republic of Mali, but I used to open a medical clinic in South Africa, and I did find many Chinese medicinal materials in the wild, even herbs not recorded in our Chinese pharmacopoeia."
"After all, the African region is different, with various plants growing. So, the Republic of Mali should be similar to South Africa. Since we've hit a bottleneck, we can go out into the wild and search."
Wan Yunting thought this was a good idea and nodded. "That's fine. After we return from the slum this afternoon, we'll apply to Captain Luo tonight to see if we can find a medicine to treat the Red Demonra virus outside."
"Okay."
Li Yuxiu nodded and continued with her work. Wan Yunting went out to the mess hall's back to continue brewing the White Tiger Soup with Tiger Horn medicinal soup for the soldiers.
Although the infected soldiers had lost effectiveness to the White Tiger Soup with Tiger Horn, it could still control the rate at which the Red Demonra virus in their bodies worsened and spread, but it was getting slower and slower, eventually losing its efficacy…
Therefore, a medicine that could truly eliminate the Red Demonra virus in their bodies was urgently needed!
"Let's go…!"
Yang Heguang, Nie Xiaoyu, and the others, all wearing protective suits, once again escorted Wan Yunting, Li Yuxiu, Huang Hongying, Lin Dongxiang, and others, who were also wearing protective suits, to the slum two kilometers away.
Because Huang Hongying's team had been researching day and night, they had finally developed a drug that attempted to inhibit the Red Demonra virus. Therefore, this time they were going to the slum to test the drug on the infected individuals.
Nai City Slum, Virus Infection Zone. As days passed, more and more people were infected with the Red Demonra virus daily. Consequently, the virus infection zone was expanding. If this continued, the entire slum would become a virus infection zone within a few days.
Boom…
As the convoy approached Nai City, billowing smoke could be seen rising from several places in the city from afar. Lin Dongxiang, on the vehicle, asked nervously, "Is there a war?"
Nie Xiaoyu, in the passenger seat of the same vehicle as Wan Yunting, held a Type 95 assault rifle and stared intently in the direction of Nai City with sharp, almond-shaped eyes. She said seriously, "Recently, terrorist organizations have been causing trouble in the city and fighting with the local government forces!"
"We might have to go and reinforce them soon too!" said Yang Heguang, who was driving.
Lin Dongxiang sighed and said, "The Red Demonra virus is already causing chaos everywhere. And now terrorists are causing trouble. This is truly leaving people no way to live."
Zhao Peng nodded in agreement, "Who can say otherwise? This country is probably finished."
Wan Yunting and Li Yuxiu remained silent. Everyone was struggling to cope with the Red Demonra virus and were exhausted. They had no energy to care about the rioting terrorists.
Soon, the group arrived at the slum's virus infection isolation zone. They stopped their vehicles on the outskirts. Yang Heguang and Nie Xiaoyu brought a squad of peacekeeping soldiers this time, leaving six soldiers outside to guard the vehicles.
The rest escorted Wan Yunting, Li Yuxiu, Huang Hongying, Lin Dongxiang, Long Xingyu, Zheng Xuelan, and others into the slum to begin treating and testing drugs on the civilian infected individuals in the areas they managed…
Under the treatment by the United Nations, many peacekeeping countries had sent medical teams. Teams composed of authoritative experts specializing in virus research had come and set up laboratories at the United Nations headquarters to specifically research the Red Demonra infectious virus.
It was heard that a very famous virus expert from the United States, Frohlich, had also arrived. He was recognized as the most authoritative virus expert by the World Health Organization. His personal visit to the Republic of Mali gave many people hope.
Wan Yunting and Li Yuxiu's visit this time was not only to help Huang Hongying test their drugs but also to research the local infected individuals, as the physical fitness of the locals was different from that of us Easterners.
"Come, let him try the medicine too…!"
As Wan Yunting and Li Yuxiu were taking the pulse of an infected person in a tin shed, they heard a voice from another tin shed nearby. Moreover, the words spoken were in Chinese, which made Wan Yunting and Li Yuxiu exchange glances, becoming curious.
After all, apart from them, the medical organizations that came to the virus infection isolation zone were all foreigners. Suddenly hearing another medical team speaking Chinese made Wan Yunting and Li Yuxiu come out and peek, trying to see which country's medical team it was.
"Luoshen Biotechnology Company?"
Looking at the English characters written on the protective suits of this medical team, Wan Yunting became curious. Li Yuxiu said, "It's a biotechnology research company from the United States. I heard their founder is Chinese!"
"Oh?"
Wan Yunting didn't know about this. He looked at a man wearing a protective suit, not very tall, wearing a gas mask, making his features difficult to discern.
He was also leading several Chinese people and Americans, testing drugs on several infected individuals there, communicating in both Chinese and English at times. Clearly, this man was the head of this team.
"Dr. Gu, look quickly, it seems to be people from the Chinese medical team!"
A member of this biological team discovered Wan Yunting and Li Yuxiu and turned to the man, saying.
The man also looked back at Wan Yunting and Li Yuxiu and called out in Chinese, "Are you from the Chinese medical team?"
Seeing that they had initiated contact, Wan Yunting nodded and said, "Yes, are you from the American medical team?"
The man wearing the gas mask walked straight over, waved his hand, and said, "No, we are a virus team organized by Luoshen Biotechnology Company to conduct our own research. We have no relation to the US government medical team."
"So that's how it is."
Wan Yunting nodded. He had also heard that the most capable virus expert from the United States, Frohlich, had personally come to the Republic of Mali and set up a laboratory at the UN base to research the Red Demonra virus. He had initially thought that Luoshen Biotechnology Company was also brought by Frohlich, but unexpectedly, it was a private entity coming to conduct research.
"We actually ran into each other. I wonder if your medical team leader is here. Could I meet him?" the man said.
Wan Yunting pointed behind him and said, "Our Dean Huang is testing drugs over there. I'll take you."
"Okay, thank you."
Looking closely through the gas mask, the man was middle-aged. From his speech and tone, he seemed to be a very amiable person. He turned and said, "Wenbin, you continue to lead everyone in testing drugs on the infected. I'll go take a look."
"Alright, Dr. Gu."
The young man named Lin Wenbin responded and continued to lead the other members of the team in testing drugs on the infected.
The man followed Wan Yunting and Li Yuxiu to find Huang Hongying. He asked with a smile, "Young man, I heard that your Chinese medical team has a very厉害 (lìhai - formidable) traditional Chinese medicine doctor who prescribed a formula that can control the spread and worsening of the Red Demonra virus in the human body. Many people in this virus infection zone are drinking that Chinese medicine, White Tiger Soup with Tiger Horn. I'd like to ask for the name of the person who prescribed that formula. Is he your team leader?"
Wan Yunting smiled. He hadn't expected this person to ask about that.
Li Yuxiu pointed at him and said to the man, "He is the one who wrote the prescription!"
"Oh, it's him?"
The man immediately stopped in his tracks. The eyes under the gas mask looked at Wan Yunting with great surprise. Judging from his voice, it could be identified that this person was just a young man, which greatly surprised him. He asked, "Young man, what is your name?"
Wan Yunting smiled politely and said, "My surname is Wan, my name is Wan Yunting."
"What, your name is Wan Yunting?"
The man was shocked again upon hearing Wan Yunting's name.
Wan Yunting looked at his reaction and was immediately puzzled. He asked, "Do you know me?"
The man asked, "Are you the Wan Yunting from Huadu City, China?"
This time, Wan Yunting was surprised. He looked at the middle-aged man through the gas mask with surprise, wondering who he was and how he knew him?
Moreover, judging from his words, it wasn't just that he knew his name; it seemed as if he had known him through some means!