Liu Ruosong, like Fu Yan, came from a military district compound.
When Fu Yan was just two and a half years old, his biological parents died in a peacekeeping mission, and after that, he was sent to the compound to live with his grandparents.
The Liu family lived across the street from the Fu family, separated only by a small alley. The two families were old friends, and Liu Ruosong, born two years after Fu Yan, was the youngest child in the Liu family.
The two of them grew up together, but their personalities and characters were entirely different, with no similarities.
Perhaps due to the influence of their family environment, Fu Yan was determined to attend a military academy when he graduated from high school. His grandparents, who were reluctant at first because of the tragedy that had befallen his parents, eventually gave in after a heated argument that lasted for more than a week.
Both of them being from the same compound, Liu Ruosong had a completely opposite path.
With two generations of military service in his family, Liu Ruosong had an inherent connection to the military but was not particularly interested in pursuing it. While in college, he had already filled out his university preferences, and after graduation, he became an outdoor photographer in remote areas, much to the dismay of his parents.
However, perhaps due to a trace of talent in his blood, Liu Ruosong quickly learned how to handle firearms and combat techniques. Because he spent most of his time in remote and desolate areas taking photographs, Fu Yan occasionally taught him how to shoot moving targets in addition to guiding him in combat and martial arts.
The feel of a real gun was unique, much heavier than airsoft or replica firearms, and the gun Fu Yan was handing over still carried his body heat, with a slight dampness on the barrel.
Liu Ruosong hesitated to take it.
“Why would they give you a gun?” Liu Ruosong asked. “Is this also part of your post-war responsibilities?”
“The captain of the special forces team gave it to me secretly before he died,” Fu Yan explained. “He… probably thought I had a better chance than the others out there.”
Actually, even Fu Yan himself hadn’t realized it, but Liu Ruosong wondered if it was true. Not just the special forces captain, even Liu Ruosong himself seemed to have the same feeling.
But that didn’t make sense, Liu Ruosong thought to himself. Everyone was facing a sudden crisis; there was no reason for Fu Yan to be more like a pillar of support than anyone else.
So… why did he feel this way?
He couldn’t make sense of it. Before he could come up with a tactful way to convince Fu Yan that he shouldn’t go alone, Fu Yan continued.
“Listen,” Fu Yan said. “In case of unforeseen circumstances, S City will likely have a large-scale evacuation soon. I’ll find a way to send you back to Yan Cheng in advance. Once you’re in Yan Cheng, go directly to the military district. I’ll make arrangements for someone to receive you.”
Fu Yan’s base was in the outskirts of Yan Cheng, and it was rarely visited. Based on his memories, the base had strict checkpoints, and very few people came and went. In his past life, the military district compound was hardly affected by the disaster.
As the situation outside became chaotic, over a year into the apocalypse, civilian shelters could no longer sustain themselves, and the area was quickly transformed into a large base, receiving a large number of civilians and conducting corresponding medical research.
In his past life, Liu Ruosong had lived there and was safe.
During that time, Fu Yan personally escorted Liu Ruosong back to the base. However, this time he couldn’t afford the time to send Liu Ruosong back to Yan Cheng, and Fu Yan thought about it carefully. He couldn’t just leave Liu Ruosong behind without reassurance.
“What about you?” Liu Ruosong asked. “Are you going to find Fang Sinin alone?”
Fu Yan nodded and said, “Sha Xuefan had so many students; he must have mentioned something specific about him for a reason. Whether it’s about the research or something else, it’s definitely something Sha Xuefan wanted us to know.”
“Pengcheng is a thousand miles away. Anything could happen on the way,” Liu Ruosong instinctively wanted to reject Fu Yan’s idea of going alone.
But before he could come up with a polite way to convince Fu Yan otherwise, Fu Yan reached into his pocket and handed him something else.
“Also, Ruosong, by letting you go back early, I need you to do me a favor,” Fu Yan said.
If Fu Yan had said something like, “Letting you go back early is to ensure your safety,” Liu Ruosong would definitely not have agreed. But what Fu Yan said next was indeed related to an important matter, making it hard for Liu Ruosong to refuse.
“Take these two items to Professor Yang at the Medical College,” Fu Yan instructed. “Barring any unforeseen circumstances, she should already be at the base by then.”
Liu Ruosong looked down and realized that Fu Yan had handed him two blood collection tubes. The blood inside the tubes was unnaturally dark, thick, and viscous. Liu Ruosong gently shook one of the tubes and noticed the blood inside had already started to separate, with a layer of oily, greenish-yellow substance rising to the top, gradually detaching from the blood.
“What is this…” Liu Ruosong quickly realized. “This is the blood of those infected?”
“That’s right,” Fu Yan confirmed. “You need to take it to Yang Yuqing… I don’t know how long this can be preserved, or if it can still be used normally after being transported at room temperature, but this is the blood of the first infected patient, and it’s worth a try.”
Fu Yan had tightly sealed both blood collection tubes, wrapping multiple layers of tape around the seams, likely to prevent any accidents that might harm Liu Ruosong. The tubes were about half the length of his hand. As he looked at the sticky blood inside, Liu Ruosong suddenly understood Fu Yan’s intention.
Fu Yan had thought ahead of everyone else. While others were busy “saving people” and “controlling the situation,” he was already thinking about “ending the disaster.”
“I understand,” Liu Ruosong said, gripping the two blood collection tubes tightly. He smiled at Fu Yan and added jokingly, “Both me and the blood samples will be safe.”
Fu Yan breathed a sigh of relief.
“I trust you,” Fu Yan said.
A storm was brewing, and people’s survival instincts were becoming increasingly sensitive. After the initial chaos of the first few hours, the situation briefly stabilized.
Most people had stopped going outside or were driving out of the city. The city seemed to have emptied overnight, shrouded in darkness.
Fu Yan’s car was parked near an abandoned factory on the outskirts. This area had been deserted for a long time, with no signs of human activity and no public transportation in sight. It was relatively quiet.
Liu Ruosong sat in the car, using the interior light to sort through the paper documents he had taken from Shao Xuefan’s house. When they left his apartment earlier, Fu Yan had insisted that he collect useful documents. Although Liu Ruosong didn’t find anything highly confidential, he still gathered some research materials with a higher degree of specialization.
He glanced briefly at them. Shao Xuefan had been researching a certain substance, and it seemed to be related to pharmaceuticals. At first glance, it didn’t appear significant, and these preliminary project documents were not classified, likely accessible online. They didn’t hold much practical value.
However, what surprised Liu Ruosong was the records for Shao Xuefan’s project, which included ordinary research equipment. But in the appendix, whether accidentally or intentionally, there was a report signed by Fang Sining.
This page of the report was hastily written and looked more like a “homework report.”
In the conclusion section, there was only one line: “Successfully extracted the non-mutated strain of B-92 from the glacier.”
B-92 was the biological chain that Shao Xuefan had been researching in moss. Liu Ruosong furrowed his brow, wondering how Fang Sining had ended up involved with glaciers.
He made a mental note of this and planned to ask Fang Sining about it later.
Just as Liu Ruosong had finished organizing these documents, Fu Yan returned to the car, damp from the rain. He dimmed the car’s headlights and handed a bottle of mineral water and a piece of bread to Liu Ruosong.
Liu Ruosong didn’t ask where Fu Yan had obtained these items. He tore open the packaging and shared half with Fu Yan, washing down his earlier questions with a bite of bread.
“When should we set out?” Liu Ruosong asked.
“Let’s wait a bit,” Fu Yan replied, turning on the car radio and saying, “We’ll wait until the situation stabilizes.”
“But when will we consider the situation as stabilized?” Liu Ruosong asked, clutching the two blood collection tubes as if he held two ticking time bombs. He didn’t want those samples to go to waste due to expiration. “Maybe I should find a car and head back to Yan Cheng on my own.”
Fu Yan considered Liu Ruosong’s suggestion seriously but ultimately shook his head. He replied, “It’s too risky. Many people are fleeing the city right now, and there are too many potential accidents on the road. Besides the threat of zombies, there are also issues of food, water, and safety. You wouldn’t be safe traveling alone.”
His argument was logical, and after thinking it over, Liu Ruosong found it hard to disagree.
After all, he wasn’t just trying to save his own life; he was carrying the blood samples that needed to be delivered to the Yan Cheng Medical Research Institute.
“Don’t worry; there will be a coordinated rescue operation in S City soon,” Fu Yan assured him. “Although we’ll have only one chance, you—”
Before he could finish his sentence, Fu Yan’s mobile phone vibrated. He instinctively turned off the overhead light, checked the caller ID, and then answered the call, sliding the phone open.
Liu Ruosong recognized it as Fu Yan’s work phone and, out of caution, slowed down his chewing to avoid making noise that might distract Fu Yan.
Fu Yan answered the call and instinctively leaned away from the car window. His gaze, through the car window, fell into the darkness of the night outside, and he remained silent for a long while.
