Fungal Infection

The next day, Xu Chen received a message from his counselor saying he had been added to Grandpa Yang's medical internship team. Judging by the list, everyone else on it was among the best at the university, either a master's or doctoral student.

Somehow, they had put together a ten-person team.

Ouyang Xing's name stood out in third place.

Xu Chen was the only small fry who had yet to finish his undergraduate degree. He suspected he was there just to make up the numbers.

A later notice said he would be taking a vehicle to Nanhua Central Hospital with those senior students to observe a particularly rare case. Everyone was required to write a report afterward.

Poor Xu Chen was playing a game when he heard the news. His brain crashed on the spot, and his head felt like it was full of mush.

Worse still, before Xu Chen could figure out how to refuse, someone knocked on the dorm room door.

Song Tian was closest to the door. Playing his game with one hand, he opened it with the other. "Who is it? What do you want?"

"Ouyang Xing. I'm looking for Xu Chen."

"Holy shit." Song Tian swore and immediately flung the door wide open. He looked at the man outside and said, "Old Xu, look! The super-hot academic god is here."

Xu Chen snapped out of his daze and stared at him blankly.

Ouyang Xing showed no embarrassment or awkwardness at being called super-hot. If anything, he seemed a little nostalgic. He nodded in acknowledgment of Song Tian's compliment, then looked at Xu Chen.

"Xu Chen, there's been an outbreak of a very rare infectious disease along the coast. The patient was transported to our hospital. Teacher wants you to come and observe too."

Xu Chen's eyes widened as he looked at the academic god, whose looks certainly justified Song Tian calling him super-hot, and recalled what Grandpa Yang had said.

So that phone call hadn't been about him listening to Senior Ouyang and escaping with him, but about him joining in the excitement with him?

"I... I'm just a kid who hasn't even finished his undergraduate degree."

"Don't be afraid. Teacher said you're only going to observe. You won't have to do anything yourself."

"This is too sudden. Let me think about it."

"Xu Chen, do you have some concerns?"

Xu Chen wanted to cry but had no tears. "It's the report. How am I supposed to write it?"

Only then did Ouyang Xing smile. "So that's it. I'll help you write your report. I'd say my writing is pretty good, and I have enough professional knowledge. I should be able to help you."

Song Tian hurried over to Xu Chen's side and urged him on. "Academic God Ouyang here had a paper accepted in an SCI Q1 journal just the day before yesterday. With that kind of skill, a master can carry you to victory while you lie back and do nothing. What are you hesitating for? You might even get credits for it, practically for free."

Xu Chen thought about it and decided he had a point. He nodded in agreement.

"Good. Then come with me. The vehicle is waiting downstairs."

Xu Chen was dumbfounded. Damn it, that wasn't what I meant by nodding!

A black special-purpose bus was parked downstairs. Its windows were covered with black light-transmitting film, and the only white thing on it was the license plate.

As Xu Chen boarded, he glanced at the door. It was incredibly thick, and even the connecting rod was as thick as his arm.

Sensing something was off, he stood in front of the door.

"Xu Chen, get on. We're leaving right away."

Xu Chen hesitated. He had a feeling that once he got on, he would no longer have control over what happened to him.

"Don't be so scared. The infectious disease has already been contained in a biosafety level four lab. You're only going to take a look this time. There's no risk at all."

In the end, Xu Chen couldn't think of anything suspicious, so he got on the bus.

The passengers were all from the university, seemingly his seniors. Some were reading books and notes or using laptops, while others chatted quietly. When they noticed someone boarding, they all greeted him in a friendly manner.

Ouyang Xing returned each greeting warmly and led Xu Chen to the back row.

Only after the bus started moving did Xu Chen remember that a white license plate marked a special-purpose vehicle. Since it was a bus, the thought hadn't crossed his mind.

He glanced at the glass. Threadlike lines ran through it, forming a mesh.

Fuck, this is bulletproof glass too. If we get into an accident, we won't even be able to break it with a safety hammer.

What Xu Chen didn't know, however, was that the bus had also been specially modified. Though it looked like a bus, it was actually a stripped-down armored vehicle that could withstand autocannon fire. An ordinary traffic accident might not even breach its defenses.

He felt even more uneasy after getting off, because the bus had stopped in an area of the underground garage enclosed by dark green tents. The soldiers stationed on guard here were actually carrying guns!

All told, he could see more than twenty fully armed soldiers.

There were clearly senior leaders from two different systems down there. After seeing the bus, they spoke to each other, seemingly discussing the handover.

He had thought he was frightened enough already, but then he saw that the senior students also seemed at a loss. Only Ouyang Xing appeared to have been briefed. He was somewhat bewildered, but not much.

After everyone was led into a large tent, someone came to confiscate their phones.

Then they were each given a densely written sheet of paper. Xu Chen took one look: it was a confidentiality agreement.

"Isn't this getting a little serious? What exactly are we here to do, Senior Ouyang?" Xu Chen turned to ask Ouyang Xing beside him.

Ouyang Xing had already signed his name. He put the pen in Xu Chen's hand.

"I don't know. Teacher arranged it. He usually takes good care of you, and he certainly wouldn't harm you now. Just sign it."

Xu Chen grew anxious. "I... I don't even know what we're supposed to do. How can I dare sign it?"

Ouyang Xing looked around, then said in a low voice, "Just sign it. It's not like we're doing anything illegal. Follow the arrangements, and even if there's no reward, the university won't treat you unfairly."

Xu Chen thought about it and decided he had a point. He signed his name.

After the signed confidentiality agreements were collected, footsteps sounded outside the tent, drawing closer and closer. Then a white-haired old man in a white coat pulled back the tent flap and walked over, carrying a stack of simply bound documents. His hair was sparse, and he was slightly hunched. He handed the documents out to everyone.

Xu Chen noticed Ouyang Xing staring intently at the old man, seemingly trying to remember something.

"Who is he? Do you know him?"

Ouyang Xing shook his head. "He looks a little familiar. Qi something, wasn't it? I remember seeing him on TV."

"Is his name Qi Kangmei?"

It suddenly clicked for Ouyang Xing. "Yes, yes! How did you know?"

"His name is on the documents he handed out."

Xu Chen pointed to the name on the documents. Sure enough, it was Qi Kangmei.

Ouyang Xing looked at it for a moment. "I remember now. He's a big shot in infectious diseases at the military district hospital. Looks like this is still related to an infectious disease."

"Cough, cough. You were all chosen by your Dean Yang. You're ambitious young people determined to make progress, so I won't waste any more words. You all know about the disaster a few days ago, right?"

Everyone nodded.

"Sigh, the wind was fierce. Even we had torrential rain here. The typhoon blew radioactive water vapor all the way over to us. Our aircraft carriers have already been deployed these past two days. There's word that we might even be planning to forcibly exercise our right as a victorious nation to station troops there, but that's just a rumor..."

Everyone was startled. One of the senior students asked, "What if those Japanese don't agree?"

"I don't think it's up to them... After all, things have gotten out of hand this time," one scholar said.

"Will the people across the ocean agree? Won't they back those bastards up?"

"Those across the ocean will soon have enough trouble looking after themselves. The ocean currents don't flow only toward us. But that's not what concerns us."

"What should concern us, then?"

"This." The old man pointed to the documents in their hands, gesturing for them to take a look.

Xu Chen opened his copy. The first page featured a large, highly detailed color photograph that hit him like a slap in the face.

It showed a corpse lying on a hospital bed. An unknown yellow substance covered the left half of its body, including its head, making it look like an oversized peach that had gone moldy and rotten. Yellow serum was faintly visible seeping out, and through the unknown yellow matter, the bones and organs beneath could be seen clearly.

The unknown yellow substance covered his face, growing into patches of spore-laden fungal mats. It had already eaten away a considerable amount of flesh. In some places, there were clearly visible signs that someone had tried to cut it away, but it apparently hadn't worked.

All his flesh looked as though it had collapsed, assuming a bizarre posture under the pull of gravity, a lifeless form as though what lay inside were not flesh and blood.

"!"

"Urgh~"

One of the senior women clearly couldn't stomach something so graphic. She clapped a hand over her mouth and forced herself not to throw up. Evidently, her field of study had never exposed her to anything like it.

Xu Chen fought down his own nausea and noticed that everyone else looked just as pale.

"Wh-what is this?"

"Keep reading. It says later on."

Before turning the page, Xu Chen realized he had been so focused on the photo that he had missed the title above it.

Aspergillus flavus fungal infection.

At first glance, Xu Chen felt he understood. At second glance, he instinctively felt that something wasn't right.

Aspergillus flavus fungal infection? Aspergillus flavus is a saprophytic fungus. How could it possibly infect a living person? Even with Aspergillus infections, I've only ever heard of lung infections. I've never seen such extreme growth on the surface of a body.

Could the fungus have mutated? Is it going to turn into the kind of fungus that creates parasitic zombies in The Last of Us?

Xu Chen turned the page and looked at the corpse's examination report. The flesh inside had all undergone autolysis. Newton himself wouldn't allow it to leap up and hurt anyone. What lay on the bed now only barely retained a human shape. The skin had separated, and the body would fall apart if it moved.

The more Xu Chen read, the more he wanted to vomit. At the same time, he recalled what had been said in the dorm earlier.

Damn it, this case really is rare.

It was so revolting that he had never heard of or seen anything like it.