"How did the test results turn out?" the governor of C City in Central Province asked his secretary in the office.
It was already the third day since the school had been locked down. There were tens of thousands of students, and their parents had been blocking the area outside every day. Public opinion was also putting them under tremendous pressure. Even the Federation's head had personally inquired about the matter. As the Administrative Head of the region, he was starting to feel like he couldn't hold out much longer!
The secretary hesitated for a moment before honestly revealing the bad news from the testing center: "The tests confirmed that the monkey was indeed infected with this unknown new virus!"
The governor's heart immediately sank when he heard that. This really was the worst possible news!
It meant that the zookeepers and their family members who had come into contact with the monkey would all be forcibly quarantined. The lockdown on the tens of thousands of students would be extended indefinitely, until the student who had fed the monkey was found!
"Governor, the news stations have been demanding that we give the public the right to know. Should we make an appearance and explain things? The parents' emotions are becoming increasingly unstable..." the secretary asked weakly.
"Explain? How are we supposed to explain?" The governor rolled his eyes at him and helplessly scratched at his few sparse strands of hair. Given the current lockdown, if he didn't explain, the parents might only become anxious. But if he did explain, they might erupt into a riot!
The General Testing Center's plan for handling the school was a dormitory management system. Though it had been proposed as a last resort, it would be considered inhumane if made public.
That was because every dormitory had at least four people. Although this management plan could prevent widespread infection, its drawback was that if the student who refused to admit it became infected, his three roommates would definitely be doomed as well!
If they revealed this plan, it would certainly trigger widespread media criticism. And if someone with ulterior motives stirred up the parents' emotions, the situation could instantly spiral out of control.
After all, no one could be sure whether their own child would be one of those three unlucky students!
The current strategy was to grit their teeth and keep silent, let the student who refused to admit it develop symptoms, and wait for the dust to settle. Once that happened, aside from the families of those four students, the parents of the students who had escaped the disaster would instead turn around and thank them.
It was realistic, and cruel, but sometimes there was no choice but to do this.
With that thought, he called the regional military and explained the situation, hoping they could dispatch more troops to stabilize things. As long as they made it through this period, even if he later ended up with a stain on his record and was forced into early retirement, it would still be better than having the situation collapse because of a riot. If the virus spread again, he would truly be unable to escape blame even if he died a hundred times!
With that thought, he actually began hoping that the student infected with the virus would hurry up and develop symptoms. Better to die sooner and be reborn sooner—just don't drag anyone else down!
Just then, the secretary suddenly answered a phone call. His originally gloomy expression immediately brightened at whatever he heard. "What did you say?"
The Administrative Head immediately frowned. What's wrong with Xiao Wang? At a time like this, why is he making such a racket? He's so unreliable. Should I replace him with another secretary?
"Governor!" the secretary said excitedly. "That student turned herself in!"
"What?" The governor suddenly sprang up from his office chair. "Really?"
"Yes. The lockdown team just sent word. A female student in Area B voluntarily admitted it. The psychologist verified her statement, so it should be accurate!"
"Good, good, good!" The governor rubbed his hands together and beamed. "Good child, you have the bigger picture in mind. You're a brave girl!" He hurriedly asked, "Were her roommates taken into custody immediately?"
The secretary quickly picked up the phone to ask, but his previously excited expression suddenly stiffened.
"What is it?" The Administrative Head watched the secretary's expression, and a sense of unease immediately rose in his heart. Afraid that another problem had cropped up, even his voice became cautious.
The secretary swallowed and avoided looking at the Administrative Head. In the end, he honestly said, "They said... one of her roommates escaped!"
"What did you say?"
"Escaped?" The senior officer in charge of locking down the school stared at the subordinate giving the report, his face livid. In his fury, he was also somewhat incredulous. "There were so many of you, and you even carry the professional Special Forces title. How did you let a girl in her twenties get away? Are you freaking acting me?"
The squad leader responsible for locking down the dormitory lowered his head awkwardly. To be honest, there had been more than ten people in their squad, all from the Special Forces. Letting a young girl escape right in front of them was so humiliating that it would shame their ancestors!
After fuming for a long while, the officer finally calmed down and asked, "Tell me exactly what happened!"
The squad leader braced himself and recounted the events.
It had been around two in the afternoon. Because of an electrical problem, the temperature had reached forty-three degrees, yet the students had been forcibly locked in their dormitories without air-conditioning. Many of them had become furious, cursing and swearing at the person who had concealed the situation.
Xiao Yun's dormitory had been the same. With her two female roommates constantly cursing, Xin Ya, who had already been under immense mental pressure these past few days, finally broke down. She took the initiative to knock on the door and turn herself in.
After receiving the news, the squad leader had not dared to delay. He first notified his superiors, then called the quarantine team to bring Isolation Suits over. Unexpectedly, when one of the girls saw the situation, she hurried back to her own dormitory and locked the door from inside.
They hadn't paid much attention at the time. They had planned to wait for the quarantine team to arrive before going in to apprehend her. But after the quarantine team arrived and they forcibly broke down the door, they discovered that the girl named Guo Xiaoyun had vanished!
At the time, the squad leader took one look. The room's window was open, but his first reaction was only a cold laugh. This little girl has watched too many movies. She's just trying to play some clever tricks. This is the sixth floor! Only an idiot would believe she jumped out the window!
He immediately led his teammates in searching everywhere behind the door and inside the wardrobe. They even forcibly pried open the tightly closed Game Pod from the outside. But after searching the entire room, they discovered...
She was really gone!!!
What the hell...
Could she... really have jumped?
The squad leader panicked as well. He hurriedly looked down from the window. The exterior of the dormitory was covered in air-conditioning units. In theory, with enough courage and careful movements, it wasn't impossible to climb down. But could a student in her twenties really have that kind of nerve? And a girl at that?
Not to mention, the temperature outside was so high that those air-conditioning units were hot enough to fry pork belly until it was seventy percent done. As far as courage went, even he, a former Special Forces soldier, wouldn't dare casually jump down from one air-conditioning unit to another. Did they think this was a movie?
But what if she had actually done it...
When the squad leader thought of this, a chill ran through his entire body. To be honest, if that was really what had happened, he would be taking the full blame this time!
There had originally been people stationed below the building, but because they had pinpointed the target's location, he had reassigned all the manpower upstairs...
Putting everything together... it seemed... this was all his fault!!