Stress Response

A brief conversation in the hall determined the fate of the thirteen chosen individuals.

While the recorder and the others were gathered around the female officer listening to her give instructions on other routine matters of the base, Carlos wedged the paper doll into the crack of the metal door, a place that was very difficult to spot.

He then withdrew his consciousness from the paper figure and opened his eyes on the sofa in the lounge.

The people in front of them, whether it was Xiao Yao who had been tampered with, or other familiar or unfamiliar faces, were still chatting and waiting for the tests outside to finish. No one would have guessed that the female officer had just personally ordered them to be disposed of.

Carlos tilted his head to watch this scene.

He still found it strange.

Are they really infected?

In this world's worldview, the word "infection" is limited to being contaminated by the vengeful spirit virus, failing to resist the infection, and unknowingly heading towards irreversible death.

If that's the case, it's perfectly normal for the base to deal with them. Infected people no longer have human emotions; instead, they pose endless danger to those around them as they approach death.

Simply put, it's a time bomb of abandoning similar ways of thinking.

The problem is that...

They did not meet the conditions for infection.

Even if these people in front of him are newly infected and happen to be in the type where the symptoms are not yet obvious, what about himself?

Carlos can surely be certain that he is not infected.

As for Xiao Yao, this girl has very rich human emotions, and she hasn't become paranoid or irrational. Although he guessed that Lingren had done some things to Xiao Yao's overall thinking hadn't changed. Lingren's methods are also different from the virus in this world.

The base classified those who were not infected with the virus as infected and easily decided to dispose of them.

Is this really a place that provides protection for survivors?

"A'Luo, is something on your mind?" Xiao Yao glanced at him, a little worried, and said, "You haven't said anything..."

Normally, Carlos, with his social butterfly tendencies, is very willing to join in on all sorts of topics.

Carlos looked up at her and thought for a moment.

The purpose of the base is not important at the moment; what is important is what these thirteen selected individuals have in common that led to their diagnosis as infected.

At the time, all their samples showed green lights on the instrument, meaning they were safe. However, after listening to the recorder's two-faced announcement, he realized that the instrument was just a pretty face, all show and no substance.

Perhaps all the sample collection instruments will show a green light, which is a way to reassure everyone, but what determines whether someone is infected is the person.

The recorder pointed them to the lounge.

The people being tested pass the information to the recorder, who then separates these "infected individuals" from the rest of the population. This process of information transmission is crucial.

Perhaps it's detecting a specific action of the person? Or perhaps a particular sentence or word.

Anyway, during the examination, the examiner suddenly mentioned his sister and chatted with him for a bit. Carlos found it a bit strange at the time, but now it seems that the examiner was probably passing a message to the recorder. After all, the recorder quickly interrupted the conversation and then assigned him to the current rest room.

But besides the private allocation decisions, there must be something about them that led to them being labeled as infected.

Carlos vaguely heard footsteps approaching outside.

It seems someone has come to deal with them.

Carlos was also curious about where the base would dispose of the infected people, as he had never been involved in this kind of work before; it was something that only the cleanup teams and other management would do.

He could have escaped right now, but if the remaining 12 people died, he would have no way to find common ground.

Carlos decided to let things take their course and see what happens.

After this incident, he definitely can't stay at the base anymore. It's a good opportunity for him to switch places with Zhao Yijiu or directly with Yu Xing, letting them enter the base to continue their investigation, while he can use his spatial advantage to explore more places in the city.

Perfect. If he goes to the city, he can bring the others from the lounge with him, provided that they realize, when they are dealt with later, that they are no longer welcome at the base and have to find another place to go.

Carlos looked at Xiao Yao without saying anything. Xiao Yao looked a little confused. Just as she was about to say something, the door was opened.

"Someone else has arrived?"

"Is the test finished?"

Everyone inside looked towards the door, only to be met with a black gun, its dark muzzle pointed directly at them. The gunman was dressed in the uniform of a cleanup squad.

The Lingren were not among them.

Carlos looked at these people and found them all unfamiliar; he seemed to have never seen them in the base before, nor during the cleanup team's routine patrols.

"What... is this?" someone asked, looking completely bewildered.

"Hey, why are you pointing a gun at us?" Xiao Yao immediately stood up. She usually had contact with the cleanup team, but she didn't have any respect for them.

"Stand up, all of you." The leader, a man who appeared to be in his forties, wore a thick metal-filtered mask. He flicked the muzzle of his gun, signaling them to do as he said, "Your test samples have problems and need to be retested. The Doctor is waiting for you. Follow me."

Carlos found it amusing.

They've already come with guns, and you're trying to make them willingly go to their deaths? That's hardly believable.

Sure enough, some of the more vigilant people frowned. "A re-examination is fine, I'll cooperate, but could you please put the gun down?"

The middle-aged man said coldly, "Sorry, it's my duty. This is for safety reasons."

"Hey, what safety? Explain yourself." A burly man glared at the gun barrel with displeasure. "The problem was with the sample; that's your mistake, not ours. Why should we be held at gunpoint? At least until the retest results are in, we're all survivors of Group 51, all of us are healthy, right?"

A short-haired woman said, "We didn't say we wouldn't cooperate, so does that mean you can shoot us whenever you want?"

Carlos wanted to fan the flames, but he didn't expect that he wouldn't need to say anything; the others would start arguing on their own.

The real reason is that the apocalypse made people realize the cruelty of the world and cherish life more. Suddenly seeing firearms that could threaten their lives would trigger an involuntary stress response. (The fastest updates for the mobile version of the website are available at:)