Qi City Epidemic Prevention Center

"Why did she scream? It must have been my imagination... Stone statues can't feel anything... The scans already showed that their bodies had been completely consumed by the silicon-based virus. They had completely turned to stone. They were utterly dead..."

"The stone statues screaming in the incinerator has happened six times already. Today was the seventh. The statue burned this time was Old Third from the team...

Could they really still be alive? Living in the form of stone statues? Then what have I been doing every day? The ones I burned were living people!? I was killing people!?

I've gone to the team doctor for psychological counseling ten times this month. It seems the higher-ups have noticed me... Hahaha, I'm no longer fit to be captain."

"Today, I executed three criminals who had broken into patients' homes to loot them. Actually, they were patients too—early-stage patients. Their joints had already stiffened, and they made cracking sounds when they walked.

But social order still needs to be maintained. After all, we're still human... The population has dropped by almost a fifth now, so social resources have become much more abundant... Hahaha, perhaps soon none of us will need social resources anymore...

All the mid-level personnel with captain rank held a video conference together. The severity of the situation was conveyed. Quite a few small countries had already been wiped out by Stone Statue Disease. Only a handful of major countries had implemented the highest-level epidemic prevention measures and were still barely holding on."

"The vaccines have arrived! The first batch has been transported to the cold storage at the Qi City Epidemic Prevention Center. They say all incinerator workers will receive the injections tomorrow!

The National Academy of Sciences is now the world's only remaining national-level research center. It has lived up to expectations!

It's wonderful to be an incinerator worker! We're saved! Human civilization truly cannot be defeated!

Tomorrow, tomorrow is vaccination day!"

"The vaccination is complete. I feel much more energetic. Little Wang and the others on the team aren't even wearing protective suits anymore. They say the vaccine protects them, so they aren't afraid of the Stone Statue Virus at all. But I still ordered them to put them on. After all, no one knows when the vaccine will take effect.

Fortunately, the dawn of human civilization has appeared. Soon, we'll completely defeat Stone Statue Disease, restore normal life, and save this world!

It's just that my skin is a little red and itchy today. Maybe it's because of the vaccine..."

"Pain! It hurts so much! My skin feels like it's about to split apart! There's something wrong with the vaccine! That damn director of the Epidemic Prevention Center actually said it was a normal reaction! My skin feels like it's on fire! Right in front of me, Niu Guodong, the captain of Team Five, had all the skin on his body split open. It was like flour—it would fall off with the slightest touch! I can't take it anymore. My hands... can't hold the pen anymore! This must be retribution! Someone... kill me!"

This was already the final page.

The last few words were written in a twisted, grotesque scrawl, with traces of pale yellow mucus on them. Clearly, the owner of the pen had been on the verge of collapse by the end.

Shen Feng closed the notebook, feeling a chill creep down his spine.

These mutated Skinners were actually the product of the first batch of failed vaccines!

But since it was a vaccine, it must have undergone repeated testing before being administered on a large scale. Why had such a terrifying side effect appeared?

Could the virus have mutated again, causing changes after the vaccine combined with the new strain?

In a sense, the vaccine could still be considered a success.

Though they had lost their skin and become crazed and mindless, at least these incinerator workers had not turned into stone statues. Shen Feng didn't know whether that counted as a kind of black humor...

Compared to the origin of the Skinners, Shen Feng was more concerned with incinerator worker Zhang Hui's records about the stone statues.

Stone statues could scream? Did that mean they still possessed their own consciousness?

Were these stone statues all alive?

Shen Feng looked up at the stone statues standing in all kinds of poses throughout the corridor and couldn't help feeling his scalp tingle, as if they might pounce on him at any moment.

But then he shook his head.

No matter how he looked at them, these stone statues showed no signs of life. They were nothing but stone.

The screams Zhang Hui heard were most likely hallucinations caused by the intensity of the incineration work.

After putting away the notebook, Shen Feng took out his phone.

No matter what, he had figured out the cause of the Skinner mutation and collected ten samples of brain tissue. The mission could be considered complete.

"The Skinner mutation was the result of the first batch of vaccine injections. Ten brain tissue samples have also been collected. Requesting mission reward."

After Shen Feng spoke, the phone paused for several seconds, seemingly evaluating the results. Then several lines of text flashed across the screen:

The first-stage Skinner mission has been completed. The reward has been issued. Please retrieve it from the safe in the director's office.

The second-stage mission has begun. Obtain one sample of the vaccine injected into the Skinners.

"Fuck!"

Shen Feng cursed. He knew this wasn't over yet!

Still, the mission reward had been issued. Hopefully, it would be useful.

Returning to the director's office, he opened the safe, and several sheets of paper immediately came into view.

Shen Feng frowned and reached in to take them out, but his eyes soon lit up.

The first was a map of Qi City's urban district, with its buildings and streets marked in extraordinary detail.

Then there were several documents:

<Construction Approval Report for the Solar-Assisted Power Supply System of the Qi City Epidemic Prevention Center>

<Construction Approval Report for the Underground Sealed Diesel Storage Facility of the Qi City Epidemic Prevention Center>

<Notice on Forwarding the National Academy of Sciences' "Notice on Ensuring the Final Research Breakthrough for Type III Vaccines">

Only then did he realize that the Qi City Epidemic Prevention Center building was the one he had seen lit up the night before!

That meant the building's solar power system was still operating!

And the diesel storage facility was even more important. It would determine whether he could travel to the National Academy of Sciences in search of the final perfect vaccine.

All fuel had a shelf life. Gasoline would oxidize after a few months in storage, forming gum deposits and losing octane. After a few years, it would basically turn into toxic waste.

Diesel, on the other hand, was relatively stable and could last at least six or seven years in sealed conditions.

If there really was diesel there, it could very likely still be usable. If there were preserved vehicles as well, he would have transportation!

Otherwise, if he relied entirely on walking, he would probably turn into a stone statue before reaching the National Academy of Sciences in the capital.

Shen Feng took a deep breath. It looked like the game was determined to send him to the Epidemic Prevention Center.

And that place was very likely crawling with Skinners!

After resting for a while, Shen Feng packed up. He loaded enough guns and ammunition into two large bags, placed them all on a small cart, and set off toward the Epidemic Prevention Center in the city center, following the map's directions.

Though only a little over a day had passed, Shen Feng's mindset was now completely different from when he had first arrived.

After all, he had already hunted a tiger and more than a dozen monsters. Having seen blood, his mentality had undergone a tremendous change.

Perhaps it had something to do with the lonely circumstances of his childhood. Without parents, he had needed to rely on himself for everything, and he had long grown used to it.

With a pistol in one hand and a small cart loaded with weapons, ammunition, and food in the other, Shen Feng walked through the desolate, ruined streets with a far more relaxed expression.

Having weapons changed many things.

Before long, he had passed through several blocks and arrived beside a school.

Children. They were all children. Dense rows of children stood on the school playground, seemingly listening to a lecture.

Some of the children were whispering to one another, innocent smiles on their faces.

Beside them stood several stone statues of teachers maintaining order, their faces still carrying faint traces of irritation.

Clearly, no one had expected the Stone Statue Virus's final outbreak to be so devastating, so sudden.

Everything had descended without warning, faster than the volcanic ash of Pompeii, instantly freezing the final scene of this broken human society.

Perhaps millions, or tens of millions, of years later, a new civilization would emerge on this planet and wonder why the ancient civilization had left behind so many stone statues.

Just then, hurried running sounds came from nearby, accompanied by low growls. Seven or eight wolves ran out from around the street corner. At the sight of Shen Feng, they froze for a moment before baring their fangs together and letting out greedy, vicious roars!

Unhurried, Shen Feng raised his pistol toward the sky and pulled the trigger.

Bang!