Ten minutes later, the results came out.
[No matching data found in the virus database. This is a new, unknown virus.]
[Virus information has been uploaded to the Air Force Extinction Biochemical Laboratory. The same virus will be replicated in the laboratory for observation and detailed analysis. Please wait patiently for the results.]
Jiang Ye was speechless. He walked over and shot the third captain in the head, killing him.
"Where is the deputy captain of the third team?" Jiang Ye asked.
"Reporting!" a swordsman mech stood up.
"Take your men and keep moving forward until you can't go any further. Do not return to the fortress," Jiang Ye said. "I'm going to the military port immediately and have these two sick individuals brought to my office."
"Yes!" the deputy captain saluted.
The soldiers formed a skirmish line and quickly entered the dense forest, disappearing soon after. The rocket artillery also followed.
Jiang Ye watched them leave, then removed his helmet. He took deep breaths of the planet's air. The toxic and high-oxygen gas filled his lungs, his strength draining away bit by bit. His vision suddenly went black, and he fainted.
He climbed out of the remote control cabin, changed his clothes, and then left to get into a car, heading straight for the military port.
The military port was already packed with warships. Frigates had long been discontinued. The current fleet was sufficient to strike anywhere on the globe, and there were no targets requiring annihilation globally for the time being. Building too many warships incurred excessive maintenance costs, so the factories were temporarily shut down. None of the warships had fired in a long time; they had all become transport ships. When troops wanted to travel to the new continent, they simply boarded the ships without even needing to buy tickets.
Jiang Ye arrived at his office in the military port. He had barely sat down for two minutes when there was a knock on the door.
"Come in!" Jiang Ye said.
The door opened, revealing two soldiers in crisp uniforms, their leather shoes polished to a shine. They were the infected third captain and the sick man from Birong Star.
"Sit," Jiang Ye nodded.
Both men sat down, their expressions laced with tension.
"The preliminary results are out. It's an unknown virus. Think back, why were you two infected, and others weren't?" Jiang Ye said. "What did you do that others didn't?"
The sick man hesitated and shook his head. "Reporting, Chief. I can't think of anything. I was born on Birong Star that morning and went directly into the fortress. I ate with my comrades, then changed into mechs to go out and reclaim land. I didn't act alone at any point, nor did I eat anything out of the ordinary."
"I think I was infected by him," the third captain said. "After he started showing symptoms, I lifted his helmet and touched his forehead with my hand."
"From onset to the end, what did it feel like?" Jiang Ye asked. "Describe it in detail."
"Before the onset, I felt incredibly comfortable, full of vigor, like I'd had enough sleep and a good meal. The onset was very rapid. I felt a cool breeze starting from my backside, traveling up my spine and into my skull, freezing my entire brain. It felt wonderfully cool," the third captain described first. "Then came the intense excitement and pleasure throughout my body, feeling even better than being with my wife. This feeling was continuous, getting more and more pleasurable. My vision was completely gone, replaced by hallucinations."
"What kind of hallucinations?" Jiang Ye tilted his head.
"I can't recall. They were very rapid hallucinations, like many grand and beautiful scenes spliced together, then played at 2x speed... no, 16x speed!" the third captain said. "I was amazed at the time how fast my brain could process. If my normal brain efficiency is like a slow car at 40 mph, after falling ill, it could instantly accelerate to three to four hundred mph!"
"I felt much the same as the captain, but I can remember some of the hallucinatory images," the sick man said.
Jiang Ye looked at him, waiting for him to continue.
"Furry large monsters, fair-skinned beauties lying on the ground, burning plains, schools of red whales cruising in cream, mice eating cats, a praying mantis decapitating a sparrow with a single strike, giant blue toads the size of human heads hopping on the street, countless crabs on the beach building snowmen out of sand, green will-o'-the-wisps rolling on the oil sea, giraffes with three necks and three heads..." the sick man recalled for a full two minutes. "These are what I can remember, roughly."
"Let me summarize: no pain, no fatigue, my whole body felt comfortable, accompanied by severe, high-speed hallucinations," Jiang Ye said. "Was there anything else?"
Both patients shook their heads.
"Alright, you can go rest. I'll let you know when there are any results," Jiang Ye waved them away.
The two soldiers stood up, saluted, and turned to leave.
Jiang Ye turned on the display screen on his desk and began processing the backlog of administrative tasks that had accumulated during his absence. These were mostly things that didn't require much thought. For instance, some units applied to accelerate their expansion, which he approved, of course. It was rare for his subordinates to be so enthusiastic; how could he refuse? Some soldiers applied for leave to get married, and those were also all approved. There were also requests for replacing damaged weapons, personnel appointments at the squad leader level, and maintenance of base equipment, and so on.
"Ding dong!" A message suddenly popped up.
He clicked on it. It was from his superior.
Li Nannan: "There's a problem in the Birong Star area. A total of over 40 planets have reported tens of thousands of virus infections within 48 hours. I saw your camp also reported twelve cases. The military is investigating now. If nothing unexpected occurs, it should be biochemical weapons left by the Mir people. Generally, wild viruses on each planet are vastly different, making it difficult for dozens of planets with vastly different environments to simultaneously evolve the same virus."
Jiang Ye: "Twelve cases? It was two cases. The data is incorrect."
Li Nannan: "Ten more cases were added in the last half hour. You are not on Birong Star."
Jiang Ye had a bad premonition. More people had fallen ill after he left, and the entire force might have been infected. But it didn't matter. They could all die and revive collectively, becoming healthy individuals again. This was the advantage of not fighting with one's true body; there was no fear of death. It was like playing a game; if it wasn't going well, you just restarted.
Jiang Ye: "It sounds like the situation is very dangerous, but the symptoms of that virus are very strange. I've never seen anything like it."
Li Nannan: "I've heard about it. You feel very happy after being infected, right? You're mistaken. This situation is the most dangerous."
Jiang Ye: "You mean... everyone will actively seek infection?"
Li Nannan: "Exactly. People don't want to get sick generally because it's painful. But if this virus makes you happy after infection, many people might try to get infected deliberately. This is the most troublesome. The Mir people might have exploited humanity's pursuit of pleasure to design this virus. It's incredibly insidious!"
Jiang Ye: "Come to think of it... I also want to try what it feels like. Anyway, the one on Birong Star wasn't my true body."
Li Nannan: "Of course, you can try it with your substitute avatars, as long as you don't mind the cost. The key is that on those forty-plus planets, there are currently billions of real people. That's the most terrifying part."