Chapter 132: The Infected

Cao Fusheng carefully examined his temporary residence for Upper-Class citizens; it was essentially a hotel from the Old Era. The room was spacious, at least a hundred square meters, equipped with a kitchen, bathroom, and walk-in closet—everything one would expect from the old world was present.

Most importantly, the interior of the Heavenly Pillar always had a power supply and access to an internal local area network. To be blunt, one could actually use electronic devices here! It was no wonder people outside always called the Heavenly Pillar a paradise. If Shen Dong were still alive, he would certainly be the happiest man, finally finding a use for all the junk he had scavenged.

As for the "Life Formula," it was formulated entirely to reduce the internal consumption of medicine. To put it clearly, if an injury was deemed not worth saving, there was no point in wasting resources on it. For example, if someone had their leg blown off during an operation, they had lost their capacity for labor and independent living; since such a person could no longer contribute significantly to the Heavenly Pillar, they simply weren't saved.

Wherever there are people, there is a need for medicine, but even in the Heavenly Pillar, medicine was not something found on every street corner. Its usage was strictly controlled by rigorous standards. Furthermore, if elderly people over sixty could not prove their value, they would be cleared out. After all, this was not an Old Era nursing home; merely allowing the Lower-Class citizens, who did nothing but eat and drink, to exist was the greatest mercy the upper echelons of the Heavenly Pillar could show.

One of the most fundamental rules of survival was that the first thing to do upon waking every day was to activate one's identification badge to prove to the Heavenly Pillar that one was still alive. If one failed to activate it for a single day, well, they would be out of luck. Personnel from the Supervision and Enforcement Department would forcibly break down the door to investigate, or worse, treat the person as dead; even if you were still alive, you would be sent straight to the reactor.

"This little manual is just telling everyone: 'Don't go against me, or I'll throw you into the furnace without a second thought,'" Cao Fusheng closed the booklet and began to close his eyes to rest. The physical exertion from earlier had been quite draining, and he felt he would be more comfortable if he dozed off for a while.

"But this efficiency is too low, isn't it? Does it really take this long to test blood? It’s been two or three hours since I came in. Are they just planning to leave us hanging like this?" With a flicker of sudden doubt, Cao Fusheng decided to stop thinking about it. As he had said, one should adapt to the circumstances. He drifted into a deep sleep.

***

Research Department, Blood Analysis Room.

The entire Research Department was in total chaos. A group of researchers, led by Bai Qingchu, stared intently at the testing machine.

"It will work this time! Activate!"
"Activate!"

Several younger researchers watched the display screen with excitement. This vial labeled with the name "Cao Fusheng" had been tested seven or eight times already. Every time, it ended in failure, with the results showing a testing error. Eventually, they had no choice but to ask the Department Head to oversee the process personally, but to no avail. Even with Director Bai presiding, the source of the problem remained elusive. The equipment was functioning perfectly, which meant the issue had to be with the blood itself.

Ruan Luoluo had previously contacted the Research Department personally to ask why the results hadn't been released yet. The response she received was that there had been some complications and that Director Bai was conducting the test himself, but still without results. This led to the current scene. Ruan Luoluo, filled with curiosity, and Xun Xin, a man who loved chaos and was always bored out of his mind, arrived at the blood analysis room together to observe.

"10..."
"9..."
"8..."
"..."

It was extremely rare for a blood test to yield no results. Ever since the Heavenly Pillar began conducting bloodline testing, there had never been such a phenomenon, except for that time when the blood of the so-called "BOSS," sent in by Bian Qiu, could not be analyzed. It could be said that the success rate of blood tests was one hundred percent; the technology had reached that level, yet there were always exceptions.

As for the BOSS's blood, Bai Qingchu had exerted every ounce of his effort. Even though he didn't get a result, he personally concluded that it was an S-level bloodline, existing only in legends. According to Bai Qingchu's research, he discovered that the blood was actually immune to viral infection! Moreover, it possessed extremely high drug resistance—or rather, one hundred percent drug resistance.

Individuals with an ordinary A-level bloodline would suffer life-threatening side effects after using genetic enhancers. Research showed that every A-level operative in the strike force could use genetic enhancement agents at most three times in their life. By the fourth time, they would drop dead during the process. In other words, the BOSS was perhaps the only human known who could not be infected by the virus. He might be killed, but he would never mutate. He could even fight against the infected without any hesitation; as long as he avoided lethal blows, he didn't need to care about scratches or bites, as they would all heal afterward. But to this day, no one had even seen the true face of the BOSS.

"5..."
"4..."

The countdown was nearing its end. Everyone watched the machine, waiting for the results to appear.

"0..."
"Test result is... Invalid!"
"Ding... Ding... System program error... Please remove the blood sample immediately... Old Bai... take it out quickly..."

Almost all instruments in the Research Department were controlled by a highly intelligent AI, capable of communicating normally with Bai Qingchu. Bai Qingchu's expression shifted, and he hurriedly removed the sample from the machine.

What! Black blood!?

Bai Qingchu blinked. What was going on? It had turned back to red. Was his vision failing him?

"The color of this blood... did you guys see that? It was black?"

Xun Xin laughed loudly, "See what? Black blood? Come on, Old Bai, don't try to change the subject just because you're stumped."

That wasn't right. Even when testing Bian Qiu's blood, nothing like this had happened. What was going on? Bai Qingchu felt utterly baffled. Frowning, he ignored the others and took the sample back to his private laboratory.

"Xiao Bai, can you find any samples in your database similar to this blood?"

Bai Qingchu sat at the lab bench, his eyes burning as he stared at the small vial. He had always been extremely interested in the unknown. The AI was silent for a long moment, as if searching through its memory banks, before it spoke: "Old Bai, I can't find anything. None of the blood samples match the one just tested. Even common blood types from the Old Era—A, B, AB, O, and the so-called 'Panda Blood'—don't match."

"I suspect that the sample in your hand... it might not be human blood at all..."

Bai Qingchu waved his hand dismissively, "How is that possible? Its owner is a genuine human being, how could it not be human..."

The next instant, both Old Bai and Xiao Bai froze, speaking in unison: "An infected person!"