Within a single day, the major government departments and research centers on Tianshu Star descended into chaos.
Several academies originally dedicated to studying and solving the Zerg problem had all scanned and detected Zerg presence… and some of those Zerg were of fairly high rank.
No one knew when they had infiltrated.
Most of those found to be parasitized were animals, but Guo Hongfan suspected the Zerg had deliberately targeted animals precisely because humans would not be on guard against them.
Just like the birds that had been eavesdropping outside the window all day—who would ever be wary of a sparrow?
The military’s future plans, the painstakingly cultivated hyper-spiritual warriors, the methods to eradicate parasitic Zerg, and every effort they had made—there was a very real possibility that everything had already been completely exposed…
Some of the Zerg had even gone mad in desperation, attempting to parasitize humans outright before being captured. In just one day, dozens of their people had been infected.
“This is the first time they’ve gone after animals, and it never once occurred to us…”
Guo Hongfan and several high-ranking officials were on a video call with Meng Chongyun—this was already their third call since the incident.
So far, the quarantine control center had not yet been fully cleared.
Animals were different from inanimate objects; they could move and attack, let alone the fact that the Zerg themselves were extremely dangerous.
The current situation dictated that no one else should be allowed in, to keep the number of potentially parasitized or infected individuals to a minimum.
That naturally included him as well.
Hundreds of high-level warriors and academicians were working in unison to mentally seal off the skies above the quarantine control center, waiting only for the engineers to install the fusion arc barrier before launching a renewed sweep-and-search operation.
After that, all personnel would also need to be checked one by one—and the quarantine control center was by no means the only place affected.
No one knew whether they were simply wasting their efforts. Even Wen Nanfeng and Xue Jie felt a deep sense of helplessness, but it was the only thing they could do at the moment.
Meng Chongyun’s spiritual power still had not recovered. Upon hearing the deputy chief of staff’s reply, he remained silent for a long time. The Federation they had exhausted themselves trying to protect seemed to have become riddled with holes.
It wasn’t just humans—animals were being parasitized too. So what about military personnel, defensive positions, and technology?
In the worst-case scenario, they had no secrets left before the Zerg.
No wonder that Alpha Gold Crown was content to sit quietly in the quarantine control center, helping them research and purge the seed-Zerg from the warriors’ minds.
They had miscalculated… no one had known the Zerg could parasitize animals, because the Zerg had never done so before.
This was a full-scale declaration of war.
“Do not let the news spread for now. I’ll come over later and screen everyone one by one.”
Meng Chongyun spoke after careful deliberation. Things were as they were; they could only take it one step at a time.
“Xue Jie, prepare the reagents for me. I’ll use my spiritual power to eliminate a portion of the personnel first—some departments cannot afford to shut down… We’ll think of other solutions afterward.”
Xue Jie could see the terrible pallor on the Chancellor’s face through the video feed.
She let out a deep sigh and could only nod in agreement in the end.
The Federation currently had only one triple-S-class spiritual commander, and no one else could quickly determine whether a person had been parasitized or infected by the Zerg while simultaneously suppressing or destroying the Zerg outright.
Moreover, everyone was packed together. Even if they weren’t infected at this moment, who knew when they might fall victim? The opportunity could come from touching a beetle, or colliding with a butterfly.
They were in a race against time—quickly determine whether someone was normal, quickly scan and disinfect them, then send them outside. Even being relocated to another quarantine site would be far safer than staying here!
The Federation needed every hand it could get, and those warriors who had participated in the spiritual enhancement program—who knew if they were still safe…
This was the first time Xue Jie had ever hated the academy’s excessively high greenery coverage and excellent ecosystem.
The bigger issue was Tianshu Star and the entire Federation…
The Chancellor was already past sixty, his physical functions had greatly deteriorated. How much longer could he sustain triple-S-class spiritual power by sheer force?
The Zerg’s actions this time were clearly aimed at a full-scale assault. Where was humanity’s future?
Every time she thought of this, it felt like a heavy boulder had been lodged in their chests.
“Alright, then we won’t have people queue up—that would only give the Zerg opportunities. Wen Nanfeng, bring out all the isolation suits you have here…”
Chi Yongxin hated this kind of lifeless, suffocating atmosphere the most.
There had been so many grim moments in human history; as long as there was a shred of hope, they should not give up. The priority was to screen out a few capable people and get them out first.
After ending the communication, Meng Chongyun sat in thought for a long while, then turned and dialed Shi Zhixin’s video line,
“Xiao Shi, I have a task I need to assign to your team. Yes, top secret…”
“Remotely wheel out the warrior who was just sent in for treatment, keep a close eye on the Alpha Gold Crown, and from this moment on, no one is allowed inside.”
“Yes, sir.”
The sixty commanders guarding the Alpha Gold Crown underground received the order from their superiors.
This location was top secret by nature, and personnel rarely came in or went out, so they still had no idea what had happened above.
“Qi Chengyan” had just stood up and walked over to the glass enclosure, ready to start work.
Ha, another case where treatment and no treatment made no difference. Meng Chongyun is cautious to the point of paranoia. Even if he were given such a “skeleton,” what use would it be?
Before he could even mobilize his spiritual power, he realized the “patient” in front of him was being carried away on the bed.
“Qi Chengyan” turned in confusion toward the camera behind him.
“Commander, I haven’t even started treating that person yet.”
“I know. That’s it for today.”
“Hm? Why?”
The commander on duty had been instructed not to tell him too much, so he simply left it at that and said nothing more.
“Qi Chengyan” tried to fish for more information, but no matter how he probed, the loudspeaker overhead remained silent.
Something major must have happened outside.
“Qi Chengyan” paced back to the corner where he had been pretending to rest and sat down again.
Since they wouldn’t tell him, fine—let me find out myself…
Inside the isolation room, Li Qin, who had been resting, suddenly opened his eyes and pushed himself up from the bed.
He opened his comm device and aimlessly searched for news. There was nothing in the feeds, and no new notifications in the military’s group chats either.
Apart from a few meaningless messages from this body’s “wife” and “daughter,” even Jiang Ya hadn’t contacted him.
The Alpha Gold Crown was a bit puzzled—wasn’t the astral net the fastest way humans spread information?
With that thought, he walked to the window and prepared to summon a subordinate to ask. Moments later, Li Qin finally realized what was wrong.
“Found out, huh? Ugh… of all times for this to happen, right when we were about to leave.”
Malice surged in his eyes.
“Since you’ve noticed, then ‘our’ game has begun.”
