Chapter 7: Fungal Infection

The next day, Xu Chen received a message from his counselor informing him that he had been added to Grandpa Yang’s internship medical team. Looking at the list, it was filled with the school’s elite—graduate students and doctoral candidates, all of them.

It was a ten-person team.

Ouyang Xing’s name was prominently listed in third place.

Xu Chen, a small fry who hadn’t even finished his undergraduate degree, was the only outlier, and he suspected he was just there to fill the quota.

According to subsequent notifications, he was to head to Nanhua Central Hospital shortly to observe a highly rare case with this group of seniors, and everyone was required to write a report.

Poor Xu Chen, who had been gaming when he heard the news, felt his brain crash instantly; he felt as though his head were filled with mush.

To make matters worse, before he could even figure out how to decline, a knock echoed at his dorm room door.

Song Tian, sitting closest to the door, opened it with one hand while continuing to play his game with the other. "Who is it? What do you want?"

"Ouyang Xing. I'm looking for Xu Chen."

"Holy crap." Song Tian blurted out a profanity, immediately flung the door wide open, and after looking at the person outside, called out, "Old Xu, look! The legendary handsome genius is here."

Xu Chen, who had been miles away, snapped back to reality and stared at him blankly.

Ouyang Xing showed no sign of awkwardness or bashfulness at being called a "handsome genius." Instead, he looked a bit nostalgic. He nodded to acknowledge Song Tian’s compliment and then looked at Xu Chen.

"Xu Chen, a very rare infectious disease has appeared in a coastal area. The patient has been transported to our hospital, and the professor’s intention is for you to come and observe as well."

Xu Chen widened his eyes, looking at this genius whose looks lived up to Song Tian’s description, and recalled what Grandpa Yang had said.

So, that phone call wasn’t about escaping with Senior Ouyang, but about tagging along to watch the chaos?

"I... I’m still just a kid who hasn't even graduated from undergraduate studies."

"Don't worry. The professor said it's just for you to observe; you won't be required to perform any procedures."

"This is all too sudden. Let me think about it."

"Xu Chen, do you have any concerns?"

Xu Chen was on the verge of tears. "It’s about the report. How am I supposed to write that?"

Ouyang Xing smiled. "Is that all? I’ll help you write your report. I consider my writing decent, and my professional knowledge is sufficient. I should be able to assist you."

Song Tian leaned over to Xu Chen and urged him, "Ouyang, the genius, even had a paper published in an SCI Q1 journal the day before yesterday. With that kind of strength and level, having a master lead the way, you just need to coast. Why are you still hesitating? You might even get extra credits for free."

Xu Chen thought about it; that made sense. He nodded in agreement.

"Good. Come with me, the dedicated vehicle is downstairs."

Xu Chen was dumbfounded. *Damn it, that’s not what I meant by nodding.*

Parked downstairs was a black special-purpose bus. The windows were covered in black, opaque film, and the only white thing on it was the license plate.

When Xu Chen boarded, he glanced at the door. It was incredibly thick, and the connecting rod was as thick as his own arm.

He felt something was wrong and hesitated at the door.

"Xu Chen, get on. We're leaving soon."

Xu Chen was hesitant. He had a sinking feeling that once he stepped onto this bus, he would no longer be in control of his own fate.

"Don't be so scared. The infectious disease has already been contained in a Biosafety Level 4 laboratory. You’re just going to look at it; there is no risk at all."

Unable to find any further reason to doubt him, Xu Chen boarded the bus.

The other passengers were all from the school—seniors and fellow students who looked like they were studying or whispering amongst themselves. When they noticed someone boarding, they greeted him in a friendly manner.

Ouyang Xing responded politely to each of them and led Xu Chen to the back row.

It wasn't until the bus started moving that he remembered: white license plates were for police vehicles. Because it was a bus, he hadn't even considered that possibility.

He looked at the glass and saw thread-like patterns forming a web-like structure.

*Damn, this is bulletproof glass.* Even in a car accident, you couldn't break this with an emergency hammer.

What Xu Chen didn't know was that this police bus was specially modified. It only looked like a bus; in reality, it was an armored vehicle capable of withstanding autocannon fire. A mere car accident wouldn't even scratch it.

When they arrived, his unease deepened. The bus pulled into a spot in the underground garage enclosed by dark green tents. This area was guarded by soldiers carrying actual rifles!

Counting them all up, there were over twenty heavily armed soldiers in sight.

Two leaders, one from the Public Security Bureau and one from the military, were conversing after seeing the bus, seemingly discussing handover procedures.

Xu Chen thought he was the only one panicking, but he saw that his seniors also looked lost. Only Ouyang Xing seemed to have been briefed—he looked somewhat confused, but not to the same extent.

After being led to a large tent, the first thing they were asked to do was surrender their phones.

Then, they were handed a densely packed document. Xu Chen took one look and realized it was a non-disclosure agreement.

"Is this getting a bit out of hand? What exactly are we here for, Senior Ouyang?" Xu Chen turned to ask Ouyang Xing.

Ouyang Xing had already signed his name and shoved the pen into Xu Chen's hand.

"I don't know. The professor arranged it. He has always taken good care of you; he certainly wouldn't harm you now. Just sign it."

Xu Chen was starting to panic. "I don't even know what I'm doing. How can I sign this?"

Ouyang Xing looked around, then whispered, "Just sign it. We aren't doing anything illegal. Just follow orders; even if there isn't a reward, the school won't treat you unfairly."

Xu Chen thought about it, and that made sense. He signed his name.

After the non-disclosure agreements were collected, footsteps grew closer outside the tent. An elderly man with white hair, a white lab coat, thinning hair, and a slight hunchback pulled back the tent flap. He carried a stack of simply bound documents and began handing them out.

Xu Chen noticed Ouyang Xing staring intently at the old man, seemingly in deep thought.

"Who is he? Do you know him?"

Ouyang Xing shook his head. "He looks familiar. Qi something, I remember seeing him on TV."

"Is it Qi Kangmei?"

Ouyang Xing’s expression cleared. "Yes, yes! How did you know?"

"It’s written on the document."

Xu Chen pointed to the signature on the document. It was indeed Qi Kangmei.

Ouyang Xing looked at it for a moment. "I remember now. He’s a big shot in infectious diseases at the Military Region Hospital. It looks like this really is related to an infectious disease."

"Ahem. You were all hand-picked by Dean Yang—young, motivated, and enterprising. I won't waste any more breath. You all know about the disaster a few days ago, right?"

The group nodded.

"Sigh. The wind was so strong that we had torrential rain even here. The typhoon blew the nuclear-contaminated water vapor right to us. Our aircraft carriers have already been deployed over the past two days, intending to forcibly exercise the military garrison rights of a victorious nation."

The group was shocked. One of the seniors asked, "What if that island nation doesn't agree?"

"Then we will claim we are responding to their declaration of war. The paperwork has already been processed; we are just waiting for them to refuse. The impact of this illegal dumping of sewage on our country has been defined by the higher-ups as a nuclear strike. We have the right to self-defense and counterattack, and we do not rule out the use of a nuclear response."

"And... will the other side of the ocean agree? Won't they back those bastards?"

"Haha, the other side of the ocean will soon be too busy to care about themselves. Those ocean currents don't just flow toward us, but that’s not our concern."

"What should we be concerned about?"

"This." The old man pointed to the documents in their hands.

Xu Chen flipped it open. The first page was a large, detailed color photo that gave him a rude awakening.

It was a corpse lying on a hospital bed. The left half of the body, including the head, was stained with an unidentified yellow substance, looking like a giant, rotten, moldy peach. A yellow serum was oozing from it, and through the yellow substance, one could clearly see the bones and internal organs beneath.

The yellow substance covered his face, sprouting patches of fungal mycelium that had already eroded a significant portion of his flesh. In some places, there were clear traces of attempted surgical excision, but it had clearly been ineffective.

All of his flesh seemed to have collapsed, pulled by gravity into a grotesque posture, as if it were no longer flesh at all.

"!"

"Ugh—"

One of the senior students, clearly unable to handle something so visceral, clapped a hand over her mouth to suppress the urge to vomit.

Xu Chen resisted the urge, noticing that everyone else’s faces were just as pale.

"What... what is this?"

"Keep reading; it explains it later."

Before Xu Chen could turn the page, he realized he had been so focused on the photo that he had missed the title.

*Aspergillus Flavus Fungal Infection.*

Xu Chen felt like he understood something at first glance, but his gut told him that couldn't be right.

*Aspergillus flavus* infection? *Aspergillus* was a saprophytic fungus. How could it infect a living person? Even with *Aspergillus* infections, he had only heard of pulmonary infections; he had never seen such an exaggerated case of surface growth.

Could it be a fungal mutation? Was it going to turn into the fungal parasite zombies from *The Last of Us*?

Xu Chen flipped to the next page and looked at the autopsy report. The flesh inside had autolyzed. If it were to jump up and attack someone, Newton wouldn't allow it. What lay on the bed was barely the shape of a person; the skin had detached, and it would fall apart at the slightest movement.

As he read the subsequent content, Xu Chen felt increasingly nauseated, while simultaneously recalling what had been said in the dorm.

*Damn it, this case really was rare.*

Disgusting, unheard of, and unseen.