I Have A Super USB Drive

by <unknown>

  "Understood."

  Just as they were going forward, the door of a house far away was abruptly thrown open. A villager covered in blood stepped out and immediately roared upon seeing the crowd and started rabidly charging toward them.

  "Blasted, make him shut up!"

  The leader's expression turned and he immediately urged. "If he alerts a large number of villagers, we won't be able to get away!"

  However, it was too late. As the villager continued shouting, the doors of the houses on the side of the road burst open one after another. Groups of villagers with blood-painted faces howled and cried as they came over like a surging tide!

  "What do we do?"

  Herbert and the others were frozen in place. They were dead meat if they were surrounded by the villagers and would have their protective suits ripped apart!

  Just as they were all at a loss, the bodyguards who had kept their silence all this time stepped up. One of them raised the Czech CZ805 rifle in his hand and unloaded it into the sky without hesitation!

  "Bang bang bang bang bang!"

  The tense and threatening atmosphere left behind by the round of gunshots brought the villagers back to their senses. They looked at Herbert and the others with fear in their eyes.

  The leader, Lawrence sighed with relief when he saw what had happened. He pointed at two children in the village and had them climb into the isolation cabin on their own. With the help of his crew, they carried the isolation cabin into the other ambulance.

  "Alright, let's get out of here before they start rushing at us!"

  After the four infected villagers were brought onto the ambulance, the rest of them quickly entered the vehicle and shut the door, ignoring the desperate pleading of the remaining villagers.

  The bodyguards waited until all of the medical staff had entered the ambulance before returning to the Jeep one after another.

  When the villagers saw the ambulances preparing to leave, they could not contain themselves any longer. They charged forward, crying out as they slapped the car with bloodied hands. Their voices filled with sobs were unlike that of a regular human.

  "Let us in!"

  "Don't go, please I beg you, save us!"

  "I don't want to die…"

  The villagers crowded themselves around the vehicles in an attempt to prevent them from leaving.

  "What, what do we do?" The crew on the ambulance were panicking. There were simply too many people surrounding the ambulance. If they were to stomp the pedal, they would run over at least a handful of them.

  Just as they were drenched in a cold sweat from the shock, they heard yet another round of gunshots coming from the two Jeeps up ahead. Instead of shooting warning shots into the sky, they were shooting directly at the group of villagers!

  All Herbert saw was one of the bodyguards prying himself out of the window and taking aim at the villagers before pulling the trigger. In a split instant, a cloud of bloody red mist erupted amid the pack of villagers surrounding the Jeep. The villagers shrieked in terror as they fled!

  "Are they crazy, they're shooting civilians!" the leader, Lawrence exclaimed.

  However, the effectiveness of this method could not be denied as the villagers in front of the vehicle immediately dispersed. With the roar of the engine, the four vehicles took off, running over several more villagers while leaving the village…

  Even after they had left the vicinity of the village, they could still see villagers chasing after them from the rearview mirror.

  The despair shone through their eyes as they cried and screamed at the back of the fleet of vehicles until they got farther and eventually out of view…

  Chapter 198: Blacklight Virus |

  Three hours later, when the four vehicles had returned to Eco Science City, there was already a custom set up by the city entrance.

  A large steel gate was erected in the middle of the road. Several B.S.S. members clad in protective suits and armed with rifles posed as security by the entrance.

  "Oh, f***… Come on guys, you guys think this is Resident Evil?"

  When the vehicles stopped by the custom, one of the customs security went up to the people in the Jeep. "That's a bit overkill, yeah?"

  Unfortunately, his colleagues inside the Jeep did not provide him any response.

  "We took a trip to a pandemic red zone."

  Herbert stepped off the ambulance to break up the awkward interaction. He handed a folder to the other person and turned around to look at the ambulance they came back in.

  That was when he immediately understood the comments made.

  The ambulance originally painted in white was covered in numerous bloody handprints. It came to Herbert how desperate the villagers must have felt then when he looked at these marks they left behind.

  "Sigh…"

  Herbert sighed silently. After the security went through the document and made sure there was no discrepancy, he informed, "The vehicle won't be able to enter. You guys can head in first, there'll be a crew escorting you."

  "Alright."

  Herbert nodded. The crew got out and pushed the isolation cabin into the negative pressure tent for disinfection.

  It was only after they had been thoroughly disinfected that they were granted entry into Eco Science City.

  What followed after was another set of complicated procedures. It took two to three hours before the four infected were finally sent to the research center.

  Their blood samples were sent into the level-4 biosafety lab which had never been officially put to use ever since its establishment.

  The level-4 biosafety lab was otherwise known as the international standard BSL-4 laboratory. It was a laboratory specifically designed to study some of the most hazardous viruses in the world. Laboratories of this variation were extremely rare in the Earth Federation. There were only sixty-eight such established laboratories registered so far.

  The current laboratory belonging to Chen Chen was the only privatized BSL-4 laboratory in the world.

  At the current moment in the laboratory, Bernhard, Evans, and several other top microbiologists were gathered. They protected themselves in closed isolation suits. The entire experiment would be conducted on a negative pressure clean bench.

  "The blood lapping agent of the infected is complete, where's the human kidney cell dish?"

  "Over here."

  "Alright, I've dripped the lapping agent. Let's see what kind of virus we're dealing with now."

  The atmosphere inside the BSL-4 laboratory was relatively relaxed. Bernhard had his assistants test the blood samples while he and Evans tried another method of processing the samples.

  Half an hour later, they put the human kidney cell dish under the electron microscope for closer observation. The display monitor revealed the true nature of the virus.

  The audience held in a breath of cold air upon seeing the result.

  As seen on the display, the human kidney cell was completely destroyed by the attacking virus. The cell membrane was utterly shattered and the organelle became barely recognizable. Amid the broken cell remains was a mass of densely packed together thread-formed substance…

  "As suspected, it's filovirus."

  Evans sighed upon noting this. "It's pretty much confirmed now. Up till now, there have only been two variants of filovirus discovered in the Earth Federation. These two viruses are pathogens categorized in the highest biosafety level.

  "We will still need to refer to the assistants to get a proper overview."

  Bernhard made a waving gesture as he turned to another group occupied with their task. "Joseph, any findings from the serum test on your end?"

  "The test result is ready."

  One of the assistants quickly approached them and handed the report into the hands of Bernhard. "Professor, the virus in this outbreak presented a cross-antibody reaction with the Zaire subtype. It's antibody-antigen reaction tested positive."

  "Impossible!"

  Evans immediately declared
upon hearing the report, "This can't be Zaire!

  "If it were the Zaire subtype Ebola virus, things would be much easier."

  Bernhard was also slightly taken aback by the result, then became pensive at the findings. "Even though the fatality rate of Zaire subtype Ebola reaches as high as ninety percent, it only spreads through bodily fluids. It should be easy to stun its spread.

  "That's why this virus cannot possibly be Zaire. It's a new subtype that holds close similarity with the Zaire subtype Ebola virus."

  Evans nodded. "Just like the Reston subtype Bola virus."

  There was a sense of sorrow among them upon arriving at this conclusion.

  It was already known that all of the different subtypes of Ebola displayed varying degrees of infectivity and symptoms. Among them, the Zaire subtype boasted a fatality rate of up to ninety percent while the Sudan subtype's fatality was fifty percent. Both of these subtypes were transmitted via liquid, which meant they were not highly infectious.

  The most infectious of the bunch was a subtype known as Reston.

  Reston was a variant of Ebola that could spread through the air. It was almost completely identical to the Zaire virus but fortunately, this virus only proved to be lethal on monkeys and was largely harmless against humans.

  The problem was that upon the initial discovery of the Reston subtype, many people became concerned – what if one day the Reston subtype Ebola went through mutation and became effective against humans? What happened then?

  Now, it may appear that the very thing that they had feared was unraveling…

  "Professor, we've done a complete glycoprotein gene sequence analysis of the isolated virus and found that 98.9% of the nucleotides of this virus are the same as the ones found in Reston virus."

  "Excellent, this pretty much confirms it. This is a mutated variant of the Reston subtype Ebola virus."

  The look on Bernhard's face became even more serious as he inspected the report in his hand. "This means that this is an airborne Ebola virus.

  "You guys continue decoding its genetic scheme, I'll send the initial report to the boss first."

  Evans spoke, "Right, could everyone brainstorm a name for the virus so we can submit it to WHO? As the first to discover this new virus, we have the right to name it."

  They exchanged confused glances at one another.

  "Why not Namibia subtype Ebola virus?" one of the assistants spoke up.

  "No, we're the first ones to discover the new virus. Why let Namibia steal the glory?" Another assistant shot it down.

  "How about Bernhard-Evans subtype?" A third assistant suggested.

  "That won't do. Chen Chen subtype Ebola then…" Evans quickly waved away the suggestion.

  "Alright, spare me the modesty, let's just name it after our company."

  Bernhard smacked the table and declared, "Blacklight virus, that's a good name. I'm sure the boss will be pleased."

  "That's true."

  They all nodded in agreement.

  With that, the new virus was officially named.

  Chapter 199: BE-006 |

  A day later.

  "Whirling---"

  The activation of the printer suddenly produced a whirring sound, disrupting Chen Chen's train of thoughts.

  At the same time, the childish voice of Little X was heard. "Sir Godfather, the virus report is ready!"

  "It's finally ready?"

  Chen Chen retrieved the report from the printer and shifted his attention to the report's header.

  It wrote:

  "Description: Diameter 80 nanometer, Length 970 nanometer, in fibrous form. Its genetic material is in the form of single-stranded RNA that's encased in an envelope. There exist 5 different proteins spiked on the envelope, which are categorized into VP series protein and P-glycoprotein. Its nucleotides have a 98.8% similarity to the Preston Virus. It is confirmed as a mutated strain of the Ebola Virus and can be tested using the Preston Ebola Virus PCR Test."

  Chen Chen was not surprised as he had long deduced these findings. He carried on reading.

  "The virus RNA gene map was attached below the summary which includes NP, VP35, VP40, and many other proteins."

  The report continued. "Upon the infection of the host by the virus, the incubation period is typically more than two days, subsequently causing a severe infectious disease - Ebola Hemorrhagic Fever. There is still no official death statistics to date. Cause of death includes stroke, myocardial infarction, hypovolemic shock, and multiple organ failure."

  "Transmission routes that have been identified thus far are airborne transmission, which includes saliva and body-fluid transmission as well as through blood, feces, and vomits."

  Chen Chen immediately became alert. Looked like the virus was airborne after all. This could be tricky.

  Even if everyone were to stay at home, there was no guarantee that the virus would not be carried by winds into their windows and door cracks.

  "According to a preliminary investigation, the incubation period of the virus is more than two days. The virus is still infectious during the incubation period. Symptoms present during this period include fever, fatigue, muscle soreness, headache, sore throat, followed by vomiting, diarrhea, rash, kidney failure, and liver failure in the later stages."

  "Then, sudden death will occur secondary to organ failure within the host within three days. Analysis conducted to date suggests that the virus is a Biohazard Level 4 virus, posing a huge threat to humanity!"

  "The virus is temporarily named as Blacklight virus."

  After finishing, Chen Chen put down the report, his fingers were gently tapping on the table.

  Blacklight virus?

  D*mn it, this was straight out from Prototype!

  After contemplating for a good while, Chen Chen lifted his chin and said, "X, can the World Health Organization name a virus after a company name?"

  "There's no precedence to this. However, it doesn't violate the rules enacted in 2015."

  X continued. "In 2015, the World Health Organization ruled that a new disease couldn't be named after cities, countries, regions, people, food, cultures, ethnicities, and professions. However, it didn't specify companies in the list."

  "Is it that strict?"

  Chen Chen was surprised at that rule as the earliest strain of Ebola virus was named Ebola Zaire. Ebola came from the name of a river whereas Zaire was the name of a country.

  There were many examples of viruses named after a region as well such as the Australian bat rabies virus, California encephalitis virus, and Bolivia and Paraguay virus.

  These viruses had names that were intricately linked to the local region.

  Furthermore, although it sounded derogatory when a virus was named after a region or country, virus names had a prideful ring to it when it was named after the person who had discovered it.

  Examples were such as Yersinia pestis, Escherichia coli, and salmonella.

  There were often naming rights disputes in various situations, just like how France and the United Kingdom's tug of war over the right of discovery for HIV.

  However, the name of this infectious disease had long been coined since the 1970s and was called the Ebola Hemorrhagic Fever. As a result, Chen Chen only had the naming rights for this newly mutated virus.

  Even under such a circumstance where the virus could not be named after a person or a geographical region, naming the virus as Blacklight virus did not seem acceptable either...

  "If that's the case, let's just call it the Blacklight Ebola Virus. It would be the sixth variation of the Ebola virus discovered by humanity and as such, can be written in academic journals as the…"

  Chen Chen gave it another thought and proceeded to write "BE-006" in an empty space of the report.

  Yes, that was more like it…

  Chen Chen nodded and instructed, "X, please contact Qian Wenhuan."

  Following Chen Chen's order, it was not long before someone knocked on his office door.

  "Please co
me in."

  Chen Chen raised his head and saw Qian Wenhuan, who was drenched completely in his sweat. "Boss, did you want to see me?"

  "Wenhuan, how's the situation with the Eco Science City tourists?"

  Chen Chen did not explicitly mention the incident but instead chose to subtly slip into the topic.

  "We've informed our clients that we're providing free transportation service to send them back to their countries using our private jets. However, many of our clients refused to return and instead chose to travel further to Namibia."

  Qian Wenhuan answered.

  "That's alright. From now onward, I'll import a large quantity of Preston Ebola Virus PCR Test Kit from Mainland China. These test kits are capable of testing this variation of Ebola virus."

  Chen Chen passed the report to Qian Wenhua and continued. "However, we need to inform these clients that should they decide to leave Eco Science City, we shall not be held liable toward their own personal safety."

  "Understood." Qian Wenhuan nodded as he looked at the report.

  "Apart from that, I have another more important issue to discuss with you."

  Chen Chen instructed further, "I'll personally see to the issues of Eco Science City. For now, I'll need you to quickly retrieve the virus strain of the new virus and submit it at the WHO headquarters along with this report."

  "You've separated the virus strain?"

  Qian Wenhuan was overjoyed. "This is the golden opportunity for our company to be famous worldwide!"

  "Which is why I need you to be fast."

  Chen Chen nodded. "Not only that, but you'll also have to bribe the media to portray our company as the leading figure in combatting the pandemic. I believe these are already your expertise."

  "Understood!" Qian Wenhuan was taking his job seriously.

  He fully understood the intention hidden within Chen Chen's decision. They could not be soft in this matter. If they did not take charge, it was a matter of time before other companies would.

  By then, not only would the first-mover advantage be ceded to a third party, Blacklight Biotechnology would only be a pawn to others.