Chapter 355: Virus Rampage

Havier lay on the stretcher, staring in terror at the thick black smoke rising in the distance; it was the weapon of mass destruction he had planned with his own hands, yet it was now devouring his own country and army.

At this moment, inside the Di Guo X-7 biochemical weapons base, it was a living hell.

"Lockdown! Lockdown the entire area immediately!" the base director Rogers roared hysterically, "Initiate emergency decontamination procedures!"

But it was too late. Long Country's precision strike had destroyed the base's main control room and backup power, and the entire decontamination system was completely paralyzed. A large hole had been blown into the laboratory's blast door, and the lethal BW-7 virus was spreading in all directions in a milky-white mist, visible to the naked eye.

"My God..." a scientist wearing a protective suit muttered, discovering in horror that the left sleeve of his suit had been torn by shrapnel from the explosion.

"Tangmu, you..." Rogers had just started to say something when he saw the scientist's eyeballs begin to bloodshot, and black spots appeared on his skin at an alarming rate.

"Ahhh!" the scientist let out a shrill scream, clawing at his own skin as if countless ants were gnawing inside his body. In less than thirty seconds, he collapsed to the ground, foaming at the mouth, his body convulsing violently.

One minute later, he stopped moving.

"Damn it, the effects of BW-7 are even more terrifying than the test data!" Rogers' face turned deathly pale, and he retreated in a hurry, "Retreat, everyone retreat! The base is already lost!"

But no sooner had he finished speaking than three more staff members collapsed—their protective suits also had tiny tears. The toxic gas was spreading faster than they had imagined.

The base's broadcast system was still mechanically repeating: "Emergency situation, all personnel please evacuate immediately. Repeat, emergency situation, all personnel please evacuate immediately."

But no one could truly evacuate. All exits had been sealed off by the thick fog, and anyone who came into contact with the toxic mist died without exception within a few short minutes, their state of death extremely painful.

"Rogers, you damn liar!" a scientist grabbed Rogers by the collar, "You said BW-7 had an antidote! Now where is the antidote?"

Rogers pushed him away, his expression twisted: "The antidote is in Washing... in the capital! Those damn politicians and generals, they have the antidote, but only enough to protect themselves!"

Inside the medical area, it was chaos. More and more wounded were being brought in, but the doctors were completely helpless in the face of this unprecedented virus.

"Headquarters, this is X-7 base, we need emergency medical support and antidotes! Repeat, we need emergency medical support and antidotes! Is anyone there? Damn it, can anyone hear me?" the communications officer roared into the radio, but only a patch of static responded to him.

Communications had been cut off. They had been abandoned.

Meanwhile, the high command of Di Guo had realized the severity of the situation and urgently mobilized the "Taiji Tiger" unit stationed nearby to handle the leak.

"Orders received, proceed immediately to X-7 base to contain the biochemical leak!" Taiji Tiger captain Park Jeong-hee shouted to his team members, "We have the latest protective equipment; the mission is to seal the leak area and control the spread of contamination!"

But they had severely underestimated the horror of BW-7.

When the Taiji Tiger unit arrived at the perimeter of the X-7 base, the scene before them made these battle-hardened soldiers feel a chill: within a radius of several kilometers around the base, not a blade of grass grew, and countless corpses were scattered on the ground—soldiers and civilians alike—all of them maintaining the postures of their final struggles, their faces etched with extreme pain.

"My God..." a team member whispered in shock.

"Shut up, check your protective gear, and prepare to enter the contaminated zone," Park Jeong-hee said sternly, though his voice carried a hint of trembling.

The tragedy occurred just as the Taiji Tiger unit stepped into the base's perimeter.

"Captain, my oxygen supply is having problems!" a team member suddenly shouted, his voice filled with fear.

Park Jeong-hee turned to look and immediately gasped—a nearly invisible crack had appeared in the team member's protective mask, and his eyes were already beginning to turn red.

"Retreat! Retreat immediately!" Park Jeong-hee ordered at once, "Everyone, get away from the contaminated zone!"

But it was too late. One after another, team members began reporting equipment failures, and the horror of BW-7 lay in its ability to penetrate protective suits through the smallest of gaps; once it touched the skin, it would rapidly invade the bloodstream, destroying the nervous system and internal organs.

"Help! Someone save me!" a team member rolled on the ground, tearing at his protective suit, as if invisible flames were burning inside him.

Park Jeong-hee watched his team members fall one by one, the fear in his heart nearly devouring his sanity. This was not war; this was a massacre, and they had actually been sent to deal with this terrifying weapon that exceeded human control.

"Damn Di Guo people!" Park Jeong-hee cursed, pulling out his communicator, "This is Taiji Tiger Special Forces, emergency report! The BW-7 contaminated area is out of control, repeat, completely out of control! The toxin's penetration capability far exceeds expectations, and our casualties are heavy! Please implement nuclear... nuclear weapon cleansing on the entire area immediately! This is the only way!"

His breathing became increasingly rapid, his vision began to darken, but he forced himself to continue reporting: "BW-7 has breached our most advanced protective equipment... we... we were lied to... this is not some... conventional biochemical weapon at all... this is... death itself..."

Park Jeong-hee felt a surge of intense pain spread from his chest to his entire body; his vision blurred, but he gritted his teeth and sent the final telegram: "Warn headquarters... BW-7 may have... spread through the air... further... evacuate... must evacuate immediately... a radius of fifty kilometers... no, one hundred kilometers..."

The communication came to an abrupt end.

At Di Guo headquarters, when the last telegram from the Taiji Tiger unit was delivered to the conference table, the entire room fell into a deathly Silence.

No one spoke; only the slight rustling of paper in trembling hands could be heard.

Finally, the Deputy Minister of National Defense broke the silence: "My God... the entire Taiji Tiger army wiped out? And they were equipped with our most advanced anti-chemical gear!"

The Director of Intelligence looked ashen: "According to the latest satellite imagery, the toxic cloud is spreading in all directions at a speed of 10 kilometers per hour and has already covered most of our Third Army Corps' positions."

"What are the casualty figures?" the Chief of Staff asked in a hoarse voice.

The Director of Intelligence took a deep breath: "Conservatively estimated, it has already exceeded twenty thousand... and it is still increasing rapidly."

The conference room fell into silence once more; everyone knew that this number included a large number of civilians.