Chapter 578: Chapter 578

Uncle Wang ran like a thief on the run.

This scene... TSK, in the past, the red earthworms just burrowed randomly, but these parasites directly invade the flesh.

This is actually the final reproductive and survival strategy of the parasites.

Uncle Wang yelled, "Run! In times of crisis, the old parasites transfer all nutrients to the new larvae to protect them as they seek new hosts. If the host body has the right genes, they can reproduce and survive; if not, the larvae can still live for a day or two."

In other words, when the insects are desperate, they bite anything alive and burrow into it.

Soon, Song Bin was struck.

"Ah! Ah! Help, help! Kill these insects quick! They’re burrowing into my flesh, it hurts! It hurts so much!"

But no one told him the parasites would burrow directly into human flesh! What happened to them not actively parasitizing?

Thinking of thousands of insects burrowing into his body, Song Bin was utterly terrified, sobbing and rolling on the ground. Despite wearing protective gear, parasites still managed to burrow in through the openings at his cuffs and wrists. His blood further attracted the surrounding larvae.

This commotion alerted many people around the crematorium, and the scene became even more chaotic.

From a distance, Uncle Wang cursed under his breath. This outbreak of body-bursting, randomly burrowing parasites was causing big trouble. They might not infect and reproduce, but they were extremely difficult to handle. He glared at Jing Shu; this young woman always caused him trouble, but he didn’t regret it—after all, it was his craving for a cigarette that brought him here.

"Old Zhang, Old Zhang, push the bodies into the crematory to burn them first, then go call someone from the neighboring epidemic prevention research department to treat the injured. Get the newly-developed insecticides ready," the old man shouted from afar.

Jing Shu arched an eyebrow, putting away the spray canister she was holding. I didn’t expect the Imperial Capital’s epidemic prevention research department to have relocated here—though it makes sense, given the highest concentration of contamination sources are in this area, which is convenient for their research. Oh well, I’ll see what stage their drugs have reached now.

According to the information Jing Shu had gathered, the Imperial Capital’s competition this time was to focus on gathering a large amount of medicinal resources to continue research while producing these drugs.

The crematorium staff, familiar with the procedure, quickly pushed the bodies in to be incinerated, then cleaned the site and removed all traces. However, no one noticed why there wasn’t a single parasite around the young woman standing not far from Song Bin.

At that moment, a crowd of "Space People" suddenly swarmed into the crematorium. The leader’s hearty laughter came through, "Old Wang! I always say you’re like timely rain; just as I was thinking of sleeping, you bring a pillow. Who’s the kid that got wormed this time? We just happen to need fresh research material without the B gene. Come on, hurry and carry him away." He was eager.

Uncle Wang hurried over, obligingly saying, "Oh my, Minister Zhao, why did you come personally? This is an accident, just an accident. But it’s great that you’re handling it; thanks for your trouble." He wiped his sweat, recalling the scolding he had received for the last accidental outbreak.

Song Bin, lying on the ground screaming, was naturally oblivious to everything and was quickly carried away.

"Uncle Wang, here are two cigarettes for the trouble you had today. And this bag of fried rice, sneak it to the family of the deceased when you get the chance. I’ll have Song Bin follow up later," Jing Shu said.

"Ah, it’s a small matter, consider it done! Always at your service!" Uncle Wang smiled from ear to ear, finding the deal extremely worthwhile. Those cigarettes were top-notch; two of them were enough to trade for a temp worker’s position. It was the perfect chance to get his daughter-in-law a job—to at least secure half a meal a day.

After giving the instructions, Jing Shu eagerly followed a group of people into the neighboring temporary epidemic prevention research department, chatting with Minister Zhao along the way.

The hastily erected corrugated iron shack was basic, but thanks to the crematorium, at least it wasn’t cold. The main issue was the dozens of people standing crowded together, making it impossible to feel chilled anyway.

"The material has arrived! Truly a godsend. Just as Minister Zhao was considering using himself as a test subject, someone got bitten by an insect."

"Even Minister Zhao has personally stepped in? Things must be urgent. But the parasite’s genes have already been shared and upgraded to the fifth generation; our research can’t keep up with the insect’s evolution."

"Isn’t that stating the obvious? That person’s grandson is currently clinging to life with Bodhi, just waiting for us to develop an antidote. How could they not be anxious?"

"It’s not entirely about that; the consequences for Guan Jiao right now are severe."

"SHH, it’s starting, it’s starting!"

Jing Shu frowned. Using Bodhi to keep someone alive? Can’t Bodhi completely cure them?

Song Bin was laid on the bed and restrained, his clothes stripped off, as Minister Zhao began drawing lines on his skin with a scalpel. "Actually," Minister Zhao explained, "for people without the B gene who get infiltrated by these insects, the larvae would die off in a day or two. But this young man foolishly stood right at the edge of an insect outbreak, and now at least tens of thousands of larvae have burrowed into his body. Look, his veins are wriggling. In a couple of hours, they’ll make their way to his organs. If left unchecked, many organs will be consumed, and it might even cause severe hemorrhaging."

Upon hearing this, Song Bin trembled even more with fear.

"Alright, now let’s inject the newly developed drugs into each limb and record the results carefully. Clinical trial specimens are very important."

Song Bin opened his mouth but couldn’t speak for a long time. Is there some mistake? Are they treating me as a test subject? I... I just came along with Miss Jing to see a corpse!

Soon, Minister Zhao and several others marked different areas of Song Bin’s body from 1 to 10 with marking pens.

As the different drugs were injected into various parts and the reactions noted, Minister Zhao shook his head in disappointment. Clearly, the results were not satisfactory. Jing Shu became even more puzzled.

At that moment, Song Bin suddenly clutched his leg and screamed in excruciating pain. The wound on his foot was visibly festering and oozing pus, and then a large number of larval corpses were flushed out.

"It’s the reaction caused by drug number one. It seems effective, but the side effects are too severe." ɪꜰ ʏᴏᴜ ᴡᴀɴᴛ ᴛᴏ ʀᴇᴀᴅ ᴍᴏʀᴇ ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀs, ᴘʟᴇᴀsᴇ ᴠɪsɪᴛ 𝗇𝗈𝗏𝖾𝗅•𝖿𝗂𝗋𝖾•𝗇𝖾𝗍

Minister Zhao took charge himself, slicing open the festering flesh and placing a sample into the testing device. He then nodded and said, "Combined with that Special Energy, we can eliminate 80% of the parasites and greatly suppress larval spread. It can be used on patients with moderate symptoms to relieve pressure. At the very least, we can’t let the host’s body burst."

Finally, Jing Shu could not restrain herself and asked Minister Zhao, "Minister Zhao, wasn’t it said that Bodhi extract can treat parasites?"

Minister Zhao nodded. "Bodhi is the main medicinal ingredient. Combined with Bodhi and other herbs, it can eliminate 85% of parasites and inhibit reproduction. But it’s useless if they’re not completely eradicated. Moreover, the source of the infection has shared genes... Forget it, you wouldn’t understand all this."

Minister Zhao looked on with a wry smile, "What’s most important is that Bodhi is nearly extinct, and our stockpile is also running out. This medicine, with its extreme side effects, is the substitute we found."

At this time, Group Leader Liu consoled him, "Minister, the Imperial Capital has already held a medicinal herb competition, and a large number of precious herbs have been transported here. Didn’t we mention during the big data review a few days ago that a Medicine Association has been cultivating them in large quantities? They’ve brought them along this time. We’ll go as judges this afternoon and check out the situation; we definitely don’t want any subpar Bodhi."

Jing Shu raised her eyebrows. Judges? The competition hasn’t even begun, and I’ve already run into them here.

Speaking of this, Minister Zhao also began to smile, relieved to finally have some good news. He turned to Song Bin, "Young man, you just need to hang in there for a day or two. The medicine’s side effects are too severe." The main issue is that it’s too expensive.