September 17th.
Farmhouse Shelter, Underground Level 2, Control Center.
"According to the research materials,"
"The Rola Virus is a super-virus that underwent super evolution."
"The resources that triggered its evolution were the various dinosaurs that once roamed the earth."
"After the super evolution, it gained the hibernation characteristics that allowed it to survive for 65 million years, preserved deep in the rocks that sank during a major geological event."
Chen Yue, now assuming the role of a biological researcher, wore a soft white knitted cap, and her appearance, while serious, still had a touch of cuteness—like a little girl dressing up seriously.
But what she was explaining wasn't child's play. It was a grim history representing the end of a dominant species.
"Super Evolution."
Su Wu flipped through Chen Yue's research materials, pondering this newly coined term created for the Rola Virus.
Being well-versed in theoretical knowledge himself, Su Wu quickly made a rough calculation from the materials.
In order to gather the resources needed for a super-evolution, it would have required the near-total extinction of the billions of dinosaurs that once populated the earth.
Combining this with pre-apocalypse research and hypotheses from the Federal Academy of Sciences on the Dinosaur Era, a clear pattern started forming in Su Wu's mind.
"The Rola Virus used the extinction of dinosaurs, which had thrived on Earth for 160 million years, to complete its super-evolution."
"Then it coincided with the asteroid impact that struck Earth."
"Massive wildfires and earthquakes ensued worldwide."
"Most viruses were eradicated by the high temperatures caused by the fires."
"But a small portion attached to some parasitic objects, which then sank deep into the earth during the intense geological activities."
"It wasn't until recently that one of these viral-laden rocks was discovered by Owen Shelter—"
Su Wu frowned, realizing that the situation was more serious than he had imagined.
Based on this hypothesis, the rock that contained the original virus was clearly not the only one. Its counterparts could be scattered all around the world.
And considering the recent mega-earthquake, which even hurled those strange purple crystals from the mantle to the surface...
If the worst-case scenario held true—
Su Wu didn't continue.
He only grew more determined to develop a vaccine and treatment.
No matter how many resources it took, no matter how much spiritual power was invested, he could not afford to give up.
In the afternoon, the type I treatment drug, which could extend the life of severe Rola Virus patients by three to five days and light symptom cases for more than ten days, was completed in the biological laboratory at Jiewei Shelter.
Mass production was designed to produce approximately 100,000 doses per hour.
After the first batch of type I treatment drugs was produced, Su Wu allocated 20,000 doses for the treatment and backup use for the infected in his own shelters.
The remaining 80,000 doses were intended for sale to other shelters.
But to Su Wu's surprise, after the news of the sale, only a few shelters bought these drugs in bulk.
This did not mean the drugs were ineffective, nor that the shelters doubted the drugs' efficacy.
In fact, almost every shelter leader who received the news sent a request to Su Wu to purchase.
However, most of the orders were for only a few dozen or at most a hundred doses. Hardly any orders exceeded that amount.
These drugs were mainly intended for the buyers' close associates, to prepare for emergencies.
As for the ordinary residents,
In the words of one shelter leader, "After all, they're just wasting food. There's no need to spend extra resources to delay their deaths for a few days."
Su Wu realized that unless he made these drugs completely free, no shelter would bother buying them for ordinary people, no matter how cheap the drugs were.
"Are they really treating the infected as burdens?"
Faced with this reality, Su Wu thought for a moment before making a new decision.
It was one thing to offer the drugs for free to other shelters, but that could feel somewhat thankless.
Taking this opportunity to bring the infected into Jiewei Shelter for centralized isolation and treatment, however, was something worth trying.
If it failed, it would be a waste of some medicine and a few days of food.
But if there was a breakthrough and these infected people could be cured, it would be an opportunity to gain more population.
Soon, according to Su Wu's instructions, 30 medium-sized hovercrafts, after some simple modifications, began to shuttle between the various shelters, transferring the severe infected individuals to Su Wu's shelter.
Because there were too many severe cases who were unable to move on their own, requiring robot assistance, the overall transfer process was slow.
On average, only about 3,000 people could be transferred per hour.
As a result, Su Wu had to prioritize the selection of those he would help.
He mainly focused on children, young women, young men, high-educated individuals, middle-aged people, and the elderly in that order.
To speed up the process, Su Wu also sent humanoid service robots with type I treatment drugs to the various shelters to inject the severely infected individuals with the medication in advance.
This was done to prevent their condition from worsening too quickly.
By the end of the day, Jiewei Shelter, which had been specifically set aside for isolating the infected, already housed over 70,000 individuals.
This number far exceeded the original capacity of the medium-sized shelter, which was designed for a maximum of 10,000 people.
Although, at the moment, it wasn't quite at capacity because nearly all non-essential living facilities and production areas had been cleared.
However, given that more infected people were expected to arrive continuously, the standard setup was simply insufficient.
Su Wu had no choice but to reference the design of capsule hotels from the pre-apocalypse era. He began constructing a batch of hive-style beds, providing two cubic meters of space per patient.
This allowed the shelter to theoretically accommodate between 1.2 million and 1.8 million people.
But considering that the shelter also had a biological laboratory and various facilities for basic living conditions, as well as the need to leave enough room for transportation of living supplies, the practical capacity was capped at around 700,000.
And even then, the 700,000 was made possible by the fact that most of them were in a comatose state. If they remained awake for too long, the confined, narrow, and monotonous living environment would quickly break their spirits.
The entertainment facilities and larger activity spaces would need to be built immediately to keep up.
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