7.7

Qiao Chen was busier than before ever since he found the solution to the soldiers' bone spur growths. He immersed himself into lab work nearly every day and failed to return home. Long Ao would personally urge him to rest and eat when he was at the base. If Long Ao wasn't there, then the assistants would be the ones who reminded Qiao Chen for him.

Unfortunately, Qiao Chen's assistants weren't as insistent as Long Ao. They couldn't be as persistent either. Therefore, Qiao Chen would often promise to take his break and quickly forget to moments later.

It was nearly ten o'clock in the evening when Long Ao finally returned to the base. Once he realized that Qiao Chen hadn't eaten yet, he forcibly dragged Qiao Chen out of the lab to eat.

Qiao Chen transferred some food from the plate to his bowl as he thought about the formula. The system calculated the formula required to create the cure, but it was still quite difficult to make this cure into a reality.

"Eat properly." Long Ao knocked on the table with his knuckles and said.

Qiao Chen came back to his senses. He looked up at Long Ao and then focused on finishing his meal.

On the way back to the dorm area, Qiao Chen remembered that someone mentioned something about the 03 Base joining the East One base in cooperation, so he asked, "I heard that the people from 03 Base are coming over. Is this true?"

"En. The commander is still considering whether or not we'll agree. Nothing's been set in stone yet." Long Ao asked, "Do you not want them to come over?"

"I don't really care. It doesn't matter if they're here or not to me." Qiao Chen smiled indifferently and then continued, "However, if they really do have aerospace incubators, then I would hope for them to come."

Qiao Chen's thought about it. 03 Base should be overseeing their own base in their own territory. If there was something important they had such as the aerospace incubator, then they should be running research on their own. However, what if they didn't know or have the capabilities to do it? This should mean that they needed to merge with a base that could. And since they had the equipment, they should have a good enough condition to negotiate for cooperation instead of assimilation with the other bases.

Furthermore, they should have chosen to cooperate with the East One Base because it both was the strongest base in the country as well as having Dr. Lu in their research team. Dr. Lu was a very well known scientist throughout the country. His research progressed the quickest among all the other bases.

The aerospace incubator wasn't just a simple small box. The incubator alone was as big as a house with an area of roughly 40-50 square meters. It would take at least a dozen trucks to load the various controllers, databases, and operators for a move.

The aerospace incubator would play a key role in helping progress the experimental stage of most, if not all, research projects. This should be the main reason that explained why 03 Base wanted to visit the East One Base to negotiate for their demands and conditions.

Qiao Chen said, "I lived there for a period of time. If I wanted to describe the people from 03 Base, then I could only say one thing: birds of a feather flock together. It can't be helped there are bad people no matter where you go. There will also be good people too. 03 Base seems to be a magnet for the bad ones. The people there, especially the higher ups, are some of the worst black-hearted and white-eyed wolves around. However, I think that it's worth the risk to invite these wolves into our homes for the aerospace incubator."

"It doesn't matter if they are a pack of wolves. They'll soon be domesticated dogs once they come to the East one Base. This is not a place for them to do as they please. I will kill them no matter what scheming mind games or brute force attacks they want to try against the base." Long Ao's face carried no expression, but his eyes were burning with pride.

"As you should." Qiao Chen nodded. "How can a bunch of dogs from the 03 Base compare to the giant dragon that is the East One Base? I do think that the commander will most likely agree to their cooperation though. Dr. Lu's research currently requires an aerospace incubator."

Qiao Chen suddenly thought of an idea and said, "You should go meet them in person if they come to the East One Base. Afterwards, tell me about everything especially Huailin's expression once he sees you. I think it would quite the sight to see."

Long Ao saw Qiao Chen's smirk and wanted to push him up against the wall and give him a kiss. But seeing that he was just about to reach his room, Long Ao decided to endure the urge.

Qiao Chen opened the door. Long Ao very naturally undressed and headed to take a bath once the two entered. Qiao Chen stared at his sturdy, strong, and muscled back for a while before he said, "Your room is much bigger than mine. Why do you always want to stay here in this tiny little space?"

"If you don't want to stay at my place, then I have to stay at yours." Long Ao replied nonchalantly. Once he discarded the last article of clothing left on his body, he looked at Qiao Chen and motioned for him to do the same so they could bathe together.

Long Ao's room was in the soldiers' dormitory area. Qiao Chen didn't want to be surrounded by other soldiers, so he didn't want to spend the night at Long Ao's place. Long Ao usually slept over at Qiao Chen's to spend more time with him. This meant that his single room dorm became the room for the two.

The couple walked into the bathroom together. Long Ao adjusted the water to the perfect temperature before they entered the showere together. The water ran down both of the men's bodies. Long Ao usually washed up with cold water, but Qiao Chen didn't like cold showers. Therefore, Long Ao made sure the water was hot enough to Qiao Chen's liking to help him wash his daily stress and fatigue.

The two initially helped each other wash up like normal. Eventually, however, they began to give a hug here and a kiss there until they were inseparable.

"Unh, ah!" Qiao Chen moaned. He was pressed up against the wall as Long Ao lifted his legs up.

......….

Long Wu agreed to cooperate with 03 Base as Qiao Chen had expected. The two sides attended a video conference to negotiate the terms.

The 03 Base was in the middle of explaining their terms. Long Wu didn't say anything in reply. He just gave a sneer and motioned for a soldier to cut communications.

Commander Feng saw Long Wu's dissatisfaction and immediately did a 180. He changed his tone and promised that if the research was successful, then East One would get the first batch of medicine. He also said that the initial batch would have enough doses for the entire base to use.

Qiao Chen kept busy while the people from 03 Base traveled to East One. He was studying the formula and was finally able to replicate the successful results. Qiao Chen developed antibodies that were effective against the zombie virus. These antibodies did not carry any negative side effects.

Qiao Chen tested the experiments on mice several more times before he sent the notes, research process, and results on the mice experiments to Dr. Lu. Once he read Qiao Chen's report, Dr. Lu suspended the research he was working on to verify Qiao Chen's results.

A while back, Long Ao was on a mission in the mountains. During the mission, he found and captured a few monkeys that did not mutate. These were good test subjects for experiments.

Dr. Lu had a monkey taken out to his lab. It was given a sedative and then place on the test bench. Then he asked Qiao Chen to inject the monkey with this antibody vaccine he developed.

Three days passed since Qiao Chen injected the monkey with the antibodies. Today was the day Qiao Chen injected the mutant virus strain they found from a zombie's corpse into the monkey. Dr. Lu personally oversaw the experiment. He had his assistant recording every detail of the entire process.

They watched over the monkey in the observation period. The monkey was still alive and kicking. There were no signs of mutation either. Dr. Lu took a sample of the monkey's blood every day to test it and found no problems. He was ecstatic.

"Good, great! Mu Chen, I'll be arranging your team to head the process for spreading this antibody injections to everyone we can." Dr. Lu said as he looked at Qiao Chen with joy and relief emanating from his eyes

"Okay," Qiao Chen said, "but after I completed my research for this experiment, I found that there are actually more than one strain of this zombie virus. So although I have developed an antibody for this specific variant of the virus, I'm afraid that it doesn't have much effect on the other strains that are out there."

Dr. Lu nodded and said, "I know. However, if you can develop an antibody against one strain, then you can also reduce the probability of mutation in some people. Furthermore, there is a greater chance of developing antibodies against other viruses once you continue your research on other possible antibodies against the other strains of the virus. Just tell me if you need anything while you're researching. As long as the base can supply it, I will have them supply it for you. "

Xu Jianpin's heart churned when he found out that Qiao Chen was able to find successful results on the antibodies. Now that he heard Dr. Lu say that he wanted to leave the rest of the antibodies research to Qiao Chen, Xu Jianping's entire person became even gloomier as his face turned ugly.

As per Qiao Chen's suggestion, Long Ao personally welcomed the people from 03 Base when they arrived. Long Ao and Commander Feng were equals in terms of their military ranks. Therefore, Long Ao receiving them was considered to have given them face. Long Ao didn't want to grant them such respect, but since Qiao Chen wanted him to come to see Fang Huailin's expression, then he would come over and take a look. Welcoming them was something he could do since he was there.

"Commander Feng? Hello, I'm Long Ao, the East One Base's Special Forces captain." Long Ao's hands were behind his back. There were twenty to thirty soldiers who stood behind him in a neat line. He seemed to have better leadership than Commander Feng who was ten to twenty years older than him.

"Hello, hello. Are you Commander Long's nephew? I've heard of you." Commander Feng warmly said. He stretched his hand out and walked towards Long Ao.

Long Ao reciprocated the gesture and shook hands with Commander Feng. Then he glanced behind Commander Feng and looked at Fang Huailin who was behind him.

Fang Huailin was stunned when he saw Long Ao. Fang Huailin heard about Long Ao's achievements. He was the one who had won first place in the International Special Forces Competition for three years in a row. Fang Huailin's heart rumbled like a dark storm. It was no wonder that he couldn't even defend against a single strike from Long Ao and beat within an inch of his life.

Long Ao said that he would receive the visitors, so he greeted them and then promptly left. Other people were naturally responsible for giving those form the 03 Base their living arrangements.

Even though 03 Base said that they wanted to cooperate instead of taking refuge, they had also brought the normal civilians with them. It seemed more like they were here to freeload than they were to cooperate.

The wounded 03 Base members were also sent to East One's medical department. As the leader of the healers, Sun Yu was directing their side's people into different wards.

While Sun Yu directed others, he thought that East One Base was really different from the other bases. Their medical department was both bigger and more technologically advanced than 03 Base's medical department. He had only looked at a handful of wards and clinics, but facility was fully furnished with all the equipment they could have ever wanted. It didn't look like their base was affected by the end of the world.

Sun Yu thought that it would be good if he could stay in the East One Base. He definitely would be treated well here with the strength of his healing ability.

Qiao Chen brought his assistant doctors to the medical department to do the second physical exam for the first batch of soldiers injected with his antibody solution. As soon as he exited the elevator, Qiao Chen saw Sun Yu standing there pointing here and there as he instructed the others around him.

Sun Yu happened to turn around and he was immediately faced with Qiao Chen. He couldn't believe his eyes. He stared as the person walked closer and closer to him as he thought in shock, 'Why is he here?'

Furthermore, Qiao Chen didn't even given him the time of day. He just bypassed him with several assistant doctors following him.

"Mu Chen?" Sun Yu turned around and called out. However, Qiao Chen ignored him and continued walking.

"Mu Chen, stop!" Sun Yu yelled out. He used to hate Mu Chen's indifference and arrogance. However, he was just a doctor without any healing abilities. What qualifications did he have to keep such an air of arrogance? To maintain this façade of superiority?

Sun Yu's voice was very loud. People who were walking by stopped to look at him when they heard him. Qiao Chen also stopped. He turned around to look at Sun Yu and see what he wanted to do.

"It really is you. Why? Why are you pretending that you don't know me" Sun Yu walked to Qiao Chen and lookedat him. He was very surprised when his brother, Sun Bin, told him that Mu Chen was alive. However, he never would have expected to meet him here of all places.

"I'm not familiar with you. What are you calling my name out for?" Qiao Chen replied with that indifferent air that Sun Yu hated so much.

Sun Yu felt the anger in his heart explode. He hated seeing Mu Chen like this. He lifted his chin and said in an arrogant tone and indifferent expression, " It seems like you've been here for a while. You should be familiar with this place, shouldn't you? We've just arrived and there are a lot of things that need to be done. We are very busy, so you should come and help us. Besides, doctors like you who don't have and healing abilities should be very free, no?"

In 03 Base, doctors without healing abilities could only do the grunt work in the medical department. As the leader of the healer group, Sun Yu was very accustomed to calling out doctors without abilities out to do his bidding. He thought that other bases did the same thing and would respect those with healing abilities more than those doctors who could only do basic care.

Sun Yu noticed Qiao Chen coldly looking at him and not speaking a word. Sun Yu changed his tone to a reprimanding one and said, "Didn't you hear what I said? I asked you to help. What are you doing standing around for?"

"I didn't hear you. Say it again." A voice rang out from behind Sun Yu.

He looked behind and saw a handsome soldier with a very nice body walking over with some soldiers following behind him.

Long Ao reached Sun Yu, looked at him, and asked, "Who are you?"

"I…" Sun Yu was overwhelmed by Long Ao's momentum. There was a chilling glint in his eyes. It felt like a sharp knife threatening him, so he became even more flustered. Sun Yu calmed himself down as best as he could and said, "I am the leader of 03 Base's healer's group. My name is Sun Yu."

Zhang Gang was stood behind Long Ao on his left hand side. He sneered, "The people from 03 Base are very arrogant. This is the first time they've ever come here, but they have the balls to yell at the people from our base."

"That's not how-" Sun Yu quickly explained himself, "He used to be from our base. I just saw him and wanted to ask him for some help."

"Who do you think you are? How dare you ask Dr. Mu to help you? Don't you know how precious Dr. Mu's time is?" Zhang Gang glared and questioned. Sun Yu was completely stunned.

"You go and do your work." Long Ao said to Qiao Chen. Then he commanded one of the soldiers behind him, "Go and call the head of the medical department."

The head of the medical department received the news and hurried over. He was still panting and hadn't regained his breath when he asked, "Dragon Team, do you have any orders?"

"I want all the people from 03 Base to be restricted to first floor access only. No one from 03 Base will be allowed to the second floor or above."

"Yes, I will arrange it immediately." The head quickly agreed.

Sun Yu was stunned and just watched those people walk into the treatment room. He didn't come back to his senses until the head of the medical department pushed him and asked him to set up everything again, but on the first floor.

After that interaction, Sun Yu asked the people with healing abilities in the medical department to find out more about Qiao Chen. When he found out that Qiao Chen had a healing ability, his first reaction was disbelief.

Then they told him that Qiao Chen wasn't just any doctor with a healing ability, but he was also a researcher that successfully developed an antibody against the zombie virus. Sun Yu almost threw the things in his hands against the wall when he heard that. Fortunately for him, he remembered that their wounded members were rearranged to the first floor. The commander even warned him that this was the East One Base not the 03. He controlled his emotions this time since he couldn't be too impulsive.

Sun Yu excused himself under the false pretense of feeling unwell. Other people saw that he really didn't look so good, so they didn't doubt him. Sun Yu hurriedly left the medical department building.

Sun Yu received healing abilities at the end of the world while Mu Chen had nothing. He felt that the world balanced itself in the end. How good could Mu Chen be when all he had were medical skills that couldn't do anything at the end of the world? He'd be regarded as a waste of space. He thought that since he had poor medical skills, it balanced out with his healing abilities. He was still given respect once the zombie virus hit. This was ying and yang. It was balanced.

However, not only did Mu Chen have a healing ability as an experienced doctor, but now he was even participating in research and development into finding cures? Why? Why did god treat him so well? What did he do to deserve a good family background, a high IQ, and talents that exceeded the normal man? Sun Yu believed that these things could be forgotten with the passage of time once the zombie apocalypse happened. However, the person who should have died didn't die. What's worse was that not only did he survive, but he returned to his shining glory of his days pre-apocalypse. The more Sun Yu thought about it, the angrier he felt. It was a deep and ugly anger that burned deep within.