Chapter 196: Expanded Infected Zone

At this moment, the entire surface world had become a playground for the virus. The underground shelters, once safe havens, had now become isolated islands surrounded by the virus.

However, Su Wu's last remark brought a slight sense of relief to the others. The virus concentration dropped by more than 100 times beyond 30 kilometers from the city center. This meant that there could still be safe zones in more distant areas. In the worst-case scenario, there might still be a chance for escape.

Some of the more cautious shelter leaders began privately considering how to prepare escape tools and plan evacuation routes.

Su Wu paid little attention to their reactions and instead continued to present all the information he had at his disposal. He didn't hold back on the disinfecting lights or virus detectors, revealing the design principles and blueprints to allow other shelters to replicate and spread these technologies.

The head of the official shelter, Bai Rui'an, listened silently to Su Wu's presentation from start to finish. When it was over, he sighed softly, his mindset shifting. He had never been fond of Su Wu, and had even sought opportunities to dismantle his shelter. However, after seeing the efficient virus research methods Su Wu had demonstrated, Bai Rui'an began to reconsider.

Ultimately, the competition between Su Wu and the official shelters was just a power struggle among humans. In the face of an external crisis, there was still the possibility of mutual support. It was no longer necessary to hastily go for the kill.

After Su Wu's speech, the rest of the meeting lost its significance. Even the official shelters were lagging behind in terms of virus research efficiency. They had nothing new to offer. Given the urgency of the situation, the meeting quickly came to a close.

A high-ranking official, with a worried and solemn expression, ended the call and handed over the technical data Su Wu had shared to their team.

In this online meeting, Su Wu also achieved something significant. He reached an agreement with other shelters to share real-time intelligence. In the coming days, all virus-related incidents occurring in the shelters—whether official, large-scale, or even those directly or indirectly under their control—would be uploaded to Su Wu's internet system. His artificial intelligence would then integrate the data into a real-time epidemic map, helping Su Wu and others assess the overall situation.

This system would drastically increase the operational efficiency of Jianghe City. Within ten minutes after the meeting ended, Su Wu received the first batch of new data. His artificial intelligence transformed this into a color-coded map of Jianghe City, marking different levels of danger.

"Currently, three deaths have been reported, and 2,743 cases of infection."

"It's a terrible start."

Unlike Su Wu's shelter, where the infected survivors were primarily people working on the surface and unknowingly contracted the virus, those in the official shelters hadn't been exposed to the outside world. They had been infected while living normally inside their shelters. This meant the Rola Virus had breached the external defenses and invaded the internal ecosystems of the shelters.

Now, the virus could spread rapidly through the ventilation system in the narrow spaces of the shelters.

Time was running out.

On the screen, the map of Jianghe City showed a few red dots and a small yellow area, representing the worst-affected regions.

Su Wu couldn't help but feel a sense of sorrow as he looked at the map. He could almost imagine the cries of countless people and the heartbreaking goodbyes with their loved ones.

But there was nothing he could do. At this point, he could only focus on his own shelter's survival.

At 8 PM, the first batch of disinfecting and testing equipment, based on Su Wu's designs, was produced in the official shelter. With their deployment, many infected individuals who hadn't yet shown symptoms were discovered. The infection count kept rising by the minute.

The yellow area, representing the moderately infected zone, had spread over half of the official shelter in just half an hour. This was not the virus running out of control but rather the result of updated quarantine measures revealing the actual infection situation.

Following the official shelter, large civilian shelters also began to follow suit. Su Wu's designs were not complicated, and most large shelters had the capability to manufacture these devices. However, the cost might be high depending on their production capacities, but in a life-and-death situation, even the highest price had to be paid.

As these large shelters carried out their self-checks, the number of infected grew exponentially. Faced with the infected, the method was the same for both the official and large shelters. Whether they were in the early stages or full-blown, everyone was rounded up and isolated together.

However, due to the urgency of the situation and the limited space within the shelters, the isolation areas were far from ideal. Some shelters didn't even have the conditions that Su Wu's temporary medium-sized shelter had, which had been set up for isolation.

Large numbers of infected individuals were crowded into a small space. In some places, hundreds of people were squeezed into an area the size of a basketball court. With no protection, the virus spread rapidly among them.

Soon, in the most severe cases, even healthcare workers in full protective gear couldn't enter. These areas had to be completely sealed off, leaving the infected to die in despair.

In some shelters, in a desperate attempt to stop the spread, extreme measures were taken. Large amounts of fuel were injected into out-of-control or nearly out-of-control areas, and high-temperature fires were set to burn the virus and its hosts.

Many people, some of whom were still in the incubation period and appeared normal, were dragged into the flames and died.

(End of Chapter)