Ch 2: Source

"So now tell me Mr Carter how this world would end. You mentioned nuclear bombs, natural disasters, or alien attacks, but you never thought humanity could be wiped out by a virus—

the same one you thought you'd eliminated by burning those patients. If that very virus is about to destroy the world, what will you do?" Lex said, grabbing the other chair in the room, placing it in front of Carter, and sitting down.

"That's impossible..... because we'll eradicate the virus completely with the military's help," Carter replied, his voice full of confidence.

"Oh… such confidence in your military. Are you still going to use the same method?" Lex asked, leaning forward with interest, waiting for Carter's response.

Carter paused, then said, "Yes, the same method. Gather all the infected patients in one place, eliminate them, and burn their bodies to wipe out the virus for good.

"Fuhahahaha! " Lex burst into loud laughter.

"What's so funny, Lex Winchester?" Carter snapped, anger flaring.

"Oh, man, my stomach hurts! ....

You're so blinded by your power that you're taking this situation so lightly, as if you've got everything under control. But this evening, you'll see just how much you underestimated this virus," Lex said, raising his right hand and flicking on a light with a remote.

Carter looked to his left, confused, wondering what this madman was trying to show him. Then he saw it—a two-meter bulletproof glass wall, completely transparent. On the other side, a man lay on a bed, groaning faintly in pain, as if his entire body was in agony.

The man's arms and legs began to thrash wildly. Seeing this, Carter thought to himself, "The symptoms are the same. This must be that virus. But my team and I eliminated everyone infected. How is it spreading again?" He sank into deep thought, then pushed aside his guesses, turned to Lex, and asked,

"Where did you find this patient?"

"Where I found him isn't important. How many infected are hiding out there? —that's what matters" Lex replied, turning the question back on Carter. "What did the doctors tell you about this virus?"

"First, high fever, then the heart stops suddenly before restarting, eyes turn blood-red, and there's intense body pain," Carter recounted, based on what the doctors told him and what he'd seen.

"Hmm… and have you seen the virus's final stage?" Lex asked, his tone skeptical.

"Final stage? There's another stage? I've only seen patients like this… Have you seen it?" Carter asked, confused, a faint trace of fear creeping onto his face, as if something unimaginable and terrifying was coming—something he couldn't even fathom.

"No (yeah)…" He was lying, with a smirk on his face."

"Then why are you saying it has another stage?" Carter looked at Lex doubtfully, suspecting he was trying to scare him.

"Just a guess… this virus is far more dangerous than you think, and its true form will be revealed today," Lex said.

"W-What do you mean, true form?"

Lex's words sent a chill through Carter, a sense of immense danger. The man sitting in front of him surely knew something critical. Carter's thoughts of escaping faded; now, he only wanted the information Lex held.

"In a few hours, you'll see the final stage with your own eyes," Lex said, then casually took a sip from a water bottle nearby.

"This guy definitely knows something about this virus. If he has a cure, I'll get it no matter what. I just need to be patient," Carter told himself, then looked at Lex and said, "Can you untie my hands? I promise I won't try to escape."

"Sure, I'll untie you—but not yet," Lex replied, brushing off Carter's request with a smirk.

"Why not now—cough… cough…"

Seeing Carter struggle, Lex picked up a water bottle from the floor and helped him drink. Carter had been kidnapped for about six hours, shouting nonstop since regaining consciousness, which had left his throat parched.

Gulp… gulp… gulp…

Phew... Carter felt some relief.

"You wouldn't understand right now, even if I explained. Let's discuss something else. We've still got two hours," Lex said, checking the time on his phone before asking,

"Didn't you and the government ever try to trace the source of this virus?"

Carter listened to Lex calmly, his mood serious. He studied Lex's face for a few seconds, then said,

"We tried, but we couldn't figure out where this virus came from or how it spread. We just tracked down the infected, rounded them up, and took them to our secret base. We interrogated them one by one, but they weren't coherent—just writhing in pain. So we decided to shoot them all and burn their bodies."

"Didn't you check their recent activities? Like where those 500 people went on vacation, what they ate, or what strange things they touched?" Lex already knew the answer but wanted to know how much the military had uncovered and where they'd looked.

"We pulled their records for the past month, but nothing stood out as suspicious. We found no common factors in what the infected ate or did. So we concluded it must have been something caused by the changing environment," Carter explained.

Sigh…

Carter found it odd that Lex sighed at his response."So the government doesn't know the source," Lex said, confirming his suspicion was correct.

"Then you know it,?" Carter asked, his tone serious, now certain Lex Winchester held the key to the virus's origin.

Lex didn't respond right away. He looked at Carter's face for a few seconds, then asked,

"Mr. Carter, have you ever visited the ICENTRICA continent?"Carter found the question bizarre—Lex bringing up travel out of nowhere.

"No, but some of my friends went there this month," he replied.

"Oh… how tragic, Mr. Carter. You won't see those friends again after today," Lex said, feigning sympathy for Carter's friends.

"You bastard… what are you trying to say?" Carter's face flushed with rage.

"Those people out there will definitely get infected and consider them as good as dead," Lex said carelessly, mocking their fates in front of Carter.

"Hah! You bastard, you're enjoying this, aren't you? Let me tell you, among them are top doctors and scientists. They'll definitely succeed in creating an antidote for the virus!" Carter retorted.

"Oh, really? Well, let me tell you a true story that happened four months ago. It'll give you a clue about the virus's source," Lex said, glancing at his phone before starting.

"On November 12, a large cruise carrying 700 people set sail for the ICENTRICA continent. After a 10-day journey, they landed safely. Their destination was the northern part, but the cruise docked on the south side.

Those 700 people were there to enjoy their vacation. Among them were adventure-seekers, you know, the type who crave new experiences. The first three days passed peacefully by the shore, but on the fourth day, the thrill-seekers decided to climb some icy mountains.

A group of 10 set out, and after a few hours of climbing, they spotted a cave. Curious, they went inside. Deep within, they saw something frozen in the ice. Their curiosity grew, and they started digging it out. They succeeded, but something sticky got on their hands. The warmth of their bodies caused it to seep into their skin, and they didn't even realize something had entered their bodies.

Thinking it was no big deal, they carelessly broke things in the cave and returned to their camp. Those 10 people infected the other 690, but none of them knew.

After their 10-day tour, they returned to their lives, busy with work. When summer began, that unknown substance started spreading through the bodies of those 700 people. And that's where the story ends."

"So, what did you think of my story, Mr. Carter?" Lex asked.