Rebirth: Love in the Apocalypse - Chapter 71

Chapter 71: Ridiculous
Xuanyuan Qi, general Qin, general Chu, general Wei, and master Fang sat at a round table.

Behind them were important subordinates and talented juniors.

Normally, the subordinates and juniors were responsible for taking notes and handing over documents while the leaders discussed important matters.

However, this time, no one was talking and consequently, no one was taking notes.

After five minutes of silence, a loud bang suddenly broke the atmosphere.

“That was the seventy-first case in two days.” Xuanyuan Qi angrily said.

“Who can tell me what is going on?” He asked, looking around, hoping that someone had an answer to his question.

Unfortunately, no one seemed to have an answer.

“Old Wei, what can you tell us?” General Qin asked, drawing everyone’s attention to one of the old men.

General Wei, Wei Canghao; was more than eighty years old.

However, he awakened an eye enhancement superpower which improved his health and appearance.

At the moment, the person looked like a fifty-years old man instead of eighty years old elder.

“Qin Fu, what do you mean?” Wei Canghao asked, his eyes narrowed into slits.

“Your territory has the most incidents. Don’t you know what is going on?”

Wei Canghao sneered.

It was true that his territory had the most incidents but what did that have to do with him?

In the first place, all the victims were ordinary people.

Wasn’t this a good thing?

Thinking about it, Wei Canghao was not in a hurry to investigate.

He felt it would be a good thing for a few more ordinary survivors to be wiped out in this wave of incidents.

“What’s the use of pointing fingers?” Xuanyuan Qi sneered.

He had a headache.

When he ran for office, he hoped he could make a difference and drive the country towards a better future.

Unexpectedly, the apocalypse came and all plans changed.

Before he knew it, the country was divided and his power was not enough to dominate the capital, let alone the rest of the country.

Without his son, Xuanyuan Qi knew he wouldn’t have been able to retain as much of his executive power as he had.

However, he and his son were on different paths.

He had a bottom line he couldn’t cross but in just a few months into the apocalypse, his son was already stepping on this bottom line.

Thinking of this, Xuanyuan sighed but he didn’t allow his mind to wander.

Before considering the future, he had to get a hold of the current situation.

“Are the incidents accidental or intentional?” He asked.

“My Chu family has investigated the situation at the gates.” General Chu started and quickly continued.

“Nothing has changed and the soldiers are properly doing their job. No infected person has been allowed to enter the base.”

“My Fang family initially thought there was something wrong with our testing methods. However, the methods are correct. There is no possibility that an infected person was let into the base due to failure of the testing methods.” Master Fang said.

“If it’s not because of negligence on the soldiers’ part or failure of testing methods, why are zombies suddenly appearing in the base?” Xuanyuan Qi asked in a frustrated voice.

Unfortunately, no one could answer his question.

“All the incidents are in zone E. I suggest we quarantine zone E for the time being.” General Wei suggested.

“I support General Wei’s suggestion.” Xuanyuan Yi spoke for the first time.

“We can’t allow the incidents in zone E to affect the rest of the base.”

“Zone E has the most people and the fewest means. Is the base going to issue emergency supplies to tide the people over during the quarantine period?” Someone asked but the question was like dropping a stone in a still pond.

Quarantine was quarantine but issuing supplies…

Most of the people in the meeting room were not happy to hear that suggestion.

“We need to find the reason for the recent zombifications before thinking about quarantine.” Someone said.

“Could the zombie virus have become airborne?”

“Did it also gain a preference?” Someone snorted and quickly continued.

“If it was airborne, it would indiscriminately infect everyone. Why is it that only zone E survivors have been affected?”

“Could this be a conspiracy? Is someone intentionally infecting zone E survivors?”

“Master Fang, what do you think?” General Chu asked.

‘Damned old bastard.’ Master Fang cursed but his face did not change.

Since the cause of the zombification incidents could not be determined, it was naturally for people to suspect the research institute.

After all, everyone knew that in the base, only the research institute had live zombies and the zombie virus.

However, this time, the research institute and by extension, the Fang family were wronged.

When he first heard about the incidents, master Fang also suspected that someone in his institute had gone rouge and was conducting dangerous experiments using the base population.

However, he investigated for two days but didn’t find anything.

Although this did not prove that the research institute was innocent, it at least proved that the culprit was smart enough to avoid detection.

That way, the institute wouldn’t needlessly implicated.

“All samples and specimens in the research institute are catalogued and handled in the right away. This matter has nothing to with us.” Master Fang immediately denied involvement.

“Wan’er, what do you think?” General Chu asked, turning to look at his most promising granddaughter.

Hearing the question, everyone turned to look at Chu Wan’er.

“This matter may have something to do with water.” Chu Wan’er said.

“Water?” Xuanyuan Qi narrowed his eyes.

“Little niece, what do you mean?” He continued.

“I think the survivors in zone E may be drinking contaminated water.”

General Wei angrily hit the table when he heard that.

“What a bunch of idiots!” He cursed, his eyes bursting into flames.

“Pamphlets outlining the base guidelines have been circulated and everyone has been warned against drinking tap water. How dare they drink it?”

“Wan’er, why do you think so?” General Chu looked at his granddaughter with a solemn expression.

The Chu family was doing better that most prominent families.

On one hand, it was because General Chu had a big army and on the other, it was because Wan’er had a ‘prophetic’ dream right before the apocalypse.

At this time, he naturally followed his granddaughter’s cue and tried to get to the bottom of things.

“I have recently heard that some survivors in zone E are choosing to boil and drink tap water instead of buying bottled drinking water.”

“Good for nothings.” Wei Canghao sneered and Chu Wan’er barely suppressed her disgust.

She was not a good person.

In fact, she had deliberately allowed some terrible things to happen just so her Chu family could gain an advantage in the apocalypse.

However, she wasn’t evil!

Listening to Wei Canghao, she felt disgusted and dared not look at him for fear she would not be able to suppress her disdain.

“I have heard similar reports.” A voice suddenly resounded.

When everyone turned to look, they saw a handsome man of about thirty.

The man had a resolute face and a straight back, betraying his career as an army man.

Seeing the person, Wei Canghao frowned and a trace of anger flashed in his eyes.

“Tell us everything you know.” Xuanyuan Qi ordered and the man didn’t hesitate.

“Ordinary survivors are increasingly unable to afford safe water and other basic necessities. As a result, they have been forced to survive desperately which has led to drinking boiled tap water instead of bottled water.” Xiao Junxie said, his hands clenched into fists.

Xiao Junxie was a soldier before the apocalypse.

When the apocalypse came, he resolutely stood up and did his duty.

However, the army was not what it used to be.

Even more unfortunate, his unit was under general Wei who had become increasingly radical since the apocalypse began.

‘I probably can’t keep my post after this meeting.’ He thought but his heart felt lighter.

In fact, he and several brothers had already reported the water situation to general Wei.

However, general Wei only snorted and didn’t care about the matter.

After all, the matter had nothing to do with important survivors.

Because of the general’s indifference, the matter escalated and seventy-one zone E survivors turned into zombies within two days.

“Don’t we have enough water in our reserves?” Xuanyuan Qi asked, looking at general Chu.

General Chu sighed when he heard the question.

“We have employed many water and ice superpowers to refill the tanks on a daily basis. However, many survivors can’t afford to buy the water.”

Xuanyuan Qi gritted his teeth when he heard that.

‘What’s the meaning of all my efforts?’ He wondered.

Generally, price and supply had an inverse relationship.

When supply was low, price was high but what about the base?

There clearly was enough water but some selfish people wanted to take advantage of the situation and kept the price high.

Thinking about it, Xuanyuan Qi felt the current situation was too ridiculous.