There is so little information that you can’t even identify the key points.
What is “Whale Fall” supposed to be the code name for? What exactly is the objective of the rescue mission? Where is the specific location? What is the time limit?
It seems like none of this is clear, leaving everyone disoriented and with no idea how to plan the next move.
The group’s entry points were scattered around the block. After confirming each other’s positions, they held off on rendezvousing for now and stayed hidden to piece together the limited information they had.
Based on their positions, the team informally split into two smaller groups.
The four freshmen were huddled together.
Song Zheng instinctively stuck close to Cheng Feng. The other infantry, a friend of his, chose to move with him.
In a situation like this, the commander is supposed to determine the first step. However, Shen Dan read the brief description over and over again without finding any hidden clues. Perplexed, she asked, “What is all this? Cheng Feng?”
Cheng Feng was leaning out, half-hidden, surveying their surroundings.
Pedestrians on the street were sparse – there might even be fewer living people than bodies lying on the ground. The air was thick with a stifling humidity and an unpleasant, foul stench. It was hard to tell whether that smell came from the gloom before a torrential downpour, or from something else entirely.
In the sky above the city, aside from a few warplanes still circling, a dense, impenetrable fog loomed in the distance, pressing down on the horizon and darkening the heavens.
Cheng Feng had assumed it was probably evening, nearing nightfall, but a glance at the system time showed it was only around 9 o’clock in the morning.
The others instinctively followed her gaze, glancing at the time and then sweeping their eyes across the scene on the street.
This instance set up by San Yao was indeed extremely realistic. The grotesque wounds on the fallen civilians and the desperate wails of their bereaved families were all laid bare in the open.
This intense psychological pressure, amplified by the ultra-realistic visuals, assaulted their sanity wave after wave, entering through their eyes.
Song Zheng took one focused look and quickly averted his gaze.
A burst of static crackled through the communicator. Due to signal jamming, their voices weren’t entirely clear to each other.
“Find anything on your end?”
Cheng Feng said thoughtfully, “This place feels a bit strange. The sky is all gloomy and gray.”
The senior student was startled. “You’ve never seen smog before?”
Cheng Feng muttered, “And it stinks a bit.”
The other replied helplessly, “You can’t be too picky about that, right?”
Cheng Feng tilted her head back, peering into the depths of the thick fog. “I think there must be some information on-site related to this rescue mission.”
“If there are no clues yet, let’s head to the Second Hospital first. Don’t waste time overanalyzing the mission brief here.” The senior student covered his earpiece, striving to keep his tone calm. “Let’s rendezvous first. Gezi will go over to support you.”
Two black armored vehicles pulled up and screeched to a halt at the intersection. They rolled down their windows, urging Cheng Feng and the others to get in quickly, then proceeded one after the other toward the designated location of the Second Hospital.
In the vehicle with Cheng Feng were two senior students – one acting as the driver, and the other repeatedly dialing the contact number listed on the mission panel.
After failing five or six times in a row, the student clicked his tongue in frustration, set down the communicator, and gave up. “This approach isn’t working. Looks like we’re on our own to figure out what the hell ‘Whale Fall’ is supposed to be.”
No one in the vehicle responded.
The senior student turned his head and glanced at the two data analysts, his already furrowed brow adding another layer of worry.
He really couldn’t fathom what San Yao was thinking with this class configuration.
“Stay alert! There could be an ambush on the road!” the senior student warned sternly. “You think this is a sightseeing trip? Get your guns ready! Hey, I’m talking to you. Your name’s Cheng Feng, right? Stop gawking out the window.”
Cheng Feng slowly withdrew her gaze, stared at him for barely two seconds, then turned her attention back to the window.
The senior student was so frustrated he wanted to curse at her, but Cheng Feng spoke first. “Don’t you guys think this fog is off? It’s spreading outward. That’s not how normal fog behaves.”
The others glanced outside.
They hadn’t paid much attention before, so it was hard to be certain.
What was undeniable, however, was that the smell in the air was getting stronger. The stench of blood, the acrid scent of burning charcoal, and the foul odor of the sewers all mixed together, creating an indescribable smell – something akin to the scent of death.
Once they noticed it, the level of discomfort shot up exponentially.
The senior student rummaged around for a bit and pulled a glass bottle out of the storage compartment, exclaiming with delight, “Car air freshener!”
Song Zheng’s face changed dramatically upon hearing this. He quickly tried to stop him, pleading, “Please! You think the smell isn’t rich enough already?!”
As the two tussled over it, Cheng Feng, leaning out the window, shouted loudly, “Wait! Stop the car!”
The driver tilted his head. “What are you doing? It’s dangerous around here.”
He slowed down but didn’t stop. Cheng Feng, however, directly pushed open the car door and jumped out of the back seat.
“Holy crap!” the driver cursed loudly. Seeing Cheng Feng running toward an NPC sprawled face-down in the middle of the road, he cursed again, “Damn it! What are you doing now?”
He quickly spun the steering wheel, heading toward Cheng Feng. The vehicle in front also came to a stop.
The senior student forgot all about the air freshener, tossing it aside as he roared angrily into the communicator, “Read the mission name out loud – ‘Emergency Rescue!’ Do you even know what ’emergency’ means? What the hell are you doing, handing out merit badges in a war zone? NPCs here don’t have question marks over their heads, and they’re not gonna trigger some hidden storyline!”
Crouching, Cheng Feng turned around and gestured for them to come over.
The senior student’s cursing ceased, and he followed Song Zheng down to take a look.
Cheng Feng was fully clad in combat gear, covered from neck to toe without a single inch of skin exposed. She was now tightly gripping the wrist of the person on the ground. His pale, bluish skin stood in stark contrast to her black attire.
This person’s clothing was strange. From a distance, it was hard to make out, but up close, they could see he was wearing a plain white short-sleeved shirt with no markings, haphazardly draped with a sheet on top. And printed on that sheet was the emblem of the Second Hospital.
When they rolled up his sleeve, aside from the unnaturally discolored skin, his arm was covered in festering wounds. Judging by the condition, they had been there for some time.
The injured person was still alive, but unconscious. His warm breath, spraying near Cheng Feng’s hand, seemed to carry a withered, decayed aura.
The senior student’s intuition told him something was off. He took a step back, saying nervously, “What is this? An infected patient who escaped from the Second Hospital?”
“Seems like it.” Cheng Feng pointed at another figure lying motionless not far away. “Might be more than one.”
Seeing severely ill patients with identical symptoms in such close proximity, it would be hard to convince anyone they hadn’t escaped from the same infectious disease ward.
The senior student covered his mouth and nose, asking in a muffled voice, “Is it too late for us now?”
Cheng Feng asked with amusement, “What do you think?”
The senior student made one last desperate attempt. “Did anyone bring a gas mask?”
“No,” Cheng Feng said. “I followed your lead in choosing gear.”
Maybe it was psychological suggestion, but the senior student immediately felt his own energy draining away. In contrast, Cheng Feng was still examining the patient’s injuries as if nothing were wrong.
Holding the patient’s arm, she inspected it and analyzed, “This person isn’t wearing hospital clothes. There are relatively clear restraint marks on his wrists, abdomen, and several places on his body. I don’t know much about this – is there a professional who can take a look?”
She moved aside slightly, wanting Song Zheng to come over and examine the patient together.
Song Zheng was far more ordinary, his face pale as he shook his head in refusal. “I’m no professional either, sorry sis.”
Cheng Feng felt regret.
Useless guys.
Shen Dan, who had been silent for a long time, suddenly spoke up. “If this is based on a real case, if I’m not mistaken, and if I make a bold guess…”
The senior student interrupted, “Drop the ‘ifs’ and just say it.”
“The prototype for this instance should be a battle in the central district of Area A12,” Shen Dan said. “Before retreating, the enemy forces dropped two biological warfare agents on the city. Of course, that’s illegal.”
Everyone looked up in unison.
The layer of fog in the sky seemed to have thinned slightly, gradually expanding outward.
Cheng Feng let out a cold laugh. “I knew it, ha.”
None of them had done well in cultural history classes and didn’t know such obscure, non-exam knowledge.
The senior student asked urgently, “And then?”
Shen Dan said, “Then they all recovered?”
“I get it, I understand now.” The senior student waved his arm emphatically. “Get in the car, quick!”
One after another, the three of them jumped back into the armored vehicle, and they resumed their rush toward the Second Hospital.
The communicator buzzed with the team’s lively discussions.
Since this was a game, the feeling of fear wasn’t prominent yet; it was more excitement than anything else.
The senior student signaled for everyone to quiet down.
“Alright, we can ignore the rest of the mission description for now. Let’s confirm our objective. What we’re looking for could be a person, it could be a medical agent, it could be a serum, or it could be experimental data related to biochemical weapons. Anything with the potential for developing a cure – that’s all within our search scope.”
