Those teammates who had fallen because of their wounds now pushed themselves up from the floor.
Captain Zhang fixed his gaze on them. "You…"
Before he could continue, the injured team members said, "Get out of here now. We are beyond saving. Before we mutate, we want to do one last thing."
They meant to blow up the base.
"We do not know why everyone wounded here ends up mutating, but the source must be inside the J City base. If we destroy it, the virus problem will be solved."
"Right. You came to save us. You must have met a lot of trouble on the way, or you would have arrived sooner."
"We heard the blasts. We saw Sister Lan's lightning, if only faintly. We know you did your best to come for us."
"It is just that… we were too weak. At least before we change, let us do what little we still can."
…
They thought all those sounds just now had been made to rescue them.
Heaven help them.
But the truth was—
It was too cruel. No one could open their mouth to correct them. And what good would it do to explain. Looking at faces that would be gone in moments, who could bear to tell them the cruel truth.
No one felt it more than Captain Zhang. These men on the floor were brothers who had faced death with him. His heart felt stabbed a hundred times. Only the intact suit hid the grief twisting his face.
Since the misunderstanding was born, let this beautiful misunderstanding stay with them.
Captain Zhang set Brother Li's body down, then took the vest with his own name and laid it over the hole in Brother Li's chest. "All right. This is your last mission from me. Destroy the J City base before you mutate. The duty of guarding our gravely wounded is in your hands."
The men opposite smiled and accepted the final mission that belonged to them, then turned to their fallen comrades and began to work.
…
Every base team member carried standard issue gear.
First, a pistol. Second, demolition charges.
A single charge could never level the J City base, but if every charge were gathered together, the force would be terrible. And they were base personnel. Of course they knew every base had a self destruct system.
In sorrow, Captain Zhang led the few survivors to withdraw from the base.
Meanwhile, on Lao Shi's side, no one survived. Worse, several who went to help were badly hurt. They barely escaped. Back aboard ship, people glared at Lao Shi, the one who had started the chain of events, their anger rising. But danger had not passed. Whatever needed saying could wait until they left this place.
After confirming all were aboard, Captain Zhang ordered the ships to leave at once. The ships pushed to full speed, fleeing the J City base like hunted prey.
The retreat had no beginning and no end, and Lao Shi felt something was wrong. But the woman beside him tugged at his thoughts and he could not spare the attention to ask.
When the base was no longer in sight, a series of blasts thundered across the water. A mushroom cloud rose far away. The J City base was gone.
The shockwave was powerful. The calm surface rippled hard, and even the ships rocked.
Lan Jin staggered on deck, nearly falling before Huang Jinghe caught her.
Looking around, nearly everyone on deck reacted the same way.
On the ships, the people who understood the least were the J City team members, and Lao Shi. As the ship steadied, Lao Shi stepped to Captain Zhang. "Why destroy it. Kill the monsters inside and disinfect the base. Many resources in there cannot be replaced. Blowing it up is a waste."
Did Captain Zhang not know that. He chose not to answer, turned away, and issued new orders to the crews. "Hold position. When the blast settles, we will go back to clear what remains and see if any materials can still be salvaged from the J City base."
Captain Zhang could keep the big picture in mind, but those beside him could not hold back.
The dead inside the J City base were brothers who had bled with them. Those brothers went to their deaths for everyone and left with a beautiful misunderstanding. How could this be swallowed. One teammate could not bear it, stepped forward, and punched Lao Shi in the face.
Before Lao Shi could react, the woman at his side cried out, "What are you doing. How can you hit him."
She sprang in front of Lao Shi, shielding him.
Others might not know the woman, but Lan Jin and her group who had visited J City before knew at a glance. She was Lao Shi's girlfriend.
The man who threw the punch did not back down. "I hit him on purpose."
Hearing that, Lao Shi frowned. A thought flashed through his mind. He asked, "Is it because…"
No matter what Lao Shi wanted to ask, in everyone's heart this started with him. If he had not brought the civilians out of the safe room, they could have rushed to rescue their teammates sooner. Maybe so many would not have died.
But sometimes you could not think like that. As base personnel, they had a duty to protect every civilian. There were injured people in the safe room. Their safety was at risk. Lao Shi was not wrong to pull them out. If the choice had fallen to Captain Zhang, he would have done the same. Civilians first. But—
All the bad turns collided at once. That is how coincidence is born, in the worst way.
Was Lao Shi wrong?
Not entirely.
Was he blameless?
When countless teammates die for civilians already infected, anyone would lay blame.