Inside the dirty alley, exposed electric lines dangled from old electric poles. The streetlights had long since fused out but no one was ordered to fix them. The squat factory beside the alley was shrouded in darkness. The dim light from the flashlights picked out the stains left on the alley from prolonged exposure to the elements and the trash that collected at the corners.
There were some old residential houses opposite the factory. One of them had a small yard, and several large black urns were arranged neatly by the gate. The yard was a small tofu making workshop. The place was deserted after the lockdown, who knew where the owners were now. Most of the urns were empty except some which had thin layers of water at the bottom. When the workshop was in working condition, the place would be permeated with the brilliant smell of ground beans.
But now the whole workshop was taken over by Phecda. After checking out the place, they found nothing suspicious. On the other hand, led by the Zoog, Gu Jun had people move away the porcelain urns, and they revealed a small ball of blurry shadow at the corner of the walls. The ball was smaller than the mouth of the urns. If not for the Zoog, they would not have discovered it. This alley was just 500 metres away from Jiang Xin Hospital. It was backed up against an undeveloped land, wild with bushes and trees. With the sanitary quality of the place, one could imagine the living conditions of the people residing here. The factory across the street belonged to a registered company and the tofu workshop was a family business, neither of them appeared to have any ties with Lai Sheng Company. Phecda was conducting further research, including the request for the surveillance videos of nearby areas to check for suspicious activity.
“This is it…” Inside the sweet dream, the Zoog claimed in shivers. “Respected nightmare man, that is all I know, can I go now?”
“No, you cannot.” Gu Jun said, “You have to continue to be our guide, we might need to go to the House of Worms.”
“House of Worms?!” The Zoog clapped in horror. God has mercy on this poor creature. “Even us Zoogs do not dare to venture there…. Mr. Nightmare Man, it is not that I have no faith in your ability but a wise man will not voluntarily go to a place like that…”
“Who told you I was a wise man?!” Gu Jun said darkly before ending the conversation. When he returned, the alley was filled with members from Phecda. They were all waiting for his instructions. Since he made the report, the evacuation was cancelled. A large batch of reinforcement was sent from the ship. They hurried over on helicopters. Others came from nearby cities and the headquarters, there were even government officials from other countries. This strain of legionella pneumophilia was related to abnormal energy, this news was a ray of hope. It revived everyone’s hope, both on the frontline and back at the offices and labs.
With humanity’s current scientific and pharmaceutical knowledge, manufacturing Gu Jun’s mysterious drug would take too long, that was time which humanity did not have. A national lockdown was issued, and that was already the most the country could do to limit the spread of the epidemic. However, if the enemy had mastered the way to cultivate this strain of bacteria, they only needed to have their people spread it at various big cities and then… Well, the result would be devastating.
Therefore, if the cultivation of the bacteria had the involvement of abnormal energy, then they were presented with another solution to this problem.
“Ah Jun, so what do you think?” Elder Tong’s voice came from the walkie-talkie. “What did the Zoog say? What do you feel?” Destroy the channel or venture to the Dreamland to investigate, everyone was waiting for Gu Jun to make the decision. The decision was indefinitely important, and Gu Jun technically did not have the clearance to make this kind of decision but with everything that had happened, even those, who were not satisfied with how Gu Jun dealt with the Malformed Banyan Disease, had to admit that Gu Jun’s opinion was extremely important. He was the most familiar with the Zoogs and Dreamlands. This was also the channel he discovered. Due to his unique background and experience, he was the most suitable person to make this decision. Even though Gu Jun was not ranked that high in Phecda, the role of Phecda Hero lent him extra privileges.
“Elder Tong, I’ve decided to go over there to take a look.” Actually Gu Jun had already made that decision when he met the Zoog. “Since it was the plague which brought this channel into being, destroying it will only cause another to take its place. Furthermore, we do not have time to waste.” Elder Tong and Yao Sinian on the other end of the line nodded solemnly. Due to the property of the channel, the greater the usage, the faster it would collapse, so only a small Special Mobile Force would be dispatched. Due to the uniqueness of Dreamlands, they did not need to waste time on preparation as anything they brought over would instantly disappear once they landed.
After some discussion, the members of the Problematic Team for this mission were decided. With Gu Jun, Uncle Dan, Lou Xiaoning, Peacock, Malachite, Gold, Aquamarine and Amberlite as well as 8 elites from other departments, the team consisted of 16 members in total. Before they departed, Gu Jun silently retrieved the reward of the Lai Hua Tree’s seedling and handed it over to the Phecda researchers. He said this was something Atal had the Zoog brought over. He requested them to cultivate it carefully and see if it could be of any use. After all, he might not return from his mission. A tree would be a good way to remember him by. Gu Jun stressed that the tree had to be kept alive since it carried the meaning of life in the foreign culture. Research could be done on it but they must not kill it.
Before their departure, Gu Jun shared some of his views with the command central.
“One, the cultists are far more dangerous than we thought. Security details have to be increased around this tunnel and on the ships. I’m afraid they might launch an attack after they find out about this. They are extremely cunning. Do not try to capture them alive, fire immediately should they appear. Do not hesitate.
“Two, if our team does not return after 12 hours, blow up this channel. If we are still alive, we will continue the mission and once we do, we’ll find another channel to return.
“Three, if we fail, and the epidemic spirals out of control… I believe, perhaps, migration to the south pole is necessary. Research for the medicine and try to preserve the kindle of humanity.”
Gu Jun had considered everything, Yao Sinian had nothing more to add.
“Kid.” Elder Tong sighed. “If your team does not return after 6 hours, we will send out a second team; after another 6 hours, the third team will be dispatched, this will continue until the channel collapses.” No one could tell how long the channel would hold on so this was the only plan they could come up with for now.
“Okay…” Gu Jun did not want people to waste their lives but he knew that argument would be futile. Furthermore, who was to say the later teams could not finish what they started. Regardless, time was running out. Without any farewell, the Problematic Team departed.
“Hey, Dirty-minded Jun!” Wu Siyu’s voice came from the walkie-talkie, “This time you have to come back alive.”
“Hmm.” Gu Jun answered. “You have to be safe too, everyone better be here when I return.”
Under the night sky, 16 members of the Problematic Team and a Zoog made towards the channel between two worlds. Gu Jun had the Zoog lead the way. Even though the channel appeared small, when Gu Jun got close to it, the space around him distorted. As he stepped into it, the environs around him suddenly changed…
It was a hard journey to return back to Earth but now he had volunteered to return to Dreamlands… the feeling was complicated.
“Bring me to the plateau where the House of Worm is.” He told the Zoog. “If you dare to trick me, I’ll slaughter you.”
“Tsk, tsk, this way, this way…” The Zoog lifted his trembling claw and pointed down a direction. Gu Jun followed. He was trailed by Uncle Dan, Peacock and the rest. Their footsteps were as determined as the expression on their faces.
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