Chapter 242 - 226: All These Cans, and None for the Cruise Ship?

Chapter 242: Chapter 226: All These Cans, and None for the Cruise Ship?

Besides the reason he told everyone, Yu Dong had another, more personal one for doing this.

He had been reincarnated three times.

Other than remembering everything that had happened in his past three lives, he had yet to discover any other special abilities.

He didn’t have a System or any special senses, and he had no idea if he would be reincarnated again.

In this life, he kept dreaming that after he died, there would be only a void. He would be trapped within it, unable to escape, which always left him with the feeling that this was his final reincarnation.

’But... what if I have another chance?’

’What if there’s a next time?’

Yu Dong knew this was an extravagant hope, but if he really were to be resurrected after his death, what preparations could he make for his next life?

Previously, all he could think of was arranging funds, finding people, and setting up passphrases... But achieving something on the scale of the cruise ship in this life had already pushed him to the very limits of his personal ability.

’But the vaccine is different!’

’If Meng Dongqing can really develop an effective vaccine... it could change the entire world.’

Meng Dongqing had explained mRNA vaccine technology to him. It was a genetically encoded vaccine that could be created without a live virus; all that was needed was the specific genetic code... It could even be produced before the apocalypse began.

Professor Meng had just said that if she could successfully develop the technically simpler inactivated virus vaccine, her next step would be to sequence the successful vaccine’s protein genes and begin work on her mRNA vaccine.

’Then I could save so many people—Xufeng, Ding Ming, that senior from the cannery, and Liu Ye’ye’s father... I could even—! If I could gain the nation’s trust, I could stop the apocalypse from ever happening!’

’Solve this apocalyptic crisis at its very source.’

’If the vaccine can be successfully developed... it won’t just be a blessing for humanity now. For my own possible future, after I reincarnate... it will be a chance to save the world.’

In the end, Yu Dong chose this path.

As for those 13 scumbags, Yu Dong told the combat team to take them out and execute them.

In reality, his confidants—Zhao Youcai, Yan Yikai, and Zhao Wenjie—secretly sent the men to the research institute.

Only Yu Dong and his own people knew about this matter.

The reason he didn’t tell everyone... was to mitigate the risk. This was a controversial path, after all, and he had to prevent any extreme reactions from the military’s side.

’It’ll be much easier to get things done once the military is gone...’

After secretly sending the 13 men away, he still had to figure out how to persuade Meng Dongqing to go along with it. Otherwise, everything he had just done would be meaningless.

After mulling it over for a moment, he called Meng Dongqing.

"Professor Meng, if you were to use human subjects for these vaccine experiments... would it be painful?"

"Hmm... It’s just an injection. Then we wait and see if they turn into a zombie. The experiment is less traumatic than a zombie scratch... It’s not painful."

"That’s good..."

After hearing that, the pressure on Yu Dong’s conscience eased considerably.

Meng Dongqing asked, puzzled, "You can’t find any monkeys?"

"Yes, it’s extremely difficult. We can’t even find a live chicken or pig. The zombies ate everything when the apocalypse started... Professor Meng, I’m having Youcai send 13 people to you. They are all heinous criminals who were sentenced to death. Youcai and Wen Jie will tell you exactly what they did. Please don’t feel any psychological burden. This is all for the vaccine."

There was a moment of silence on the other end before Meng Dongqing spoke.

"Alright. I’ll do my best."

"In a moment, I’ll have my men find an excuse to get the two soldiers stationed there out of the way. Don’t let them get a close look at the 13 men. Just say they’re newly captured zombies, and don’t let the soldiers into your laboratory."

"They’re very disciplined. They won’t interfere with my lab. They won’t find out."

He hung up the phone. The arrangements were made. Whether they would bear fruit now depended on Meng Dongqing’s experiments...

Yu Dong breathed a sigh of relief.

At least he’d persuaded Professor Meng without much effort.

The Mao Ye Department Store was massive. The previous group of survivors had cleared out their immediate surroundings but lacked the power to clear the upper floors. They had sealed the entrances leading upstairs to keep the zombies from coming down.

The first through fifth floors were teeming with zombies, and Yu Dong had no plans to deal with them for the time being.

"There are still a lot of supplies left in the basement supermarket... Let’s move everything from down there back to the ship today."

The supplies in the supermarket and its storeroom were more than their group could consume in three months.

Besides the good news about the vaccine, they had also hit the jackpot on supplies.

Huang Zhiqiang led the logistics team and got to work.

Normally, finding this many supplies would have had Huang Shuqiang shouting with excitement, but today he was clearly unsettled.

He couldn’t shake the feeling that what Dongzi was doing wasn’t right.

...

「Yanhai Biomedical Research Institute.」

After hanging up the phone, Meng Dongqing said to her assistants,

"Thirteen test subjects are on their way. Prep the lab. We’ll begin the first experiment today."

Her assistants immediately sprang into action.

Meng Dongqing watched the snowflakes drifting down outside the institute, her expression serene as she adjusted her black-framed glasses.

"In weather this cold, how could anyone possibly find monkeys..."

...

It was a bountiful day.

Yu Dong and his people had secured the supplies from more than half a supermarket, while Qiao Yunliang had taken the 4003 Cannery, acquiring a massive amount of assorted canned goods.

This greatly improved their supply reserves, which had become somewhat tight over the last few days.

That night, A Port below the cruise ship was still brightly lit as the logistics team cataloged and stored the day’s haul. They had moved a staggering amount—besides food, there were heaps of daily necessities, and they had even managed to find numerous electric heaters.

Right next to them, the military personnel were moving case after case of canned goods into their own warehouse at A Port, not sharing a single can with the cruise ship group.

This scene made everyone in the logistics team a little uncomfortable.

"Seriously? They live on our ship, use our heating, drink our fresh water, use our electricity, and enjoy all the basic services we provide... and after getting all those cans, they’re not even going to share?"

"And they have the nerve to call our people greedy... At least we only take a little for ourselves and turn in the lion’s share. As for who the real parasites are, I couldn’t possibly say."

"It’s just because the boss is too kind and always thinks of them. You guys might not know this, but I heard him say with my own two ears that they should eat and drink with us, and the ship would cover everything... What a waste of kindness!"

"Here’s a joke for you: the guys in the combat team fight zombies for three months straight, and they get called bandits for it..."

The logistics team members gossiped among themselves, drawing waves of laughter from the group.

In truth, they were of the same echelon as the combat team, just with a different division of labor. They all enjoyed the high-class treatment on the cruise ship and were also able to pocket a few things for themselves on their outings.

The art of stashing things away had, in fact, originated with their logistics team; the combat team were merely their students in this regard.

Recently, Yu Dong and Lin Mo had started a serious disciplinary crackdown. Though the logistics team hadn’t been caught, they suffered the consequences alongside the combat team. Now, they didn’t dare take anything, fearing they’d be kicked out of the group.

They held quite a grudge against the person from Qiao Yunliang’s group who had stirred up all this trouble.

As everyone was busy moving supplies, their conversation caught the attention of the soldiers. Qian Chenglin, who had been suspicious of the cruise ship crew from the start, couldn’t help but shout,

"Who are you making those snide remarks about?"

Huang Zhiqiang’s loyal crony, Zhang Wei, stepped forward. "The people hoarding all the cans, who else? You think we’re talking about the team that just hauled back enough supplies to feed over a thousand people?"

"We secured these ourselves today! We cook our own food and eat our own food; we don’t take anything from you. What right do you have to say that about us?"

"You cook your own meals and think that makes you independent? If you really want to be independent, then move out! Stop enjoying the safety of the cruise ship we worked our asses off to create while finding fault with us at every turn!"