Chapter 245 - 229: It Is Our Responsibility to Save Humanity

Chapter 245: Chapter 229: It Is Our Responsibility to Save Humanity

A control group...

Yu Dong knew what Meng Dongqing meant.

But where was he supposed to get them?

The last thirteen people were the most deserving of death he’d encountered since the apocalypse began. He had steeled his heart and sent them over to Meng Dongqing.

But it still wasn’t enough... Where was he supposed to find more?

’I shouldn’t have executed Lin Xiaojun...’

After a moment of thought, Yu Dong spoke to Meng Dongqing, who was still waiting on the line:

"Professor Meng, this time... will two be enough? Right?"

Meng Dongqing sighed at his words.

"Leader, I absolutely need these two right now. Otherwise, if we don’t test this vaccine... our months of hard work will all be for nothing."

"But no vaccine can be guaranteed to be completely effective before human trials. Leader, we’re taking a shortcut... It’s much faster, but it also requires trial and error."

"If possible... the more test subjects, the better. We are very close to our goal."

More test subjects...

Yu Dong fell silent.

’When will this end?’

If it was just two... he could probably figure something out, scrape them together. But if she needed more, what then?

Where would he even get them?

He couldn’t just grab innocent people and force them into experiments, could he?

This path... was too difficult.

Perhaps this was why he’d never heard any official news about a vaccine, neither in his past life nor this one.

Seeing that Yu Dong had gone quiet, Meng Dongqing said earnestly:

"Leader, capturing that special zombie and extracting this unique virus strain from it was already the height of our luck. No matter how advanced the research is elsewhere, without this strain, they can’t create a vaccine..."

"This might be the mission heaven has given us... We must bear the responsibility of saving humanity."

"We can create a miracle!"

Right, a miracle!

If he could really be reborn again, this miracle wouldn’t just be for the post-apocalyptic world; it could benefit the world before the apocalypse too!

Xufeng, Ding Ming, the other people he cared about, and the families of his friends—they could all be saved!

’If I can’t even bear the sin, what right do I have to be a leader!’

"Wait for me... I’ll go find you two."

Yu Dong planned to find two first and see how it went. It would be best if they succeeded.

He couldn’t just give up now after investing so much and finally seeing a glimmer of hope...

After hanging up, Yu Dong began to ponder how to find people.

"The best way is to go to a new place, find new groups or individuals, and then... see if they’re guilty of anything. If they are, send them over."

Yu Dong knew this matter had to be kept secret!

Besides his own core members, absolutely no one else could find out...

This was no small matter.

Yu Dong immediately summoned Zhao Youcai and explained what had just happened.

"This is great! Dongzi... Let’s say—and I’m just saying, not trying to jinx you—but let’s say something happens to us and we die. If you get to be reborn again, didn’t you say your physique would reset? That means you can’t take anything back with you except knowledge. But that gene-editing RNA vaccine thing? That would be our greatest asset. With it, you could reach the highest echelons of power or arm your own team. Xufeng! Damn, I miss that guy! If he were here... we’d definitely be doing better than we are now."

Zhao Youcai immediately grasped the key point: the vaccine Meng Dongqing described could be immensely useful before the apocalypse.

He could see things from the perspective of a Reincarnator, which was why he always understood Yu Dong’s thinking. Most other people could only see the gains and losses of this current life.

But he could see the true future. That future was to follow Yu Dong, and one day they would succeed—unless Yu Dong couldn’t be reborn again after this life...

"Exactly... That’s a major reason why I ultimately decided to do this. Youcai, I need you to take charge of the combat team’s operations for a while. Search for places where there might be people, and see if you can find any of these... dark groups."

"Got it. Look for animals."

"Mm."

With the matter settled, their strategy shifted from searching for supplies to searching for survivors, with scavenging for supplies as a secondary objective.

During the day, in the single-digit temperatures, the number of combat team members on duty dropped significantly. Out of a team of 110, 12 people called in sick today, leaving only 98 on duty.

They walked the streets and alleys of Yanhai City, carrying out the mission Yu Dong had given them.

However, the grumbling within the ranks was growing louder.

First, the new disciplinary measures had caused everyone’s daily income to plummet, forcing them to live on a fixed salary and dampening their enthusiasm for exploration.

On top of that, the recent severe cold made everyone feel miserable, and both the combat and logistics teams started slacking off.

They wanted to clock out early and hole up in the warmth of the cruise ship.

Or they would just find an excuse to take the day off.

After two days of searching, they found a few survivors. But they all seemed to be good, law-abiding people. After thanking Yu Dong and his team profusely, they were brought to the cruise ship to live.

Just like most of the others...

After rescuing people for so long, Yu Dong had come to realize something... The people of Dragon Country had unity in their bones. They were exceptionally good at banding together to survive.

And on the surface, most were decent enough. Those who had lost their humanity were a tiny minority!

They had saved so many people. Many had their minor flaws, but very few had committed unforgivable, principle-violating acts.

Today, Meng Dongqing called to press him again, and Yu Dong was getting anxious.

That evening, he went to find Lin Mo.

"We need to implement that low-temperature subsidy for the combat and logistics teams... Everyone’s been a bit unmotivated lately."

"Yu Dong, it hasn’t even been a month since we enforced discipline on the two teams. We’re just starting to see results, and you want to start giving out raises... We’ll be right back where we started. We should be boosting morale and working on their mindset right now, getting everyone to find ways to overcome the difficulties."

Lin Mo rarely argued with Yu Dong about other matters and was usually very agreeable. But when it came to finances... she really couldn’t let him do as he pleased. There were too many people on the cruise ship, and they had already entered a phase of resource scarcity.

If they didn’t start conserving, they might soon enter a phase of severe shortages for certain supplies.

Yu Dong frowned.

"This... has to happen. Lin Mo, you have to trust me. It’s really, really cold outside... Not wanting to move is a normal human reaction. You either fight it with an iron will, or you... add money. We can cultivate that iron will over time, but adding money is the most convenient strategy right now."

Seeing how serious Yu Dong was, Lin Mo perceptively realized, "You’re hiding something from me, aren’t you?"

"Yeah. There are no results yet... It’s still in the exploratory phase. I’ll tell you when we’ve made some progress."

Yu Dong didn’t like lying, especially to his partner.

"If you insist... I can help you this one time. I’ll tighten our belts to give your people a raise. But this is temporary. Once winter is over, I’ll automatically cancel this benefit. Everyone on field duty will get a low-temperature subsidy of 80 points per day."

"Thanks! That’s perfect."

Lin Mo always came through in a pinch.

And after the ’low-temperature subsidy’ was added, the number of combat team members taking leave noticeably decreased. After all, you only got paid if you went out. If you didn’t, it was just a net loss every day.

During the winter, the cruise ship had also implemented a ’heating fee’ of 10 points per day, which everyone had to pay.

Including food and drink, the fixed daily expenditure was 30 points.

Everyone had to work to support themselves.

The combat team members were used to spending freely. If they only spent money without earning it... they wouldn’t last long.

...

After motivating the team, they searched for another week.

By now, the people and teams that had survived all had something to them... At least on the surface, you couldn’t find any fault with them.

And some of the things they’d done weren’t crimes punishable by death.

Meng Dongqing really couldn’t wait any longer.

"Leader, we have to start immediately. For the sake of our work... please, sacrifice some people! I promise they won’t feel any pain..."

Meng Dongqing was now calling to press him almost every day, and Yu Dong had been incredibly anxious lately.

At that moment, his secretary, Jiang Zhuoyu, who had been following him, also overheard the call. His eyes shifted slightly.

"Brother Dong, there’s something I’m not sure if I should say..."

Over the past few months, Jiang Zhuoyu had earned Yu Dong’s trust with his outstanding abilities and cautious, meticulous nature. He had already joined the core team and was aware of the incident with the previous 13 people.

Yu Dong didn’t hide things from him; Jiang Zhuoyu was the person he trusted most right now...

Moreover, Jiang Zhuoyu and the student team from Ocean University were the best card Yu Dong had to play. They were a group of high-caliber, highly intelligent talents. They were the primary candidates for the future Combat Team Two that Yu Dong envisioned—the ones who would carry guns.

He had been training them for a long time, but they hadn’t seen any combat yet. They usually just assisted the other teams with production, so they didn’t have much of a presence or a say in things.

"Don’t give me that. Spit it out."

"Lately, the cruise ship’s finances have been tight, but... we’re still supporting a group of people who are freeloading and pose a potential threat. I’m wondering if that’s really appropriate?"