The faint light remaining in the room didn't make Xiao Fang feel as if it were dark. Tonight, once again, he was on duty. Since the captain and several comrades fell ill, the remaining few soldiers were even more stretched thin in their guard duties.
Xiao Fang swiftly organized his equipment. After tidying up under the dim candlelight, he quickly extinguished the flame. The captain had repeatedly admonished everyone to conserve resources.
He let out a sigh. Ever since he arrived in this damned world, the team had almost halved in number. As a newly enlisted soldier, he had received good care, and the perilous expeditions were mostly undertaken by the veteran soldiers. Many times, he had suppressed his tears, watching those strange insects, usually unnoticed, attack unarmed comrades like monsters. He was scared and angry.
On the surface, the base had improved over the year, becoming safer and experiencing fewer casualties. But these sacrifices never ceased for ordinary people, for soldiers. Patrols on the outskirts were always carried out by military personnel, and guarding the base involved rotating shifts of soldiers. Facing unknown dangers in an unfamiliar world, during the times of patrolling and clearing paths, Xiao Fang felt himself on the verge of nervous collapse every day.
Recently, patrols were suddenly halted due to an even more distressing development. Many comrades had fallen severely ill, some vomiting, others experiencing diarrhea, dizziness, and nausea, struggling to stay on their feet. It was said to be a highly contagious viral infection, possibly brought in from the outside.
Currently, most of his comrades were isolated in the infirmary, with less than a hundred remaining. Since almost all the officers and leaders had been infected, those few who were still healthy were disbanded and sent to various crucial points to guard the base. Due to the shortage of personnel, they were essentially eating, sleeping, and standing guard, a routine that had continued for several weeks. If enduring this were only a test of physical and mental strength, then the torment of not hearing from his comrades was a torture of the spirit.
As usual, Xiao Fang arrived at his watch post, only to unexpectedly find two individuals waiting for him.
"Comrade Xiao Fang, we are representatives from the committee. Today, we are taking over your duty. Please head to the Assembly Hall immediately!" The speaker glanced at Xiao Fang with a hint of suspicion but then smiled faintly. "Ah, here's the identification!" One of the individuals produced a stamped document.
"Yes!" Xiao Fang took a glance and instinctively accepted it. However, he still asked, "What about Xiao Wen, who was on watch before?"
"He went ahead, you'll see him in a moment!" The person responded calmly, "This time, all the soldiers are assembling. Along the way, you'll also see others."
That should be no problem then. Xiao Fang caught sight of a watchtower in the distance. It seemed some comrades had received the same assignment, heading towards the Assembly Hall. With a respectful salute to the two individuals, Xiao Fang turned and left.
Logically, Xiao Fang shouldn't have harbored any doubts. As a soldier, he had never questioned orders when assigned tasks. However, the Committee's vibe didn't sit well with him. He couldn't pinpoint it exactly, but he felt a sense of conspiracy. One teammate had once said that orders from the Committee didn't feel like military commands, and they didn't treat everyone as soldiers. It was more like treating them as mercenaries, even though they were clearly a military, they were being commanded like security personnel.
Walking towards the Assembly Hall, Xiao Fang mumbled to himself, observing the dwellings he passed and the houses on the cliffs.
One couldn't deny that the base construction was exceptional. United in purpose, humanity, while lacking modern technology, had thousands of years of accumulated knowledge. Swiftly, they built a civilization on a cliff using stone and wood. He admired the remarkable woman named Jun Ya. Under her command, it was as if she could effortlessly, with the aid of rocks and natural formations, outline enduring relics of civilization.
Stones formed magnificent halls, elegant buildings, and precipitous towers. He felt that even historical civilizations from TV couldn't quite compare. Prominent defensive points, perfectly carved dwellings, interconnected bridges. But he had heard that she also got infected. Sigh, he hoped they could develop a cure quickly to get everyone back on their feet.
As Xiao Fang made his way, he encountered a few comrades headed for the Assembly Hall. After nodding in agreement, they instinctively formed a small team and proceeded together.
Many people were already waiting in the hall, mostly military personnel, disciplined and hardly exchanging whispers.
Liu Xing stood at the podium, surrounded by a few people. They resembled officers but stood at attention like bodyguards. For some reason, they exuded the aura of warlords.
Xiao Fang and his fellow comrades entered the hall, and it didn't take long for them to be noticed. An officer-like person approached, inspected them briefly, then pointed towards a section of the hall. Xiao Fang and his group immediately understood, as there was a formation of soldiers standing neatly there.
Silently, they moved to their designated spot. In about ten minutes, people continued to trickle in. Soldiers, civilians, and scholars, totaling about two hundred people, both men and women.
Once everyone was inside, they didn't engage in much conversation. It wasn't unfamiliarity; the atmosphere in the Assembly Hall felt solemn, especially given the rampant virus at the moment. Many suspected there might be an announcement, and the greatest concern was that it could be bad news. Ever since those who got infected were quarantined, no one had seen anyone recover.
"Comrades, the reason we've gathered here is to make an announcement." Liu Xing's words shattered the silence, suddenly making the tense crowd even more anxious.
"Don't be alarmed; it's good news." Liu Xing suddenly smiled, though the smile seemed somewhat strange.
"In these past few days, the sudden and strange illness led us to suffer significant losses. But I can tell you all that we haven't lost anyone so far."
Upon hearing this, Xiao Fang let out a sigh of relief. His comrades were all alive, good news indeed. Others shared the same sentiment; some even visibly relaxed.
"Our scientific team has been tirelessly researching and many comrades have worked hard. But perseverance pays off. We've developed a method to handle this virus." Liu Xing suddenly raised his voice.
"Great!" Someone in the crowd exclaimed, interrupting Liu Xing's speech and prompting applause to break out.
Xiao Fang also joined in the applause. At this moment, he had pushed aside his doubts from earlier, his worries on the way here, and his dissatisfaction with the Committee. "Who cares? As long as our comrades recover, there's nothing to fear." This past month, Xiao Fang had had enough of unorganized, disbanded arrangements.
"However, currently, we have a new problem," Liu Xing continued once the applause died down, motioning for silence, "that is, we're critically short on medicine."
Gazing at the people in the Assembly Hall, a trace of imperceptible sternness flashed in Liu Xing's eyes. "We need to gather several types of herbs."
As if explaining for his Committee, and also as if telling everyone why the Committee was so secretive, withholding information, Liu Xing began to drone on. He touched on why the Committee was established, to how challenging it was to research medicine.
In the midst of Liu Xing's monologue, Xiao Fang didn't catch much. He felt aside from the practical difficulty of researching medicine, all that Committee system talk was unnecessary. Couldn't they just research medicine and treat illnesses without forming a Committee? Just as Xiao Fang was lost in thought over these matters, Liu Xing summarized and then issued a command.
"Alright, I won't dwell on the rest. Now, the Research Center has discovered a plant that can efficiently cure the virus. This plant has been confirmed to be effective and reliable, but it needs to be collected from a relatively dangerous region."
"Comrades, patients need treatment, and time is of the essence. I hope you can depart as swiftly as possible, overcome all obstacles, gather the medicinal herbs, and save our comrades!"
"The location for gathering the herbs is within the underground caves of the base. Comrade Li Xiaodong has been appointed by the Committee to lead you to the location of the medicinal herbs. We hope you'll depart and return swiftly, completing the mission as soon as possible!"
Liu Xing gestured toward a middle-aged man standing beside him. At first glance, the man appeared resolute, but upon closer inspection, his small eyes kept darting around, making people quite uncomfortable.