HBWnovel Chapter 22 Erythema
Chapter 22 Erythema
The office fell silent.
A flicker of fear crossed the eyes of the middle-aged woman and the gray-haired man.
Thirty-seven years ago, a terrifying incurable disease swept through the Federation.
Without exception, all those who fall ill descend into madness, lose their reason, and ultimately lose control of their supernatural abilities.
Disasters of varying magnitudes and degrees, such as earthquakes, tsunamis, hurricanes, and fires, continue to erupt around the world due to out-of-control superhumans.
As for murder cases involving the killing of relatives, colleagues, and passersby, they are countless.
The counties of the federal government suffered greatly, and according to incomplete statistics, at least 70 million people worldwide perished or were killed at that time.
The exact onset time of this strange illness is difficult to pinpoint to the day, but it lasted for approximately half a year.
The Federation's top biologists, doctors, and researchers of supernatural abilities were at a loss, only able to confirm that a red spot had appeared in the fourth ventricle of the patient's brain.
The origin and cause of the strange disease are completely unknown.
All I know is that once I get sick, there's only one outcome—complete loss of control.
Due to the unpredictable and unstoppable nature of this disease, Long County took the lead in implementing travel testing.
All public places and residential communities have been equipped with sufficient testing equipment. In addition, police officers from the Public Security Department and regional administrators have been deployed to conduct brain scans on all citizens.
Anyone found to have abnormal brain images was immediately isolated. Temporary housing was even built in relatively remote areas of the cities of Long County specifically for this purpose. The procedures following a confirmed diagnosis are classified as highly confidential.
Zhao Xun was one of those who knew about it. He was very young at the time and had only been in the Bureau of Extraordinary Affairs for a short time when he encountered this major event that could be described as a global disaster.
The first person to be diagnosed with this condition was a white woman named Alice in the West Fifth District, hence the name Alice Syndrome.
In Long County, due to the intracranial imaging characteristics of the disease, it is more commonly referred to as erythematous eczema.
"Send Li Zhengyang to bring me that man's head!" Zhao Xun said coldly.
"Yes"
The middle-aged woman and the gray-haired man responded immediately and continued to walk quickly out of the office.
"Tianqing, sit down."
Zhao Xun pointed to the sofa next to him. The young man standing by the table bowed slightly and said, "I'm sorry, Director, for causing you trouble."
"What, do you think I'm making excuses?"
Zhao Xun said with a half-smile, "This little girl has indeed created a problem. She publicly stated on the internet that there are superhumans in the Meiling Tunnel, who appear to be running wildly, spontaneously combusting, and then causing an explosion."
"If the live stream has over ten million viewers and our Haicheng Eccentricity Management Bureau doesn't respond in time, and the prediction is ultimately proven true, it will definitely be sensationalized by the media."
"But I asked Zhengyang to handle this matter not for the sake of the Bureau of Foreign Affairs' image, nor for my own face."
"When the erythrodermic disease broke out back then, our Long County responded with swift and decisive measures. All the files and records have long been sealed, and not many people know the details. If it is confirmed that the disease has indeed made a comeback, it is hard to imagine what the situation will be like this time."
The young man named Luo Tianqing nodded expressionlessly. He hesitated for a moment, about to say something, when Zhao Xun smiled knowingly and said, "Don't worry, as long as I'm in this position, I can protect that girl."
"However, I'm retiring soon. If you want to keep her from being..." Zhao Xun pointed upwards, "...you'll have to step up your game!"
Luo Tianqing's usually calm face finally showed a slight change in expression, his brows furrowing as he said, "Understood!"
.........................
At the same time, several armored off-road vehicles drove out of the Investigation Bureau and sped towards the Oriental Tower.
After receiving Qi Te's call, Cao Yingchong drove to the subway station.
It's ahead of schedule!
Previously it was just speculation, but now Qi Te is very certain that Zheng Xinjian's abnormal state occurred almost five minutes earlier than in the second playthrough.
This hypothesis was soon further confirmed.
18:52
Jiang Luo sent a message saying that the two had added each other as friends on Feixun.
"One minute ago, the Bureau of Extraterrestrial Affairs took control of the fire-man, and the crisis at Merlin Tunnel has been averted."
Qi Te quickly thanked him and soon received a reply.
Did you visit Shuangxing Mountain last summer?
Shuangxing Mountain is a well-known tourist attraction in Haicheng, but Qi Te, a native of Haicheng, has never been there.
After receiving a special admission notice from Haicheng University last summer, I spent the entire summer at home taking care of my mother and catching up on a lot of biology courses.
"No"
Qi Te wondered why the other party would ask this question, but he didn't have time to think about it. As soon as he finished replying to the message, he received a call from Cao Yingchong.
"I've arrived. The Oriental Tower is under lockdown; people are only allowed to leave, not enter. I heard there's a bomber. Don't..."
Qi Te did not reveal Yu Zhongliang's matter to Cao Yingchong, but only said that Zheng Xinjian was following him.
Therefore, Cao Yingchong rushed to the subway station and saw a large number of passengers being asked to leave the platform by staff. She was also unaware of what had happened.
Cao Yingchong intended to tell Qi Te to get off at the Oriental Tower station and go to the next station, but he stopped halfway through his sentence.
"elder brother?!"
"Why did you end up at the subway station?"
A familiar voice came through the earpiece; it was Cao Tengfei, the action team commander.
Through his second viewing, Qi Te boldly hypothesized that Jiang Luo's precognitive abilities should only allow him to see fragmented images of events occurring.
Since it's not a live broadcast, there's no timestamp. We can only judge a rough time period based on the sky and weather in the footage. Unless something like a clock or a clear mobile phone screen appears at the location of the accident.
Furthermore, the people and objects appearing in the precognitive images are not clear enough, only having blurry outlines. However, the other party's precognitive abilities seem to allow them to see the key figures who caused the accident.
For example, the mysterious person she mistook for wearing a blue shirt was actually Yu Zhongliang, an earth-type ability user who caused the tracks to collapse and the train to derail in the first playthrough, and whose ability to cause a large-scale collapse of the platform in the second playthrough.
The fact that Zheng Xinjian showed abnormalities ahead of time further validated Qi Te's conjecture that retrospection could have some kind of influence on others, thereby changing the speed or even the direction of events.
In the third playthrough, after making contact with Jiang Luo, she triggered her precognitive abilities with her prompting. This time, the Mei Ling Tunnel incident she witnessed underwent a significant change.
The scene of the fireman running in the tunnel remains unchanged, but a new character appears in the event: a flying man who possesses the same superpower as Cao Tengfei.
After the attackers subdued the fire-man, they quickly flew away from the tunnel and eventually exploded in mid-air.
Jiang Luo saw the vehicle with the emblem of the Bureau of Extraordinary Affairs, so the Flying Man is not Inspector Cao.
Based on the known information, Qi Te revealed that the superhumans were exhibiting abnormal behavior, losing their rationality, and launching indiscriminate attacks, even suicide attacks. He instructed Jiang Luo to contact the Bureau of Supernatural Affairs and relay this crucial information verbatim.
In the subway incident, Jiang Luo saw a vague number: 8. Furthermore, there was a circular elevator.
Qi Te takes Line 3 every week and is very familiar with the line. The train stops at Platform 3 at Qingjiang Road. There is only one platform with the number 8 and equipped with a circular elevator.
Oriental Tower Station.
In conclusion, Qi Te adjusted the location of this operation and indicated that Yu Zhongliang, who was in charge of subway maintenance, was experiencing abnormal dementia, just like Huo Ren.
During the second loop, the subway authority also took emergency measures, promptly evacuating a large number of waiting passengers. However, because Jiang Luo did not see the platform numbers where the accident occurred, the action team members and railway police could only disperse across various platforms.
Insufficient combat strength, coupled with the suddenness of the incident, resulted in the inability to subdue Yu Zhongliang before he completely went berserk.
This time, the direct mention of the person responsible for the subway platform accident as an employee of the subway bureau means that if something happens, the Haicheng subway bureau will inevitably be pushed into the eye of the storm by public opinion.
No one in charge can withstand such pressure.
Considering that external stimuli could cause the already deranged superhuman to go berserk even faster, Qi Te did not let Jiang Luo name names in the live broadcast, but instead contacted the Investigation Bureau directly.
Coordinating between departments is bound to be more effective than Jiang Luo contacting the subway bureau himself.
As things stand, things are progressing as Zitt predicted.
Passengers are being evacuated from the Oriental Tower station at a rapid pace, and Cao Sir's voice indicates that he has arrived at the scene.
So, the next big thing is to find Yu Zhongliang!
.....................
"We are approaching Oriental Tower Station. Passengers who wish to disembark, please prepare accordingly..."
At 18:54, a warning sound was heard, and the train began to slow down.
Qi Te frowned slightly, his face filled with fear, and whispered to Zhang Xiaodao beside him, "Brother Zhang, please help me..."
Just like in the second playthrough, Zhang Xiaodao was angrily confronted by an older woman because of his oversized suitcase. Meanwhile, Qi Te, who had been waiting at the door of the carriage, pushed his way back to let the woman board the train.
Afterwards, Zhang Xiaodao took the initiative to strike up a conversation. While keeping an eye on Zheng Xinjian's condition, Qi Te chatted with this enthusiastic soldier who was bursting with a sense of justice. The two quickly became acquainted and even added each other as friends on Feixun.
Qi Te lied that he was getting off at this station, and Zheng Xinjian followed him for a long time, not knowing what he wanted to do, and asked Zhang Xiaodao to stop him.
Zhang Xiaodao quickly glanced at the tall and burly Zheng Xinjian, and immediately became alert, saying, "That guy looks really strange; he's staring at you blankly!"
"Don't worry, I'll hold him off for you. Just run after that."
"Thank you, Brother Zhang!"
As they were talking, the train slowly pulled into the station.
The Oriental Tower is a landmark building in Haicheng, attracting countless tourists from all over the world with its extremely futuristic and novel appearance.
Due to its huge passenger flow, Dongfang Tower Station has become one of the largest subway stations in Haicheng, with sixteen platforms alone.
In the past, around 7 p.m., especially on a Friday, the platform would have been packed with people. But at this moment, platform 8 was eerily empty.
There were only passengers from the previous train and those who had just gotten off at the platform on the right; at most, there were only a few hundred people.
Clearly, Jiang Luo's warning drew the attention of the Investigation Bureau and the Subway Bureau.
Qi Te's eyes narrowed slightly as he quickly scanned the platform through the train window.
Oriental Tower Station is just one stop before Qingjiang Road, and Yu Zhongliang boarded the train here.
There weren't many people on the platform, which greatly reduced the difficulty of searching.
The other person's distinctive features—wearing a safety helmet and carrying a large dark blue backpack—allowed Qi Te to quickly identify the target in the crowd.
found it!