Mobile Shelter

Chapter 82 Discovering the Source of the Mutation

The other party wasn't very interested in the specifics of the tasks Lin Dong was carrying out.

Although Lin Dong revealed his name and the name of his ship, the other party would not lower their guard against him until they had fully verified his identity.

However, when he saw the car that carried the other person across the ocean, he still showed admiration.

After all, if they hadn't seen it with their own eyes, no one would have imagined that Lin Dong and his group could safely return to land from the dangerous ocean using only a car and without any other rescue.

During the ten-plus days that Dong Qi and his team were away from land on their mission, Da Xia did not stop its research on those mutated marine creatures.

Furthermore, they not only conducted research within the Great Xia Dynasty, but also obtained research data from other countries through personnel dispatched to other countries.

After integrating research data from multiple sources, the cause of those marine organism mutations was finally discovered.

The source of those marine organism mutations is nuclear wastewater discharged into the sea by some nuclear-armed countries.

Because the ocean area is relatively large, the sewage discharged by those countries during peacetime, after being diluted by a large amount of seawater, has caused some mutations in the organisms in their coastal areas.

However, it did not have a significant impact on marine life in the open sea. Therefore, even if many countries discovered the problem, they would only issue verbal condemnations, and the matter would eventually be forgotten as time went by.

However, when the meteorite struck Earth that day, it carried a special virus.

Initially, the meteorites were shattered by missiles, and most of the viruses drifted in the atmosphere along with the meteorite ash, having little impact on land and marine life.

However, with the arrival of the ash and snow, the meteorite ash that was originally floating in the atmosphere was transformed into ash and snow during the atmosphere's self-cleaning process, and eventually fell to the ground and ocean.

As the snow melts, the dust carrying the virus naturally blends into the ocean.

When this virus appears alone, it only has a corrosive effect on human skin and a very few other materials.

However, when these viruses come into contact with nuclear wastewater, they immediately produce a chemical reaction that humans have not yet fully understood, turning into a catalyst that causes mutations in marine organisms.

This is the reason for the marine biological variation that Daxia has tentatively deduced based on research from various countries.

However, if it weren't for the EMP impact brought by the meteor shower, which paralyzed all electronic equipment worldwide, the emergence of these mutated marine creatures would not have posed much of a threat, except for providing some research topics for biological research institutes in various countries.

Despite the sheer number of mutated marine creatures, just like when Dong Qi and his team were on a mission by ship, as long as they maintain an absolute firepower advantage, with the help of modern firearms, even the greatest numbers cannot determine the outcome of the war.

With Lin Dong's help, Dong Qi and his group were temporarily settled in a rest area along the coast. Although they were still under surveillance and the environment was very basic, they were still quite satisfied.

What no one knew was that with their arrival, some simple things suddenly became complicated.

When the captain of the Wintership abandoned ship by plane, he quickly returned to the port where he had departed, and the moment he returned, he reported his entire experience to his superiors.

His reported mission experience appeared on the table of the Great Xia Supreme Conference in less than half an hour.

After seeing the captain's report, everyone's faces turned extremely ugly.

Although the captain's actions undoubtedly constitute desertion, since he abandoned ship and fled without even directly fighting the sea serpents, it is not an exaggeration to call him a deserter.

However, after the captain's assistant provided further explanation, the captain's act of abandoning ship could be described as decisive.

After all, according to the information reported by the captain's assistant, those creatures that resembled sea snake larvae were only the size of a middle finger and were semi-transparent.

If you're not careful, those things will burrow into your body, and your body will become nutrients for their growth. The only way to protect yourself from those creatures is to wear full-coverage gear.

According to this information, even if the captain did not abandon ship, the ship would not have lasted long.

So, although the captain abandoned ship and fled, he brought back some very important intelligence.

Without the crucial intelligence brought back by the captain, if a ship were to be found at sea with survivors and a rescue attempt were made, the resulting losses would be incalculable.

However, only the captain of the Wintership has brought back information so far, and no one from the other ships has returned. Therefore, the authenticity of the information brought back by the captain of the Wintership cannot be verified for the time being.

Even in peacetime, contacting ships at sea is difficult, let alone now, when a high-powered signal station has been destroyed by EMP. Although the satellites in space were not damaged, the most basic communication equipment was destroyed and rendered unusable.

Although shortwave radios used for close-range communication on land have been repaired, only a few advanced communication devices such as satellite phones have been restored so far, and their users are limited to high-ranking officials in the court and decision-makers in local governments.

Therefore, to know the specific situation at sea, we still need to wait for the ships that went out on missions to return.

The elderly man, whose temples were already turning gray, had known in advance how dangerous the mission was, but after seeing the intelligence brought back by the captain of the Wintership, he still slumped weakly into his chair.

One of the ships dispatched on missions was led by his own son.

Although the ship was fully equipped with weapons, personnel, and supplies just in case, no one knew whether his son could return safely in this strange situation.

At this point, he no longer hoped that his son could successfully complete the mission, but prayed that his son, like the captain of the Wintership, could decisively abandon ship and escape safely back to land.

At this moment, he no longer possessed the tough demeanor he had when he forcefully confronted the enemy about their mission.

Seeing the old man's expression, the people around him did not show any sympathy, but rather looked unfriendly.

Although the other party's son may have lost his life in this mission, the number of people lost in this mission is far more than just his son.