Lu Linjiang personally delivered hair samples from Jiang Langmin and Wu Yuxing to the lab. Jiang Cheng worked overtime to complete the comparison, and just as Lu Linjiang had suspected, the results showed that the DNA extracted from the virus strain did not match either of them.
This sudden emergence of a third party left everyone baffled. However, both Jiang Langmin and Wu Yuxing claimed total ignorance regarding the source of this DNA. Xu Sichen had recovered slightly over the past few days, but the bewildering complexities of the case made her head throb again.
"What’s going on? Whose DNA is this, then?"
Lu Linjiang appeared remarkably composed. "Someone will tell us eventually. Don't be in such a hurry."
Yang Bo hung up his phone and looked up. "Boss, news just came in from the hospital. Five cases of sudden hemorrhagic shock have just appeared."
Lu Linjiang was startled. "Is it the group of patients from the infusion room?" But he immediately realized that was impossible. Jiang Cheng had already tested their blood samples. Perhaps because Tang Hua and Zhou Shaorui had discovered the issue early and handled it promptly, those patients showed no symptoms other than the standard flu infection. Jiang Cheng had even consulted with their attending physicians; if no issues arose after a few days of observation, they were to be discharged.
Sure enough, Yang Bo clarified, "No, they’re new admissions. Several community hospitals identified them this morning. Because their conditions were critical, they were all transferred to the City Hospital."
"Has the CDC been notified?"
"Yes. Apparently, Jiang Cheng has already rushed over there."
Lu Linjiang breathed a slight sigh of relief. "Let’s head over and take a look first."
Jiang Cheng was much faster than them. By the time Lu Linjiang and Yang Bo arrived, Jiang Cheng had already finished the preliminary examinations.
"How is it?" Lu Linjiang asked.
Jiang Cheng glanced around. Seeing that they were surrounded by doctors, he spoke freely. "Based on the symptoms, it should be the virus I detected in the wide-necked jar. After entering the body, the virus destroys the respiratory system, causing hemorrhaging in the respiratory tract and lungs. Furthermore, I now know the true purpose of that drug-resistance sequence."
"What do you mean?" Ren Lifei asked.
"I never quite understood why someone would add that sequence to a flu virus," Jiang Cheng explained. "While it strengthens the virus's drug resistance and makes treatment more difficult, the flu is inherently self-limiting. Combined with the fact that its activity drops as temperature rises, a patient would naturally recover once the virus reaches its self-limiting phase, even without specific medication, as long as conservative treatment is applied. From that perspective, it seemed very strange for someone to go through the trouble of inserting that sequence. Someone capable of this wouldn't overlook such a basic fact."
"However, that’s only if you look at it in isolation. The virus infecting these five patients is, in fact, very fragile. When I analyzed the extracts from the jar, I found that this virus's infectivity is not particularly strong. Otherwise, Xue Jie, Tang Hua, and Zhou Shaorui in the infusion room would have fallen ill long ago."
Lu Linjiang was the only one present who hadn't quite followed the logic yet; the rest of the medical staff immediately understood Jiang Cheng's point. Ren Lifei spoke in disbelief, "The first wave of the flu virus... was just preparation for the second wave?"
"Exactly," Jiang Cheng confirmed. "The first wave was meant to lower the body's resistance. While the flu virus alone could achieve this, the addition of that drug-resistance sequence increases the success rate of that objective several times over. When the second wave of the virus appears, the number of infected people will increase drastically. And because of that sequence, the difficulty of treatment is heightened. When the two viruses work in tandem, the effect isn't just doubled—it's exponential."
The medical staff all looked grim. Lu Linjiang finally grasped Jiang Cheng's meaning, and his mind quickly pivoted. "In that case, I suppose this counts as good news."
Except for Jiang Cheng and Ren Lifei, the other medical staff looked at Lu Linjiang with incredulity, thinking the policeman had worked himself into a state of delusion. How could this be good news?
Jiang Cheng and Ren Lifei, however, nodded simultaneously. Jiang Cheng said, "So, now it depends on whether you can find the vaccine."
"A vaccine?" one doctor finally couldn't help but ask.
"Yes. Someone went to all this trouble because they have an objective. When you deal with something like a virus, what else could the goal be besides a vaccine?"
The realization finally dawned on everyone. Lu Linjiang asked, "How long can the patients hold on?"
Hu Jiafan replied, "Depending on the situation, we can probably stall for about a week."
Lu Linjiang said, "That's enough. They’ve dug so many pits for us; it’s time we dug one back."
***
Currently, the bailed-out Jiang Langmin was staying quietly in his apartment, which suited him just fine. He hadn't wanted to go out and get involved in the mess Jiang Shenghang had created anyway. Having stayed in his apartment for a long time already, he didn't mind staying a while longer. Being granted bail had actually surprised him. He had assumed that once Jiang Cheng went to the CDC, he would have detected the issues with the flu virus. He hadn't expected Lu Linjiang to bring him to the station and then never mention the subject. This left Jiang Langmin quite puzzled. Had Jiang Cheng failed to detect it?
But Jiang Langmin quickly dismissed the thought. If Jiang Cheng hadn't found it, then his high regard for the man would have been misplaced. But why didn't Lu Linjiang bring it up? After two days of analysis, Jiang Langmin concluded there were only two possibilities: either Lu Linjiang was intentionally keeping quiet while waiting for more critical evidence, or Jiang Cheng hadn't told Lu Linjiang about his findings at all.
The second hypothesis gave Jiang Langmin a small thrill of excitement, but he was habitually cautious and wouldn't let a mere guess make him lose his head. He felt a twinge of regret now; he shouldn't have cut off contact with Jiang Cheng after discovering he had returned to Jinghai.
When Jiang Langmin found out Jiang Cheng had returned directly to Jinghai from the United States, he immediately realized something had gone wrong. He knew Voss was dead, of course, but he had cleaned up in advance. Theoretically, there shouldn't have been any evidence left with Voss that could implicate him. In fact, Voss never had any to begin with; all the questions surrounding him were merely Tao Minxing's suspicions. But Jiang Langmin was not an arrogant man. Jiang Cheng’s unexpected move had put him on guard—especially since Jiang Cheng had actually lied to him over the phone.
Based on his understanding of Jiang Cheng, if he had received news without substantial support, his straightforward nature should have led him to ask directly what was going on. Yet Jiang Cheng had said nothing. Not only did he remain silent, but he also spoke in circles, revealing nothing. The address shown on the tracker had explained the reason to Jiang Langmin. All his past efforts had been in vain; Jiang Cheng had still chosen Lu Linjiang.
Jiang Langmin’s expression darkened for a moment, but he had no time to dwell on it now. Jiang Cheng had clearly sided with Lu Linjiang, so he would certainly tell him about the issues within the virus. For Jiang Langmin, the most critical task now was figuring out Lu Linjiang’s plan.
The sequence Jiang Cheng had written about was something Jiang Langmin had accidentally seen in Tao Minxing’s possession. That sequence was simply too helpful for his current plans. Without much thought, Jiang Langmin had begun experiments to integrate it into the viral genome. It was precisely because of his frequent operations in the lab that Tao Minxing had discovered the discrepancy.
Although he had offered an explanation—claiming it was just a small personal project that wasn't relevant to the main research and thus wasn't filed in the official records—it happened to coincide with Tao Minxing discovering the data tampering. Though the habitually cautious Tao Minxing had accepted his explanation, Jiang Langmin had still taken the opportunity during a conference to eliminate him just to be safe. Just as he had planned, the matter was resolved perfectly, with Luo Jia taking all the blame.
Afterward, he had followed his original plan to pursue Jiang Cheng. This was the only link in all his plans that had failed—Jiang Cheng had rejected him without a second thought and maintained that rejection to the end, eventually returning to Lu Linjiang. It was impossible not to feel frustrated. In fact, whenever Jiang Langmin thought about it, he felt a surge of irritability.
Jiang Langmin took a deep breath and glanced at his phone. The only two recent call records were from the same person. A cold sneer touched the corners of his mouth. It didn't matter. Even if he had lost the important link that was Jiang Cheng, he still had a backup plan. No matter what Lu Linjiang intended to do, he was confident that Lu Linjiang would be no match for him.
Suddenly, a breaking news alert pushed to his phone. Jiang Langmin tapped it open. The headline read: "Vaccine Released for the Flu Virus Responsible for Recent Large-Scale Infections."
Jiang Langmin’s smile deepened. It seemed Lu Linjiang had begun.
