In a couple of days, Lin Feng, Lin Wenwen, and their people returned to the base. They didn't have a rich harvest, and many of them were injured.
Lin Feng sat before Lin Qiao's desk and expressionlessly reported to the latter, "The mutated plants out there are growing fast, and many mutated animals have gone crazy. They're twice as destructive as before."
In the mountain areas, most of the mutated beasts were turned from wild animals, and in the urban areas, most of them were cats, dogs, and rats.
"Also, insects seemed to have reached another level. Many of them are poisonous now. We ran into poisonous insects a few times on our way." Speaking of mutated insects, Lin Feng furrowed his brows.
"Mutated insects?" Lin Qiao wore a serious look as well.
"Yeah," Lin Feng nodded and said, "Currently, many insects are able to release poisonous gas that is hurtful for humans. Besides, some of them are huge."
Lin Qiao could imagine how large those insects might be. After all, almost all mutated animals were huge. However, the ones that could release poisonous gas could be rather dangerous.
It seemed to be serious, or Lin Feng wouldn't mention it.
"Is it bad?" Lin Qiao looked at him and asked.
Lin Feng nodded and said, "Before, the mutated insects never affected the environment, but now, they have affected the environment severely. They have made the air toxic. Humans and animals would be affected to different degrees if they inhale that toxic air. It is indeed not good."
"They have affected the environment?" Lin Qiao was surprised.
That was bad. Because of the zombie virus, the environment had already become terrible. How come even mutated insects could make the environment worse? Countless kinds of insects existed in the world. So, the world would become an even more dangerous place, wouldn't it?
"We met poisonous insects six times on our way. Some of those insects affected a small area, and some large. The toxic reactions are different. For now, no one has died yet. But from now on, we should be extra careful out there," Lin Feng sighed, sounding a little tired.
Lin Qiao glanced at him and said blandly, "Even if these new problems didn't occur, we still need to be extra careful because of those zombies and mutated creatures. Now, it's just another level of danger. As same as before, the world is a dangerous place. All in all, we're lucky, as we only need to take precautions against natural dangers."
Hearing what she said, Lin Feng thought briefly: she was right. Perhaps, he was excessively worried. After all, the harvest of his trip wasn't good, and many of his men got hurt. He was heavyhearted all the time.
"Alright, go home and rest," Lin Qiao smiled at him.
After Lin Feng left, Lin Qiao asked Shen Yujen to bring Lin Wenwen and Long Qingying to her office.
"This time, Leng Xuantong is going to Lake Tai. You two go with him. You need to take a long trip and learn how that feels. The main force will be Sea City Base people. But, for your safety, I'll send people to protect you in secret," Lin Qiao looked at the two girls and said.
She planned on sending Lin Kui and two level-six zombies to secretly follow Lin Wenwen and the others. The three zombies wouldn't make any move unless Lin Wenwen and her people were in danger.
Lin Wenwen looked at Lin Qiao and said, "It's not really a long trip. The lake is only about a hundred miles from here."
Long Qingying wore no expression.
Lin Qiao gave Lin Wenwen a sideways glance and replied, "It won't be a long trip if you don't slow the others down."
It was only about a hundred miles. However, the outside world was now full of zombies, mutated plants, and animals. Moreover, dangerous mutated insects had emerged everywhere now. With even a slight carelessness, one could die out there.
Lin Wenwen sensed Lin Qiao's warning tone and soon realized that she was being arrogant. Instantly, she wore a humble face and carefully nodded, "I get it."
Lin Qiao handed them the list of the people who would join them. Except for the two of them and Leng Xuantong, about a dozen people would be in the team.
Lin Wenwen wasn't expecting a new task as she had returned to the base not long ago. It was good though. By leaving the base, she could efficiently avoid the man who was trying to get close to her.
Liu Wan and his people had been waiting to hear something about the Chief lady from Huo Antong. However, Huo Antong was making no progress with Liu Jun. Lin Wenwen's man finally got a chance to talk to her, but before he could earn her trust, she left the base again for a mission.
"How come she left again? What mission is so urgent?" Liu Wan said through clenched teeth, wearing a sullen face.
This time, Lin Wenwen left the base very quickly. Her mission seemed to be special and confidential, as the man that Liu Wan sent after her couldn't follow her again.
They thought their plan was going somewhere, yet in the end, it was going nowhere.
"Hasn't Huo Antong given us anything useful yet? He's been with that woman for so long, yet failed to get any useful information. Why didn't I know that he was so useless?" said Liu Wan angrily.
"No. He said that that woman never talked about Chief. He didn't push her too hard, in case she got suspicious. Liu Wan, I think he's right. We can't push too hard. This needs to be done slowly," said someone else.
"Not this, not that! So now, we can only wait for Zuo Chen to come back and make contact with the Chief lady directly!" said Liu Wan grumpily with cold eyes.
Soon, he heard that Zuo Chen had returned to the base.
"Wan, Zuo Chen is really in the medical department." One his subordinates reported to him with a weird tone.
"Why are you so surprised? Isn't that the plan?" Liu Wan glanced at that subordinate bewilderedly.
"No… He… He's in there for real" The subordinate failed to organize his language in the right way. After a short pause, he continued loudly, "No, he's poisoned for real! His subordinates sent him to the hospital. He's still in a coma. I heard from the hospital that he's poisoned by mutated insects. They don't know when he'll wake up!"
The man finished his words in one breath, then shut his mouth and looked at Liu Wan nervously.
"What? Poisoned?" Liu Wan was confused. He failed to understand it immediately. But in fact, his brain had already started working. If Zuo Chen was in a coma, he wouldn't be able to make contact with the Chief lady!
If he couldn't do that, who could? Should he send another man? Liu Wan thought about his men, then about himself…
With a bitter look, he raised a hand and rubbed his head. He was not young, so the Chief lady couldn't possibly like him. The others were either ugly or average. The Chief lady couldn't possibly like any of them!
What the hell!