Chapter 275: Vaccine Breakthrough and a Heart-to-Heart
"Captain Lu, can we talk privately?" Meng Ci asked directly.
Lu Chen, seeming to have guessed what Meng Ci wanted to discuss, immediately nodded in agreement.
Meng Ci followed Lu Chen to the easternmost part of the area, where some parallel bars and other fitness equipment were installed.
It was break time, and a few soldiers were exercising. Upon seeing Lu Chen, they saluted and then walked away.
Meng Ci, never one to mince words, asked directly, "Captain Lu, are you into Uncle Qiao?"
At Meng Ci's straightforward question, Lu Chen paused, then his expression grew even more serious.
"Qiao Moyan is definitely someone who draws you in," Lu Chen replied frankly.
Meng Ci was surprised by Lu Chen's direct response and looked at him in astonishment.
Ever since he first saw Qiao Moyan at the entrance of the West Mountain Wilderness Base, Lu Chen had doubted his identity and thought him weak and incompetent.
A grown man who got nervous just from shaking hands—it didn't seem like he had much confidence.
However, as time passed and they interacted more, Lu Chen gradually changed his opinion of Qiao Moyan.
When Qiao Moyan helped treat illnesses and took care of the military dogs, Lu Chen began to realize the inner strength and kindness of this man.
Over time, Lu Chen found himself thinking about Qiao Moyan more and more, not just about work.
He started finding reasons to invite Qiao Moyan to the base, hoping for more opportunities to get closer to him.
Now, with Meng Ci's words, Lu Chen understood even more clearly that his feelings for Qiao Moyan were not just a passing fancy.
Instead of feeling embarrassed, he was actually grateful that Meng Ci knew Qiao Moyan, seeing it as a potential opportunity to help him.
Lu Chen decided to openly express his feelings to Meng Ci and seek his support.
Meng Ci was taken aback by Lu Chen's confession.
He had been worried that Uncle Qiao might get hurt, but now he was being asked to help Lu Chen pursue him.
"Uncle Qiao is very timid. It's best to take things slow. If you spring this on him, he might get overwhelmed," Meng Ci advised.
Although Meng Ci didn't really want to help Lu Chen, considering Captain Lu's personality, he knew the other man wouldn't give up easily.
Rather than letting Lu Chen pursue Uncle Qiao forcefully, it was better to give some advice to avoid Uncle Qiao getting hurt.
As for the hardships Qiao Moyan had experienced in the past, Meng Ci didn't plan to tell Lu Chen about them.
He believed that if the two of them ended up together, Uncle Qiao would eventually confide in Lu Chen about his past.
After discussing the situation with Lu Chen, Meng Ci returned to the camp with him.
There, they found Qiao Moyan surrounded by a bunch of playful puppies, a brighter smile on his face.
Meng Ci stepped forward and bid farewell to Qiao Moyan, then headed home with Eggplant and Eagle.
Eagle was pregnant, so her meals needed to be nutritionally balanced, with both meat and vegetables. Eggplant also needed to be prevented from pouncing on Eagle and getting too playful.
A month passed, and Eagle's belly gradually grew larger. Comrade Li from the military district felt her belly and estimated that Eagle was carrying at least five pups.
As Eagle's belly grew bigger, Meng Ci's worries increased. The only silver lining was that Eagle's appetite improved.
But to ensure the pups' healthy development, Meng Ci strictly followed Comrade Li's instructions and limited Eagle's food intake.
Eggplant also seemed to realize that his mate was pregnant. So, whenever he saw her eating only half her fill, he would leave his own food for her.
When Meng Ci found out, he would sternly stop him.
To stop Eagle from eating Eggplant's food, Meng Ci started feeding Eggplant earlier.
Two days before Eagle gave birth, good news came from the base.
The newly planted herbs were ready for harvest and were immediately used for vaccine development.
Along with the birth of Eagle's pups, the first batch of vaccines was put into use.
The vaccine injection also meant the disappearance of psionic powers, which many psionics—people with mental energy-based abilities—were unwilling to give up.
This vaccine was actually a serum that could resist the zombie infection. Its function was only to prevent humans from turning into zombies if bitten.
For psionics, this offered little practical benefit. After all, they had powerful abilities to protect themselves from zombie attacks.
They didn't want to lose their powers and become ordinary laborers, working hard just to get by.
The government couldn't force people to get the vaccine, as it might cause social unrest or even riots.
Therefore, every day, official vehicles would spread the message, hoping people would come to get vaccinated voluntarily.
When Meng Ci learned that the vaccine had been successfully developed, he and Shen Que wasted no time in heading to the vaccination site.
Even though the novel Meng Ci was reading hadn't finished yet, he clearly remembered that the author had mentioned that using psionic powers actually consumed a person's mental energy in advance.
If psionic powers were used too frequently, it would significantly shorten a person's lifespan.
Meng Ci and Shen Que were still young and didn't want to die early.
Besides, they were confident that their skills would hold up even against psionics.
Zheng Yan, Zhang Mingtian, and Yun Jingcen, after learning that Meng Ci had chosen to get the vaccine, also considered it and decided to get vaccinated.
Psionics and zombies were both mutations; becoming ordinary people could offer greater safety.
"Howl! Woof woof!"
It had been a month since Eagle gave birth. Due to her mutation, she was exceptionally large.
Two of the pups were white, one was pure black, and the remaining two were black and white.
One black-and-white pup, perhaps a mix of Eggplant and Eagle, had a bit of a limp due to shorter hind legs, giving it a funny hobble. It didn't quite look like a wolf or a dog, and its calls alternated between a wolf's howl and a dog's bark, making it a real oddball in the litter.
Five puppies, in addition to their regular milk feedings, Meng Ci also fed them pure milk he had stocked in his space, so they were all well-nourished and chubby.
After Zheng Yan learned that the eagle had given birth to the puppies, he came over every day, petting and holding each one.
Qiao Moyan also came over occasionally, and every time he saw the puppy with the injured leg, he would sigh.
"If I had gotten the vaccine a little later, I might have been able to heal its leg." Every time he said it, Qiao Moyan felt very frustrated.
"Uncle Qiao, its leg was like this from birth, and my powers might not be enough to heal it." Meng Ci comforted him.
After noticing the puppy's injured leg, Meng Ci began soaking it in spring water from his storage space every day, but it didn't help at all.