Chapter 277: Building a House, Two Comrades Lost
"Doctor! Doctor! Come quickly, something's wrong with my brother!"
Two months after the vaccine was developed, a group of psionics who had been on a mission to hunt down zombies and mutated creatures suddenly ran back into the base carrying two companions.
At first, the medical personnel thought the two had been bitten by zombies and were frightened.
After confirming that they hadn't been bitten, they approached to check their pulses and examine their eyes, only to find no signs of life.
"They have already passed away," said the examining doctor.
However, just to be safe, they decided to conduct a full examination in the exam room.
After a series of tests and diagnoses, the conclusion remained the same—both individuals had died.
The cause of death was clear—their bodies had simply run out of life force, as if they had aged far beyond their years.
The companions of the two psionics found this result hard to believe.
After all, they were both in their thirties, in the prime of their lives. How could they have suddenly withered away?
Subsequent examinations by specialized personnel revealed that their organs were severely deteriorated, especially their brains, which showed aging comparable to people in their seventies or eighties.
When they heard that brain failure was the most severe, some of the more astute among them immediately connected it to their psionic powers.
One by one, they underwent various examinations, only to find that despite being in their thirties, their bodies were aging at an accelerated rate, with their organs functioning like those of people in their fifties or sixties.
The more they used their powers, the faster their bodies deteriorated.
After learning the situation, the doctors concluded that using psionic powers meant prematurely exhausting their life force.
The survivors immediately rushed to the hospital to get the vaccine, realizing that preserving their health was more important than using their powers.
This incident gradually spread among the psionics in the base, but not everyone fully believed it.
Some still firmly believed that their powers had no impact on their bodies and continued to use them recklessly.
However, there were others who were more cautious. They had already noticed their physical condition deteriorating and without hesitation went to the hospital to get vaccinated.
Unexpectedly, within less than a month, several psionics in the base began to mysteriously pass away.
After detailed examinations, it was found that their cause of death was also due to bodily function failure.
This shocking discovery convinced more psionics to accept that overusing their powers would drain their life force, and they began flocking to the hospital to get vaccinated.
Still, some refused to accept this reality, believing life was too short to worry about the consequences. They continued to use their powers freely and firmly refused to get vaccinated.
After all, everyone had their own way of life and values, and the officials could not force them to get vaccinated.
When Zheng Yan and the others learned about this, they immediately ran to express their respect to Meng Ci, praising him, "Big brother, you're truly impressive!"
Meng Ci, however, remained focused on his construction work.
The location had already been chosen, not far from the base.
Earlier, Meng Ci had asked Lu Chen and learned that the future development of the city would expand outward in several directions from the base.
The spot Meng Ci selected was just a few minutes' drive from the base, and it was very quiet, with virtually no one around.
When Lin Jun and Zheng Yan heard about Meng Ci's plans to build a house, they pitched in by delivering truckloads of affordable, high-quality building materials like bricks and steel bars.
Since the land here was unowned, Meng Ci cordoned off an area of 1,000 square meters, intending to construct a two-story villa of about 200 square meters.
With plenty of space, living there would be much more comfortable and convenient for daily life.
In addition to the house, they also needed to prepare a hutch for the rabbits.
They also built some flower beds so that when they had time, they could plant flowers and other plants in the yard.
Of course, they could leave a patch of empty land at the back of the yard to grow vegetables.
With the location planned out, the next step was to begin construction.
With Lin Jun and Zheng Yan helping out, Meng Ci had nothing to worry about.
He only needed to check on the progress every few days.
Constructing a house now wasn't as simple as it was before the apocalypse. Back then, we had access to all kinds of tools, but now, everything had to be done by hand, which took much longer.
The five puppies were getting bigger and had started running and barking up and down the house, becoming a real nuisance.
Watching Qiezi, Xiongying, and the five puppies, Meng Ci noticed their appetites were growing bigger every day. He worried that no matter how hard he and Shen Que worked, they wouldn't be able to keep up with the puppies' growing needs.
"Clang, clang, clang!"
One afternoon, after waking from a nap, Meng Ci yawned and filled several food bowls, giving the five puppies some extra pure milk.
The security door was open, and in the past, as soon as he rapped on the door, Qiezi would rush up first. But this time, despite several knocks, none of them appeared.
Shen Que came downstairs, found it odd, and went outside to investigate.
He found no sign of them in the yard, and the gate was tightly closed.
"Could it be that Qiezi and Xiongying took the puppies out to play?" Meng Ci wondered. Recently, Xiongying had been trying to carry the little ones out.
But since the puppies were only forty-some days old, Meng Ci had strictly refused to let them out, fearing that psionics might catch them and eat them.
Yet, with just a moment of inattention, they had vanished right under their noses.
They quickly stashed the food and milk in the storage space and headed out to search for the puppies.
During their search, they ran into Zheng Yan.
When Zheng Yan learned that the puppies were missing, he immediately started asking around.
Thanks to his network of contacts, he soon found out some information.
"I heard that a white dog, a black dog, and several puppies were seen running toward the west," Zheng Yan shared with Meng Ci and the others.
"West? What could they be doing out there?"
The military zone is west of here. I bet Eagle led the others there.
So, they asked people along the way and finally made it to the military zone.
The guard at the gate checked Zheng Yan's ID and let them in.
"Hey, have you seen two big dogs and five smaller ones?"
Meng Ci didn't hurry inside. Instead, he asked a few soldiers about Eagle.
The soldier smiled and nodded. "Yeah, we saw them about half an hour ago."
Hearing this, Meng Ci felt relieved.
"Thanks a lot!"