Plague Doctor
chapter-400

Chapter 400: 6.5Gy/h

Translator: Lonelytree

On 13th March, the day before the incident, the Forestry Department conducted radiation inspection at major cities like usual. Eastern State City logged in an average of 83.2 nGy/h, perfectly normal; Da Hwa City, 101.8 nGy/h, perfectly normal; Guang Ting City, 106.7 nGy/h, perfectly normal; Mo Bei City, 73.7 nGy/h, perfectly normal. To elaborate, 1Gy=1000mGy=1000000uGy=1000000000nGy and 73.1-125.7 nGy/h was considered an accepted value for human-inhabited cities.

For comparison, the radiation dosage at the tree farm’s mutated area was 6.5 Gy/h. In other words, if a person stayed within that area for one hour, he would be exposed to the accumulated radiation exposure of 1070 years at Mo Bei City. Once the dosage was over 0.25 Gy, it was no longer safe much less 6.5 Gy. That was why when the Snow Dust got that reading, the leader, Lee Weiqian instructed for them to evacuate immediately. However, the fact was the 16 Special Mobile Force members had already stayed within the mutated space for almost an hour already. Granted they were in medical protective gear, but they would still be exposed to a certain amount of radiation poisoning.

The atmosphere at Mo Bei Division’s command central sunk to rock bottom. After a quick communication with the headquarters, a new order was made. Both Bei Mian village and Yun Lin Town were to be evacuated immediately. With regards to whether to evacuate the entire Mo Bei City, that would have to depend on the fluctuation of the radiation.

However, there was a silver lining. Once one stepped out of the mutated area, the radiation pollution rate would drop back to normal. It was strange but the discovery was a relief. Naturally, this was incredibly unusual.

“This is impossible…” Phecda contacted the Energy Department to handle this. The top nuclear engineers were stumped. “Radioactive substances will spread with the wind, it’s impossible for one area to be 6.5Gy/h polluted but the adjacent area is only at 106nGy/h…” This concept was common knowledge not only to nuclear engineers but also people like Elder Tong and Yao Sinian. This was not possible in nature, then again they were dealing with a supernatural event.

At least, this meant that the surrounding citizens were not corrupted and they were given enough time to conduct the evacuation. As long as they sealed up the mutated area, the damage could be contained.

“The problem is, will this mutated area get bigger?” Elder Tong cut to the core, “Will the radiation dosage increase?” In the next two hours, none of these worries happened but the trees inside the mutated area continued to disappear until one tree was left standing.

Lou Xiaoning, Malachite and Peacock arrived at the site. They wore anti-radiation suits and walked around the tree farm. They confirmed that the situation was worsening. They attempted Ancient Seal, there was no response. However, all of them felt discomfited by the tree farm. It felt wrong. It was unlike a typical dark corruption. It was indescribable…

The Snow Dust retreated from the frontline and was given iodine shells immediately. They were sent to Medical Department for inspection. They did not show any symptoms, which was good news. However, the pain might arrive one week or even one year later without warning. Due to this incident, the Snow Dust was given an early retirement. They were exposed to too much radiation. The team was not alerted to this danger because there was no visible drifting substance within the tree farm and glowing substance in the air.

“When you stand there…” This was what Lee Weiquan said when he reported this to the headquarters, “It feels very surreal like you’re floating. Perhaps there’s spatial distortion behind it. You feel like you’re standing at the edge of a cliff. There’s some kind of force pulling at you like you’d disappear at any moment like the trees around you.”

The video they took at the tree farm seemed to verify that. The videos appeared to have been given the motion blur special effect. The trees, ground or people were pulled left and right by some kind of force. The image also captured some strange light and lines. The researchers wondered if this was a problem with the camera itself or if it had really captured something the human eye could not comprehend.

On the other hand, the Energy Research Centre at Mo Bei’s Chi Lin base was busy analyzing the radioactive substance within the tree farm’s soil and the article of clothing which belonged to Tian Fuhou’s group. Did the radiation come from a nuclear reactor, nuclear explosion or something else? Of course, the best sample would be the disappearing trees. However, despite Snow Dust’s multiple attempts, they were unable to sample any fallen leaf or bark. Once the instrument came into contact with the trees, they would phase right through and be scorched. It was like the trees were already gone and the ones left on Earth were just residual images, images that could give off high radiation waves.

Regarding this, the headquarters came up with a hypothesis, could these trees be like the big banyan tree at Gu Rong Village? They were connected to another space? But unlike the banyan tree which was connected to the foreign world, these trees were connected to a nuclear reactor? But that still did not explain why the radiation did not expand beyond the mutated area.

“Ol’ Tong, do you think some kind of cult is behind this again?” The headquarters was overwhelmed with activities. Every member fought at their respective post. The big monitor showcased the images taken by different cameras posted around the mutated area. It also showed the evacuation status around Bei Mian Village. In the video, the villagers were being escorted onto the buses. Yao Sinian pleated his white brows, and asked his old partner beside him.

“It’s hard to say…” Elder Tong hesitated. This whole incident was unlike anything they had dealt with in the past, it did not smell like the action of any cult. If they wanted to create terror, why pick a spot so secluded like Bei Mian Village? Or this was just the start of some kind of bigger ritual?

“I am worried that this area will continue to grow and it’ll spread faster and faster…” Elder Tong had the urge for a drink. “Sometimes this kind of abnormal space has a life of its own. The more energy it has consumed, the faster it’ll grow… If only Ah Jun is here… Ah, the kid has made us grow to rely on him too much…”

The responsibility landed back on the shoulders of these two senior commanders. But this time they did not have Gu Jun around to help them.

This was a big deal because it involved radiation and Phecda had lost its biggest weapon. Elder Tong and Yao Sinian were not 100 percent confident that Phecda and GOA were ready to face this challenge but such was fate, they would not wait for you to get ready.

Just as Elder Tong shook his head and was about to say something, an explosion came from the speakers. The surveillance videos on the monitor all turned black. Everyone’s faces darkened. There was an unexpected explosion at the tree farm. This most likely signified that the mutated area had expanded.