Bao Mu glanced at the ambush location sent by his aide. It was about four hundred kilometers from the Aircraft Carrier Base and just over three hundred kilometers from their own base.
He nodded slightly. "Alright, we’ll set it up there for now."
"Yes, sir. I’ll arrange for the ambush team to depart immediately!" the aide replied.
"Wait," Bao Mu asked with a frown. "What’s the current status of the sick combat personnel at the base?"
"Over half of the combat personnel are already showing symptoms!" The aide’s voice was filled with helplessness.
"And the death toll?" Bao Mu’s face was clouded with worry.
"The death toll has reached 141," the aide replied with a sigh.
"Is there enough medicine?"
"We’re almost out. Many of the critically ill are being kept alive by the medicine. Once it runs out, the death toll will likely skyrocket!"
Bao Mu let out a long breath. "We have to get our hands on the Aircraft Carrier Base’s herbs!"
"I understand. I’ll have the ambush team depart at once!" the aide replied.
After the aide left, Bao Mu stared out the porthole. The sky was overcast, and the rain showed no signs of letting up. He muttered, "Does fate truly want to see me perish?"
Just then, the door to his office was thrown open.
"Sir, the lab has made a new discovery!"
Bao Mu didn’t reprimand him for his abruptness, instead asking urgently, "What is it?"
"A substance that inhibits the unknown virus’s reproduction has appeared in the rainwater."
Upon hearing this, Bao Mu shot to his feet. "Excellent! Collect the rainwater immediately and extract the inhibitor!"
"Yes, sir! The lab has already begun the extraction process!" the lab technician who brought the report replied.
"Fate won’t let the Xi’an Base fall!" Bao Mu exclaimed excitedly.
The appearance of a viral inhibitor at this moment gave the Xi’an Base a sliver of hope.
It wasn’t until six hours later that the lab at the Aircraft Carrier Base discovered the same inhibitor.
They immediately reported it to Wang Jun, who was stunned for a moment. He asked, "Does this mean drinking rainwater can cure the disease?"
"I’m afraid not, at least for now. The inhibitor’s concentration is still very low. If we can purify it, perhaps it could be used as an antidote," the head of the lab, Zhao Jun, said, shaking his head.
"Then try to purify it," Wang Jun ordered.
"Yes, sir. But with our current technology, I’m afraid it will take some time," Zhao Jun said with a frown.
"Mm, there’s no rush. We have other treatments, anyway. Just treat it as a routine research project," Wang Jun said with a nod.
"Yes, sir!"
After Zhao Jun left, Wang Jun immediately shared the news in the group chat.
"What’s this? Another new substance in the rain?" Long Zhan asked curiously.
Wang Jun nodded slightly. "Yep. It seems we get a new ’surprise’ every other week!"
"More like a ’scare’," Long Zhan retorted, pursing his lips.
"What on earth is going on?" Ji Yizhi’s brow was tightly furrowed. "First a toxin, then a virus, and now it gives us an agent to block viral replication. If this is really the work of an Advanced Civilization, why would they do this?"
Ren Yuanyang was also incredibly surprised when he saw the message. "Are they leaving us a lifeline?"
"Who knows what’s happening," Wang Jun said, shaking his head. "Our lab is trying to concentrate and purify the inhibitor. If they succeed, we’ll have another drug to treat this virus."
Ren Yuanyang nodded. "Mm, I suggest testing it on lab mice for a while longer before using it on patients."
"Right. I’ll make sure to remind the lab," Wang Jun replied.
After a moment of thought, Ren Yuanyang asked, "Any movement from the Xi’an Base?"
"The team returning from the Aircraft Carrier Base wasn’t ambushed by Xi’an. The team transporting herbs today has set out again, but they haven’t reached the Aircraft Carrier Base yet. So far, they haven’t encountered anything," Long Zhan replied.
"We’re out in the open while they’re in the shadows. We can’t let our guard down," Ren Yuanyang warned.
"I’ll remind them," Long Zhan replied.
"Mm, regarding your freighters and supply ships, we’ll send them over one by one as they’re filled. That way, we won’t waste too much time, and the Dawn Base will have work to do," Ren Yuanyang continued. "We’ll contact you before sending each one over."
"Sounds good. That’s for the best. Otherwise, the survivors will get too idle!" Long Zhan replied with a laugh.
"The first freighter should be able to depart from our base tomorrow," Ren Yuanyang said after a quick estimate.
The capacity of a giant freighter far exceeds that of a supply ship. After all, military supply ships have to balance speed with their load, whereas a freighter is purely for transport and is filled to capacity.
Even though they were just picking the fruits and loading them onto the freighter, skipping the pressing process, it still took a very long time to fill one ship.
Last time, they had filled all five supply ships in a single day. Now, it was taking more than two days to fill just one freighter, and that was with James and his team working around the clock in three shifts.
"Great! I’ll get the personnel at Dawn Base ready ahead of time so they can start the pressing work as soon as the raw materials arrive!" Long Zhan said, rubbing his hands together, clearly impatient to begin.
At 7:00 PM, the speedboat carrying herbs from the Dawn Base arrived at the Aircraft Carrier Base. The journey was smooth, and they encountered no teams from the Xi’an Base.
The arrival of these herbs completely solved the Aircraft Carrier Base’s medicine shortage.
Wang Jun, who had been constantly on edge, finally relaxed a little.
"Old Wang, do you think the Xi’an Base has really given up on ambushing us?" Ji Yizhi asked uncertainly.
Wang Jun shook his head. "It’s hard to say. But the sudden appearance of this inhibitor in the rain might have made them give up on the idea of robbing our transport ships."

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