Chapter 5: The Weather Station

Director Yang found the pharmacy where the medication was prepared, then brought over a stool and sat down, intending to say a few words to everyone, but ultimately found himself at a loss for words.

Apart from epilepsy triggered by provocative light sources, there was no other reference for illnesses induced by visual stimuli. Even the possibility of epilepsy had been debated for over an hour, only to be ruled out in the end.

This was because the new infections reported in the past two days had shown no sign of the typhoon wind field map.

They finally understood the helplessness felt by the doctors in the adjacent room.

The patients were right nearby, with endless medical support and all kinds of expensive diagnostic equipment, yet they encountered constant setbacks and hadn’t even identified the pathogen.

“Ding—”

Director Yang instinctively pulled out his phone and saw a new message, apparently from the military. He opened it to read.

It stated that the Taihao infectious disease had begun to spread in three other locations. The military, recognizing the severity of the situation, had dispatched all local chemical defense units. Anyone who had contact with infected individuals was ordered to restrict their movements and prohibited from leaving, with violations punishable under relevant laws.

Then, everyone’s phones began to ring in succession, much like the level one emergency response issued a few days prior.

Unsurprisingly, the messages were the same as the one on his own phone.

Director Yang breathed a sigh of relief. The deployment of chemical defense troops meant the higher-ups deemed the situation extremely urgent, even willing to endure severe public scrutiny.

Perhaps, then, the military had some solutions.

“Knock, knock, knock—”

Impatient knocking sounded at the door next door.

“Who is it? The door isn’t locked, why knock?” came a voice.

“Huh? Who are you? Didn’t we say no one else should come up here?”

The person closest to the door wasn’t Director Yang but an elderly doctor with gray hair. After glancing at Yang, he opened the door.

Outside stood a squad clad in dark green Class A chemical protective suits, lined up neatly. The leader was in conversation with Xiao Wu, who had been there earlier.

Among the doctors, some sharp-eyed ones noticed that the last few in the squad appeared to be carrying something.

“They have guns! Who are you?”

The gray-haired doctor widened his eyes and stood up to scold, “Who are you people? Why are you carrying guns?”

The squad leader in the chemical suit looked confused, then glanced at the elderly doctor and the wary Xiao Wu. Resigned, he raised his right arm and pointed to the national flag emblazoned there.

“Military personnel?”

Director Yang asked.

The leader nodded.

Only then did Director Yang notice that their dark green protective suits were thicker and more secure, distinctly military in style. After all, chemical defense troops had to contend not just with biochemical viruses and microbes, but also chemical and nuclear attacks, requiring broader considerations.

Still, their arrival was surprisingly swift, given that the message had arrived just minutes ago.

“Why aren’t you speaking?”

The leader smiled wryly. “Our orders from above are to minimize communication with you because these filters are experimental samples and not guaranteed to work.”

“Filters?”

“This,” the leader said, pointing to his ear.

Director Yang stepped closer and saw they were wearing earpieces.

“Earpieces? What for?”

“To filter. The Academy suspects there’s a virus that spreads through sound. These earpieces process sound to block the transmission of the sound-borne virus.”

Director Yang looked on in disbelief.

“You said you want to avoid talking with us as much as possible?”

“Yes. They suspect you might already be infected. Now it’s your turn to cooperate with us. Please don’t make it difficult.”

Director Yang nodded. “Alright. How do you expect us to cooperate?”

“Stay here and don’t wander around. Keep quiet. We need to collect sounds from the infected.”

Yang was momentarily speechless. The situation had become absurd. Previously, the idea of disease caused by images was strange but at least had some grounding in photosensitive epilepsy. But sound causing illness? That was unimaginable.

Still, this was the military’s matter. Since he had no better ideas or suggestions, he decided to see what they could do.

“Very well, we will cooperate. If you discover anything, will you inform us?”

The leader hesitated, then nodded. “I’ll request permission from superiors for that. Thank you for your cooperation.”

Xiao Wu looked at the soldiers suspiciously. After they all left except one armed guard standing watch, he approached.

“Director Yang, we’ve looked at the wind field map so much our eyes are blurry, but we can’t make heads or tails of it. You were right; maybe we were imagining things.”

Director Yang rubbed his forehead. “What apology? The military thinks sound causes illness—that’s even more far-fetched.”

Xiao Wu shook his head. “But these are experts from the Academy of Sciences. They’re highly educated. It’s not just guesswork.”

“Right is right, wrong is wrong. There is no ‘should be’ or ‘probably’.”

“What if… they’re actually right?”

Director Yang paused, frowning deeply as he stroked his chin, pondering.

“Well, those people are well-educated and qualified. If they say so, maybe there’s some truth to it.”

Xiao Wu cautiously stayed quiet, not wanting to interrupt.

“Assuming, just assuming, their theory is true—that infection came via typhoon imagery… but that doesn’t make sense. There are so many meteorological stations along the coast monitoring typhoons, yet only these four stations have infections?”

Yang suddenly turned to Xiao Wu. “What’s special about these four meteorological stations? Why only them?”

Xiao Wu thought for a moment. “Maybe because these stations are in big cities?”

Yang shook his head. “Fangjiang isn’t a big city. It’s not even a provincial capital along the coast.”

Xiao Wu pulled out his phone. “No, I saw on the news that Fangjiang’s geography is unique, with a strong academic atmosphere. The government has invested heavily in rebuilding and upgrading many facilities to develop local science leadership.”

Yang suddenly heard something and stopped Xiao Wu from continuing. “You said ‘upgrading and rebuilding’?”

Xiao Wu was startled but nodded.

“Were any meteorological stations among the upgraded facilities?”

This time Xiao Wu shook his head.

“No?”

“I don’t know.”

“Then why are you just standing there? Look it up!”

“Okay.” Xiao Wu hurriedly deleted his previous input and typed again.

Yang didn’t idle either. He took out his phone and dialed a number.

He had his own reporting channels, which not only allowed him to request support but also served as information sources. After explaining the issue, he waited a moment, then received some data.

“Director Yang, I checked. The upgraded facilities did include meteorological stations. That place is key for typical coastal climate monitoring. It replaced its weather radar with a new model the year before last,” Xiao Wu said, his voice a mix of excitement and fear as he realized the implications.

Yang nodded in acknowledgment.

“Good. Do me another favor—log into this email account and print out everything inside.”

Xiao Wu nodded, his breathing noticeably heavier.