Cave Refuge

When the coroner sliced open the corpse’s belly, the scene that appeared shocked even a pathologist accustomed to dealing with the dead. The coroner had not expected to find a dense mass of Iron Wireworms tangled together in a sphere within the body.

Those in the know were aware of the extra bugs inside the body, while those who didn’t could mistake it for an added mass of critters in the stomach.

After witnessing the situation within the corpse, the pathologist immediately stepped back, put on two layers of seamless protective suits, and then continued the autopsy.

The coroner carefully removed the ball of Iron Wireworms from the stomach, placing them into a medical waste bin that had been specifically brought over after changing clothes, and quickly sealed the lid to prevent the worms from escaping.

After dealing with the Iron Wireworms, the pathologist resumed the autopsy. Actually, the subsequent autopsy wasn’t critical, as everyone understood from the worms in the corpse’s belly that these were the cause of the survivors from the sea.

As expected, the subsequent autopsy revealed that after removing the Iron Wireworms from the stomach, whether it was the abdominal cavity or the thoracic cavity, the organs had been completely devoured by the worms.

Moreover, the Iron Wireworms did not just consume the tendons that control the body’s movements, they had infested the tendons to substitute for them, enabling the deceased body to move normally and slowly progress towards the water sources.

However, that was not the most shocking part. Upon examining under a high-magnification lens, the abdomen was densely packed with worm eggs, already embedded within the muscles of the body.

Calculating based on the size of the eggs and the proportion of the body, once all the eggs hatched, even if only half survived, there would be at least several thousand Iron Wireworms emerging in the waters where the corpse was found dead.

Given these circumstances, it likely meant that the coastal waters near Magic City should already be filled with Iron Wireworm eggs or larvae.

Survivors merely needed to play in the sea, inevitably swallowing water into their stomachs. The nearly transparent eggs hidden in the sea, along with the microscopic larvae, would then directly enter the survivors’ bodies with the seawater.

Only now had the survivors in Magic City realized what the peculiar organism was, but because they did not react promptly at the outset, now that the Iron Wireworms had spread throughout the ocean, everyone lacked a better method of dealing with them.

Furthermore, careful investigation revealed not just in the coastal waters near Yanbian, but also in the freshwater rivers near Magic City, Iron Wireworm eggs and larvae had been detected.

Even more frightening, within the groundwater sources they typically used, the presence of Iron Wireworm eggs and larvae was discovered.

Fortunately, these Iron Wireworm eggs and larvae could be killed by boiling at high temperatures, so the habit of drinking plenty of hot water had become thoroughly popular in Magic City.

Even someone telling you that tea is best brewed with 80-degree water should be avoided immediately, because tests showed that at around 80 degrees, the Iron Wireworm eggs and larvae still had about a 50% chance of survival.

As for Magic City’s local products, sorry to say that due to the fear of Iron Wireworms, not only was there no one studying them, but there was even mutual supervision to prevent unauthorized research on these worms. If someone was caught conducting unverified studies on Iron Wireworms, the Officials of Magic City would arrange for their detainment straightaway.

Even now, such a cautious stance from Magic City was indeed praiseworthy.

It wasn’t out of fear of individual achievements exceeding those of Official laboratories.

It was more out of fear that those amateur researchers could, if successful in their studies, produce something positively beneficial. Or worse, if they engineered a mosquito variant that thrived in all climates, it would make survival even harder for the people in Magic City.

However, because the Officials vehemently suppressed private labs, it led to a surplus of lab equipment in Magic City.

This equipment had been modified twice; the first modification was made right after purchasing the machinery, before the natural disasters, adapting it to suit their specific needs.

The second modification came after the electromagnetic storms damaged most electronic devices, and since there were no longer sellers to provide after-sales service, they had to modify the machines again themselves.

As a result, even if machines in Magic City were originally of the same model, after two rounds of modifications, they became quite distinct in appearance and operation, aside from having the same purpose.

While this non-standard equipment might be acceptable for personal use, Official laboratories certainly wouldn’t want it. But, equipment left unused for long periods could become damaged, which led to the situation where they were being sold.

Why not return the confiscated machinery to its original owners?

Since the Officials of Magic City couldn’t monitor the survivors in real-time, to be safe, they opted for a one-size-fits-all policy, prohibiting any survivor within the Magic City area from setting up private laboratories to conduct any kind of research. 𝗳𝚛𝗲𝕖𝚠𝚎𝚋𝗻𝗼𝕧𝗲𝐥.𝚌𝚘𝐦

This was starkly different from Pengcheng, where Zachary and his colleagues treated researchers like treasures.