The Ultimate War Of The Apocalypse-Chapter 597 - 590: Perish Together

Over the past few days, the members of Spark Squad had been maintaining a certain status quo.

They were either training or discussing tactics, with Ashraf observing, and Lizhizi trying hard to keep pace.

Now that his injuries had healed, it was time to face new challenges. Ashraf’s age and his entrenched habits meant he could only keep up with his own rhythm. As for Lizhizi, he didn’t have a language barrier, but if he wanted to keep up with the pace of the Spark Squad, he would need to undergo three months of training in a recruit camp first.

"At this kind of T-shaped intersection, especially with buildings on both sides, encountering concentrated fire from close range can be quite troublesome. What should we do then? If possible, Mr. Cao should use a machine gun to suppress the enemy’s firepower, while Ol’Gun is free to shoot. At that moment, we must assault quickly. Doggie and Er Long, follow me. Song Qian, stay a bit behind, but be careful—absolutely careful—not to be in the middle of the road, stick to the walls..."

Li Jingang had a bunch of pebbles in front of him representing the enemy and our forces, illustrating common situations in urban warfare to a few people, mainly to teach Yu Shunzhou and Nie Erlong. However, the remaining members of Spark Squad came from different units and hadn’t been exposed to urban combat, despite having developed some tacit understanding by now.

Originally, urban combat was not an option, because the enemies that entered the cities were zombies, and fighting zombies is a completely different matter from fighting humans.

Therefore, it was necessary to conduct intensive training specifically for urban combat. Being better prepared now would mean fewer casualties later.

Li Jingang heard Gao Yuan’s footsteps, turned around, and upon sighting Gao Yuan surrounded by several bodyguards, was momentarily stunned before asking with a surprised expression, "What’s the matter?"

Gao Yuan stood beside Li Jingang, unsure of what to say.

Li Jingang stood up, discarded the pebbles in his hand, and his expression became serious as he asked in a low voice, "What happened?"

Yu Shunzhou also said in a low voice, "Just spill it already."

"Shenzhou is still holding on, but the Serpent People are about to unleash the virus a second time."

Li Jingang was stunned for a moment, then with an incredulous tone, he asked, "Why? Aren’t the Serpent People attacking with monsters? Why use the virus again?"

Gao Yuan spoke softly, "Two-pronged strategy, in phases. The first round is a zombie virus attack, followed by the second round where monsters perform targeted eradication. The third round is another global virus release, only this time the virus will be different."

The wars between humans are the same. After a first round of strikes, if the enemy still has the strength to resist, then a second round is launched. If the war still continues after the second round, naturally there will be a third, a fourth, until the enemy is completely eliminated.

"Do you know what virus it is this time?"

Gao Yuan shook his head. "The Sanitation Worker is already preparing a vaccine. According to their information, the Serpent People began developing a new virus less than two months after releasing the zombie virus. We don’t currently know the characteristics of the new virus, but it is definitely more virulent and poisonous than the zombie virus. However, its transmissibility might be reduced, but that’s just speculation. It’s also possible that it is even more contagious, has a very high fatality rate, and although it doesn’t turn people into zombies, the time from infection to death is longer."

Yu Shunzhou stared blankly. "More poisonous? So people die faster, then why would transmissibility decrease? Oh, I see. If people die too quickly, it wouldn’t spread as easily, because if everyone in one place died in a short time, it would naturally interrupt the transmission of the virus."

Gao Yuan shook his head. "We don’t know the characteristics of the new virus yet; we just know that the Serpent People have given the Sanitation Worker a vaccine sample. That means the Serpent People have already decided which virus to use. Now they are just growing the virus to a sufficient quantity. According to Murphy’s estimation, the Serpent People will release the virus within three months at the latest, and within a month at the earliest. He doesn’t know how far along the Sanitation Worker’s vaccine production is, so we don’t have precise intelligence."

Li Jingang said softly, "We must inform the Supreme Command immediately!"

Gao Yuan waved his hand. "That goes without saying, we certainly need to notify them. Um, there’s also something else. The Graycloaks obtained a vaccine before the Serpent People officially attacked, meaning they had contacted the Serpent People before their attack and, for this reason, the Graycloaks now hold a higher status in their alliance with the Sanitation Worker."

After a moment of silence, Li Jingang asked in a low voice, "Is there any other news?"

Gao Yuan nodded and said gravely, "As we all know, the current Serpent People can only be considered as a scientific expedition in terms of scale and strength, not even an Expeditionary Army. They won’t land on the surface until the rest of their colonizing forces arrive. By cooperating with the Serpent People, the Sanitation Worker secures a few hundred years’ right to survive. The moment the Sanitation Worker injects the Serpent People’s vaccine, it means they are handing over their lives to them. When the Serpent People think the time is right, they’ll only need to lift a finger to kill anyone who has been vaccinated. The effect of this vaccine could even affect their progeny through inheritance."

"A few hundred years is enough, no wonder the Sanitation Worker cooperates with the Serpent People. I suppose if given the choice, the vast majority of people would agree. A few hundred years... really is enough. But why don’t the Serpent People expand the scope of their cooperation?"

Li Jingang’s question represented the doubts of many. If people knew that being vaccinated meant they wouldn’t die until their natural deaths, even gene alteration affecting their offspring wouldn’t matter much—who could think that far ahead?

Gao Yuan shook his head. "Impossible. It’s a matter of population size. A few hundred thousand Sanitation Workers versus several billion humans is not the same. And do you really think those who have been vaccinated could just peacefully await natural death after the main body of humanity has been destroyed? The Sanitation Worker offered a more advanced civilization as their bargaining chip. Why did the Sanitation Worker spread out? They were searching for the Ark. The Serpent People don’t mind getting in touch with the artifacts of other advanced civilizations; no civilization would refuse."

Due to limited intelligence, Gao Yuan could not possibly know all the truth and details. After all, Murphy held no low position within the Sanitation Worker, and still, he only knew the general situation.

Suddenly, Nie Erlong said, "Don’t talk about these things; they’re pointless. The Serpent People will face death sooner or later if they don’t leave. I know you must have important matters to discuss, so just say what we can still do."

Gao Yuan let out a breath and said softly, "We advance into Djibouti, eliminate the Sanitation Worker, and stake all of humanity’s fate on seizing the Ark of the Covenant. It’s the final battle, the last war. If our action fails, then we’ll wipe Djibouti off the map with nuclear bombs. At most, it’ll be mutual destruction."