After establishing this insurmountable red line, the team members quickly shifted their perspective when facing the deadly epilepsy hidden around them and the potential massive geological disasters on Planet E. Their mentality quickly transformed from panic to calm acceptance. Moreover, the team members no longer harbored any doubts towards Captain Ann and Captain Tim. While quietly waiting for the maintenance crew to complete the final simulated safety test on the Express Vanguard, they also worked on reinforcing the main buildings of E Star Town to ensure that these structures could maximize the protection of the team members' lives in the face of sudden geological disasters.
Of course, in addition to these measures, the most pressing issue the team members now needed to confront was the unknown and deadly epilepsy. As the team fully entered a state of defense, waiting for evacuation from Planet E, this fatal epilepsy not only reemerged but also became more frequent, claiming the lives of over a hundred Broadsword Expeditionary Force members in a short period. However, due to the shift in mentality among the team members, they no longer felt fear when faced with the super fresh body storage devices laid out on the ground. Instead, their expressions, apart from being solemn, were filled with a sense of unwavering righteousness.
The team members meticulously groomed their deceased comrades and then loaded the super fresh body storage devices containing their teammates' bodies onto transport vehicles. Calmly watching the vehicles carry the bodies away to the valley in E Star Town designated for burials, they would then return to the restaurant to continue enjoying their meals as if nothing had happened. They also quietly awaited the moment when they or their comrades might be taken by the suddenly erupting fatal epilepsy.
Although the maintenance personnel were working around the clock to conduct the final full-scale trial run of the spaceship, as previously mentioned, due to the Express Vanguard being a super-tonnage long-range space vessel, completing a comprehensive test would inevitably take a significant amount of time. Coupled with the fact that several Broadsword Expeditionary Force maintenance personnel had their lives claimed by sudden epilepsy during this period, the testing of the spaceship had to slow down once again due to the reduced number of maintenance staff.
During this tense time of repairing the spaceship, neither the Vis headquarters nor the team members remaining on Planet E were able to find a cure for this fatal epilepsy, nor did they discover the root cause of the team members' affliction with the deadly epilepsy. This led to hundreds more fatalities due to sudden epilepsy in the following days.
At this moment, Yungo and Grace were sitting at the bar in the restaurant, lost in thought. The number of team members who had recently died was so high that even their bodies, which had undergone partial mechanization, were physically and mentally exhausted from having to helplessly watch their comrades die. They turned to look at the large dining area, their expressions filled with a sense of loss. Although the team members still gathered in the restaurant every day to savor delicious food, the atmosphere was no longer what it used to be due to the significant loss of life.
Compared to the past, everyone now mostly savored their meals in silence, rather than engaging in lively discussions as they had previously. The once bustling restaurant no longer had the same full house it used to enjoy. Many team members who used to dine together were now reduced to just a few, or one or two individuals sitting alone at tables filled with empty seats. Some tables were even completely empty because all the team members who used to occupy them had fallen victim to the deadly epilepsy.
Furthermore, since many team members had the misfortune of dying from sudden epilepsy while enjoying their meals in the restaurant, the once warm and joyful atmosphere filled with the happiness of dining was now completely dispersed by the scent of death. Although the team members were still trying to use delicious food to adjust their mindset, the gloomy ambiance of the restaurant instead gave the impression that they were all calmly enjoying what might be their last feast, waiting for death to arrive.
"Sigh! If this continues, even if we can evacuate before Planet E is consumed by severe geological disasters, can we really escape the threat of death?" Yungo sighed dejectedly. In fact, when he posed this question, it was essentially equivalent to losing faith in survival.
Grace immediately lowered her voice and said, "No matter what, we must not give up hope! After all, according to the current situation, only the members of the Broadsword Expeditionary Force have been taken by sudden epilepsy. Although it's not much, this does mean that the members of the Express Vanguard may have a better chance of survival."
Yungo naturally understood why Grace was speaking so softly. Earlier today, after the Broadsword Expeditionary Force and the Express Vanguard tallied the identities of the team members who had died on a large scale in recent days, they found that none of the crew members from the Express Vanguard had shown any symptoms of epilepsy, nor were any of them on the list of hundreds of deceased. It seemed that only the members of the Broadsword Expeditionary Force were susceptible to this fatal epilepsy.
For this reason, Captain Tim ordered the crew members of the Express Vanguard to avoid discussing this topic in public. Even if they had to discuss it, they must be extremely cautious to prevent disputes with the Broadsword Expeditionary Force members over this highly sensitive topic, or even threats to the lives of the Express Vanguard crew due to the unfairness of fate.
"I still don't understand, we were all present during the geothermal eruption caused by the ground crack, right? But why is it that only the crew members of the Express Vanguard were not infected by the virus released by the geothermal fire? Since we were not infected by that virus, can't the doctors not find a way to deal with this epilepsy by comparing our bodies with those of their team members?" Yungo asked in a low voice.
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Before Grace could reply, Old Zhou, who had somehow stood in front of the two without them noticing, answered first, "My friend is right, the medical team is already looking into this! In fact, our medical team has begun studying the bodies of Captain Tim and several Express Vanguard crew members in an attempt to find the reason why the Broadsword Expeditionary Force is prone to sudden fatal epilepsy!"
Old Zhou's appearance startled the two. Although Yungo and Grace were already very familiar with Old Zhou, he was, after all, a member of the Broadsword Expeditionary Force, so being overheard discussing this sensitive topic naturally made them momentarily panicked and unsure of how to respond. Not to mention that Old Zhou's wife, the head chef of this restaurant, Ms. Aileen, had unfortunately passed away from an epileptic seizure just yesterday. This made the two even more unsure of how to face Old Zhou, who was still grieving the loss of his wife, after discussing the topic of only Broadsword Expeditionary Force members experiencing epilepsy.
Seeing Yungo and Grace sitting there restlessly like children who had been caught doing something wrong, not knowing how to express their apologies, Old Zhou simply closed his eyes, nodded exaggeratedly, and then waved his hand to reassure them that he did not feel offended by their discussion, nor did he find anything inappropriate about it.
Then, Old Zhou handed a plate of fragrant minced garlic grilled meat to the two and said in a feigned relaxed tone, "Hey there! Guys, please rest assured! Our Broadsword Expeditionary Force members are not as petty as Captain Tim thinks, are we? That someone can avoid the threat of this fatal epilepsy, we are happy not in time, how could we bear a grudge against you because of this? After all, since you are not suffering from this fatal epilepsy, it means that we Vis people have the ability to resist the attack of this epilepsy. As long as we find the specific way to resist, this epilepsy can no longer pose a threat to us Vis people!"
"So now, in addition to trying to compare your bodies to find out what's wrong with us, another urgent task is to ensure the personal safety of all the crew members of your Express Vanguard. Because, in a sense, you bear the historical mission of allowing Vis people to avoid fatal disease attacks, and even allowing the bodies of Vis people to be upgraded again!"
Hearing Old Zhou say this, Yungo and Grace's tense mood finally eased a bit. After all, the contact during this period has allowed the two to have an in-depth understanding of Old Zhou's character. So they believed that what Old Zhou just said was what he and the members of the Broadsword Expeditionary Force really thought. Therefore, after expressing their deep regret for Aileen's accidental death once again, they picked up their chopsticks and tasted the minced garlic grilled meat that Old Zhou had served.
To be honest, Yungo had always been uninterested in the delicious food here due to his unresolved amnesia. Coupled with the continuous death of team members around him, it further led to his loss of appetite for delicious food. So when faced with the delicious food provided by Old Zhou, Yungo finally just symbolically picked up two small pieces of grilled meat to taste, then put down his chopsticks and no longer had the mood to continue eating. Compared with Yungo, Grace ate nearly half a plate of grilled meat. However, given that Yungo had no appetite, she tried to control her own appetite, put down her chopsticks, and ignored the plate of fragrant minced garlic grilled meat.
"Hey there! I say, my friend! You're eating too little! Although we do need to maintain life through food, delicious food is always the best way for us to regulate our moods! Look at the pressure now, and the mental state is not good, so you should enjoy the delicious food to soothe your emotions!" Seeing Yungo eat something, Old Zhou advised.
Yungo understood that for the Vis people, who have a long history of delicious food culture, delicious food is not only a part of their daily life but also an effective way to regulate their moods. However, with his memory still not improved and the continuous death of team members, Yungo really had no desire to enjoy the delicious food.
Grace also understood clearly that Yun Ge, who originally had a fondness for fine food, now had a poor appetite.So to help Yungo ease the embarrassment, she quickly changed the subject and asked, "By the way, Old Zhou, is there any new discovery about the virus that causes epilepsy?"Old Zhou shook his head and replied, "Hey! It's still the same, nothing was found. Sigh! You know, the number of team members who recently died of sudden epilepsy is increasing significantly, and the medical team can naturally collect more biological samples for research. But even so, they still haven't found any suspicious viruses in the bodies of those deceased team members. So now, I don't know whether I should attribute the culprit that caused my teammates' deaths to some fatal virus!"
"If it's not because the team members were infected with some virus, then what could cause everyone to be taken by such a fatal epilepsy?" Yungo asked, puzzled.
"It's hard to say. Perhaps because this virus is too unique, our current technology still can't detect it. Or perhaps, what causes fatal epilepsy is not a virus at all, but some more peculiar creature. Or maybe, it's simply because the environment of Planet E conflicts with the physical structure of the Vis people, which leads to this fatal epilepsy constantly erupting among our team members." Old Zhou took a big sip of lemon-flavored mucus, then speculated.
Since Old Zhou's speculation was the same as everyone's previous guesses, which were mainly focused on a few points, everyone didn't want to discuss these guesses further. So, Yungo and Grace turned their attention to Old Zhou himself. Because when he just mentioned the frequent deaths of the team members, both of them saw a very obvious sadness on Old Zhou's face.
From Old Zhou's frequent praise of Aileen in front of Yungo and Grace, it was enough to see his deep love for Aileen. So when the most important half of Old Zhou's life passed away unexpectedly, the two naturally worried about Old Zhou's mental state. Although Old Zhou didn't cry in front of everyone, he spent most of his time in the restaurant after Aileen's death and officially became the chef of this restaurant.
After taking over Ellie's job, Old Zhou stayed in the kitchen constantly making delicious food, hoping to bring a glimmer of dawn that would drive away the gloom in the team members' hearts through the continuous provision of delicious food, so that everyone could always face the current difficulties with a positive attitude. This is also why Yungo and Grace have been sitting near the bar recently. The two hoped to support Old Zhou in this way and use the fragmented time when Old Zhou was busy to communicate with him to alleviate his grief for his wife's death.