Biosafety laboratories are scientific institutions that conduct experiments and research on pathogenic microorganisms.
These institutions are dedicated to researching pathogenic agents, developing treatments, and providing protection and safeguards for human life.
Biosafety laboratories are classified into four levels according to the biohazard level of the research subjects, with Level 1 laboratories having the lowest biosafety isolation requirements and Level 4 the highest.
Level 1 laboratories research and handle pathogenic agents that pose virtually no harm to healthy adults, such as chickenpox. Personnel working in Level 1 laboratories only need to wear gloves and face protection. Some labs are open-plan, and some laboratories are not even isolated from the public.
Level 2 laboratories research and handle pathogenic agents that only cause mild illness in humans, and usually have methods of prevention and treatment, such as measles. Level 2 laboratories are isolated from the public, and only research personnel are allowed access.
Level 3 laboratories are used to research and process diseases that can cause serious or fatal illnesses in humans and can spread through droplets. While there may be methods of prevention and treatment for these diseases, constant vigilance is essential. Examples include rabies and HIV/AIDS, and the SARS coronavirus (atypical pneumonia) that ravaged the world and still evokes fear today. Even experienced
staff working in Level 3 laboratories must receive specialized training on pathogens beforehand. The laboratories must be completely sealed and under negative pressure to prevent gas leaks.
Extremely stringent protective measures are required during experiments. Staff must don protective suits in a buffer zone before entering the laboratory, and all experiments must be conducted in biosafety cabinets.
Level 3 laboratories already employ such stringent safety measures.
Level 3 laboratories handle pathogens of the level of HIV/AIDS and SARS.
So what about the highest level, Level 4 laboratories?
Level 4 laboratories represent the highest level of protection and the highest level of biosafety globally.
The research and processing conducted therein deals with pathogens about which little is known, which are extremely deadly, spread through the air via droplets, have no preventative measures, and are incurable once infected.
Therefore, Level 4 laboratories are often referred to as "devil's laboratories."
A Level 4 laboratory requires complete isolation from other buildings in the vicinity. It needs a specialized air conditioning system with a filtration efficiency of 99.999%.
It requires a negative pressure system with a pressure of -40 Pa to ensure that air does not escape from the laboratory.
All personnel must undergo rigorous training and wear fully enclosed protective suits before entering the laboratory. A long air supply tube runs down the back of the suit, through which air is supplied by the laboratory's independent oxygen supply system.
To reach the core area of the laboratory, personnel must pass through 10 interlocked doors. If one door is not properly closed, another door will never be opened to prevent airflow.
Personnel leaving the core area must first undergo repeated chemical showers and ultraviolet light disinfection of their protective suits in a disinfection zone. Then they enter a buffer zone to remove their outer protective suits, masks, and gloves. Only
after the laboratory door is closed can they remove their protective goggles.
Afterward, they must pass through another buffer room to retreat to a preparation room. In the preparation room, they can remove all their protective gear and immediately shower. Only
after completing this series of meticulous procedures can the personnel leave the laboratory.
—What are some of the pathogens, or rather, deadly viruses, that require such rigorous, cautious, meticulous, and tense treatment—viruses even more dangerous than SARS, capable of causing global catastrophe with the slightest mishap?
Vibrio cholerae, with a mortality rate as high as 25% to 60%. Anthrax,
with a mortality rate as high as 20% to 60%.
And Ebola virus, with a mortality rate as high as 90%.
Unlike cholera, whose mortality rate can be reduced to 1% with timely treatment, and unlike anthrax, which is not directly transmitted from person to person, the Ebola virus can be transmitted through blood, saliva, excrement, and vomit. It is the deadliest viral hemorrhagic fever and the most virulent infectious disease in the world today.
Just how terrifying is the Ebola virus? Some say it can kill a person twice
—once in terms of personality and once in terms of physical death.
Patients infected with the Ebola virus suffer severe brain damage, leading to mental derangement and personality breakdown. Some become manic, like someone experiencing rabies, while others strip naked, bleeding profusely, resembling zombies.
Therefore, some call the Ebola virus the "zombie virus."
But its most terrifying aspect lies elsewhere.
Once inside the human body, the Ebola virus aggressively attacks the cells of the blood vessel walls, weakening or even rupturing them, causing massive internal bleeding.
Simultaneously, it attacks collagen proteins, the connective tissues that hold internal organs together. It turns these collagen proteins into a paste-like substance, causing pores to appear on the surfaces of all internal organs, including the skin.
Blood then gushes out from these pores.
The collagen-to-muscle and bone structures become filled with this paste-like substance, unable to adhere, and hang from the bones as if about to detach.
At this point, blood seeps from every orifice, and while the blood can no longer clot, it becomes increasingly viscous under the influence of the virus, adhering to blood vessel walls and blocking blood flow, cutting off the body's blood supply.
The brain suffers severe spasms due to oxygen deprivation, the heart bleeds everywhere, the liver swells and ruptures, then festers and rots, the kidneys are blocked by blood clots and necrotic tissue, urine flows back into the circulatory system, and all blood vessels and intestines lose their anchorage, necrotizing and slowly decomposing, flowing into the body cavities like water, floating in the bodily fluids.
At this stage, the Ebola virus has completed its liquefaction of the living human body.
Then, blood continues to gush from all the body's orifices, and the person vomits violently, expelling the thick, black, tar-like blood, necrotic and blackened fragments of internal organs and tissues.
At this point, the person is dead in terms of personality; only the remaining areas of the brain capable of controlling the most basic physiological functions sustain the final actions. Yes, at this stage, the "person" can still move, but it is no longer a living person. Like a zombie, it has no thoughts, no feelings, no memories, only a shell ruthlessly manipulated by the virus.
As the liquefied and decomposed organ tissues gush and spurt from the mouth and anus, as the person slowly melts into a pool of blood and gore, the Ebola virus that killed the person will then use these fragments to capture the next host.
"The severe spasms before a patient's death will cause their limbs to twitch and thrash wildly, scattering blood and internal organs everywhere. This further increases the rate of transmission and infection, as if the virus were a sentient being, wanting to continue parasitizing the host's body, wanting to kill more humans, and wanting to grow stronger." Qin Ci said, looking up at the crowd in front of him who were speechless with shock.
"I originally thought that Xiao Kai's death was just a supernatural form of death as is common in paintings, and I didn't consider the possibility of a 'normal' illness in the real world. But I didn't expect that this painting would actually use a real-world method of death… Of course, it's slightly modified this method, shortening the time from infection to onset. Usually, the shortest incubation period after Ebola virus infection is 48 hours, but this painting, in order to follow the law that someone must die every night, shortens this incubation period and onset period to about 24 hours. Now, I can confirm that the culprit behind the 'bloodshed' of Xiao Kai and the other two, as well as the 'bloodshed' that occurred in every house in this residential area, is the Ebola virus."
After Qin Ci finished speaking, it took a long time before Ke Xun finally spoke first: "So… those human skins, and those unidentified objects wrapped in filthy blood, are…"
"They are the former owners of these houses," Mu Yiran continued, "Those unidentified objects are probably fragments of their internal organs and tissues, and the only part of the human skeleton that the Ebola virus cannot attack."
"So…so actually, this place isn't deserted. They're all still here, it's just…they're all…all dead like this…" Luo Jin was terrified, his face turning deathly pale, his whole body trembling.
Only now did he suddenly realize that there was a disease in the real world, more terrifying than the power of ghosts and gods.
"But why are these dead attacking us?" Shao Ling calmed himself. "Do they have some purpose in doing this? Is it related to finding the signature?"
"I think what's manipulating these dead might not be their own will, but…the will of the Ebola virus residing in their blood." Qin Ci slightly turned his head, looking at the splattered blood on the wall by He Tang. "In this respect, they are still endowed with supernatural power. We are the new hosts, and they desperately want to parasitize us, which is why they launched a surrounding attack."
"Is the Ebola virus really a living entity with consciousness?" Zhu Haowen asked.
"Logically speaking, viruses are not living organisms and cannot be considered living entities, but," Qin Ci looked at the crowd before him again, "the Ebola virus is special. Biologists hold differing opinions on whether it is truly a living organism.
"When Ebola viruses are outside of cellular structures, they are static, lifeless, and nothing happens; they can even crystallize.
"But once they are absorbed into cellular structures, they immediately seem to gain life, using the host cell as raw material for replication and then killing it.
"Therefore, some believe that this characteristic places the Ebola virus in a gray area between life and non-life, saying that its most terrifying and bizarre aspect is that it is 'neither alive nor dead, straddling the realms of Yin and Yang.' The genetic information carrier of Ebola is considered the oldest and most primitive life-coding mechanism, its history even tracing back to the early history of Earth."
"So, whether it possesses 'life' and consciousness, I can't be sure."
"Now that we know the truth about the 'bloodshed' that happened here, we're not far from finding the signature," Ke Xun said encouragingly and optimistically. "Brother Qin, we still have time. Until the very last moment, none of us should give up!"
Qin Ci smiled, nodded slightly, and looked towards where Tian Yang was, sighing, "Unfortunately, Tian Yang didn't have time to reveal the clue about the era."
"No, he already told me." Ke Xun's voice lowered.
In his final moments before death, although Tian Yang could no longer speak, and although his personality had been killed by the Ebola virus, he still exerted his last effort to convey this crucial clue in a way he believed Ke Xun would understand.
Author's Note:
A certain Feng Express courier: Xingyue's package!
[Your razor blade order has been signed for!]
A certain Tong Express courier: Xingyue's package!
[Your razor blade order has been signed for!] [
Express deliveryman: Xingyue's package!
Your razor blade order has been signed for!]
[Express deliveryman: Xingyue's package!
Your razor blade order has been signed for!]
...
Xingyue: ...
Reader: This is a message of condolence from readers all over the country and from all corners of the world. Are you touched?
Xingyue: I dare not move, I dare not move... [laughing and crying.gif]
Qin Ci: It seems I don't need to do it myself [smiling.gif] (silently puts away the scalpel).
————
Here, I kneel and offer a bottle of 82-year-old Coca-Cola to the commenters who guessed Ebola early on! By the way, I remember that only three or five chapters of this story had been released, and before even the first victim was mentioned, some expert had already guessed Ebola. That's amazing! How did they even guess it?!
What terrified me even more was that while I was writing this drawing, news reports surfaced about a new Ebola outbreak in Congo. This subtle coincidence gave me goosebumps; it just felt too good to be true, almost frighteningly so… Could it be… that I'm just a fan of this particular drawing? Hmm…
Finally, let me warn those of you who aren't familiar with Ebola: the descriptions of Ebola in this chapter are mostly accurate (unless the dozen or so sources I consulted used artistic exaggeration). Thinking about it that way makes it even more terrifying. When I first learned about this virus, I was truly terrified, my skin crawling and my scalp tingling – a chilling fear that seeped from the depths of my being.
Finally, I hope this epidemic can be eradicated quickly, and I pray for the people in the affected areas!