Chapter 254 Cyber ​​Plague
"Take this to cushion your hunger first, it's delicious." Meng Wanqiu pushed the two paper boxes in front of her, placed one in front of Xia Ling, and the other next to Gu Qingyuan and Lu Ming. In the box was a bowl of clear soup with a layer of snow-white meatballs floating on it, and a few bamboo skewers scattered around.

"This is the most delicious fish ball I've ever eaten. It's soft and chewy. I feel so good after eating it." Meng Wanqiu took one first, the fish ball still steaming. "These are all freshly made and cooked by the boss. He's a regular customer and gave me a lot. Director Xia should know him too!"

Xia Ling nodded and also inserted a fish ball.

Gu Qingyuan looked at the fish ball owner. The stall was not big. It was a mobile food truck with a small transparent glass window on top. With big red tape written on it, it said "Hand-made fish balls, freshly made and cooked". Below it were colorful food paintings as the fence of the food truck.

The boss didn't look too old, about forty years old, a little fat, and looked naive. His hair was in the style of "local support for the central government". There was a long line in front of the food cart, and he was busy now. When he saw Gu Qingyuan looking at him, he smiled and nodded while working.

Gu Qingyuan turned around and saw Meng Wanqiu scolding Lu Ming.

"You are not a child anymore, why don't you find a girlfriend? In my opinion, you have a stable job now and it's time. When your brother Meng was your age, Xiaobao was already six months old." Xiaobao is Meng Wanqiu's daughter.

Lu Ming turned a deaf ear to him and poked the bamboo skewer here and there. Finally, he had nothing to do and drank out all the meatball soup in the box. He didn't let up until the skewers were served.

The four people were quite comfortable after having a small barbecue. With the cool breeze blowing in the night, each of them held a mobile phone and chatted casually.

As Lu Ming sneezed, Meng Wanqiu said, "Xiao Ming, you are not going to catch a cold, are you? It shouldn't happen with your physical condition. Do you want me to order you a few more skewers of kidney to nourish you?"

Lu Ming waved his hand: "I don't need it, you can keep it for yourself!"

"Learn from your brother Meng and drink iced cola with wolfberries. It's a good way to maintain your health," Meng Wanqiu said, shaking her head. "Come to think of it, there are quite a few people catching colds at work these days. It might be because of the changing seasons!"

Xia Ling scrolled through his phone: "Yes, there are quite a lot. I also received several requests for sick leave."

Lu Ming also held his phone, staring at the screen, looking at the trending search: "It's good that I can still take time off. In my previous company, I would be deducted money directly for taking leave, and all my secondary performance bonus would be gone."

While brushing, he paused: "This..."

"What's wrong?" Xia Ling reviewed several documents from the response bureau, looked up and glanced at Lu Ming and asked.

"Oh, it's a picture. It should be an advertisement for a small game. It's well designed." Lu Ming waved the phone in front of everyone.

There was a picture on the phone screen. Under the dark night sky, a figure was raising his hands. Behind him was the outline of a pair of black wings, surrounded by a light green aura, which took up a large part of the screen. In the middle were four large characters: "Death Disease is Coming" in a residual green font, which looked like a promotional picture for a small program game.

As everyone watched, the picture slowly disappeared, revealing the news underneath.

"These small program ads are like electronic psoriasis. They pop up from time to time and take several seconds to close them. It's a waste of life," Meng Wanqiu complained.

Lu Ming continued to browse the news, while Gu Qingyuan looked at the picture thoughtfully.

"Ok?"

Xia Ling uttered a doubtful sound and turned the screen of his phone over to reveal the same picture.

"Look, it's quite... coincidental?"

Her face suddenly changed as she looked at the silver shell of the phone. This was not her personal phone, but the one specially equipped by the Response Bureau. It was a phone that was used to handle the affairs of the Response Bureau and to communicate with each other within the bureau. With Eve, a powerful artificial intelligence, monitoring and cleaning at all times, there would be no such small program ads and pop-ups!

"Cough cough!"

Lu Ming suddenly coughed a few times. Gu Qingyuan had been observing Lu Ming's reaction from beginning to end. At this time, he slowly said, "Plague."

"Brother Meng, cut off Lu Ming's communication with the outside world. That picture may be the culprit of the epidemic, and it is very likely to be transmitted through the meme network." Xia Ling said.

Meng Wanqiu looked at Lu Ming, pointed and chanted a few times, then waved her hand. A gentle breeze enveloped Lu Ming and cut off the connection between him and the outside world. Air was pumped in to ensure that Lu Ming would not be deprived of oxygen.

Xia Ling's eyebrows were sharper, no longer lazy. "Brother Meng, take Lu Ming back to the headquarters. The corresponding medical team will be here soon. They will issue special data records and observation reports."

Meng Wanqiu nodded and left quickly with Lu Ming.

"Eve, call up the domestic disease monitoring data, and search for the pictures just now to find out how often they appear." Xia Ling said as he stood up and ran to check out.

"The data has been transmitted, requesting to release computing power." Eve's voice came from Xia Ling's headphones.

"Unleash the maximum computing power to ensure the basic operation of wide-area monitoring," Xia Ling gave an order and looked at Gu Qingyuan. "Mr. Li, please come back to the headquarters with me. I need to summarize the intelligence about the plague you mentioned. Thank you for your help."

In this world, perhaps due to a historical breakpoint, God exists but there is no New Testament, and naturally there is no legend of the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse.

Gu Qingyuan also made some guesses based on the names of the two A-level dark creatures. Moreover, he was more aware of the changes in Lu Ming and was also very interested in the way the picture was spread and the route of infection.

"You're welcome. Let's go."

The two got into Xia Ling's car. As Eve took over the vehicle, it entered automatic driving mode, while Xia Ling was looking through various data and issuing commands one after another. In the middle of the night, countless people were called up to participate in a war without the smoke of gunpowder.

Finally, Xia Ling leaned back in his chair, and Eve's voice rang in his ears.

"We have monitored the entire Chinese network and found no trace of the image."

She rubbed her forehead. "Why are all these weird things coming out? Memetic infection, cyber plague?"

At the Response Bureau headquarters, Lu Ming was placed in an observation room made of transparent glass like a rare animal.

A researcher in pajamas came up to Xia Ling and said, "The subject has some lesions in his lungs, but they are not serious. The symptoms are dry cough, fever, and sputum. Targeted medication has been given, and the efficacy needs further observation."

He pushed up his glasses and said, "From my perspective as a medical professional, this is just a minor cold, not a serious illness. However, the transmission method you mentioned, Director Xia, belongs to the category of extraordinary science, which is not my area of ​​expertise. I can only provide medical advice."

The door was pushed open, and a gray-haired old man walked out: "It is now certain that there is a possibility of infection through picture memes," he coughed a few times, "I now apply to be quarantined."

Xia Ling closed his eyes and said, "Everyone, take action. A disaster that could affect the entire world is spreading silently."

(End of this chapter)