Leo grabbed Willow’s shoulders and looked her over anxiously. “Willow, are you okay? Did any of it get on you?”
“No!” Willow removed the mask from her face. “I was wearing a mask. He only coughed on my clothes. It’s nothing serious!”
Leo looked her up and down, relieved to see no bloodstains on her. He frowned and said, “Go help in the pharmacy!”
“Leo, I’m fine. They don’t know how to take care of things properly…”
“I told you to go, so go!” Leo commanded.
Understanding his concern, Willow nodded gently and turned to enter the pharmacy.
“Mr. Humphrey, please find someone to clean this soldier,” Leo said coldly to the officer.
During their earlier conversation, Leo had learned the officer’s name was Ivan Humphrey.
Ivan agreed and quickly instructed his men to take care of the patient.
After performing acupuncture on each sick soldier, their muscle spasms eased, and their breathing became more stable. However, acupuncture was only a temporary measure against the virus, and each patient still had a high fever and flushed faces.
Soon, Chasel brought over the prepared medicine, and the soldiers began to wipe down the patients.
Leo then went to the pharmacy to carefully develop a remedy based on the symptoms caused by the virus.
Willow assisted Leo by fetching the required herbs. Her measurements were almost exact, saving Leo a lot of trouble.
Leo occasionally pounded the herbs while deep in thought, sweat forming on his forehead.
Suddenly, Leo had an idea. He quickly went to the herb cabinet, took a handful of cicada molts, crushed them, and mixed them with the ground herbs. “Willow, quickly, bring me some clean water!”
Willow coughed lightly and hurried to get the water.
Leo mixed the herb powder and water in precise proportions in the pill-making machine. As black pills emerged from the machine, Leo sighed in relief.
He grabbed a handful of pills and walked out briskly. “Mr. Humphrey, the pills are ready.”
“These pills can’t completely kill the virus but will significantly inhibit its reproduction and alleviate symptoms.”
“That’s great!” Ivan and his men were thrilled and quickly took the pills from Leo to administer them to the patients lying on the ground.
“Dr. Bloomer, your medical skills are truly remarkable. I’m not good with words, so I won’t flatter you. I have a request,” Ivan said gratefully.
“Mr. Humphrey, I know what you mean. You want to take some medicine back to your troops, right?”
Ivan nodded repeatedly.
“That’s not a problem!”
“Thank you, Dr. Bloomer. But I also want to help some local civilians who are infected. The amount of medicine needed might be quite large…”
“Dr. Bloomer, don’t worry about the cost. I’ll report it to my superiors. You won’t be shortchanged!”
“Local civilians are infected too?” Leo frowned deeply, not caring about money. “Can you tell me where your troops are stationed?”
“We’re from the Southwestern Military District. Last month, we were deployed to the mountains outside Langstel for joint military exercises with a local unit.”
“The exercises had been going on for less than a week when this widespread viral infection broke out! Both our troops and local villagers were heavily infected.”
“Our leaders initially thought the virus spread through respiratory droplets and immediately locked down the area.”
“It wasn’t until specialized tests at the epidemic prevention station revealed that the virus spread through blood that we lifted the full lockdown and implemented a partial one. Despite this conservative approach, infections continued to rise.”
Ivan explained everything in one breath.
“Have you considered that you might have come into contact with an infection source?” Leo asked.
“The military doctors suspected that too!” Ivan nodded vigorously, increasingly impressed with Leo.
“Last week, our leaders stopped us and the locals from drinking local water and eating local food. Supplies were brought in from outside the mountains.”
“But infections continued to rise faster than before, and some of the earliest infected have already died…”
Ivan trailed off, unable to continue.
The deputy company commander clenched his fists and lowered his head in despair. “Our soldiers have been infected for nearly half a month. We don’t want them to die, so we sought out famous doctors and finally found you, Dr. Bloomer.”
“You changed food and water sources, but infections still increased?” Leo focused on the virus’s origin.
“Yes, changing food and water had no effect. The military doctors are baffled.”
“The hospital couldn’t identify the infection source quickly enough to develop vaccines or treatment plans.”
“This is strange…” Leo’s expression grew serious. “How are your leaders responding?”
The deputy company commander quickly said, “Our leaders are considering re-imposing a full lockdown on the area to prevent anyone from entering or leaving…”
“Shut up!” Ivan interrupted harshly before he could finish.
The deputy company commander shuddered and lowered his head, realizing he had inadvertently revealed military secrets.
Leo understood: “A full lockdown? Leaving those inside to fend for themselves?”
“Dr. Bloomer, it’s not abandoning them. We have doctors inside!”
“Since we can’t fight this virus yet, we must contain it to prevent further spread,” Ivan explained urgently.
“Yes, Dr. Bloomer. Now that we have your medicine, there’s hope!” The deputy company commander added quickly.