Chapter 2369: 2183: Unknown Virus

The car was moving, and Ye Qiu could feel that it was indeed getting colder outside. Moreover, apart from seeing the thick snow, there was nothing but endless whiteness outside, with nothing else visible.

After driving for over three hours, they stopped to refuel during the journey.

Because the temperature outside in the winter was too low, they used the heater inside, which consumed a lot of fuel.

Luckily this was a diesel vehicle, and there were barrels of diesel in the trunk, ready to refuel when needed.

If it were an ordinary small car here, it might not even start.

The climate here is too harsh.

When the car stopped, Ye Qiu, Zhou Wenting, and Boss Zhong got out, and Ye Qiu saw one red building after another on the Siberian Plains Farm.

Of course, these red buildings were almost covered with snow.

Someone came to help carry their things, and Ye Qiu and Zhou Wenting’s belongings were taken to a building.

First, move the things inside.

In such weather, hardly anyone would dare to go outside.

But why would there be people infected with this plague?

"Doctor Ye, are you going to see the patients now?"

"Let’s go take a look first."

Ye Qiu was ready to head over.

Of course, the situation here was still unclear, so Ye Qiu took Zhou Wenting along.

After settling things.

Ye Qiu and Zhou Wenting followed and rode to a nearby hospital.

This hospital was actually a private one.

In this place, there are not many Russians; instead, there are Koreans or people from The East Ocean. The local Russians have leased their lands to foreigners for farming.

Ye Qiu followed along.

Upon entering the privately-owned Chinese hospital, they were immediately hit by an unpleasant smell of Western medicine and disinfectant.

"My employees are inside, I won’t go in."

Boss Zhong was still afraid of getting infected.

He waited outside.

Zhou Wenting followed Ye Qiu inside.

A female nurse looked at Ye Qiu and Zhou Wenting strangely before leading them in.

Soon, they entered the ward.

The smell inside the ward was even more unpleasant, but thankfully, there was heating.

The heating here was probably coal or natural gas; after all, resources weren’t scarce here, just the cold.

"The patients are over there!"

There were many beds inside, patients lying on them.

Medical equipment beside each bed was monitoring them.

Luckily, there was electricity; otherwise, many medical devices wouldn’t work.

In Siberia, there are hundreds of thousands, up to millions of overseas Chinese, including some undocumented workers not counted in border crossing numbers.

Including them, there could be over two million.

With Koreans and people from The East Ocean added, the population could exceed three million.

Of course, they are not concentrated here but scattered across Siberia, with just ten thousand or so here, like a small town in Mainland China.

But the size here is already that of a large city.

Ye Qiu went to examine them. Just as Boss Zhong had described, these people were weak, couldn’t get out of bed, in intense pain, and some parts of the body oozing blood; it looked terrifying.

What on earth is this illness?

Doctors here, including Western ones, couldn’t figure it out; they could only provide pain relief.

"When did it start?"

"Half a month ago," the nurse said.

"What work are they involved in?"

"Various types."

Various types of work?

Ye Qiu found this unlikely.

There must be a source of viral infection, an initial case that infected others.

"How many are infected now?"

"At least a few hundred here."

At least a few hundred?

That’s quite a lot.

"Are there any death records?"

"Haven’t seen any for now."

Ye Qiu examined those people, absorbing various viruses, finding none he recognized, suggesting it might be a new virus causing high infection.

Concerning this unknown virus, Ye Qiu was confident he could cure these patients.

Yet, he needed to identify the source and causal virus.

"Doctor Ye, how is it?" the nurse asked.

"Curable."

Ye Qiu stated outright.

Curable?

How was that possible?

The nurse was skeptical.

Yet, Ye Qiu was indeed capable of curing them.

With hundreds infected, curing them all would require much Spiritual Energy, impossible to achieve rapidly; a portion would be treated first.

"How many with this condition does the hospital have?"

"Thirty-eight," the nurse replied.

Thirty-eight wasn’t a lot.

"Let’s treat these thirty-eight first."

The nurse couldn’t believe it.

Ye Qiu casually prescribed a herbal remedy, instructing the nurse to brew it for the patients.

Wormwood.

One of Ye Qiu’s prescriptions.

But that’s not the primary issue.

The nurse remained incredulous.

After the nurse left, Zhou Wenting asked, "Ye Qiu, what exactly is this illness?"

"I’m unsure; possibly a novel, unknown virus."

Ye Qiu and Zhou Wenting exited after disinfecting, and Boss Zhong asked, "Ye Qiu, how is it?"

"Don’t worry, I can cure it, but I want to know what kind of work they were doing?"

Ye Qiu detected an odor akin to stinky mud from the patients.

He suspected these people weren’t typical farm workers.

"Ye Qiu, quietly I’ll tell you, they’re excavating mammoth ivory, of course cooperating with locals."

This mammoth ivory comes from a massive extinct animal, adapted to cold climates, once the world’s largest elephants, one of the largest land mammals, with prairie mammoths weighing up to 12 tons.

A giant of the Ice Age.

Mammoths were tall and stout, possessing sturdy legs and four-toed feet, with large heads. Female ivory typically measures 1.5 to 2 meters, while male mammoth tusks average 2.2 to 2.5 meters, some reaching or exceeding 3 meters. Adorned with fine hair in gold, auburn, and gray-brown, having thick skin and fat layers reaching up to 9 centimeters.

They lived extensively across the northern Eurasian Continent. Mammoths gradually became extinct about 10,000 years ago, marking an end to the Ice Age. Frozen carcasses have been discovered in Alaska and Siberia’s permafrost and ice.

When Boss Zhong softly revealed this, Ye Qiu realized these workers were involved in unusual business.

No wonder he smelled a stench like mud.

These workers must have long been in stinky mud while illegally excavating mammoth ivory, causing that odor to accumulate in their bodies.