Plague Doctor

Less than a few days into 2022, GOA and WMO represented the world to announce the incident of the Mutated Scale Disease to the public. A heated discussion started when the short videos were published on the internet September last year. However, it was swiftly dealt with by most governments but now the public finally knew the truth. Thankfully, by then, the crisis was already averted. The terrorist organization behind it was dissolved by the joint effort between all countries.

Mutated Scale Disease affected mostly public figures. There were 5264 victims in total and 27 deaths. Patient Zero, Tian Yi died under the hands of the terrorists, 17 victims died from surgical complications while the remaining 9 patients committed suicide. Of the victims, 45 percent of them were famed individuals. It explained why so many celebrities had disappeared from the public's eye all of a sudden.

Once this was announced, it instantly caused a ripple of shock throughout the world. Even though the general public was technically not affected, the Mutated Scale Disease was equally terrifying to them. This fear was heightened when they realized none of the reports explained the origin and pathological process of the Mutated Skin Disease. All were instead carpeted under the umbrella term of supernatural forces. At the same time, the recovered celebrities showed themselves before the camera again, to instil confidence back into the public. Xie Yiman attended the press conference alongside the main members of Phecda like Uncle Dan, Lou Xiaoning and Wu Siyu. Xie Yiman gave a speech expressionlessly, "We will not submit to darkness, we will continue to fight." Other than that, Xie Yiman's company also released a statement that the star would join Phecda as her way to contribute to the country and she announced a permanent retirement from the silver screen. Xie Yiman's fans were saddened by this news but they still showed support to their idol.

The press conference also had a memorial for those who unfortunately passed away during the mission. There 172 agents that participated in this mission and every country suffered sacrifices. The US lost 51 agents, they had a high fatality rate of 82 percent. Notable sacrifices included Toddy Matt and Michael J. Bruce; Russia and English had a combined loss of 65 agents or a fatality rate of 76 percent. In stark contrast, Phecda had only a mere 4 percent fatality rate. Their only sacrifice was Xue Ba. Initially FBM refused to release the truthful data but Phecda insisted on it. Phecda made the official statement that the low fatality rate was not because Phecda members did not join the frontline. In fact, it was Phecda members, especially Captain Gu, who contributed the most to this victory. Instead the main reason behind the difference in fatality rate was due to the fact that Phecda had a deeper experience dealing with supernatural forces. During the mission briefing, Phecda had provided many tactical advice but they were not adopted by the other countries. The lack of cooperation was the reason why the fatality rate was so high. Phecda used this chance to stress that they were willing to share their leading experience and technology with other countries. They only hoped that the other countries could put down their prejudice to come to a consensus, to form an international organization that could really benefit mankind. To proffer an example, Phecda had shown its sincerity by contributing an important technology in the Ancient Seal during this mission.

With regards to these statements by Phecda, the global citizens had plenty to say and not all of them pretty. However, officially, the various governments had to admit that there was a problem in seeking a common ground and Phecda had indeed contributed the most towards the success of this mission…

The Ancient Seal technology made them acknowledge their difference compared to China. They desperately needed the technology so for now they were willing to work for a common ground.

Naturally, there were unequivocal opinions regarding these statements. Conspiracy theories mushroomed on the internet. International cooperation tested not only the sincerity of various governments but also the understanding and tolerance of the global citizens. So far, there was still a long way to go before the goal could be reached. To be honest, some of the fault laid with China as well. As important as their contribution was, it was not going to garner them any point by shoving it in people's faces. As the saying goes, you can catch more flies with honey than vinegar.

Gu Jun did not attend this press conference in person but he did drop in through a video recording. His face looked thinner but he appeared fine. Gu Jun's heavy injury for the sake of the mission became a point of advertisement for Phecda. Therefore, the public knew that Gu Jun had been comatose for 103 days and only awakened on the last day of 2021. Currently he was still in recovery. Gu Jun's fans held a vigil for him, praying for his swift recovery.

On the second day, Gu Jun requested the removal of the nasal feeding tube. Due to the expert care by the nurses, and despite his loss of muscle mass, Gu Jun was strong enough to get down from bed with the help of a walking stick. In terms of physiology, his recovery was swift. On January 7th, he was escorted out from ICU to a normal VIP sickroom.

At the same time, Lucky was having the time of his life. Perhaps due to his extended interaction with human beings, he had gotten more cunning during his dealings with humanity. He understood that he was a valued guest and thus was not in a hurry to end his 'official visitation'. He claimed that the channel he used to come here had collapsed so he would not be able to return to Dreamlands anytime soon. Therefore, he would use this time to complete the task given to him by the tribe leader, which was to observe human civilization, and to weigh the prospect of a collaboration. Regardless of the authenticity of his words, Phecda treated him like a VIP and tried everything to keep him happy.

After knowing about the concept of protected animals in the human world, Lucky once demanded that the human civilization register the Zoogs as one as well. Phecda gently denied his request by giving the reason that the Zoogs had the advantage in secrecy and a low profile, so an official statement like that would blow their cover. Lucky eventually agreed with that reasoning so he demurred. Then his attention was taken elsewhere like enjoying humanity's best wine, most expensive food and the largest chicken thigh…

Gu Jun had no idea whether the Zoogs had this nature in them or this was just unique to Lucky but the latter had requested to visit the club. Turns out it was all a misunderstanding. During the mission at House of Worms, Lucky overheard Gu Jun used the club as a reason to convince Uncle Dan to hold on for his life. From that, Lucky assumed the club was a nirvana that charmed even the Midnight Man. When he arrived though, the pounding music immediately gave him a headache and he scurried away.

Of course, these were just rumours brought to Gu Jun by Siyu and his other friends. These visitations were Gu Jun's daily pocket of joy.

Days passed by and it soon was the 15th day since Gu Jun woke up. He had abandoned the walking stick and wheelchair. He had not achieved full recovery but he could now walk on his own and his pulmonary function was returning to normal. With constant training, it was possible that he'd return to his tip top form.

However, his psychological problem did not change for the better. Instead, Gu Jun seemed to face a special kind of atypical PTSD.

…

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