She and Nana had their own secret code. One bark meant yes, two barks meant no. When Lan Jin asked her question, Nana only barked once. That alone was enough to set everyone on edge.
Captain Zhang's whole face tensed as he turned toward Captain Ji.
Captain Ji's expression turned panicked, like he'd done something wrong. He waved his hands quickly. "Why're you all staring at me? I'm not running a fever."
But the moment those words left his mouth, he realized what that implied. If it wasn't him, then the problem could only be with the kids he'd brought over… or his teammates.
"No way. They've been at the official base for days. I only brought them after I was sure they weren't sick. On the road, I checked everyone's temperature three times a day. It's hot now, sure, so everyone's running a little warmer, but nothing high enough to call a fever."
Captain Zhang frowned. "That's weird. Before they came in, our people also checked them, body and temperature both. There shouldn't have been any problem."
Lan Jin thought for a moment, then stroked Nana's fur. "Go. Find whoever's wrong. If you pick the wrong person, it's fine, we'll check again later."
Nana trotted straight over to Captain Ji's group.
The dog sniffed carefully around the kids first, then padded past them to the team members. After another round of sniffing, he stopped.
Nana planted himself beside one man and started pawing at his pants leg. When the man tried to ignore him, Nana sat down firmly and lifted a paw to point right at him.
That look in his eyes couldn't have been clearer: It's him. This is the one.
The man was an older team member called Lao Yan. His face went pale as a bad feeling rose in his gut. Captain Ji's eyes widened. "Lao Yan, you've got a fever? We've been checking temperatures every day on the road. If something's wrong, why didn't you report it?"
Captain Zhang rubbed at his forehead, frowning even deeper. "Wait, that doesn't add up. We also checked you when you arrived. Nothing seemed off with your temperature."
Everyone turned to look at Lan Jin.
"In general, Nana doesn't get this wrong." She crouched, eyeing the dog. "Nana, are you standing next to him because you think something's wrong with him, or is it for another reason?"
Nana barked once, then went silent.
Captain Zhang groaned. "First time in my life I've wished dogs could talk."
That sealed it. Lao Yan had to be put in isolation.
The man stared, baffled. "Hold on, why're you all listening to a dog? What if it's just barking nonsense?"
Even Captain Ji couldn't believe his own teammate's words. If Nana had been messing around, he wouldn't have matched things so perfectly. Still, deciding a man's fate on a dog's judgment alone did feel too rash.
"Maybe it's a misunderstanding," Captain Ji said, forcing a smile. "So what're you planning to do with him?"
Captain Zhang shrugged. "Not much we can do. We'll put him in a tent alone. Wait a few days to see what happens. If nothing's wrong, he can come out."
That didn't sound too bad.
Captain Ji clapped his teammate on the shoulder. "Think of it like a vacation, Lao Yan. Rest up in the tent for a few days."
With his captain talking like that, Lao Yan could only sigh. "Alright then."
A few men escorted him to an empty tent. Unfortunately, that tent wasn't far from the professors'.
The moment he stepped in, Lao Yan spotted the three professors huddled inside.
He knew them, since they'd all come from A City's base. He grinned and called out, "Hey, professors, good to see you."
He seemed relaxed, but the professors sure weren't. And when Lao Yan cheerfully added, "So, what're you doing here too?" they nearly spat blood.
What else could they do but sit?
The three of them were beyond frustrated. They honestly hadn't known the vaccines would cause this kind of mutation. If they'd had any idea, they never would've let anyone inject them. Besides, they hadn't even been the ones to make the first batch. They'd only followed the data given to them, which showed successful clinical trials and claimed everything was safe. So how had things gone so wrong?
No matter how hard they thought about it, they couldn't figure it out. In the end, they could only sit quietly and wait for the higher-ups to decide their fate. But in reality, at this point it wasn't just the three of them. Everyone at their research institute might end up shouldering responsibility.
And then here came Lao Yan, all smiles and no brains. It made their blood pressure spike even higher.
…
The four of them stayed quietly in their tents, not moving an inch.
But for everyone else at the base, Nana's reaction couldn't be ignored.
Captain Zhang said firmly, "Nana's sharp. He must've sensed something off about Lao Yan. Otherwise he wouldn't react like this."
Still, a dog couldn't talk, and no matter how much Captain Zhang asked, he couldn't get the answers he wanted.
Lan Jin finally said, "Go ask Lao Yan what happened after he first heard about the official base. Everything from then until now. Find out if anything unusual went down."
Lao Yan had gone with Captain Ji's people to the official base earlier than the rest. He hadn't touched the vaccines, so unless something unexpected happened along the way, there shouldn't have been a problem.
"Maybe he just has some scent Nana likes," Lan Jin added lightly.
But Nana didn't like that answer one bit. For him, work was serious. The dog started running circles around her, muttering little growls like complaints, clearly sulking.
That only proved he hadn't made a mistake.
But the more it looked that way, the more dangerous it became. If Nana was right but couldn't explain what he'd found, then nobody knew when trouble would strike.
Lan Jin crouched and whispered in his ear, her tone deadly serious. "If that man really has a problem, then once he realizes you've found him out, he might try to hurt you. That means you're in danger. Remember what I say. If you ever feel danger, you run. Run straight to me, got it?"
Her voice was firm, leaving no doubt. For once, Nana didn't bark. He just nodded solemnly, his big head bobbing, clearly memorizing her words.
The only thing both of them overlooked was the sky itself. Day and night no longer mattered in this world. The sun never set, so how could anyone make a move unseen?