sovbooks Chapter 594 - 269: Notorious
Chapter 594 - 269: Notorious
The only difference might just be a slightly smaller space.
Mainly because the structure of the safe house’s walls is rather special, usually consisting of multi-layered composite structures. Besides specially formulated concrete, there are fireproof layers, insulation layers, bulletproof steel plates, and explosion-proof panels, which can easily withstand sniper rifles, machine gun fire, and bomb attacks, effectively blocking forced entry for two hours.
More advanced safe houses can even resist chemical, biological, and nuclear weapon radiation.
This concept originated during the U.S. Civil War, initially used to rescue black slaves and eventually evolved into a dedicated facility for intelligence agencies and law enforcement agencies, used for providing accommodation to special agents, spies, and witness protection.
In our country, there are also many professional teams designing and building such safe houses.
They are often used for storing valuable items, personal hobby collections, business secret meetings, and government witness protection needs.
This type of project often requires signing confidentiality agreements and secret construction.
The workers might work in shifts without knowing what they are doing, and the clients and contractors might have never met each other. The overall cost is higher than regular houses, usually ranging from 300,000 to 3 million based on different requirements.
Gu Ji, being a former SWAT officer,
had naturally learned professional knowledge about safe house protection and so on.
An excellently designed safe house not only requires solid walls but also must ensure dual passageways in the front and back to prevent being surrounded by enemies and being unable to retreat. Moreover, it should have independent communication systems, energy systems, and long-distance monitoring systems. Some high-end safe houses even have repelling and capturing systems inside.
"Mr. Jin, you can rest here for now. If you need anything, feel free to call us anytime."
The security personnel led Gu Ji to the sofa in the living room, taking the initiative to bring a bottle of water and bread.
"I need a computer and a card reader." Gu Ji directly stated his request.
The security personnel did not refuse and soon provided him with what he wanted.
Gu Ji placed the memory card he got from Park Baomei’s piggy bank into the card reader and inserted it into the laptop. Indeed, there was a folder inside.
He couldn’t wait to open it and take a look.
Inside were various files on the research of bacteria, viruses, and other microorganisms, such as anthrax, staphylococcus, influenza virus, and malaria, etc.
Though Gu Ji possessed public health knowledge, he wasn’t truly trained in microbiology like Jin Zhijiu.
Therefore, he couldn’t understand things that were too specialized.
However, a few files caught his attention, with the name Fort Detrick Laboratory mentioned inside!
The name Fort Detrick is one that few would not know.
It’s a famed biochemical weapons laboratory in the United States, which was formerly a small airport. In 1943, the US military requisitioned the site to build the famed US Army Biochemical Weapons Laboratory. At that time, top military leaders ordered the development of biochemical weapons "with a destructive power not inferior to the atomic bomb in the Manhattan Project."
Rumor has it that it hired WWII scientist Hans, accepted all the data from Unit 731, and conducted inhumane experiments.
It was also dubbed by the media as the "laboratory conducting the world’s darkest experiments."
Besides searching for nature’s most lethal toxins, the US CIA, which had already spread across the Eurasian continent at that time, tasked it with developing drugs used in interrogations, like the LSD Gu Ji discussed with the Chaojun in the underground building, also known as the mind control program.
However, what made Fort Detrick Laboratory "infamous" was its closure due to a leak in 2019.
In July 2019, Fort Detrick Laboratory suddenly announced its closure;
In August, an influenza outbreak occurred in the United States, infecting nearly 20 million people and killing over 10,000;
In September, an unknown respiratory disease appeared in Maryland, where Fort Detrick is located, infecting nearly 2,800 people. The US CDC claimed this disease was caused by e-cigarettes, with no further details disclosed.
But why did a respiratory illness only occur in 2019 after Fort Detrick Laboratory was closed when e-cigarettes had been sold in the US since 2007?
In October, the CIA director led the organization of a global pandemic exercise codenamed "201," simulating the outbreak of a mutated virus.
Theoretically, such exercises should fall under the CDC.
Why would an intelligence organization be involved?
On the US White House petition website, there have been multiple discussions on the Fort Detrick Laboratory issue, demanding transparency from the military, but all were deleted.
Subsequently, two reports surfaced within the US Government, revealing that the Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases accidentally leaked the virus. The primary reason was improper employee operation, aging walls, cabinets holding biological specimens, and safety boxes appearing with cracks.
Claiming this would deceive a fool, even a fool wouldn’t believe it.
It’s ludicrous to say the world’s top biochemical laboratory has poor sealing and cracked safety boxes.
Thus, the "Fort Detrick Laboratory deliberately leaked the virus to experiment on ordinary citizens" rumor has persisted to this day.
Although Gu Ji knew,
the Wushan Base Laboratory, as a US-Korea Joint Laboratory led mainly by the US, also had links to Fort Detrick Laboratory, which was understandable.
But in 2015, at such a critical juncture,
first, the US’s transported anthrax to South Korea leaked, then an explosion at a laboratory, followed by the military sealing off the site and preventing external investigation, and now the deliberate concealment of a MERS infection at the base—what is going through the minds of these military top brass?
Would they really use this MERS incident to experiment on the South Korean populace?
Gu Ji couldn’t help but be startled by this thought.
If that’s really the case,
he would have no choice but to intervene,
otherwise, if the military scrambled the carefully controlled situation he had painstakingly maintained, all prior efforts would go down the drain.
"Mr. Jin."
At this moment, a voice called out from behind. It was Li Xianzhen in a suit, accompanied by a middle-aged man with a crew cut wearing an equally expensive suit. Though not tall, he had an exceptionally sharp gaze, clearly indicating a military background.
"This is Mr. Cui Zhenghe, head of security at Cheongwadae, specifically responsible for Cheongwadae’s security work. With him handling this matter, you can rest assured."
"Mr. Li, Mr. Cui."
Gu Ji politely greeted them, and then recited the lines he had practiced in his mind many times, conveying seven parts truth and three parts falsehood.
The false part was naturally the fight with the assassin.
His explanation was that the assassin caught up, shot Cui Ridou, forcing him to hand over the memory card. Cui Ridou suddenly pounced and sacrificed himself to entangle the assassin, while Gu Ji seized the opportunity to grab the gun and counterattack.
"Being able to control vehicles to cause an accident isn’t a method that ordinary criminal organizations could think of; it indeed seems like..."
Cui Zhenghe didn’t say it outright, but the implication was that it was the work of the military.
Coming from the military background himself, he was well aware of the military’s tactics.
"What’s on the memory card?"
"It’s all here."
Gu Ji openly displayed the files to the two of them.
Li Xianzhen’s eyes changed as he read, suppressing his anger, though anyone could still see the anger in his eyebrows.
As secretary chamber chief, he must prioritize the president’s reputation and public interests, naturally loathing the military’s actions.
He raised his head, staring into Gu Ji’s eyes.
"Mr. Jin, what do you think?"
"I think analyzing from the point that the Wushan Base deliberately brought away the super patient ’Jin Canyu’, it can’t be ruled out that they might be researching something within the base. We must know, MERS is spreading in South Korea for the first time, and currently, South Korea is the second-largest MERS-infected country in the world after Saudi Arabia..."
Gu Ji didn’t delve deeply into the discussion.
But even a relatively small MERS incident could drastically turn over South Korea’s economy and people’s livelihoods, which is enough to prove the virus’s power. Even if Li Xianzhen doesn’t understand military strategy, he knows this virus is more powerful than planes and cannons.
"No need to beat around the bush with me. Tell me, how do you want to solve it?"
"Mr. Li, Mr. Cui, I suggest immediately dispatching people to Wushan Base to thoroughly investigate the military district hospital, delve deep into all MERS-infected individuals, and eliminate all dangerous activities at the root!"