North Southfield, Shanghai.
The Shanghai Massacre is the greatest disaster ever recorded in five thousand years of Chinese history. Wars, famines, plagues—these have all caused mass casualties before, but none so terrifying, so abrupt, so utterly shocking and panic-inducing as this. Even distant Jiping City felt the tremors of fear, and the closer you get, the clearer, denser, and more horrifying the aftermath becomes.
Because of North Southfield’s unique location, it became the nation’s frontline stronghold. Even though repeated tests showed no known contamination remaining in Shanghai’s urban area—emphasis on “known”—the authorities remain cautious. This once-bustling land is now approached with care even by state forces, and ordinary folks keep their distance altogether.
Property values in Southfield District have plummeted. Residents didn’t even wait to sell—they simply packed up and left. In the blink of an eye, Southfield went from thriving community to a deserted ghost town.
But a ghost town has its perks—it makes military deployment a breeze. At the northern edge of this empty city, the PLA set up isolation gates and cordons, turning it into the southern base for Shanghai’s Special Military Operations. To counter unknown threats, they brought in all sorts of heavy weapons. They even deployed three whole tank battalions, just in case.
But everyone knows, when it comes to whatever’s lurking in Shanghai, it’s really the Biochemical Task Force—the experts and their hazmat crews—who stand a chance.
A hundred and twenty Hazmat Carriers, four hundred and eighty Armored Personnel Carriers—just for this one base in Southfield District, there’s a constant stream of people on duty. The experts suit up layer after layer outside the isolation zone, and under military escort, head into the city to collect samples.
It’s November—cold outside, but those isolation suits will have you sweating buckets. Each shift lasts a max of six hours before they have to come back, not just to avoid exhaustion but mainly to prevent contamination and mutation.
So every returning soldier has to pass a medical exam before they’re allowed out of the isolation zone. The protocols are as strict as something out of a Resident Evil movie.
At 7:20 a.m., the ten-meter-high gate rumbled open and another convoy rolled out to the north. Four Armored Personnel Carriers flanked a Hazmat Carrier as they headed into the city. The gunners gripped their triggers tight, ready to aim at the slightest sign of trouble.