the cause of the matter

Just as Director Yang was on the phone reporting the situation, Lin Yuan suddenly reminded him, “Oh, that’s right, Director Yang, the boss told me earlier that these blue canisters were sold to him by two young men.”

“And they seemed to have been dismantled from some medical equipment. I now suspect that they might still have radiation sources on them, and even if not, they most likely carried a large amount of radioactivity.”

Upon hearing this, Director Yang was stunned on the spot.

The Experts next to him looked even more terrified and exclaimed excitedly, “What!!! This isn’t the source?! Quick!! Find a way to control those two people, otherwise, our West Sea City will be finished!”

At the same time, in the Government office building.

When Secretary He learned of this matter, he staggered and almost lost his footing.

Although he didn't understand much about radioactivity, he immediately realized how great the danger was.

In his opinion, the most terrifying thing about nuclear radiation was not just its ability to destroy the human body.

It was its contagiousness.

Everyone who came into contact with it would become a new radiation source.

Even used tissues, water rinsed off during a shower, and excreted urine would be radioactive.

The most important thing was that this radiation source was invisible and intangible, and had to be detected one by one with instruments.

This led to many people not even knowing they had been infected with radiation, continuing to harm others.

This was too terrifying!

At least a plague could be controlled through isolation.

How could this thing be controlled?

If no one knew who carried radioactivity, how could they be isolated?

Unless the entire city was checked, every citizen would have to undergo radiation detection.

But the problem was, West Sea City had millions of people.

If they were gathered together, and someone was irradiated, it would be a complete disaster.

But if they weren't gathered together, then they could only be checked door-to-door.

My heavens, what an enormous workload that would be.

At this moment, Secretary He hated those two young men who sold the items.

If only the scrap yard had a problem, even if it was controlled, it would still be manageable, limiting the radiation to that area.

Even if it was a cat, it shouldn't run far.

But those two guys were purely mobile biochemical monsters.

It was likely that many people in West Sea City had already been irradiated by them without knowing it.

Then there would be cross-radiation.

Although it wasn’t as exaggerated as zombie infections in movies, West Sea City might not return to normal for many years.

Most people would choose to move out of the city.

No Investors would be foolish enough to come here to invest, eventually degrading into a fourth-tier city, or even a ghost town.

Such a thing was not impossible.

In fact, such a thing had actually happened in history.

At that time, due to nuclear radiation leakage, hundreds of people died, and tens of thousands were affected by the radiation!

Many people never saw the radiation source from beginning to end, and all eventually died.

After their deaths, they were dug out of their coffins and cremated.

The land where they were buried was dug three feet deep and moved to a deserted place.

In the entire city, most buildings were demolished, and the land was almost completely turned over.

Even so, the radiation still exceeded the standard.

That city was completely reduced to a ghost town.

If that day really came...

Just thinking about it made him break out in a cold sweat.

Secretary He turned to Li Secretary and instructed, “Have Director Yang immediately apprehend the two people who sold the scrap to the boss, then ascertain their recent movements, and send messages to everyone in the city, telling them to self-isolate at home and not to go out.”

“Especially those who may have come into contact with those two people must be quarantined as a priority.”

“Also, call the nuclear energy research institute in the neighboring city and ask them to come and help with detection. Buy all the radiation detectors in West Sea City and check every household.”

“Have the traffic police brigade patrol the streets to maintain order, all police officers in the city should go out on patrol to persuade citizens to return home, and quickly establish a nuclear radiation medical Experts team.”

Li Secretary listened to the stream of commands, cold sweat breaking out on his forehead.

It wasn’t that there were too many to remember, but that he was terrified.

He couldn't understand why such a dangerous radiation source would leak.

In fact, not only him, but everyone couldn't understand.

But fortunately, Director Yang quickly identified the two young men who sold the scrap through surveillance and the boss’s description.

The police specially put on protective suits and went to arrest them.

When they were arrested, the two were still playing games at an internet cafe, which resulted in the entire internet cafe being sealed off, and everyone inside was not allowed to leave until they had been checked.

After testing, the radiation levels on their bodies had reached astonishing values.

And their faces had already started to show ulceration.

One of them had milder symptoms, only diarrhea, vomiting, and a slight headache.

The other was half-dead when caught.

If the Experts hadn't told them they were irradiated, they would have thought they just had heatstroke or a cold.

When they learned that their lives were very likely in danger, they were all terrified.

They dared not lie and spilled everything they had done.

It turned out that their materials were stolen from an abandoned Hospital.

The two usually had no jobs and idled around.

Some time ago, they saw a long-abandoned Hospital with broken windows, but there were many instruments inside.

They figured they would go in and steal something to sell for money.

So the night before last, they secretly climbed in through the window.

But after searching the entire Hospital, there was only one large instrument.

It had a flat board in the middle and a large ring on top; they didn't know what it was for, but it looked very advanced.

However, that thing was too big, and they couldn't carry it away.

After some discussion, they decided to dismantle the instrument and sell it as scrap.

One metal cylinder particularly caught their attention, and they thought there might be treasure inside.

After much effort to open it, they found only a glass bottle containing blue powder.

Disappointed, the two immediately sold it to the scrap shop owner, and after getting the money, they went off to enjoy themselves.

After that, today afternoon’s events transpired.

After Director Yang learned the full story, a bigger question emerged.

That was why such valuable medical equipment would be in an abandoned Hospital.

After the Experts' explanation, he already knew that Cesium-137 was worth far more than gold.

Just that small glass jar of raw material was worth several million.

Adding that large instrument, the total price was at least in the tens of millions.

A medical device worth tens of millions being left in an abandoned Hospital sounded like a joke.

To clarify the situation, he specifically checked the Hospital’s background.

The result of the check brought a bitter smile to his face.

This abandoned Hospital was originally a private radiotherapy Hospital that had moved to another location two years ago.

Due to issues of property ownership, the Hospital became embroiled in a legal dispute, and the court ordered that items within the Hospital could not be moved.

At that time, most of the medical equipment had already been moved, leaving only one very large radiotherapy machine that could not be taken away, which is why that machine was left behind in the Hospital.

During that period, the Hospital had reported how dangerous the instrument was.

But no one took it seriously, which is why it was abandoned there for over two years.

This wasn’t just an instrument!

It was clearly a ticking nuclear bomb!

Now, it had finally exploded.

The entire West Sea City would suffer because of it.

As for the two people who stole it.

From their perspective, they might have just stolen something, and even if convicted, they wouldn’t be sentenced for long.

However, they did not know how much panic and economic loss their theft had brought to West Sea City.