Chapter 910: A Tragedy
Translator: Lonelytree Editor: Millman97
The President was kind; he even planned to present the prize to the winner himself. It was an auspicious start for the Academic Olympics. The few winners were excited. Not only would they get one hundred million, they would also be personally awarded by Hwa Xia's president; the honor was enough to last them a lifetime.
However, to everyone's surprise, the President suddenly fainted in the middle of the ceremony. If not for Ee Chen's quick reaction, he would have fallen to the floor. The hall exploded in pandemonium!
Mubai and Lu Qi rushed forward to check on the President and sent him to the hospital. The focus of the media changed immediately; they all started to report on the President's fainting spell. No one had expected the Academic Olympics' ending ceremony to dive into this health crisis.
However, that was not the worst. The worst was that, soon, many participants and audience members started exhibiting worrying symptoms. It included fever, general lethargy, and coughing. This was the obvious sign of a contagious virus.
Following the discovery of these patients, the whole of City A was panicking, especially those who had personally been there to watch the show, they were afraid of getting infected.
Numerous medical units were there, issuing health checks, and everyone present had to undergo it. Everyone who had contact with a patient had to be quarantined for further observation.
This added to the general panic, which was not helped by the conspiracies peddled by the various media outlets. Some suspected this was a targeted attack; others suspected that it was a common flu exacerbated by the giant crowd size.
However, more worried about the president's physical condition. According to official news, his condition was not looking good. After all, he was in his old age and had a weak constitution, so many predicted he would succumb to this illness or be incapacitated enough to be unable to handle Hwa Xia's national wellbeing.
In any case, a glorious Academic Olympic turned into a disaster. This was definitely not good press, but Xinghe and her friends did not have time to worry about external news; they were more worried about the president's situation. He had been unconscious ever since the high fever.
Lu Qi spent a long time trying to save him, but his condition, unfortunately, did not improve. Madam President spent the whole night holding vigil outside his surgery room.
Xinghe and the rest were caught up in other dealings, and they too busied themselves through the night. With aid from Mubai, Xinghe temporarily held other problems at bay, and they finally had the time to go visit the President.
When they arrived, Lu Qi happened to exit the surgery room.
"How is it? Is the President feeling better?" Xinghe asked. Madam President looked at him with hope in her eyes.
Lu Qi shook his head. "I am sorry to inform you of this, but the President is not improving. The virus infecting him is too powerful; it is a strain I have not seen before. Therefore, there is no way to cure him yet; we need more time to figure it out."
"Where did the virus come from? And how did it spread?" Mubai also asked.
"The method of infection is still an unknown. Everyone who has been in contact with the President has taken a physical check and a few of them are also infected. Others are still in quarantine. The few of you have to stay for observation as well, and I believe this virus is incredibly contagious," Lu Qi commented with solemnity.
Lu Qi was proven right, only one night had passed and hundreds of people had already been infected.