I Have a Modern Weapon Gacha System in the Zombie Apocalypse-Chapter 76: New Priority

Adrian went to the medbay of the base, and headed straight to Ryan’s room.

Inside, Ryan was still in a sorry state, with bandages wrapped across his torso and arm, an IV line running into his hand, fluids dripping steadily through the tube.

The monitor beside him beeped at a consistent pace.

Ryan turned his head slightly when the door opened.

"...Sir," he said.

Adrian stepped inside and closed the door behind him.

"At ease," Adrian said.

Ryan let out a short breath and relaxed back against the bed.

"You still look like shit," Adrian added.

"Yeah, but like the doctor said, I’ll be okay in less than two weeks. I heard gunshots outside, what was happening out there?"

"Apparently, zombies have a varying infection pattern," Adrian said, stepping closer to the bed. "Some turn instantly. Others don’t."

Ryan frowned slightly.

"...Meaning?"

"We had a carrier inside the base," Adrian continued. "She was infected for hours, maybe longer, without turning. Moved freely. Blended in."

Ryan’s expression hardened.

"And then she turned."

"In the middle of a civilian line," Adrian said. "Bit multiple people. Those she infected turned within seconds."

Ryan exhaled slowly, eyes shifting toward the ceiling.

"That’s worse than what we’ve seen outside," he said. "At least out there, you know who’s infected."

"Not anymore," Adrian replied.

Silence settled between them for a moment.

Ryan turned his head back.

"Containment?"

"Forty infected neutralized," Adrian said. "Five injured. Situation is under control."

Ryan nodded once.

"Good response time."

Adrian didn’t comment on that.

Instead—

"We’re adjusting protocols," he said. "Mandatory full-body inspections. Isolation for anyone with unknown exposure. No exceptions."

Ryan let out a faint breath.

"People won’t like that."

"They don’t have to," Adrian said. "They just have to follow it."

Ryan gave a small, tired smirk.

"Yeah... that sounds about right."

Another pause.

Then Ryan’s expression shifted slightly.

"...Sir," he said. "If carriers can move like that... then this isn’t just an outbreak anymore."

Adrian looked at him.

"I know."

Ryan swallowed once.

"That means anyone we bring in... anyone we rescue... could already be compromised."

"That’s why we don’t get comfortable," he said. "Not even inside the walls."

Ryan nodded slowly.

"...Understood."

Adrian glanced once more at the monitor, at the steady rhythm of Ryan’s vitals.

"When you are fully recovered, I want to send you on a mission." 𝘧𝓇ℯ𝑒𝓌𝑒𝑏𝓃𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘭.𝒸ℴ𝓂

"What is it sir?"

"It’s time that we take seriously on learning what enemies are, biologically. We are going to need a virologist."

"That is an easy job sir, if we know who we are looking for and where they are."

"The problem is we don’t have one yet, but just in time for your recovery, we will have a list," Adrian said. "In any case, you have to be ready when the time comes. And as for your crew...we’re going to pick you a new one."

"No problem sir, I’ll get ready in no time."

After that, Adrian left his room and then went back to the command center. Finding a virologist. Where to find one? It’s not like he could still connect to the internet and browse. It was already down. Starlink? Perhaps. He need to ask his IT specialist personnel in the command center.

Adrian stepped into the command center and called.

"Who’s handling external comms?" Adrian asked.

A man raised a hand from behind a cluster of monitors.

"Here, sir."

Adrian walked over.

"I need internet access," he said. "Starlink. Is it still operational?"

The IT specialist leaned back slightly.

"...The satellites should still be up," he said. "They’re independent of ground infrastructure. But we don’t have a registered terminal."

"I’m aware," Adrian said. "So we don’t do it the normal way. Can you get us in?"

The specialist paused.

Then turned back to his system, pulling up multiple windows.

"...Yes," he said. "But it’ll be unconventional."

"Explain."

"We can’t authenticate as a valid terminal," he said. "Starlink uses hardware-based IDs tied to each dish. Without that, we get rejected immediately."

He tapped a few keys, bringing up a signal diagram.

"But we can try to emulate one," he continued. "Spoof the handshake. Mimic a legitimate terminal ID and trick the network into accepting our connection."

Adrian’s eyes stayed on him.

"And the hardware?"

"We don’t have a phased array dish," the specialist said. "But we salvaged directional antennas and RF modules from the comms depot. If we align it manually and lock onto a satellite beam, we can establish a narrowband link."

"Stable?"

"No," he answered honestly. "It’ll be unstable. High latency. Possible drops. But enough for data retrieval."

Adrian nodded once.

"What about encryption?"

"We’ll need to replicate the authentication sequence," the specialist said. "Intercept patterns, brute-force timing windows, maybe reuse fragments from known terminal signatures."

He looked up.

"It’s not guaranteed."

"How long?"

"Forty minutes to rig the hardware," he said. "Another twenty to attempt handshake. If it works... we’re in."

Adrian didn’t hesitate.

"Do it."

"Yes, sir."

The specialist immediately turned, calling out.

"I need two more on signal alignment. Bring the RF unit and power stabilizer. We’re building a fake terminal."

Cables were dragged across the floor as two technicians rushed in, dropping a metal case onto the table and flipping it open. Inside were salvaged components—signal processors, patched wiring, and a directional antenna head that had clearly been repurposed more than once.

"Power line ready," one of them said, plugging in a stabilizer unit. The hum of electricity followed as the system came alive.

The IT specialist leaned forward, fingers moving fast across the keyboard.

"Initializing spoof environment... building handshake script," he muttered.

Another technician adjusted the antenna feed, turning a dial slowly.

"Give me azimuth," he called out.

"Two-one-five degrees," the specialist replied without looking. "Satellite pass in thirty seconds. Keep it steady."

"Copy."

Adrian stood behind them, silent, watching every movement.

Lines of code scrolled across the screen.

Encryption layers.

Authentication packets.

Retries.

"Attempting signal lock..." the specialist said.

A brief pause.

"...We have noise. Adjust elevation, plus three degrees."

The antenna shifted slightly.

The signal bar flickered.

"Signal acquired," the technician confirmed.

"Injecting spoof ID... sending handshake..." the specialist said, his voice tightening slightly.

A few seconds passed.

"...We’re in."