Commotion

Ding! The doorbell rang.

The Boss, who was fiddling with the 'Dead Fish' specimen, looked up at the young man entering the door.

A trace of surprise showed in her dim, lifeless eyes. She seemed somewhat surprised that Yi Chen had actually returned 'unscathed,' but a smile also tugged at the corners of her lips.

"You seem to have discovered something by the lake."

"I ran into a little trouble, but it's been dealt with."

"Mm..."

The Boss lowered her head back to the specimen and asked no further questions.

Click~ He returned to his room, then closed and locked the door.

He took a glass from the bathroom.

Then he poured the lake water stored among the roots into it.

As the roots squeezed out the lake water, Yi Chen recalled the chilling experience by the lake.

"That sheriff..."

Although he had easily completed the counterkill,

his eyes had captured an unsettling sight that made his skin crawl.

When he had grabbed the sheriff by the collar,

the man's chest had been exposed, covered in dense Scale Tissue that had grown together with the flesh and skin. It oozed a slippery mucus... Some of it had even stuck to Yi Chen's fingers.

His instincts recoiled from such a sight.

"Skin covered in fish scales... Is that a Disease Manifestation?"

At that moment,

Little Grape emerged from his collar and began explaining on her own.

"The 'diversity' of Diseased Symptoms is beyond imagination. This kind of fish-scale disease is fairly common in oceans, rivers, and large bodies of water like this lake.

"There's no need to worry.

"The plant inside you will form a protective layer. Contact at the skin level won't infect you.

"But if you accidentally get cut, there'll be a risk... Remember to use an axe next time."

"Understood."

Putting the sheriff's matter aside,

he lifted the glass filled with lake water and placed it in front of the Kerosene Lamp.

Vision Enhancement

His eyes, which resembled high-definition imaging equipment, scanned the water quality.

Within the magnified, high-definition images, terrifying scenes invisible to ordinary people emerged one after another.

"Are these... some kind of parasites?"

Swarm after swarm of parasites floated through the water. There were an enormous number of them.

Moreover,

only a dozen seconds after the lake water had been poured into the glass, the parasites had already laid countless eggs on the glass walls.

The transparent eggs refracted a faint green light. Perhaps that was where Green Lake got its name.

"The Boss's warning not to 'interact' with the town might be because of this?

"However, the plants growing inside and outside the town are perfectly normal. They show no signs of disease.

"Even the roots used to store the lake water haven't been affected... In other words, these parasites are ineffective against 'plants.' I must make good use of that."

While Yi Chen was analyzing the situation in a low voice,

Little Grape leaped directly from his shoulder.

With her weak, soft black arms, she lifted the glass.

Gulp, gulp~ She downed it in one go.

The sight startled Yi Chen. "What are you doing?!"

Little Grape gently waved her arm, which had only three fingers, indicating that there was no need to worry.

"Observations made with the naked eye are always limited.

"Eating them directly and experiencing them through my body will give us a more intuitive, detailed understanding.

"Don't worry~ I'm a Diseased body to begin with. This stuff can't infect me."

"Did you get any useful information?"

"Mm~ These little things that rely on water to exist are clearly controlled by a certain Consciousness Entity... The moment I swallowed them, they were already trying to transmit a signal. Unfortunately, my body isn't so easy to penetrate.

"Why don't we try to find the entity itself?

"We might be able to get a pretty good 'Big Grape.'"

"No rush. We'll take it slowly."

"True... With your current abilities and me still being immature, even if we find the entity, we might not be able to kill it safely. We need to plan this carefully.

"I'm tired~ I'm going to rest."

After the conversation ended,

Little Grape buried most of her body into Yi Chen's shoulder, leaving only a small patch of black fur exposed.

Not long afterward,

the bonfire festival in the center of town also came to an end.

Leaning beside the window, Yi Chen watched the tourists and residents on the streets return to their respective lodgings one after another. No serious incidents had occurred... At least, none had occurred on the surface.

His thoughts spun and intertwined in his mind.

"According to the innkeeper, three days will be difficult to endure.

"In other words, the longer the tourists remain, the stronger Green Lake Town's desire to 'invade' will become.

"When that happens,

"the examinees will inevitably clash on a large scale with the town's diseased forces.

"We can't rush.

"There are still many hidden dangers in this town. The only thing I need to do today is get a good rest."

After confirming that the room was properly sealed, he collapsed onto the pillow and immediately fell asleep.

Green Lake Town—Central Street

With the end of the bonfire festival, the entire street fell silent.

Yet faint sounds of movement still came from certain shadowy corners.

Deep in an alley,

the three-person team that had previously tried to invite Yi Chen to join them was carrying out 'disease removal' there.

During the festival, they had accepted an invitation from an Unmasked Person to enter the depths of the alley, only to be ambushed.

At present,

the blond Edmund's face was filled with killing intent, and his eyes were bloodshot.

He held a short sword in one hand and a pistol bearing the Mariano Family's 'Feather Decoration' in the other.

Swish!

The rapier was drawn, its blade still carrying traces of pus.

A man with fish-scale skin lay before him. The Pathogen hidden inside his brain had been pierced by the short sword... Edmund had not even needed to pull the trigger. He had dispatched the man smoothly with one hand and a sword.

Likewise,

his two companions had each killed a Diseased person.

Nearby, a woman wiped her silver dagger with a cloth she carried and said softly:

"It seems the town is the key to this examination. To pass the organization's assessment, we probably need to find the Root of Disease or make enough of a contribution through 'disease removal.'

"Judging from the festival,

"the Town Chief wearing the Golden Ghost Mask and the security bureau are highly suspicious."

The blond Edmund straightened his clothes.

"No rush... We still have more than two days.

"Since we attended the festival today, we'll try the free lake tour tomorrow and figure things out before making our final move.

"I can hardly wait to get my hands on the organization's hide."

Apart from this team,

the other examinees also discovered abnormalities one after another. In different areas, they killed or even captured and interrogated diseased townspeople.

Large numbers of death reports spread throughout the town.

The townspeople staying at home became increasingly restless and irritable. Some even kept scratching at the fish scales hidden beneath their clothes, or repeatedly hacked at the furniture as though practicing.

Likewise,

commotion also came from the Green Shade Inn where Yi Chen was staying.

An arm covered in fish scales extended from a hidden compartment beneath the door.

Perhaps due to the mutations brought about by the disease, the arm's length and flexibility were slowly surpassing the limits of humanity.

It extended nearly two meters,

then twisted and folded upward through its utterly irrational joints...

Click!

The padlocks on the door fell one after another.

Their cut surfaces were smooth and coated with mucus.

More frighteningly,

every severed padlock was caught firmly before it hit the ground, making not the slightest sound.

Creak~

The door, which had not been opened for several months, was slowly pushed open.

A Dark Shadow crawled out from above.

Long, tangled hair that had not been trimmed in ages hung from the ceiling to the floor. It dragged along softly like a broom, producing a faint rustling sound...

I took Little Afatty to the Amusement Park on Sunday, so this update is just to make up the numbers. Don't hit me! Don't hit me!