Underground Laboratory

Because of the rampant infected people on the streets, the inn's door was tightly closed, and it seemed to be blocked by tables and chairs inside. It took the group quite a while to knock before the door was finally opened.

"Come in quickly!" It was a student from Teacher Tie's group who opened the door.

The group filed in and found that in addition to the innkeeper and waiters, there were also many Martial World practitioners carrying weapons guarding the lobby. Clearly, they had also witnessed the danger of the infected and were using the inn as a base to defend against the invading infected.

"Where are Martial Uncle Tie and the others?" Deng Qian asked.

"The other Senior Brother are assembling the carriage in the backyard, Martial Uncle Tie has gone to meet Senior Brother Li and the others..."

Li Xinyu's team lived quite far away, Tie Jingang was probably worried that they wouldn't be able to come on their own, so he went to meet them personally.

After all, all the carriages are at Yunlai Inn, so even if you want to leave, you have to gather here first.

"I'll go check the backyard. Deng Qian, you stay here and lead them to guard the front hall!" Song Shan instructed before heading towards the back door.

"Okay!" Deng Qian immediately told everyone to seal the doors and windows to prevent infected people from rushing into the inn.

"I advise you not to act rashly..." a martial arts expert wielding an iron spear advised. "This matter is extremely strange. Those demons outside kill anyone they see, and those they kill turn into zombies. I don't know what kind of evil magic this is..."

"Are we just going to wait here to die if we don't leave?" Song Shan sneered.

"Can't you see it yet?" another Dual-Blade Woman said, "This is clearly a conspiracy by the Demonic Cult. With such a commotion in the city, Clear Breeze Stronghold will definitely come to clean up the mess! These zombies and demons are ferocious, but their abilities are only so-so. We are outnumbered and can't fight them. If the people of Clear Breeze Stronghold come, they will definitely be able to wipe them out!"

Clear Breeze Stronghold has been operating here for decades, with nearly a thousand members, all of whom are quite powerful. These infected individuals mainly spread the virus through bites and scratches. Experts at the Foundation Establishment Realm are basically immune to their attacks, so as long as there are enough people, they are not difficult to deal with.

Moreover, Shannan Town only has a population of over 10,000. Not to mention that only a minority are currently infected, even if everyone were infected, Clear Breeze Stronghold might still be able to handle it.

But the students from the Main World knew that things weren't that simple.

What they've seen so far are mostly ordinary infected individuals who resemble zombies, with a few mutating into First-Order Mutant that grow sharp limbs and tails... But the power of the Eternal Virus goes far beyond that...

Although I've never been to the [Wasteland], I occasionally see related information on the forums. Without human intervention, the Eternal Virus could spread unchecked, potentially producing mutants that could reach as high as Tier 4!

First-Order Mutant would be fatal to ordinary people without firearms, but Cultivators at the Body Refinement Realm could hold their own against it by using melee weapons and being careful not to get hurt.

The Second-Order Mutant is an enhanced version of the first-tier mutant. If Foundation Establishment Realm is not solid enough, it may be pierced and injured.

Upon reaching the third tier, the mutated body becomes larger and stronger, requiring at least a high-level Foundation Establishment Realm or even Heart Refining Realm expert to contend with it.

If it mutates to the fourth tier, it can already be called a monster. Its Combat Power and infection ability are top-notch. No matter how skilled you are, if you are not confident in killing it from a distance, it is best to avoid it if you encounter it.

This monster's Combat Power is secondary; if you're not careful and get infected, even Peak Expert might not survive without antitoxin serum...

Of course, if it's just a small town with only 10,000 or 20,000 people, the chance of a fourth-order infected person emerging is extremely low... But if it spreads, second-order and even third-order infected people may appear, and the level of danger will increase dramatically!

Moreover, it's still unknown why the Eternal Virus appeared in the [Martial World]. Who knows what kind of mutation the virus has undergone to infect people here, and whether we can still use our previous experience to deal with it...?

"It's up to you..." Deng Qian said, "Anyway, we're definitely leaving. If you also want to escape this town, you can come with us and look after each other... This might be our last chance!"

Just then, a student returned from the backyard. "Senior Sister Deng, everything's settled. Senior Brother Song and his men are watching the carriages; he asked me to let you know."

"Alright, now we just wait for Martial Uncle Tie to bring Senior Brother Li and the others over to join us." Deng Qian nodded and looked at the students in the hall. "We'll stay here for now. Everyone keep an eye on the doors and windows, and don't let the infected people have a chance to spread!"

The inn's lobby was square and easy to see. In addition to students, there were also many Martial World practitioners participating in the defense. Everyone extinguished their candles and kept quiet. As for the ordinary guests upstairs, they dared not make a sound under the threat of these martial arts practitioners carrying weapons, so for the time being, they did not attract any infected people to attack.

As for the backyard, it's separated from the front hall by only one door, so Song Shan can easily help out if anything happens there.

Taking advantage of the opportunity, Luo Jun went to a corner of the lobby, took out a round white patch, and stuck it on his temple.

Suddenly, the scenery before his eyes changed. In addition to the inn lobby, he could see streets ravaged by monsters and filled with screams. It felt like a split-screen view in a video Game, which was quite magical.

Yes, this disc is also a Noble Phantasm, Common-level consumable item, collected from the Savage Wilderness. The disc consists of two pieces, usually stuck together, one side black and the other white. After being separated, no matter where the black piece is stuck, as long as the white piece is stuck to the temple, one can see the scene corresponding to the location of the black piece.

If the black and white pieces are placed on two different people, the two people can communicate remotely.

Simply put, it can be understood as a hidden camera with voice functionality.

What Luo Jun was seeing now was the street scene flashing past, clearly the black patch was stuck to some moving object. In his field of vision, neither the wandering infected nor the fleeing residents paid any attention to the object with the black patch, letting it pass by without any reaction.

It's very simple, because Luo Jun's black film was attached to an invisible object.

Tomb King!

That's right. Just now, Luo Jun pretended to urinate, but actually took out the Cinerary Urn, released the Tomb King, and stuck the black piece on the Tomb King's forehead.

In this way, the invisible Tomb King can roam the town, and even if Luo Jun stays in a safe place, he can still see what is happening in the town.

Soon, the Tomb King arrived at the source of it all: the still-burning oil mill.

"Go in and take a look!" Luo Jun placed his finger on his temple and silently commanded.

The Tomb King dared not disobey, and stealthily entered the fire. The Death Aura around him coalesced into a chilling wind, which helped him withstand the flames in the high-temperature fire.

Rather than rescuing the townspeople being chased by monsters, figuring out the origin of this Eternal Virus is the only way to fundamentally solve the problem. Moreover, Luo Jun is also very curious as to why a virus from the Wasteland across the ocean would cause a disaster in the Martial World.

After the explosion and intense burning, nothing intact could be seen in the oil mill, but as Luo Jun went deeper, he saw several charred corpses.

Most of them looked like ordinary people, but one of them had already grown arthrolimbs and a tail, clearly a First-Order Mutant!

Those infected with the Eternal Virus can walk on fire because they feel no pain; however, they will die if they are burned for too long...

Further on, the number of charred corpses increased until finally, beneath one of the charred bodies, Luo Jun saw a broken iron gate...

"The basement?" Luo Jun frowned. "Let's go down and take a look!"

The Tomb King replied with a "Yes, sir," moved the corpse aside, opened the iron door to the basement, and walked in while remaining invisible.

Beneath the cover was a downward staircase, and by the light from the firelight above, one could see a huge space, almost as large as the oil mill above. It was supported by thick pillars and had rows of shelves displaying various bottles and jars.

At the foot of the steps, there were many rabbit cages, but the creatures inside could hardly be called rabbits. Their bodies had all undergone varying degrees of mutation, and although they were all dead, the splattered blood in the cages suggested they had endured immense suffering before they died.

Because the flames spread upwards, the basement was unaffected, but the intense heat from above still made the temperature there extremely high, like a giant oven.

Fortunately, the Tomb King is an undead creature, so it experiences no pain. The moisture on its body has long since evaporated, and Law Technique can cool it down, so moving around here is not difficult.

"What are all these...?" The Tomb King walked past rows of shelves and found that some of the utensils on them were common pottery jars and porcelain bottles in this world, while others were actually glassware, and their shapes were very similar to the instruments used in chemical experiments.

Manufacturing glass in the [Martial World] world is not difficult, but the problem is that the shape of these vessels clearly indicates that the owner here comes from the Main World!

The Martial World Gate is controlled by the Yuan Cultivation Society. To enter, one must be reviewed and registered by the Yuan Cultivation Society. If the Yuan Cultivation Society investigate, they would surely be able to find out this guy's identity.

The key question now is whether that guy is still here...

The temperature in the basement is so high. Although the Qi of the Foundation Establishment Realm can insulate against the high temperature and prevent one from being burned to death, the virus outbreak has been going on for a while now, and the owner of this place has probably left long ago...

But hopefully we can find some clues...

Luo Jun ordered the Tomb King to continue forward, and finally, at the deepest part of the basement, they found a huge experimental table.

here it is...

Commanding the Tomb King to step forward, Luo Jun saw various instruments stacked on the experimental table, containing unknown solutions. Beside the table were two notebooks and a small pen.

Unlike the calligraphy brushes used in [Martial World], this one has a sharp and stiff nib, clearly more suited to modern writing habits. Its shape is somewhat similar to a fountain pen, but its structure is simpler, and an inkstone is placed beside it...

A dip pen, is it used to write with the nib of a fountain pen dipped in local ink?

In order to avoid attracting attention, explorers who need to stay in the Martial World for extended periods must learn calligraphy and use local writing tools as much as possible in their daily lives.

However, even after training, most people in the Main World are not used to using a brush pen, especially when they need to quickly record a large amount of information. The writing speed and recording density of a brush pen are not as good as those of a pen, at least in the hands of people in the Main World.

This dip pen was specially made; it seems the owner has a lot to record...

Luo Jun shifted his attention from the pen and ordered the Tomb King to pick up the notebook and start reading.

(End of this chapter)