The girls are multiplying infinitely, my numbers have become a disaster.

Ye Xin couldn't take the stairs with the cart, so she went to the nearby freight elevator and rode it up to the second floor.

After exiting, she picked a random room, pushed the patient inside, and locked the door.

Click.

Turning around, she swept the area with her Spirit Thread and found another patient lying on a bed in the adjacent room.

Compared to the previous attackers, this one showed no signs of ulceration; his expression was normal, like an ordinary young man.

Ye Xin frowned slightly. Turning her head, she saw Shi Wenshan and the others arriving beside her. She gestured for them to wait where they were and walked into the next room.

The patient didn't react.

She took a deep breath and began approaching her target.

"That doctor earlier said these patients suffer from Corruption Pollution, and my ability is Purification. Maybe I can use it to interfere with their condition?"

It was just a hypothesis, but she decided to give it a try.

Just as she got close enough to see his face, the guy suddenly opened his eyes.

"Cough, cough, nurse." The patient weakly opened his eyes, letting out a few coughs. "Is there... still hope for me?"

"There is, please rest assured." Ye Xin immediately put on a smile.

Of course, it was all an act. She was observing his condition.

"I'm so thirsty... could you get me some water?" the patient asked weakly.

"Thirsty?"

Ye Xin's mind stirred. She walked over, poured him a glass, and dipped her finger into the water.

[Purifying...]

It worked.

Ten seconds later, she brought the cup to his lips.

She let the water trickle into his mouth bit by bit. After a few seconds, his complexion visibly improved.

"Thank you, little nurse." The guy kept his head down, not daring to meet her eyes, but his gaze accidentally slipped to her black-stockinged legs, and his face flushed red.

"Emmm..."

Ye Xin's mouth twitched. She set the cup aside.

This kid was a pervert.

"I have a question. Have you been through surgery?"

"Surgery?" The young man froze. Then, abruptly, his face twisted in agony. He clutched his head and rasped, "Surgery, I don't want surgery, don't want surgery... Aaaah!"

The next moment, he went berserk. He opened his mouth, revealing sharp fangs, and lunged at Ye Xin's neck.

"Fuck."

Ye Xin quickly retreated. Without thinking, she released her Spirit Thread and severed both of his hands.

But the patient vanished like a ghost, flickering to her left and launching a second attack.

"Fuck!"

Teleportation?

Ye Xin rolled away, but a sharp pain shot through her left arm—it felt like a bone had snapped.

Without a second thought, she lashed out with her threads, strangling his neck, yanking him back hard, and slicing him clean through.

Head separated from body. She thought he'd die, but the head bit down on Ye Xin's foot.

"Hiss—"

She kicked it away, but the head rolled back and tried to bite again. She cut it once more, and only then did the man finally die.

Gained 11 Life Energy.

Hearing the commotion, her teammates rushed in.

They took one look at the scene on the floor, their expressions varied.

"A little accident." Ye Xin covered her wound, her voice deliberately weak.

"An accident? Is it serious?" Shi Wenshan ran up, reaching out to support her, but his hand froze mid-motion, clearly too shy to touch her.

Instead, Xuan Ya rushed over and held Ye Xin up.

Ye Xin glanced at the water nearby. The cup had been drained by the now-dead lunatic, and the thermos was empty.

She took a deep breath. "I saw a patient who seemed normal. I thought I could probe him for useful info on my own, but he went crazy too."

Honestly, Ye Xin had thought she could kill him instantly with her Spirit Thread. But who would've guessed that freak could teleport and attack even after decapitation? That was insane.

She felt like this world's mission wasn't as simple as she'd imagined.

Was this another world with supernatural forces?

"For now, let's pin the source on those doctors. But before we make a move, our mission is still to deal with the patients. The main goal is to earn rewards."

Shi Wenshan walked over and picked up a tattered-looking newspaper.

Chapter 8: Cleared Out

The front-page headline was clearly visible:

"February 13, Unknown Virus Outbreak at West City Second Hospital, Large Numbers of Doctors and Patients Infected. Infected individuals exhibit symptoms including dizziness, tinnitus, and thirst. Some patients have fallen into severe states of frenzy, their bodies covered in sores, and are indiscriminately attacking innocent civilians. For public safety and to prevent the spread of the virus, relevant authorities have deployed police to maintain order on-site and have urgently evacuated the crowd. The hospital and its surrounding area have been designated a Quarantine Zone, with entry and exit strictly prohibited."

The newspaper was only half intact; the content ended there.

"Could West City Second Hospital be where we are right now?" Shi Wenshan set the newspaper down.

"Did an unknown virus break out here back then? Frenzy, sores all over, indiscriminate attacks... Those symptoms do sound a lot like the patients," Ye Xin said thoughtfully.

"During that surgery earlier, didn't the doctors inject the patients with a virus? Looking at it this way, the disease itself seems more like a conspiracy. The doctors in this hospital, conducting inhumane experiments on patients to achieve their own goals? It looks like the so-called Source of Evil is definitely those people."

The clues once again pointed to the doctors.

Everyone exchanged a meaningful glance, confirming their next course of action.

"Um... I found a knife in the next room. It might come in handy." At that moment, the middle-aged man (Newbie) who had been mostly silent walked over, holding up a large fruit knife.

"A fruit knife? Nice! Your strength is weak, so just use the crutch to harass enemies from a distance."

Xuan Ya stepped forward and handed the crutch to him.

"Give me the knife."

"Sure." The middle-aged man didn't overthink it and swapped weapons.

"Since we've all settled on the final target, let's start with the patients on the second floor. Then we'll explore higher up, and once we've gathered enough gains, we'll deal with the doctors."

"OK."

The battle with the patients began.

Her teammates' levels were decent enough, so Ye Xin just quietly leeched experience. Whenever she found an opening, she secretly used her silk threads to kill, taking out over a dozen people without anyone noticing.

"Ye Xin, how is your damage so high? That's insane!" Xuan Ya gradually noticed something was off.

"Hmph." Ye Xin lifted her chin proudly.

"Haha, so cute."

Regardless, good looks always made it easy to win favor.

The group made their way to the third floor.

In the hallway, a weak and feeble female patient lay on the ground.

Just as they got within a certain distance, she suddenly sprang up, lunging at Ye Xin and the others like a zombie.

They reacted quickly and counterattacked fiercely.

Slash after slash, flesh and blood flew.

In just a few strikes, the woman lost all resistance and collapsed to the floor.

"Done." Facing the lifeless woman, Shi Wenshan felt a bit disappointed. "No chance for communication at all."

"One thing bothers me—if these patients are so dangerous, why are the doctors just leaving them here so carelessly? If they got unlucky, wouldn't these patients charge downstairs and attack?" Xuan Ya frowned.

"I think as long as you don't actively approach them, these patients are harmless," Shi Wenshan judged.

The group continued pushing forward.

Half an hour later, they found a ward on the third floor. It held over twenty patients who hadn't undergone surgery yet and seemed capable of communication.

After trying to talk to them, they learned that these people had been locked up for a long time, barely getting enough food each day.

"Is that so?"

Ye Xin frowned and pulled a young girl patient aside into a private room.

"Have you been through surgery?" she asked gently.

"Surgery?" The girl looked up blankly. "Is the nurse sister going to give me surgery treatment?"

"Umm... No."

She waited a while and found that the little girl showed no signs of madness.

But the earlier male patient had gone berserk the moment she said the keyword "surgery." She wondered if there was a connection.

"Ye Xin, what are you doing?" Xuan Ya approached from the side.

"I'm trying to ask some questions, but unfortunately, no leads." She sounded a bit helpless.

Shi Wenshan walked out of the ward. "No need to ask. The Source of Evil is most likely those doctors. Let's just strike directly."

"OK." Ye Xin made a gesture.

Shi Wenshan revealed a satisfied smile. All those patients they'd killed earlier had given him enough Life Energy to level up once.

This mission was far easier than he'd expected.

They went back down the stairs to the second floor.

A doctor was standing right by the stairs. Seeing the four of them, he frowned. "What were you all doing upstairs? I've been looking for you for a while. We need to test the patients next, so don't waste time."

Shi Wenshan answered with a hammer blow.

"Die!"

Bam—

The heavy hammer came crashing down. The doctor instinctively dodged, but still caught the blow on his shoulder. The searing pain made his eyes go wide as he stumbled back with a shriek.

"What are you doing?"

Before he could fight back, Ye Xin had already wrapped her Spirit Thread around his arm. The scissors followed without hesitation, stabbing straight into his eye.

"Ahhh—"

The doctor screamed.

Xuan Ya's fruit knife hacked into his neck.

After several consecutive strikes...

[LV4 Doctor slain.]

[Obtained: Exchange Points ×10]

[Extracting energy...]

[Extraction complete. You have received 40% of the slain target's energy, totaling 6 points.]

"Done. Looks like this doctor gives better rewards?" Xuan Ya laughed.

Shi Wenshan crouched down to check the doctor's pockets, then suddenly furrowed his brow.

"Something wrong?" Ye Xin asked.

"I'm thinking... maybe we could try dissecting this doctor?"

Xuan Ya: "???"