Detection

"Ol' fossil, are you sure this is really okay? Why do I feel like your whole story is full of holes? It wouldn't hold up to the slightest scrutiny!"

The girl beside Liao Ji fidgeted nervously. She was especially sweaty-palmed whenever she looked at the Knights Order from the Church who were on the scene.

By contrast, the young man beside her looked completely calm. He even spoke up to reassure her:

"Miss Irin, a famous teacher once said that when you guard against everything, it means you're guarding against nothing. And when you guard against nothing, you're actually guarding against everything. So relax. We'll be fine."

". . . What kind of damn teacher said that?!" Liao Ji's words only made the girl even more uneasy. She had already started looking for an escape route.

Just then, Liao Ji suddenly sensed something and turned to look in another direction. A man was striding toward him.

"Hello, Mr. Liao Ji. I'm the captain of the Knights Order handling this contamination incident. You can call me Dulin."

"Hello, Captain Dulin."

After shaking hands with the middle-aged knight captain, Liao Ji quickly spoke before the other man could.

"Captain Dulin, how is the investigation going? I know it's stupid to keep repeating myself, but I'd still like to say it again: we have nothing else to tell you. There's no point in asking us more."

"I understand. I really do. I came over to let you know that the Knights Order's investigation is nearly finished. There's just one final step, and then you and your companion can leave."

"That's great. What does the final step involve?"

Dulin didn't answer Liao Ji right away. Instead, he looked toward Grey Wolf, who had turned into a "Corrupted Corpse" monster some distance away.

"To be honest, I've been a knight in the Church for many years, and I've seen plenty of Corrupted Ones go berserk. But it's rare to see one this large and this far gone in its transformation into a Corrupted Corpse."

Dulin clicked his tongue as he studied Grey Wolf's corpse, especially the arm that had completely mutated into a scythe, the feet that had become claws, and the head that was turning into something like an octopus, with tentacles.

Corrupted Corpses formed when Corrupted Ones went "berserk" didn't have any fixed shape. These Corrupt Calamity monsters were, in essence, the physical manifestations of distortion and the bizarre.

Put simply, the easiest way to judge a Corrupt Calamity monster was to measure how "indescribable" it was.

And Grey Wolf's Corrupted Corpse clearly ranked quite high in Dulin's eyes.

"It must have been difficult to kill a monster like that, right?"

"It was all right. Actually, we have the Kalleva gangsters to thank for drawing the monster's attention. Maybe that's what they call karma, don't you think, Captain Dulin?"

"Maybe."

Dulin shrugged. After glancing at the two obvious injection marks on the corpse's left arm, he looked away.

"All right, Mr. Liao Ji. According to our investigation, neither you nor your companion, nor the staff at the Haisha Bar, had anything to do with this Corrupt Calamity contamination. The Kalleva gang was responsible. Well, they're all dead now."

When Knight Captain Dulin said that, two groups of people breathed a sigh of relief, while another person looked like he wanted to say something but held back.

Those who breathed easier were the girl beside Liao Ji and Brian, the owner of the Haisha Bar, who had been following the situation closely.

As for the one who looked like he wanted to speak but didn't—

It was the young knight behind Dulin.

But then, as soon as Dulin spoke again, Irin and Brian's newly eased nerves tightened right back up. Their hearts pounded so hard it felt like they were about to leap out of their chests.

Because—

"The final step I mentioned is this." Dulin took a device from inside his uniform.

Liao Ji recognized it. Back in the underground cavern, the leader of the Kalleva gangsters who had been looting his tomb had carried a similar device.

It was a—

Corrupt Calamity detector.

But the one Dulin held now was clearly more professional and more precise.

"Mr. Liao Ji, you don't look like you're from Black Cave. Let me explain. According to Church regulations, whenever a contamination incident occurs, we have to test everyone involved and all survivors for Corrupt Calamity contamination."

"Please don't misunderstand. This doesn't mean I suspect any of you of being Corrupted Ones."

"It's just to make sure you're all healthy. Since you were at the center of the contamination, you might have Corrupt Calamity residue in your bodies. If so, the Church can send a nun over right away to treat and purify you."

As Irin watched the middle-aged knight explain everything with a serious expression, her mind went completely blank.

Why? Why was there still this step? When her father had gone berserk and lost control, she'd never seen the Church test them with anything like this!

But there was no point thinking about that now. If the detector had come from somewhere else, Irin could still have hoped it was broken or too imprecise, and that she might be able to fool it.

But if it came from the Church—

It was over.

Brian, the owner of the Haisha Bar, was also frantic. He was now about ninety percent certain that Irin and the young man were Corrupted Ones. Didn't this mean they were completely exposed?

Damn it!

Why hadn't that young man listened to his advice? Why insist on staying?

Brian's first thought afterward had been to get Irin and Liao Ji to run. When the Church came to investigate, he could make up an excuse for them. But the young man had shaken his head and said there was no need.

Brian could understand what the young man meant. Perhaps he thought he was powerful enough. Any sensible person would know not to keep digging into the matter, so Brian had agreed.

But now—

They'd run into someone stubborn. What were they supposed to do now?

Brian had been through his share of rough times, and he managed not to show his anxiety. But the other Haisha Bar employees—and Irin herself—weren't nearly as composed.

The experienced Dulin swept his gaze over their microexpressions. He could already piece together most of the story.

The only regrettable part was—

Dulin's gaze returned to the young man facing him. He tried to catch a hint of panic in Liao Ji's expression, but found nothing.

From beginning to end, the young man had worn the same open, sincere expression.

In any case, Dulin had accomplished his goal.

He had shown the young man that he knew the truth. Now all he had to do was show him that he was willing to drop the matter and stop digging.

That way, if anything else happened in the future, no one would come looking for him. It would have nothing to do with him.

And so, Dulin put away the Corrupt Calamity detector he had just taken out.

"Since this contamination incident lasted such a short time, and the berserk Corrupted Corpse was killed almost immediately, there's no need to mention the most important point: you all seem eager to leave, Mr. Liao Ji."

"So I don't think we need to go through this final step."

As he finished speaking, Dulin stepped aside for the young man and nodded. "I'm sorry to have taken up your valuable time, Mr. Liao Ji. You can leave now."

In the script Dulin had played out in his mind, this should have been the perfect ending.

However—

Even the captain, who had long been "famous" within the Knights Order, hadn't expected what happened next.

The young man didn't move after Dulin finished speaking.

In fact—

"No, Captain Dulin. I think that no matter how small the contamination is or how brief it lasts, we can't ignore it. It's the Corrupt Calamity, after all. If we're infected, the worst-case scenario is turning into a Corrupted One. I don't want to lose control and go berserk, becoming an ugly monster like that."

"So, Captain Dulin..."

"Can we start the test now?"