Communication

Rumble!

After crossing a bridge, Yu Jinhai swung the Plague-Slaying Blade.

The blade carved through the air.

The little bridge broke clean in two, exposing the rebar beneath.

"What terrifying destructive power. And that was just..."

Lei Heng's body trembled.

"Attaching spiritual power to a clinical weapon. Just a few insignificant tricks."

Yu Jinhai snorted, sneaking a glance at Xia Yu.

A distant, explosive roar made Yu Jinhai's expression shift slightly.

Lin Rui broke the tension. "We should hurry and leave. If the [Throat Beast] catches up, they won't escape."

Yu Jinhai readily nodded this time.

He walked at the very front of the group.

Zhou Zhi and Xiao Nan were at the very back.

Xia Yu looked troubled.

After the encounter with the Throat Beast, only ten people remained in the group, counting the two Plague Exterminators.

Death had come far too easily.

"Faced with disease, every living thing can only despair."

Xia Yu's beautiful eyes glimmered, and she looked somewhat guilty.

"Big Sister Xia Yu..."

"So many people are dead."

Xiao Nan lowered her head. Tiny wounds covered her face.

Zhou Zhi observed the world around him.

He observed the two of them as well.

Two Plague Exterminators.

Individuals who wielded spiritual power and used Plague-Slaying Blades to eradicate disease.

They knew some medical techniques from the Past Life, but here, those techniques had become methods for combating physical manifestations of disease.

They crossed the relatively clean ground. This was already the center of Blue Stone Town.

Unlike the outskirts, there was little white fuzz on the ground.

There were almost no Mucus Men here, either.

Only scattered corpses lay about.

The dense Sickness Qi overhead showed no sign of diminishing.

"A-Duo..."

Xiao Nan spotted a girl's corpse on the ground.

The familiar shirt.

She had looked so cute.

But now she lay dead, a look of terror on her face, in a deserted corner.

"She died before she could become pathogenized. She was fairly lucky," Yu Jinhai said blandly. He didn't care about sights like this at all. He only looked at Lin Rui. "It would be troublesome if we ran into a disease that could pathogenize corpses."

The center of Blue Stone Town was indeed much cleaner than the surrounding areas.

Blue stone bricks, deserted streets, and, apart from the scattered corpses that occasionally came into view, nothing else.

Not a living thing in sight.

The silence was unnerving.

But the group felt a little more at ease now.

With two proper Plague Exterminators leading them, there didn't seem to be anything to worry about.

Besides, Yu Jinhai had already displayed his extraordinary Plague Extermination Art.

"So, has the Communicator picked up a signal?"

At the intersection, Yu Jinhai stopped, and the others came to a halt as well.

"The signal keeps coming and going, but it's mostly there... It's pointing to the very center of the area. Over there."

Lin Rui looked ahead.

In the distance.

A dark silhouette lay hunched on the ground, its building-like shape resembling a little giant.

Even from this far away, Zhou Zhi could make out the markings in the gloom.

[The Lion Emblem].

"The emblem of Xuanyuan... No matter how many times I see it, it still fills me with longing," Xia Yu murmured.

Standing beside her, Zhou Zhi looked her way once again.

"So our captain and the others really are there."

Yu Jinhai's face lit up with joy.

"Blue Stone Town Central Hospital!"

"I heard the Plague Exterminators there took part in the Grand Selection and earned their licenses. They're fully qualified Plague Exterminators."

That Plague Exterminator was originally the person Yu Jinhai and the others had been assigned to assist during their internship.

But no one had expected things to turn out like this.

"Cough, cough, cough..."

"Can... you hear me?"

"Can you hear me?"

"...If you can hear me... respond..."

Suddenly, static crackled.

A hoarse male voice came through.

It was coming from the Communicator in Lin Rui's hand.

"That's the captain's voice!"

Lin Rui's face brightened. "Captain, it's me!"

"Where are you?"

"Is Chen Yao... is Chen Yao with you?"

Crackle, crackle.

The static sounded more like gravel scraping together.

The Communicator didn't answer Lin Rui.

Instead, a broken voice came through.

"Blue Stone..."

"Central Hospital..."

"I... am..."

The static crackled and wavered.

Then fell silent.

Once they confirmed the Communicator had gone quiet, Yu Jinhai lowered his head slightly. "So they really are at Blue Stone Town Central Hospital."

"That confirms it."

"Though I don't know exactly what's going on, I trust the captain's abilities."

"Let's go."

Yu Jinhai didn't pause for a moment. He turned and set off.

"Sir! Sir!"

"We've been walking for so long. Could we... could we rest a little?"

Lei Heng gasped for breath.

"If you don't want to keep up, then don't."

Yu Jinhai's reply was cold.

He truly didn't want these burdensome stragglers around. If not for Xia Yu, he would have thrown them into the Throat Beast's throat long ago.

Lei Heng immediately lowered his head and fell silent.

Lin Rui put the Communicator into her waist pocket and raised her Plague-Slaying Blade.

As one of the people at the back of the group, Zhou Zhi had no say in the two Plague Exterminators' plans.

But Zhou Zhi saw something unusual.

[Pathogenized Object: Lin Rui's Simple Communicator].

[Pathogenization Index: 62.8 percent].

[The owner who uses it will be subject to the following effects].

[1. It slightly accelerates the Pathogenization Index through a latent trait].

[2. Using the Communicator to communicate carries a chance of making a (Wrong Connection)].

[3. Using the Communicator to communicate carries a chance of contracting (the disease of the person contacted)].

[4. Until the Communicator is fully pathogenized, its user will not sense the fluctuations in the Pathogenization Index caused by this Pathogenized Object].

[Lin Rui's much-loved Communicator. Unfortunately, after several days of traveling outside, it has already been contaminated by disease. The source of the disease is the Communicator belonging to the person she has a secret crush on].

["The sound of a Communicator is, of course, another way to spread infection."]

The information had appeared just moments ago.

When Zhou Zhi had heard that so-called [captain's] voice come through the Communicator.

Sure enough, in this world, it wasn't only living things that could become pathogenized.

Even Communicators could.

And...

These two Plague Exterminators didn't seem to have noticed.

In Zhou Zhi's sight, Lin Rui's degree of pathogenization had remained steady.

Only for a moment just now had it surged dramatically.

Zhou Zhi didn't say anything.

He calmly walked past her, following behind Yu Jinhai.

"You're not bad, kid."

Seeing Zhou Zhi follow along in silence, Yu Jinhai spoke to him. "You know a few [folk remedies] and [unorthodox techniques], and you've mastered a little spiritual power... If you can help out, I'll find you a good job in Pingchang."

"As it happens, I still have an unofficial position at the Pingchang [Disease Prevention and Control Center]..."

Zhou Zhi nodded, quickening his pace a little to show some excitement.

Behind him, Lin Rui held back her joy at the thought of seeing the captain soon.

She didn't notice a tiny maggot crawling across the back of her neck.