Destruction

Zhou Zhi noticed it.

Ever since they had entered and seen Qiu Ti.

Though Yu Jinhai had tried his best to relax, his body remained intensely rigid, and his hand had never left his Plague-Slaying Blade.

There had been plenty of holes in what they'd just said.

Both Wu Ji and Qiu Ti, a certified Plague Exterminator, were involved.

After hearing Yu Jinhai's question, Wu Ji's expression seemed to freeze.

His body trembled slightly, and a bead of sweat trickled down his forehead.

"Uh... I... I just didn't see A-Rui..."

He glanced toward Qiu Ti out of the corner of his eye.

There was fear there, though he tried to hide it.

By then, however, Yu Jinhai had already backed away several steps.

Zhou Zhi was a little faster than Yu Jinhai.

He stood to Xia Yu's left.

"Useless."

Just a few seconds later.

The smile vanished from Qiu Ti's face.

Then his expression turned as dead and indifferent as a corpse.

"I called you useless, and you really are."

"You can't even handle a little thing like this, and you still think you can become a Plague Exterminator?"

"You're not even worthy of being bait for the Pestilence."

Qiu Ti, dressed in a Western-style uniform, stood up.

Cough, cough, cough.

He coughed twice.

Zhou Zhi realized that this was the same cough he'd heard earlier through Lin Rui's Communicator.

He slowly raised a hand. "I hadn't wanted to get involved personally."

Yu Jinhai's expression had completely changed.

He couldn't believe what he was seeing.

He didn't look at Qiu Ti. Instead, he looked past the man at the young man behind him.

The spirited captain, the talented one everyone in the squad trusted.

"Captain!"

"What is this...?"

Wu Ji took a step back and said nothing.

The air seemed to congeal.

Qiu Ti's face was as still and lifeless as a corpse.

"The [Mucus Man Vanguard] still needs a few more."

Yu Jinhai gripped his blade in his right hand and gritted his teeth.

[Heart Chamber...]

In an instant.

Thick liquid poured from his nostrils.

It felt as though worms were crawling down his throat.

He couldn't continue using any of his Plague Extermination Arts—not even the simple act of drawing his blade.

Qiu Ti merely waved a hand.

"[Pingchang First Medical College]—I've heard it specializes in cardiac surgery."

"What a pity."

Qiu Ti toyed with his little mustache. His skin was oozing a strange, deep-yellow slime.

"If you were a real Plague Exterminator, I might have had to think carefully about how to deal with you."

Despair showed on Yu Jinhai's face. A wave of helplessness washed over him, and his body went limp, collapsing to the floor.

"Take him inside."

Qiu Ti spoke indifferently. "Stop wasting my time, you useless fool."

Wu Ji hurriedly lowered his head. "Yes, s-sir."

From beginning to end, Zhou Zhi and Xia Yu had never entered Qiu Ti's line of sight.

They felt the same warped sensation of pathogenization and collapsed to the floor as well.

"Captain..."

Yu Jinhai's trembling voice rang out.

Wu Ji kept his head bowed, his expression indifferent.

"Jinhai."

He gently lifted Yu Jinhai's body and spoke calmly. "There are many things in this world that you can't learn at school."

Wu Ji's voice was chilling.

Then he dragged him through the inner office door.

Cough, cough.

Zhou Zhi coughed twice.

[Zhou Zhi].

[Pathogenization Index: 42.5 percent].

He felt distinctly unwell, and his nasal passages were completely blocked.

At this level of pathogenization, he could turn into a monster at any moment.

But while Xia Yu had already fallen into a deep coma, Zhou Zhi was still conscious, even if he seemed dazed and unable to think.

Those who wielded spiritual power had vastly superior physical abilities compared to ordinary people.

[Captain] Wu Ji dragged them along with ropes with ease.

Zhou Zhi was in no shape to resist.

But even so, he heard the whole story.

In a proper story like this one, people like Zhou Zhi and Xia Yu were nothing more than background characters.

"Stop looking at me like that, Jinhai."

Wu Ji spoke as he dragged them along.

"You know this is just how the world works."

One week earlier.

A five-person group of medical students from Pingchang First Medical College had brought an unaffiliated member to Blue Stone Town for their graduation practicum.

Yu Jinhai and Lin Rui had split off from the others.

And that was when it happened.

The disease descended.

"The source of the disease isn't someone else."

Wu Ji said it lightly. "It's Mr. [Qiu Ti]."

Just as he'd thought.

Zhou Zhi was being dragged along like a sack of garbage. At this point, he'd given up resisting anyway.

There was no way the entire Xuanyuan Kingdom was full of such terrifying Pestilence Zones.

And Pestilence didn't just appear out of nowhere.

In a place like Qingshi, it was more likely that someone had brought the [Influenza Plague] here.

"Why would he... do something like this...?"

As Yu Jinhai spoke, snot ran from his nose, more and more of it, leaving watery stains on the ground.

"He's a... Plague Exterminator..."

Wu Ji glanced coldly at Yu Jinhai on the ground.

Then he continued down the passage.

"The most important thing for a Plague Exterminator is talent."

"Those with talent don't need to work too hard to become powerful Plague Exterminators."

"The Plague Extermination Arts that are so difficult for people like us to master—those guys can learn them in a single try."

"Some of the [Seven Shining Stars] who shine across Xuanyuan aren't even old enough to attend a Medical Academy..."

Wu Ji spoke indifferently.

Yu Jinhai felt as if he were seeing his captain for the first time.

The classmate he'd known for four years.

A star at the Medical Academy, a promising candidate destined to become a Plague Exterminator.

He'd always been the envy of others.

But now, he seemed like a stranger.

"You wouldn't understand."

Wu Ji's voice grew colder and colder. "Doctor Qiu Ti brought in the [Influenza Plague]. Once it reaches the stage of complete infection, there's a chance of obtaining the [Influenza Vaccine]."

"Then I'll be able to master the entire [Influenza System]."

"Mr. Qiu Ti said he'd inoculate me too once he succeeds!"

"What use is some [heart] ability...? I've had enough!"

"That little sister with the [In-Situ Tremor]."

Wu Ji's expression darkened. "A piece of trash like her dares to order us around."

"Once I have the power, I'll surely rise through the ranks."

The young man continued forward.

"Doctor Qiu Ti has already promised me."

Yu Jinhai couldn't speak anymore.

At last, Zhou Zhi had pieced the whole thing together.

It wasn't complicated.

But Zhou Zhi found it interesting.

What interested him more were Wu Ji's words about talent.

This guy's mindset seems to have been destroyed under Qiu Ti's influence.

Zhou Zhi could clearly feel it.

Come to think of it.

If a candidate like Wu Ji, a Plague Exterminator-in-training, was considered talentless...

Then Zhou Zhi wondered.

What did the owner of that scalpel, [Bai Xiu], from the Clinic at the very beginning count as?

The only operation he'd performed had been Zhou Zhi's excision surgery.

He couldn't even tell whether it had succeeded or failed.

What did it mean, to live the life of a good person with no talent?

What was it all worth?

As he thought.

Suddenly, everything became clear.

Qiu Ti Operating Room.

They were here.

[Entering Pestilence Zone Core—Great Sneeze Space].

[Pathogenization increasing drastically].

[Pathogenization Index will rise sharply in a short time due to Influenza].