Plague Exterminator

One week ago.

The peaceful Blue Stone Town was just as it always was.

No one knew that in a few minutes, a terrifying Pestilence, unlike anything ever seen before, would descend upon Blue Stone Town.

The residents first felt a sore, swollen throat, and within a very short time, strange fluids [mucus] began to secrete from all over their skin.

These were only the patients with superficial symptoms.

The residents deeply eroded by the disease suffered from splitting headaches, and then their skulls would literally burst open, with foul-smelling insects crawling out from within.

That horrific sight made everyone who recalled it feel a chill in their bones.

In a short time, the people of Blue Stone Town died in large numbers.

There was no escape; the streets were filled with the [Pestilence] that had mutated from the dead.

By all logic, Xia Yu, Xiao Nan, and the likes of Lei Heng, a street thug, should not have survived.

However, they were lucky; at the edge of Blue Stone Town, they encountered Bai Xiu.

Most of the people around were very familiar with him.

A down-and-out man who called himself a doctor but possessed not a shred of skill.

His family had once been wealthy, but now they had fallen; over forty and still unmarried, with his parents already deceased, he kept to his so-called [Clinic], tinkering with strange gadgets all day long.

He was considered a weirdo by the surrounding residents.

A good-tempered gentleman who was teased by the children.

When the disaster of the Pestilence descended:

"He took us in and used these [medicines] to suppress the infection."

"And he used certain raw medicinal materials to keep the Pestilence from coming near."

Xia Yu whispered.

"Collecting the corpses, excising the lungs, preventing them from turning into the disease."

Xia Yu remembered that when Bai Xiu excised the lungs, his hands were shaking.

"Mr. Bai Xiu wanted us all to live."

"Yet he became infected with the [disease]."

Hearing this, Zhou Zhi roughly understood the rest of the story.

He gently raised the scalpel in his hand.

"Next, to prevent himself from turning, he locked himself in with the corpses to perform the excision surgery on himself."

Zhou Zhi spoke calmly.

No wonder the door was locked from the inside, and there was a dim, yellow light in the morgue.

"A man without talent."

Zhou Zhi had observed those excision marks.

Although they were on a corpse, they could still be clearly discerned.

There was no technique to speak of; that Bai Xiu had never performed a surgery in his life.

And his first surgery on a human was the excision surgery on himself.

"At first, I thought he had some kind of ability."

A look of disdain appeared on Lei Heng's face: "He was just a fraud."

"We waited on this loser hand and foot for so long, thinking he was a Plague Exterminator."

Xia Yu's beautiful eyes turned toward Lei Heng with an expression of disbelief: "But Mr. Bai Xiu saved you!"

"Besides, he was a Plague Exterminator; he knew the Plague Extermination Art!"

Lei Heng and the others laughed, and then the sinister man leaned his face toward Xia Yu. Upon seeing Zhou Zhi's calm gaze, he instantly shrank his neck back, but his mouth didn't stop as he licked his lips: "Plague Extermination Art?"

"Are you referring to making water lukewarm?"

"That kind of laughable..."

Zhou Zhi's expression did not change, and Lei Heng immediately fell silent.

After hearing this story, Zhou Zhi's heart stirred slightly.

So, in that basement, there was such a story.

Zhou Zhi remembered that on Bai Xiu's corpse in the basement, it was inexplicably assessed as having mastered a third-rate Plague Extermination Art.

Was it just these two things?

By transplanting his lungs, had he also acquired the other party's so-called Plague Extermination Art?

Zhou Zhi pondered slightly.

His body showed no adverse reactions; on the contrary, there was an indescribable power.

[Lung Resection][High-Temperature Boiling]...

Zhou Zhi's gaze descended, his right hand gently making contact with the [Worn Scalpel].

Mysterious information surged forth.

The first two sentences were the same as before.

However, there were some slight differences following them.

[Worn Scalpel].

[Something that could hardly be called a scalpel by normal standards, yet it is treated as a treasure by its owner].

[It seems to harbor an unknown power].

[Nevertheless, it is still trash].

Zhou Zhi's eyes flickered.

The information appearing in his mind could change, even for the same item.

What was the principle behind this?

After a moment of thought, Zhou Zhi felt a slight sense of favor toward Bai Xiu, whom he had never spoken to.

Back to the present.

Zhou Zhi already understood the current situation.

Inside the entire clinic, following Bai Xiu's death, the group had split into two factions.

Lei Heng and his cohorts were mostly former thugs from Blue Stone Town; seeing Bai Xiu dead, they were thinking of dividing up the supplies here and seeking their fortunes elsewhere.

But there was a prerequisite for this.

That was to completely abandon the patients who were already ill.

These elderly, weak, sick, and disabled people were now viewed by Lei Heng as dead weight.

This was also the main reason for the argument between the two sides earlier.

This made things quite intriguing for Zhou Zhi.

Although the two sides were equal in number, Lei Heng's side consisted of basically healthy, able-bodied men.

As for Xia Yu's side, including Xiao Nan, they were all essentially elderly, weak, sick, or disabled.

Plus, this [Xia Yu] is so beautiful... under these circumstances, Lei Heng hasn't actually done anything.

They seem to be wary of something.

Something on this Xia Yu.

Zhou Zhi had already noticed it.

Ever since he appeared, Xia Yu had not once taken her left hand out of her pocket.

The young girl was very nervous, her delicate eyebrows twitching.

Lei Heng, clutching the bandage on his hand, was watching the front with equal tension.

"Boss."

To the side, the shifty-eyed man supporting Lei Heng lowered his head and whispered, "What do we do now?"

Night was about to fall; there was still a chance of survival if they left during the day, but leaving at night... that meant certain death.

Not to mention that he still had designs on this woman, Xia Yu.

Let alone this man who had appeared out of nowhere.

Lei Heng remembered clearly that he had come to help collect the bodies, and in those final moments, there hadn't been a single living soul in the morgue besides Bai Xiu.

This guy...

A trace of imperceptible, cold malice flashed in the depths of Lei Heng's eyes.

"I think I understand."

Zhou Zhi said calmly.

If the situation was truly as Xia Yu described, then staying here was indeed a dead end.

But Xia Yu was a saint, wanting to take everyone with her if they were to leave.

Zhou Zhi didn't dislike saints.

But as a former doctor, he was accustomed to life and death.

In the current situation, staying here was definitely waiting for death.

But Lei Heng...

Zhou Zhi gently flicked the scalpel in his hand.

Lei Heng was not worth worrying about at all.

In his past life, a small-time thug of this caliber wouldn't even have had the qualifications to meet him.

Zhou Zhi, at this moment, was desperate to know...

What exactly was the nature of this so-called [Pestilence]?

Xia Yu and Lei Heng were both vague about the world outside, constantly repeating "monsters" and "Pestilence" as if those words alone explained everything.

To truly understand a condition, clinical observation was the most effective method.

"A world... filled with disease."

"How truly interesting."

Zhou Zhi looked toward the two of them.

"I heard your argument just now."

"I understand where your disagreement lies."

Zhou Zhi's eyes flickered.

"I have a way to resolve your dispute."

Before Xia Yu could speak, Lei Heng blurted out, "That's impossible!"

Zhou Zhi shook his head. "It's quite simple."

"You want to leave this place."

"And since she doesn't want to abandon anyone, we simply need to leave this place together."

As soon as these words were spoken, it was as if a glob of thick phlegm had been shoved down Lei Heng's throat.

Xia Yu wanted to say something.

This was a joke.

Following either of their plans offered a chance at survival.

But dragging the old, the weak, the sick, and the disabled out of the Clinic was a surefire way to court death.

If not for the lingering weight of Zhou Zhi's presence, Lei Heng would have lashed out in a rage.

"Xiao Yu, don't worry about us..."

The old man behind them hunched his back and coughed twice.

"Uncle Liang!"

"That won't do."

Xia Yu and Xiao Nan hurriedly moved to support the old man.

Zhou Zhi remained calm.

He spoke slowly.

"It can be done."

"Because I am... a Plague Exterminator."