Necrosis (1)

With a flick of his wrist, the blade descended.

Zhou Zhi slowly raised the scalpel.

In an instant, the entire alleyway was littered with the fragmented remains of the Mucus Man.

It was as if blood had splattered everywhere; the ground was coated in a foul-smelling, viscous slime.

"Xiao Jie!"

"Xiao Jie!"

Ignoring Uncle Liang, who was weeping uncontrollably, Zhou Zhi rotated his right hand slightly.

An inexplicable heat surged forth, reminiscent of magma erupting from beneath the earth's crust.

After completing a surgery, a scalpel naturally requires sterilization.

The other Plague Extermination Art that Zhou Zhi had mastered, [High-Temperature Boiling], was essentially the use of intense heat to eradicate disease.

The scalpel gradually heated up, and the slime began to fade away.

Nearly a minute later.

Zhou Zhi withdrew his hand.

As expected.

The temperature was too low.

Under normal circumstances, sterilizing at a temperature capable of boiling water would be sufficient.

But that was in the world before.

Zhou Zhi knew very well that if high temperatures alone were enough to prevent disease, then ordinary people could do it themselves, and there would be no need for so-called Plague Exterminators.

[Worn Scalpel].

[By any normal standard, this object could hardly be called a scalpel, yet it is treated as a treasure by its owner].

[It seems to harbor an unknown power].

[Contaminated with the slime of a Mucus Man, the influenza virus was not completely killed even after high-temperature sterilization].

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

[1. Pathogenization index increased by five percent.]

[2. Wounds inflicted by clinical martial arts have a chance to transmit the influenza virus].

[3. Influenza antibody levels slightly increased].

Zhou Zhi transferred the scalpel from his left hand to his right.

Even though he had wiped it clean and there was not a trace of slime left on the blade, Zhou Zhi still felt an inexplicable, sticky sensation.

"Too... too... amazing."

"Is this what a Plague Exterminator is?"

"Boss..."

Beside Lei Heng, his underlings whispered to one another.

The threat of the Mucus Man had vanished in an instant.

The slime on the ground and the three or four people who had died did not cause them much grief.

They were simply relieved that they hadn't died themselves.

Moreover, they now had a real Plague Exterminator to protect them.

"Plague Exterminators are well-versed in the Plague Extermination Arts, and their physical capabilities have undergone a heaven-defying transformation compared to ordinary humans."

Xia Yu's hair stirred slightly, her eyes shifting. "I've only ever heard of it at the academy."

She had taken in every detail of Zhou Zhi's movements as he slaughtered the Mucus Man.

It was impossible for an ordinary person to leap three meters into the air and land with such a graceful, spinning motion.

The blade had sliced through the Mucus Man's skin as easily as if it were tofu.

Glancing at the wailing Uncle Liang, Xia Yu sighed.

"Uncle Liang."

"Those who have fully pathogenized and turned into disease-carriers are effectively dead already."

"Please accept my condolences."

Xia Yu helped Uncle Liang to his feet.

Xiao Nan found a piece of white cloth and covered the face of the Mucus Man.

"Brother Jie was such a good person, so honest and simple..."

Xiao Nan lowered her head.

"Now is not the time to dwell on this; the dead cannot return to life."

Xia Yu spoke.

It was hard to imagine what would have become of them if not for Zhou Zhi.

Perhaps Lei Heng and his men could have escaped, but the patients Xia Yu was leading would not have made it.

During the Mucus Man attack just moments ago, three or four of the patients had already been killed by the creatures.

For now, the Mucus Men in this alleyway had been temporarily wiped out.

In the short term, Mucus Men from other areas would not spread here; it was the perfect opportunity to scavenge for supplies.

Lei Heng and his group had already seized the initiative, heading deeper into the alleyway with their weapons in hand.

"Alright... alright... I understand..."

Uncle Liang wiped away his tears, his wrinkled skin appearing nearly withered, like dead tree bark.

A world not much different from his previous life.

At least, that was how Zhou Zhi felt.

He passed through pitch-black alleys and low-hanging houses.

Stones were stacked together in crooked, winding formations.

A thin layer of white mold hung over the strange windows.

The faint, lingering stench in the air spread along the narrow path.

A snow-white face was pressed firmly against the window of a house Zhou Zhi passed, seemingly flattened by the pressure.

It looked as if it were trying to crawl out through the glass.

Zhou Zhi met its gaze, only to realize it was a dead [Mucus Man].

"Mucus Men are monsters born when ordinary humans are infected with the [Influenza Plague] and reach a certain stage of pathological transformation."

"But their combat strength isn't much higher than that of an ordinary person; several strong, healthy adults can easily kill a single Mucus Man."

"The only troublesome part is the virus they carry, though it isn't immediately fatal."

Zhou Zhi continued forward.

This level of plague, while terrifying, was not something to be so afraid of.

"Found it!"

A voice echoed from the distance.

Zhou Zhi followed the sound.

He arrived at a large shop.

The entrance of the shop was overgrown with white fungal colonies.

"This is Uncle Liang's home... and Uncle Liang's shop!"

Xiao Nan pointed at the sign above and shouted.

The cold, chilling sensation in the air had not dissipated.

Zhou Zhi stood at the back of the group, watching as they pushed the door open and entered.

Most of the Mucus Men had been eliminated, so logically, the place should have been safe.

Yet, Zhou Zhi couldn't shake the feeling that something was watching him from the surroundings.

From the street corners, from the ends of the alleys.

As a doctor, being meticulous was important.

He stepped up the stairs and entered Uncle Liang's shop.

According to Xiao Nan, Uncle Liang's shop sold daily necessities like salt, sugar, and oil, and it had been quite bustling before the plague struck.

Though called a shop, it was actually Uncle Liang's home.

Aside from the goods displayed at the front entrance, there was a small courtyard in the back.

Lei Heng and his men were quickly scavenging for supplies, wiping the white fuzz off the items.

Before Zhou Zhi had even stepped through the door, he heard Uncle Liang's heart-wrenching cry.

"Old woman!!!!!!"

Uncle Liang's wife was lying on the bed.

She had long since passed away, bathed in a layer of white fuzz.

Her gaunt body had yet to decompose, her cheeks sunken in.

Mucus flowed over her, emitting a foul odor.

"Hurry, grab those things too!"

"And these as well!"

"Take it all!"

Lei Heng directed the others with excitement, his small eyes gleaming with sharp light.

Zhou Zhi looked around the room.

It was an ordinary household.

Including the burly Mucus Man from before, this was a proper family of three.

Zhou Zhi felt a pang of melancholy; he had seen such separations between the living and the dead many times before.

The sounds of wailing could occasionally be heard overflowing in the stark white corridors of a hospital.

Zhou Zhi walked past the table on the inner side.

Suddenly, he seemed to notice something.

He crouched halfway down.

What came into view was the underside of the wooden tabletop.

Scratch marks.

Human scratch marks.

There were quite a few, and they appeared to be from a long time ago.

[Someone's scratch marks.]

[Someone knelt before this table and endured immense suffering.]

The message flickered.

Zhou Zhi stood up as if nothing had happened.

He entered the inner area.

The house was not large, containing only two rooms.

One belonged to Uncle Liang and his wife, and the other naturally belonged to their son.

Zhou Zhi did not care in the slightest and pushed the door open.

A faint, foul odor wafted out.

"It's the smell of rotting food."

Zhou Zhi frowned.