1270 Virus
“I’ll go in with you guys to take a look. Also, the infection level in the cave is an anomaly. Drink the potion first.”
Qiu Yaokang was also very curious about the leak of the plague aura. As he spoke, he took out a bottle of purple potion from his backpack and poured it into his mouth. He also gave a bottle to Warren.
Fang Heng also wanted to take the potion, but Qiu Yaokang stopped him with a look.
“Hmm? I don’t need it?”
At the moment, he could still rely on his special physique to be immune to the plague aura outside. However, it was not necessarily the case after entering the cave.
Qiu Yaokang shook his head and said, “There’s no need. The potion was developed with your blood. It’s useless for you. It’s a waste to use it.”
“Uh…”
Fang Heng was speechless. He then reached out and took out the Book of Creation, summoning three light balls in front of everyone.
The ball of light floated in the air and illuminated the surroundings.
“Let’s go.”
Fang Heng walked out of the bushes and led the way into the depths of the mine.
Lord Chadwick was stunned when he saw Fang Heng use the sacred study skill.
Strange, why did this move seem like a move from the Holy Court?
Looking at the entrance of the mine illuminated by Fang Heng’s Holy Light, Chadwick prayed in his heart.
“Good luck! It’s up to you all to protect the mage tower in my territory!”
…
Stepping into the cave, the concentration of the plague aura was clearly higher.
Three balls of Holy Light spun above everyone’s heads, providing a weak light to illuminate the surroundings.
Qiu Yaokang scanned the surroundings with the detector in his hand.
“The virus here is different from the ones we’ve encountered before. Its ability to mutate and infect is limited.”
Following that, a line of game notifications appeared in Fang Heng’s vision.
[Hint: The player has entered a special area. Due to the player’s special physique, the player’s current infection index has increased slightly. Please be careful.]
“Okay, let’s speed up.”
Fang Heng looked at the slowly increasing infection index. He had just taken two steps forward when he suddenly narrowed his eyes and stared at the darkness in the distance.
“Ka, ka…”
The sound of footsteps came from the darkness.
Eh? Zombies?
Fang Heng raised his guard.
The creatures that stumbled out of the plague were very similar to zombies. They had empty eyes and moved slowly.
“Be careful, it’s a corpse.”
“I’ve read about the plague aura in some books,” Warren explained. “It can revive infected creatures ”
Qiu Yaokang looked at the corpse from afar and whispered, “I’m afraid it’s also the effect of the mutated virus body.”
More than a dozen corpses gradually revealed themselves from the darkness shrouded by the plague aura in front of them, gathering toward Fang Heng and the others.
“Let me test it.”
Fang Heng nodded and controlled the two Lickers that had just revived to go up.
“Whoosh!”
The two Lickers flew toward the corpse one after the other!
“Cut!”
Its sharp claws streaked across the air, easily cutting a huge gash on the corpse at the front and sending it flying backward.
[Hint: Player’s zombie clone-Licker has successfully killed the corpse.]
The Licker pounced on the next corpse.
Fang Heng stood in the distance and observed carefully.
The combat ability of the corpse didn’t seem to be high, about the same level as ordinary zombies.
The two Lickers took less than a minute to clean up the corpses nearby.
Qiu Yaokang walked forward and squatted down to carefully examine the dismembered body. He took out a sample collector to extract some samples and muttered to himself, “Interesting.”
Qiu Yaokang stood up and put the sample into his backpack. He said to Fang Heng, “What’s interesting is that the cell body of the corpse is not dead. It is still in the process of ‘reviving’ and will be completed in one minute at most.”
“Resurrection…”
Fang Heng frowned.
“Don’t worry about them,” Warren said in a deep voice. “I’ve read in the notebook that the corpse is the same as the original devouring body we encountered before. It can absorb the plague aura and revive indefinitely. Let’s hurry up and check the seal internally.”
“Yes, alright.”
Fang Heng nodded and continued to control the Lickers to lead the way, heading deeper into the tunnel.
…
Soon, after clearing the corpses along the way, Fang Heng was the first to step into the room at the end of the passage.
The concentration of the black plague aura in the room was extremely high.
A large amount of plague aura leaked out from the alchemy array seal in the center of the room.
After confirming that the room was safe, Warren quickly walked forward and squatted beside the alchemy array to check for a moment. Then, he frowned.
“How is it?”
Warren’s expression was a little ugly as he said in a deep voice, “Very bad. The outer seal was deliberately destroyed by someone. From the degree of aura leakage, I’m afraid that even the inner seal of the abyss has suffered a great impact.”
“I suspect that the damage to the sealing magic array in the depths of the abyss has caused a large amount of plague aura to leak out, which in turn has accelerated the erosion of the outer seal. The plague aura leaking incidents across the Empire is most likely related to the damage to the sealing magic array in the depths of the abyss.”
Fang Heng frowned and analyzed, “We also encountered the plague aura in the royal family’s underground palace last night, so that passage is also one of the entrances to the abyss?”
“Well, at least it’s connected to an entrance to the underground abyss.”
While the two of them were checking, Qiu Yaokang collected some of the plague aura and followed them to check the entrance of the sealed abyss. He also collected some remnants outside the cave.
“Is there a way to suppress the plague?” asked Fang Heng.
“The damage to the inner magic array needs to be investigated further to confirm. It’s very dangerous for us to rashly explore it in our current situation. We can only think of a way to slightly repair the outer magic array and control the spread of the plague aura.”
Warren thought for a moment, then nodded and added, “In addition, we can also cooperate with the mage tower outside to purify the plague aura. I’ve partially modified the magic runes embedded in the mage tower during the decades I was locked underground. The effect should be greatly improved.”
Fang Heng’s eyes lit up.
Oh right, there was also the mage tower!
“I’ll stay here to repair the magic array. I’ll leave the operation of the mage tower to you.”
“Alright, the Lickers will stay here to protect you. Be careful.”
“Yes, it’s just an ordinary corpse. It’s a little troublesome when it’s revived, but it’s not a big threat.”
Fang Heng nodded and looked at Qiu Yaokang.
“I’ve almost collected all the information here.”
Qiu Yaokang saw Fang Heng’s gaze and nodded, “Generally speaking, the plague aura is not highly toxic. It has two specific abilities. One is to infect a person to death, and the other is to resurrect dead corpses. These two points are somewhat similar to the zombie virus in our world. In terms of combat ability, the corpses are similar to ordinary zombies.”
“In terms of differences, the plague virus has an obvious black aura that is easier to identify. Moreover, the corpses do not have a secondary infection. However, the corpses can be resurrected indefinitely, which is something that zombies can’t do.”
“I believe that the plague aura is a product of the abyssal demon’s mutation. I’m afraid that we will also be affected by the plague aura when we fight against the abyssal demon in the future. Purifying the plague aura is especially important. I’ll think of a way to concoct the corresponding antidote as soon as I get back. Also, regarding the resurrection ability of the corpses, I believe that the abyssal demon most likely has similar abilities…”
