Returning from the abyss

Chapter 1463 Another

The number of people being checked this time was quite large, and even though the Salvation Center sent a lot of people, the screening continued into the night.

When the pharmacist was checking on the last few people, a small accident occurred.

The moment a person's blood was smeared onto the test strip, it instantly turned pitch black. The pharmacist reacted quickly, immediately pressing the alarm button next to him. In an instant, the room was enveloped by a complex spell. Just as the cultivator on the bed was about to get up, two spikes that appeared out of nowhere pierced through his hands and pinned him to the bed.

The fifth-tier divine spell "Repentance".

Using high-level divine magic directly is the right choice when dealing with unforeseen dangers. The pharmacist subdued the highly infected cultivator in an instant, then picked up the test strips on the table and began further examination. Just over ten seconds later, a cultivator from the Burial Pivot opened the door, carrying a ferocious white bone greatsword, and walked in. He glanced at the subdued cultivator on the table and asked, "Colleague, should we execute him?"

"Not for now. 'Repentance' has already suppressed his will. Before the results of the mental examination are available, it's not yet time to purge him. Please notify a cultivator who has mastered at least a sixth-order divine spell to come here."

The examination didn't require sixth-tier divine magic, but the pharmacist had to ensure the visitor was experienced enough. Judging from the test results, the controlled cultivator had been severely contaminated; however, he appeared perfectly normal upon entering, even exchanging a few words with her, showing no signs of illness whatsoever.

The Savior's Cave once had a wandering monk who said, "It's not scary to be sick, it's scary to be sick and not be able to tell."

Soon, the monk from the Burial Pivot invited a nun over. After entering the room, the nun from the Heart Pivot glanced at the tidy room and showed a relieved expression. Then she walked to the bedside, placed one hand on his head, and began to chant.

The situation wasn't urgent, so there was no need to use instant-cast spells. Both the pharmacist and the cultivator understood. The cultivator still stood guard with his sword drawn, while the pharmacist was afraid that if the nun said anything bad, she would behead her on the spot.

Fortunately, after the nun finished chanting and casting her spell, a smile appeared on her face.

“His spirit has not been corrupted. Although I cannot guarantee that physical contamination will not cause him to act against his will, I am certain that his spirit is normal.”

"Thank you. Please keep his mind locked up. I don't need him to wake up until the diagnosis is in," the pharmacist nodded.

The nun agreed, chanted a prayer, and then cast a divine spell. The apothecary then dispelled the spell and asked the burial friar to carry the person out. The next step was for the church's savior friars to conduct a consultation, and the apothecary no longer needed to participate.

"Colleague, where can we determine the source of the contamination on his body?" the monk from the Burial Pivot asked after offering his assistance.

"Just call me Pharmacist. What's your name?"

“Kirios,” the monk replied.

“Okay, I guess you asked this because you want to follow the clues and eliminate the root cause? I understand your thinking, but you need to pay attention to one thing—his contamination caused all the test strips to change color, which means the sources are not the same,” the pharmacist said.

“I am well aware that there is a repeating evil spirit.” Kyrios nodded slightly.

"I trust your hunting experience. The contamination on him is the distinctive contamination of the Plague Lord's divine power, not the plague itself. So it must have been caused by contact with a related artifact. Given that members of the Secret Vision wouldn't go looking for Plague Apostles for no reason, I think it's highly likely that he accidentally touched an artifact without realizing it while recently re-examining some sites where divine descents had occurred in the past. Of course, it's also possible that he was tricked—I can't accurately reconstruct the course of events in this case."

After thanking the pharmacist, Kyrios turned and left. The pharmacist handed the medical records to the cardinals there, then took the documents he needed and bid farewell to this friendly parish.

She didn't bother investigating the various chapels; after all, if tourists were really hiding in such places, they would have already concealed their identities, making it impossible for her to find anything. The pharmacist's own identity had probably already been investigated by someone with ulterior motives, but fortunately, she wasn't afraid of being investigated, and the information she left at the Church of St. Ist wasn't very useful.

Even with this investigation alone, a list of ten people was eventually compiled, and Poirot was certainly on this list, being the ultimate suspect. However, the tourist in the Heart of the Pivot seemed to have no destination, which suggested the worst-case scenario—that the person had come to Violet City completely anonymously.

As she was pondering, the sound of a carriage approached from ahead. The apothecary moved aside, and the carriage stopped right next to her. The curtain was lifted, revealing her newly identified prime suspect for the day: Mr. Poirot.

"Oh, you're working so late, madam? That's so touching."

"Mr. Poirot is out this late too, isn't he?" the pharmacist countered.

"Haha, something happened nearby and we couldn't find anyone, so they sent me to check the scene."

"Should we call a detective? It seems to be a major case."

Poirot coughed and smiled. "In fact, we are fairly certain that this is a plague outbreak. Our colleagues on the ground have confirmed that the plague is called 'sparkling wine.' It's just a pity that we can't find anyone with enough authority nearby."

The pharmacist sighed. If this guy hadn't explained things, she could have just said goodbye and left. But now that things had come to this point, how could she, as someone who was a savior of the world, not go?

Are there any seats left on the train?

“Of course, I hope you’ve already had dinner. If not, it would be best to have a snack in the car to tide you over,” Poirot said. “What do you mean?”

"As its name suggests... Madam Pharmacist, it's quite obvious that the apostle 'Honey-Loving Tongue' and 'King of Hunger' has been a bit too active lately, and generally, this kind of plague will cause some physical discomfort. Well, that's literally what I mean."

The pharmacist got into the car and nodded to indicate that he understood.

The plague of the King of Hunger usually stimulates appetite and related instinctive desires, spreading by creating and amplifying these physiological needs, much like the gourmet's. This amplification effect is the work of the plague, and cannot be resisted by experience or willpower. However, as long as one protects oneself well, it will not get out of control.

The crime scene wasn't far from here. The pharmacist had only eaten a few snacks in the car when he heard hurried shouts outside. Mr. Poirot got out of the car first, and the pharmacist followed after finishing the last snack. He saw that this was the entrance to an underground bar.

In Violet City, most businesses operating "underground" have a shady, underworld background, and most people wouldn't frequent such places. At the entrance above ground, a man who looked like a mercenary was being questioned by two cultivators, their faces clearly showing signs of impatience.

"Alright, alright, colleagues, this friend is clearly not interested in answering your questions anymore, so let's not press him. After all, seeing the scene of the plague outbreak, we should at least consider his feelings." Mr. Poirot walked over with a smile, casually dismissing the two monks, then clapped his hands, took out a cigarette and handed it to the man: "Would you like to ease the tension a bit? That scene must have been quite a shock to your mood."

Cigarettes are a rare commodity these days, and the man's eyes lit up immediately. He reached out and took the cigarette, holding it between his fingers without lighting it, and simply said, "Thanks... but this is just a small matter. I've seen far more gruesome scenes. I'm just unhappy that they treated me like a criminal during that interrogation."

“Haha, brother, you look like a seasoned traveler. It’s normal for city folks to be a bit wary of outsiders; it’s their duty, so don’t be too hard on them. Standing here in the middle of the night isn’t a good idea. How about we find somewhere to chat?” Poirot gestured with a match, and the man readily agreed, following him into a nearby shop.

The pharmacist saw Poirot's look; it was clear he wanted to hand the scene over to him. But since this guy had already taken the eyewitness, he had no choice but to go and see for himself.

The underground space was quite large, with two levels. There was no doubt that some illegal businesses were being conducted here, and the customers who could come here were probably people with some assets—but not nobles. The environment was too poor, and nobles would not even look at such a place unless they were down on their luck.

As he descended the stairs, before even seeing the scene, he could smell a strange fragrance. Only then did the pharmacist understand why Mr. Poirot had asked him to eat something first.

The fragrance was truly wonderful; its rich aroma was stimulating to the taste buds. Even though the pharmacist was well-protected, she couldn't help but swallow. The cultivators still investigating inside were fully armed, their faces completely covered. Seeing the pharmacist enter with little protection, several even tried to stop her.

“I am from the Saviour’s Cave, and I have been asked by Mr. Poirot to inspect the scene. You don’t need to worry about my condition, but I need someone to describe to me the current results of the inspection.”

The monks exchanged bewildered glances. The Pharmacist had displayed his holy emblem while speaking; the emblem of a saint was clearly marked. They were momentarily confused as to why someone else had come to handle the matter, but the Savior's Vision was indeed a more suitable professional. Soon, one of them stepped forward.

“Your Excellency, Saint, let me explain.” The man bowed slightly.

The plague at the scene was called "Sparkling Wine." The initial outbreak occurred in a private room on the second basement level. A group of gamblers, presumably having won money, came here to celebrate and even invited several hostesses into the room. About thirty minutes later, everyone in the room rushed out, all with expressions of ecstasy. A hostess who had been called into the room was sitting in the center of the room. The upper half of her head had disappeared, and all the brain tissue above the cervical spine had vanished. Her entire skull and the surrounding skin and flesh resembled a melted candle, with only a small part of her mouth remaining. From her tongueless mouth, some golden liquid could be seen as residue.

After the ecstatic crowd left the room, several immediately joined the central dance floor, while others, carrying glasses and bottles, went to knock on the doors of other private rooms. These people met a similar fate to the first victim, dying in the same bizarre manner.

There were about a hundred people in the underground bar that day, including the staff. However, only a dozen or so bodies were found at the scene. They all died in the same way. The rest of the people had disappeared.

“A new customer discovered this place. He's quite experienced; after seeing the situation, he didn't go in but immediately notified the nearby guard and church members. We arrived relatively early, but we need the Sacred Heart's personnel to handle this situation further. Unfortunately, there aren't enough people nearby…”

"Okay, I see."

The pharmacist raised his hand to interrupt him and walked towards the several corpses in the dance floor on the first floor. The corpses were in the same state as the cultivator had described, each one standing on the ground in an eerie kneeling or sitting posture, like... wine glasses.

"It's the exact opposite of a gourmet."

The pharmacist took out a razor blade from the medicine box and cut off pieces of flesh from the head, chest, hands and feet of the corpse. As expected, the flesh under the skin of these people was almost dried out. Although no analysis had been performed yet, the pharmacist had already roughly guessed what had happened.

The effect of this plague is to turn people themselves into "wine," or rather, sources of infection. Ordinary people simply cannot resist such a powerful temptation. As long as the source of infection breaks the seal of that wine, the overflowing aroma is enough to make people shout and flock over, all for that intoxicating sip of the wine in their heads.

The triggering conditions likely require a large number of people around and sufficiently intense emotions; otherwise, it's inexplicable why such a large-scale outbreak suddenly occurred inside the bar. Originally, there was only one source of infection, but now, those who ran out of the bar are probably all infected, filled with joy and intending to share that joy with others, to share themselves.

Without a doubt, this is a more dangerous plague than the low-level plague of the "Gourmets." It has a high latency period, can cause rapid outbreaks and deaths under certain conditions, and even has a strong ability to spread. This reminds the pharmacist of certain fungi that rely on explosive spore release, which are almost the same means of transmission.

Because people shared the wine so thoroughly, only the inside of their lips, a place rarely touched, retained some of the liquid—the golden liquid the monk had just mentioned. The apothecary walked past several corpses, collecting samples. Then, after chanting for a moment, he cast a spell from his hand.

"Plague Descends", a fifth-tier divine technique.

This control spell can forcibly restrain the spread of plague sources within a certain range. Although the duration is relatively short, it can be used to detect whether there are still infected individuals in the outbreak phase at the scene. The apothecary quickly confirmed that all infected individuals present were dead.

“Alright… I’ll write a briefing, but I’m not in charge here. You need to get it to the nearest church immediately.”