Returning from the abyss

Chapter 1472 The Rampant Plague

The disheveled man rushed into the church, only to be stopped by several knights. Neither the apothecary nor Father Thorne moved, because there was nothing behind the man.

"What's chasing you?" Father Thorne asked, after all, he couldn't rule out some invisible force.

"I...I felt it, no, no, I knew it, I knew it very well..."

The man spoke incoherently, not appearing to be insane, but genuinely terrified. The apothecary raised his hand and cast a light spell, a spell that, besides providing illumination, also had a slight effect of breaking invisibility, but nothing was revealed.

Nothing is chasing you.

"Yes, yes... I know it's right next to me, and it's going to kill me tonight! It's always like this, I can see it, no, I know it, I can hear it. Please save me, save me!"

The man clung to a knight's arm, pleading desperately. The commotion alerted the others in the church, and Vanessa and Veronica came out.

Veronica was somewhat surprised when she saw the man: "Mr. Skye?"

The pharmacist and Father Thorne's gaze fell on Veronica again.

It seems to be someone I know.

Through Veronica's introduction, everyone learned about Mr. Skye's background. After Mr. Fabre set up the factory, Skye, who knew some bookkeeping, was hired by Fabre to manage the accounts. Most of the children from the families Fabre hired were sent to the church, and Veronica, with her excellent memory, knew each child's parents.

Now that Skye lives in the same area as the church, she has naturally taken the child back home, so it's unexpected that he would come to the church again.

With Veronica's reassurance, Skye finally calmed down a bit. Although she still occasionally glanced in the direction of the door, she was able to speak properly.

According to him, about three days ago, while he was sleeping, he would vaguely dream about things that would happen one or two hours later. When he woke up, although the memory was not very clear, he could still compare it with the actual situation based on the remaining memories.

Upon comparison, Skye discovered that he was having a precognitive dream! The events in the dream were exactly as described, but the dream time was too short, and he couldn't remember much, so he could only take some precautions in advance.

But this morning, Skye had a vivid dream about the day's events. He went out in the morning, went with his neighbors to check on the lockdown situation, then went to several stores to buy some food to take home. Then, at his front door, a man suddenly rushed out and stabbed him to death.

Skye woke up in fright, but things in the dream happened too fast, so he could only try to go back to sleep and see if anything could change.

In his dream, he consciously altered his time, not going shopping but going straight home. This time he wasn't ambushed, but in the afternoon someone broke in through a window and stabbed him to death.

In his subsequent attempts, Skye failed to escape death. He tried to fight back and to run away, but either way, he was caught, and time was only pushed further away. His wife noticed his abnormality and suggested that he seek help from the church.

On his way there, everyone looked like that person to him, but he never saw their face clearly. Sometimes he even died before he could see them. In the end, he was so frightened that he ran all the way to the church.

“Mr. Skye, haven’t you considered who would be so persistent in wanting to kill you?” Veronica asked softly. “As far as I know, there’s basically no mutual hatred between neighbors in the Clockwork River District. Conflicts may occur, but they don’t reach the point of murder. Besides, you don’t usually have any enemies.”

“I don’t know,” Skye said with a mournful face. “I just felt danger, a chill ran down my spine! You know? It’s that feeling that someone could jump out and kill me at any moment!”

"Then why did you conclude that the church was safe, just because it was your wife's suggestion?" Vanessa suddenly asked.

“Because…because of all the places I tried in my dream, only the church was completely safe!” Skye said quickly. “That must be some kind of demon, it’s afraid of this place, so I immediately agreed to come! You can definitely help me…”

“Of course.” Veronica patted him on the back when she saw him getting excited again, then looked at the pharmacist and Father Thorne.

"Vanessa, take him for a check-up," the pharmacist said thoughtfully.

Vanessa and Veronica led the people to the room to be inspected. Father Thorne looked at the apothecary and asked, "It seems you've noticed something?"

"Precognition is not a human domain," the pharmacist said softly. "Precognition is a divinely bestowed magic, available only to the Church and..."

“The Plague Lord,” Father Thorne exclaimed, suddenly realizing, “You mean this is related to the plague?”

"Although what is happening in the city may differ somewhat from the plague, Mr. Skye is probably not without a connection."

The pharmacist's guess was correct; after a series of examinations, Vanessa indeed detected a plague reaction in Skye. She immediately implemented a plague lockdown, leaving Skye alone in a quiet room before returning to report.

“Pharmacist, he has shown two types of plague symptoms.” Vanessa ran back to the main hall with the test report. “We need to have the church begin the examination immediately.”

“This is not a good idea these days,” the pharmacist said.

Vanessa, thinking about the situation outside, asked, "Are you saying that the church can no longer organize teams like it used to?"

“Yes, everything has its order. Right now, that thing that resembles filth has not yet been dealt with, and all of the Church’s resources will be used to deal with that matter first. In comparison, the plague, which has not yet caused serious consequences, is a very low priority,” the apothecary said.

Among the seven cardinals, the primary responsibility is assumed by a suitable cardinal depending on the circumstances. Normally, this would be the Savior Cardinal, but in times like these, either the Warning Cardinal or the Fundamental Cardinal is handling the overall management. In such situations, unless the plague is directly related to the primary objective, each discovering church must deal with it independently.

“Can we handle this ourselves?” Vanessa asked. The pharmacist chuckled. “Vanessa, you’ve led the handling of a plague outbreak before. Do you think the people in our church can manage it?”

“Streamlining unnecessary reporting procedures is also a risk,” Vanessa said decisively. “We don’t need so many people handling the church-mandated procedures for the plague separately; we can just focus on treating and resolving the plague.”

“…Vanessa, I believe you have already understood the significance of these procedures during your previous studies.”

“I understand, but that’s what you said, under normal circumstances. I’ve also read some records in the ‘Records of Natural Disasters,’ which state that when members of the Burial Hub or the Secret Vision Hub are on duty, they simplify some procedures in cooperation with those dealing with the plague.” Vanessa had clearly memorized everything for the sake of the debate.

“That’s true. In an emergency, it’s reasonable to act expediently. Now, my second question is, Vanessa. You’ve found two types of plague in Mr. Skye, which means the plague may have already spread quietly. Are you planning to conduct medical examinations on everyone in the Clockwork River District yourself? You’re not just looking to solve Skye’s problem.”

Vanessa was stumped by the pharmacist's question.

"This isn't the gourmet you encountered before; the symptoms were obvious and harmful. Precognitive dreams? For many people, this is a good thing, and it's perfectly normal for them to keep quiet—after all, it's human nature to seek advantage and avoid harm. In this situation, you first have to convince them—Skye can't be an example—and then you have to face at least two equally inconspicuous plagues. Do you think you can handle it?"

“First, treat those with obvious symptoms of harm,” Vanessa replied hastily.

"Considering your own situation? That makes sense. But what about the timeframe? First, I'll probably be leaving again in a couple of days for a while, for reasons you all know. Therefore, I can't stay here with you for a long time to do pathological analysis; only Veronica can help you. And the course of the plague can't be guaranteed, which also involves safety issues. Even if you're willing to take risks, safety regulations are necessary, and many necessary pre-emptive preparations are unavoidable. Can you manage that?"

Just then, Father Thorne spoke up: "Madam Pharmacist, let's not refute Vanessa yet. She may be a little impulsive, but I think she has thought this through."

“I know, but the world is full of unexpected situations. Vanessa, I’m just listing the difficulties you might face; what I just said isn’t all of them. You want to save people, which is good; it’s the mission of the Sacred Heart. But you also need to consider your capabilities. The Church never considers sacrifice. To put it more selfishly, we are the more capable people, so we need to protect ourselves as much as possible to secure our future, so that we can protect more people.”

“I understand.” Vanessa nodded and looked at Father Thorne.

"Sigh... at least leave me half the staff to keep the church running smoothly, child."

The church began its operation, and the other monks from the Church of East on the street naturally noticed it, but they didn't care.

Vanessa, accompanied by a large group and portable testing equipment, began visiting households one by one, while Veronica comforted Skye and began analyzing his symptoms. She had done this before with the pharmacist, so it was relatively easy for her. The pharmacist, of course, wouldn't really leave him to his own devices. While they were still there, she took some samples from Skye and began studying the plague in his body.

The extraction process wasn't exactly pleasant, though.

Leaving aside the unknown plagues, the known plagues of precognitive dreams are relatively clear. Once the plague spreads, it will take the form of a regular virus in the human body and affect organs. It is worth mentioning that these effects can be both good and bad.

Precognitive dreams, with their obvious characteristics, will inevitably affect the brain. For the saints of the Salvation Pivot, as long as they observe the manifest form of the corresponding plague, they have a cheat-like method: to directly ask the gods.

She was in the church, and as soon as she closed her eyes, her spirit began to communicate with the divine realm, entering the vicinity of that comforting spring.

The Fountain of Youth, she's here again. Compared to other saints, she probably visits very infrequently, to the point that she's almost unfamiliar with the place; for example, it seems a few more trees have grown nearby?
Of course, she could still easily walk to the edge of the spring, sit down there, and gently touch the water with her hand.

A sense of peace and comfort swept over my whole body. The Fountain of Youth itself is a deity, and its power is no less than that of the Plague King. If one's willpower is not firm, one may be immersed in the warmth of the spring water and eventually be dissolved by it, with one's spirit perishing and one's body dying.

However, those who are blessed do indeed remain youthful. If the pharmacist were willing to come here every day, he probably wouldn't feel any mental fatigue. But in that case, he would probably become inhuman very quickly.

"Gods...please tell me."

As she mentally visualized the shape of the plague she had observed, she immediately learned its name.

"The Future" is a plague composed of real and false precognitive dreams. During the incubation period, it affects the infected with brief and vague precognitive dreams. During the manifestation period, it becomes long-term precognitive dreams that can be clearly remembered. During the outbreak period, it begins to produce nightmares of being hunted down, until the nightmares torment a person forever until they break down and enter the lethal period.

The pharmacist breathed a sigh of relief. There was still a way to identify the true nature of the plague. This plague had the aura of an immortal king, and was probably a member of the Plague King's retinue.

However, just as she relaxed a little, a barrage of information suddenly flooded her mind.

"The plague caused by the fear of light has an incubation period characterized by an avoidance of bright light. In the manifest period, it begins to show an aversion to light, and the person will subconsciously extinguish all light sources. In the outbreak period, the person will blind themselves and use the light perception given by the plague to attack all light-emitting objects, creating darkness. In the fatal period, all brain organs will dissolve and flow out from the eye sockets."

"The Blood Palace is a plague that distorts people's perception of their dwellings. During the incubation period, they become fond of hunting and decorate their dwellings with their prey. During the symptom period, they tend to slaughter live animals in their dwellings and make specimens by hand. During the outbreak period, their target spreads to all living creatures within their field of vision. During the lethal period, they merge with the houses they decorate, turning into houses of flesh and blood."

"Fragrance-induced plague, a disease whose main component is induced by scent..."

"The Iron Curtain, a plague that assimilates will and body..."

"Sparkling wine, a plague composed of joy and passionate emotions..."

"The Hive, a plague composed of ferocity and synchronized thought..."

Information about more than a dozen plagues was crammed into her mind, leaving the pharmacist stunned for a moment.

[It's not that Skye has that much, it's you! You've been exposed to so much plague, unknowingly!]