Ark Undead

Melantha didn't want to lie, but she was also afraid that her father would worry if he found out she had gone to the downtown area.

All I could do was purse my lips and whisper a word.

"No...no."

"Huh? Could it be that my precious baby was taken out by some rascal to go gallivanting?!"

The father's eyebrows shot up, and whenever this topic came up, he began to have his own peculiar reaction!

No! That's not it!

Melanie didn't know why her father would think of this, so she could only hug him helplessly to put his mind at ease.

"It's just... just going out for exercise."

"really?"

The father clearly didn't believe Melanie's words. But since Melanie was unwilling to talk about it, there was no need for the father to force his child to say it.

After all, everyone has some little secrets, and Melantha is a sensible child; if something really happens, she won't hide it.

"Yeah, it's really just exercise! Look, I'm all sweaty."

Melantha released her father, sniffed herself, and frowned her beautiful brows.

"No, I need to take a shower first. It smells awful."

"Go."

The father patted Melanie's head with a smile and watched her go to the shower room.

Just then, her mother came down the stairs and saw Melanie hurrying into the shower room.

"what happened?"

“Xiao Mei went out this morning,” her father said with a smile. “She must have gone to exercise; she smelled of sweat.”

The mother seemed a little worried. She went to the father's side and straightened the clothes he had just put on.

"Isn't this a bit too dangerous? We already live near the Lower City area, what if people from the Lower City..."

“Darling, you need to give Victoria some trust.” The father held the hand his mother was using to soothe her worries. “Besides, Xiao Mei’s health isn’t very good to begin with, so going for a walk is a good thing.”

"All right..."

Even though her mother still had some concerns, Victoria's strong fortress gave her enough confidence.

Melanie will be fine.

for sure.

12. An unexpected infection!

Victoria under the sunlight was full of prosperity and vitality.

Just like in Victoria's Upper East Side, here, wealth is protected by order and etiquette.

As trade became more frequent, people touted the qualities of diligence, and elegant etiquette adorned merchants with a splendid facade. They called themselves nobles, and most nobles did indeed adhere to the principles of etiquette.

But where there is sunlight, there will be shadows; in places where the sun does not shine, shadows will always grow.

The Lower City, where the Glasgow Gang's stronghold is located. It is not quite the same as the Upper City, although it still has hardworking citizens and Victorian elegance.

However, due to the mixed nature of the area and lax management, some people who did not belong to Victoria infiltrated, bringing with them conspiracies and schemes. But if you trace the origins, you can always find the catalyst among the nobles of the Upper City.

The Undead enjoyed a period of leisure, although they spent most of their time sleeping.

Every day he either throws firewood or buys firewood, or he spends weekends watching Melanie practice her knife skills.

Melantha progressed rapidly, always able to quickly absorb the characteristics of the swordsmanship taught to her by the undead.

Even to the undead, Melantha was still slow. But to a teenage girl, her sword was becoming increasingly sharp and faster.

This is inseparable from Melanie's own efforts.

She can occasionally surprise the undead by using a similar sword-swinging trajectory to them, making them take her seriously.

Melantha rapidly absorbed everything her teacher taught her.

Even the immortals were calculating that their days were numbered.

But the Glasgow Gang is different from the Undead; the pressure in the Upper City has been almost suffocating them lately.

Every night, groups of people would come to the stronghold to cause trouble.

Vina had to arrange for someone to guard the warehouse entrance every night.

However, with Vina's arrangements and her personal involvement, the Glasgow gang members were in high spirits.

During the day, Vina would practice with some members at the base.

In the continuous battles, Hannah was surprised to find that the members' combat skills were improving at an extremely rapid pace.

It's only been two weeks since the Glasgow Gang suffered a major loss of members.

That night, the Glasgow gang was attacked again.

But this attack was completely different from the attacks we had encountered on previous nights.

Or rather, this was not an attack specifically targeting them.

"Don't engage in prolonged fighting! Leave along the pre-arranged route! If the brothers at the back can't hold them off, retreat!"

Hannah shouted as she knocked one of the thugs who tried to approach her to the ground.

She couldn't help but look to the other side, where a golden glint shone in the moonlight.

Vina wielded her hammer with such force that a single blow could shatter an enemy's helmet, and another blow to the head would send the already exhausted thug flying backward, knocking down several of his accomplices.

After knocking one of the guys away with her hammer, Vina retreated while giving instructions to Hannah.

"Don't get hurt! I saw someone with a stone on their neck!"

"Stone?!"

Hannah couldn't help but look back. With the help of the moonlight, she could see that the thugs' hands were not exposed with smooth skin, but with uneven, solid surfaces that reflected the moonlight.

"crystallization?!"

Hannah gasped, and Vina added another sentence.

"Almost all of them are severely infected."

Vina's words sent chills down Hannah's spine.

The stones on those people had covered many areas, and on this continent called Terra, these people were known as Oripathy patients.

To those who are not sick, they are the disease itself.

The Originium crystals on their bodies are proof that their bodies contain too much Originium. Once they contract a disease called Originium Disease, there is no cure, and they can only spend the rest of their lives in pain and rejection.

Oripathy erodes a person's consciousness, causing their body to suffer extreme pain.

Even though Oripathy grants increased Oripathy adaptability, no one would intentionally contract Oripathy to increase their Oripathy adaptability.

Patients are unable to access the resources that healthy people should have, and they are even less able to enjoy sufficient medical resources.

Once infected, one is isolated from normal life, becomes part of the epidemic, and is ostracized.

Even though Vina and Hannah don't have much aversion to Oripathy patients, it's a different story once an infected person becomes their enemy.

If you get scratched by the Originium on their bodies, you will definitely get Oripathy.

Some members of the Glasgow Gang also suffer from Oripathy. However, their cases are not severe, and almost none of them have such large areas of Oripathy crystals on their skin.

Hannah and Vina are also not infected.

They did not retreat because they were afraid of becoming infected.

Unlike ordinary people, infected individuals become more impulsive during combat due to Oripathy, and the effects of pain on them are reduced to some extent.

This greatly enhances the fighting ability of the infected.

And most importantly, there were just too many people!

They're all infected; I don't know where they came from.

Glasgow was originally guarding his warehouse, but when someone came to cause trouble, a fight broke out. As a result, the number of people increased, and even Hannah had to order them to run away!

"This is such a damn problem! There are so many people, and they're all infected. What should we do?"

Hannah cursed angrily, then could only continue retreating with Vina.

Continuing onward, they would reach the Upper City. Although citizens of the Lower City could enter the Upper City, these gang members would be immediately pursued by the Upper City police if they were discovered.

Vina was also somewhat helpless, wondering why she encountered so many infected people in the lower city.

And we have no idea where they came from, or how they got to Victoria!

Are the guards at Victoria's border raised on shit?!

"No rush, let's take them for a stroll in the lower city."

Vina thought about it calmly.

With this level of infected intrusion, the security forces in the upper city will definitely take action.

Whether it's repression or blockade, Vina and Hannah are citizens of Victoria, so it's a good thing for them.

Moreover, Vina's intuition told her...

These infected people are not targeting them.

Their target might be those guys in the upper town.

Sure enough, fireballs and ice spikes suddenly flew over from behind the infected.

An infected person who can use Originium magic?!

"Damn it, another warlock?!" Hannah couldn't help but curse. "This is insane! I've run into warlocks three times this month already!"

"Don't fight them head-on. Let them charge through and see what their target is!"

Vina held Hannah back, afraid that Hannah might impulsively turn around and rush to attack the sorcerers.

"I'll listen to you, boss!"