329 You Are Late (2/2)

If he had to name something that could be developed, it would be the sparse copper mines. But with the discovery of the relics, even the mines were gone. There was no way to better the environment. It was understandable that the people here were just whiling their days away.

A bell shocked him from his thoughts.

The dilapidated church across from the market slowly opened its doors, revealing the shabby yard and building within. Seeing this, Ye Qingxuan rose, knocked the dust off, and walked forward without a care for his stall.

If the locals ignored him and the big guy from Anglo was unreliable, he could only try the Church. They would not ignore a candidate for clergymen like him, right? Furthermore, Ye Qingxuan had been sent here by the Church. Rather than the trial, he had come here to help the sick!

-

Just as he had expected, there were no official mission members in this tiny church. There was only an old pastor who could not really see and two mixed local children who cleaned the place. There were no believers in Romulus. The annual budget was barely enough for the pastor to eat. Maintenance was a huge sum as well.

The pastor stared at Ye Qingxuan's identification card for a long time with his old eyes.

”Oh, the flu? I reported it years ago but there was no news. I thought they gave up on it.” He patted Ye Qingxuan's shoulder. ”I didn't think someone would actually come. You scared me. But sadly, you're late.”

”Late?” Ye Qingxuan blanched. ”Did they all die?”

”No, it's just a common fever. They get better after a few days.” The pastor shrugged. ”So, Mr. Ye, you're late. The flu died out half a year ago.”

Ye Qingxuan gaped. He could not accept this. He had come here passionately to help the sick but everyone was cured before he even got here! It was like the villain of an adventure novel died from the plague when the hero just embarked on his journey. The world was saved and everything was peachy but…Ye Qingxuan did not feel happy.

”Then why didn't you withdraw your request?” Ye Qingxuan just wanted to cry. ”Otherwise I wouldn't have been fooled by that *sshole Maxwell and came here.”

”Let me finish.” The pastor sighed. ”The flu was put out but…it's still here.”

Ye Qingxuan froze.

It was still here? What did that mean?

-

There was a basic surgery room in the church's basement.

After a long silence, Ye Qingxuan looked away from the small microscope. Rubbing his eyes, he muttered a curse. He was sure that the flu was man-made. Someone had created a flu targeting the Romulusians with room for maneuvering.

The observation sample was a Romulusian who had recently died from old age. He could clearly see the virus in the blood and organs. It was dormant and essentially harmless but it was still integrated with the body.

Regular people would be able to kill the virus with their immune system and remove them through metabolism. Demons were not affected either; their bodies were completely different from humans and were immune to ptomaine and other diseases. It was a different story for Romulusians who were mixed with human and demon blood.

This disease clearly targeted their lack of immunity, filling the gap between their two sides. This meant that the demonization process of Romulusians could be sped up until the demon blood would completely replace their human side.

”This is horrible.” Ye Qingxuan sighed. ”How many people were infected?”

”…Practically everyone.”