by N. Heller
Chapter 281 - Patient Zero Is…
"What's going on? What does she mean by Patient Zero?" Reno grumbled. The nurse on the first floor shouted with an ear-splitting volume and her voice was still reverberating through the hospital. Reno felt as if his ears were also echoing from the noise. He exchanged glances with his sister and decided to go out to take a look at the situation.
However, they heard a low growl from the cat doctor, "Don't move around needlessly!"
"Doctor, do you know what is going on, sir?" Rena immediately turned behind, asking politely.
The bicolor cat sighed. His white whiskers twitched rapidly as he explained, "The event in this hospital involves a Patient Zero with a pathogen. An unlimited number of posthumans can participate in the event and they are called visiting family members. When a posthuman attacks Patient Zero with a fatal attack, that posthuman can gain 1-3 lives. If a person gets touched by Patient Zero, that person will become a 'patient'. Any patient within the hospital will lose two lives each day. That is twice the normal daily rate—"
As he spoke, his paws rose and landed on Lin Sanjiu's physical body so quickly that it was impossible for any of them to see what he was doing. After the cat doctor carried out that series of actions, the large tunnel-like machine started humming.
"We need to be quick. I am not sure when Nurse Amy would discover you," before he could even catch his breath, he continued, "If she discovers that you guys can also participate, it would be troublesome. Or, maybe it isn't that troublesome, you guys can just participate…"
"How can we participate under such circ.u.mstances?!" Even though the siblings were still under the cat doctor's mysterious charm, they shouted exasperatedly, "Dr. Hu, please continue with what you want to say?"
"Oh," when the cat's white, furry paw landed on a button, Lin Sanjiu felt her heart thumping once, "Patient Zero isn't always near. Most of the time, it would pretend to be one of the patients. When it reveals itself, the nurse manager would announce its position. The posthumans would then rush over to kill this Patient Zero…"
Even though the rules aren't complicated, Lin Sanjiu and the siblings couldn't help turning pale as they heard what the cat doctor said. There were too many traps within the few rules that the cat described. As bystanders, they wanted to avoid the whole 'event' as much as possible. Rena was the first one to react after the explanation, "Let me go lock the door and block the entrance! If Patient Zero can't enter, we don't have to care about the chaos outside!"
Lin Sanjiu heard Reno agreeing with his sister. The two sisters immediately started moving the furniture in the room. Even though she heard every word the cat doctor said, she didn't even look up once—
Lin Sanjiu eyed her own physical body without averting her gaze, she had never felt so nervous before.
As the cat increased the voltage with his paw, the dead body started jerking on the surgery table. The dead body's lifeless greenish-gray skin started quivering with each jolt. Each time she spotted something just a little unusual, Lin Sanjiu would assume that it was a sign that she was reviving. But, whenever she calmed herself down and looked again, she could not avoid a bout of disappointment. After the cat doctor tried this method for about three minutes, he shook his head. He opened the back-end of some of the steel needles he had inserted into the dead body's arteries and allowed some fluid to flow into the arteries.
"What is that?"
Amidst the noise created by the siblings as they moved the office tables and chairs, Lin Sanjiu's voice was so soft that it was almost inaudible.
"If we want the invasive cells to think that you are still alive, we need to create a false environment," the cat doctor answered briefly without looking up. He flashed two of his sharp canine teeth, "Okay, stop bothering me now!"
The siblings, who were at the other end of the room, had finished blocking the door. They checked the room once more. After confirming that they didn't miss any gaps and that no one was hiding in the room, the let out a sigh of relief and headed toward the surgery table.
However, the moment they turned around, the siblings froze.
"Erm… Did Dr. Hu mention how Patient Zero would look like?" Reno asked quietly. He was so startled that he sounded somewhat dim-witted.
"No, No…" Rena didn't sound any better. She stammered for some time before she called out, "Jiu.."
"Huh? What's the matter?"
Lin Sanjiu could tell from the teenage girl's voice that something was wrong. She immediately raised her guard and turned behind to question the girl.
"You, you…"
In an instant, the siblings seemed to lose their ability to speak fluently and gawked at her. Even after repeating "you" for a long time, they couldn't form a proper sentence.
Following their gaze, Lin Sanjiu looked down, puzzled. The very next second, she leaped out of her chair uncontrollably. Her reaction was so huge that it startled the cat doctor too.
"Be careful," the latter grumbled but immediately froze.
Unbeknownst to them, Lin Sanjiu's appearance had already changed completely.
Her skin was covered with red, festering scars which were uncomfortable to look at. Her long hair had almost all fallen out. There were only a few gray strands of hair on her head. Her lips, nails and eyes were an unhealthy yellow. She was definitely worthy of the term 'Patient Zero' with her current appearance.
"It can't be!" Mrs. Manas let cried out, "You are just a higher consciousness entity, you wouldn't just change without any reason. Besides, I already checked. You are alright. Your body is perfectly fine!"
"If I am fine, why am I like this—"
Before Lin Sanjiu could finish her sentence, she saw a black-white shadow leaping up. This was accompanied by a furious shout, "That bloody woman lied to me!" Everyone immediately looked at the cat doctor. "That thing about Patient Zero having 1000 lives must be bullsh*t!"
Lin Sanjiu had never seen Meowie Hu with such a livid expression. He narrowed his large round eyes dangerously, "So, that was why she said that having 30 posthumans was sufficient. She said it was unnecessary for my interns to join. The fact is that anyone outside of those 30 posthumans would be treated as Patient Zero!"
"Huh, so each time they attack Patient Zero, they are actually attacking a posthuman? The lives that they get are naturally from that posthuman…" Rena's lip turned pale. Then, she asked, "What about the rule about a posthuman changing into a patient if he or she is touched by Patient Zero…"
"Those people that are touched are just participants. Since they already agreed to participate, the nurse with that rotting face has the power to deduct their lives…" The more he thought about it, the angrier the cat doctor became. "Just hold them back for a while, once I am done with this, I will bring you guys out!"
Once the cat said that, a voice came from the corridor outside the room: "The target is there!"
Chapter 282 - Way Back Home 1
When Lin Sanjiu ran past the nurse on the first floor, she caught a glimpse of a faint revolting smile on the woman's rotting face. No matter how indignant she felt, Lin Sanjiu could do nothing to that woman. Setting aside the doubts whether the thing could even be attacked, she could only run right now because she was still being chased by a group of people and the incessant noises from their assortment of weapons, abilities and Special Items.
Even though Lin Sanjiu could fight very well now, she couldn't fight off the unified attacks from the thirty people—especially the twelve posthumans who had been converted to "patients". Under the pressure of a double rate of life reduction, they had all gone mad with anxiety. They rushed at Lin Sanjiu with their tidal wave of crazed non-stop attacks, giving Lin Sanjiu no time to even catch a breath.
—
The moment Lin Sanjiu discovered that her appearance had changed into "Patient Zero", she was immediately aware that she couldn't continue staying in the room.
The process to reactivate the hibernating Neuhume cells in her body, so that they would attack her
dead cells, still required a long time before completion. Within this time, with her "Patient Zero" role, she knew that she couldn't risk letting this batch of posthumans come close to the cat doctor or her physical body.
Due to this unforeseen circ.u.mstance, the siblings' initial well-thought plan instantly became a hindrance. As the voices from the corridor approached the room, they all rushed to the entrance and moved away the tables and chairs, finally, clearing the path to the door. Once Lin Sanjiu shot out of the room, she was hit by a barrage of attacks from all directions, even before she could see the attackers outside clearly.
Each attack from every attacker seemed to be their best ability or tactic. Even though the attacks were more than enough to shave off a few lives from their counterparts, they were not powerful enough to do much to Lin Sanjiu's current diamond-like body. Luckily, the attacks were all damage-based. No one used any illusions or status-afflicting attacks. After Lin Sanjiu took on a few direct blows with her body, she turned around and ran.
There were 27 posthumans still alive in the hospital. When the nurse announced the location of Patient Zero, they all swarmed to the second floor, Zone A, like flies to honey. Lin Sanjiu was surrounded so she had no choice but to use [The Heart-Stealing Consort Escapes With a Baby] once. It was only then that she managed to escape.
Something suddenly whizzed sharply past the top of Lin Sanjiu's head. She ducked it in time without slowing down. From the pursuers' perspective, they saw the item grazing her head and cutting off a clump of her grey hair.
"You guys never give up!" Lin Sanjiu cursed inwardly before making a sharp turn into a corridor. She pushed open the door of a ward and rushed inside. The moment she entered the ward, she activated her [A World History of Art].
Thankfully, she had not distributed the books to the siblings yet, so they came in handy, just in time.
[A World History of Art] began flipping noisily. Light reflected off the glossy pages of the book filled with beautiful printed pictures. When Lin Sanjiu's pursuers reached the entrance of the ward, they were greeted by the smell of watercolor paint, ink, wood shavings and bread.
The famous "Portrait présumé de Gabrielle d'Estrées et de sa soeur la duchesse de Villars" suddenly unfolded in midair in front of Lin Sanjiu with an observable speed.
The person running at the forefront of the group was a fat man whose face was covered with spots. He ran straight into the mist of colors in mid-air, as if he couldn't see that strange phenomenon. The colors became more saturated as the figures in the art pieces slowly appeared. The other pursuers running closely behind also fell into the trap, entering the "painting" like fishes in a net.
Because of this, Lin Sanjiu could stop momentarily. She threw a quick glance at the four pursuers behind her. They seemed to have suddenly entered a trance as they were wrapped in a mist of colors. They did not move even after some time.
[A World History of Art] had the ability to create a sort of mini pocket dimension. Consequently, Lin Sanjiu wasn't sure what the trapped people could see in the "painting" as their expression lit up and darkened every so often.
Even though the effect of the book was quite astonishing, it had a few obvious flaws. It could only produce one painting each time so it could only trap four to five people. Once these people entered the "painting", they couldn't be harmed by anything from the outside world for the time being. Considering those conditions, Lin Sanjiu could only hope that there are all sorts of deadly traps in the book and that the book could take care of those pursuers.
Spotting more people heading her way, Lin Sanjiu broke out of the window without much thinking. After laying down all sorts of traps for the posthumans chasing her, there were finally only a dozen or so people chasing her. The other posthumans weren't stupid. When a Patient Zero appeared, it would also be a good time to attack other posthumans who would usually be hiding. If Patient Zero was easy to deal with, everyone would go for him or her. Unfortunately, if Patient Zero was difficult to handle, like Lin Sanjiu, the participants of the events would most likely be backstabbed by other posthumans before they could even attack.
With lesser pursuers, Lin Sanjiu wasn't as worried anymore.
She flew back to the main lobby on the first floor like a whirlwind. She could still see the nurse-like creature in a pink uniform standing beside the reception table in the middle of the lobby. Lin Sanjiu smiled coldly. She leaped up and rushed toward the nurse's back.
While the remaining pursuers gasped in horror, Lin Sanjiu landed an earth-shattering punch directly on the nurse's backbone. Everyone heard a screech. Then, the nurse-like creature body broke into two before flying out. The nurse did not die but she started screaming loudly, "Sister Nurse had been attacked! Attack Patient Zero! Protect Sister Nurse! You will get an additional reward!"
The nurse's uniform barely held the two segments of the nurse's body together. With the movements she made as she screamed, her waist and legs slipped out from her dress. Along with them, the woman's intestines and organs fell to the floor with a splat.
The posthumans who heard the offer of "additional rewards" suddenly acted as if they were given steroids.
" Though her punch is admittingly scary, as long as I don't get hit, it will be fine," with such thoughts in mind, the pursuers started activating all sorts of ability and Special Items thinking that the Patient Zero this round was a close-combat fighter.
In an instant, Lin Sanjiu was surrounded by flashes of lights and shadows surrounding her. Despite being visibly strong, she was finding the current situation challenging. As she dodged and evaded the attacks, she heard Rena's excited voice over the communicator, "Jiu! Come back! I think your body is alive!"
Lin Sanjiu was delighted. However, she instantly cursed the thorny situation she was in. Considering this situation, how could she return?
Chapter 283 - Way Back Home 2
"Get the cat doctor to talk to me!"
As this sentence shot out of Lin Sanjiu's mouth, she smashed a wooden stick-like Special Item into pieces with her extraordinarily powerful punch. While the owner of that [Poor Skill Distribution Magic Wand] was shocked by that blow, Lin Sanjiu delivered a sidekick to her opponent's abdomen, taking a few lives away from that man. The skinny man let out a shriek as he was flung far away.
"Dr. Hu," Lin Sanjiu ducked and dodged a streak of dust heading her way. Then, she asked calmly, "What is the condition of my physical body right now?"
The cat's usually sweet, mew-like tone, was currently serious yet excited, "Things are looking very promising! As expected, the invasive cells in your body are still alive! I managed to reactivate them just a moment ago. Just as that person in your head described, they started invading your body once they got reactivated…"
Before Lin Sanjiu could reply with a "really?", she heard the nurse—with only half a body—urging the posthumans nearby to attack Lin Sanjiu's legs. Lin Sanjiu rushed over almost instinctively and delivered a spinning kick. She kicked the blood-covered half body of the nurse directly into a wall. Splat. A splatter of black blood spread across the wall as the fleshy remnants slowly slid down the wall.
"Right now, their attacks aren't that stable. They are attacking intermittently. I am currently creating a pseudo-electrophysiology environment in your body. Hopefully, this will stimulate and increase their activity level… Huh? What is this reaction? This isn't right—"
The cat doctor suddenly raised his voice, as if his attention was drawn by a sudden, unexpected situation. Thereafter, the communicator was silent.
"What's wrong?" Lin Sanjiu was so anxious that she asked that question repetitively. However, she received no answer from the other side. Her heart was in her throat, she wished so hard that she could go back and check out the situation for herself. Yet, she was still hindered by these people...
With her bad mood, she showed even less restraint with her attacks. Initially, Lin Sanjiu acted with the consideration that "the others are just following the rules". However, with t
he waves after waves of attack, she already lost her temper. Lin Sanjiu leaped up into the air and her body gradually faded into oblivion.
This wasn't Lin Sanjiu's new ability. What the other posthumans were seeing was just the afterimages that Lin Sanjiu created when she moved at her maximum speed. While her audience gawked, the first afterimage disappeared like a burst bubble. At the same time, screams rang out within the group of pursuers.
There was a sudden spurt of blood in the air, like a fountain. Just a moment ago, Lin Sanjiu's second afterimage paused for a moment before rushing down to the ground. Lin Sanjiu had already returned to her original position before her second afterimage could even disappear.
This time, she was holding a person's leg in her hand.
When the others saw Patient Zero throwing the leg in her hand to the ground and slowly mashing that leg into a fleshy pulp, they all turned pale.
"How bothersome," the female Patient Zero said with a lowered voice as she stood in the main lobby.
"If you think you can challenge my speed, you can go ahead and stay right here." Lin Sanjiu lowered the tone of her voice, making herself sound more threatening and malicious, "For your information, I don't care much about getting your lives. I will just tear off each of your limbs… I wonder how long you guys with a double life reduction rate would survive without all four limbs…"
The main lobby of the hospital became silent in an instant. A few Special Items which were flying in mid-air immediately stopped under their owners' control.
Everyone exchanged glances but no one moved for a short time. The nurse who was now just a pile of flesh muttered with a hoarse voice, "People who stay behind, attack—"
Lin Sanjiu flew forward and stomped on the woman's face, smashing it into the tiled floor. As broken tiles and dust flew everywhere, Lin Sanjiu glared coldly at her pursuers and spat, "Get lost."