Book 3: Chapter 19: Infection

This police station in Paris was not very big, and the building was rather old-fashioned, with only three floors in total. When everyone cautiously went upstairs, something unexpected happened. Upstairs was quiet and unexpectedly empty, with no one there at all, not even any injured people remained.

“Everyone, come quickly! Over here… there’s a person here!” Just as everyone was confused, Liza’s call came from one corner of the hallway.

Jonathan was closest to Liza. He rushed to the front of the room in a few quick steps and pushed open the door to this office. Inside the office, there was chaos. A police officer was slumped on the floor, leaning sideways against the wall. Because of the angle, they could only see the officer’s profile. His eyes were tightly shut, his face was pale, and his right hand held a pistol, resting upright on his knee.

“He seems to be dead!” Xiao Dao entered the room, pried open the officer’s fingers to take the pistol, and ejected the magazine to check. There were only four bullets left inside.

“Only one body… The police didn’t leave any injured behind…” A trace of confusion appeared on everyone’s faces.

If the police had been defeated by the Phantom Demons inside the station, there should have been more bodies. If they hadn’t been defeated, then they should have left injured personnel behind. After all, with the chaos on the streets, it was definitely not a good time to escort the wounded to a hospital.

“Huh? Something seems a bit off?” Xiao Dao suddenly exclaimed softly. He turned the officer’s body over so it faced them.

“Bang!” Seeing the other half of the corpse’s body clearly, Xiao Dao jolted in shock, hurriedly pushed the body away, and fell back sitting on the floor himself.

“Ah!” Liza turned away in terror, tightly clutching Jonathan’s sleeve.

The other half of this corpse’s body was withered and dry. Beneath the cracked skin, a dark red glow similar to that of a Blade Ashigaru was visible. Half of the face had lost all moisture, the skin stretched tight over the skull like a skeleton.

Qin Lun squatted down and observed carefully for a moment, the smile immediately vanishing from his face.

“Doctor Qin, what is it?” Hill asked with a serious expression.

“His fatal injury is in his ribs. The mutation is also most severe there. It looks like he died midway through transforming!” Qin Lun said, his expression grim. “Judging from the state of the wound, he died less than half an hour ago…”

“Half an hour? So that means the injured will turn into Phantom Demons within an hour!” Hill’s face changed, and he muttered, “Damn it, these Phantom Demons actually have a strong infectious ability!”

“Lü Kuang, in that Oni Warrior game, was this situation mentioned?” Qin Lun asked cautiously.

“N-no… I don’t know!” Lü Kuang seemed somewhat dazed, his words disjointed. This young man, who had been full of fantasies, was finally beginning to grasp the harsh reality bit by bit after the Phantom Demons appeared.

“What do you mean you don’t know? Our original plans were all made based on the information you provided,” Xiao Dao shouted angrily.

“Kuang, calm down, think carefully!” Jonathan pulled Xiao Dao aside and comfortingly patted Lü Kuang on the shoulder.

“Oni Warrior is a role-playing game; the player’s perspective rarely leaves the main character. In the game’s opening cutscene, it wasn’t mentioned that Phantom Demons are infectious! I really don’t know!” Lü Kuang scratched his head in frustration, a smile uglier than crying appearing on his face.

Everyone fell silent. Blaming Lü Kuang now was useless. Although his information had significant inaccuracies, at least it let everyone know the general situation of the Phantom Demon World, so it wasn’t completely useless.

“What about the plan we just agreed on?” Xiao Dao asked with a dark expression.

Qin Lun and Hill exchanged a glance, frowning slightly. While in the lobby downstairs, they had discussed a method to complete Main Mission One. First, find the injured personnel at the police station and obtain the weapons they had. Then, use gunfire to lure the Phantom Demons over, and use the police station’s layout and obstacles to take them down one by one.

Gunshots could be heard faintly all over the city now. The Paris police and armed forces were engaged in battle with the Phantom Demons, so probably not too many Phantom Demons would appear near the police station at the same time. They believed that with recovery-type food and weapons anointed with Holy Water, completing this plan wouldn’t be too difficult.

Once Main Mission One was completed, these newbie Reincarnators might no longer be content to stay in the police station. Combined with a little actual combat experience, they would naturally regain the courage to participate in Side Missions.

At that time, there was a high chance this newbie team would encounter other Reincarnator teams. Then, Qin Lun and Hill’s Otherworld Mission would be within reach.

However, the unexpected factor of the Phantom Demons being infectious greatly disrupted this plan. Only one body remained in the police station; perhaps all the injured had turned into Phantom Demons and left. More importantly, if the Phantom Demons were infectious, then the Paris police and armed forces would likely collapse very soon. It was a question whether the entire city could hold out until tomorrow.

This way, this newbie team probably couldn’t even hold the police station securely. The greater Paris area had a population of over ten million. Even if only half the citizens turned into Phantom Demons, there would no longer be any tiny safe places left in the city.

They absolutely could not stay in the police station waiting to die! Qin Lun and Hill quickly reached a unanimous opinion.

“The Phantom Demons are infectious. The Paris police and armed forces can probably hold out at most until nightfall. After dark, their defense lines will collapse. We only have half a day to complete Main Mission One!” Hill said thoughtfully.

“Now we only have two choices. One is to find Akechi Samanosuke or Michele as soon as possible, complete Main Mission One with their help, and then find a place to hide.” Qin Lun said calmly. “However, this plan requires us to cross more than half the city to reach our originally planned destinations, the Arc de Triomphe and the Notre-Dame de Paris!”

“No, that plan is too risky. For people like us, dealing with just two Blade Ashigaru would be very difficult. If we encounter other high-level Phantom Demons, we will certainly die!” Jonathan sighed heavily. “We missed the best preparation time. We shouldn’t have slept last night. If we had a whole night to prepare…”

Hearing Jonathan’s words, Lü Kuang’s face rapidly turned ashen.

“Then we only have the final choice!” A slight smile appeared at the corner of Qin Lun’s mouth. He started to speak, then suddenly fell silent.

“Doctor Qin, just say it directly!” Seeing Qin Lun’s expression, everyone’s hearts sank, only Hill still wore a smile.

“Actually… the Phantom Demons being infectious isn’t entirely a bad thing!” Qin Lun narrowed his eyes slightly and said calmly. “Killing a Blade Ashigaru face-to-face is indeed dangerous. However, killing a Phantom Demon that has long been tied up is very easy!”

“A tied-up Phantom Demon?” Everyone was taken aback. Only a flash of understanding crossed Hill’s face, and his gaze towards Qin Lun finally held a trace of wariness.

“Doctor Qin, what do you mean by a tied-up Phantom Demon…” Jonathan asked, somewhat puzzled.

“The Phantom Demons haven’t been in Paris for long, and they descended from the sky directly covering the whole city. I believe many Parisian citizens didn’t have time to take shelter. At the very least, there are probably quite a few people hiding in the buildings near the police station.” Qin Lun paused. “If we start setting things up from now, capture a Blade Ashigaru alive, and then successively trick those hiding citizens into coming to the police station…”

“You…” Jonathan’s face changed dramatically.

…

“Qin Lun, you know perfectly well they can’t do it, so why did you give them such a suggestion?” Hill walked over to the room, leaning close to Qin Lun, while faint sounds of argument from the others came from inside the room.

“Why can’t they do it? For them, this is the safest way!” Qin Lun smiled faintly.

“Why ask when you know the answer? Although they have become Reincarnators, they are still ordinary people at heart. How could they accept personally turning living people into Phantom Demons in such a short time?” Hill shook his head calmly.

“It seems you also oppose this suggestion?” Qin Lun’s eyes gleamed sharply as he glanced sideways at Hill.

Hill remained silent for a while before speaking softly, “Yes, I don’t agree with this plan.”

“Why?” Qin Lun asked with keen interest, turning to look at the Shepherd.

“I am not like you. I have never given up my faith in the Lord. The people I killed were merely lost sheep.” Hill looked deeply at Qin Lun.

“Is that so?” Qin Lun shrugged indifferently.

“You know, before becoming an Apostle, I had a special ability,” Hill said, as if talking to himself. “I could hear other people’s heartbeats and discern their character based on the sound of a person’s heartbeat.

No one’s heartbeat remains constant. Even a seasoned veteran like Disciple Hansen would have emotional fluctuations. Only your heartbeat never changes, like a living corpse. Perhaps you simply don’t care about the final outcome of the suggestion; you only care about what choice they will make.”

“Is that wrong?” Qin Lun asked in surprise. “Doesn’t everyone have a strong curiosity?”

Hill took a deep breath. He wasn’t mistaken. Among all the prisoners who entered the Shattered Starry Sky, Qin Lun was the most dangerous one. The Dissector had no concept of good, nor any concept of evil. In this young man’s mind, all that remained was pure curiosity and the most obsessive interest.

“As an Apostle or a Reincarnator, your suggestion isn’t wrong. It’s just that being human, one must have certain principles!” Hill smiled wryly and shook his head.

“Aren’t we both Serial Killers?” Qin Lun said calmly. “It’s not strange that they disagree, but for you to disagree, isn’t that hypocritical? Is eating human flesh also a principle?”

“I don’t intend to justify my actions,” Hill lowered his head and said calmly. “Any absurd or ridiculous behavior has its reasons. Even cannibalism doesn’t necessarily mean lacking humanity! As long as one learns to respect every part of the food, not wasting the slightest bit, it cannot be considered murder!”

“Humanity?” Watching Hill’s retreating back, Qin Lun slowly sank into thought.

A long time later, Qin Lun shook his head self-deprecatingly and stopped pondering further.

In his last mission, he had experienced two strange emotions. Precisely because of that, he never wanted to experience them again. It was better not to get close to others. Just observe. Observation was enough.

“Doctor Qin, I’m afraid we’ve disappointed you. We probably can’t follow your suggestion! Everyone has decided: we will go to the Arc de Triomphe or the Notre-Dame de Paris to take a look!” Jonathan came out of the room and said gloomily.