Lynch had never intended to be a savior who saved the world, especially not a virtual one.
In his past life, he had actually been quite a traditional person, believing that an honorable man should remain righteous even when unseen.
And simply remaining righteous was enough.
To act with a clear conscience, without betraying his principles just because this place was fake—that was his bottom line. As for everything else, as long as he could complete his mission, he didn't care too much about how things ultimately turned out.
All he wanted was to peacefully grow human-faced fruit to complete his task, and incidentally observe what characteristics Mordiggian's disease would take on once it converted into a plague. That was all.
However, although the shifts in history had allowed him to exceed his secondary goal, his primary objective had turned into a pipe dream. The effort he had put into resolving the city's crises over the past few days was merely to secure a stable rear guard so he could complete his task smoothly.
His progress had already been rocky, and whether he could harvest anything in the end was far from guaranteed. Still, there had at least been hope. Now, with this whole ordeal, even that final shred of hope might be shattered. If things went sideways, even their group would be trapped here.
“It's not over yet. Until the very last moment, we must never give up so easily.” Having stepped away from Dr. Sven with the other three, Lynch gritted his teeth and said solemnly, “We still have a chance. As long as we can find that corpse, we can regain the upper hand.”
Officer Natalie shook her head. “Didn't you say that if the corpse is destroyed, the relic memory might be suppressed?”
“That was just my speculation; it might not necessarily be true,” Lynch said after a moment's hesitation. “Besides, I said find the corpse, not destroy it.”
“Hmm?”
“In making such a huge scene in Norin, the city lord might just want to resurrect his youngest son. But would Old Sven expend so much effort merely to help the city lord fulfill his wish? I don't buy it. I think he definitely has an ulterior motive.”
“So what is his motive?”
“I don't know—maybe it really is just for this plague. But if his only goal were the plague, he wouldn't need to risk keeping the corpse after succeeding. Since he preserved the corpse and protected it so well, I believe this resurrected body must be a crucial tool for him. Once we control the corpse, we'll have a hostage. If we can force Old Sven to give us just one extra day, we can complete our task. After that, everyone can fend for themselves.”
The women wore strange expressions. After going in a circle, they had indeed returned to the ultimate goal of finding the corpse.
Fate truly had planned everything out.
In reality, finding little Jack's resurrected corpse would not be easy.
Last night, Knight Terry had failed to keep up with the city lord's group, losing track of little Jack and Steward Locke. Its current whereabouts were unknown. While there was still a chance it remained in the City Lord's residence, the likelihood had decreased significantly.
Because this morning, before going to harvest the heads, the four had egged Terry on, convincing him to endure his fear and return to the City Lord's residence to probe Steward Locke about the situation. However, Steward Locke had not returned, and no one knew where he had taken little Jack.
Thus, the difficulty of finding the corpse had skyrocketed. Although a city of over eight thousand people was not large, trying to find two people hiding their identities was still like searching for a needle in a haystack.
However, if Lynch's analysis was correct, given how important the corpse was to Old Sven, he was unlikely to let it remain out of his control for long. Last night, he had temporarily left the corpse's side to unleash the infected and launch a surprise attack on the fortress, but as soon as he had the chance, he would definitely return to the corpse immediately.
As long as they found Old Sven, they would most likely find the corpse.
Which was why they had laid that ambush yesterday targeting the likely mastermind.
Although Lynch had nearly gotten himself killed, he still felt it was worth it. After all, he hadn't died, and he had even obtained the man's fresh blood.
【Arcana: Blood Trace】
By specially preserving fresh blood that had left a wound within five minutes, one could use an arcana to sense the location of the blood's owner within twenty-four hours.
The requirements for casting materials were extremely stringent, making this arcana impractical. Fortunately, Miss Diana had learned it, and last night's ambush had been a great success.
Officer Natalie pulled out a small glass vial containing a layer of dried blood at the bottom.
Even with the vial sealed, a rancid stench rushed into their nostrils—a foul odor unique to ghoul blood.
This was their haul from last night: Old Sven's blood. Relying on it, they might just be able to locate the corpse.
However, putting all their eggs in one basket was extremely dangerous and usually ended in failure, so the group decided to execute two plans simultaneously.
Dr. Sven was responsible for compounding as much medicine as possible, while Knight Terry and his soldiers organized the entire city's population to come to the fortress, receive the medicine, and take it on the spot.
This actually saved trouble—there was no need to distinguish between those who were injured or infected and those who were not. Everyone in the city would become infected, so every single person had to take it.
Organizing a citywide vaccination campaign in this era was actually very difficult. No one had experience, including Diana, a professional doctor from the Fifth Age.
But Lynch did. Although no one knew why he possessed such knowledge, he offered dozens of suggestions. While some were unsuitable for such a small city, most were remarkably targeted—practical details that would be hard to anticipate without real-world experience.
This drew continuous marveling from Miss Diana, who praised Mr. Lynch as a treasure trove of a man—a natural expert at handling public affairs.
Heh, I'll just smile and say nothing.
Lynch really couldn't answer her. Though the source of his experience was a bit subtle, it was, after all, proven and effective experience tested in practice, making it quite easy to handle a small-scale situation of eight thousand people. Under Lynch's guidance, the remaining fewer than two hundred soldiers sprang into action. The entire city was placed under martial law; without a soldier accompanying them, no one was permitted to leave their residence. Afterward, residents were guided district by district to the fortress to take the medicine, then escorted back to their homes under soldier supervision.
But before that, there was still one problem to solve.
The city lord.
To carry out such a massive operation in the city, they needed the city lord's consent; otherwise, it would be no different from a rebellion. Terry had to report to the city lord first, or the soldiers might not support him.
However, the city lord himself was deeply tied to this affair. Would he really agree?
To prevent Terry from embarking on a one-way trip, the four decided to accompany him to see the city lord before going off to track Old Sven.
It would be best if the city lord did not object to martial law. If he did, the four would persuade him; if he truly refused to listen, the four were somewhat skilled in techniques that encouraged people to keep their opinions to themselves. In any case, with Terry acting as their insider, handling the City Lord's residence's defenses should pose no problem.
Besides, the four also wanted to check the basement again. If they could find the corpse directly, it would save them the trouble of tracking it down.
Terry hesitated for a while, but ultimately reserved his objections—proving that the four's techniques were indeed effective.
Thus, the soldiers began secretly preparing for martial law, while Terry led the four openly into the City Lord's residence.
The City Lord's residence was a large castle that perfectly matched Lynch's imagination of a medieval fortress. Inside, all seemed quiet and peaceful; guards were laughing and joking with Knight Terry without a trace of tension.
The group ventured deep into the magnificent castle. Just as they were about to reach the castle hall on the second floor, Terry suddenly stopped in his tracks.
At the end of the corridor, a familiar figure appeared.
Steward Locke was walking out of the hall where the city lord was, making his way down the corridor.
Everyone in the group had met Locke before, but today they noticed his steps were somewhat stiff. He turned a blind eye to Terry, an acquaintance he had chatted with until midnight just the night before, passing right by them with his head bowed. Only as he brushed past did he glance up once, causing the group to gasp in horror.
In his pair of blood-red eyes lay an indescribable madness.
He was infected, too.
Amid their shock, Locke had already slowly turned and walked away, leaving behind only a stiff, retreating figure.
Lynch and the other three finally understood what a controlled infected felt like, but...
He just came out from inside, so what about the city lord?
Everyone looked toward the castle hall at the same time.
Rate on N.U.
