Chapter Summary:
“Summary of Phases: Currently, it can be confirmed that BS61-1, commonly known as the Withering Plague, is an artificially created extraordinary plague involving extremely deep mysteries of the ‘Cup,’ with highly advanced technical capabilities, most likely originating from the hands of the southern cult.
“BS61-1 can spread through water sources, respiration, bl**d, and other forms. Symptoms mainly include weakness and fatigue; in later stages, nausea and severe pain often accompany the disease, with low chances of d*ath or complications. The pathogen has a significant advantage in microscopic biological competition and almost no natural countermeasures exist, including human resistance.
“BS61-1 possesses extremely strong and rapid autonomous adaptive mutation and evolution capabilities. Its transmission, pathogenic, and adaptability powers rapidly increase over time, with adaptability improving even more rapidly during its conflict with human resistance, even under the influence of Redemption Power.
“The micro-pathogens of BS61-1 have highly efficient structures, where nearly all components are effective, aiding in its transmission, pathogenicity, and adaptability. This is a situation not found in natural evolution of pathogens.
“BS61-1 has the characteristic of hyperspace unity, which is key to its rapid evolution. BS61-1 appears to possess a certain degree of unified intelligence, capable of recognizing transmission, pathogenicity, and adaptability, continuously adjusting the direction of its mutations.
“The direction of mutation is random. Among the massive amount of pathogens constantly mutating, any individual with characteristics beneficial to transmission, pathogenicity, and adaptability will be selected by the collective consciousness of BS61-1, serving as a template influencing other individuals, leading to rapid evolution and unification, eliminating individual differences.
“Because all pathogen individuals contribute to overall evolution, BS61-1’s evolutionary speed is positively correlated with the number of infected individuals, accelerating as more people are infected.
“The primary symptom of BS61-1 is weakness. Observations suggest this is due to the pathogen extracting the ‘Cup’ from the infected, like a tumor consuming the patient’s vitality. More ‘Cup’ is extracted than needed for the pathogen’s survival and proliferation, with the excess possibly sent elsewhere via unique hyperspace connections.
“Research indicates that the will or ‘soul’ of BS61-1 exists within all individuals of the species, with no single dominant leader. It is unlikely that someone controls BS61-1 remotely. The infection process is similar to general plagues, while evolution follows a set mechanism.
“The intellect of BS61-1’s will is limited but strictly adheres to predetermined mechanisms for overall evolution.
“Mechanism One: Autonomous evolution of BS61-1 does not stop. Mechanism Two: Despite variations among individuals due to natural mutations, BS61-1 undergoes a daily collective assimilation, selecting superior traits and eliminating others, achieving evolution and removing differences.
“Mechanism Three: Superior traits are judged based on transmission, pathogenicity, and adaptability. Variants enhancing these three are considered superior. Adaptability is prioritized, followed by transmission and pathogenicity.
“Prioritizing adaptability suggests the designer prioritized survival over other aspects, likely targeting those with Redemption Power. This exacerbates BS61-1’s evolution, reducing the effectiveness of Redemption Power.
“BS61-1… is the most powerful and tenacious plague I’ve encountered, beyond my capabilities to solve. Not only me, but even Redemptioners at the Red Tier level would struggle. The clearer it becomes, the more despairing I feel…
“However, now is not the time to give up. With no hope in Mu Fa, Bussairite must rely on me. Even if there’s no solution, I must find one…”
…
In the underground library of the ancient city of Bastis, the zombie puppet of Dorothy sat in the laboratory once belonging to Gemar, a member of the Savior’s Incarnation Sect. She looked at the stack of experiment logs and personal diaries on the table.
Through these written records, Dorothy understood how the doctors of the Savior’s Incarnation Sect had fought against the extraordinary plague in the past months. She couldn’t help but sigh.
“These people… they had a hard time…”
Sitting in her tent, Dorothy murmured softly, reflecting on how the doctors led by Gemar had done their best to fight the Withering Plague, though ultimately, they faced a tragic end.
‘There were internal problems, and dealing with such a powerful extraordinary plague was already quite challenging. Gemar managed to understand the Withering Plague so clearly, showing exceptional ability. Her competence seems much higher than the Redemption Path of the Church’s White Chalk, although not as high as Vania’s.’
Dorothy thought to herself, considering the difficulty of the Holy Mother’s Path or Redemption Path within the Radiant Church. To use abilities effectively to heal illnesses and injuries, one needs profound medical knowledge.
Studying medicine is difficult. The Church uses a method allowing Redemptioners to assist their healing through prayer to the Holy Mother. Thus, generally, Redemptioners at the White Chalk and Black Earth levels lack medical knowledge, focusing on it only at the Red Tier.
The Church has methods to save learning costs for Redemptioners, but these methods require praying to the Holy Mother. Since the Savior’s Incarnation Sect denies the Three Saints, their Redemptioners must learn medicine directly. This results in fewer Redemptioners and inconsistent treatment efficiency.
Redemptioners at Black Earth and White Chalk levels need to learn medicine directly, which affects their numbers and treatment efficiency but also produces highly skilled Redemptioners like Gemar. Her medical and experimental skills surpass those of her peers in the Church.
But unfortunately, even with her abilities, understanding the Withering Plague doesn’t help in combating it.
‘I don’t know if Gemar could handle BS61-1, but just thinking about it gives me a headache…’
Scanning Gemar’s experiment logs, Dorothy pondered. Initially, she hoped to find some clues for developing a vaccine or cure, but now, it seemed impossible.
‘The evolution speed of BS61-1 is too fast, especially its adaptability. Antibodies from those who recovered quickly become ineffective. What kind of vaccine or cure could work? Fighting this in the medical field is nearly impossible.
‘Originally, we thought finding the entity hosting the virus’s ‘soul’ or will could help. But Gemar’s logs say there’s no such entity, and the will is distributed among all individuals… That makes things even harder. We can’t take out the king when everyone is the king…’
Frowning slightly, Dorothy thought. She initially believed a Longevity Cult leader controlled the plague, but now realized BS61-1 operates autonomously.
‘It’s troublesome when a fight can’t solve the problem…’
Ruffling her head, Dorothy mused, realizing her current abilities couldn’t handle such a super plague. While protecting herself and others was possible, solving the epidemic socially was too difficult.
‘Sigh… It seems resolving the situation in Bussairite is impossible. I should find Heoperis and get the promotion ceremony. No point getting involved here.
‘Vania’s promotion ceremony… I’ll figure something out elsewhere. Stay here for a few days, treat patients, spread faith, and research the Withering Plague. Provide a preliminary report to Sacred Summit. If they see Vania isn’t here for show, everything should be fine…’
Dorothy thought to herself, deciding to temporarily ignore the Withering Plague. She controlled the zombie puppet to leave Gemar’s laboratory and entered the underground library, scanning the piles of books and papers on the stone tables.
‘Now, it’s time to focus on finding Heoperis… Heoperis only exists in history. Hopefully, I can find some clues…’
Dorothy thought, then controlled the many zombie puppets scattered throughout Bastis to gather towards the library. Reviewing historical books in such a short time required significant effort.
…
During the day in Bastis, the decaying atmosphere permeated everywhere. People, lethargic and powerless, continued their daily lives.
On the towering walls of Bastis, Javadin, a corpulent, bald man, stood there. As the leader of the Longevity Cult in Bastis, he observed the distant scene, his gaze fixed on the lakeside camp of the Church delegation.
“Javadin, the followers of the Evil God of Illumination still haven’t left. Are they preparing to attack?” asked a cult member holding a weapon, speaking in an odd tribal language with concern. Javadin silently replied.
“If they wanted to attack, they would have done so already. Our forces can’t withstand their assault. They’re waiting because they have the common folk as shields. The nun wouldn’t dare act unless she wants to continue pretending her false ‘compassion.’”
Javadin said sternly. Listening to his words, the cult member spoke again.
“So, we just wait here until they can’t hold on and retreat?”
“No, since they’ve come to our territory, we won’t let them escape easily. Amayaba, the Great Chief, is already acting. He has prepared some small tests for the little nun of the evil god.” Javadin said. The guard beside him then asked doubtfully.
“What tests? Why test the enemy?”
“I don’t know the specifics, but the Great Chief is curious how long the nun’s broad compassion can endure in these tests…”
