Virus King - Chapter 149

Chapter 149: The Black Death! Medieval West!

TL: YYang

[Your Han King: Holy crap! Holy crap! Holy crap!]

[Yezi: @Your Han King, what’s wrong, Xiao Han? Have you gone mad?!]

[I’m Really Not a Sword Immortal: When is Old Dream waking up? And what about White Emperor? I’m still waiting for the two of them to carry me through a dungeon…]

[Your Han King: @I’m Really Not a Sword Immortal, don’t even think about it. White Emperor probably doesn’t have time to help you. You guys have no idea what I just saw!]

[Overlord: @Your Han King, can you stop beating around the bush?!]

[True False Illusion: +1!]

[…]

Finally, after receiving a response from the group, Han Xiao continued to share his thrilling account, clearly savoring the moment.

[Your Han King: White Emperor is too strong! An insanely powerful NPC just kneeled before him, and it seems like he’s about to begin a mission to transfer to an SSS-Rank profession. The craziest part is that White Emperor actually needs two SSS Profession Scrolls! I won’t say much more, though. While White Emperor didn’t explicitly forbid me from saying anything, the rest you’ll have to figure out for yourselves!]

[Heir to the Five-Strike Lightning Whip: Damn it! My million gold coins are still far from enough!]

[King Liu: I haven’t even seen a single Profession Scroll yet! And White Emperor’s already asking for two SSS Profession Scrolls? This is insane!]

[Crow: How many people have even made it past level 6 yet? Leveling up is way too hard! I miss the days when Old Dream and White Emperor carried us through dungeons. That was the way to level up!]

[Shui Chuan: I did the math. Killing same-level low-tier zombies gives you 1 experience point. If your level surpasses theirs, you only get a tenth of that. Surpass by two levels, and it’s just one percent. So leveling up by killing low-tier zombies is practically impossible. Dungeons, secret realms, and high-level creatures are much more efficient.]

[I’m Really Not a Sword Immortal: When is White Emperor coming out? I want to join a dungeon run and experience the joy of leveling up like a rocket…]

The lively atmosphere of Group Chat No. 001 was as vibrant as ever.

However, while the group was abuzz with discussions, the subject of their chatter, Chen Bai, had already arrived in a highly unusual place!

In his previous life, Chen Bai had explored countless secret realm dungeons.

They came in all forms. Some were straightforward kill-to-clear dungeons for leveling up.

Others were story-driven mystery-solving dungeons.

And then there were the utterly bizarre ones.

The strangest by far had been the dungeon where he obtained the Time Hourglass.

That dungeon consisted of nothing but a single river.

Chen Bai sat in a small boat, rowing endlessly. At first, he rowed downstream for what felt like an eternity, but it led nowhere. Then, he turned and rowed upstream for just as long.

Finally, the small boat transformed into the Time Hourglass, allowing him to escape that peculiar dungeon.

Now, the world before him wasn’t as outright bizarre as that river dungeon, but it gave him a similar sense of detachment and unease.

He stood atop a small hill, looking out over a city.

No, it wasn’t just a city. This was unmistakably a medieval Western town.

The architecture, though once impressive, was dilapidated and crumbling, clearly not preserved with care.

Above, the light of the setting sun spilled like blood, casting a grim and cruel shadow over everything.

The land and the town below felt lifeless. Despite it being midday, every household’s doors were tightly shut. The entire city felt like a ghost town.

The only signs of life came from the occasional rats scurrying in dark corners, and the people who lay collapsed in shadowy alleyways, wracked by fits of violent coughing—

People on the verge of death.

With each cough, they spat out large quantities of blood.

Chen Bai, with his unparalleled expertise in plagues, fungi, and viruses, immediately recognized the symptoms.

The plague.

Caused by the bacterium yersinia pestis, commonly known as the plague bacillus.

Of course, for most, such technical terms didn’t carry much weight.

There was a more widely known name for it:

The Black Death.

Chen Bai blinked, his mind churning. At last, he understood what kind of place he had arrived in.

The peak of the Black Death outbreak in medieval Europe!

In mere months to a few years, tens of millions of people perished!

Chen Bai narrowed his eyes, gazing at the massive city before him, a place that seemed like a living hell on earth.

The medieval West during the reign of the Black Death was one of the harshest periods in history. It was also a time when the authority of the church reached its lowest ebb.

At this moment, Chen Bai began to understand why the catalyst for his SSS-Rank Profession Scroll—the Plague Bishop—had sacrificed his life to open a gateway to this historical era.

In that instant, a notification from the Cosmic Will sounded in the depths of Chen Bai’s mind.

…

[Hidden condition fulfilled! Branch mission ‘Black Death (SSS)’ under ‘Cult of the Plague (SSS)’ triggered!]

[Black Death (SSS-Rank Mission)]

[Mission Description: In Blue Star’s history, the Black Death caused the death of at least 80 million people. The plague ravaged these lands, and the Cult of the Plague is uniquely positioned to harvest the seeds of these deadly viruses.

At the same time, in this world steeped in plague, disease, and despair, the cult has the potential to thrive and grow!]

[Mission Objective: Gather the fungal seeds of the Black Death and other historic plagues—collect as many as possible!]

[Mission Reward: All collected plague fungal seeds will form the ultimate plague-based Profession Scroll! (Grade depends on mission completion.)]

…

As expected!

Chen Bai exhaled deeply.

Whether or not this world possessed transcendent powers was no longer relevant. It was clear that this secret realm dungeon wasn’t a place meant to be conquered through combat and slaughter.

Leaping off the small hill, Chen Bai landed gracefully. The Darklight Virus was still in effect, giving him a momentary sense of relief.

He approached the city slowly. On the city wall, a word stood out: Florence!

Florence?!

Chen Bai’s heart skipped a beat. No wonder this city stretched endlessly into the horizon. Florence, the center of Western art, a world-renowned metropolis.

However, this illustrious city of later ages now lay without even a gatekeeper.

It was like hell on earth.

No, perhaps this was hell on earth.

In a corner of the city, a vagrant watched as a lone figure slowly entered through the city gates.

The man coughed violently, tasting rust and blood in his mouth.

His swollen neck made it nearly impossible for him to breathe.

His fever burned so high that even the city’s cold winds couldn’t lower it in the slightest.

His name was Henry, a common name, unnoticed and unremarkable.

Now, he was about to descend into the depths of hell.

No, perhaps this was already hell.

The light in the man’s eyes grew dim. But just then, the figure entering through the city gates approached him, extended a hand, and spoke in awkward, broken language:

“Poor child, do you want to live?”

Instantly, Henry’s eyes widened in shock as he stared at the figure.

The figure wore a dark green robe, styled like a priest’s cassock from the church, but with a peculiar bird-beak mask.

Was this a servant of Death? Or a messenger of the plague?