Bear School Astartes

Because Maria was wary of Lann, she didn’t alert anyone else when she returned.

This was somewhat good news; at least, during the next process, there wouldn’t be too many people coming to get in the way.

”When did you get here?”

Lann continued to ask.

”I just arrived not long ago,” Maria said softly. ”From the crack in the door, I first saw these... and saw you walking towards him with a syringe, so I rushed in.”

As she spoke, Maria’s slightly trembling hand pointed to the pile of patient corpses on the ground.

The Demon Hunter only needed a moment to understand what was going on.

She first saw the pile of corpses through the door crack and suddenly realized her deception and the suffering these patients endured.

Anger caused her to lose control and charge directly at Lann, who was holding the syringe and walking toward the patients.

But within half a second after making a move, she came to her senses.

These patients’ corpses were obviously accumulated over a long period of experimentation, and Lann had only appeared for a few days in total.

A tall hunter capable of using the Acceleration Technique, with astonishing skills, but never seen in Yan’an, was perhaps suspicious in itself.

But this pile of patient corpses couldn’t possibly be directly related to him.

So back then, Lann could discern from her breathing that she didn’t actually want to kill, but was just in a subconscious state of venting anger.

Thus, the Demon Hunter and Maria were able to mutually hold back at the right moment.

”Are you saying that Gray Blood Disease is man-made?!”

Maria’s voice was colder than ever; upon hearing Lann’s brief description of the situation, she immediately reacted.

Her long leather boots stepped on the wooden floor already soaked with blood as she walked to the experiment table.

Under the dim kerosene lamp, she looked at the shattered tablets.

”Those are little pills distributed by the Good Golden Cup Church.”

There was danger in her tone, and Lann glanced at her sidelong.

He didn’t explain much but picked up a glass stopper from the table and tossed it toward the reagent cabinet beside him.

With a crisp ’pop,’ the sound of breaking glass rang out as a bottle was broken open, followed by a heap of white tablets ’whooshing’ down, just like on the table.

Since ordinary people, even hunters, couldn’t find the ’added ingredients’ in these tablets, the clergy didn’t need to store them too carefully or secretly.

After all, although these drugs were first distributed by the Golden Cup Church, the Healing Church also recognized their detoxifying ability.

Having them in reserve seemed normal and could even be displayed openly on the shelves for everyone to see.

”This is...?!”

Maria was dumbfounded as she watched the pile of tablets poured from the reagent cabinet.

If it were before, she might have looked at this bottle of detoxifying tablets in the research hall laboratory with a calm mind.

But now, on Lann’s experiment table, the bright connection between Gray Blood Disease and the tablets was made.

Maria felt her throat dry, needing to slightly open her mouth to breathe smoothly.

To her, this was unimaginable.

”This... the Church! I mean the Healing Church.” Maria forced herself to calm down, ”The Healing Church has always wanted to aid everyone with Blood Healing, this cannot be...”

Maria probably wanted to say: this cannot be the work of the Healing Church; perhaps it was a smear by the Golden Cup Church?

Maria had lost hope in the clergy at the research hall, but she still held expectations for the mission of the Healing Church.

But Lann didn’t give her the chance to say those words.

Because a drop of alchemical reagent had already dripped into the test tube, onto the patient’s blood, nearly five milliliters in total.

—The blood of a Gray Blood Disease patient in the late stages, after Blood Healing.

’Pop,’ the glass test tube in Lann’s hand exploded directly!

And the Demon Hunter, this time, did not panic; he simply stepped back.

Then a ’plop’ followed by a sticky sound, as the shattered contents of the test tube slammed onto the wooden floor, twitching and writhing like a freshly caught fish.

Maria and Lann silently watched this scene unfold.

Because, from that small test tube, merely less than five milliliters of blood, the moment Lann’s alchemical reagent dropped in...

A creature, the thickness of an adult’s arm, resembling a marine soft-bodied organism, sprang out!

In an instant, a complex smell assaulted their noses.

It mixed with the stench of beast-like patients and the fishy smell of marine creatures.

The concealed scent was now completely exposed!

”What is... this monstrous thing?!”

Maria said with difficulty.

But Lann did not answer her; he only calmly met her gaze.

The answer was, in fact, quite clear.

The only difference between this blood and the blood of ordinary Gray Blood Patients is... it’s been subjected to the research center’s [Blood Therapy]!

”Is that really ’therapy’, Maria.”

The thing that sprang out from a small bit of blood is still flapping on the wooden floor, its sticky limbs slapping away.

However, seemingly unadapted to the environment, this creature, the size of an adult’s arm, is growing weaker in its movements.

As Lann spoke, he walked over. His boots, accentuated by the angular Dragon Scale Armor plates, landed with a ’squelch’ on the soft-bodied creature, sounding like a water balloon being squeezed.

And the tentacles of the soft-bodied creature, which had been constantly moving, suddenly stiffened before collapsing.

”In the exploration of biology and medicine, disease is not just a disaster; it is also a resource.”

”Rare, uncommon diseases are valuable. Because perhaps a never-discovered disease can reveal deeper secrets of life. Those secrets never known to man.”

Lann ground his foot.

”Disease is not just disease, nor merely a target for curing, but a means for probing mysteries.”

”Some knowledge can only be gained through contact with cases.”

Speaking, Lann glanced at the stunned Maria.

”Which category do you think the clergy belong to?”

Maria remained silent, merely pressing down on her tricorn hat, lowering her head.

She did not have the same unwavering trust in the Healing Church as ordinary people. However, on the other hand, her trust in the Healing Church actually stemmed from her teacher’s trust in it.

With the status and experience of the [First Hunter], nothing within the church could escape his notice without a trace.

But if she were to say this, wouldn’t it mean her teacher was deceiving... me?!

No, how could it be...

Maria instinctively shook her head.

”There have already been too many unnecessary conversations.” The Blood Nobility resisted thinking further, redirecting the topic, ”I don’t know who you really are, Lann. But I think maybe we could start by rescuing the patients here!”

”Stop those damn experiments! Then investigate whether Gray Blood Disease is man-made or something else!”

Lann nodded in agreement, but his agreement only extended to the first part of the sentence: ”Yes, we do need to do something... I feel like I’m about to grasp the mystery.”

”The mystery?” Maria lifted her head, her brows lightly furrowing beneath the tricorn hat. ”What are you talking about?”

This was already a pronounced display of emotion for her.

”I am consulting you, Lady Maria.” Lann used the tip of his boot to move the now motionless soft-bodied creature on the floor. ”Are there any saltwater lakes nearby Yan’an? Or a route to import seafood?”

What was discovered in the blood of Gray Blood Patients had too many oceanic features.

Taste, appearance... Lann suspected that it might be some kind of supernatural marine parasite.

”Small fishing village.” Maria also frowned, still unable to grasp what Lann meant, but she still provided an answer. ”Yan’an is originally by the sea, and the small fishing village is the source of Yan’an’s catch...”

Halfway through her sentence, Maria faltered.

Lann obviously noticed the faltering.

”Small fishing village? What’s up with that small fishing village?”

”This makes sense!” Maria suddenly steadied herself. ”The church... no! My teacher told me the small fishing village is indeed the source of the Gray Blood Disease. As long as the hunters hunt down and kill a certain special monster there, the plague will disappear!”

”Wait!” This time, it was Lann’s turn to be slightly wide-eyed, ”You said ’hunters’, ’hunt’?”

”You organized so many Old Hunters just to go to that small fishing village?!”

”The target of the Big Hunt is there?!”

Lann became unprecedentedly serious. Although this differed little from his previous calm demeanor, Maria still sensed the change.

The Demon Hunter glanced at the samples on the experiment table that he had verified, those gross parasites.

Then, decisively turned his head to inquire of Maria: ”You said you were returning, so does that mean you’ll go to the small fishing village, right?”

”Let’s move!”

Maria did not know why Lann suddenly became serious, but the Demon Hunter knew in his heart.

—The clues were converging!

In the deepest, most dangerous nightmare hidden in Yan’an, Simon was responsible for tracking the secrets of the Big Hunt.

Lann chose the path of the Gray Blood Disease plague.

And now, the crossroads between the two paths had already appeared! This often means... the truth and the crucial twist have arrived!

Simon, in this nightmare, had died countless times, but now, they were definitely closer to the secret of the nightmare than ever before!

The key to this nightmare was probably in that small fishing village!

Maria did not refuse.

Whether it was out of a hunter’s duty or the urge to verify a certain idea, she was certainly going back to the small fishing village.

Her teacher wouldn’t deceive her... Maria was firmly convinced of this.

By being wary of Lann, she witnessed so much information in such a short time, her mind was impacted, her kindness toyed with...

She firmly believed that once she reached the small fishing village, everything would be revealed.