Chapter 487: 487

Chapter 487: Leprosy Village

Leprosy was born from mycobacterium leprae. It was a chronic infection that had long since been extinguished on Earth.

But when Earthlings transmigrated to the Other World, a lot of the viruses on Earth were stimulated by the environment of the Other World and mutated into dozens or even hundreds of subtypes, as if they went through the Big Bang.

Many of Earth’s viruses also fused bizarrely with the viruses of the Other World and gave birth to the zombie virus that was known as the king of all viruses.

There were more than one hundred subtypes of zombie virus, but not all of them were fatal.

However, most of them would eat the human body and leave them disfigured and deformed. They were even more terrifying than the lepers from ancient times.

Some zombie virus subtypes would even activate the gene fragments that had been lying dormant for millions of years in the depths of human cells and humans would show all sorts of atavism symptoms.

They would grow scales, feathers, fangs, and claws. Their senses would become sharper, but their brains would shrink at a rapid pace, and slowly, they would become monsters in human skin.

This process was known as monsterification.

Among the one hundred or so subtypes, only one subtype would not affect a human’s normal state, emotions, and logical thinking.

Instead, it would completely change the mitochondrias’ shapes and functions in the human cells. They would directly absorb, store, and release spirit energy. Because of it, humans awakened to supernatural powers and became superhumans.

From this angle, only one person from among one hundred zombie virus infectees was lucky enough to become a superhuman.

The remaining ninety-nine unlucky souls ended up as neither human nor monster, even if they did not die.

Decades ago when societal order had collapsed and everything was bloody, dark, and savage, infectees were not welcomed.

There was no need to even mention the people who turned completely into zombies after the virus exploded in their bodies. What welcomed them was only weapons and bullets.

But even if someone showed lighter symptoms and displayed a certain degree of emotion and rationality, they were still not accepted by the other forces of power because of their deformed and ugly appearances.

In truth, most of the infectees were not that infectious.

Or rather, after the first ten years of brutal elimination, the Earthlings with low immune systems had all died and those who were lucky enough to survive had immune systems that were ten times stronger than of people on Earth Realm, even though they looked like any other average person. They were not easily infected by the zombie virus.

But logic and rationality never had a place before fear.

The survivors who had suffered through the zombies and watched their friends die under their claws needed a channel to vent their fear.

Besides, most of the infectees usually were disfigured and were deformed. They could not help to fend off the zombies and monsters nor build tall walls or dig shelters to expand the shelter.

If they joined any group, they would only waste food and reduce the chances of survival for the normal people in the group.

The brutal laws of survival forced the healthy and normal survivors to chase the lightly infected people with deformed appearances out of their shelters and make them survive on their own.

The lightly infected men and women had no choice. They could only rely on each other and struggle to survive.

Their settlement was known as Leprosy Village. It bore the same meaning as the leprosy villages in history.

It was incredibly difficult to survive in the Other World.

Even the healthy adults with all their limbs intact and armed to the teeth might not be able to fend off the zombies and monsters’ attacks.

Most of the leprosy villages containing the lightly infected people were destroyed by zombies and monsters within a year after they were built. No one knew if anyone there survived.

This could be considered a black smudge in the brutal history of Dragon City over the past half a century.

Many of the young adults and teenagers who were born during the golden age after Dragon City regained its order once the Survival Committee and Supernatural Tower were built had no idea about the existence of the lightly infected people and the leprosy villages.

Even Meng Chao did not expect that there would still be lightly infected men and women in the lair.

“The citizens of Leprosy Village aren’t all zombie virus infectees,” Chen Hao explained through the pain. “After all, it has been around forty years since the zombie crisis. The first batch of infectees is long dead.

“But they left behind a lot of descendants, and they’re all strange, hideous-looking people. If they ran out, they would definitely be looked down upon by normal people.

“In the past, their parents fled to the depths of the lair to live like dogs because normal people would not accept them. As time passed, they grew used to this lifestyle and did not want to go out to bring contempt on themselves.

“Of course, a normal person won’t run to Leprosy Village if they have nothing to do there. But those people should not be infectious. After all, they’re the second generation and third generation carriers. The virus would have become weaker a long time ago.

“Besides, even though the descendants of the infectees are deformed and hideous, for the sake of survival, they will do anything. They have some tricks that only they can do due to their mutations, and the gangs often hire them to do dirty work that they don’t want to do or that isn’t easy to do.

“Also, Leprosy Village has its own black market, martial arts lab, and weapons modification workshop. Leprosy Village has always brought out a lot of weapons that are deviant and really unstable, but powerful, as well as gene medicine that is really effective but has great side effects. No one knows what’s going on there, but no one is willing to go into Leprosy Village to investigate, either.

“In any case, Leprosy Village is the most guarded and dangerous place in the lair. Many people outside say that the lair is Dragon City’s toilet. If that’s the case, Leprosy Village is the septic tank under the toilet.

“The descendants of the infectees are very averse to normal, healthy people, and they have strong animosity to superhumans. Perhaps it’s because you turned into dazzling, superior, powerful fighters while they ended up as people with disfigured limbs even though you were all infected with the zombie virus.

“Fortunately, these people know just how strong the outside world is, so they don’t come out readily. If they do, they wrap themselves up tightly and don’t reveal even an inch of skin that could scare others.

“I think, a long time ago, Saber Jin Wanhao came out to represent Golden Tooth Lair and made an agreement with Leprosy Village. Neither side would bother each other, and the gangs in the lair would not cut off the paths of survival for Leprosy Village. Meanwhile, Leprosy Village would not cause any trouble in the lair. I think that’s what happened.”

Chen Hao was worried that if he were slightly slower, Meng Chao would break a few more of his bones.

He told Meng Chao everything, from the things that he should and things that he should not.

Meng Chao told Chen Hao to show the location of Leprosy Village on the map.

He examined it closely with Zhou Chong and noticed that it was located at the center of the lair, within the territory of the gangs.

Components similar to the Deification Capsule were also discovered in the underground drain of nearby regions.

“Are the mastermind and the pharmacy creating the Deification Capsules both hidden in Leprosy Village?”

Meng Chao and Zhou Chong looked at each other. They felt that this possibility was high.

“The boss only mentioned Leprosy Village.”

Meng Chao thought about it and asked, “Leprosy Village is huge. How do you send the goods inside?”

“There is a circle of buildings at the perimeter of Leprosy Village. All the windows are shut tight, and there is a deep drain around it. All sorts of household waste is piled up in it, and it’s swimming in liquid waste from various companies and labs.

“As time went on, it began to stink and got very sticky. It also became highly corrosive, like a swamp. The gangs set up high-power voltage nets on our side of the drain. There are also anti-aircraft machine guns around it, because they’re worried that the descendants of the infected will sneak out,” Chen Hao explained.

“There’s only one way out of the Leprosy Village, and that’s through a small bridge over the drain. There is an empty expanse by the side of the bridge, which can be considered a black market. It’s for the people in Leprosy Village to make trades with the people outside and do some shady business.

“When lair citizens say that they visit Leprosy Village, they’re really just going to the black market. If anything is to be delivered into Leprosy Village, the rollerbladers put it in the storage cupboard of the black market.”

Meng Chao and Zhou Chong discussed with each other and delivered the information to the command center.

“The target might be hiding in the lair’s Leprosy Village,” Zhou Chao said through gritted teeth. “We have to be prepared to sneak into Leprosy Village to capture the target. The greatest problem right now is that we know nothing about the village.

“We don’t know the building structures, the distribution of firepower, how many people there are inside, their attitude to the Survival Committee as well as toward us, whether there are wanted criminals and lost people in hiding lying low there, and whether there are high-end fighting powers that are above Heaven Realm among them!

“If it were a normal area in the lair, we could use the neural tactical data link interactor to get all the information as well as call for support from the gangs. Then, we’d be able to handle it with the capture squad that we currently have.

“I don’t have any confidence handling Leprosy Village when it’s shrouded in mystery. I can’t even promise that we won’t cause major casualties.

“Command Center, please send reinforcements immediately to aid us in this operation!”

The command center was silent for a while, then Nie Chenglong’s slightly tired and resigned voice appeared. “Captain Zhou, we’re gathering reinforcements… but you have to be prepared for the possibility of fighting against the enemy before reinforcements arrive.”

Man-eating Shark Zhou Chong’s eyes went wide. “What do you mean?”

“Monster hordes have appeared.” Nie Chenglong’s voice was incredibly grave. “Three minutes ago, huge monster hordes appeared simultaneously at more than ten frontlines around Dragon City. The monster civilization has launched another war-level offense after the Raging Waves Battle!”

“What?!”

Meng Chao, Zhou Chong, and all the veteran hunters were stunned.

Through the neural data link, the images of dozens of forward operating bases, crystal mining sites, smelting plants, and developing lands were projected on their retina.

In an instant, they saw a raging sea of blood and fierce flames spreading far and wide!