Chapter 177: Mark of Calamity |
"What kind of nonsense is this God of Calamity anyway?"
"It is a blasphemous cult from a long time ago," Sister Elizabeth explained to Levi.
"They believe that disaster is an inherent part of human progress—a whetstone to temper civilization. To them, calamity is a trial sent to humanity by the Holy Lord, and only by overcoming these trials can mankind truly advance."
"Doesn't sound too bizarre when you put it that way," Levi remarked after listening. He felt the core philosophy wasn't entirely malicious; it actually carried a strange sort of positive energy.
It was exactly as the faith described: humanity only had a future if they endured these disasters. If they failed to survive, they died.
That was simply the harsh reality.
"It is not merely a belief system."
"If it's not just a belief, what else can they do? Don't tell me they can actually manufacture disasters?" Levi cracked a joke, but Elizabeth didn't smile.
"You aren't serious, are you?"
"I thought as much." If these people could artificially trigger earthquakes, tsunamis, or volcanic eruptions, they would be frighteningly powerful.
"However, whenever a calamity occurs on the continent, these calamity believers will surface to claim responsibility. They declare it to be the Holy Lord's trial for humanity, an ordeal that mankind must endure."
"..."
Now that was just asking for a beating. A disaster was a disaster at the end of the day, leaving countless casualties in its wake. No matter how one spun it, it was never a good thing.
"Furthermore, they do intentionally engineer man-made catastrophes."
"How?"
"According to Church archives, their shadow can be found behind several historical plagues. These fanatics would even intentionally infect themselves with a disease, then travel to other cities to spread it. Beyond that, high-ranking calamity believers choose to ignite warfare through various machinations. They have orchestrated several continent-spanning wars from behind the scenes."
"..."
That wasn't funny at all.
"What about now? What happened to these cultists?"
"The Holy Lord Church once joined forces with various nations to launch a comprehensive crackdown. At least on the surface, worship of the God of Calamity completely vanished after that."
"Are you certain this is the symbol of the God of Calamity?"
"Absolutely certain. The Mark of Calamity." Elizabeth gave a highly definitive answer, then pointed to the eye in the center of the pattern.
"The cultists believe the Holy Lord is a trinity consisting of good, evil, and neutrality. Calamity is the manifestation and representative of the Holy Lord's evil side—a necessary evil in this world. Because of this, the All-Seeing Eye they draw features a malevolent, beast-like pupil. This is precisely what makes them so troublesome; they know full well that what they do is evil, but they do not believe it is wrong. They view it as a necessary sacrifice to maintain the balance of the world."
"Well, compared to hypocrites who try to beautify their actions, straightforward villains are indeed more troublesome."
When normal people did bad things, they usually looked for an excuse, claiming they had no choice. This lot didn't even bother to act.
They straight up told you they were here to ruin your day, inviting you to kill them if you could. What was even more sickening was that even if you killed them, they would die with a look of utter fulfillment, as if they had successfully done their duty. After all, forcing humanity to overcome disaster was the foundational logic of their faith. Perhaps these cultists truly believed they were the kindling fueling the bright flame of human civilization.
They committed atrocities worthy of demons, yet their consciences remained perfectly clear, driven by a self-sacrificing willpower to dedicate themselves to human progress. It was genuinely repulsive.
"Speaking of which, back when I was in Steel City, that Luddite leader also said some rather interesting things. Something about how both thunder and rain are blessings from the Holy Lord..."
After listening to Elizabeth's explanation, Levi suddenly recalled the leader of the rioters he had encountered inside the Central Data Tower of Steel City. After being captured, the man had screamed and shouted all sorts of incoherent nonsense. Looking back at it now through the lens of Elizabeth's information, something felt distinctly off.
"The Luddites are highly likely to be puppets pushed forward by the calamity believers. That would not be surprising." Elizabeth appeared quite calm about the matter.
"The former followers of the God of Calamity maintained countless ties with various anti-government organizations. Helping other groups attack and destabilize human society could be considered their daily routine."
Well, Well. No wonder they had been ruthlessly suppressed. What ruler wouldn't despise a terrorist organization that carried out indiscriminate attacks while wrapping themselves in a high-and-mighty ideology?
Of course, according to Elizabeth's logic, those fanatics wouldn't view the Luddites' destruction of steam machinery as holding human civilization back. Instead, they would plausibly argue that if humanity couldn't even overcome an obstacle like Luddism, then the Industrial Revolution was nothing more than a joke.
If he ever encountered these calamity believers in the future, it would be best to just kill them on the spot. Leaving them alive would only bring harm.
"There is another issue. There are some mutated creatures down below that are very difficult to handle."
"More troublesome than the ordinary Risen Dead?"
"Yes."
Levi gave Elizabeth a brief description of the zombie variants he had encountered, causing her brow to furrow.
"Though I guessed mutations would occur, I did not expect them to happen so quickly..."
"Have you found a way to cure the plague?"
"Not yet." Elizabeth shook her head.
"We have employed several healing methods, but none have proven very effective."
"What kind of healing meth—never mind, you'd better not tell me."
Hearing Elizabeth's explanation, Levi knit his brows in deep thought. Right at that moment, a system prompt echoed in his mind.
[Mission Activated: Healing and Saving Lives]
[Mission Objective: Cure the plague and eliminate the source of infection]
What in the world?
Staring at the objective before him, Levi was completely bewildered. He was a detective, not a doctor!
The system wanted him to cure people? The only medical skill he currently possessed was the Diagnosis ability he had obtained during the Courtesan Killer case. But right now, a mere diagnosis was useless. What he needed was a cure!
The core problem was that Levi hadn't been a medical student in his original world; he knew absolutely nothing about medicine. Not to mention, the medical science of this world was an entirely different beast compared to his old world. In Levi's world, what doctor would dare force a patient to drink mercury?
Wait a minute!
Just as Levi was inwardly criticizing the system for being blind, a sudden realization struck him. The system only activated missions for supernatural, anomalous incidents!
Which meant the method to cure this plague didn't belong to the realm of science—it belonged to the unscientific! Could it be like an RPG game, where the plague was caused by a specific boss, and killing that boss would automatically cure the disease?
At that moment, Levi recalled the unknown entity he had seen swimming at the bottom of the pit. Surely the system didn't expect him to go and solo that thing by himself.
Besides, the concept of a disease instantly vanishing upon a boss's death was something that only happened in video games. Surely reality didn't work that way.
"Miss Elizabeth," Levi composed his thoughts and looked toward her. "Do you think this plague is normal?"
"I am not sure I understand what you mean, Mr. Levi." Elizabeth looked somewhat surprised by the question.
"I mean, do the transmission paths and mutations of this plague align with normal medical laws?"
"Strictly speaking... not quite." Elizabeth still didn't fully grasp Levi's angle, but she answered honestly. "The outbreak, infection, and spread of this plague happened far too quickly, yet it remained incredibly covert..."
"How so?"
Elizabeth provided a detailed breakdown, and Levi gradually understood her point. According to her, viruses generally fell into two categories: mild or virulent. A mild virus had a long incubation period and caused illness slowly. A virulent virus had a short incubation period and erupted rapidly.
For instance, if it were a virulent virus, the workers down below would have died off completely before anyone could even react. But if that happened, the source of infection would burn out—after all, if everyone was dead, who was left to infect?
Conversely, a mild virus would need to infect a massive number of hosts before causing large-scale fatalities. Yet, this particular virus was bizarre.
It possessed the high infectivity and stealth of a mild virus, but it erupted with the lethal force of a virulent one. Simply put, when it wasn't active, no major issues could be detected. People merely felt as though they had caught a minor cold.
However, once it triggered, the transition from falling ill to dying took less than a day, followed by an immediate transformation into a zombie.
In Elizabeth's view, the virus was incredibly unnatural. It showed no symptoms during incubation, yet progressed at terrifying speed upon breaking out. Furthermore, there was no predictable timeline for when it would trigger. What was even more eerie was that according to Elizabeth's findings, the further an infected individual was from the containment zone, the later the virus erupted.
It was almost as if the virus was intentionally delaying its onset, waiting for the host to carry it out of the containment area to infect more people.
It was only because Elizabeth had acted decisively to completely quarantine the entire Rune Mining Area and forbid anyone from leaving—combined with the fact that the elites living above the tenth layer were terrified of death and stayed far away—that a semblance of order had been maintained.
Otherwise, infected individuals might have carried the virus all the way to Mist City without ever showing symptoms along the journey. What kind of virus behaved like this? Could this even be called a virus?
Actually, listening to Elizabeth's description, Levi realized he had seen this exact strategy before. He had even played games like this. You develop transmission and stealth first, then dump all your points into lethality at the very end. Who wouldn't understand that strategy?
The God of Calamity couldn't possibly be a casual gamer, could he?
Still, as for a solution...
Levi pondered for a moment before looking back at Elizabeth. "Miss Elizabeth, I have an idea that might just be able to treat this plague."
Levi proceeded to explain his hypothesis to Elizabeth. By the time he finished, she was completely stunned.
"Are you serious, Mr. Levi?"
"Didn't you say the transmission of this plague defies science? What if this isn't a scientific problem at all?"
"Are you suggesting this is some kind of dark witchcraft... a curse?"
"It's worth a try. Who knows, it might actually work. Beyond that, it's not like you have any other options right now, do you?"
It was certainly better than bloodletting or feeding people mercury.
Elizabeth fell into a long silence. Finally, making up her mind, she looked at Levi and nodded.
"Very well, Mr. Levi. As you said, we have no other alternatives at the moment. Perhaps... it is worth a try."