Chapter 19 Surgery

Faced with the multiple-choice question posed by the boss,

Yi Chen didn't hesitate a moment, he stepped forward and entered "sister's room."

Crack~

The soles of his shoes transmitted a strange, crunchy sensation and emitted odd noises.

Because his foot had directly stepped onto scales spread all over the floor.

At that moment,

both his sense of smell and vision simultaneously received an "assault" from the room.

It was an almost tangible foul stench, like a living stick forcefully entering Yi Chen's body, continuously hammering at his stomach.

In his field of vision,

piles of scales covered the floor, some had even taken root on the damp floorboards as if the room itself had sprouted the scales.

If it were Yi Chen who had just arrived in this world, he would have protested against the sight in front of him by "vomiting."

Creak creak~

His fingers pressed to the side of his face,

he quickly fashioned a plant-based mask,

"Whew! I can finally breathe normally... This place is really unsettling."

The voice came from the bathroom.

The boss was apparently administering some kind of 'treatment' to his sister, a substantial amount of blood seeping from under the door.

Before stepping into the bathroom,

Yi Chen tilted his head toward a corner of the room, noting an important and unique detail within.

In the corner was a desk made of raw wood,

the walls around the desk were also covered with scales, as was the floor,

yet the desk itself remained clean amid such filth, free from scales and even the damp mold.

It seemed the desk was important to his sister; she must have cleaned it every day.

There were a few picture frames on the desk.

They included family portraits, as well as photos of the sister with her brother.

In the photos, the sister had black, curly hair and appeared to have a great relationship with her brother.

Yi Chen silently noted this scene in his heart,

Creak~

He turned and pushed open the slightly ajar bathroom door,

and a horrifying scene unfolded before his eyes.

The bathroom was a bit larger than the other guest rooms and even had a bathtub.

The sister was lying inside the tub,

her limbs were tightly secured by straps between the tub,

compared to last night's appearance,

she looked a bit more 'human'... to be precise, the scales on her had greatly reduced.

However,

these fleshy scales had not fallen off on their own,

but were being forcibly plucked from her body by the boss, scattered inside and outside the bathtub.

At this moment,

the sister's screams had become very faint,

the severe pain was accompanied by heavy bleeding, and vitality was also draining away...

Barely struggling anymore,

her gaunt cheeks which bore gills showed not a hint of liveliness.

The scales on both sides of her abdomen had not yet been plucked, she had about forty scales left, the situation looked bleak.

Before the boss could speak,

Yi Chen took the initiative to speak.

"Boss,"

"your sister is transitioning towards 'Pathological Third Rank' isn't she? The situation doesn't seem very good, may I take a look?"

This remark surprised the boss,

he hadn't expected that this young guest who had only stayed for a bit more than a day had already identified the stages of the scale disease.

He nodded slightly, giving his tacit approval.

Yi Chen carefully approached next to the bathtub,

although he wasn't medically trained and didn't know much about the related knowledge, the plants inside him could sense the draining of vitality.

"Boss, do you want all the remaining scales removed?"

"Hmm."

After receiving the boss's consent,

Yi Chen gently placed his palm on the 'sister's' abdomen, touching the surface of the scales.

Soft, tender roots lay flat against the gaps between the scales, burrowing beneath the skin.

The tips of roots released a type of natural tissue fluid with healing properties,

gently and slowly lifting the scales,

reducing the amount of bleeding and virtually eliminating pain... it even tickled a bit.

The only downside was its low efficiency and slow speed.

Yi Chen meticulously picked at the scales on her abdomen,

while also placing his other hand on the heavily bleeding spots on the sister's body, weaving roots to stop the bleeding.

During this process,

the sister watched the guest before her with black gem-like eyes.

The boss just quietly stood by.

At that moment,

the voice of little Grape rang in his consciousness.

"Hey! Do you have any idea what you're actually doing?

Right in front of you is a 'Pathological Infector',

If you allow her to successfully shed her scales, she will get past the infection process and transform into a fully conscious 'Patient'."

This is what led to the infection and decay of this world!

"Instinctively, they harbor hostility towards the uninfected, driven by a desire to invade and occupy your body."

"If they really wanted to make a move, they would have done so last night.

Moreover, since I stepped into the bathroom until now, the boss had plenty of opportunities to act.

I still don't quite understand what's going on in this world,

I just integrate and analyze the information observed and inferred by my brain to draw conclusions useful to myself—I think 'assistance' is necessary."

Once a mutual aid relationship is established,

perhaps we can obtain some critical clues that lead us directly to the truth about the town and the mastermind behind it, successfully passing the organization's assessment."

"I really wonder if you are a creature of this world,

such actions of yours might draw some displeasure from some humans... But it's interesting."

Little Grape no longer spoke, quietly observing every move of the boss.

Just like that,

like a major surgery,

it took a full eight hours until the last scale was extracted from the body.

It was already noon the next day,

swish swish~

The boss turned on the bathtub faucet, submerging the sister in it.

When she woke up again, she would completely become the 'patient' referred to by Little Grape.

Just then,

the boss's hand gently landed on Yi Chen's shoulder.

The latter was still slightly alert, instinctively reaching for the hand axe.

However,

it was simply a gesture of gratitude.

"Thank you for your efforts, Mr. William."

"It's nothing... I'm helping of my own free will."

"You can go back to your room and rest,

I will ensure no trouble comes your way during your rest period. When you wake up, it would probably be nighttime... Come directly to the first floor for dinner then."

Yi Chen made an OK gesture and turned to leave.

As he returned to his room,

fatigue had already overwhelmed him.

Little Grape voluntarily separated out, adopting the appearance of a guard at the gate.

"Go to sleep now, I've had enough sleep inside you.

Don't wear yourself out,

If this brother and sister really provide useful information or even offer to help, maybe we'll get the giant eyeball."

However,

Yi Chen just leaned against the headboard, still worried about something,

"Once tonight is over, the assessment will enter its final countdown.

Even tonight will not be peaceful.

Once the sun sets, remember to wake me up."

"Stop talking and go to sleep!"

Little Grape, like a security uncle,

moved a wooden chair to the head of the bed and sat upright on it.

...

This sleep was the most peaceful sleep Yi Chen had since arriving at Green Lake Town.

Perhaps due to the effect of the plants inside him,

he naturally woke up when the sun set and photosynthesis stopped.

Blinking his sleepy eyes,

his vision was completely occupied by a huge mouth,

surrounded by black hair,

an eye held in the mouth almost 'eyeing' him closely,

a strange sound mixed with multiple vocal cords emanated from the mouth,

"Are you awake?"

"Little Grape, don't scare people!"

Getting dressed,

taking his equipment,

he pushed open the room door; the hallway's candlelight was no more, all candles had been cleared, leaving only an impenetrable darkness.

Lighting the kerosene lamp on his waist,

he walked toward the first floor with as quiet steps as possible.

Just as he descended the stairs,

a scent wafted into his nostrils,

following the smell, he looked toward the guest room next to the first-floor counter.

The door was half-open, candlelight peeking through.

Yi Chen hugged the wall toward the doorway, quietly peeking into the room,

the interior of the guest room had been arranged like a dining room,

a wooden round table laden with various fish dishes and soups.

Aside from the boss,

there was a black-haired woman sitting there,

a light white dress covering her not yet healed body,

she seemed to smell the 'strange scent' at the door and turned her fresh, fair young face toward the doorway.

The fish gill structure on her cheeks was no longer visible, making her look no different from a normal person.

"Mr. William, come have dinner~"