Chapter 23 - 0 to 100 Real Quick

"Ma'am, he is actually alright. His injury had miraculously healed. But the blood had flooded his airways. We need to unblock it immediately or he asphyxiated in his own blood." The Specialist that is proficient in medic related skill explained and urged. "Please let go of him so I can give him the help he needs."

"Ah! Right…" Winter immediately let go of Adam to be treated.

Meanwhile, Qrow couldn't help but frown. Whitley? It's that the little brat of Jacques? How come that sissy turned into this after going missing for two years? What kind of miraculous encounter did he find to become like that? Because, from what he saw. Adam is very strong and 'skilled' on par with a proper Huntsman.

Qrow kept the question for later and checked with his senses if the assassin was nearby or not. For a brief moment, he can see the assassin does have an illusion type Semblance and he could be lurking nearby for all he knows.

After treatment had been done, they immediately left the crashed airship and headed back to Reach.

———

The battle on the slope of the plateau and the sky of Reach is getting more and more intense without any sign of stopping as Zombified Grimms just keep coming like an endless stream of water.

"We are running out of ammunition! Ignore the one on the ground and focus on Nevermore first." Nicholas, the Garrison Commander shouted his order.

"Tell all the ground forces to retreat! There are stronger Grimms coming!"

"Sir Nicholas! There is an emergency in the medical tent, we need your presence immediately." A medic gasping for breath stopped next to Nicholas and said.

"Can't you see I'm busy over here? Also, what is the emergency?" Nicholas looked annoyed as he asked the medic back.

"Sir, the injured are acting odd like they are possessed. The medical tent is in pandemonium. We need your help immediately." The medic replied.

"What!" Nicholas frowned and asked someone to replace him for a moment before he headed to the medical tent.

Immediately after he gets there, he sees multiple people getting hogtied and hanged while they are expressing rabid behavior, snarling and growling at him when he approaches.

Their eyes are milky white and skin pale like paper with black veins popping on their skin.

Nicholas is about to inspect them when a doctor quickly stops him.

"Sir Nicholas. Please don't. They are infected by a viral virus and once bitten or scratched, no matter how insignificant, you will also become one of them." A doctor stopped him.

"What is this disease?" Nicholas felt a goosebumps hearing what the doctor said.

"No, it's not a disease. It's a viral infection and I suspect it's from the Grimms. All of them that had turned all share the same similarity. Their Aura Barrier shattered and was injured by a Grimm."

"What! Please excuse me, I have to immediately order the ground force to withdraw now!" Nicholas immediately turned away and was about to leave but the doctor stopped him.

"Sir, another moment please… What are we going to do with them? From what I checked. They are still alive. But their body was taken over, they are nothing more than a prisoner in their own body." The doctor pointed out. "As a doctor, I would like to eliminate all chances of this disease spreading… cremating them is the only way."

Not just Nicholas but other medic and Huntsman's nearby immediately stare at the doctor. Understandably, what he suggested is outrageous. Can't we just keep them alive and seek help from the better equipped facilities in Vale or even Atlas to treat them?

But also few including Nicholas understand these infected people also pose a threat to others because they can spread the infection. But ordering these still living people trapped in their body to be cremated is difficult. Not many will understand it is the right decision and humans tend to be too emotional and this order might cause conflict and raise dissatisfaction.

"We keep them… alive for now. We will talk about this again after the battle has ended." Nicholas said as he wishes no revolt or protest to happen before the battle with the Grimm is concluded.

"Alright, Sir Nicholas." The doctor nodded and gave the medics a new order to quarantine patients with external injury and those without.

———

Neo after killing James Ironwood, felt it's not fulfilling to simply kill an already crippled man on a life support and went out of her way to eliminate his strongest right-hand man? woman?

But little did she know, it would end up failing due to a bystander acting quick to protect Winter. In a fit of anger, she tried to kill that man and slashed his throat open to let him bleed to death. It's his fault to try to meddle with her enjoyment while being an Auraless trash.

Neo, after completing her job, sends a report to the Agent about her success. She told about her success to eliminate James Ironwood but failed to eliminate his aide, Winter and accidentally killed a bystander.

Imagine her surprise when Agent did not reply with any good words about her success. But instead send her death threats.

[You better make sure the man you accidentally killed is alive or I will personally flay your corpse open and hang it for the crows to feed!]

Agent replied back to her message.

Thus the confused Neo could only follow the group back to reach and try to make sure the man is still alive. To her surprise, he is and the injury already healed like it's never even slashed open. Not even a scar.

She wants to secure the man and bring him to the Agent because clearly he is very valuable to her employer. She isn't going to lose all her payments because she messed up. However, the problem is Winter and Qrow are basically glued to the man at every moment, seemingly wary about her ambushing them again.

When Winter is suddenly being recalled by the Atlesian airship fleet, she has to leave for a moment and entrusted the man to Qrow. The four weirdos are also nearby to guard the man.

Neo simply wonders who is that man to be that heavily protected. She recognises the four weirdos. They are the infamous Brotherhood of Saw, powerful team of Huntsmen that operate mainly in Vale and sometimes Mistral. They are the best in Grimms extermination and always a bunch of people with loose screws in their heads to incorporate chainsaws into a variety of weapons to the point of obsession.

She has to wait for an opportunity to swipe the man under their nose. Which thankfully came sooner than she thought.

"Help! Help! He is going crazy!" A commotion happens outside the tent where the man is resting and the five people peek their heads outside to investigate the commotion.

"What's happening?" Qrow caught a panicked medic running around informing something to the crowd which made the crowd even more restless.

"I don't know much, but the Doc said the Grimms are carrying a disease that can infect humans. He requested anyone that has injury from Grimms no matter how small must go through a check immediately." The medic said before quickly leaving to inform another tent.

"Disease?" Qrow frowned and excuses himself from the tent to make a call.

Taking this opportunity that everyone is outside the tent, Neo grabs the man and replaces him with a physical illusion on the bed before she quickly bail.

Admittedly, she looks down upon his weight which is visually deceiving because he is goddamn heavy! Definitely above 100 kg.

(Yes, apparently very dense bones mean very heavy weight and Adam has very dense bones to support his strength.)

But Neo isn't just anyone. She is a trained assassin and proficient with Aura. She can lift Adam and only a little encumbered for her to be sneaky.

Not even long after she left, a loud scream was heard about Adam being missing. Neo increases her pace and quickly leaves the camp and enters the town where she hides and sends a follow up to her employer that Adam is fine and alive.

Not long after, Neo is ordered to bring Adam out of the town into the middle of nowhere at the other edge of the plateau that is silent and without any human presence.

Then suddenly an aircraft suddenly appeared, shedding its cloaking. Exiting the plane are three women, one of them is Agent who basically ran towards Neo and took the man away from her before quickly checking on him using an unknown means before she sighed in relief.

"Executioner, Destroyer. Bring our Master on board first. I have something to settle over here." Agent passes Adam over to Executioner delicately before she turns back to Neo with a scowl she tried to hide.

"You are lucky that you are still used to my Master. Or else, I will not be very forgiving." Agent felt like obliterating Neo's body from existence from the mere thought of her injuring her Master.

However, she can't. Neo's Semblance is too important for her future plan. She is more useful alive than dead. Which is why she hadn't turned her into a swiss cheese with her laser cannons.

Neo shrugs and gives Agent the look that says it's Agent fault for not informing the identity of Adam or else, this accident wouldn't even happen.

"Indeed. It is my negligence to be faulted. But that doesn't mean you are without fault either. My order is to kill only James Ironwood. Winter Schnee is a useful tool for my Master that I am working hard to poach, which you shouldn't be killing just because you cannot control your bloodlust."

Neo gave Agent another tired look that conveyed, What's done is done and she wanted to return home and enjoy a tub of ice cream.

"Fine I suppose. Arguing over something that has happened is a waste of time." Agent turned around and left.

Neo follow behind Agent and also wanted to board the aircraft but ran into her when Agent suddenly stopped on her track.

"What do you think you are doing?" Agent turns around and looks at Neo.

Neo mimed, What else? Go home of course.

"Go back on your own. This aircraft is reserved to our Master's personal use only." Agent said and shut the door on Neo's face before it took off.

Neo hit the door several times to ask to be let in but was ignored. She wanted to curse. How exactly is she gonna find a Bullhead to fly back to Vale especially when there is a lockdown order issued to prevent anyone from leaving Reach due to a spreading disease.

She wanted to curse so badly but she can only do it in her mind for being a mute while she scowled and now has to figure another way to rerun back to Vale while there are going to be 6 people coming for her ass because she just kidnapped their friend.

———

After the phone call Qrow made, Ozpin asked Qrow to do investigations on the Infected humans. Qrow sent the image of it to Ozpin through his scroll.

"As I fear… It's Salem without any doubt." Ozpin said while he is cross-referencing the appearance of the Infected human and Salem from his memory. Pale skin and black veins.

"Maybe this is the effect of exposing humans to the Grimm Spawning Fluid?" Ozpin tries to find an explanation.

Salem became what she is because she fell into the pool and was corrupted by it. But in the past, there had been people who had fallen into the pool. They always end up dead except for Salem because of her strong magic power.

"No. Perhaps, she created something using the fluid as base to turn humans into mindless cannibals." Ozpin hypothesizes as he remembers the information Qrow obtained from the Doc that is trying to decipher the illness in hope to cure it.

"Is this your new way to end humanity, Salem?" He frowned and held back the horrifying assumption in his mind.

A highly infectious disease that can transmit through fluid like saliva. All it takes is a single bite to infect someone and there is no cure yet for it or forever. Ozpin assumes the nature of the disease is magical because it's the creation of Salem.

"What a terrifying weapon you had created, Salem…"

Humans are highly emotional creatures. If it's an animal or Grimm, they will be able to kill without hesitation. But another human? Not everyone could.

Even more so if the human is a family, relative or friend. They will try their best to save a family that is infected due to love.

Unwilling to let them die or to be taken away to be put down for good. Only for it to attack and infect them when it fully turns.

There is no cure and all it takes is a single bite no matter how superficial the resulting injury is.

Then the despair. Imagine trying to fight to stop a highly infectious disease that has no cure. Once you are fully infected, your flesh becomes the prison of your mind. A body that moves like a puppet to the disease. Not even the bravest man would willingly do it.

Ozpin can already imagine the chaos once the news arrived to the Valeian Councils, the people and the four kingdoms.

Without James Ironwood, Atlas, the Bastion of Humanity is basically a body without its head. Perhaps that is why Salem assassinated James Ironwood. Now, there is no kingdom that is ready to respond to the looming threat to Humanity.

Pulling away all Huntsmens is not possible. When the news hits the headlines, negativity will spike and that means the Grimms activities will too. By then, the Huntsmens will be the one asking for help too.

The outbreak and the spike of Grimm's activities following the outbreak like a keg of gunpowder on fire. They are doomed. We are doomed. Everyone is doomed. No where will be safe anymore. The four kingdoms will be overrun by Grimms while the people are left to fight a futile battle.

It was a very decisive move by Salem. Without even noticing, Ozpin had been checkmated and by the time he realized, it's already a tad bit too late…

—————

(More convenient misunderstanding on top of another misunderstanding. I didn't even know how it fit in as everything is made up spontaneously on the go. But hey, I welcome it.

This is a divine providence! SUBARASHI!

Now, how will Adam tackle all this problem? Zombie Outbreak with a Grimm Stampede on its way.)

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