Ding! The doorbell rang.

The owner, who was fiddling with a dead fish specimen, looked up at the young man entering,

and in the dull, lightless pupils, a hint of surprise flashed, as if it was unexpected that Yi Chen had managed to return "unharmed," but a faint smile also crossed his lips.

"You seem to have found something by the lake."

"Ran into some trouble, but it's been taken care of."

"Hmm..."

The owner went back to working on the specimen, not asking anything further.

Click—back in the room, he locked the door.

He took out a glass from the bathroom,

poured the lake water stored in the roots into it,

and as the roots squeezed out the water, Yi Chen recalled his chilling experience by the lake.

"That sheriff..."

Although he had managed to fight back with ease,

Yi Chen's eyes captured an unsettling image that made his skin crawl.

When grappling with the sheriff's collar,

his chest exposed a mass of fish scales, flesh, and slimy fluid, so densely packed that even Yi Chen's fingers got some of the goo on them.

Such a sight instinctively provoked a sense of repulsion.

"Fish scale-like skin, a pathological characteristic?"

At that moment,

the little grape squeezed out of the neckline, volunteering some explanations.

"The 'diversity' of pathological symptoms is beyond imagination, and this fish-scale type of pathology is quite common in seas, rivers, and large lake areas like this.

Don't worry,

the plants inside you will form a protective layer, and skin-level contact won't infect you.

But if you accidentally get a cut, then there's a risk... Remember to use an axe next time."

"Understood."

Setting aside the matter of the sheriff,

he picked up the glass filled with lake water and held it up to the kerosene lamp.

[Visual Enhancement]

His eyes, like high-definition imagers, scanned the water quality,

magnifying the visuals manifold to reveal terrifying scenes invisible to the normal eye.

"Is this... some kind of parasite?"

Swarms of parasites were floating in the water in large numbers.

Moreover,

just a dozen seconds after the lake water was poured into the glass, these parasites had already started to lay eggs en masse on the sides of the glass.

The transparent egg bodies could refract a faint green light, perhaps that's the origin of Green Lake's name.

"Maybe the owner's warning not to engage in 'interactive behavior' with the town is for this reason?

However, the plants growing inside and outside the town seem normal, without any signs of pathology.

Even the roots used to store the lake water have not been affected... which means these parasites are ineffective on 'plants.' This is something I must make good use of."

As Yi Chen was analyzing softly to himself,

the little grape jumped off his shoulder,

lifted the glass with its powerless and soft black arm,

and gulped it down in one shot.

This scene startled Yi Chen. "What are you doing?!"

The little grape gently swung its three-fingered arm, signaling not to worry.

"Observation with the naked eye always has its limitations,

directly consuming them allows for a more direct and detailed experience through the body.

Rest assured~ I'm a pathological being myself, this thing can't infect me."

"Did you find any useful information?"

"Hmm~ These little things that depend on a water source are obviously controlled by some [conscious entity]... They even tried to send a signal the moment I swallowed them, but unfortunately, my body isn't that easy to penetrate.

Shall we try to find the entity?

Perhaps we could get a rather nice 'big grape.'

"No rush, we need to take this slowly."

"True... With your current abilities and me still not mature enough, even if we find the [entity], we may not be able to kill it smoothly. We need to plan this out well.

I'm tired~ I'm going to rest."

With the conversation over,

Little Grape buried most of its body into Yi Chen's shoulder, revealing only a small patch of black fur.

Shortly afterward,

the bonfire party at the town center also came to a close.

Yi Chen leaned against the window, observing the tourists and residents on the street as they gradually returned to their own homes, with no untoward incidents occurring... at least not overtly.

Thoughts swirled and intertwined in his brain.

"According to the innkeeper, three days will be hard to achieve.

That is to say, the longer the tourists stay, the stronger Green Lake Town's 'occupying' desire will become.

When that time comes,

the personnel participating in the assessment will inevitably erupt in massive conflicts with the town's pathological forces.

Mustn't rush.

This town still harbors many potential dangers. The only thing needed today is to rest well," he concluded.

After ensuring the house was sealed up tightly, he collapsed onto the pillow and fell asleep directly.

...

Green Lake Town - Center Street

As the bonfire party ended, the whole street fell silent,

but in some dark corners, faint noises still lingered.

Deep in an alleyway,

the trio that had previously tried to invite Yi Chen to join them was here carrying out 'disease removal.'

During the festival, they had accepted an invitation from a 'man without a mask' to the depths of the alley, where they were ambushed.

At present.

Blond Edmund's face was full of killing intent, his eyes bloodshot.

He held a short sword in one hand and a pistol decorated with the Mariano family's 'Feather Decoration' in the other.

Whoosh!

The thin sword was drawn, its blade still dripping with pus residue.

Collapsed in front of him was a man with scaled skin, his brain's pathogen pierced by the short sword... Edmund didn't even need to pull the trigger of the gun; he resolved the situation single-handedly with the sword.

Similarly,

his two companions each killed a sick person as well.

The woman beside him wiped her silver dagger with a cloth she carried, whispering softly,

"It seems the town is key to the assessment. To pass the organization's examination, we will likely need to find the disease root or make a sizable contribution to 'disease removal.'

Judging from the party,

the Mayor with the golden demon mask and the Security Bureau are highly suspect."

Blond Edmund adjusted his clothes,

"No rush... we still have more than two days.

Since we attended the party today, we'll experience the free lake tour tomorrow and grasp the situation before making the final move.

I can't wait to obtain the organization's 'Skin.'

...

Apart from this team.

The other personnel participating in the assessment also discovered abnormalities, eliminating or even capturing and interrogating the town's sick residents in different areas.

A large number of death messages spread within the town,

and the residents staying at home grew increasingly irritable and agitated, incessantly scratching the scales hidden under their clothes or pretending to hack at the furniture.

Similarly.

Abnormalities were also detected at the Green Shadows Inn where Yi Chen was staying.

An arm covered in scales reached out from a hidden compartment beneath the door,

possibly due to mutations brought by the pathology, the arm's length and flexibility were slowly transcending human parameters,

extending nearly two meters,

and then twisting at an unnatural joint to fold upward...

Crack!

The padlocks on the door successively fell off,

the cuts were smooth with mucus on them,

and what's more terrifying,

each lock that was cut was caught before it hit the ground, making no sound at all.

Creak~

A door that hadn't opened in months was slowly being pushed open.

A dark figure crawled out from the top,

long, unkempt hair hanging from the ceiling down to the floor, lightly dragging along as if sweeping, making a soft rustling sound...