As the saying goes: when you find one cockroach in your house, it means there’s already an infestation in the corners you can’t see.

The spread of this Extraordinary plague was nearly as fast as the expansion of widespread mental contamination. For every publicly confirmed case, the number of asymptomatic carriers hidden from view would reach a terrifying figure.

And these thousands upon thousands of potential carriers would then unwittingly become sources of infection, spreading the Crystal Disease even further.

It would only take a short time for it to fester into a global pandemic.

The Special Operations Team moved quickly, immediately quarantining the hotel and the surrounding area. After taking full protective measures, they arrived at Room 404 of the hotel.

Pushing open the door, the first thing they saw was a gaunt, man-shaped crystal formation collapsed on the floor. It was about six-foot-one and frozen in a death struggle. There was no trace of flesh and blood; the entire body had been completely assimilated by a turbid crystal.

There was another person in the room, lying motionless on the bed, no longer breathing. Half of their body showed clear signs of crystallization. The turbid crystals were rapidly proliferating, replacing flesh and blood, and before long, they had assimilated the rest of the body.

’Is this a Curse or a virulent poison?’

Seeing this, Zhou Chen’s brow furrowed in concern. The crystals gave off a deeply sinister feeling, as if they possessed some degree of mental contamination... ’Could the Crystal Disease be a form of mental contamination?’

He left Room 404 and went next door to 405, where two more patients were infected with the Crystal Disease. They were companions of the two from 404. According to records uncovered by the Star Association, all four were from East Continent Cloud City and had just returned from a trip to Old Paris. Their journey had taken them through multiple locations with several connecting flights before they finally arrived in Jinzhu.

If they had contracted the Crystal Disease in Old Paris, there was no telling how many people they might have infected along the way. The scale of the infection would be absolutely massive. Jiang Che had already informed the local head of the Star Association immediately.

In the room, the two people lay dying on the bed, their bodies covered in bizarrely shaped crystals: spikes, carapaces, square crystals, and flower-like crystal clusters.

"How are you feeling right now?" a member of the Special Operations Team asked sternly, maintaining a safe distance.

"My kidney... my kidney is crystallizing... It hurts so much... Save me..."

"Help... I don’t want to die..."

Wracked with excruciating pain, the two were becoming delirious, wailing and groaning in agony, their voices cracking with sobs.

"Inject them with antitoxins, anti-Curse potions, and painkillers first," the experienced Special Operations Team captain ordered grimly.

Two members of the Special Operations Team in hazmat suits stepped forward and injected the Alchemy Potions. Soon, the spread of the Crystal Disease slowed noticeably, and the two patients’ wails gradually subsided.

Just then, Jiang Che’s voice came over the comms:

"I’ve received authorization to use the Any Door. Transfer the infected to the bio-lab within three minutes."

The instant the words were spoken, space rippled and the Any Door opened. On the other side was a heavily guarded bio-lab where a doctor in a white coat stood as still as a statue. He exuded an aura as sharp and cold as a scalpel, an instinctively unsettling presence. 𝚏𝗿𝗲𝐞𝚠𝕖𝐛𝗻𝗼𝐯𝕖𝚕.𝚌𝗼𝗺

"Transfer the patients," the doctor said, his tone as flat and emotionless as a robot’s.

The Special Operations Team members used brute strength to hoist the beds, sending the patients through the Any Door, bed and all. The two deceased patients from the next room were sent directly to the autopsy department, where the lab would conduct a more detailed study of the crystals.

Afterward, the Special Operations Team set up a Purification Matrix to decontaminate the entire hotel. All guests were to be quarantined on-site until the lab could develop a countermeasure for the Crystal Disease.

"Xiye, what do you think?"

Taking advantage of a lull in the activity, Zhou Chen asked for Li Xiye’s opinion. She was worldly and experienced, having traveled far and wide and seen a great deal—she had even ventured into the Abyss.

"It’s clearly a brand-new Essence Virus,"

Li Xiye said, "I don’t know much about virology, but I’ve seen similar afflictions in the Abyss. There’s a petrification sickness that turns the infected to stone, and an arboreal sickness that turns them into tree people. This is a lot like that. So my guess is, this is either an Essence Virus that an expedition accidentally brought back from the Abyss, or someone is deliberately spreading it in secret.

"Based on what we’re seeing, the Crystal Disease’s transmission speed and fatality rate are both maxed out. We can only pray the bio-lab develops a cure and a vaccine as quickly as possible. Otherwise, a lot of people are going to die."

For now, the Crystal Disease couldn’t infect Ascenders, but for ordinary people, infection was guaranteed on contact, and it would tear through groups like wildfire. Once contracted, the fatality rate was one hundred percent.

"Sigh. So much for our plans for the next few days. I’ll leave you to it. I’m going home to play some games." Li Xiye waved dismissively. The last thing she wanted was to stay here and work overtime for Jiang Che.

After Li Xiye left, Zhou Chen took out his phone and called Erin.

"Hello? Zhou Chen? What’s up?" a sweet, cheerful voice asked.

"Erin, you should hold off on coming to Jinzhu. There might be a Crystal Disease outbreak here. You should also warn Duke Elizabeth so the Laine Kingdom can prepare in advance." Zhou Chen paused. "This Crystal Disease could be a huge problem."

"Huh?" Erin was stunned. She had seen reports about the Crystal Disease on the news lately. It was a terrifying virus. In North Carolina, where the outbreak originated, tens of thousands were reportedly dying every day, and the entire country was in chaos.