Reborn As A Doomsday Villainess-Chapter 83: The symptoms are spreading.

Keeping her expression neutral, Qingran flipped through the file, scanning the irregular blood composition and the foreign pathogens.

It was a clear precursor to the apocalypse, and she should have given Feng Yizhou a heads-up about Lu Zhou the moment it happened.

[You were busy with other things,] Lingquan’s voice echoed in her mind, laced with amusement. [Like getting kissed.]

She ignored him.

Guo Wen was still watching her, waiting for a response.

"How was the patient contained?" she asked instead, her tone measured.

"Quarantine. But..." Guo Wen hesitated, rubbing his face. "They restrained him, but not before he bit a nurse. Now she’s showing symptoms too."

Qingran snapped the file shut. "And where is she?"

"Under observation. So far, she hasn’t shown aggression, but her fever won’t go down. If this really is an unknown virus, it’s spreading fast."

Qingran exhaled slowly, her mind racing. This was the start. The very first documented cases before full collapse.

She had two choices—let this play out naturally and let the world spiral into the apocalypse as it was meant to, or step in early and try to mitigate it. But would that even change anything?

[You know the answer,] Lingquan hummed. [Even if you delay it, the collapse is inevitable.]

Qingran rolled her shoulders, pushing the useless thoughts away. The only thing that mattered was preparing herself, Feng Yizhou, and the few people she cared about.

"Who else knows about this?" she asked.

"The higher-ups are already looking into it. If it’s something serious, they’ll escalate it to government research labs."

Which meant if she wanted access to the samples before they disappeared into classified vaults, she needed to act now.

"I want to examine the patient."

Guo Wen blinked. "What? Why?"

She kept her voice even. "Because if this really is an unknown virus, I want firsthand data before the bureaucrats take over. Once they classify it, we’ll be locked out."

He sighed. "You always do this—"

"Are you letting me in or not?"

Guo Wen rubbed his temples. "Fine. But don’t get too close. This guy is... off."

That much was obvious.

Qingran followed Guo Wen through the facility, her mind already forming a plan. She needed to get her hands on the blood samples, and more importantly, she needed to call Feng Yizhou.

Lu Zhou was the first case she had personally seen, but if there were others cropping up now, the countdown had officially begun.

They reached the isolation ward, where security was tighter than usual. The air carried a faint trace of antiseptic and something fouler underneath—something that made Qingran’s instincts hum with unease.

Guo Wen swiped his access card, and the reinforced doors slid open with a quiet hiss. Inside, a man was strapped to a hospital bed, his body writhing against the restraints. His skin was pale, almost grayish, and beads of sweat clung to his forehead.

The monitor beside him beeped irregularly, his heart rate fluctuating in unnatural patterns.

His eyes snapped open as they entered, bloodshot and wild.

Qingran stopped just outside the room’s threshold, watching.

The man’s breathing was erratic, his chest rising and falling in sharp, uneven motions. His lips were cracked, his teeth slightly bared, and for a split second, his gaze locked onto hers with something wrong.

Not fear. Not desperation. But pure hunger.

[This is escalating quickly,] Lingquan murmured.

Qingran barely acknowledged him, eyes flicking to the IV drip attached to the patient’s arm. They were trying to stabilize him, slow down whatever was happening to his body—but she knew it wouldn’t work.

"Has he said anything?" she asked.

Guo Wen shook his head. "Just mumbles and growls. The fever’s frying his brain. His white blood cell count is going insane, and his nervous system is overstimulated."

Which meant it was progressing faster than Lu Zhou’s case.

"Show me the bite," she said.

Guo Wen hesitated, but after a moment, he motioned toward the nurse on the other side of the glass. She lifted the patient’s sleeve carefully, revealing the wound.

It was already festering. Veins darkened and spread outward in thin, web-like patterns. The flesh around the bite was necrotic, yet the man was still alive.

Qingran’s stomach clenched. This was it.

It was happening.

She exhaled sharply, her mind snapping into action.

She needed to call Feng Yizhou now.

This wasn’t just about survival anymore. If the infection had already spread this far, they had even less time than she thought.

Turning on her heel, she muttered, "I need a break."

Guo Wen frowned. "Already?"

"I need to clear my head. Keep monitoring him."

Without waiting for a response, she strode out of the ward, slipping her phone from her pocket the moment she was out of sight. Her fingers moved quickly, dialing the number she should have called days ago.

The line rang once. Twice.

Then—

A familiar voice, smooth and deep.

"Qingran can I call you back later, I’m quite some pickle right now.."

Qingran didn’t waste time. "We have a problem."

"..."

"What?"

"I’m sorry, I should have told you this sooner but I forgot.."

Feng Yizhou’s brows furrowed, he wasn’t exactly in the best place to answer a call right now.

"It’s alright, I’m sure we’ll be able to figure it out later. Come to my place, I’m in the middle of something so I’ll go off first.."

Qingran frowned, pulling the phone away to glance at the screen. Did he just hang up on me?

Lingquan let out a low chuckle in her mind. [Looks like your man is also dealing with something.]

She shoved the phone back into her pocket, irritation prickling beneath her skin. There was no ’later’ if this thing was spreading now.

Qingran exhaled, flipping the file shut with a quiet thud. "I’ve seen enough."

Guo Wen’s brows knit together. "That’s it?"

"What else do you want me to do?" she asked, slipping her hands into her pockets. "Find a cure? Contain the spread? I’m not a government official or a crisis response team."

"You are one of the best researchers here."

She let out a short laugh. "And you think that matters?"

Guo Wen’s expression tightened, but he didn’t argue. He wasn’t stupid. He knew where this was heading.

"I came to confirm something," Qingran continued. "Now I have my answer. What happens next isn’t up to me."

She turned on her heel, already pulling out her phone as she walked off. She still needed to find Bai Shiyue and complete her save list first. She needed to get Haoyu in shape, the basketball kids in her save list she also had to think of a training plan for them as well.

So with all these roles to play, she wouldn’t let any external factors disturb her.