Apocalypse: Master of Soul Beasts

Qin Tian lifted his head with a vacant gaze, meeting the sight of a man in his thirties dressed in a white lab coat. The man was tall and slim, wearing gold-rimmed glasses. His overall demeanor was somewhat stern and bookish, but his status was alarmingly high. ”This is Dr. Wei Tian, the Dean of the Academy of Sciences.” The director of the Military First Hospital made the introduction for Qin Tian and Arthur.

Dr. Wei Tian gave Qin Tian and Arthur an expressionless nod, though he spoke readily enough.

”Rest assured, both of you. Commander Lin has a general idea of what happened. The military will do its utmost to compensate the victims of this attack,” he said.

After these formal assurances, Dr. Wei Tian led his large team into the emergency room and the laboratory to begin their research.

Of course, whether Dr. Wei Tian was genuinely there to study Qin Shiyuan’s illness or harbored other motives... well, that was something only Lin Haifeng and Dr. Wei Tian himself knew.

...

「Meanwhile.」

At the time of the market attack, Wen Yu was still in Eternal Sky City, clearing out various treasure lands.

With Wen Yu’s strength, clearing out treasure lands felt as effortless as using a cheat. The permanently open treasure lands in Eternal Sky City lacked special rules or characteristics; most involved straightforward combat.

A small treasure land took a minute.

A medium one, about ten minutes.

A large one, roughly an hour.

Lin Haifeng hadn’t granted Wen Yu access to the legendary Super Treasure Land. Nevertheless, this was sufficient.

In a few days, Wen Yu swept through numerous treasure lands and then started clearing them again from the beginning.

His gains were mostly unremarkable skills and items: two A-Class skills and over ten B-Class skills. Anything below B-Class, Wen Yu couldn’t be bothered to count. As for miscellaneous items, he acquired many, but most were simple, low-level defensive gear, virtually useless to him.

Regardless of type, treasure lands generally followed the principle of ”the greater the effort, the greater the reward.” The permanently open treasure lands in Eternal Sky City, left by the Dominator, were primarily targeted at humanity’s core strength—which was currently around Middle Stage Level 4. Consequently, it was naturally unlikely for Wen Yu to unearth anything truly exceptional from them.

Just as Wen Yu had conquered an extremely simple small treasure land in an instant, news of the market attack reached him, followed by an update on Qin Shiyuan’s condition.

After a moment’s contemplation, Wen Yu left the treasure land space, preparing to visit the Military First Hospital.

Currently, Qin Tian and Arthur were, in name, his teammates. Although no explicit hierarchy existed between them, as their acknowledged leader, he felt obliged to show concern.

Moreover, Wen Yu harbored his own suspicions about the incident...

...

When Wen Yu arrived at the Military First Hospital, he found Qin Tian and Arthur looking utterly devastated.

This gave Wen Yu a bad feeling.

”What’s wrong?”

Wen Yu first checked Qin Shiyuan’s condition through the glass window. Her complexion wasn’t too bad, if one disregarded the fact she had already consumed fifty high-energy energy bars.

Qin Tian, his face grim, shook his head.

”The people from the Academy of Sciences are still inside looking for the cause. But the situation isn’t optimistic. Since waking up, Qin Shiyuan has become like a black hole, constantly seeking food. Ordinary food no longer satisfies her needs...”

”She’s eating far too much.”

Wen Yu nodded expressionlessly and turned to Arthur, who was sitting nearby.

”I heard you were with Qin Shiyuan when it happened. Can you tell me exactly what took place?”

...

After Arthur finished his account, Wen Yu narrowed his eyes and asked directly,

”So, the hospital says Qin Shiyuan was infected by a virus, causing her current symptoms. You said you were also sprayed by the mucus; why are you unaffected?”

”According to the doctor, my physical constitution is superior to that of the virus’s host—the Demon Fiend—so I possess some immunity to the virus...”

The theory seemed far-fetched, yet it wasn’t entirely inexplicable.

Of course, from Qin Tian’s and Arthur’s perspectives, everything seemed to follow a certain logic. However, looking at it from a different angle...

Especially after Wen Yu learned of Lin Haifeng’s ”Sea King Control Plan.” If one attributed all this to Lin Haifeng, the situation immediately shifted.

Given my refusal to cooperate, who was most suited to be the scapegoat for the ’attack on the Sea King’?

Qin Tian!

His status as Sequence Number 4 wouldn’t be seen by the Sea King as significantly inferior to Sequence Number 2. Combined with his respectable strength, Qin Tian could, just barely, shoulder this ’heavy responsibility.’ Most importantly, Qin Tian also had no significant ties to the military!

Wen Yu didn’t consider himself brilliant—certainly not a match for an old fox like Lin Haifeng—but once there were discernible tracks, he wasn’t so foolish as to be unable to piece things together.

This so-called market attack was a drama orchestrated by Lin Haifeng, all to control Qin Tian by targeting his vulnerability—Qin Shiyuan.

As for Qin Shiyuan’s current state, the explanation was even simpler: Lin Haifeng could use any number of tricks to play the low-strength Qin Shiyuan in the palm of his hand.

Thinking this, Wen Yu sighed deeply.

He figured Lin Haifeng would next use a series of devastating news and underhanded tactics to utterly destroy Qin Tian’s will and force him to capitulate.

Sure enough, not even ten minutes later, Dr. Wei Tian emerged from the laboratory in his white lab coat.

”Who is the patient’s family?”

”Me!”

”Me!”

Qin Tian and Arthur stood up almost simultaneously.

Dr. Wei Tian glanced at them expressionlessly, then looked at Wen Yu, who was sitting nearby. He ignored Wen Yu, an old acquaintance, and gestured to Qin Tian and Arthur.

”You two, come with me. I need to explain the preliminary research findings.”

...

From the adjacent office, the incessant sounds of heated argument could be heard.

Wen Yu didn’t try to eavesdrop. Instead, he stood before the glass door of the emergency room, intently observing Qin Shiyuan’s condition.

By now, Qin Shiyuan’s cheeks had visibly hollowed. With his keen perception, Wen Yu could even sense that in the less than half an hour since his arrival, Qin Shiyuan’s weight had dropped by at least eleven pounds!

And this was despite her constantly eating...

The simple arithmetic was alarming: at this rate, Qin Shiyuan would likely die suddenly within a few hours.

But you won’t just let Qin Shiyuan die so easily... will you...

Wen Yu murmured to himself.

Once the preconceived notion that Lin Haifeng was the one pulling strings from the shadows took hold in Wen Yu’s mind, the entire affair, including Lin Haifeng’s subsequent moves, became transparent to him.

In this world, a dead person can’t serve as a weakness...