Above The Sky
Chapter 250 - 250 238 Never Look Back 54 Last Day for Double Monthly Pass Votes!

250: Chapter 238: Never Look Back (5/4, Last Day for Double Monthly Pass Votes!) 250: Chapter 238: Never Look Back (5/4, Last Day for Double Monthly Pass Votes!) Sometimes, Ian felt that he was particularly suited to being a doctor.

It was not just that Foresight View could bypass the flesh to directly see the diseased area, nor was it only that the Silver Chip could provide various professional information in real time like a set of specialized equipment…

The crucial part was, he could effortlessly predict the consequences of the treatment options he chose.

A mediocre doctor prescribes medicine, and the outcome is left to chance.

An ordinary doctor selects a reasonable treatment plan and waits for its effectiveness.

An excellent doctor can ensure the results are largely as expected, without too much deviation.

A skilled doctor knows the best method to achieve the optimum outcome and continuously strives to realize it during the treatment process.

And Ian could foresee the trends of each option’s outcome, then select the best possible result.

Just like now.

Taking a scalpel from the calmed Yisen Gard, Ian excised a blood and flesh cyst over five centimeters in diameter from the old man’s inner thigh—all swarming with the larvae of parasites inside a thin layer of membrane.

Because they were suppressed by Yisen’s sedative, they couldn’t reach the blood-brain barrier via the bloodstream, so they could only group together and form a lesion that caused localized tissue necrosis.

If the old man hadn’t been dazed by the heavy dosage of anesthetics, it would be difficult to ensure that Master Gossay could bear such pain in a weakened state.

But relying solely on medication, without surgery, to suppress the Brain-Eating Parasite was impossible.

This parasite was different from any Ian had seen before, as it wasn’t an independent life form on its own: It mostly existed in the natural environment as egg cases or larvae, only becoming activated when coming into contact with living flesh and blood, and during the process of eroding the host’s nervous system, it underwent a strange ‘self-replication’ en masse.

It could directly connect to the host’s nerves and seize them for its own use, rapidly causing the host to lose self-awareness within a short period.

Even, causing rapid brain death.

Immediately after, the Brain-Eating Parasite would gradually devour and replace the host’s brain, taking control of all bodily organs, becoming a complete ‘life form’—and this life form was astonishingly a creature that could manipulate Origin Quality, possessing at least some combat abilities characteristic of the First Energy Level, a Sublimated being!

“Could this thing be a biological warrior weapon created by a previous era’s civilization?”

The youth murmured to himself.

—It wasn’t impossible, given the technology of the former civilizations, creating such a Demon Beast Level parasite wouldn’t be difficult.

But Ian still found it strange because if we set aside its peculiar characteristic of eroding the nerves and brain, in a certain sense, it was a method that allowed people to harness Origin Quality directly through a symbiotic approach.

Instead of an uncontrollable biological weapon, why not modify it into an ‘augmenting bioweapon’ that could strengthen one’s own side?

That would obviously be a more logical method of use.

Or perhaps, was it a biological weapon that had transformed due to mutations over the millennia?

The true form of the Brain-Eating Parasite could not possibly be merely a simple weapon.

There must be many secrets behind its existence, and it might even be related to why the Natives retreated from the South Sea Relic Cluster and settled in the Great Redwood Forest Zone.

Of course, now was not the time to think about these matters.

Ian swiftly excised all three major lesions from Master Gossay’s body and then asked Yisen Gard to use his blood, just as he had controlled the Pirate Captain, to invade Master Gossay’s body.

“The primary hazards have been cleared, but there are still some undeveloped eggs lingering in the nooks and crannies…

you handle the eggs around Master Gossay’s viscera, and I’ll see if there’s anyone else who can be saved,” he instructed the blond youth as he stood up and then promptly checked the condition of the other surviving fishermen and merchants.

Unfortunately, they were not like Master Gossay, who was a Second Level Sublimator with inherent Origin Quality in his body to resist the parasites and had a somewhat inferior physical condition, so now they were on their last breath.

Even more, as the sedative Yisen Gard had administered earlier wore off, they were quickly falling into madness.

“Kill, kill me…

please, I beg you, kill me!!!”

Among the three survivors, only one fisherman, due to his relatively good physical condition, still held a trace of clear consciousness after the attack by the party from Fiery Flame Land.

Seeing Ian approaching with a small knife, he not only felt no fear but also abruptly widened his eyes, which had begun to show clusters of flashing ‘floaters,’ and roared, “Hurry up, hurry up—something’s about to come out!”

“It’s still moving, still moving!!”

Because of his sharp and strident howling, the other parasitized victims also awoke; they moaned and slowly regained consciousness—in an instant, the entire cavern turned into a living hell filled with corpses, pieces of flesh and blood, and various cries for death.

Worse than death itself was the sensation of one’s body, nerves, and even the brain being slowly consumed.

“Indeed, they can’t be saved; it has already entered the brain.”

Locking gaze with those pairs of eyes beginning to reveal faint blue worm-like shadows, Ian sighed and gripped the longsword at his waist, “All I can do is give them a swift end.”

To tell the truth, he was quite surprised that these people had managed to live until now.

As an alchemist, Yisen Gard was truly a genius with remarkable talent; even Ian himself would need the Foresight View to possibly concoct such a specialized blocking agent.

It surely wasn’t just talent and ability… It was also due to an exceptional performance borne out of desperate, all-out effort.

Yisen Gard must have very, very much wanted to save those ordinary people who were innocently caught up in this strange disaster.

But this world does not grant results simply for effort.

“Please wait a moment…”

Just as Ian was about to grant these desiring souls death, Yisen Gard extended his hand, stopping him.

“Oh?” The white-haired youth was slightly taken aback, but quickly, he understood the complexly emotive yet resolute young man standing in front of him, biting his lip.

“Let me do it… Ian,” Yisen said softly, “I made them endure the pain for a longer time.”

“My teacher was right; it was my presumptuous attempt to help that made them endure this agony until now…”

“Indeed, it should be you.”

Ian nodded and then shook his head, “But don’t talk about pain or the lack of it.

They were saved by you, so you should fulfill their wishes.”

Yisen didn’t reply, but bent down and, with a small knife, cut open his own fingers, dripping his blood into the mouths of each of the victims.

He closed his eyes.

Then, wisps of black threads spread across the faces of these people.

“Thank… thank you…”

A look of relief appeared on the face of the fisherman and all those parasitized—a painless death bestowed by the Dragon Blood of Light Erosion was far more wonderful than the grim reality of being parasitized.

They died, and Ian had already placed Master Gossay on his back.

“Let’s go,” he said, scanning the remaining three cave exits.

“Although I collapsed the tunnel leading to the main force of Fiery Flame Land, the pursuers from Fiery Flame Land aren’t so easy to stop; we need to find an area where we can shake them off quickly.”

With that, Ian gave Yisen Gard a nod and headed towards the leftmost of the remaining tunnels.

Yisen Gard followed in silence.

But before leaving this place, he still turned his head back one last time, taking a deep look at the corpses strewn behind him.

The golden-haired youth didn’t say a word, just left.

Without looking back again.