Night World Players

Chapter 15 □□ is art
"You should know the principle of hallucinogen addiction. This kind of pollution is the same."

"Their spirits have been corroded, and they have lost the joys, anger, sorrows, and happiness of normal people. The only thing they have been transformed into is the thrill of abusing others. Other than that, nothing in the mundane world can make them happy anymore."

"So, in order to pursue that kind of stimulating pleasure, the polluted people will resort to all means to inflict violence and abuse on others."

"Love, friendship, family affection... the more these beautiful emotions were cherished and protected at all costs, the stronger the desire for sadism and destruction they fostered after the Iron Cross's reversal."

"The flesh and blood deformities caused by the pollution not only give the contaminated people physical fitness several times that of ordinary people, but also grow steel-hard membranes in vital parts such as the throat and heart."

"Ordinary pistol bullets and cold weapons cannot penetrate the diaphragm at all. Only full-power rifle bullets or armor-piercing bullets can barely break through the defense. Of course, extraordinary weapons like your rapier can also do so."

Rast's calm voice rang in Hiltina's ears.

"The most obvious characteristic of these contaminated people is that an extremely conspicuous cross scar will appear on their body surface. The color of the brand is iron gray."

“I call these contaminated ones the ‘Iron Crosses’.”

“The so-called ‘Iron Cross Plague’ in later generations probably got its name from this.”

Rast looked at the coachman's body and said softly, "In fact, according to the previous experience, he shouldn't be here."

"It's just that because of your arrival, the original trajectory has changed. He waited for us near the manor for a long time. During this period, he was affected by pollutants and the seeds of pollution were quietly planted in him. After he returned home, the seeds sprouted."

After thinking about it for a while, Hiltina quickly understood what Rast meant.

In Rast's previous cycle, he did not exist, so Rast did not need to use the reason of "bringing a private detective to catch an adulterer".

And the coachman would not have waited near the manor for a long time for fear of being caught in adultery by Rast and the other man, so that he was contaminated without being noticed.

"It sounds a bit like zombies." Xiltina thought of the zombie movies that have been quite popular at Fanxing University recently.

"If it really is a zombie, then it would save us a lot of trouble."

Last smiled and reloaded his revolver. "The zombies in those movies are nothing more than wild beasts in human form at best. They move slowly, have low intelligence, and only think about biting people. Putting aside the fact that the zombie virus can be contagious, wolves are much better than them when hunting..."

"But the Iron Cross still possesses wisdom, a wisdom that is dominated by the desire for destruction and sadism."

"Using tools, driving vehicles, camouflage, setting traps, luring and killing... everything that humans can do, the Iron Cross can do too."

"Including the use of firearms?" asked Hiltina.

"That's right." Rust nodded. "And because their perception is enhanced, every Iron Cross is a sharpshooter."

Before the plague broke out, Rast's shootout with the police army was like playing Grand Theft Auto.

After the Iron Cross Plague broke out, the game suddenly changed from Grand Theft Auto to Battle Royale, and the players had to face doomsday robots that came with a built-in headlock and would explode as soon as their heads showed.

Luster glanced at his pocket watch: "It's almost time."

When is it?

Such words did not even come out of Hiltina's mouth.

boom--

A huge roar came from afar. It should be the direction of the port area, which is separated from the manor by half of the Deep Blue Harbor.

Immediately afterwards, dark smoke began to rise in the direction of the port area, accompanied by faint flames.

"What's happening over there?" Hiltina looked up. The smoke was so thick that it was still clearly visible even though it was half a city away.

"It was a large cargo ship scheduled to arrive at Deep Blue Harbor at 2pm." Last put away his pocket watch. "I witnessed it all at the dock. The captain, whose body had been contaminated like an iron cross, steered the ship with a wild laugh, ramming it into the dock at full speed, and refused to let go even though he was engulfed in flames and twisted steel."

"At the same time, this is also the point when the Iron Cross Plague completely breaks out in Deep Blue Port."

Everything happened too fast.

As if to confirm Last's words, less than a minute after the roar from the port area, countless chaotic and noisy sounds came from the streets outside the manor.

To be more precise, the riots were not just in this neighborhood, but in the entire city.

Screams, desperate cries and wails, shouts of pursuit, and the sheriff's scolding sounded one after another...

From time to time, there were a few gunshots, but then everything returned to calm.

There is no way of knowing whether the police subdued the Iron Cross with a gun, or were killed by the Iron Cross in turn, or whether they were also infected and became a member of the Iron Cross.

But the only thing that could be confirmed was that the crazy and hysterical laughter that Hiltina had heard from the coachman was becoming more and more frequent.

At first there were only a few, but soon the laughter became more and more intense, coming from all directions and becoming the mainstream in the chaotic noise.

In just a few minutes.

This originally peaceful port town turned into a purgatory where sin and chaos were rampant.

Xiltina let out a long breath and looked at Rast: "What are you going to do next? Control the source of infection and then find a way to stop the spread of the Iron Cross Plague?"

"I thought so at first, but it's impossible."

Last shook his head: "The Iron Cross Plague is transmitted through body fluids. Blood, saliva, and droplets can all be transmission routes."

"As for those Iron Crosses who have been contaminated, in order to better vent their sadism and violence, they are happy to actively transform others into lunatics like themselves."

Hiltyna frowned slightly. "For example, they would smear saliva on knives and bullets? As long as humans are scratched by weapons, they will be infected."

"That's just the crudest method." Last took out the lead box containing the evil god statue from his arms. "Those Iron Crosses will even mix their own blood into the city's water supply system, wells and rivers. Once the water source is used, it will be polluted."

"It is nothing short of a fantasy to use ordinary epidemic prevention methods to deal with the Iron Cross Plague."

"Of course, this doesn't mean we have to wait here to die."

He picked up a suitcase from the side of the sofa. Hiltina had not seen this suitcase before. It should have been prepared by Rast when she was sleeping.

Last stood up straight and slowly looked out the window, at the neighborhood where order had collapsed and was dominated by chaos: "If a minefield full of mines appeared on your way, what would you do?"

Xiltina looked at Last in confusion, and thought for a moment: "Of course we should clear the mines first and then pass through... According to what we taught in university, we can use metal detectors or mine-sweeping dogs."

Luster nodded. "That's right... But what if the mines in this minefield are extremely complicated and interconnected, and you are in a time crunch and don't have enough time to use metal detectors and mine-sweeping dogs to clear the mines one by one?"

Xiltina was slightly startled, but Rast did not wait for her answer and said directly: "Besides the methods you mentioned, there is another way."

"That is, with an explosion—"

He paused for a moment before walking out of the side door of the main house carrying his suitcase.

"Raze the entire minefield, including all the mines in it."

(End of this chapter)