Goddess Kaleidoscope

Putting aside the high transmissibility, most infected individuals, if properly cared for, would have had a low risk of deterioration. However, the lord ordered all infected to be abandoned in the quarantine zone to fend for themselves. These patients received insufficient food supplies in the quarantine zone and were forced to live in dilapidated, drafty huts, enduring the still biting cold nights of early spring.

This terrible environment is no place for patients; even a strong and healthy knight would fall ill after spending a few days here.

"As long as good hygiene is maintained, there is an adequate food supply and appropriate exercise, plus certain medications to control the disease, the self-healing rate for young people is over 70%, and for children and the elderly it is close to 50%. The deterioration rate for mild cases is less than 10%, and the mortality rate for severe cases is less than 5%. As a last resort, divine magic can completely reduce this number to... zero!"

The death rate dropped from 70% to 0. The old steward was speechless with shock at the data provided by Lud, and a bitter sense of guilt welled up within him. This change in data meant that the thousands of people who had died from the plague before this point could be said to have been killed by their foolish superiors.

The old butler felt guilty but also worried. If this set of data comparisons were leaked and the people below knew the truth, even the most docile and obedient people would rise up in extreme anger, and then the Mape family's local business would be completely destroyed!

So the old steward hurriedly asked if these things had been leaked, and then begged Ludwig not to reveal them at this time.

Lud naturally understood the old steward's meaning, and he also knew that this was the time when everyone needed to unite, so he nodded. However, he did not want to cover up the lord's mistakes, so he put forward his own conditions.

"Butler, while this plague outbreak is undoubtedly a natural disaster caused by an accident, we cannot ignore the human factors involved. Due to the need for unity during this extraordinary period, I will not disclose these figures for the time being, but the hundreds of thousands of civilians in the entire Viscount territory need an explanation. Therefore, I would like to trouble you to convey a message to the Lord on my behalf."

"Please speak, Master."

"...People will not hate a leader who can admit his mistakes and correct them. That's all I wanted to say, and I believe Your Excellency will understand."

The two then talked for a while about how to carry out epidemic prevention work. Finally, Lud handed a set of notes he had compiled to the old steward, asking him to pass them on to the lord for review, which should be helpful to him.

After personally seeing the old butler off from the red zone, watching his retreating figure quickly walk into the disinfection center, Lu De breathed a sigh of relief. He was glad that the local authorities were not all nobles who disregarded life; being able to reason with them was better than anything else!

After stretching his slightly sore shoulders, Lu De looked up and saw that it was almost dusk. He thought to himself that time really flies. He had just come out, so he might as well do one more round of ward checks before dinner. But as soon as he turned around, he saw his female disciple, Romian, walking together with a short girl with braids not far away. The two girls were chatting and laughing together.

Lude recognized the little girl; her name was Ger, and she was Nanding's only daughter to survive the plague, as well as a healer.

The little girl is fourteen years old, the same age as Romian, but standing next to the Dragon Girl, she looks like a dwarf.

After Lude's rescue team took over the quarantine area, the child quickly became familiar with everyone, especially liking to stick to Romian. She could always be seen chattering by the dragon girl's side, just like a little duckling following her!

End of this chapter

The doctors who survived in Oyster Harbor have all been recruited by Lud. Before Lud arrived, they participated in the earliest anti-epidemic work. Although they failed to stop the spread of the plague in Oyster Harbor and were rejected and hated by the ignorant people, their efforts were not in vain.

Without Nan Ding and others risking their lives to contact patients and successfully collect a series of important data, it would have been difficult for Lu De to quickly formulate a targeted strategy upon arrival, and the rescue team would have had to carry out their work under unknown risks.

Therefore, Ludwig recruited all the surviving doctors under his command, and also provided their families with living and safety guarantees.

Of course! These family members weren't all just sitting around doing nothing. Most of them were doing relatively easy logistical work in the green zone where the recovered patients were located. There were also some promising young people with a basic understanding of medicine who were selected by Lu De to intern in the yellow and red zones as special students.

Ger was one of the specially admitted students, and the youngest of them all.

Although the child is very young in many ways, he is quite talented. His family has been practicing medicine for generations, and he has been influenced by his father since childhood. Therefore, he can learn a lot of knowledge very quickly and stands out among the special admissions students. He is also loved by everyone because of his lively and cheerful personality.

Interestingly, the child is particularly close to Romianne and even told his father that he wants to become a beautiful and capable person like Romianne, seemingly regarding her as an idol, which has a subtle, slightly lesbian feel to it.

The two girls walked over chatting and laughing, and naturally they saw Lude standing there. Romian quickly stepped forward and bowed to Lude as a disciple, and Ger, who was next to her, followed suit in a similar manner.

"Professor, are you going out?"

"No, I just saw a guest out. What about you?"

"We want to go to the cafeteria!"

The girl who answered Ludwig's question was Ger. She had a loud voice, and it was unclear whether she felt inferior because of her height, which was far below average, which led her to develop the habit of raising her hand and jumping up when she spoke.

Lu De thought to himself that he was also hungry, so he went with them to the cafeteria.

The three quickly returned to the tavern. The lobby on the first floor was now being used as a canteen for medical staff. To prevent the spread of infection, the square tables that could originally seat seven or eight people had been removed and replaced with smaller single tables, spaced 1.5 meters apart, to maintain social distancing while eating.

The three entered the cafeteria, where a long queue had already formed at the food dispensing counter. So, the three of them automatically and consciously walked to the end of the line.

At first, whenever Lu De came to line up, the people in front of him would immediately try to give up their seats, or even ask the cafeteria staff to let Master Lu De go first. But Lu De set the rules for queuing, so he naturally had to lead by example. After a few times, seeing that he remained firm in his stance, no one brought up the issue of giving up their seats anymore.

Soon, Lude received his meal and found a seat by the window. Romian and Ger also quickly took their trays and sat down nearby. As medical staff, they received better food than the patients, and those on the night shift received an extra meal the next day.

At this moment, Romian looked around and realized that one of her most familiar faces was missing from the restaurant, so she whispered to Ludwig at the next table.

"Master, where is Senior Sister Aina?"

In Romian's memory, Aina was usually the most enthusiastic eater, always the first to rush to the cafeteria at mealtimes, and even if she wasn't first, she was always among the top five. But this time, she was nowhere to be seen, which made Romian feel a little strange.

"I arranged some things for your senior sister, she's probably still busy right now."

Lude gave a vague response, not making his point too clear. In reality, Aina was indeed trying her best to complete the task Lude had given her, but the way she did it was rather unusual, the kind of secret that couldn't be easily revealed.

The volunteer medical team has been in Muli Harbor for eight days. The large-scale daily disinfection requires a huge amount of disinfectant, and the amount they brought is almost used up, so they must replenish it before it runs out.

In order to produce disinfectant quickly, Lud ordered the dwarf volunteers to first clean the large oak barrels that were originally used to seal the disinfectant, and then use the distillation equipment they brought to make pure water. He himself set up an emergency "temporary altar for blessing" in the wine cellar under the tavern.

According to Lude, the so-called "disinfectant" is a kind of holy water unique to the Medicine God Cult. First, a large amount of pure water needs to be prepared, and then placed in the goddess's altar. After receiving the blessing, it will have the ability to kill germs.

In reality, this statement is half true and half false, because the disinfectant is indeed a unique product of the Medicine God Cult, but the process of the goddess's blessing is "somewhat" different from what most people imagine.

Because Aina cut too many onions, her tear glands have developed resistance, so the old method of crying can no longer meet her needs. This forces Lud to rack his brains and find a way to collect "goddess fluids" other than tears.

The liquid with the highest yield and easiest collection was eliminated first, not because it was ineffective, but because both the collector and the collected object had a psychological aversion to it, feeling that people could not, or at least should not!

So Lud then thought of sweat, which has a higher yield than tears, but is less effective and cannot be used as a raw material for recovery medicine, but is just right for making disinfectant.

So at Lud's request, the dwarves built a small sauna next to the wine cellar for single-person use only.

The reason is that only pure maidens can pray inside the altar to receive the goddess's "blessing" and obtain the holy water for disinfection. This bathroom is for Aina to bathe and change clothes. Therefore, during the prayer process, the clergy must remain in their "original state," that is, naked, so others are not allowed to peek.

All of the above explanations are Lude's fabrications. What Aina had to do was repeatedly take saunas, and every time she sweated, she would go out and soak in a bucket of pure water to wash off the sweat, and then go out for a second round of saunas.

Assuming each steaming session lasts at least ten minutes, it will take nearly four hours for Aina to turn all twenty buckets of purified water into disinfectant.

It's all thanks to the goddess's exceptional constitution that she can withstand such reckless behavior. If an ordinary person had tried the same thing, it would have resulted in death long ago.

Lud once again proved with his actions that he was the most ruthless and heartless blasphemer in the world, number one in his class. And judging by the current trend, even Lud felt that sooner or later he would succumb to the wicked thought that had already taken root in his mind—to infuse Aina with alcohol!

End of this chapter

Later that day, Aina, who had been steamed twenty times, finally emerged from the altar. Lude, who had been waiting at the door, immediately served her her favorite smoked sausages, fruit juice, and milk, successfully silencing the goddess's complaints, though her eyes still held a hint of resentment.

"Alright, alright! This is just an emergency, you know. From now on, you only need to wash once a day. You have to trust me, I would never harm you!"

"I believe you won't harm me, but you won't hesitate to rip me off!"

"It won't happen again next time, it definitely won't."

After coaxing Aina with a smile, Aina devoured the dinner that Lude had brought her, then patted her stomach with a satisfied look before heading back to her room to rest.

After the other party left, Lud summoned a group of dwarves and had them move out the twenty barrels of sterilized holy water that had been "blessed" during the ceremony, for use the following morning.

Before the dwarves began to move it, Rudd repeatedly emphasized to them that this special holy water was used to kill tiny evil spirits like germs, and therefore could not be drunk directly like ordinary holy water, otherwise it would cause serious physical discomfort.

There have been three previous incidents of people accidentally drinking disinfectant in the quarantine area. While this substance is indeed harmless to humans, it indiscriminately kills all beneficial gut bacteria, causing adverse reactions such as nausea and vomiting.

Some people were puzzled by this and asked Rudd why this blue holy water couldn't be drunk. Rudd realized that if he didn't explain it well, it might arouse suspicion or even malicious slander. So he borrowed the original sin theory of Christianity on Earth and gave a seemingly convincing explanation.

Lud explained to everyone that this holy water for disinfection was a specialized type specifically designed to eliminate evil spirits and would react to all evil entities.

Humans are not perfect, and everyone makes mistakes in their lives, some of which are unintentional acts that they are unaware of. For example, a newborn baby is born with "original sin" because it causes its mother to endure great pain during childbirth.

Lude used this mystical explanation to explain why disinfectant can be sprayed on the skin but not drunk directly. He said it was like directly judging the deepest sins in people's hearts; those heinous criminals might die instantly from a single sip.

After Lude's persuasive explanation, everyone accepted it and felt a unique sense of awe when they saw the blue holy water being sprayed around.

Soon, the twenty barrels of holy water were moved to the warehouse on the ground. After the dwarves finished their work, they went back to their rooms to rest, chatting and laughing. Only two guards were left on guard duty at the warehouse, along with two guys hiding in the shadows in the corner.

The brothers Lassie and Lato are a pair of thieves with some reputation in the underworld of Oyster Harbor, but they usually don't steal money for themselves. Instead, they take on commissions from middlemen to "collect goods" for others.

The two brothers took on a job this morning. The client's identity was unknown, but he was very generous. He wanted them to enter the East Street quarantine zone and try to figure out how the Medicine God Cult saved people. If it was divine magic, they were to find out what kind of magic it was; if it was some kind of special medicine, they were to get the prescription.

Without hesitation, the two brothers accepted the job. Others would turn pale at the mention of the quarantine zone, fearing they would contract the terrible plague if they went in. But the two brothers were not worried at all, because Lassi and Lato were dark elves who had broken away from their race. So far, the plague ravaging Oyster Harbor seemed to only infect short-lived species such as humans and demi-humans, and had no effect on elves and dwarves. This made the two brothers feel fearless about entering the quarantine zone.

The two sneaked into the quarantine zone at nightfall, scaling the wall as if it were empty. Their superior agility and stealth magic allowed them to move freely within the zone, rendering the dwarven guards on duty virtually useless. Their ease infiltration, however, emboldened them to become somewhat arrogant.

Fortunately, the two brothers were not there to kill. They hid in the shadows and observed for a long time, even sneaking into the intensive care unit and hiding under the beds to watch how the medical staff treated patients, hoping to witness some novel and powerful magic. But in the end, they were greatly disappointed.

These were all very routine procedures, and the two brothers weren't professionals in this field, so they couldn't figure out anything after watching for a long time. In the end, the two sneaked into the infirmary and stole a little of every kind of medicine from the bottles and jars inside, intending to take it out to their employer.

Holding a pile of potion samples, the two brothers were about to leave when they saw dwarves carrying large wooden barrels coming out of the back door of the tavern, along with Rudd dressed in a priest's robe. So the two secretly followed them and went to the supply warehouse together.

The two initially had no idea what was in the large wooden barrels, but could tell from the sound that they contained some kind of liquid. Combined with the dwarves carefully carrying the barrels, it was indeed easy to associate them with wine.

However, while eavesdropping on the conversation between the old priest and the dwarf, the interesting term "disinfecting holy water" caught Lassie's attention.

The word is composed of two parts: "disinfectant" and "holy water." Lasi knew what the second half meant, but he had never heard of "disinfectant" before. Literally, it seemed to mean something that could eliminate toxins.

"Could this be... the miracle cure?"

After some reasoning, Lassie suddenly realized that he had finally found what his employer wanted. However, he was still somewhat puzzled. Judging from the size of these oak barrels, each one must weigh at least eight or nine hundred kilograms. Even a dwarf as strong as an ox would need three or four people to lift them.

There are as many as twenty large barrels containing these medicines. Preparing so many medicines at once is an unimaginable amount of work.

The two brothers followed along, watching the dwarves carry the large barrels into a guarded warehouse before leaving. They easily climbed over the skylight and entered the warehouse without much effort.

"Brother! Is this really a life-saving medicine? There's way too much of it!"

"There are quite a few, but there are at least tens of thousands of people with short lifespans infected with the disease throughout the Viscount territory. It seems that this Medicine God Cult really wants to save everyone."

"Then, then we should steal all the medicine, wouldn't that be a bad idea?"

Compared to his brother Lassi, Lato seems to still have a conscience, and even when he is a thief who cannot be seen in the light of day, he still has a bottom line.

Lassie rolled her eyes at her younger brother, clearly annoyed.

"What? You think you can teach me how to do things? Besides, are you stupid? There are twenty buckets here. Can you carry ten buckets? Or can I carry ten buckets? At most, I'll fill one or two bags with a canteen. Stop thinking about all that nonsense and hurry up and finish the job so we can get out of here quickly!"

End of this chapter

The two brothers carefully lifted one of the wooden buckets, and a fresh orchid fragrance wafted out. However, they hurriedly covered their faces with thick scarves and were very careful when filling the disinfectant with a deerskin water bag, afraid that their fingertips might touch the liquid.

Lasi and Lato voluntarily left the High Elf race because they couldn't stand the extremely conservative social atmosphere of the Forest Kingdom. So they betrayed the Elf Mother, secretly fled the City of Tranquility, and became reclusive Dark Elves.

Later, the two met some elders who, through their introduction, performed an ancient ritual called "blood pact worship" and converted to worship the evil goddess, the Mother of Lunar Eclipse.

The benefits include receiving a blessing called "Requiem for the Night" from the Mother of Lunar Eclipse, granting night vision, the ability to hide in shadows, and a brief buff to enhance physical abilities during the dark of night.

However, becoming a "cultist" comes at a price. In addition to regularly sacrificing their flesh and blood to the evil god, they are also despised by the "righteous path" of the lawful faction, are not protected by any divine magic from any reputable sects, and holy water will burn their skin like sulfuric acid.

It's worth noting that the dark elves' deep brown skin has nothing to do with whether they have changed their beliefs; it's simply due to a change in their diet. Traditionally, high elves are vegetarians, and once they start eating meat and coming into contact with animal products, their skin will darken in a short time.