Bear School Astartes

Most of the Gray Blood Patients were already dead, discarded like broken pillows on the ground.

Only a few remained on iron medical beds, restrained by leather straps, emitting weak moans like the beating wings of mosquitoes, or experiencing nervous twitches in their fingers and other body parts.

Lann’s gaze was cold when he first entered, but after quietly closing the door, he turned back, his expression returned to calm.

However, this ’calmness’ was even more frightening than his earlier cold demeanor.

His boots squished on the blood-soaked wooden floor, pressing the damp wood with each step.

Lann calmly stepped over numerous mangled and eerie corpses, reaching an uncontaminated part of the laboratory bench.

He lifted his head and quickly scanned the room.

Instantly, analysis icons appeared on the Demon Hunter’s retinas, encircling various experimental apparatuses.

Mentos was recording the current experimental scene, just like previous alchemical or scientific experiments, aiding its master.

With a swish,

Lann skillfully placed the samples he brought onto the experimental table, the familiarity with the setup suggesting he had been using it for an indefinite amount of time.

He knew the location of each tool and exactly how to use them.

The Demon Hunter proficiently extracted samples of Gray Blood, along with pills he had found.

A small portion of Gray Blood and powder was carefully processed and placed under a microscope, but after some observation, there were no breakthroughs.

Undoubtedly, if direct observation could yield results, the plague of Old Yan’an would be too easy to resolve.

Thus, Lann remained unfazed.

He swiftly scanned various reagents in the lab cabinet next to the experimental table, while also placing his Alchemy Pouch on the table, containing numerous medicinal raw materials prepared since the Magical Middle Ages.

Many of Yan’an’s reagents were conventional, like alcohols and such.

However, the names might not match Lann’s memory of them, so he needed to identify them.

"Mentos, start constructing the alchemy experiment process."

Lann methodically worked, his eyes quickly recognizing these reagents in the lab cabinet and cross-referencing them with his knowledge, while his mind interfaced with Mentos on the project.

"Executing. Please input the keywords for this alchemy experiment."

Mentos swiftly created a new folder and allocated computing power.

"The target is [Purification] and [Manifestation]. If they cannot be achieved simultaneously, prioritize one."

Lann calmly and rationally highlighted the objective.

This was not only for Mentos but also a guideline for himself.

His talents in Alchemy and Biology had been proven countless times, yet during bursts of inspiration from his genius mind, those ideas would flood out explosively.

Therefore, he had to regulate his thoughts first, then hand over the viable inspirations to Mentos, allowing the biochemical intellect to do what it was adept at—deploying computing power to simulate future developments.

Planning an alchemical experiment on the spot in an unfamiliar Otherworld to meet present needs.... Such talk would make even Henry Gemitis fume with frustration, calling it ’nonsense’!

Yet if Tishaya were to hear it, perhaps the Female Warlock would shake her head, but with a bit more hesitation.

——Because she had truly witnessed Lann’s academic brilliance.

He really could accomplish such things!

But the Female Warlock had seen this capability only in him.

"We are in a nightmare, so during the alchemical process, be mindful of the interference from the [Dream Realm], inherently powerful. Also, there’s the [Blood]..."

A flurry of muttering, yet Lann’s hands continued, completing numerous tasks.

After finishing, just within two minutes, Mentos, in Lann’s mind, presented the results after computational effort to the main entity.

From Lann’s inspirations, the biochemical intellect selected the one with the highest success rate, though more cumbersome.

Lann scanned it briefly and understood the entire process, completed by Mentos based on his inspirations.

"The concept of [Purification] brought by lavender and Ghost Spirit Dust; there’s no lavender here but there is lavender essence. Hmm, that will do."

"And the crystalline powder form of Ghost Spirit Dust represents ’a lucid mind,’ possibly suppressing the [Dream Realm] to a certain extent..."

After a quick overview, Lann extracted the key elements of the entire process.

Equipment on the experimental table were adeptly used, crucibles, distillation bottles, and other apparatuses logically and swiftly assembled.

He formed a clear, comprehensive, and stable alchemy path from start to finish.

Reagents bubbled within the setup, and Lann accurately judged the timing based on the precise experimental phenomena, using the [Igni Rune] to control flame, regulating reaction speeds.

The final product was a bottle of colorless, oily liquid.

It held an eighty percent chance of being effective, achieving the desired effect Lann sought. After all, this was an alchemy process compiled on the spot.

Fortunately, Lann had enough samples collected yesterday, and now Maria had already left Yan’an with the main group for a hunt, while other clergy were disinclined to concern themselves beyond their duties.

With the principle of first testing the initial experimental product, Lann took a small amount of the sample he brought, placing it into a test tube.

In his other hand was a dropper, experimentally drawing a few drops of the freshly created alchemical product, dripping them into the gray semi-solid paste in the test tube.

In an instant, Lann knew his alchemy experiment once again succeeded ’at first try,’ as was often the case.

But his face held none of the Alchemist’s joy nor youthful satisfaction; instead... only fear.

"Shit!"

Lann, even after a long time, cursed in fear.

He instinctively held the test tube far away, and if it weren’t for his exceptional self-control, he might have thrown it directly.

All this happened the moment that drop of colorless transparent liquid dripped into the test tube, making contact with the gray paste.

A faint ’sizzle’ was heard, as if violent corrosion had occurred.

The gray blood, which was quite mundane aside from its color and viscosity, and showed no irregularities even under a microscope, suddenly boiled briefly.

Bubbles erupted within the liquid, causing the glass tube’s base to rattle for a second.

Lann’s horrified gaze was fixed tightly on the bottom of the test tube after the boiling.

The gray paste turned into colorless liquid, but within that colorless liquid... floated countless tiny bugs that continued to curl, stretch, twitch, rigidify!

The sheer number of them made one’s skin crawl, and the density seemed to match the liquid, not sinking nor floating, just perpetually suspended.

"...Parasites?!"

The amber cat-eye adjusted to disgust and horror, moving closer for observation.

Lann murmured a hypothesis.

The so-called plague on the Gray Blood Patients might be a ’parasitic disease’?

These insects clearly possess supernatural properties.

Earlier, when Lann directly observed the gray blood under a microscope, he saw just normal blood stained gray.

But now, after he added the alchemical product he formulated, a large swarm of insects appear, visible to the naked eye!

The gray blood also turned into colorless liquid, as if the filthy color from before was dyed by these hidden insects.

And the smell...

"Seawater smell?"

Lann cautiously used the fan-sniffing method, wafting some air from the test tube mouth to his nose.

Immediately, a fishy salty scent was identified by him.

To Lann, this smell wasn’t surprising, as he had already smelled the scent of Gray Blood Patients’ blood before.

The seawater smell seemed to have been present before, but was concealed by the previous subtle and complex odors.

The parasites concealed their scent, just as they previously hid their form in the blood.

To ensure the credibility of the experiments, Lann proceeded to test the blood of three different Gray Blood Patients and even checked two samples of tablet fragments.

The final results were consistent—all showed the sudden, appear-from-nowhere presence of parasites that were originally invisible.

Under the microscope, the parasites’ shape resembled squids, with a slimy texture and skin dark enough to be near gray-purple.

Most of them died in the alchemical reagent prepared by Lann, stiffly curling together.

Yet some displayed tenacious life force, clawing and moving on the microscope slide.

Such vitality was terrifying, considering their small size should mean fragility.

Lann moved his eyes away from the microscope eyepiece, furrowing his brows tightly.

Now he could confirm, Gray Blood was certainly not a natural plague, inherently containing supernatural power.

This was a contagious disease caused by supernatural parasites.

And clearly... in the spread of this contagion, or even its source, there are artificial traces.

Lann furrowed his brows, supported himself against the experimental table, and turned around.

He looked towards the steel hospital beds, stained with blood and filthy bandages, where patients were bound with restraints.

These were Gray Blood Patients ’treated’ by the clergy in the research hall.

And on them, what had this disease... become?

The clergy declared: on Gray Blood Patients whose condition progressed too severely, they used [Blood Therapy].

[Blood Therapy] in Yan’an is considered a Universal Remedy capable of healing anything.

But now, with the Gray Blood Patients’ blood in this state, is the Holy Blood injected into their veins truly for them?

Are the clergy intending to give [Blood Therapy] to the patients, or... to the parasites?

And now to verify this is quite simple.

Lann left the experimental table, walked towards the steel hospital beds, and took a brass syringe from the table. He aimed to draw a sample of blood from these ’treated’ patients.

But just as he extended the syringe...

Lann, facing away from the laboratory door, with eyes fixed on the needle, suddenly raised them, then vanished like smoke.

At the next moment, a glorious yet sinister blade sliced through where he had just been!

"Acceleration Technique?"

Accompanied by the calm female voice’s inquiry, the door behind the laboratory slowly closed at this moment.

Maria’s blade reflected deep light in the dim glow of the kerosene lamp, pointing towards the demon hunter who reappeared not far away.

"Who are you exactly?"

Visit and read more novel to help us update chapter quickly. Thank you so much!