Chapter 93: Illness

Chapter 93: Illness

Gazing at the myriad stars, Chen Yijin felt some of the despair inflicted by the pestilential hell earlier dissipate.

After all, no matter what humans endure, in comparison to the eternal starry sky, one can always feel one's insignificance and transience, making the pains of life, aging, sickness, and death seem trivial and fleeting too.

Most importantly, Chen Yijin now remembered what he needed to do and why he came to this world.

So, after regaining control of his emotions, he began to search the safety base in the square for the person who seemed healthiest and least likely to fall ill.

The safety base in the square accommodated nearly five thousand people.

After all, in this world, "cities" serve as the unit of measure, so the overall base number is somewhat smaller.

Yet, having only five thousand people in a city who aren't ill is indeed alarmingly few.

Still, these five thousand aren't necessarily the final survivors. Perhaps the ultimate fate of the disease-free city will mirror that of certain movies, where the whole world becomes a wasteland ravaged by viruses, with not a single person surviving.

Chen Yijin wandered the safe zone, scrutinizing every person he encountered.

He observed wise elders, resilient adults, enlightened youths aware of the world's perils, and children with eyes full of pure hope.

Each of these individuals could represent hope on their own.

Yet, Chen Yijin felt none of them embodied the final hope.

It seemed something was missing, a certain element that made Chen Yijin feel they couldn't escape this world of [disease].

Among these individuals, Chen Yijin noticed the gentle and capable Xiao Yao, who, alongside the braided youth, was diligently doing what they could to soothe the agitated moods within the safe zone.

Observing these two, Chen Yijin thought their chances of survival seemed significant.

When they saw him, they too offered smiles of trust.

[Residents of the safe zone, please return to your individual capsule rooms for rest and ensure your door is securely closed. Breakfast will be distributed uniformly at 7 a.m. tomorrow.]

Amidst the noise outside, Chen Yijin found his assigned safety capsule room.

The capsule was sturdily built. Although it could only fit one person, the space was relatively spacious, allowing for comfortable sitting even if standing upright was not possible.

Additionally, of the capsule's six sides, five were completely sealed without windows but included air vents for breathing, with the capsule door being the only way to see outside.

The door, made of transparent, special tempered glass, thoughtfully came with a curtain that could be drawn for privacy.

Once the door is shut and the curtain drawn, the sleep capsule's excellent sound insulation allows for undisturbed sleep until the next morning.

Chen Jin stooped to enter his sleep capsule.

The white dog, slightly longer than him, conscientiously and unreservedly wagged its tail, preparing to squeeze inside.

Watching it struggle to fit and then attempt to sprawl on the bed made Chen Jin's mouth twitch.

He snorted coldly, "Either get out or shrink to pocket size. You're too big; sleeping next to you is too hot."

The dog instantly turned its head, revealing a look of incredulous hurt as if it had been used and discarded.

"Just a moment ago, you were sharing the starry sky with me, and now you're complaining I'm too big, too long, too hot, and too pretty, taking up too much space?!"

"Humans really are such heartless creatures!"

Chen Jin felt personally attacked by the dog's expression but stood his ground, "Let's be reasonable, you have to consider the reality. Hurry up, lights out soon, I don’t have time to waste."

Eventually, the dog could only grumble as it shrank its size, smaller and smaller, until it became a palm-sized, pocketable, ultra-cute puppy, then fiercely bit Chen Jin's finger with its not at all ferocious teeth.

This elicited uncontrollable petting from Chen Jin.

Then, the teacup-sized dog seemed to discover a new world – in its miniature state, Chen Jin appeared particularly accommodating and easy to take advantage of.

Whether it buried its face in his chest, rubbed against his shoulder, or even licked his lips and nose tip, Chen Jin, who would usually kick it away, didn’t get mad at all! He just vigorously petted it, taking advantage of it once more!

Dog Le Joy: Heh heh.

He's learned something new on his own.

Chen Jin extended his hand, placing the small white dog that could be held in the palm of his hand on his chest, touching its smooth and soft fur, which slightly relaxed his mood.

How else do you explain a world so broken and tattered, yet pets are mended and cherished?

There's some truth to it after all.

With this bit of warmth and relaxation, Chen Jin quickly fell asleep.

He thought he could sleep until morning, but suddenly his eyes snapped open at a certain moment.

"Awoo?"

The puppy seemed a bit confused as it rolled off Chen Jin's chest.

Chen Jin had already sat up straight, staring intently at the door of the sleep capsule.

A very light, rhythmic knocking sound came from outside the door.

It was as if a cautious guest was visiting, not daring to knock loudly.

Logically, such a soft sound shouldn't be able to wake someone up, but Chen Jin was suddenly startled awake.

It wasn't the sound that woke him, but rather a gaze that felt as tangible and sharp as an ice blade through the curtain, making him feel uneasy.

"Awoo awoo!"

The puppy also perched alertly on Chen Jin's thigh, barking twice towards the door.

Chen Jin immediately pressed the dog's head to silence it.

Reason told Chen Jin he should pull aside the curtain to see what was happening outside, who was standing by his sleep capsule.

But his instinct was screaming madly not to open the curtain. That was definitely not a scene he wanted to witness.

A minute passed, and the gentle knocking continued.

Five minutes later, the person outside had not left.

Chen Jin's brow furrowed slowly, feeling his emotions becoming uncontrollable—he began to feel agitated, irritable, and even angry!

Who the hell dares to knock on his door like this?

Who dares to provoke him so relentlessly right to his face?!

Even back on Earth, when he was playing the mute, those thugs who dared provoke him ended up with a worse fate, one after another, landing themselves in jail. How dare these damned, less than human trash provoke him?!

The moment this thought emerged, Chen Yijin's eyes reddened slightly.

The little milk dog squatting on his lap suddenly looked up, then unexpectedly showed a gleeful and anticipatory expression that a little milk dog should never have.

Or to put it more precisely—an excited, schadenfreude-filled grin.

Suddenly, the little milk dog was flipped onto the bed.

Chen Yijin, with a grim face and a cold laugh, swiftly pulled open the curtain.

The moment the curtain was drawn, the knocking ceased abruptly. The clown facing the transparent tempered glass door gave him an exaggerated and excited smile, while raising his other hand high to press a child's horrified and lifeless head against the glass door, ensuring Chen Yijin in the sleep capsule saw everything clearly.

In that instant, Chen Yijin seemed to hear screams of terror and despair emanating from all directions within the safe zone.

The clown outside appeared to be waiting for his scream and breakdown, but Chen Yijin did neither.

He merely kicked open the door of the sleep capsule in the blink of an eye and, before the clown holding a human head could react, landed a kick in his chest, pinning him to the ground.

As the clown struggled, Chen Yijin looked emotionlessly at his left hand pointing at the clown, and with a "bang."

The clown's left hand holding the head was directly blasted into ash.

Thus, the clown who was just maniacally sneering emitted a sharp, terrified scream.

Yet, Chen Yijin directly crushed his mouth and entire jawbone with his other foot.

If Chen Yijin had used a bit more force, or aimed a little higher, he probably could have smashed the clown's head with one foot.

Looking at the terrified clown who couldn't say anything, Chen Yijin's face still bore a smile.

"Oh dear."

"Knocking on my door in the dead of night, you were quite happy laughing, weren't you?"

Chen Yijin stretched his leg and broke both of the clown's legs, his smile widening a bit more.

"Now why aren't you laughing? Oh, is it your nature not to smile?"

The clown, now disfigured beyond human recognition, writhed on the ground like a worm.

His eyes revealed intense terror and utmost regret.

Why did he knock on this man's door?

Why did he provoke him?

This man simply knows no fear or panic!

This person is simply a demon! A madman!

He wanted to escape from this demon's presence, but he had lost his left hand, both legs were broken, and even his mouth and jaw were crushed to a pulp.

The clown could vividly feel his life draining away. He was going to die! He was going to die!

If he didn't escape now, he would, indeed, die!

Buzz!

Ugh, ahhh—

But escape was futile for him, as a sharp icicle cross pierced through his chest, pinning him firmly to the ground.

The clown could only widen his eyes in terror at the sight of the demon, still wearing a smile, even one of compassion, as he quietly placed the head of the child he had killed next to the icicle cross, right beside him, letting the child's eyes witness his death.

"May he forgive your sins."

"Of course, I think that's unlikely, so just let him watch you descend into hell."

The young man laughed softly as he finished speaking, then stepped into the dark, not-so-silent night.

Thus, every so often, a crazed patient would scream sharply, and then a new ice crystal cross would appear in that spot, pinning a sinful soul.

And by the time dawn broke, when the darkest night had passed, the safe zone was littered with hundreds of huge ice crystal crosses that hadn't fully melted yet, and... the ground was strewn with blood and flesh.

Overnight, the population within the safe zone plummeted from five thousand to two thousand.

Madmen seem to be everywhere.

When Xiao Yao and the slender youth with braids were jolted awake by the emergency alarm, what they saw was a young man who appeared impeccably clean, without a speck of dust or blood, whose smile and every movement were elegant and gentle, seemingly the perfect lover of everyone's dreams, yet inexplicably exuding an extremely terrifying aura.

It was as if a demon had awakened within him.

[Chen Jin: Anxiety (Moderate), Depression (Moderate), Obsession (Moderate), Mania (Moderate), Schizophrenia (Severe)]

"Hey, why look at me like that? I'm not going to eat you~"

The young man smiled.