49 Apocalypse Rules

Chapter 100: Chapter 95: Blood Plague Adaptation Body

Heavy rain hammered against the doors and windows of the library Gathering Point, a ceaseless POUNDING and RATTLING.

The dozens of survivors here were gathered together, each wearing the protective gear sent by the Emergency Management Bureau. Although the gear was only standard-grade, it was better than nothing.

After putting on their gas masks, the people had been silent for a long time.

And unlike places with many individual rooms, like a hotel or hospital, the library didn’t offer private spaces. Everyone had to congregate in the main halls on the first and second floors.

Fortunately, the one thing this place didn’t lack was books. Everyone held a book or scrolled through their phone to pass the time.

In a corner of the second-floor hall, a young father and son sat together. The father, not yet forty, and his son, who looked to be around ten years old, were reading a book together.

Suddenly, the man began to feel unwell. His throat and head started to ache, and a strange soreness spread through his muscles.

’What is this...?’

The man muttered nervously, a sense of unease and fear growing inside him.

He knew he hadn’t been sick recently; he’d always been healthy. But now, less than a day after the sixth rule had been announced, his body was acting strange. This was not a good sign.

"Dad, what’s wrong?" his son asked.

Hearing this, the man glanced around, then took his son to the restroom. After locking the door, he squatted down with his back to the boy.

"Son, take a look at the back of Dad’s neck. Are there any red spots?"

The first stage of the Blood Plague infection was the appearance of red spots on the neck and shoulders. The second stage was internal and external bleeding, culminating in bleeding from the eyes, ears, nose, and mouth. The third stage was a fatal death as the body violently burst.

The boy looked closely, and his words made his father’s heart sink.

"Dad, I think I see some."

BOOM!

As thunder cracked outside, the man collapsed onto the floor.

This startled the boy, who rushed to help his father up. "Dad, why are you on the floor? And... are you crying?"

The man wiped his face and immediately pushed the boy away. "Go! Stay away from me!"

"Dad..."

"I’ve been infected with the virus. I might only have a few hours left, maybe a dozen... or I could burst open at any second... You can’t be near me, you..."

Before the man could finish speaking, the restroom door was violently kicked open.

Several men stood in the doorway, their faces a mixture of shock and anger as they stared at him.

The leader of the group cursed, "I knew something was wrong when you dragged your kid in here! I can’t believe you’re actually infected! Get out of the library! Now!"

"That’s right! If you don’t go now, you’ll infect all of us! There can’t be any Infected in the library!"

The man struggled to his feet. "I know, I know. I’ll leave. But my son is fine! He has to stay here!"

The men hesitated. Hearing the commotion, the others in the Gathering Point started to gather around.

Once they learned what was happening, they all recoiled in fear, putting as much distance as possible between themselves and the infected man.

"No! His son can’t stay! They’ve been together this whole time. If the father’s infected, the son must be, too!"

"That’s right. Both of them have to leave. It’s not up for debate."

"Get out! Are you trying to kill us all?!"

The crowd erupted, everyone shouting at once, frantically demanding the father and son leave the library.

The terrified boy hid behind his father. Facing the crowd’s condemnation, the man’s voice turned hard. "I’ll leave, but my son stays! If you don’t agree, then I’m not going anywhere!"

"What?!"

"You dare? If you don’t leave, we’ll throw you out!" ƒгeewёbnovel.com

"You’re all alone and you dare to threaten us?"

The man gritted his teeth, pulled a multi-tool from his pocket, and flicked out the blade, pressing it to his own neck. "Who’s going to throw me out? Who? Come on! I’ll splatter you with my blood!"

Startled, the crowd hastily took several steps back.

The man was confirmed to be infected with the Blood Plague Virus; who wanted to get his blood on them? After all, everyone remembered that the virus wasn’t just airborne—it could also be transmitted through blood.

"You... Don’t do anything crazy!"

"I said I can leave, but my son isn’t infected! You can look at his neck and shoulders—they’re clean!" the man shouted. "Let my son stay, and I’ll go. If not, I’ll give up my life to splash my blood on a few of you!"

"..."

The crowd exchanged glances. Finally, after two people checked the boy and confirmed he had no red spots on his body, they compromised and agreed.

The man let out a breath he didn’t realize he was holding. He turned to the boy. "Son, you stay here and be good, you hear me? Survive. Dad... Dad’s going now!"

"Dad!" The boy rushed forward and clung to his father’s leg. "I want to go with you, Dad! I’ll go wherever you go!"

"Don’t be ridiculous! Listen to me!"

"No, I won’t listen! I want to go with you!"

"You..." freeweɓnovel.cøm

"He said it himself, so just take him with you," someone in the crowd said. "Don’t break the poor kid’s heart."

"Yeah," another person added. "This isn’t us forcing him out. He’s the one who insists on going with you."

Hearing their words, the man scanned the crowd, and his heart sank.

He knew that because he had threatened them, they hated him. Even if he forced his son to stay, the moment he left, they would bully the boy... They might even just throw him out later.

’I might as well take him with me! Then, before I burst, I can find him a new, safe place...’

With that thought, the man hesitated no longer. He swept up his son and said, "Let’s go!"

The father and son quickly exited the library. The second they were out, the others slammed the main doors shut. Someone even pulled out a container of disinfectant and began spraying it frantically.

"Dad, where are we going?"

Not long after they left the library, the man’s face was a mask of bewilderment at his son’s question.

He opened his mouth to speak, but a mouthful of fresh blood suddenly gushed out, dyeing the bottom of his mask red.

’So soon?!’

The man couldn’t believe it. He’d thought he had more time. How could he already be in the second stage, the external bleeding stage?

"Dad? Dad?"

"Son, quick, run to the main street..."

The man pushed his son away, forcing the words out through his pain.

"On the street, look for the black vehicles with the word ’Emergency’ on them... ask them for help... they’ll help you... PUH!"

The man barely finished speaking before another torrent of blood sprayed from his mouth.

"Dad! Dad!"

The man turned and sprinted in the opposite direction, trying to put distance between himself and his son. But before he had gone more than a few dozen meters, his entire body convulsed, and in the next instant, he burst apart and died.

"Dad!"

The boy ran to his father’s side. Seeing his father’s blood-soaked body, he burst into helpless tears.

The rain poured down, a torrential deluge that completely drowned out his cries. In his terror and grief, his father’s last words—to find the ’Emergency’ vehicles on the road—were completely forgotten...

「The rain fell all night, finally stopping the next morning.」

Some people in hazmat suits, passing by, were startled to see the scene.

They took a few steps closer, first discovering the man who had burst apart and died. Then, they saw a boy lying asleep on top of the body.

"The man definitely died by bursting. Must have happened last night."

"His chest is moving. Is the boy still alive?"

"Careful! The kid’s covered in the man’s blood. He’s probably been infected too!"

The boy seemed to hear their voices and slowly blinked his eyes open.

He looked at his father’s corpse and immediately began to cry again. "Dad..."

"Kid, was that your father?" one of them asked.

Another person moved behind the boy to check his neck and shoulders, then reported to the others, "He’s clean. No infection."

"He’s my dad. I... we..."

As the boy spoke, he suddenly looked quizzically at a young man among the group.

"Mister, you... you have a bug on your shoulder?"

"Huh?" The man looked confused and glanced at his shoulder. "What bug? Where is it?"

"I saw it, I really did... a red bug..."

Hearing this, the man who had questioned the boy paled. He rushed over to the young man, ripped open his hazmat suit, and stared at the skin on his shoulder.

There, a patch of bright red spots was visible—the telltale sign of a Blood Plague infection!

"!!!"

All of them were aghast.

"Why?!" The young man’s face twisted in despair. "But I’ve been wearing my hazmat suit the whole time!"

But the team leader had no time for that. His eyes fixed on the boy as he barked orders at the others. "Quick! This kid’s a Blood Plague Adaptation Body! He has antibodies, he can spot the Infected! Get him to the vehicle and take him to HQ, now!"

Meanwhile, at the Li Mei Hotel, the harmony of the previous day was gone.

Everyone hid in their rooms. All that remained in the lobby were the corpses of two residents who had already burst from the plague.

The moment they’d witnessed the two die by bursting open, everyone else’s conviction had been shattered. They had broken down into wails and screams.

Everyone regretted not taking the protective gear offered by the Emergency Management Bureau. Several people had gone to the door of the Mutual Aid Society’s Host, kicking it and screaming insults, blaming him for everything.

But the door remained shut, and no sound came from inside. Everyone assumed that since the Host had shown signs of external bleeding so early the day before, he had likely already burst apart and died in his room.

No one dared to break down the door, fearing the sealed room was filled with the virus and that opening it would cause it to spread, infecting them all.

The same went for the two corpses in the lobby. Without protective gear, no one dared to clear them away.

But a day later, as every resident was huddled in their room praying they wouldn’t be infected, the voice of the Mutual Aid Society’s Host suddenly boomed through the PA system.

"Fellow members, please come on out."

’Was that... the Host’s voice?’

Hearing that voice, the people in their guest rooms looked at each other in disbelief, wondering if they were hallucinating.

"Come on out," the Host’s voice rang out again. "I have cleared the bodies from the lobby. You have nothing to fear."

CREAK—

One by one, guest room doors opened. People emerged and ran to the first-floor lobby, only to be stunned by the sight of the Host standing in the center of the hall, smiling with his arms outstretched.

"My survival is the miracle you are witnessing."

"!!!!!"

Everyone stared at the Host in utter shock.

They had clearly seen blood flowing from the Host’s eyes just yesterday—a sign of the late second stage of the Blood Plague Virus infection. The next step should have been bursting apart and dying! But...

"You truly are a master!"

Someone suddenly cried out. The others quickly swarmed around the Host, staring at him, truly believing he was some kind of master, a man so powerful that not even the rules of the Fire Thieves could kill him.

The Host was smiling, but then the smile vanished from his face.

He looked at one person in the crowd and raised his hand, pointing. "Only those with impure hearts are claimed by the virus. You are one such person."

All eyes turned to the man being pointed at. "What are you saying?" the man asked, bewildered. "Me...? How is that possible?"

"Go to your room and face your trial." As the Host’s words fell, the man, pressured by the stares of the crowd, had no choice but to return to his room and shut the door.

Less than half an hour later, a cry of pain erupted from the room. The man then burst out, clutching his bloody face, sending the others scrambling backward in terror.

"Master... save me..."

The Host was unafraid. He walked forward and took the man’s hand.

The man then burst apart and died, splattering the Host with blood. The crowd, watching from a distance, let out a collective gasp of horror.

"I am protected by my devout faith; the virus cannot touch me." The Host calmly wiped the splattered blood from his body with a tissue. He then personally covered the corpse with a cloth, carried it back into the room, and laid it down.

When he returned to the lobby, the people were all prostrated on the floor, their eyes fixed on him as if he were a god.

Reverence, submission, fanaticism.