Chapter 398
But Adele still couldn't figure out the purpose of this brain, nor did she know how to use it—this was the kind of thing only the Transformation School would tinker with. Perhaps Ashford could make sense of it.
To obtain information as quickly as possible, Charles sent Adele directly to the headquarters of the Redemption Society to "visit" Professor Ashford.
Initially, Charles approached this with a trial-and-error mindset, considering that Ashford's condition had been publicly declared as a severe injury and coma.
However, after Adele's visit, she unexpectedly received permission to see Ashford at the Redemption Society's headquarters.
He was indeed gravely injured, on the brink of death, but the life of a "Newborn" was remarkably resilient. Despite having lost nearly half of his body in an explosion, Ashford had survived and was now under tight protection from the Redemption Society.
The reason Charles hadn't heard any news from Ashford in the simulations was that he was being shielded.
Under Charles's direction, Adele brought along the research manuscript that Charles had copied, along with a portion of the cut wild violet and the brain itself, to Ashford.
Charles hoped to exchange the mutated violet and the research manuscript for Ashford's assistance in studying the brain.
Ashford agreed to this deal. His life was nearing its end, and his only chance lay in discovering a way to break the Rotting Plague, completing the ritual, and attempting to ascend to the fourth tier as a "Reviver."
The manuscript and the mutated violet sample that Charles provided left Ashford with no reason to refuse the trade.
But therein lay the problem.
Just a day after Ashford accepted the deal and began studying the brain, he returned it to Charles, along with the manuscript and all the violet samples.
Ashford had undoubtedly discovered something—something that filled him with fear and dread, so much so that he was willing to forgo the possibility of ascension, even though he was not afraid of death.
After that, there was no further news from Ashford, and Adele couldn't reach him. Charles had no choice but to start investigating the Pharos Medical Society.
Soon, through Ivina and Lucy, Charles learned some information about the Pharos Medical Society.
The Pharos Medical Society was not an organization of the Pharos royal family; it was merely a subordinate organization under Pharos, officially known as the Natura Medical Society, or Natura Medical Group.
As the name suggests, it was a medical consortium led by extraordinary individuals, similar to the Dedton Group, primarily focused on insurance and healthcare.
However, their deeper, more significant business was providing medical insurance for extraordinary individuals.
One of their most infamous acts involved rescuing a half-mad extraordinary member of the Pharos royal family. Their methods were nothing short of shocking.
They directly cultivated the noble's child—a baby—raising him from the first tier to the third tier, then transplanting nearly all of the third-tier child's organs into the royal member, allowing him to achieve "rebirth"...
And all of this was accomplished in just nine years.
This was a medical group capable of pulling people back from the brink of death, with no moral boundaries, almost entirely at odds with the Redemption Society's philosophy.
Of course, obtaining such medical services from them required more than just money; there were other costs involved. But for some desperate extraordinary individuals, these costs were negligible.
That cost was the body after death, which would be entirely handled by the Natura Medical Group.
They were a literal "flesh factory," composed of the largest number of extraordinary individuals in the roles of "Doctors," "Poison Makers," "Coroners," "Gardeners," and "Butchers."
The nature of the Natura Group led Charles in the simulation to ponder its connection to the situation at hand.
It was clear that the Natura Group's demand was for extraordinary corpses, which would facilitate more experiments and help their members ascend.
The Church of the God of Order sought to be the sole national religion of Ansu and was in urgent need of a Saintess. Logically, there should be no overlapping interests between the two...
Yet, there was a powerful force in between, playing an unknown role in both organizations...
War... corpses... the Saintess...
It was evident that Charles in the simulation was eager to unravel the connections among these elements, but misfortune struck faster than anticipated.
Ashford died at the Redemption Society headquarters, the cause being an unknown virus.
The curse soon spread to Adele, who was poisoned in her home laboratory. Clinging to life, she managed to reach Charles's home for help—only to infect the Charles in the simulation with the virus.
This was a deliberate ploy to let Adele escape, exploiting her fear in a near-death state, compelling her to seek out Charles and thereby pinpointing his location.
Adele couldn't be blamed for this; it was she who had sent Adele to deliver the brain to Ashford... Adele was the one caught in the crossfire.
Realizing he was poisoned, Charles in the simulation chose to drink the "Coroner" potion—this was the best way for him to survive in a severely injured or infected state.
The servants in Charles's home, even Tara, showed no signs of infection... This was a controllable virus, and the one controlling it was watching Charles's every move.
Charles instructed the uninfected Tara to inform Ivina about his infection with the deadly virus, cautioning her not to come near and to arrange for his swift burial.
On the 25th, Adele, infected with the unknown virus, died in Charles's home without discovering an antidote.
On the 26th, the dying Charles in the simulation hid a notebook containing all the information, along with some essential items, in the coffin, while he used the "Coroner's" ability and the system skill "Conceal" to feign death.
On the 27th, Charles's "death" was discovered by the servants.
On the 28th, the virus was fully unleashed, and the "Coroner" Charles, lying in the coffin, truly died.
Someone, wielding an extraordinary item similar to the "Gaze of Death," directly "detonated" the virus within Charles's body in the graveyard—this was not something merely a sealing item could achieve; a high-tier "Poison Maker" could do the same.
Who was it?
Had they left?
Charles was almost certain that it was someone from the Natura Medical Group.
He wasn't sure if they had truly departed, nor could he confirm whether any remnants of the virus remained in the coffin. He gently extinguished the oil lamp, plunging everything around him back into darkness.
Before him lay two vials of potion.
These were prepared for himself by Charles in the simulation.
A first-tier "Coroner" and a second-tier "Queen Bee."
These two vials were ones that Charles had confirmed he should be able to digest.
The second-tier "Queen Bee" was a subsequent path from the first-tier "Gardener." The resurrection ritual of the "Gardener" was a bit too cumbersome and time-consuming for Charles, so he planned to jump directly from the first-tier "Coroner" to the adjacent second-tier "Queen Bee."
The most likely reason for this was that Charles had failed to complete the second-tier "Bone Sculptor" path and could only bypass the difficult-to-reproduce ritual through this jump.
Even with the jump, Charles could still choose to revert to the third-tier "Weaver," returning directly to the "Coroner" path, or continue from the second-tier "Queen Bee" to the next tier, the "Red Dragon."
Charles hesitated, reaching for the vial of "Queen Bee" potion.
...
In the Russell family cemetery.
Pitter-patter—
The eternally overcast sky of Ansu City seemed to be drizzling like this all year round.
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