Leprosy was caused by Bacillus leprae, and it was a chronic infectious disease that had long since been eliminated on Earth.
But as Earthlings transmigrated to the Other World, a large number of Earth's viruses were stimulated by the Other World's environment, and they mutated explosively into dozens and hundreds of subtypes.
Quite a number of Earth's viruses also fused with the Other World's viruses in a bizarre fashion, and in the end, the zombie virus was known as the king of viruses.
There were more than one hundred subtypes of the zombie virus.
Not all subtypes would kill people.
But most of the subtypes would cause the human body to be devoured by the viruses, and they would become incomplete and deformed. They were even more terrifying than the leprosy patients from ancient times.
There were also some zombie virus subtypes that would activate gene fragments from ancient times that had been sleeping for millions of years in the depths of human cells, causing humans to show all sorts of signs of atavism.
They would grow scales, feathers, fangs, and claws. Their senses would become sharper, but their brains would shrink, and they would gradually turn into beasts in human skin.
This process was known as monsterification.
Among the one hundred subtypes, there was only one subtype that did not affect a human's normal form, emotions, and logical thinking.
But it completely changed the form and function of the mitochondria in the depths of human cells. It allowed the mitochondria to absorb, store, and release spirit energy, which allowed humans to awaken to supernatural abilities and turn them into superhumans.
From this angle, superhumans were the lucky ones, one in a hundred, among all the zombie virus infectees.
But even if the other ninety-nine unfortunate infectees did not die, they turned into something that was neither a human nor a ghost.
Decades ago, when social order had collapsed, and it was a bloody, dark, and barbaric era, the infectees were unwelcome existences.
There was no need to even mention the humans who completely turned into zombies after the virus broke out. What welcomed them were swords and bullets.
Even if they were slightly infected, they could still maintain a certain degree of emotions and rationality. Due to their deformed and ugly appearances, they were usually not accepted by the various forces of power.
In truth, most of the infectees' infectious abilities were really weak.
Or rather, after the brutal elimination in the first ten years, the Earthlings with low immune systems died a long time ago. The people who were lucky enough to survive had immune systems that were ten times stronger than those on Earth, even if they still looked normal. They would not be easily infected by the zombie virus.
But human fear had always been unreasonable and illogical.
The survivors who had suffered from the zombies' havoc and watched their relatives and friends die under the claws of the zombies needed a channel to vent their fear.
Besides, most of the infected usually had incomplete limbs and deformities. They could not help fight against zombies and monsters, nor could they build walls, dig shelters, or expand living spaces.
Letting them join his team would only waste food and reduce the survival rate of normal people in the team.
The incomparably cruel law of survival forced the healthy and normal survivors to chase the mutated and mildly infected far away from the fallout shelter, leaving them to fend for themselves.
The mildly infected had no choice but to hug each other for warmth and struggle for survival.
Their settlement was known as Leprosy Village, which was the same as Leprosy Village in history.
Life in the other world was extremely difficult.
Even a strong adult who had all his limbs and was armed to the teeth might not be able to withstand the charge from zombies and monsters.
Most of the lightly infected Leprosy Villages were taken down by zombies and monsters one and a half years after they were built, or at most three to five years later. The lightly infected people went missing.
This could be considered as a black stain on the brutal history of Dragon City's survival over the past half a century.
Many of the teenagers who were born in the golden years after the Survival Committee and Supernatural Tower were built one after another and Dragon City regained its order had long since forgotten about the existence of mildly infected people and Leprosy Villages.
Even Meng Chao did not expect that there would still be mildly infected people in the depths of the lair.
"The citizens in Leprosy Village might not all be infected by the zombie virus," Chen Hao explained while enduring the pain.
"After all, it's been forty years since the zombie crisis. The first generation of mildly infected people have long since died.
"But they left behind a lot of descendants, and they're all strange, monstrous, and ugly people. If they ran outside, they would definitely be looked down upon by normal citizens.
"In the past, their parents fled to the depths of the lair because they were not tolerated by normal people. As time passed, they got used to life here and didn't want to go out and be snubbed.
"Of course, normal people wouldn't run to Leprosy Village if they had nothing to do.
"But these people shouldn't be contagious. After all, they're the second and third generation, so the virus has long since weakened.
"I have to say, the descendants of the infectees might look deformed and ugly, but they're willing to do anything to survive. Some of them have really mutated ways of doing things, and the gangs often hire them to do dirty work that is inconvenient for them and they don't want to do.
"Also, Leprosy Village has a black market, martial arts lab, and weapon modification workshop. There are a lot of evil martial arts, powerful but unstable weapons, and gene medicine with great effects but great side effects flowing out of Leprosy Village. But no one knows what's going on, and no one is willing to enter Leprosy Village to investigate.
"In any case, Leprosy Village is the most isolated and dangerous place in the lair. Many people outside say that the lair is Dragon City's toilet, and Leprosy Village is the septic tank under the toilet.
"The descendants of the infectees have a deep aversion toward healthy normal people, and they're also filled with great hostility toward superhumans. Perhaps it's because they've all been infected by the zombie virus, but they've turned into deformed children with incomplete limbs, while you've turned into glamorous, powerful people who stand high above everyone else.
"Fortunately, these people know how powerful the outside world is, so they don't come out easily. When they do, they wrap themselves up tightly and don't reveal even an inch of their skin to scare people.
"I think a few years ago, Saber Jin Wanhao appeared and represented Golden Tooth Lair. He made an agreement with Leprosy Village that they would mind their own business. The gangs would not cut off Leprosy Village's path of survival, and Leprosy Village would not cause trouble for the lair. That's about it."
Chen Hao was worried that if he spoke any slower, Meng Chao would break a few more of his bones.
Things that should be said and things that shouldn't be said, all came out in one go.
Meng Chao had Chen Hao mark Leprosy Village's location on the map.
Once he studied it with Zhou Chong, he found that Leprosy Village was at the center of the lair, and it was between the gangs' territories.
They also found ingredients that seemed to be Deification Capsules in the sewers of an area beside it.
"The mastermind and the pharmacy of the Deification Capsules are hidden in Leprosy Village?"
Meng Chao and Zhou Chong looked at each other. They felt that the possibility was high.
"The boss only mentioned Leprosy Village," Meng Chao said after some thought.
"Leprosy Village is huge. Where do you want to send the goods?"
"All the windows of the buildings at the outermost perimeter of Leprosy Village are blocked, and there's a deep ditch around it. It's filled with household waste, and it's also soaked in all sorts of industrial and lab waste water. As time passes, it becomes smelly, sticky, and corrosive. It's like a swamp. The gangs have set up high-voltage electric nets on this side of the ditch. There are also anti-aircraft machine guns and other things. They're afraid that the descendants of the infectees will sneak out," Chen Hao explained.
"There's only one path leading to the outside world in Leprosy Village, and it's a small bridge over the ditch. There's an empty space beside the bridge, and it can be considered a black market. It's there for the villagers to trade goods with the outside world and talk about some shady business.
"When the people in the lair say that they're going to Leprosy Village, they're basically going to the black market. If they want to send anything into Leprosy Village, they have the rollerbladers put it in the lockers in the black market."
Meng Chao and Zhou Chong discussed it for a while before they sent the information to the command center.
"The target might be hiding in Leprosy Village, which is deep in the lair," Zhou Chong said through gritted teeth.
"We have to be prepared to sneak into Leprosy Village to capture the target. Right now, the greatest problem is that we don't know anything about Leprosy Village. We don't know the structure of the buildings, the distribution of firepower, how many people there are, their attitude toward the Survival Committee and us, whether there are any wanted criminals or lost people hiding there, whether there are any high-end fighters above Heaven Realm … All of this is unknown!
"If it were a normal area in the lair, we could obtain all the information through the neural tactical data link and get the support of the gangs. Our current capture squads would be enough to handle it.
"I don't have any confidence in dealing with Leprosy Village shrouded in fog. I can't even guarantee that we won't cause major casualties.
"Command center, please immediately send reinforcements to help us!"
The command center was silent for a while before Nie Chenglong's slightly tired and resigned voice came. "Captain Zhou, the reinforcements are gathering, but … you have to be prepared to fight against the enemy before the reinforcements arrive."
Man-eating Shark Zhou Chong glared at him. "What's the meaning of this?"
"The monster horde has appeared."
Nie Chenglong's voice was incredibly grave. "Three minutes ago, a monster horde that blots out the sky appeared at the same time on more than ten battlefronts around Dragon City. After the battle at Raging Waves, the monster civilization has launched a military-level attack on us again!"
"What?!"
Meng Chao, Zhou Chong, and all the veteran hunters were stunned.
Through the neural data link, the pictures of the dozens of forward operating bases, crystal mines, smelters, and developing lands at the periphery of Dragon City were projected into their retinas.
In an instant, a raging sea of blood rose in front of their eyes, along with raging flames!
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