Plague Doctor

Chapter 455: The Bird

Inside the altar, scrolls surrounded the 3 people and 1 cat. It reminded Gu Jun of the set up he made with Yu Chi to connect to the mysterious signal. Gu Jun’s attention was more pulled to the quarantine room at Phecda World. Wang Ruoxiang, who was conversing with the Yith, was stunned, so was Gu Jun himself.

‘Green-banded broodsac?’ Wang Ruoxiang indeed did not expect that. She had no idea why the patient who called himself the Yith would say that. Of course she knew what green-banded broodsac was. The snail was the first host and the bird the second host. The parasite grew inside the snail and then its eggs were swallowed by the bird and spread through its fecal matter. The second generation of snails fed on them and initiated another parasitic cycle. However... If this was the analogy used, it meant that the Yith could not help destroy the parasite inside the snail’s body. The command central who tuned into the conversation were equally confused.

“You mean...” Wang Ruoxiang studied the calm-looking man on the bed, “The Yith will not help us to resolve this tragedy?”

“I’m sorry but things aren’t that simple.” Teacher Fan began. “Like I said, the war between the Yith and the flying polypus hydroids was a possibility that will only lead to failure. The first reason is the mental structure of the flying polypus hydroids was one we Yith cannot infiltrate but the second reason is the main reason. We are unable to defeat the greater power supporting the flying polypus hydroids, the Locust God. That is the God worshipped by the Flying Locust, the source of the Locust Sickness.”

Wang Ruoxiang’s frown was deeply locked, her heart continued to sink. She personally believed that the patient was the Yith, at least she hoped that it was true. But even such a powerful race, one that had the time travel technology and mind transfer technology could not defeat the Locust God?! This wave of surprise and disappointment swept through the command central as well. Moments earlier, they thought they had gained a powerful ally, they hoped that the Yith could help them turn the situation around.

“You mentioned that we are friends? But what you’re saying does not imply that at all.” Wang Ruoxiang asked darkly. The Ancient Seal members behind her picked up their guns. ‘Could this man be controlled by the cultist and this was another trick to lower their morale?’

“Yes, we are friends.” Teacher Fan said, “I understand the conundrum you’re in but please let me finish. In the original future, the Yith will be defeated by the flying polypus hydroids but the real reason that caused the extinction of the Yith was the Locust Sickness. At the late stage of this sickness, the victims themselves would not only have their biological body turned into parasites, their brains will be transmuted as well. They would become mindless worshippers of the Locust God. Therefore, to save them, their consciousness has to be vacated as soon as possible. Once the parasite travels to the brain, nothing can be done anymore.”

As she listened to this, Wang Ruoxiang was reminded of the mad ravings of the patients... “I can hear them, the sound of their approach. They will crawl out from the ground and descend from the sky. They will arrive from the multi-worlds. The storm is imminent, insects and worms shall ride the wind; The flood is imminent, mayflies shall ride the waves...”

“Therefore, we have escaped to a further future, but time is a very complex thing. This escape into the future comes with a price, we’ve lost our true freedom because of it. We owe time a debt and we owe the Locust God a sacrifice, which are our own destruction. We need to keep our temporal location a secret to escape Locust God’s detection to avoid extinction; but at the same time, we need to pay our debt in both time and sacrifice or the Locust God would come after us. It knows the fate that we have scammed from it, it merely has not taken any punishment against us.”

Whenever Teacher Fan spoke of Locust God, his tone would become complicated. It was not admiration, not passion, not hatred or fear. The complication reminded Wang Ruoxiang of how she felt when she faced a difficult problem in a test. She was confounded by it but at the same time, enjoyed the challenge. The Yith owed the Locust God a sacrifice, therefore...

“Therefore, we became the second host for the Locust Illness. It was us who carried DNA information of the Locust Sickness through time.” Teacher Fan continued evenly, “We cannot copy or preserve these information for that will expose us. In the far future, we retain our lifestyle, we make use of our technology to travel to different timelines. We observe other civilizations, record them and bury the Locust Sickness’ DNA at the timelines we visited. That way, our responsibility as birds is completed. Some point in time, a time that even we cannot calculate, the locusts will rise up from the ground. What you’re experiencing now is the coincidence of 4 different timelines. That is not something we Yith activated or something we can change or even participate in. But because of this, the Locust Sickness has arrived and it has attracted the Locust God’s attention. And now.” Teacher Fan concluded in a matter-of-fact manner, “The human civilization is collapsing.”

At the altar, Gu Jun was silent and his face darkened. The same conversation was happening inside the room at Mysterium World. Yu Chi gripped his head and he grumbled in pain. “The Yith are the carrier? It was the Yith who transported the Locust Sickness to other timelines so that the Locust God can consume other civilizations. That way the Locust God will temporarily forget the debt the Yith has owed it.... The Yith are the carriers... Did we cause this plague because we have responded to their signal... No...” The same thoughts crossed Gu Jun’s mind. The Yith was the accomplice, the race that adored science and rationality, shifted the genocide onto other civilization to preserve their own. Keziah Mason’s expression shifted while Wu Siyu waved her paws to maintain the scrolls.

“That means we are enemies...” In the room, Wang Ruoxiang said in suppressed rage, “how are we friends?”

“No, we are indeed friends, we merely are unable to change the fact of humanity’s destruction.” Teacher Fan argued, “The problem is not the flying polypus hydroids but the Locust God. Doctor Wang, races like us are like babies in the grand scheme of the universe but not the Locust God. In our future, it is not that we have not simulated scenarios that could have helped your civilization escape this tragedy. Just like every civilization that has been destroyed, no matter how many simulations we make, the only thing we can confirm is destruction is inevitable. Humanity will and must die. If the Yith attempt to change that, our temporal location will be exposed and we’ll die as well. Doctor Wang, rationality tells us what we should do and rationality should also tell you what you should do.”

“What should we do then?” Wang Ruoxiang hissed through her teeth. She almost reached out to strangle this man. “Wait for our death?”

“No.” Teacher Fan said, “Part of you can join us, become the Yith.” This answer indeed startled everyone again.

“The Yith has no physical body, we are a consciousness-based lifeform. For you to understand it, you can imagine us as a set of data. If you input this set of data into a mushroom, then that mushroom is a Yith, if you input that data into a human, then that human is Yith. The Yith is not a singular race, we are made from many different aboriginal races. We Yith do not care about the physical bodies. We do not have an order, or a hierarchy, we are all Yith. Therefore, we can transfer part of your race’s consciousness to the future and transmute those consciousnesses into data and escape the shackles of physicality. You will then possess the same mental strength as we do. Regarding who will be selected to join the Yith, we Yith have our own method of selection, in fact, the selection has already been done.

“That way, even though human civilization will perish, humanity will survive in another form. Humanity will become part of the Yith. With the participation of humanity, the Yith’s mental frame will grow. We shall share our intelligence, our knowledge and technology. We will search for greater intelligence to unlock the secret of this universe. We are a race, a great race. At a point in time, the Yith will figure out a way to defeat Locust God and find a real solution to resolve Locust Sickness and all the other illnesses. Doctor Wang, this is our sincere offer. We are friends, because we are indeed friends.”

Once Teacher Fan finished, the room sunk into silence. The members halted their words, their hearts chilled. Wang Ruoxiang’s ears buzzed. The Yith had given them a blueprint, a way to preserve the ember of humanity... Her mind was muddled. When she heard the question from the command central, she asked numbly, “What do you mean by your own method of selection?” There were 76 hundred million people on Earth. Or rather 76 hundred million people in Phecda World. Including the people from Mysterium World, the number would double.

“If possible, we wish to save all of you.” Teacher Fan continued, “But time travel has its own limitations and rules. Saving everyone will not only attract Locust God’s attention but also its wrath. Furthermore, Doctor Wang, this consciousness transfer itself requires sacrifices. Also, not everyone will be able to approach the Yith, not every consciousness can be easily traded into the future. Even if they can, not every consciousness can be transmuted into data and not every consciousness will be of use to the Yith as a race. Therefore, we have to select the most suitable candidate. For example, you Doctor Wang, you are in our list. Many people in Phecda as well as great talents in every industry over this world are in our list.

“Doctor Wang, you might ask how can the Yith really understand the entire population of Earth? How can we know we have made the correct selection? We have the necessary technology to perform the scanning. Of course it is not 100 percent accurate, we still do not have that intellect. But we will try our best to pick out the best from your world. The current list is 50000 people, and that is already stretching the limit. 50000 people will become the Yith and then you’ll better understand what we’re saying now.”

When Teacher Fan finished, Wang Ruoxiang asked, “Is Gu Jun part of the list?” That was her question, also the question from the command central. “Where is Gu Jun now?” They still had a hero, a hero who had saved them from multiple tragedies...

“People like Gu Jun, Wu Siyu and Yu Chi.” Teacher Fan answered. “Are related but also unrelated to the Yith. We do not participate in their lives.” Wang Ruoxiang narrowed her eyes sharply. The Yith had answered indirectly... Gu Jun, Wu Siyu were not part of the list? Why?

“We do not have much time left, 15 minutes to be exact.” Teacher Fan said. “Doctor Wang, we’re here to take away the DNA codes of the Locust Sickness and to make an announcement. We will only participate in this situation this one time, we will not go back in time to repeat this. Please trust me when I say, we Yith are powerful enough to force consciousness transfer of humanity’s best minds to join the Yith but that is not something we wish to do.”

“Then have you not seen the future of this conversation?” Wang Ruoxiang asked, “Didn’t you already know the answer we will give you?”

Teacher Fan answered serenely, “Whenever it is a timeline related to the Locust Sickness, there will be a temporal fog that we can’t see through. That naturally will influence our simulations. Furthermore, it is unwise for us to venture too close to the Locust God. In other words, we know humanity will fall, but we do not know every detail of the inevitable fall.”

At the command central, everyone was silent. It was Yao Sinian who eventually said, “This might be the enemy trying to lower our morale...” The normally talkative Elder Tong was silent. Perhaps it was the influence of the information input because his understanding of the Yith suddenly increased.

“Now, please pay attention, and please notify others.” Teacher Fan said, “One minute later, we will force a thought implant into the selected 50000 humans. We will send images of the other civilizations ruined by Locust Sickness to you. Our goal is for you to see the situation that you’re in. This is an inevitability that humanity cannot resist. Hopefully you can make a rational decision.”

Wang Ruoxiang frowned. The brains of 50000 elites would be infiltrated just like that?

“Warning, warning!” The alarm came from the command central. “Raise the defence against mental infiltration!”

She hurried out of the room with her colleagues. She slammed the door shut. Wang Ruoxiang’s heart was strung taut. She looked around. And then focused to resist this invisible threat...

The warning was given to the One as well as the elites stationed at Mo Bei and the leaders of various countries. Phecda had no idea who were on the Yith’s list, there was only so much they could do. 1 minute passed, not one second too early, not one second too late.

Suddenly, Wang Ruoxiang’s mind throbbed with pain. It was like she was being pulled into a whirlpool or a whirlpool was forcibly shoved into her mind. She was unable to do anything against it. She yelled out in pain. Many images flashed before her eyes, they were all shots of carnage and destruction.