Dominic shut his eyes and nodded slightly in agreement with Alexander while Austin remained quiet. However, guilt-ridden for
having caused all this, he was anxious to find out what it was all about.
“It's not your fault.” Seemingly able to read his mind, Dominic raised his hand slightly and moved his fingers. “Go... fetch my silver
needle.”
Austin repeatedly nodded upon hearing his granduncle’s instruction. “Right away!”
He was eager to do everything for his granduncle as long as the older man could get well.
Dominic quietly gazed after Austin as he anxiously ran out of the room like a child, then turned to Alexander.
Alexander knew the older man had something to say to him.
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“I...” Dominic then raised his arm.
Alexander knowingly held the arm a bit higher and rolled up the older man’s sleeve. “| checked both your arms, and there's
nothing. The mark you showedbefore has disappeared. | also checked Austin’s body; he doesn’t have it either. What the hell...
was it?”
He knew it was exhausting for Dominic to speak, so he mentioned all his discoveries in one go. Dominic nodded and looked
satisfied.
‘It's good that he can read my mind.’
"Water..." he glanced at the glass beside him, and Alexander immediately understood him. Alexander got up, poured a glass of
water, then fed the older man some, holding it to his lips.
After drinking water, Dominic seemed to have regained sstrength and leaned his head back. He was quiet for a few seconds
before slowly saying, “It's a symbiote.”
He continued after a brief pause, “They first grew it inside Austin and fed it with nutrients to accelerate its growth. It used his body
as its base before spreading to others. Since it causes no pain, it's hard to detect.”
Alexander was stunned.
Although Dominic spoke briefly, his message was clear. The organization first put the symbiote inside Austin’s body, which served
as a tool to grow it. When the symbiote reached maturity, it then infected the others.
Therefore, the source was indeed Austin.
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However, it was not a pathogen as they previously thought, but a symbiote, which was something new.
After all, the research institute had been researching viruses and poisonous plants, and no one expected the disease to have
something to do with symbiotes.
“So you're saying Austin is a tool to grow the symbiote? But | didn’t find any trace of it on his body,” Alexander asked.
Dominic shook his head lightly and said as he looked at Alexander, “The symbiote’s mother would protect itself, so Austin will be
fine for now.”
In other words, the symbiote had spread its venom to others through its children. The one inside Austin was the mother, so he
would be fine. That was why he looked lively, even radiant.
“Then...” Just as Alexander was about to ask again, he heard a sound from the doorway.