After they were done with the last attraction in Xiagong City, they decided to make their way back to the hotel. It was already one o’clock in the afternoon when Lin Huang and Lin Xin reached the hotel. Just when they got into their room, Lin Huang’s Emperor’s Heart Ring vibrated. It was Yi Zheng who requested a video call with him. Lin Huang accepted the call.
"Were you looking for me last night?" Yi Zheng asked. He immediately cut to the chase once the call was connected.
"I needed your help to check something but it has been settled now," Lin Huang replied and nodded.
"Oh, I was in the middle of something last night," Yi Zheng explained. "I heard you’re in Xiagong City now?" He continued.
"Yea, I’ll be visiting the Xiagong Ruins tomorrow," Lin Huang said.
"Xiagong City has been chaotic recently. I'd advise you not to stay there for too long," Yi Zheng warned him.
"You’re talking about the murders, right? I'll take note of that," Lin Huang replied. He knew Yi Zheng said that out of sincere concern.
"You don’t seem to have a sense of danger. Nevermind, I shall tell you this then," Yi Zheng said and shook his head.
"The result of the murder case that you were talking about was out this morning but the Union Government has been keeping quiet about it. Seven people who were involved in the murder have been caught in the past few days. They were humans infected by a species of parasites," he said.
Lin Huang frowned and asked, "How is it possible that the parasites passed through the security systems at the city gate undetected?! It would have been possible in a small foothold but Xiagong City is a B-grade large foothold, the security system should be better than that."
"I heard it’s a new type of parasite which had never been seen before. Not only that, its parasitic form is different from the rest which cannot be detected by the security systems. Fortunately, such a parasite does not seem to be contagious as the host could not spread the parasite to others just through touch or airborne means so it won’t spread all over the place," Yi Zheng explained.
"However, the biggest issue now is that Xiagong City has hired many magicians to remove the parasites, but all have failed. This is the reason why the Union Government refused to announce the truth about the case so that an uproar can be avoided," Yi Zheng told Lin Huang the truth. Lin Huang did not expect that to be the case. "All failed?" he thought.
"Although it will not spread, if the security system still doesn’t work, it will cause more parasites to invade Xiagong City…" Lin Huang frowned as he said. He knew how severe the issue was. "Has the Union Government came up with a plan yet?" he asked.
"There are three strategies that they are implementing right now. One is to strengthen the security system by monitoring the people who enter the city. Secondly, they will be strengthening the security in the city and lastly, they will accelerate research on the new species of parasites to develop an identification method," Yi Zheng said while he shrugged his shoulder.
"That doesn’t solve the root problem…" Lin Huang shook his head.
"There’s nothing more they can do. Would you want them to tell all the citizens that there’s a problem with the city gate’s security system and unknown parasites have invaded the city and that there’s no way to remove them?" Yi Zheng asked and raised his eyebrows.
"It might work for small footholds, but now that it has happened in a B-grade large foothold, if the news were to spread, who would still trust the Union Government? Perhaps the people would only feel safe if they move to an A-grade foothold," Lin Huang said.
Lin Huang shook his head. He knew that there were no other viable strategies that could be executed right now. The issue would be worse if there was an uproar among the citizens. Emotions were contagious and fear would spread like wildfire. Lin Huang recalled the days when he was on earth. Whenever people heard news about water pollution, many would rush to the supermarket to get clean water. If people heard that there were deaths caused by flu, many would stock up medication such as Radix Isatidis at the pharmacies. That was the effect spreading fear.
"Don’t stay there for too long, it would mean trouble if you were infected by the new species of parasites," Yi Zheng reminded him again.
"I know, thank you for telling me all these. I have something in mind, but I will leave in two days after I have settled it," Lin Huang said and nodded. Hearing such unusual news from Yi Zheng did not prompt him to leave immediately. He saw the laptop left by Xia Hao and he would not leave until he got to the bottom of it.
After the phone was disconnected, Lin Huang had his mind occupied with everything about parasites. Parasites were one of the most hated species by people in this world as most of them could infect humans. Moreover, it would be very unpredictable once they invaded the foothold.
According to the information they had on different species of parasites, they were categorized into five types.
The first one was an invasive species of parasites. The parasite would enter the host body and take control of everything. Those who were highly evolved would even pick up human knowledge as they had amazing intelligence.
The second one would be leech parasites. The parasite would release a massive amount of leech pods and those who were infected would become a host for the parasite. Such parasites could control up to tens of thousands of hosts at once. It was destructive and were usually done by plant-based parasites.
The third one would be through eggs-laying parasites. The parasite species would lay eggs into the host and use the host as food and shelter for baby parasites to allow the continuation of their offspring. Most insect parasites would usually use this method to propagate their species.
The fourth one would be soul parasites. It was rare as the parasites used a unique way to attach themselves to the host’s soul and wipe away his or her consciousness to take over their body. It could even completely inherit the host’s memories and continue to live like the host. It was almost impossible to detect.
The fifth type was an uncategorized mutated parasite. Similar to the soul parasite, it was extremely rare. From what Yi Zheng said, this case was possibly caused by invasive parasites or leech parasites. Lin Huang was not afraid of these parasites as invasive parasites could be spotted with the naked eye. As long as he was aware of it, it would not difficult to get rid of them. As for the leech parasites, they could be avoided by putting on some armor. As long as the armor prevented the host from touching the leech pods, the host would be safe.
Lin Huang did not think he would be affected but he frowned when he thought of Lin Xin, "Xiagong City isn’t safe now, it would be worse at the ruins. It seems like I shouldn’t bring Lin Xin along then," he thought. After some hesitation, he knocked on Lin Xin’s door and told her the news that Yi Zheng told him. Lin Xin was shocked.
"Brother, let’s leave Xiagong City tomorrow morning then," she mumbled.
"I still have to drop by the ruins to settle some stuff," Lin Huang told her. He had come up with an arrangement for Lin Xin, "Bai will stay here to protect you. Try not to head out when I’m not here. Order room service if you’re hungry and get Bai to open the door for you," he instructed.
"This is for you, didn’t you always want this?" Lin Huang said while he handed her the GrayEagle17 with a couple boxes of ammunition. He did not need that gun anymore.
"What about you?" Lin Xin asked.
"I have a BlackEagle33 and a monster that can fly, if I encounter any danger, I will run away, don't worry," Lin Huang smiled and explained.
"Must you go?" Lin Xin was still worried that something might happen to Lin Huang.
"It’s quite important, I have to," Lin Huang nodded in all seriousness.