There were always some supplies stored in the Qingyu Office, kept in a fixed place. Brian Cooper had worked in the inner ring for many years, so after regaining his composure, the first thing he did was to feel his way along the wall. Eventually, he found the torches and flint, struck them, and lit a torch.

The firelight burned in the darkness of the Qingyu Office, its glow beginning to illuminate the surroundings, and also lighting up Brian Cooper's pale face.

According to past rules, torches were not to be lit in the Qingyu Office except on rare occasions—at most, they could be lit once before opening the doors in the morning, since the doors would soon be opened anyway, so it didn't matter. But now, in this vast Qingyu Office, only Brian Cooper was present, so naturally, no one would stop him.

As the firelight spread, the bloody scene from before once again appeared before his eyes.

Brian Cooper looked around and roughly estimated that, among the corpses in the Qingyu Office, there were about a dozen that could be identified as more or less intact bodies.

Those people were scattered across the floor made of Qingyu stone, some lying face up, some face down, almost all with massive wounds on their bodies, blood splattered everywhere.

Holding the torch, Brian Cooper slowly walked forward, his jaw clenched as he looked around.

Most of the people here, Brian Cooper had never met, but the expressions on their faces at the moment of death were all similar—filled with despair, pain, and fear.

As he walked, when passing by one of the corpses, Brian Cooper suddenly paused. Out of the corner of his eye, he seemed to catch something, and immediately stopped in his tracks.

After a moment, he slowly turned and looked at the corpse not far from his feet.

It appeared to be a sturdy man, tall and strong, probably a good worker in life, but now he was utterly lifeless. At this moment, his face was twisted in terror and despair. Brian Cooper's gaze lingered on his face for only a moment before moving away.

Looking downward, he saw a horrific, gaping wound in the man's chest and abdomen, almost tearing his belly completely open. The blood had long since dried, but under the torchlight, Brian Cooper seemed to see a faint glimmer of something beneath the dead man's skin, flickering slightly.

Brian Cooper frowned and was about to lean in for a closer look, reaching out his hand, but quickly stopped. After a moment's thought, he stood up and glanced around, noticing a short sword lying beside another corpse nearby. He went over, picked it up, and then used the short sword to probe beneath the dead man's skin.

The torch burned, illuminating the darkness.

A ghastly green egg, about the size of a baby's head, was attached to the dead man's abdominal cavity, appearing before him in a way that made his scalp tingle.

Brian Cooper's eye twitched sharply, but perhaps because he had already seen even more gruesome scenes that day, or perhaps his nerves were already exceptionally tough, he only shuddered slightly, showing neither fear nor retreat.

He stared coldly at the bizarre, insect-egg-like thing, his brows tightly furrowed, as if recalling something. Suddenly, with a flick of his wrist, he directly pried the thing out of the dead man's abdomen.

The egg seemed to offer no resistance at all. With a single flick, it rolled right out, landing on the ground with a "pa" sound and quivering a few times.

Brian Cooper raised an eyebrow, quickly noticing something unusual.

Although the egg was strange and terrifying, it didn't seem to be in good condition. At least half of its surface had shriveled, and this condition was clearly spreading. It seemed it wouldn't be long before the entire egg lost all vitality.

Why was this? What exactly was this thing? Brian Cooper still didn't know. After hesitating for a moment, he picked up the short sword and cautiously poked the egg.

Unexpectedly, though the egg looked frightening, it was actually extremely fragile. The blade of the short sword pierced the skin with just a gentle touch.

With a soft "puff," a stream of green liquid spurted out, accompanied by a stench that rushed straight into Brian Cooper's nose.

Chapter Six: After the Calamity (Part Two)

Brian Cooper took a step back, but at that moment, he suddenly heard a strange, piercing shriek. Something burst out of the egg and lunged straight at his torch-wielding hand, instantly wrapping around his wrist, followed by a surge of intense pain shooting up his arm.

Brian Cooper cried out, and as he looked closely, he was instantly horrified. He saw a bug, about the size of half a child's wrist, coiled around his own wrist, its mouth biting into him, apparently trying to burrow into his flesh.

In that moment, Brian Cooper felt a chill run through his whole body. Instinctively, he roared in anger, flung his wrist with all his might, and then brought the short sword down hard.

With a buzzing sound, the bug fell to the ground.