A bead of sweat dripped down David Harris's temple. In his earpiece, headquarters issued a command: "The patient is suffering from parasitic contamination. He has already mutated and will become a source of infection himself. Elimination is advised."

So, David Harris pulled the trigger.

[Talent - Tracking Shot]: Within range, the target can be automatically hit.

They were several hundred meters above the ground, Kevin Thompson was running, and the plane was shaking. It was hard to imagine anyone could hit a target in such conditions.

But the moment the gunshot rang out, a burst of blood exploded from Kevin Thompson's body.

However, he didn't fall as one would expect.

It was a horrifying scene—his head was gone, yet the body kept charging forward.

David Harris frowned and quickly fired two more shots. Less than ten seconds passed between the first and the follow-ups.

The sniper rifle he used was loaded with heavy rounds—if it hit a person, death was certain.

Kevin Thompson was, of course, impossible to survive.

But just like the hairworm that parasitizes a mantis and can control it to jump into water and drown, the thing parasitizing him was the same.

Suddenly, the gloomy sky began to pour rain.

In the downpour, the body finally found its destination.

The moat of K City, Qujiang.

It leapt into the river, wild with joy.

……

……

The body was quickly fished out.

David Harris ignored the contamination risk, stripped Kevin Thompson's clothes, and examined him carefully.

There were no traces of fish eggs on his body.

But no one was happy about it. Beside them, the surging river flowed endlessly.

Two soldiers lowered their heads in shame. "Sorry, we couldn't catch up to him."

Normally, mutation has three stages, with at least a two-week buffer period. But from the time Kevin Thompson was contaminated to when he began to mutate, it was only a matter of hours.

This was abnormal, so much so that David Harris hadn't even reacted in time.

As humans evolve, so do contaminants.

David Harris's expression grew grim. "Sudden contamination incident, tentatively classified as B-level. C-level contaminant 'Parasitic Fish' has mutated, recovery failed, current contamination spread unknown. Requesting headquarters support."

Chapter 3, 003

003

Adam Carter dialed Kevin Thompson's number.

No answer. Later, the other party's phone ran out of battery and shut off automatically.

On WeChat, his messages also went unanswered.

Although Adam Carter and Dr. Thompson both worked at the hospital, their relationship wasn't close enough to exchange home addresses.

Not long after David Harris left, the compensation for the last surgery was transferred—directly into his account, and after tax, it was just under six figures.

In all his years working at the hospital, Adam Carter had never received such a generous bonus.

Since he didn't have to work for the time being, he didn't go to the hospital.

Usually, after earning a windfall, people reward themselves with shopping.

He thought for a moment, then went downstairs to the convenience store and cleared out all the water and instant noodles.

In the store, the doorman was bobbing his head to the radio.

"This morning at 10 a.m., police in our city discovered a fugitive at Qujiang Park. The suspect attempted to take a hostage and was shot dead on the spot."

Adam Carter recalled the last thing Kevin Thompson said to him on the phone today.

He'd been in a hurry to open the door and hung up before hearing the end.

The other party mentioned a place starting with the sound "Qu."

Now it seemed it was Qujiang Park.

Adam Carter lowered his head and searched for related news. Unfortunately, no media outlet provided any information about the suspect. It was probably an official press release; all the news reports were nearly identical.

In the end, he only found a blurry aerial photo—a person in a black jacket lying on the ground.

That jacket, Adam Carter had seen Kevin Thompson wear before. He said it was a Canada Goose his girlfriend gave him.

Dr. Thompson really liked it and had shown it off in the department for days.

A sense of unease grew in Adam Carter's heart.

He drove to a nearby large mall and went on a shopping spree.

The mall clearly hadn't expected a customer to shop like they were wholesaling from a warehouse, so they arranged a truck to deliver everything Adam Carter bought.

Food, medicine, bottled water, portable gas stove...

He bought enough to fill two guest rooms.

Luckily, Adam Carter lived alone, or he wouldn't have been able to fit it all.

"Bro, why'd you buy so much? This'll last you for years," the delivery guy helping him move the goods was baffled.

Adam Carter wasn't one to explain much, so he replied, "I'm doing e-commerce."

Delivery guy: "......"

Impossible to understand.

*

That night, as usual, Adam Carter turned on the TV, listening to the evening news while preparing dinner.

"The source of contamination in H City has been brought under control. The state of emergency will soon be lifted, and transportation will resume..."

As she spoke, the anchorwoman's expression suddenly changed: "We interrupt with breaking news."

"An unknown contamination disease has appeared in our city. All activities are suspended. Citizens are urged to stay home and not go out. K City is temporarily under lockdown!"

Just like Adam Carter, millions of residents in K City received the same message.

K City was plunged into panic, a cloud of gloom hanging over it.

In the residents' group chat, notification sounds kept ringing nonstop.