Foreign Land Reclamation By a Vegetable-growing Skeleton

 

Plagues, wars, famines, and the undead are the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse in the Church of Light’s propaganda. Their arrival would bring apocalyptic disaster.

The last one, the Undead Empire staunchly denies. To them, their Undead Calamity is just a form of warfare, a controllable one, not a calamity in the true sense. Yet, if anyone dares to defy them, they surely would hasten the arrival of their doomsday.

Whether the Undead Empire admits it or not doesn’t matter. What matters is that everyone believes it. Among the disasters listed alongside the Undead Calamity – plagues, wars, famines – all of them terrible in their own right, the plague is considered the worst.

There was once a region heavily afflicted by plague. Two-thirds of its tens of millions of inhabitants died. All systems of government collapsed in this region; only the isolated villages managed to survive.

Ever since then, this region has been composed primarily of isolated city-states, with numerous self-governing territories. With millions of people living across over six hundred city-states and territories. Each with its City Lord, controlling a smaller population than some of the larger empires.

This region is now referred to as the Bird Union, hinting at the numerous city-states resembling a collection of bird nests.

The cause of this unique political feature is the plague.

The Church of Light managed to expand across the Master Plane, becoming the primary religion. The plague played a crucial role in this because the Power of Holy Light has a distinct purifying effect.

The most effective way to deal with a plague is through purification: clean drinking water, clothes, bedding, living environments, all of which can reduce the spread of the plague. The holy radiance can also eradicate the source of the plague. As a result, wherever there is the Church of Light, plague can be controlled; otherwise, the plague will rampantly spread.

In such situations, the Goddess of Redemption, Harvest Goddess, God of Disease, God of Healing, and many more deities prove inefficient. To eliminate plagues, the most crucial measures are isolation and purification, controlling the source, and preventing the spread.

Over time, people began to convert to the Church of Light while those who refused either secluded themselves in isolated regions, forming their societies, or perished.

Plagues, wars, famines often reinforce each other. Plagues lead to famines, which in turn instigate wars. These wars then trigger plagues and famines. Once it starts, it will spiral into a world of chaos.

Anthony invested a considerable effort to keep the famine under control and prevent it from spiraling out of control, at least not to an extent that would incite more famines and plagues. However, his efforts seem futile. The followers of the Harvest Goddess were infected, carrying the plague to another plane.

Another troublesome aspect of plagues is their unpredictability. No one knows what the next plague could be. Unlike wars and famines, which can be anticipated with preparations made for grains and equipment accordingly.

Take the current situation as an example. A patient vomits a lump of bloody substance then collapses to their death, leaving Dakwen at a loss, unable to recall what plague this could be.

Could it be a brand-new plague? If so, it spells trouble. Developing a cure might cost many more lives before it comes to fruition.

This is where the God of Knowledge, Negris, needs to step in. Negris came over full of confidence, but soon he wore a troubled expression on his face. “What kind of plague is this? I’ve never seen it before.” ȓàꞐồ฿Ëṩ

A plague that even the God of Knowledge hasn’t encountered is undoubtedly a new form of the disease.

“If I cannot identify it, it surely is a new plague. Does anyone know anything about it? If not, I will start investigating.” Negris glanced around.

He looked at Luna, Lisa, and Lamo, everyone except Ange since it wasn’t related to agriculture and Ange most likely wouldn’t know.

“Insects.” Ange chimed in after a brief glance and left it at that.

“Insects? What insects? Are you familiar with this plague? Get out of here. This is a plague, not a fertilizer for your crops.” Negris responded in irritation.

What is this creature thinking, connecting every situation to insects? Does it lack fertilizer again?

Ange ignored him, stepped on the ground, and soon, the bright red fluid began to shift, forming small specks.

These specs, even smaller than mosquitoes, came alive and wriggled, crawled out of the fluid, and took flight. They barely reached a foot in height before they dropped like raindrops to the ground, their lifeforce devoured by Ange’s Instant Death Halo.

Soon, a pile of tiny insect corpses covered the ground—each one as minute as dust. But their sheer number piled up into a frightening mound.

Negris gasped, reminded of the first encounter with the bug exterminator and the sand thieves used for incubating eggs.

When Ange cut open those sand thieves, their bodies burst with eggs the size of fingertips. Could these red blobs also be eggs? Are they too tiny to discern, making them look like sticky fluid?

As the insects continued to hatch, the pile of fluid grew smaller. When only a tiny bit remained, Ange deactivated his Instant Death Halo.

Without the Instant Death Halo speeding up their hatching, the hatched insects took flight, looking for something alive instead of dying instantly.

But Ange activated the Instant Death Halo, forcing living things to retreat hundreds of meters away. All that remained in the vicinity were non-living things. Finally, Ange fetched a live fish from the waterway and tossed it over.

The insects flew towards the fish, their mouthparts jabbing into it.

Ange walked over and lightly touched his finger to the fish. After a while, the fish spat out a lump of bright red sticky fluid.

Negris paled: “Can every insect lay eggs? Doesn’t that make every individual a source of transmission?”

The earlier creatures designated for incubating eggs had eggs implanted by bug exterminators. But now, any insect capable of laying eggs could spread them. If they sting any living creature, they can use it to incubate eggs. The spread rates would be uncomparable to the previous insect plagues.

Moreover, these insect eggs are so small they’re barely visible to the naked eye. It’s easy to mistake them for sticky fluid. If they are not incinerated on the spot and allowed to hatch, they will become a new source of transmission.

Negris realized the gravity of the situation. Based on this situation, no one could tell how many of the transported people have been stung by the insects. Bearing in mind these insects are even smaller than mosquitoes, even if they bite, it wouldn’t cause much concern. Then, many of those people probably host insect eggs in their bodies.

They have no idea of how many followers of the Harvest Goddess are infected. How about the Master Plane? In famine-stricken regions, how many people are infected?

If they can’t be cured before they vomit the fluid, their lives will end the moment they spit out the fluid.

In reality, once they show symptoms like pallor, their bodies have already suffered extensive internal damages, irreversible even if cured.

“What do we do now? When they’re inside a person’s body, your Instant Death Halo won’t kill them. It will only speed up their hatching. Do we have any specific cures? This isn’t an insect plague anymore; it’s an insect-borne plague. If we can’t find a cure, the Master Plane might lose two-thirds of its population again.” Negris worriedly commented.

Ange tilted his head, thought for a moment, and took out a vial. “Try this.”

PS: More in the morning

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