Lu Yuan kept this suspicion deep in his heart, showing no signs of anything unusual.
After dealing with the severely infected individuals, the sky had fully brightened.
Old Hans was helped away, not saying a single word as he left.
Lu Yuan was led to a large house in the center of town.
Six people were lying inside, all of them lightly polluted individuals.
Bulges of varying sizes had grown on their arms, shoulders, or backs.
Those bulges were moving, but they had not yet broken open.
"Is there still hope?" Herman stood nearby, his voice carrying a rare hint of tension.
Lu Yuan noticed his fingers were trembling slightly.
He walked to one of the people, knelt down, and observed closely.
The bulges were light brown in color with slightly reddened edges, and something could be seen squirming vaguely beneath the skin.
He reached out his right hand and pressed lightly.
The person hissed in pain but did not pull away.
"Bear with it."
Lu Yuan pressed around the bulge several times, feeling the texture beneath.
It had not yet hardened.
This meant the parasite had not yet invaded the bone marrow.
At the edge of his vision, greyish-white text quietly surfaced:
【Detection target: Lightly Polluted Individual (Early Stage)】
【Status: Parasites have just begun breeding, has not yet invaded the bone marrow】
【Analyzing...】
Lu Yuan stood up and walked around the room, checking everyone once.
Six people, with varying degrees of symptoms, but all were still in the early stage.
He stopped walking and began to think.
Martin's situation was mid-stage; the parasite had already taken root in the bone marrow, leaving no choice but heat cauterization combined with amputation.
But these six were in the early stage, not yet that severe.
If he could find a medicine to kill the egg sacs beneath the skin...
Lu Yuan thought of the sandworm oil applied to Martin's wound last night.
That substance served to block air and prevent infection.
If he increased the concentration and combined it with some bug-repelling herbs...
At the edge of his vision, the greyish-white text jumped again:
【Scheme generated: Specially Formulated Bug-Repelling Ointment (Topical Version)】
【Principle: High concentration of sandworm oil effectively blocks egg sac activity; bug-repelling grass sap penetrates beneath the skin to kill larvae, clearing early-stage parasites through dual action.】
【Estimated success rate: 67%】
【Note: Must be prepared on-site; the ratio is adjusted based on the severity of symptoms】
Lu Yuan looked at the number, feeling confident.
67% wasn't high, but there were no better options in the current situation.
"There's a way."
Lu Yuan turned to Herman.
"I need sandworm oil, the more concentrated the better. Also, something called 'bug-repelling grass'—it's green, with thorns on the edges of the leaves."
Herman was momentarily stunned.
"Bug-repelling grass? We usually use that to smoke out insects... Can it treat this?"
"We'll try and see."
Lu Yuan didn't explain much.
Herman didn't hesitate; he gestured to those outside the door and gave a few low-voiced instructions.
Soon, several townspeople entered carrying supplies.
Sandworm oil, bug-repelling grass, grinding vessels, and some medicinal herbs Lu Yuan couldn't name.
"This is all my stock." Herman bit down on his relit cigarette holder. "Is it enough?"
"It's enough."
Lu Yuan began his work.
He crushed the bug-repelling grass, squeezed out the sap, and mixed it with the sandworm oil according to a specific ratio.
The color of the first batch was too light, so he added more bug-repelling grass sap.
The second batch was too thick and wouldn't spread, so he added a bit more sandworm oil.
The third time...
The prepared ointment was dark brown, emitting a pungent odor.
Lu Yuan dipped a finger in it and brought it to his nose to smell.
At the edge of his vision, the greyish-white text jumped lightly:
【Recipe verification: Bug-Repelling Ointment (Simple Version)】
【Effect: Kills early-stage parasites beneath the skin; ineffective for mid-stage and above】
【Pharmacology: +0.5...16.9/50】
"First one."
Lu Yuan walked to the person with the mildest symptoms.
It was a young man in his twenties with only two bulges on his arm, neither of which was very large.
"It will hurt a lot," Lu Yuan said. "Bear with it."
The young man gritted his teeth and nodded.
Lu Yuan applied the ointment to the first bulge.
The man immediately let out a muffled groan, his body trembling violently, but he managed not to scream.
As the ointment penetrated the skin, the bulge began to squirm violently, as if the thing inside were struggling.
The squirming lasted for about ten seconds.
Then, it gradually stopped.
The bulge began to shrink, eventually turning into a black scab.
"It's done," Lu Yuan said upon seeing this. "Wait for the scab to fall off and you'll be fine."
The young man's eyes widened, his face filled with disbelief.
"That... that's it?"
"That's it."
Lu Yuan didn't explain further, moving on to treat the second bulge on the man's arm.
For the next two hours, he repeated the same actions.
Mixing, applying, waiting, and treating.
One after another.
Some people had many bulges, taking more time to handle.
Others had them in tricky positions, near the back or shoulder blades, requiring others to help hold them steady.
Lu Yuan operated using only his right hand throughout the process; his left hand remained wrapped in bandages, hanging at his side.
Halfway through, the ointment ran out, and he prepared another batch.
The ratio for the second batch was adjusted slightly, and the effect was even better than the first.
By the time the last person was treated, he was so exhausted he could barely stand.
His right hand ached, and his fingers were somewhat numb.
At the edge of his vision, the greyish-white text jumped lightly:
【Pharmacology: +0.7...17.6/50】
"Thank you for saving my life, sir..."
"Sandworm Town owes you its life..."
Those who had been saved began to offer their thanks one after another, some gripping Lu Yuan's hand tightly.
A middle-aged man with a full beard, his eyes red, pulled several silver shields from his pocket and insisted on pressing them into Lu Yuan's hand.
Lu Yuan waved him off, refusing to take them.
His gaze swept over these people, finally landing on a silent young man in the corner.
He was the last to be treated, and he had the most bulges on his back—a full seven or eight.
But strangely, the color of his bulges was different from the others.
While the others had light brown bulges, his had a faint purple tint.
Lu Yuan had noticed this detail while treating him.
The ointment's effect on him was also slightly worse than on the others; the squirming took longer to stop, and the color of the scab was darker.
"What's your name?" Lu Yuan walked over and asked.
The young man looked up, his eyes darting away.
"...Reid."
"Yesterday, when the sandworm was being dismantled, where were you standing?"
Reid was stunned for a moment, seemingly not expecting Lu Yuan to ask this.
"I... I was at the head. I was responsible for cleaning out the things in the mouthparts."
The head.
The mouthparts.
Lu Yuan recalled the dense clusters of eyes within the mutated sandworm's mouthparts.
"Did you touch anything strange?"
Reid's eyes flickered.
"N-no."
He was lying.
Lu Yuan could tell, but since he was unwilling to speak, there was no need to press him. When the pathfinders made their move and the situation became clear, he would act once and then leave this place.
Of course, it would be even better if he could pick up something useful along the way.
"Keep an eye on yourself for the next few days. If new bulges grow in those spots, or if anything feels wrong, come find me immediately."
Reid nodded quickly, looking as if he had let out a sigh of relief.
"Okay, okay. Thank you, sir."
Lu Yuan withdrew his gaze and turned to Herman.
"We'll settle the cost of the materials together when I leave."
"For now, I need to rest."
Herman nodded, his expression complex.
"Sandworm Town will remember this favor."
By the time they returned to Herman's house, the sun had risen high.
Lu Yuan entered his room and closed the door.
He didn't wash or eat; he collapsed directly onto the bed.
Exhaustion washed over him like a tide.
His right hand was sore, his left hand throbbed faintly, and his mind was a bit of a mess.
But before falling asleep, Lu Yuan went over today's events in his mind.
The mayor's absence.
The identical patterns on the mutants and the mutated sandworm.
The familiar smell during the cremation.
And that young man named Reid, with his shifty eyes and the unusual color of his bulges.
All these things tied together pointed to one possibility.
The sandworm's mutation was not a natural occurrence.
Someone was controlling things from behind the scenes.
Lu Yuan thought of the various factions in Gelimu Port—the Holy Church, the Ascension Society—every one of them had their own secrets.
The situation before him felt like some kind of experiment that had spiraled out of control.
But this was the desert.
Dry, secluded, and lacking in resources.
No matter which faction it was, establishing a base in such a place wouldn't be easy.
Moreover, the pathfinders had been in town for some time; if there were obvious anomalous facilities, they couldn't have missed them.
Furthermore, sandworms were subterranean creatures.
They lived deep in the sand year-round and should have an instinctive perception of danger.
On the day of the hunt, the polluted sandworm was clearly different from normal ones, waiting for the sound of the mayor's bone flute and even struggling for a long time after being poisoned.
Those were not the reactions of a normal creature.
A creature like that, upon encountering a source of pollution, its first reaction should be to flee.
The desert was vast and the underground was deep; they had plenty of places to go.
Yet it had been polluted anyway.
Lu Yuan frowned.
There were only two possibilities.
Either there was something underground that the sandworm could not resist.
Something so powerful it couldn't even flee.
Or, it was done intentionally by someone.
Using some method to force the sandworm into contact with the source of pollution.
But the question was... why?
What was the purpose of polluting the sandworm?
Lu Yuan couldn't figure it out.
If a sandworm had value, it was the value of its materials. If it was polluted, the materials were ruined, making it a waste of effort.
Unless... the pollution itself was the goal.
Lu Yuan closed his eyes, temporarily suppressing these thoughts.
Information was too scarce; thinking more was futile.
The most important thing now was to rest.
Once his Sanity recovered a bit more, he would look deeper into these matters...
...
When he woke up again, sunlight slanted in through the window, falling on the floor.
Lu Yuan lay on the bed, staring at the ceiling for a few seconds.
He felt surprisingly good.
He had originally thought he would be very groggy after only a few hours of sleep, but he didn't feel heavy-headed at all now. His mind was clear, and much of that dull pressure at the back of his head had dissipated.
At the edge of his vision, greyish-white text quietly surfaced:
【Sanity: 71/120 (Total)】
The potion given by the pathfinders was even more effective than he had imagined.
It wasn't just accelerating recovery; there seemed to be some kind of sustained effect.
Lu Yuan looked at the number, the corners of his mouth lifting slightly.
71 points, more than halfway.
Lu Yuan sat up, stretched his neck, and glanced at his left hand.
The wound under the bandages also seemed better, at least the burning sensation wasn't as intense as before.
The sunlight outside was just right; it should be afternoon.
Just then, a knock came at the door.
"Mr. Lu, are you awake?"
It was Karl's voice.
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