This game had indeed carried out quite a lot of unethical practices to exploit human beings. The extreme cold weather not long ago was likely its doing as well. Gu Mian and his group had speculated that there were two organizers behind this game: one beneficial to humans and the other harmful. It seemed the harmful one had almost taken control of the real world.

"That said..." At this moment, Chu Changge raised his head, his eyes adjusting to the slightly glaring flashlight beam, and looked directly at Gu Mian. "Aren't you going to check the content on your panel?"

Gu Mian's panel was always visible, so Chu Changge could see its contents clearly. The first line read: [Instance Evaluator No. 10065 at your service...] This was clearly the evaluation after the instance ended. Previous evaluations were almost always conducted *within* the instance. This time, however, the evaluation only appeared after they were teleported out.

It's probably because the instance was in such a hurry to teleport us out, Gu Mian suspected.

"Don't worry about it; you continue," Gu Mian said, having already glanced over it. Just like the previous times, it's mostly fluff aside from the rewards.

Chu Changge then continued, "This infectious disease is spreading aggressively. For now, I've only identified the initial symptoms: coughing, fever, nausea, vomiting, and one more key point..." He paused. "It seems to be accompanied by mild allergic reactions."

Allergies? Gu Mian stroked his chin. Although the temperature has warmed up a bit, it hasn't gotten *that* much warmer. Most people outside are still wearing long-sleeved shirts and pants, not exposing much skin. And Chu Changge could deduce allergic reactions just from their exposed faces and hands?

Chu Changge adjusted his glasses. "I've noticed that people have been scratching themselves much more frequently lately. That's why I made that guess."

True. If people on the street were scratching all over like monkeys, it would be hard not to notice. It was remarkable that Chu Changge had managed to visit so many areas in such a short time and observe the behavior of so many people.

Gu Mian looked at the map in his hands again. The map was broadly divided into three colored areas: red, yellow, and green.

Chu Changge explained, "The red areas are heavily infected zones. Entering these regions is extremely dangerous, with a high probability of contracting the virus. Of course, since this disease has just begun to spread, there aren't any heavily infected situations yet. But based on my observations, if this virus develops further, the red areas will definitely become major disaster zones..."

"These areas are densely populated, and there are likely many corpses hidden within them. Several residential complexes are located here, mostly adjacent north-to-south. Some complexes are separated by only a very narrow road. A northerly wind is currently blowing. If the virus is resilient and capable of airborne transmission, then as long as the wind blows, these areas will quickly fall."

"The yellow areas are susceptible to infection. The population isn't as dense, so there won't be too many sources of infection. However, since they're located on main roads, people often pass through them during transit, so there's still a risk of getting infected..."

In that case, even without Chu Changge saying so, the green areas must be safe zones, Gu Mian understood.

"The green areas are relatively safe, but not absolutely safe," Chu Changge said. "The green areas are sparsely populated, but we need to be concerned about animals like rats, flies, and cockroaches carrying and spreading the virus."

"Right now, people don't seem to have realized the severity of the situation. They appear to be treating this virus like a common flu."

Gu Mian nodded slightly. After all, with the recent severe cold, catching the flu wouldn't be surprising. Some people might even choose not to take medication. Currently, all hospitals and pharmacies are closed, and medicine in supermarkets is frighteningly expensive. More people want to save the medicine they've stocked up for critical moments, though it's debatable whether it would even work then. It probably won't be long before those who don't take this seriously start to panic.

He noticed Chu Changge had marked the Spirit Car they were in with green. The green vehicle looked completely out of place against the surrounding yellow main color.

Chu Changge explained, "The moment I realized an infectious disease might be spreading, I went to the supermarket's medical supply section and bought this. Masks can indeed block some viruses, but I was afraid Fatty might suffocate in his sleep if he wore one..."

Gu Mian was speechless. "..."

Fatty's snores seemed to be getting louder.

As he spoke, Chu Changge reached out and picked up an item from the dashboard near the windshield. It was something similar to a solid air freshener. With Chu Changge's movement, Gu Mian caught a faint, pleasant scent. It's the same scent I smelled when I first got back.

[Life-Type-C Virus Air Freshener]

[This scent can disperse some types of airborne viruses. The smaller the space of use, the more pronounced the dispersal effect.]

This means if this air freshener were thrown outside, its effective area would be the entire Earth, rendering it basically useless. But if placed in this small car, its effect would be significant. As for when it would become ineffective, it's just like a solid air freshener: it stops working once it completely evaporates.

Gu Mian recalled that the supermarket's medical supplies were divided into four categories—A, B, C, and D—with prices decreasing accordingly. Category C medical supplies cost a few hundred Game Coins, which is a bit pricey. But it was worth it to prevent Fatty from suffocating in his sleep.

"I haven't found any high-level ticket booths nearby," Chu Changge said, still remembering their goal of finding one to enter high-level instances. "What's your plan?"

By this time, Gu Mian had already closed his settlement panel. Unsurprisingly, it was still an S-rank evaluation. However, I do have some reservations about the comment 'holding key personnel from the variety show hostage and threatening them.' The rewards were 999 Game Coins, 9 Attribute Points, and one special item. It seems the instance wants to give people a chance to survive, so everyone's recent special item rewards are probably related to medicine.

[Toy Goose Pharmaceutical Flu Medicine]

[Introduction: A drug produced by the Toy Goose Pharmaceutical Factory, one of the first batches of medicine manufactured by the company. Due to unrefined techniques, taking it may result in some strange side effects.]

[Function: Cures illnesses]

Well, the function is certainly concise and easy to understand. But this Toy Goose Company... Gu Mian frowned. Isn't this company putting out products a bit too frequently? The previous [Dimension-Breaking Phone] was from this company. And then [A Vial of Failed Experimental Reagent] also mentioned this company. Gu Mian vaguely recalled complaining about the Toy Goose Company when he read the description for [A Vial of Failed Experimental Reagent].

Seeing Gu Mian remain silent, Chu Changge repeated, "What's your plan?"

Gu Mian finally snapped back to reality. "For now, let's stay somewhere a bit safer." Only an idiot would run around in heavily infected areas.

Chu Changge was silent for a moment before speaking, "Have you realized? You're the only Doctor in the world. A world ravaged by a virus is actually very advantageous for you... You could have queues of patients hundreds of meters long lining up at your door, waiting for your treatment. Even if your identity is exposed, desperate patients wouldn't let anyone harm their only Doctor. They would overturn everything just to survive."

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