# Chapter 32: This Is Coincidence.
When Moore took out the small bottle, a faint strange smell began to spread through the reception hall.
This odor was less like the stench of rotting corpses and more like something decaying while sealed, then moldering and fermenting for many years, a rancidness that had accumulated for a very long time. Even if only a trace remained, it made the mages present furrow their brows. Some even let out a dry heave, their expressions exceptionally unpleasant.
To be honest, being a mage was not actually a relaxed and elegant profession. Everyone present regularly used the organs of magical creatures in their spell experiments during daily life. The smell of rotten internal organs was not enough to make these lord mages so miserable. But this odor was different from ordinary decay—it seemed to bypass the nose entirely, directly stimulating the brain and soul, making everyone present feel nauseated from the very core of their being.
This was the smell of Chaos. It was fundamentally incompatible with all orderly life, naturally hostile to each other from the very essence.
"Thanks to President Nostradamus's blessing, our Third Research Group doesn't have to get involved in the Imperial Capital's vortex and can peacefully continue our research in the Northern Lands."
Because the expressions of the mages present were growing worse, Moore withdrew the bottle in his hand. As he spoke, his face was solemn, with no hint of joking: "But this doesn't mean we can be careless. As you can see, this is our current mission—some unknown Chaos Plague."
"We must resolve this problem as quickly as possible."
Saying this, the white-haired old mage couldn't help but straighten his back. He recalled the scene when he had gone together with Joshua to the dungeon beneath Saint Lawrence Cathedral.
Under the leadership of the cathedral's overseer, High Priest Atanis, the three of them had passed through layers of divine spell seals and opened the heavily sealed dungeon door. The moment the door was opened, a thick, rancid stench sufficient to make a person faint on the spot rushed toward them.
However, whether it was Joshua, Moore, or Atanis, all were battle-hardened individuals who had experienced mountains of corpses and seas of blood. This bit of smell was nothing at all.
"Probably because I didn't burn it cleanly last time. It seems those cultists have all turned into breeding grounds for the plague."
Somewhat displeased, Joshua raised his eyebrows, squinting as his gaze swept across the corners of the dungeon. He said softly: "It's already completely become a Chaos nest."
"After this, the dungeon needs a thorough purification. I want this place completely cleansed."
Atanis also looked toward the corner. Following the High Priest's disgusted gaze, one could see a patch of black mold slowly spreading there, and this mold had left spotty traces in every corner of the dungeon.
The old High Priest barely restrained his impulse to immediately cast divine spells to purify them. He muttered to himself: "Haven't taken samples yet. I'll keep you for now."
During this time, Moore did not speak. He only grew more somber. Unwilling to stay in such a place any longer, the three quickened their pace, heading toward the deepest part of the dungeon.
Along the way, the originally bright Glowstone Lamps had become dim, because a layer of black mold had covered their surfaces. Although the divine spell arrays could still operate, they were noticeably sluggish.
Soon, they arrived at the deepest part of the dungeon—the oval-shaped prison hall.
"ROAR!!"
"SHRIEK!!!"
Inhuman howls came from the dark prison cells. These sounds were harsh and chaotic, completely impossible for normal creatures to produce. Hearing these sounds, Atanis couldn't help but sigh deeply. He decisively activated the array, and instantly, holy light energy, somewhat dimmer than at the start, illuminated the entire hall.
And by this light, Joshua and the others could clearly see that in the cells that had originally held the cultists, there was no longer even half a human-shaped creature. Behind the double-layered sealing bars, twisted, bizarre monsters covered in mutated features were screaming miserably under the irradiation of the holy light energy.
They had various forms, their only commonality being that they looked nothing like humans. These strange monsters either had swollen limbs or were covered in clusters of randomly growing tumors. Their bodies had strange cracks, and thick black fluid continuously sprayed from these cracks, emitting a fermented, rotting stench.
"These are the sources of the plague—the Plague cultists from the Far South. Their body tissue and black fluid are what I call the carriers of the Black Blood Plague. They can serve as samples."
Joshua said to the old mage while condensing a ball of blazing Battle Qi like a small sun in his palm. The atmosphere was distorted by the extreme heat. With a displeased expression, he looked at the chaotic dance of monsters behind the prison bars and said flatly: "Take samples quickly, then we can destroy these disgusting things quickly. Chaos creatures are piles of distortion, especially the Plague Evil God's minions. Every half-second they remain in this world is unbearable."
"Naturally."
Moore did not say much either. To be honest, this was the first time he had seen such twisted, nightmare-like monsters. Each one was uglier than the demons of the Abyss.
Right in front of the old mage, in the cell directly opposite, there was a swollen, irregular lump of flesh covered in tumors. Each tumor had a large mouth filled with eel-like sharp teeth, spewing foul thick fluid. This lump of flesh also trembled and squirmed from time to time. Moore swore he was genuinely nauseated by the sight to the point of wanting to vomit.
The sampling process was relatively simple: preserve the body tissue of these monsters in sealed white crystal bottles, using spells to maintain their activity. After sampling and preserving each Chaos creature, Joshua and Atanis stayed in the dungeon to purify them one by one. Moore, after confirming that no plague had contaminated him, quickly returned to the reception hall to explain the key points of this mission to the other mages.
"This is an extremely dangerous thing, different from the influenza and other diseases you've studied before. You must be vigilant. There is absolutely no room for carelessness in experiments with it."
Noticing that some of the mages present still seemed to have a hint of contempt for the plague in their eyes, Moore couldn't help but emphasize loudly. His tone was unprecedentedly serious: "If someone accidentally gets contaminated by the plague, and we haven't yet developed a vaccine or corresponding treatment spell... believe me, I swear by my name, I will show absolutely no mercy and completely eliminate you."
Saying it this way was almost a threat. However, the mages present were all intelligent people. Although some relied on their own strength and weren't too concerned, under Moore's direct warning, they still became more vigilant.
After all, the mages of the Third Research Lab were mostly Moore's students or juniors, with only a few being collaborators. The old mage had high prestige. Under his leadership, the group quickly confirmed their upcoming itinerary and precautions for the experiments.
Since there was no complete laboratory in the main city of Moldavia, they would immediately set out for Winterfell Academy on Nissier Snow Mountain. The laboratories there could be used for research on the Chaos Plague.
Of course, they would definitely stop by the academy to work as free part-time teachers for the Spellcasting Academy, contributing to the cultivation of Moldavia's new generation of spellcasters. One must know that everyone present was at least a Silver High-rank high-level mage with rich knowledge. In terms of teaching ability alone, they were countless times better than wild mages and could perfectly solve the temporary shortage of teaching staff at Winterfell Academy.
To be honest, if it weren't for Joshua solving the Erebus Box problem, plus Nostradamus's instructions, the appearance fee for each of these Royal Mage Association mages would be enough to make a minor noble feel pain, let alone having more than a dozen of them take turns being teachers.
Since they had already informed Joshua and the others before leaving the dungeon, Moore directly prepared to take the group away. He had several plague samples in hand, and Saint Lawrence Cathedral would keep an additional copy. If needed, they could teleport back to get them at any time. There was nothing for them to do staying at Saint Lawrence Cathedral, so they might as well set out early and start working.
Thus, under the guidance of the black-haired priest Delano, more than a dozen mages headed toward the church's teleportation array.
On the way, they encountered a paladin who seemed to be walking hurriedly, led by Ying and Lin.
"Good day, Mr. Loranda."
The young priest stopped and respectfully bowed to the golden-haired paladin: "Is your interrogation going smoothly?"
"Good day, little Delano."
At first, Loranda's expression looked very gloomy, as if written with anger. It was only after Delano greeted him that the paladin barely squeezed out a smile, then said in a low voice: "Not smoothly. They were only corrupted a few days ago. They know nothing, and nothing can be extracted from them. They're just pawns to confuse our judgment."
The two exchanged a few words, then bid farewell and parted.
Continuing toward the teleportation array, Moore first noticed that the direction the paladin was heading was the corridor leading to the dungeon of Saint Lawrence Cathedral. Only then did he belatedly recall the other's identity—
That seemed to be the new generation's strongest paladin of the Church of the Seven Gods, a genius who had touched the edge of the Ultimate Realm before the age of thirty, the godson of the current Pope—Loranda!
What was he doing here?
Besides the old mage, the other mages also gradually noticed this. As the paladin's figure disappeared around the corner, various low-voiced discussions arose in the group: "Wait, wasn't that Loranda who just walked past?!"
"What is he doing here? This is the Northern Lands, separated from the Far Sea Holy Mountain by an entire continent!"
"Right, I was just thinking, why didn't the church send their new generation's representative to the envoy delegation, instead sending a High Sister from the Granden Monastery? I never expected he would be here in Moldavia of the Northern Lands!"
Saying this, everyone present paused. Many furrowed their brows, as if thinking.
"Could it be that the Imperial Royal Family and the church have some secret plan recently?"
A certain mage speculated softly: "The Early Spring Festival has been over for more than two weeks. The envoy delegations from various countries have already left. Only the church's envoy delegation remains in the Imperial Capital, and they occasionally visit His Majesty the Emperor alone... And now, Loranda appears in the Northern Lands... We were also sent here to handle the Chaos Plague."
This was indeed easy to make one's imagination run wild. Instantly, everyone's expressions became serious. Their mission might not simply be to deal with the plague—there might be a deeper meaning.