The explosion’s power was astonishing.

A small mushroom cloud rose, illuminated by the firelight, forming a faint shape resembling a red lotus.

The villagers who had stepped onto the first floor of the house were reduced to nothing but scattered fragments.

Even those within a five-meter radius of the building suffered from severed limbs, rendering them temporarily immobile. One particularly unlucky individual had the pathogenic core inside his body pierced by flying debris, killing him instantly.

Inside the building, however, the two individuals experienced a different fate.

Jin’s gentlemanly attire could automatically detect the explosion’s origin, estimate its approximate power, and add a honeycomb-like explosion-resistant structure to the fabric.

The core material, "Gentleman’s Skin," emitted a faint ancient aura, aiding in the rapid formation and stability of this protective layer.

At the moment of the explosion,

the coat had already enveloped her entire body.

The shockwave from the explosion was contained within the special structure of the clothing, allowing only 10% to 20% of the force to reach her body.

Jin skillfully utilized the blast’s momentum, landing both individuals at the edge of the circle formed by the surrounding villagers.

Jin even added a dramatic flair by holding Yi Chen around the waist, using the fiery red-lotus-shaped mushroom cloud and the scattered remains of the infected as a backdrop.

As they landed, Jin arched backward in a striking pose.

Completely leaning back, she looked up at Yi Chen through her mask.

“So, what do you think? Pretty thrilling, huh? Now that we’ve surrounded them, let the party begin!”

Before her words finished echoing,

the closest villager approached. His face was covered with a thick beard, his back hunched, and his arms had thickened and transformed into bear-like paws.

With his entire body flexing, he swung a powerful strike capable of snapping a tree trunk, aiming to smash the two in front of him to pieces.

Jin, however, remained utterly unfazed.

She first freed herself from Yi Chen’s hold, then faced the incoming bear paw. Instead of dodging, she opened her palm and swung it forward at the same speed.

The scene resembled a friendly high-five between companions.

When the two palms collided, anyone judging purely by physique would assume Jin’s arm would snap instantly, sending her flying along with it.

But instead—BOOM!

A small, high-intensity explosion occurred at the point of contact.

The villager’s thick bear arm and half of his body were blasted into chunks of flesh.

Completely unharmed, Jin stepped forward gracefully,

her arm brushing against the villager’s mutilated body, sliding past his stomach and intestines, and extracting a nearly embryonic [Pathogenic Core].

“A forcibly cultivated infected? No wonder it’s so weak… This kind of hastily grown body has no value at all.”

With a casual squeeze of her fingers,

the infected farmer died instantly.

In the next moment, three more villagers surrounded Jin. One had a mouth full of jagged teeth, another wielded hay forks in four arms, and the third had a ruptured abdomen revealing suction cups and adhesive tentacles.

Whoosh!

A phantom-like blur flashed before their eyes.

Jin’s speed was far beyond theirs—several levels higher, in fact.

By the time they initiated their attacks, Jin had already moved three meters away, heading toward the pig-headed butcher.

Each of the three villagers displayed a finger-shaped indentation on different parts of their bodies, as if lightly poked.

Red threads spread from these marks, quickly covering their bodies and forming a red lotus at their navels.

As they attempted to turn and chase after Jin—

BOOM!

Their abdomens exploded. The remnants of their lower halves either collapsed to the ground, were flung onto nearby twisted branches, or hurled into other villagers, sending them flying.

Hearing the explosion, Jin turned her head toward Yi Chen.

“Hey, William! These are just forcibly cultivated infected—too boring to deal with. Only that pig-headed one seems interesting. The rest are yours.

I’m going to play with the pig-headed butcher.”

With that, she strode off.

Jin leaped onto the top of a nearby tree and began jumping between branches, approaching the direction of the pig-headed butcher.

With Jin's temporary disappearance, the surrounding villagers—who didn’t seem very bright—immediately shifted their attention to the other young intruder and began closing in.

“Phew...”

Yi Chen calmly set down his briefcase, removed his arm guard, and rolled up his sleeves in three neat folds to his elbows.

With his thumb, he flicked open the case lock and retrieved a hand axe with a black handle and silver blade.

As he rose, his index finger pressed against the axe's handle, and his wrist delivered a sudden rotational force.

Swish—the hand axe began spinning in his palm.

By the time he was fully upright, the axe had completed five rotations and landed steadily in his grip.

The friction from the spinning generated a slight warmth in his palm, causing a bit of sweat that increased his grip, completing his warm-up.

"A 'Induced-type patient' huh? No wonder this feels a bit off," Yi Chen muttered, recalling the term from a book he had read.

"Induction Pathogenic"—a unique infectious ability possessed by some severe or open-source pathogens. This allowed them to rapidly induce individuals into infected patient through direct seeding, core sharing, or similar methods akin to "immediate bestowal."

The process was remarkably fast with a high success rate, capable of producing large numbers of mind-controlled patient in a short time.

It was somewhat like using hormones to accelerate animal growth. Though these creatures might appear physically similar to mature adults, their meat and bones remained juvenile, often too underdeveloped even to stand properly.

Still, Yi Chen didn't let his guard down.

With his right hand gripping the axe and his left hand controlling plants, he coordinated with Little Grape's vision, weaving gracefully among the villagers. He dodged and counterattacked at critical moments, each movement precise and efficient.

The earlier explosion had already killed more than half of the villagers, and combined with the ones Jin had taken out, fewer than ten remained.

Thanks to his experience at the Twilight Clinic and a month of physical training with Teacher Zed, Yi Chen's combat skills had reached a new level.

Dealing with these induced patients was no challenge.

The only downside was that these villagers' brains held no useful information. They had no connections to the 'New Life Church' and their own memories were fragmented, murky, and devoid of any analytical or organizational value.

When Yi Chen finally pulled his axe from the back of the last villager and wiped the blood off with a plant-woven cloth,

Thud!

A heavy sound echoed from ahead.

Looking up, Yi Chen saw the most troublesome villager—the pig-headed butcher—collapse heavily to the ground.

Jin was crouched beside the butcher’s massive body, engaged in an indescribably bizarre act. Utilizing her unique professional abilities, she performed "Physical Forging."

Eventually, a meticulously cleaned, half-sized pig’s head was crafted. With a metallic hook extending from its neck, Jin held it in her hand.

"Since I’ve never had suitable materials, I usually make my weapons on the go during missions. It’s not bad this way—I get enough variety to keep things fresh. This pig’s head will suffice," she remarked.

As she spoke, Jin inserted her entire right hand into the pig's head and tugged at the metal hook protruding from its neck with her left hand, much like pulling the cord of an engine.

Swish!

A compressed, refined bone saw blade suddenly shot out from the top of the pig's head. Measuring about 1.5 meters, it spun at high speed.

"Pig-Head Chainsaw."

Even Yi Chen was momentarily stunned by the sight.

"So this is what a 'Human Weapon Artisan'** can do..."

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