Uncle Jed’s face turned ashen as he took a step back, his voice strained.
"Are you and Dot...?"
Ethan nodded grimly. "I’m afraid so. What exactly are they?"
"Sandworm eggs..."
"Contagious?" Ethan asked, seeing the dread in Jed’s eyes.
"Mmm..."
Uncle Jed nodded again.
"Stop with the mmms! How do we get them out?" Ethan’s voice rose with urgency. The system had already warned him about lethal microorganisms.
His own death wasn’t really the problem; at worst, the mission would fail and he’d be teleported out. But Dot was a living, breathing child.
Ethan no longer felt the way he had when he first arrived. He understood now—this was a real world. He still didn’t grasp how Ethereal could transport him to different places, but he couldn’t just stand by while a little girl’s life was at risk. Besides, Dot was so small and innocent, barely five years old, and she’d just lost her father.
Uncle Jed shook his head, pale as chalk.
Ethan froze at his response. Was this another dead end?
"Sandworm eggs will gradually grow inside the body," Uncle Jed explained. "They devour flesh for nourishnt, and finally... hatch."
A wave of revulsion rolled over Ethan. The thought of countless worms wriggling through his veins made his skin crawl.
"I refuse to believe it..."
He sat down abruptly in the sand. Pulling an Advanced Antidote from his inventory, he tossed it into his mouth and bit down. The outer shell tasted almost like candy—sweet, oddly pleasant—but he had no ti to savor it. He swallowed hard.
The system remained silent.
Ethan’s face went pale. The antidote was useless. What was he supposed to do—drink insecticide? Even if he had so, he wouldn’t dare. The poison would kill him faster than the worms.
If they were still eggs, maybe he could remove them directly. Closing his eyes, he drew his Soul Sense back into his body and began to scan himself from within.
He searched his lungs first—nothing. His Soul Sense swept through every inch of his flesh, cold and ticulous like an invisible X-ray. Finally, when he poured more Soul Power into the search, he found them: tiny yellow specks clinging to the walls of his blood vessels. If they hadn’t shifted slightly, he might have missed them entirely. They moved sluggishly, unfazed by the flow of blood.
Relief mixed with disgust as he exhaled. At least he’d found them. He gathered his Soul Power and willed it to condense within the vessels, trying to crush the eggs in place.
But the instant his Soul Power clamped down, the worms erupted in a frenzy. Countless suckers latched onto the vessel walls, refusing to let go. If he tried to yank them free, his blood vessels would tear apart.
He held perfectly still, hardly daring to breathe. He couldn’t retract his Soul Sense—if he did, they’d scatter. But he also couldn’t apply more pressure. If he burst them, their toxins would flood his bloodstream.
"Let ..."
A faint, ethereal voice echoed in his mind.
"Who?" Ethan jolted. This wasn’t Morzan’s voice. It was a girl’s—soft and almost shy.
"..."
"You? Who are you?" Ethan’s patience frayed. "Just saying doesn’t help!"
"I’m just !" The voice sounded almost offended now.
He forced himself to calm down. There was sothing familiar in her tone. Where had he heard it before?
Suddenly, his eyes lit up. While keeping part of his focus locked on the worms, he opened his inventory. His gaze fell on the Dragon Egg Morzan had given him. He had four Dragon Eggs now—three he’d stolen.
With a thought, he pulled one out.
"Is that you?" he asked the blue-shelled egg.
"It’s ... I can help you with what’s inside you, but..." The voice trailed off hesitantly.
"But what?" Ethan pressed.
"I don’t want to stay in that dark inventory anymore. I want to live in your Mindscape."
"Fine. No problem." He didn’t even hesitate. His Mindscape was crowded already, but one more egg wouldn’t make a difference.
"And..."
"And what? Can you just say it all at once?"
"I sense sothing I need... in that direction. You must take there and help get it!"
Ethan’s heart sank, but when he checked the map, he realized she ant the direction they were already heading: due west, toward Beastfall City.
"Alright. No problem," he agreed quickly.
He guided the Dragon Egg into his Mindscape.
[Ding... System Notification: Accepted [Pet Egg (Blue Dragon)]’s Request. Reward: Top-tier Pet Incubation Stone x1.]
Finally—sothing useful. A top-tier incubation stone guaranteed a 100% hatch rate and increased the pet’s growth potential.
But relief was short-lived. Even if he was cured, Dot and maybe Nora Vance—and Uncle Jed—were still infected. What about them?
Before he could ask, the egg settled into his Mindscape, nesting on the crown of the Mindscape’s tree. It wiggled twice, then began to glow with a pale blue light that slowly sank into his consciousness.
[Ding... System Notification: ntal Power upgraded, imbued with Dragon’s Might! Acquired Skill: Blue Dragon’s Intimidation.]
Uncle Jed had been watching Ethan closely from a distance. He saw Ethan open his eyes, then pull out a blue egg the size of a football. Just as Jed was about to ask what he was doing, the egg flashed, shrank rapidly, and vanished into Ethan’s brow. A blue glow began to ripple across Ethan’s body.
Within minutes, Ethan’s eyes snapped open again. He pulled a knife from his belt, pricked his fingertip, and let the dark, murky blood spill out onto the sand. Two minutes later, the blood changed from black to bright red.
[Ding... System Notification: Detected that all lethal microorganisms in the main character’s body have disappeared.]
Ethan exhaled, shoulders sagging with relief.
"It’s... it’s gone?" Uncle Jed’s eyes widened. He looked as if he couldn’t decide whether to cheer or faint.
"Yes." Ethan nodded. He still felt a little dizzy, but that was just blood loss—easy to fix. A couple of healing spells later, warmth returned to his limbs.
He rembered the mont the system upgraded his ntal power. His Soul Power had transford. The worms, trapped in his Soul Sense, curled into tiny trembling balls and released their hold on his vessels. Without hesitation, he had wrapped them up and guided them to his fingertip, then simply bled them out.
After casting a Rejuvenation spell on himself, he didn’t spare Uncle Jed another glance. He rushed into the tent.
Nora Vance gasped as he grabbed her hand. With the other, he gently took Dot’s small, feverish palm.
"Ethan, what—?"
Nora tried to pull back, but when she saw the blue light spilling from his fingers and sinking into her skin, she stopped resisting. A mont later, he let go.
As he feared, she was infected too—but her worms were still dormant eggs.
"Nora... please step outside. I’ll treat you there."
"Treat ?" She blinked at him, bewildered.
"Yes. Dot doesn’t have a fever—she has sandworm eggs inside her."
Nora Vance went rigid. Tears pooled in her eyes and spilled down her cheeks. If it were just a fever, there’d be a chance. But this... this was certain death.
Seeing her expression, Ethan quickly explained that he’d been infected himself—and that he’d already removed the eggs. He promised he could save Dot.
Nora searched his face, her breath hitching. Then she looked down and nodded. She said nothing more. When she finally t his gaze again, he saw it: trust.
Without another word, she turned and stepped outside.
Ethan handed her an N95 mask. She took it, studying it for only a second before slipping it over her face and pinching the bridge for a snug seal.
Ethan couldn’t help but smile faintly. She was so much quicker than Uncle Jed. When Jed first got the mask, he’d turned it over in his hands for ages, baffled, until Ethan had finally stepped in to help him. Nora had figured it out in a heartbeat.
At the tent entrance, Uncle Jed hesitated. A flicker of guilt passed over his face. He stepped aside to let Nora through, then zipped the tent closed behind her.
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