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They had unlimited ammo and weaponry at their disposal, and the undead horde was steadily mowed down by the walker\'s fire and its large-caliber Gatling gun, along with various heavy weapons from the Astral PMC troops.

The seemingly endless horde of undead quickly diminished, culminating in small scattered groups. This forced the soldiers to conduct door-to-door searches to eliminate all remaining undead indoors.

Having secured the town, their next objective was to clear out all the undead, rescue survivors, establish a quarantine zone, and await the arrival of experts to deal with the supposed virus that appeared to be the root cause of the crisis.

Amidst the ongoing undead search-and-destroy mission and the simultaneous rescue operation, the soldiers and Astral PMC troopers advanced further into the city, heading toward the indoor town stadium.

What they stumbled upon was an eerie sight—a meticulously arranged place, almost as if set up for a ritual, with thousands of corpses positioned in a specific formation, creating a circular pattern.

At the heart of this circle stood an ancient stone bed, surrounded by channels through which blood flowed from the perimeter, eventually pooling at the stone bed.

Upon receiving the report about this mysterious site, Cao Cao promptly invites Daniel and Ragnar to inspect the scene, accompanied by several individuals in hazmat suits. While they appeared to be scientists or virology experts, they were, in fact, part of the Golden Empire group and Stenmark Heavy Industries, specialists familiar with the Curtained World.

Their objective? To fabricate compelling evidence suggesting that the events were caused by a virus rather than magic. They had even prepared samples of a virus matching Cao Cao\'s initial description, supported by detailed scientific explanations to deflect any notions of magic.

The source of this fabricated virus? Envy was also an expert in virology, albeit, magical one, having once engineered a virus responsible for nearly 60% mortality during the second Black Plague. Creating a virus that matched the fake reports was child\'s play for her, given her centuries of experience.

Inside the stadium, as the virologists and workers prepared the fabricated evidence attributing the incident to a virus or bio-weapon from the Confederacy, not magic, Daniel and Ragnar stood before the long dried blood-stained ancient stone bed.

"This is indeed a blood sacrifice ritual." Ragnar spoke with grim certainty after examining the magical traces and the ritual\'s arrangement within the stadium.

"Any idea who\'s behind this?" Daniel inquired.

"If Cyrus were still alive, I\'d say it\'s his handiwork. But we all know he\'s gone, taken out by the Golden Scale Enforcers, and they don\'t half assed their jobs," Ragnar remarked. He then added, "Aside from Cyrus, I can\'t think of anyone audacious enough to pull off something like this."

"Old man, after a year as a mage and fighting against those Path of Knowledge fanatics, I\'ve learned one thing—mages don\'t tend to stay dead for long. It\'s entirely possible Cyrus found a way back," Daniel speculated.

Ragnar regarded the young man and sighed. "You might be onto something. Magic and logic rarely go hand in hand. Perhaps Cyrus invented some new magic to cheat death, even after having his origin element and mana vein ripped out of him."

"Sigh..." Daniel sighed heavily. "Why is it that those lunatics from the Path of Knowledge never give up? Every time I think I\'ve dealt with them and they should lay low for a while, they always bounce back in the most irritating ways. They either target my family or create chaos like this," Daniel complained.

"Well," Ragnar began, "about 60% of the mages under the Hightower Jurisdiction are members of the Path of Knowledge. Take down one group, and there are always others waiting in lines." Ragnar chuckled before continuing, "But that\'s not the main issue. What\'s your plan if Cyrus is still alive? This operation becomes significantly riskier if he\'s involved."

"Ugh... Besides trying to lure them out of hiding and taking them out on sight, what else can I do?" Daniel sighed in frustration.

— A Few Days Later —

— Louisiana Forward Base —

After undergoing intensive checks in the quarantine zone, Joel was finally released. Thankfully, none of the soldiers, including those bitten by the undead, showed any signs of the virus.

This lent credence to the theory that the virus might have been pre-registered within the population through their food or rations, especially since the town itself appeared to be a Confederacy experimental ground.

Back in the barracks, Joel had three days of leave after his harrowing experience in the cursed town. However, with his home and family gone, Austin no longer held the same appeal. He\'d also investigated Cao Cao\'s claim that his unit had held out long enough for the Astral troops to secure permission from higher ups.

It seemed the two foolish commanders had made a grave mistake. To avoid court-martial, they\'d opted to cut communication, leaving Joel\'s team and others to be devoured by the undead. They\'d even deliberately obstructed Cao Cao\'s attempts to send reinforcements.

Now, the truth was out. Exposed, the two commanders had been apprehended by MPs dispatched from headquarters. As for Joel, all he could think was, "Good riddance." Those two never seemed like good men anyway.

Lost in thought, Joel was startled by a knock on his door. Opening it, he found two MPs and a high-ranking officer from Central Command waiting outside. Noticing that the officer held the rank of Lieutenant, Joel greeted them politely.

"Sir, may I help you?" he asked, inviting them into the room.

The three guests didn\'t enter the room immediately. The high-ranking officer offered a slight smile and addressed Joel directly, consulting the list in his hand. "Are you Private First Class Joel Scott?"