Glutton glanced at the time and realized that the seemingly tense and lengthy emergency process had actually occurred within just a few minutes. Glutton wiped the sweat from her forehead and muttered in confusion, "What's going on? We shouldn't be having this kind of situation anymore, should we? Could it be that her slow development is the cause?"

After speaking, Glutton looked cautiously at Yun Ge and Grace, who were lying on the medical beds, fearing they might have heard her previous words. Then, as if suddenly realizing something, she slapped her own head and let out a self-mocking laugh. Both Yun Ge and Grace were in a daze from the sedative, so even if they had heard her, they likely wouldn't have understood, and even if they had, they surely wouldn't remember. Moreover, she hadn't revealed any critical information just now, had she? So, why was she so nervous? Sigh! Glutton! Grace's sudden epilepsy was just an accident; look at how scared you are! Remember! You are an excellent doctor! Get a grip, will you?

Although Grace was not claimed by the sudden epilepsy, in Glutton's view, such an incident occurring in the healthy Grace was also clearly abnormal. Therefore, Glutton decided to pause the medical examination and, upon Zhang Hao's return, inform him of what had happened and ask him to call more doctors to conduct a more comprehensive physical examination on Grace.

Thinking of this, Glutton made sure Grace was alright once more and then prepared to get up and have a glass of water to calm her nerves. However, as soon as she stood up, she heard a groan escape from Grace's nose. So she quickly leaned her head towards Grace, checking her condition through her complexion and breathing, and tried to wake her up again, "Grace, can you hear me? How do you feel?"

Grace still did not respond, leading Glutton to believe that the groan was an uncontrollable sound, similar to talking in one's sleep, emitted by her as she fell into a deep slumber. So, Glutton was about to get up again with a relieved heart. But at that moment, another change occurred. As Glutton, who was half-leaning over the bed, tried to straighten up, she was suddenly pressed back down by a force applied to her neck, forcing her head to be pressed against Grace's chest.

Not good! Ambushed! This was the first thought that came to Glutton's mind as her upper body was forcefully pushed down. So, she hurriedly tried to brace herself, wanting to break free as soon as possible. As Glutton struggled, shaking her head, she soon discovered that the one pressing down on her neck was not someone else but Grace, who was lying in front of her!

"Grace! What are you doing?! Let me go right now! Let me go!" Glutton shouted, trying to attack Grace's face and neck to free herself from her grasp. Grace remained silent, still tightly gripping Glutton's neck, causing a cracking sound to emanate from her neck from time to time.

"Grace! You jerk! Let me go! How can you attack your own kind!" As Grace's grip continued to strengthen, Glutton sensed extreme danger. So, she continued to shout. Moreover, the voice in which Glutton shouted this time had completely lost its original feminine tone and turned into a roar akin to a beast's.

Snap!

Glutton wanted to say something more, but before she could, Grace's fully mechanical left hand exerted a sudden force, directly crushing her cervical vertebrae. Grace pushed aside the deceased Glutton, sat up, and then, panting heavily, said, "Huff! Huff! I am not your kind! I, will never be one of you!"

Grace staggered to the medicine cabinet as soon as she got out of bed and began to rummage through it. Soon, Grace found a highly effective benzodiazepine receptor antagonist that could reverse the effects of the sedative. She first skillfully injected herself and then injected Yun Ge, before finally collapsing to the ground in relief.

Not long after the injection of the antagonist, Yun Ge gradually regained his senses from his dazed state. So, he coughed, sat up from the bed, and combining what he had seen in his weakened state with the fallen Glutton, asked in confusion, "Cough cough! Grace, what's going on? Why did you——, cough cough!"

Grace double-checked that Glutton, whose neck she had twisted, was indeed dead and then relaxed, saying, "Phew! It was the effect of the sedative. The sedative seemed to stimulate the Virus X in my body, causing it to suddenly start attacking my nervous system and trying to completely control me. Phew! Unfortunately for it, the Virus X was also affected by the sedative, giving me the chance to overcome its mental oppression and regain control of my body."

"What? You mean you're already infected with Virus X?" Yun Ge's heart tightened upon hearing this.

Grace smiled and replied, "Based on the information I've gleaned while combating Virus X, it seems that Virus X had already entered our bodies when we consumed the food provided by Old Zhou and the others. They appear to be a powerful virus that can find vulnerabilities in our minds through our appetite and infect our nervous systems. This is the real reason why our teammates suddenly developed an insatiable appetite upon arriving at E-Star, as Virus X has the ability to stimulate our desire for food."

This content has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

It seemed that Grace had already understood the true nature of this Virus X. However, Yun Ge was not captivated by her words but continued to probe with a worried tone, "So you're saying that your spirit has reached the critical point of being controlled by Virus X?"

Grace sighed deeply and then replied, "Alas! I'm afraid that's the case. As long as we have an increased appetite under the influence of Virus X and continue to consume food also infected with Virus X, the virus hidden in our bodies can gain the energy needed for growth. Then, they will slowly spread to every corner of our bodies as they grow. After that, they will exploit our mental vulnerabilities, caused by our greed for food, to break through our mental defenses and achieve complete control over us from the inside out."

"But I don't understand, you obviously haven't fallen prey to the obsession with food like me, right? So why did the Virus X in your body suddenly attack you? Yet I'm fine?" Yun Ge frowned and asked.

Grace gave a complicated smile and replied, "To be honest, I really don't know how you've managed to suppress your appetite for food? I've been trying to do the same. But the feeling of not being able to satisfy my appetite is simply tormenting! So during our return to the Express Vanguard, I didn't handle the disposal of food very well."

"What do you mean by that? Are you saying that you——" Yun Ge immediately felt a sense of foreboding.

"That's right. The food you asked me to dispose of, well, I secretly ate a lot of it. Because their taste was simply too tempting. In the confined space of the rest cabin, facing so many delicious dishes alone, I really couldn't resist! After eating that food, I would sometimes even sneak to the mess hall under the pretext of helping us get extra food and bring more back to my rest cabin to enjoy by myself."

"I can't control my desire for food anymore. Even after we found out where the meat came from, I still couldn't suppress my appetite. I gradually began to realize that my appetite is like a devil hidden deep in my heart, slowly corrupting my mind. But I have no way to resist it; the only thing I can do is to prevent you from noticing the changes in me," Grace finished and hung her head in shame.

After listening to Grace's confession, Yun Ge fell silent, but he didn't want to blame her for secretly eating behind his back. Instead, he attributed the responsibility for Grace's failure to resist the temptation of food to himself. If he hadn't relied so much on Grace at the time and kept asking her to help him hide the uneaten food, maybe her will wouldn't have crumbled under the lure of those dishes. The Virus X hidden in her body wouldn't have gained the power to threaten her life so quickly!

Seeing Yun Ge's self-blaming expression, Grace quickly adjusted her state and then said casually, "Yungo, you shouldn't blame yourself too much. Because you have extraordinary self-control since childhood, coupled with your recent physical discomfort affecting your appetite, naturally, you can remain indifferent when facing those foods. But even so, I'm not controlled by Virus X now, right? So, as long as we complete Rui Fu's plan before his death and escape from here as soon as possible, maybe after stopping eating for a while, the Virus X in my body will die due to the lack of nutrients needed for growth. At that time, we can completely get rid of the threat of Virus X and return to normal!"

Yungo thought Grace's words made sense, so he nodded in agreement. Then, as if suddenly thinking of something, he asked worriedly, "By the way, what kind of medication did you just give us? Why did the effect of the sedative disappear so quickly? Did you feel unwell again after injecting this medication?"

Faced with Yun Ge's rapid-fire questions, Grace shook her head gently and replied, "The medication I just gave us was one that can terminate the effects of the sed ative; otherwise, you might not be able to wake up for a while. As for me, I feel fine now. It seems that it's because the Virus X in my body absorbed some of the sedative, which allowed me to regain some consciousness and deal with the trouble that Glutton posed."

After showing an expression of realization, Yun Ge asked curiously, "How did you know that this antagonist could neutralize the effects of the sedative? Seeing how skillfully you administered the injection just now, could it be that you were a doctor before?"

Grace rolled her eyes at Yun Ge and then complained, "Haha! Your memory really has deteriorated a lot! You even forgot that we grew up in Uncle Hu's clinic and often assisted him later on! Sigh! If we can't return to the Vis people's world in the short term, I really don't know how your memory will decline in the end?"

After teasing Yun Ge's memory, Grace touched her flat lower abdomen and said disappointedly, "As for this antagonist——, I haven't felt any abnormal effects on my body so far. It seems that this antagonist can only reverse the sedative reaction in my body but has no effect on the part of the sedative absorbed by Virus X."

If everything goes as Grace said, that would be the best. Since Yun Ge didn't notice any abnormalities in Grace, he was somewhat relieved and shifted his focus to the deceased Glutton.

"Sigh! So, what should we do with her now? If others find out that Glutton is dead, we'll be in big trouble!" Yun Ge said as he moved Glutton's body onto a medical bed. Then, he and Grace were surprised to find that Glutton's body did not turn pale after death but remained rosy, making her look not like a dead person but as if she was sleeping on the medical bed.

"Strange, why doesn't her appearance change after death? Could it be that the Virus X in her body hasn't died yet, thus still trying to maintain her bodily functions?" Yun Ge asked in confusion, checking Glutton's pulse and heartbeat again. Yes, from a medical standpoint, Glutton was indeed dead.

Grace also rechecked Glutton's body and said, "According to the information I've gleaned from Virus X, all the members of the Broadsword Expeditionary Team were infected with Virus X, but they didn't exhibit this situation after death, right? Could it be that the Virus X in Glutton's body has evolved a second time during its growth?"

"That's possible. But it's also possible that the deaths of the Broadsword Expeditionary Team members were caused by Virus X, so their bodies naturally presented the state they should after death. Glutton's death wasn't caused by Virus X, so naturally, Virus X would continue to maintain her body's state to ensure its own survival," Yun Ge agreed.

"Hum! These persistent and terrifying guys! However, this might be more advantageous for us," Grace said.

"How so?" Yun Ge asked with a puzzled look.