Chapter 88: Suppressing the Contamination

“Ugh, my head hurts so much.” Tony groaned as he awoke from unconsciousness, feeling as if his skull were being torn apart. Propping himself up, he saw Qu Yizhi’s worried face looking down at him.

“Mr. Stark, are you alright? Please don’t attempt such dangerous things again,” Qu Yizhi said, reaching out to help him up. She had already learned the details from Jarvis.

Leaning on Qu Yizhi, Tony stood up. “Thanks for your help, Miss Qu. Jarvis, scan my physical condition.”

“Sir, your physical condition is excellent. Would you like me to call Dr. Helen?” Jarvis responded, detecting no abnormalities.

“Oh, everything’s perfectly normal then,” Tony muttered, frustratedly pounding the table. It was infuriating to face a condition that no tests could detect.

“Mr. Stark, spiritual contamination affects the soul. It is normal that your instruments can’t detect anything. If your body had been altered, it would mean the infection is beyond saving,” Qu Yizhi’s words brought Tony back to full awareness and sparked a glimmer of hope within him.

“Miss Qu, your memory has returned?” Tony stared intently at her. She had never said such things before.

“Well, yes, partially restored, Mr. Stark,” Qu Yizhi replied, swallowing nervously. It was the first time she had seen Tony look at her with such excitement.

“Good. Tell me everything you remember. There’s still a great battle ahead.” Tony immediately summoned Jarvis and grabbed a handheld screen from the lab table. He had mostly recovered from his previous state and realized the trouble Steve had uncovered.

“Alright, Mr. Stark.” Seeing Tony’s eager expression, Qu Yizhi began to reveal the fragments of memory she had regained.

After receiving Jarvis’s urgent request and seeing Tony unconscious on the ground, a hazy recollection stirred within her. She remembered a way to temporarily suppress spiritual contamination and wake those trapped within it.

Most of her other memories concerned the effects of spiritual contamination and how its impact progresses in stages.

The first stage: the contaminated occasionally encounter things beyond reality—tentacles in the darkness or whispers of dark gods.

The second stage: the contaminated lose distinction between reality and illusion, often descending into permanent madness. Some undergo complete personality changes, becoming servants of evil.

The third stage: if the contaminated still live, they become vessels for evil forces. The strong-willed become cultists, while the weak-minded turn into monsters.

As for higher stages, Qu Yizhi said there was no need to explore them—those belonged to the cult’s upper echelons, who might possess more detailed classifications.

In the first stage, the contamination affects the soul, leaving no physical trace in the real world. This explained why Tony’s instruments always reported everything as normal.

Only those in the second and third stages show physical mutations due to the injection of evil forces, but by then their souls are thoroughly corrupted—essentially beyond salvation.

Qu Yizhi’s method of suppressing spiritual contamination only works on first-stage victims and depends on their mental resilience. The suppression is temporary; a complete cure remains elusive.

Tony pondered this information deeply. Given humanity’s current technological limits, the soul’s existence could not be proven, so contamination from the soul would evade detection. However, the bodily transformations in the second stage would allow for detection, making those victims identifiable enemies.

After gathering this intelligence, Tony quickly shared it with the other Avengers, particularly Steve, who was deep within the cult’s stronghold.

Thanks to Qu Yizhi’s help, Tony’s own contamination was temporarily suppressed, so he planned to suit up in his Iron Armor and assist Steve.

Meanwhile, Qu Yizhi was dispatched to S.H.I.E.L.D. to help suppress contaminated agents, as intelligence indicated that S.H.I.E.L.D. had the highest concentration of infected operatives. Containing them would be crucial for the upcoming battle.

Upon receiving Tony’s information, Steve began to closely observe the cultists as they prayed. This scrutiny soon revealed a troubling truth.

The cult leader who had spoken initially gave Steve an eerie impression. Cloaked entirely in black with a mask obscuring his face, he evoked a sinister aura that unsettled Steve.

Before Steve could devise a plan, the leader suddenly raised a hand, and all the cultists fell silent. Then, the leader turned sharply and fixed his gaze on Steve’s position.

Steve’s hairs stood on end. He immediately realized he had been discovered—though how was unclear. The battle-hardened Steve rolled to the side just in time to dodge the leader’s next attack.

“Ah, look who it is! I thought some old loser had sneaked in, but it’s none other than the famous Captain America,” the cult leader sneered, retracting his elongated tentacles. The wall behind which Steve had been hiding crumbled under the assault.

Steve’s pupils contracted sharply. He rose swiftly, eyeing the changes in the leader’s hands. It seemed this cultist was at least a stage-two contamination—impossible, considering even Helaar was only stage one.

“Oh, my dear Captain America, you dare come here alone? Since you’ve arrived, you’ll stay forever,” the leader said, locking onto Steve’s position. His hands writhed beneath his black robes.

“Hmph, since I’m here, your schemes won’t succeed. Why betray humanity to join this cult?” Steve raised his shield, loudly confronting the cultists.

The cultists behind the leader stood up but ignored Steve’s question. One of them glanced at Steve’s imposing figure and whispered something to the leader.

“You make a good point. I’ve changed my mind. Your body will be our finest gift to the gods. Stay obediently,” the leader declared as two tentacles shot out from his sleeves. Steve threw up his shield to block.