《After the Global Evolution, I Stand at the Top of the Food Chain》 CH 1 Warning: Due to the apocalyptic and post-apocalyptic setting of this novel, it is filled with violence and gore. Proceed with caution. For doctors, it was common to have surgeries every day. Advertisements Therefore, when he received a call from the director in the middle of the night to ask him to go back to work overtime, Lu Yan had no complaints. After all, his excellent surgical skills were recognized by the whole hospital since he was young and could perform many surgical procedures. Whenever there was an intractable disease, the director always liked to ask him for help. However, today¡¯s surgery seemed to be a little different. Nw Zyd eked¡¯v pll vbl ryvkldv wdvkz bl ldvlale vbl pwatknyz ralryayvksd assx. Gp qsa obyv pwatlau bl oyp tskdt vs es, bl oyp dsv iwkvl pwal. Mbkp nzlyazu eke dsv xyjl ydu pldpl. Rd vbl pwatknyz ralryayvksd assx, Nw Zyd nbydtle kdvs bkp pwatknyz tsod yde zkpvldle vs svbla rlsrzl obkprlakdt. ¡°Mblal pllxp vs cl y rszzwvksd ekplypl kd vbl nsypvyz yalyp¡­¡± Mbl blye dwapl zssjle osaakle. ¡°Omrlavp pyu vbyv vbl rszzwvksd ekplypl kp nywple cu rlsrzl qasx svbla yalyp ewxrkdt dwnzlya-nsdvyxkdyvle oypvl qzwke kdvs vbl Vynkqkn Xnlyd y zsdt vkxl yts. Rv¡¯p y bwxyd tldlvkn ekplypl nywple cu dwnzlya rszzwvksd. Lso, T Ukvu byp clld kd zsnjesod. Wsavwdyvlzu, vbkp ekplypl sdzu snnwap kd nsypvyz yalyp¡­¡± Nw Zyd pyke, ¡°Rv¡¯p dsv sdzu sd vbl nsypv cwv yzps kdzyde. Mbl alypsd kp elqkdkvlzu dsv fwpv dwnzlya rszzwvksd.¡± ¡°Gb, bso eke Pa. Nw jdso?¡± Nw Zyd nyzxzu pvyvle, ¡°Yu qyvbla kp yzps pwqqlakdt qasx rszzwvksd ekplypl. Xd vbl plnsde eyu yqvla vbl ekpvsavksd1 puxrvsxp yrrlyale, vbl ywvbsakvklp vssj bkx yoyu.¡± Nw Zyd pvkzz alxlxclale vbyv kv oyp okdvla. Tkp qyvbla¡¯p blye oyp wdwpwyzzu poszzld, zkjl y qssvcyzz qkzzle okvb oyvla. G pyansxy2 qykdvzu alplxczkdt y plnsde qynl talo clbkde bkp blye. That was the happiest day of his life. Advertisements ¡°¡­Sorry.¡± The little nurse lowered her head. Lu Yan comforted her, ¡°It¡¯s okay. I actually don¡¯t care.¡± Doctor Li, who was also in the same operating room, looked around and nervously took out his mobile phone. ¡°My friend is a reporter and was sent to H City. He sent it to me in the middle of the night.¡± Lu Yan couldn¡¯t help but look closer. The video was very shaky. Looking at the angle, it looked like a sneak shot. The lens was facing the ground. It was night, the street lights were on, and the military explosion-proof shield glowed with cold light. There were faint cries and gunshots in the background. The lens slowly moved up. When they clearly saw what was pointed at by the gun, everyone present couldn¡¯t help but take a cold breath. ¡°That¡¯s¡­ What is that?¡± In Lu Yan¡¯s cognition, the distortions caused by pollution disease usually manifested as physical deformities, such as growing tumors, bending bones, abnormal brain development¡­ but at least, they still retained a human shape. However, it was difficult to tell if the thing in the video was still a person. Advertisements Under the dim light, there was a vague figure standing at the entrance of the office building. This thing had no head and tentacles sprouted from its neck. Its whole figure looked like a strangely growing tree. These tentacles spread all around and a dead person hung at the end of each tentacle. Blood dripped on the marble slab, making a terrible noise. ¡°¡ªPrepare! Set fire!¡± An officer shouted, with an unconcealable fear of the unknown in his voice. Fierce gunfire sounded and the hail of bullets was dense as if it was raining. These ammunitions pierced the monster¡¯s body and blossoms of blood exploded one after another. Its body was almost blown into mud. The monster fell to the ground. There was no movement or sound for a long time. Someone in the video asked, ¡°Is it over¡­?¡± However, the next second, the group of tentacles broke free from the mud and slowly moved forward. The video was cut off and it was completely dark. In the surgical preparation room, everyone present fell into a long silence. ¡°They¡¯re just simply filming, aren¡¯t they? How could there be such a thing.¡± As if to embolden himself, a resident doctor looked disdainful, ¡°It¡¯s a naked-eye 3D, right? It¡¯s done pretty good.¡± ¡°But, what if it¡¯s true? Distorted people have appeared for several years¡­ Although they have a small impact each time, but¡­¡± Advertisements Doctor Li¡¯s face was pale. He just held his arm and shook his head. Lu Yan didn¡¯t speak. He had a ¡°Yan¡±3 in his name, but he was unexpectedly taciturn.4 He was putting on acrylic gloves on himself when the door of the preparation room was pushed open again. The director came in accompanied by three unfamiliar people. With just a glance, Lu Yan realized one thing: these people must be soldiers. They had a heavy aura of slaughter on their bodies, had straight backs, and their every move was carved out of the same mold. The director was always cheerful, like a Maitreya Buddha, but now, his expression was heavy and frightening. He looked around and sternly said, ¡°These surgical gowns are not enough. Put on Level 3 protective clothing!¡± A young resident doctor was taken aback, ¡°Is it so serious? Could it be Ebola?¡±5 Next to the director, a young man took the lead and said, ¡°Excuse me. I¡¯m Lin Sinan. The patient this time is my team member. He unfortunately suffered from a pollution disease in the process of solving the Pollutants in H City. We hope that his diseased part can be surgically removed. Before that, you need to sign a confidentiality agreement. It is in accordance with the Principle of Complete Autonomy.¡± The little nurse timidly asked, ¡°¡­Is it nuclear pollution?¡± Lin Sinan turned his head and gave her a profound look, ¡°No. If possible, I also hope it¡¯s nuclear pollution.¡± Advertisements Many people present seemed to hesitate. It was a doctor¡¯s bounden duty to treat patients, but if their lives got involved, they had to weigh everything. Lu Yan asked, ¡°Where should I sign?¡± The director wiped the sweat from his forehead and took out the confidentiality documents he had prepared long ago. Lu Yan took a quick glance. It was nothing more than asking doctors not to disclose the contents of the operation to others, not to take photos, and not to mention it to the public. He simply signed his name. In the end, only three doctors ¡ªthe director, Lu Yan and Doctor Li¡ª and two nurses were left for the operation. There was no anesthesiologist. In addition to them, there was also a special assistant, Lin Sinan. It was impossible for outsiders to enter the operating room. It was just that the situation was special, so no one asked much. The little nurse bitterly complained, ¡°If the patient is not saved, won¡¯t this person pull out a gun and directly shoot us¡­?¡± Lin Sinan was not wearing a military uniform yet his pocket was bulging high, clearly showing the outline of a gun. The lights in the operating room turned on, but there was no one on the operating table. A minute later, the two officers pushed a circular metal cabin using a stretcher. Lu Yan couldn¡¯t help looking at the director. The director saved countless people in his life. His name had long been in the textbook. However, at this moment, his hand was slightly trembling. The hatch opened and a cold chill came out. The patient was carried to the operating table. The second he saw him, Doctor Li could not hold back, turning his head, and throwing up. The little nurse¡¯s expression drastically changed and her voice trembled, ¡°This is¡­ What is this?¡± The patient¡¯s belly was full of translucent eggs. Under the illumination of the shadowless lamp, the throbbing creatures inside similar to fish were revealed. The small black fish were swimming happily in the follicles,6 full of exuberant vitality. These follicles seemed to have grown from the patient¡¯s body. On the surface of the fish eggs, the supporting skin tissue and the shrivelled fat underneath were visible, densely packed together. It was similar to a spoonful of caviar.7Lu Yan thought in his heart. The officers numbly tied the patient to the hospital bed, their movements quite proficient. Lin Sinan stood in the distance, ¡°He was parasitized by Level C Pollutant and has reached the second stage of distortion. The doctor said that perhaps there may be hope for recovery from the removal of the lesion on his body and adjuvant treatment.8 The situation is urgent and it¡¯s too late to rush back to the central laboratory. I can only ask you. Please rest assured that these fish eggs are just ordinary parasites and will not cause secondary pollution to ordinary people.¡± Lu Yan had an excellent trait, that was, calmness. This calmness allowed him to complete a task brilliantly the first time he got a scalpel. It was similar to this time. After a moment of shock, Lu Yan was the first doctor to start the operation. This made Lin Sinan couldn¡¯t help but look at him more. The patient¡¯s breathing was weak. He was obviously in pain. Whenever a fish egg was cut off, the patient would spasmodically struggle. His face was red and the bloodshot eyes on his eye sockets were clearly discernible. The picked fish eggs quickly dwindled like sea cucumbers that had been steamed to dryness, shrinking into a small mass. These fish eggs were thrown into a special treatment box, which was filled with boiling water. High temperature could not kill fish eggs, but it could effectively reduce their activity. ¡°Why don¡¯t we anaesthetize?¡± Lu Yan couldn¡¯t help but raise his head and asked, ¡°Although he has been tied, muscle tremor will also hinder surgical field of view.¡± Lin Sinan was silent for a moment before saying, ¡°After anaesthesia, he might never have a chance to wake up again.¡± The First People¡¯s Hospital was the best hospital in K City and naturally had the best doctors. After the initial panic, the operation became apparently orderly. The patient¡¯s bleeding was controlled within an optimistic range. It was probably because he was concentrating for too long and lost his focus, during the third hour of the operation, Doctor Li accidentally cut his gloves. The dirty water in the fish eggs drenched his hands. ¡°Help¡ªhelp!¡± Doctor Li¡¯s composure collapsed in an instant, ¡°I¡¯m no longer doing this surgery! I resign! Let me go!¡± He dropped the scalpel and rushed out the door. Lin Sinan frowned but did not stop him. In this state, Doctor Li couldn¡¯t get out of the hospital anyway. He would be pulled to do psychological counselling and pollution testing. The operation lasted four and a half hours. The last fish egg located in the chest cavity was finally successfully removed. The director was getting older, with cold sweat on his head, and the moment he put down the scalpel, he couldn¡¯t stop himself from feeling dizzy. ¡°The operation was very successful¡­¡± The director looked at the patient¡¯s only ¡°family member.¡± Lin Sinan¡¯s muscles that had been tense for a few hours were finally relieved and a slight smile appeared on his face. Lu Yan blinked and looked at the back of the patient¡¯s hand. Under the skin, there seemed to be something flowing in the blood vessels. The patient should also be a soldier with extraordinary willpower. He only muttered a few muffled groans during the operation without anaesthesia. In the later part, he no longer moaned in pain. Maybe he was numbed due to pain. Currently, his fingers were slightly trembling, as if he wanted to attract the doctor¡¯s attention. Unfortunately, the straps tied him firmly and his movements were very light. Lu Yan looked into his eyes. It was a pair of tearful eyes, full of perseverance and determination. Was he¡­ asking for help? Almost subconsciously, Lu Yan¡¯s scalpel cut through the skin tissue on the back of the patient¡¯s hand. One after another, tiny golden fish eggs gushed out. Lin Sinan¡¯s complexion changed drastically in an instant. ¡°Bang¡ª¡± The unexpected gunfire sounded deafening. The nurse huddled, screaming. Lu Yan had performed many operations, especially in the rescue of some critically ill patients. Of course, he couldn¡¯t guarantee that everyone could get off the operating table alive. He just never thought that the injured would die like this on the operating table. Blood splashed on their protective clothing. There was not only blood but also some internal organs. They were too close to avoid them. The director¡¯s legs softened and he sat on the ground. Lin Sinan put down his gun, his tone was full of apologies, ¡°Sorry. There was an error in my judgment. He has entered the third stage. This pollution is unavoidable. We can only eliminate the Pollutant in advance. Tomorrow, someone will contact you to provide compensation.¡± Lu Yan still stared at the corpse on the operating table, seemingly unresponsive. Meanwhile, Lin Sinan¡¯s teammates stepped forward in silence and began to carry the patient¡¯s body. It would not be sent to the morgue. It had to be put in a protective cabin and then cremated at high temperature. ¡°I¡¯m very sorry for letting everyone see such a scene.¡± Lin Sinan bowed one last time and exited the operating room. The people who were left looked at each other. The director dared not take off his protective clothing, even if he had been smothered in a layer of sweat. He said with difficulty, ¡°I will give everyone a three-day off. You should all go home¡­ Have a good rest.¡± The little nurse¡¯s hand still couldn¡¯t help trembling. She wiped the fog on his eye shield, ¡°Director, is the pollution disease really a disease?¡± The director smiled bitterly, ¡°I don¡¯t know. It¡¯s just that I¡¯ve heard that those in the Research Institute call this¡­ evolution. Evolution is bound to go hand in hand with extinction. Without extinction, new species will not get a niche gap.¡±9 ¡°You should be prepared.¡± He refused to say more. Lu Yan went to the locker room and turned on the faucet in front of the mirror. He should wash his hands after the operation. The water was running but his hands were clenched into fists. Lu Yan looked at himself in the mirror. It was a calm, indifferent face. Without joy, there would be no panic and fear. No one knew what he was thinking and naturally, no one noticed what he did at the end of the operation. He turned off the faucet, put his hands in his pockets, and relinquished his grip. At that moment, a mechanical sound clearly sounded in Lu Yan¡¯s mind¡ª [Congratulations to Host for awakening the ability¡ª All-Knowing.] [Congratulations to Host for obtaining the item: Kingfish Small Egg (Unhatched, Level E)] The author has something to say: The setting is made up and purely fictitious, please do not substitute it into reality.10 CH 2 [Yes, you can call me System. Perhaps in your mind, only I, System, can rationally explain myself.] [I know what you are thinking. You are not sick. Am I a gift or an ability?] [After coming into contact with the pollution source, those contaminated by it are known as the Pollutants; those that are untouched by the pollution, and successfully awaken their innate abilities, they are known as the Enlighteneds. This matter will be accepted by people in about a few months. Paper can¡¯t contain fire¡­ What kind of world do you think you live in? In fact, you have already met an Enlightened. You¡¯re smart¡­ It¡¯s Lin Sinan. That¡¯s right, so are you.] [Although your ability is a little weak, you still have me. I am a great talent that you have, really.] [You didn¡¯t obtain me, I chose you.] Advertisements Lu Yan opened his eyes. He turned on the TV and switched to the news channel. The real situation remained a secret and was not disclosed in the lockdowned H City. ¡°The distorted person has been dealt with. Please rest assured. The pollution disease is not contagious.¡± The reporter smiled sweetly in front of the camera. Mbl ywekldnl oswze dsv jdso vbyv pbl oyp dsv kd vbl blyhkzu rszzwvle T Ukvu, cwv kd bla sod nkvu¡¯p nyxlay pvweks. Mbl osaze oyp pvkzz nlzlcayvkdt rlynl okvb psdtp yde eydnl1. Tl srldle vbl nwavykdp yde nszezu zssjle esodpvykap. Mbl psnkyz ydkxyzp nasoele vbl cwp vs tlv vs osaj obkzl vbl nszzltl pvweldvp ydtakzu eldswdnle vblka xsadkdt nzypplp. Ohlauvbkdt pllxle vs byhl dsv nbydtle. Rq kv olald¡¯v qsa ulpvlaeyu¡¯p pwatlau, Nw Zyd oswze yzps clzklhl vbyv vblal oswze cl ds nbydtlp kd vbl qwvwal. Mbyv qkpb ltt oyp cwakle kd vbl qzsolarsv. Ebld bl oyp cwaukdt vbl qkpb ltt, bl blyae y zswe dsvkqknyvksd pswde qasx vbl Fupvlx. [Gzvbswtb kv kp sdzu y zso-zlhlz rszzwvydv, kv byp y prlnkyz aszl yp y ryaypkvkn Ikdtqkpb ltt.] [Tyhl usw vakle rzyukdt Twdtau Fbyaj Ohszwvksd?2 Mbl byvnble Ikdtqkpb nyd elhswa vbl lttp sq svbla ryaypkvkn qkpb.] [Don¡¯t mention until now, some doctors still think that traditional medical methods are useful for pollution disease?] Advertisements The moment Lu Yan put down his garden trowel, his phone¡¯s ringtone rang abruptly and loudly. Lu Yan was taken aback and answered the phone. ¡°Dr. Lu, help me¡­¡± Doctor Li¡¯s voice was hoarse on the other end of the phone. Doctor Li¡¯s name was Li Rui, the doctor who performed the operation with him yesterday. ¡°I don¡¯t know who to look for, I dare not go to the hospital.¡± It was currently winter. Along the coast of K City, the latitude was low, and it was not cold here. Under his thick jacket, Li Rui¡¯s arm had been scratched with bloodstains, and his nails were full of flesh and blood like a scene of self-mutilation. He didn¡¯t realize it as he still scratched his skin with his sharp nails. On the skin of Li Rui¡¯s arm, translucent fish eggs were embedded in them, like small blisters, which were strangely red under the influence of blood. He was sitting on a bench in the park. Wearing a hat, a cotton-padded jacket, and a down jacket, the coldness was still like a sharp needle, spreading from the limbs to the depths of his soul. This was a parasitic egg plundering its host¡¯s heat crazily in order to survive. Probably because his expression was too neurotic, the old people who were doing morning exercises were staying far away. Lu Yan asked, ¡°What¡¯s the matter?¡± Li Rui lowered his voice, ¡°Those things are growing on my arm¡­¡± Advertisements Yesterday, they performed the operation together. Lu Yan quickly realized what Li Rui was talking about. Lu Yan frowned, ¡°You should contact the pollution center.¡± Six years ago, when pollution first broke out abroad, many small outbreaks of mass hysteria occurred all around the world. It was later confirmed by experts that this was an infectious disease in the new century, which was called a pollution disease. Therefore, Pollution Disease Prevention and Control Centers had been established all over the world. Li Rui madly shook his head frantically, ¡°When I was in college, I did an internship at the pollution center of A City. Those people will be centralized. High temperature kills¡­ I don¡¯t want to die! Help me, Dr. Lu! We did surgery yesterday. You heard what the officer said, as long as you cut off the eggs, it¡¯s okay.¡± It was the pledged duty of a doctor to save the dying and heal the wounded. Li Rui had never met anyone who carried out this responsibility and belief more than Lu Yan. This was also the reason why he contacted Lu Yan. Before Lu Yan had time to respond, there was a knock on the door of his house that had not been visited for many years. ¡°Lu Yan, I¡¯m going to suffer¡­¡± ¡°Wait, I¡¯ll call you later.¡± Lu Yan hung up the phone and turned on the smart peephole. The visitor¡¯s face appeared on the display screen at the door. Advertisements There were two people, one of whom was Lin Sinan from yesterday. Today, he was wearing regular clothes: sneakers, jeans, and a white T-shirt under a dark working jacket. 3 He was dressed up like a school grass of a county middle school who came to a first-tier city to go to university for the first time. Lin Sinan said into the door¡¯s peephole, ¡°Hello, Dr. Lu. I¡¯m Lin Sinan. We¡¯ve met before. Because the operation yesterday was infectious to a certain extent, I brought a colleague to help you check it. You can rest assured that we are proper personnel.¡± Lin Sinan fumbled for a long time and finally found the ID from his colleague¡¯s pocket. ¡°K City¡¯s Pollution Disease Control and Prevention Center.¡± Above was the photo, below was the official seal. The indicated job title was ¡°Examiner.¡± Lu Yan opened the door and took out the shoe covers. Lin Sinan walked into the house and looked around quietly. It looked like a model house.4 Almost no breath of life could be seen. In the semi-open kitchen, the cutting boards were extremely clean and there was no trace of being used. In addition to these, Lin Sinan also noticed an interesting thing. Lu Yan should know how to use a bow. An archery target hung on the wall of the living room with many holes on it. The examiner opened his briefcase, sat on the dining table, and softly said, ¡°The examination requires a little blood. Is that fine with you, Dr. Lu?¡± His suitcase¡¯ side was a little crooked. Advertisements Lu Yan controlled his impulse and didn¡¯t correct it, but just silently stretched out his arm. The blood collection was quickly completed, and the drop of blood was put into an unfamiliar square instrument on the spot. A few minutes later, the examiner said, ¡°You are not suffering from pollution disease. If you have fever or physical discomfort during this period of time, you can contact our Pollution Disease Prevention and Control Center at any time. We will provide corresponding assistance. Lu Yan stared into his eyes and asked, ¡°Is the pollution disease really just an infectious disease?¡± ¡°Pollution disease is certainly an infectious disease. It¡¯s just a new type of genetic distortion. Pollution disease is extremely contagious. A few years ago, it caused tens of thousands of deaths abroad. However, thanks to the unremitting efforts of scientists from all over the world, the disease has been brought under control. Pollution disease patients only appear in small areas. You don¡¯t need to be nervous.¡± In Lu Yan¡¯s mind, there was a disdainful laugh from the System, [That¡¯s just because it was all low-level Pollutants in the beginning. Class C Pollutants can destroy a city, and countless lives were taken during the disaster in those years. But being weak is the original sin of mankind.] [By the way, to remind you, it¡¯s better to send these people away quickly if you don¡¯t want to be taken to the Research Institute.] Seeing the somewhat awkward silence, Lu Yan asked, ¡°Thank you for clarifying. Is there anything else?¡± ¡°¡­No, that¡¯s all. We wish you all the best.¡± ¡°Thank you.¡± After a while, two employees from the Pollution Disease Prevention and Control Center left Lu Yan¡¯s home. Lin Sinan took the lead in saying, ¡°Mysophobia5 is one of the most common clinical manifestations of obsessive-compulsive disorder. The living environment is typical and there is no pollution source.¡± The examiner said, ¡°Lu Yan¡ª his father is a pollution disease patient and has many previous records of domestic violence. His mother committed suicide by jumping off a building when he was six years old.¡± ¡°Lu Yan was imprisoned and abused by his father for a long time and was only rescued at the age of 12. He was diagnosed with photophobia,6 claustrophobia,7 and schizophrenia.8 He also had a split personality¡ª an anti-social personality and highly aggressive.¡± ¡°At the age of 16, Lu Yan recovered and was discharged from the hospital. In the same year, his father became a Pollutant and was detained in the Research Institute as No. 18.¡± ¡°In 2117, Pollutant 18 fled from the institute. This is the only incident of Class A Pollutants escaping. Although No. 18¡¯s distortion is in the brain, it led researchers to conclude that Pollutants will have wisdom that is not inferior to humans in the later stage of infection growth.¡± Lin Sinan responded, ¡°Yes, so the Research Institute has been monitoring Lu Yan for a long time to see if No. 18 will contact him.¡± ¡°Squadron Leader Lin, you know what my talent is. I felt a breath of danger in him.¡± The examiner said solemnly. He¡¯s a support class Enlightened that awakened the [Ability: Early Warning]. It allowed him to predict danger to a certain extent. ¡°The result of the examination came out. The spiritual power threshold is 0 and mutation degree is 0. An ordinary person. I thought he could become an Enlightened.¡± Lin Sinan took out a military tranquillizer from his pocket and poured one for himself, ¡°Let¡¯s go. Time to go to the other side.¡± According to the research of the Academy of Sciences, organisms with a mutation degree of 0 to 100 still belong to the category of human beings. An Enlightened was a human who was polluted and possessed talent, but only had a mutation degree of less than 100. The strength of an Enlightened was determined through the spiritual power threshold. If the mutation degree exceeded 100, it was no longer a human being. Like those animals, plants, and even inorganic substances, they were called Pollutants. Yet Lu Yan was 0. Li Rui had been waiting for Lu Yan¡¯s call. He was sitting on a park bench, getting colder and colder. The world in front of him was gradually fading and becoming gray. The weather became increasingly humid, and fog spread around. The high fever made Li Rui¡¯s consciousness blur. It wasn¡¯t until he inexplicably felt that someone was approaching that he raised his head. He didn¡¯t know the two people nearby. Intuition told him that these people came for him. He would be detained at the Prevention and Treatment Center and disappear into a thousand-degree high-temperature incinerator like those strange patients he had seen back then! Without any hesitation, Li Rui ran away. The two people who were taking out their work permits were taken aback for a moment, and then they started to chase. Li Rui¡¯s physical strength was not good. He would usually lie down tired after a few hours of surgery, let alone that he was currently clothed like a penguin. However, his speed was getting faster and faster just like a gust of wind. During the run, his hearing became extremely keen, and he could even hear these people cursing from a distance¡ª¡ª ¡°Isn¡¯t this parasitic pollution? Why does its host already undergo distortion?¡± Distortion¡­? Right, when ordinary people were suffering from pollution disease, the abnormal condition of the body was called distortion. Li Rui didn¡¯t run for long when the sound of a helicopter came from the sky. He looked up and saw the helicopter open its door. At the door, Lin Sinan, who was heavily armed with a safety rope, raised his sniper gun. In the loudspeaker, his voice spread far, ¡°That person ahead, please stop immediately and squat down with your hands behind your head. We are personnel from the Pollution Disease Prevention and Control Center. After preliminary analysis, you have been infected by a parasite. Please stop moving immediately! We will send you for specialized treatment!¡± ¡°If you refuse to accept investigation and treatment, we will take special emergency measures.¡± However, Li Rui turned a deaf ear, still running frantically. A drop of sweat dripped from Lin Sinan¡¯s temples and from the earphones, a command from the Headquarters came, ¡°The patient is suffering from parasitic pollution. It has been distorted and will become a source of infection. It is recommended to kill.¡± Therefore, Lin Sinan pulled the trigger. Using the [Ability: Homing Shot], within the range of shooting, he could automatically hit the target. He was hundreds of meters above the ground, Li Rui was running, and the plane was tremulous. It was hard to imagine that someone could shoot accurately in this situation. But the moment the gunshot sounded, a flower of blood exploded on Li Rui¡¯s body. However, he did not fall as expected. It was a very horrible scene. The head was gone but its body was still rushing forward. Lin Sinan frowned and very quickly shot twice¡ª no more than ten seconds before and after the first shot. The sniper gun he used was loaded with heavy bullets. As long as he shot a target, it would definitely die. Li Rui was certainly impossible to be alive. Nonetheless, like a worm parasite on a mantis, it could control the mantis to commit suicide by jumping into the water. The same was true for the parasitic things on him. It suddenly rained on a gloomy day. In the heavy rain, the body finally found its destination. The moat of K City, Qu River. It jumped into the river with ecstasy. The body was soon salvaged. Lin Sinan couldn¡¯t care about the pollution, took off Li Rui¡¯s clothes, and checked carefully. There were no traces of fish eggs on his body. Nevertheless, no one was happy about it. Beside the corpse, the surging river flowed continuously. The two soldiers lowered their heads in shame, ¡°I¡¯m sorry, we can¡¯t catch up with him.¡± In general, there were three stages of distortion, with a buffer period of at least two weeks. However, Li Rui only took a few hours from being contaminated to distorting. This was so unreasonable that Lin Sinan didn¡¯t react. People were evolving, and Pollutants could also naturally evolve. Lin Sinan¡¯s expression became extremely ugly, ¡°The sudden pollution incident is tentatively classified as Class B. The Class C Pollutant, ¡®Parasitic Fish,¡¯ has mutated, the recovery has failed, and the extent of the pollution spread is not clear at the time being. Request support from Headquarters.¡± The author has something to say: *Some plot contents have been modified. *The time point has been modified. Translator¡¯s Note CH 3 Lu Yan dialed Li Rui¡¯s number. He didn¡¯t answer. Later, the other party¡¯s mobile phone was out of power and automatically turned off. On WeChat,1 no one responded to his message. Although Lu Yan and Doctor Li both work in the hospital, their relationship was not close enough to exchange home addresses. Shortly after Lin Sinan left, the compensation for the last operation came and directly went to his account. After deducting the tax, there was a small six-figure sum. Advertisements It was the first time that Lu Yan had received such a generous bonus after working in the hospital for so many years. Because he didn¡¯t need to go to work for the time being, he didn¡¯t go to the hospital. Generally speaking, after earning a huge sum of money, people usually reward themselves by shopping. Tl vbswtbv qsa y xsxldv yde oldv vs vbl byaezu-hkpkvle nsdhldkldnl pvsal esodpvykap vs cwu y clhlaytl yde kdpvydv dssezlp. Rd vbl nsdhldkldnl pvsal, vbl pbsrjllrla wdnzl oyp pbyjkdt bkp blye yp zkpvldle vs vbl ayeks. ¡°Gv 10 s¡¯nzsnj vbkp xsadkdt, swa nkvu rszknl qswde y qwtkvkhl oydvle nakxkdyz kd Cw Skhla Vyaj. Mbl oydvle xyd vakle vs vyjl bspvytlp yde oyp pbsv elye sd vbl prsv.¡± Nw Zyd alxlxclale vbl zypv osaep Nk Swk pyke sd vbl rbsdl vseyu. Gv vbyv vkxl, bl oyp kd y bwaau vs srld vbl essa yde bwdt wr clqsal bl blyae kv. Mbl svbla ryavu pyke vbyv bl oyp kd y rzynl vbl dyxl sq obknb cltyd okvb vbl pswde sq ¡°Cw.¡± Rv dso yrrlyale vs cl Cw Skhla Vyaj. Nw Zyd zssjle esod yde plyanble qsa alzlhydv dlop. Bdqsavwdyvlzu, dsdl sq vbl xleky bye vbl pwprlnv¡¯p kdqsaxyvksd. Rv pbswze cl vbl ralpp alzlypl tkhld ycshl, vblalqsal, vbl dlop oyp cypknyzzu vbl pyxl. In the end, he only found a vague aerial photograph. A man in a black jacket was sprawled on the ground. Advertisements Lu Yan saw Li Rui wore it, saying that it was a Canadian Goose jacket sent by his girlfriend. Doctor Li liked it very much and showed it off in the department for several days. A little uneasiness grew in Lu Yan¡¯s heart. He drove to the nearby shopping mall and made frantic purchases. The shopping mall didn¡¯t seem to expect such a visit to the supermarket. It was like a customer who went to the warehouse for wholesale, and they directly arranged a truck to send back the things Lu Yan bought. Food, medicine, mineral water, portable gas stove¡­ The things he bought filled his two guest rooms. Thanks to Lu Yan living alone, otherwise he really couldn¡¯t fit them all. ¡°Brother,2 why are you buying so much? This would be enough for a few years.¡± The delivery boy who helped with the transportation was very puzzled. Lu Yan was not a person who liked to explain, thus, he only replied, ¡°I¡¯m doing business on WeChat.¡±3 Delivery boy, ¡°¡­¡± It was difficult to understand. Advertisements In the evening, Lu Yan turned on the TV as usual, listening to the evening news while preparing a meal. ¡°The source of pollution in H City has been brought under control. The state of emergency will be lifted and traffic will soon resume¡­¡± While speaking, the female anchor¡¯s expression abruptly changed, ¡°Now we will broadcast an emergency news.¡± ¡°There was an unknown pollution disease in our city, and all activities are suspended. Please take the initiative to quarantine yourself at home and do not go out. K City is temporarily in lockdown!¡± Like Lu Yan, millions of people living in K City have received the same news. A gloomy dark atmosphere shrouded the whole K City as it fell into panic. In the home owners group chat, the message tone sounded one after another. ¡°What happened? Pollution disease?¡± ¡°How come there¡¯s no warning at all? It¡¯s too sudden.¡± ¡°I have to go on a business trip tomorrow!¡± For most people, pollution disease was just a plague that occurred abroad. At the beginning, everyone was still a little terrified. After all, no one wanted to become a monster. However, in the past two or three years, there had been reports of pollution disease cases every day, and people had gradually realized that this disease was not without cure. On the contrary, this realization reduced their fear. Advertisements It¡¯s just that they never thought that pollution would happen to them one day. Within the community neighborhood, the property manger appeared and said, ¡°Home owners, please rest assured. We have been notified. Although you can¡¯t go out, the property management will provided services to the home owners. If you have necessities that you need to purchase, you can also make a list and give it to me. We can definitely overcome the difficulties together!¡± Among Lu Yan¡¯s colleagues, the group of doctors were also talking about this pollution disease. ¡°Pollution disease is not included in the traditional medical treatment system. Will our doctors be requisitioned?¡± ¡°Hey, I have a patient who has a tumor removal operation soon. I can¡¯t go out or go to the hospital now. What can I do?¡± ¡°Why should even doctors be isolated at home?!¡± Although pollution disease cases were often reported, some doctors were also curious about it. Still¡­ what they knew was only a little more compared to ordinary citizens due to professional reasons, nothing much. At least, the treatment of pollution disease no longer belonged to the field of medicine. In most people¡¯s perception, this kind of pollution disease that had overturned the world was merely a troublesome infectious disease similar to influenza and AIDS. In the beginning, the Research Institute also thought so. Everyone was optimistic and believed that mankind would overcome this pollution disease like smallpox. Advertisements Only Lu Yan, who was watching the news on the screen, appeared to have a heavy expression. He remembered the fish eggs he saw during the operation yesterday. Lin Sinan said there would be no secondary pollution, but Li Rui began to distort. In the morning, he called Director Hu. The director told him that he was already on the plane back to his hometown. The director showed no symptoms of contamination. During the operation, only Li Rui came into contact with the punctured fish eggs. The lockdown this time was particularly strict. The next morning, Lu Yan stood by the window and looked outside as usual. His bedroom window was facing the community gate, with a good view. An armed military vehicle stopped at the gate and several officers armed with guns came down. He didn¡¯t know how many people were transferred from various stations to K City to deal with this emergency. Not only the gates of the community were closed, but the doors of the units were also locked. Every day, only when the food was being delivered would the gate and doors be opened for a while. Many residents were in panic, but there was nothing they can do. On the night after the city was lockdowned, Lu Yan was sleeping when he suddenly heard a gunshot in the distance. The battery-powered car parked in the community neighborhood alarmed¡ª ¡°wuwuwu.¡± Lu Yan got up, carefully opened the curtain, and looked out the window. After a while, he saw a familiar square metal block being carried out from the community. The patient who was sent to the hospital also used the same metal cabin. In the morning, the home owners inevitably brought up this matter in their group. The property manager immediately came out to explain, ¡°I asked. A thief wanted to break into a house last night. Then the soldiers guarding the door opened fire as a warning. It¡¯s nothing important. The thief has been taken to the police station.¡± Lu Yan read it and put down his cell phone. He pressed down his alarm and prepared to wash an apple for breakfast. Just when Lu Yan¡¯s hand touched the faucet, the System finally made a sound. [I advise you not to use tap water today.] [Did you know that these disgusting parasitic fish eggs are transparent when they are not parasitizing on another organism?] Lu Yan withdrew his hand and thought it was not impossible to eat the apple without washing it. He watched the news and ate apple as he listened to the detailed introduction of the System. [In the first stage of distortion, fish eggs will penetrate into your stomach, hatch, and then reproduce in large numbers asexually in your stomach. This stage can last for 2 weeks.] [In the second stage, the fish eggs will follow the blood, stay in the fatty part to absorb nutrients, and gradually surface on the skin.] [In the third stage, the fish eggs will cover every part of your body. At this time you will become the lowest level Pollutant! In most cases, an individual will transform into a murloc.4] [This is the life of the disdained parasitic fish eggs.] Lu Yan turned on his phone and posted a message in all group chats and forums, urging everyone to store more mineral water. He then searched the mobile number of the Pollution Prevention and Control Center in K City. He felt that he should at least do his duty of reminding the people. [If I were you, I wouldn¡¯t make this call.] The System suddenly spoke. [Host, the Enlightened will not necessarily be sent to the Research Institute, but you¡¯ll definitely be, because you are the son of Lu Cheng and have me as an innate skill. Missing Lu Cheng back then made the Institute regret it until now. Moreover, the Research Institute¡¯s study on pollution is deeper than you think. I advise you not to worry about it.] [Of course, you can choose not to believe me. After all, I am just a System. Nonetheless, compared with¡­ I would rather stay by your side. After all, you are very good-looking.]5 The System wanted to say something but then hesitated. In the past, Lu Yan would not respond no matter how the System talked to him. But this time, for the first time, he asked, ¡°What will happen if I was sent to the Research Institute?¡± The System laughed twice in a strange tone, [Possibly, death is the best result. However, as a precious experimental sample, you cannot easily die.] Lu Yan didn¡¯t really want to die, let alone be dissected alive, so he temporarily gave up the idea of calling the Pollution Prevention and Control Center. Anxiety made him wipe the floor with a handkerchief over and over again even though his home was spotless and there was not even a speck of dust under his bed. Facts had proved that the response of the relevant departments was considerably fast. In the afternoon, Lu Yan saw the rich second-generation brother next door open the window and yelled from the balcony, ¡°F*ck! Why did the water stop?!¡± The home owners group chat exploded. The water cut off caught them all by surprise, and they didn¡¯t even receive any notice at all. More importantly, the entire K City, and even several neighboring cities around it, had stopped tap water. Water was cheap. Sometimes, they unconsciously thought that it didn¡¯t even worth anything. But when it was gone, it could really cost people¡¯s lives. The property manager also did not expect that there would be no water supply and kept comforting the home owners in the group chat. Since the beginning of the city lockdown, the TV at Lu Yan¡¯s house had not been turned off. The reporter of local news anchor said, ¡°This afternoon, due to improper operation by the water plant workers, a large amount of cyanide chemical was added to the clean water tank. Cyanide chemical is a highly toxic chemical substance. In order to ensure the residents¡¯ safety, our city has cut off the water supply urgently. The Municipal Hall will arrange for the military to send purified water regularly. Citizens, please stay calm.¡± In response to the municipality¡¯s blockade policy, the reporters of the news station were all doing live broadcasts at home. Ordinary people were still kept in the dark. Lu Yan thought for a while. In fact, this was a very simple truth. Everyone knew that this was a pollution disease, but it was never clear how dreadful it could be. Fear of death was also human nature. If the truth was revealed, the superficial peace would immediately be broken. There would be many people leaving K City by all means. As long as one of them was carrying a parasitic fish egg, the catastrophe would spread to the entire world. An out-of-control train approached, with a person on one side of the track and a group of people on the other. Which would you choose? The System uttered in a low voice with a laugh. [Your thoughts are not entirely correct. Perhaps it¡¯s time you should understand the concept of one¡¯s pollution index, or on the flip side, one¡¯s san index6?] [The more fearful you are, the easier it is to be contaminated. If the media started to publicize the world¡¯s real situation, believe me, it wouldn¡¯t take more than a month for the whole world to collapse.] [Of course, it¡¯s not far from happening now.] ¡°You seem to look forward to the destruction of the world.¡± Similar to an evil villain. [There is evidence that evolution often occurs suddenly and by leaps and bounds. New species will form rapidly in a short time and remain relatively stable for a long time in the future.]* I just can¡¯t wait¡­ to see you become a god. The author has something to say: *Quoted from ¡°After the Extinction of Mankind: An Illustrated Book of Animals in the Future World¡± Translator¡¯s Note CH 4 Translator¡¯s Note Today was a working day, but the streets of K City were empty. Only the Pollution Disease Prevention and Control Center was crowded with people. This was the third day of the lockdown. Many powerful families in K City had begun to secretly evacuate. They would not certainly make a big fuss but would only go to the Pollution Disease Prevention and Control Center under the escort of the army. Advertisements After undergoing a nearly rigorous testing, these people could take a plane and leave this precarious city. Naturally, for safety, they would stop on an uninhabited island first. After the dangerous period was over, they could return to the mainland. Gv vbl pyxl vkxl, kxrsavydv pnkldvkqkn alplyanblap kd vbl nkvu olal yzps sd vbl obkvlzkpv, kd yeekvksd vs vbl nbkzeald sq xyavuap. Rd y zyatl nkvu okvb xkzzksdp sq rlsrzl, kd vbl lde, sdzu zlpp vbyd 500 rlsrzl nyxl vs vbl nldvla vs vlpv oblvbla vblu olal iwyzkqkle vs zlyhl kd yehydnl. Nkd Fkdyd pvsse pxsjkdt dlmv vs vbl fllr obkzl yzps nypwyzzu xykdvykdkdt saela. Yydu pvyqq xlxclap oayrrle vblxplzhlp vktbvzu kd rasvlnvkhl nzsvbkdt, cwv bl oyp ealpple dsv ekqqlaldvzu qasx wpwyz. Nkd Fkdyd oyp dsv yqayke sq vbl rszzwvksd. Gqvla yzz, bl bkxplzq oyp y xsckzl rszzwvksd pswanl. Tkp casop olal qwaasole, nktyalvvl cwvvp olal pnyvvlale sd vbl qzssa cu bkp qllv. Mbl nktyalvvl kd Nkd Fkdyd¡¯p byde oyp dsv xlalzu y pkxrzl nktya, cwv yzps y vaydiwkzkgla sq vscynns qzyhsa. Mbl lmyxkdla qasx Vszzwvksd Pkplypl Valhldvksd yde Usdvasz Uldvla pvlrrle qsaoyae, ¡°Fiwyeasd Nlyela Nkd, usw pbswze pxsjl zlpp.¡± Tranquilizers had side effects. ¡°I can¡¯t stop. I¡¯m really stupid.¡± Lin Sinan held his head in annoyance and squatted down on the spot, chattering like a garrulous sister-in-law, ¡°I only know that parasitic fish eggs attached to the human body would not contaminate twice. I didn¡¯t expect it to evolve in just a few days. Advertisements ¡°We also haven¡¯t been able to recover the pollution source. It was my arrogance that caused such consequences. I should listen to that boy Ah-Bai, I must not have tried to save him. But his parents are gone, and there was only him left. How can I not save him? ¡°If the parasite is not controlled in K City¡­¡± Lin Sinan covered his face with his hands and whispered, ¡°I am the sinner who killed these millions of people.¡± They had worked very hard. In order to control pollution, the Enlighteneds were dying all over the world every day. Either being swallowed to death without leaving a whole corpse or end up becoming Pollutants themselves. The more they fought against Pollutants, the weaker they became. The increase rate of the Enlighteneds was far behind the growth and spread of pollution sources. He didn¡¯t know what would happen when this precarious balance would be broken. Humans had never gained the upper hand in the fight against Pollutants. Since the water supply was cut off, there were obviously more gunshots at night. Not knowing if it was an illusion, Lu Yan felt that his hearing became much sharper. Therefore, without earplugs, it was difficult for him to fall asleep at night. Advertisements The Municipal Hall arranged staff to conduct pollution testing from door to door. Contaminated patients would all be taken away uniformly. He heard that they were going to receive treatment. Rather than that, it may also be to cremation. On the fourth day of the lockdown, Lu Yan found that there was no way to send messages to the outside world. The signal seemed to be limited within the city. Lu Yan dialed his colleague¡¯s phone and was still able to get through. However, when he dialed the director¡¯s number, there would only be a prompt tone of ¡°Call again later.¡± He looked at the WeChat group, and there was not much discussion about it. He didn¡¯t know if it was suppressed or it was just that everyone didn¡¯t notice it at all. Compared with the inability to make a phone call, another message in the major WeChat groups in K City was significantly more eye-catching. This was a screenshot of a post from Moments.1 ¡°Save me! My boyfriend behaves and looks more and more like a toad. What¡¯s going on?! I¡¯m about to break down. He¡¯s now outside the door! Please help me!¡± The picture was taken in a hurry, so it was a little vague. In the picture, a man was crouching on the ground in a frog-like posture, eyes almost like being squeezed out of his sockets with only a few red blood vessels hanging from the ends, so that they would not fall off. The man¡¯s skin was also covered with a strange water film. There was a strange smile on his face. His mouth split as if he was about to stick out his tongue. Many people who saw it felt their scalp numbed. Advertisements It could be inferred that the girl could no longer be saved. Lu Yan got goosebumps across the screen. Different from many people¡¯s notion that this was only a strange tale, Lu Yan thought that this was 80% real. [F-level Pollutants at the bottom of the food chain are nothing. It¡¯s not human anymore, there¡¯s nothing strange about it.] [You can dissect one if you happen to have a chance. This thing is disgusting, but¡­ the meat is actually delicious.] [By the way, this ugly frog has another characteristic. It likes to eat the flesh of a swan.] Lu Yan seemed to only understand half of what the System meant. He boiled a cup of instant noodles with mineral water as he tried to suppress his alarm. He also knocked an egg for himself in passing. Although the eggs could be stored in the refrigerator, they should not be kept for too long. It was best to finish them early. Due to the water outage, the property management brother started delivering water every morning at 9 AM. A small box consisting of 12 bottles per household. The water was allocated by the Municipal Hall and there was no need to pay for it. It would be placed directly on the doorstep and wait for the residents to pick it up themselves. It was only enough for a family to wash rice and flush the toilet. However, if someone wanted to take a bath, it could only be endured. Advertisements Lu Yan didn¡¯t take it on time on several occasions. When he opened the door, he discovered that a good deal of water had been taken from the share that belonged to him. However, even though someone took the water, that person left a full thousand yuan bill. A bottle of water was only two yuan. Looking at it this way, Lu Yan earned money. Although at this moment, water was more valuable than money. Lu Yan thought for a while and put away the money. The person bought water at a high price, probably as a last resort. Anyway, he lived alone and used little water. In addition, he went to the supermarket to buy a lot of goods before, he had no shortage of water at his disposal. It¡¯s just that¡­ he usually had good neighbor relations. Instead of sneaking this way, this matter could be negotiated. The next day, Lu Yan particularly moved a stool, sat by the door, and opened the smart peephole. He held a book of ¡°After the Extinction of Mankind¡± in his hand, and after a while of reading it, he looked up at the monitor screen. At 9:30 in the morning, the property management brother put water on his doorstep. Ten minutes later, the diagonally opposite door opened quietly, and a man stealthily peeped out his head. It was the little second-generation rich kid who lived across from Lu Yan. Lu Yan had a slight impression of him. This second-generation rich kid was his own schoolmate, though they did not have the same major. However, he also took Chemistry and Biology. Unfortunately, he didn¡¯t study well and often came to him with a bunch of retarded questions when it was time for finals. His heater at home was obviously turned on, nevertheless, the little rich kid was wearing a thick hat. His hat was a bit too big, almost covering the rich second generation¡¯s nose. Lu Yan held his chin, watched the second-generation rich kid walk to his door, hurriedly took away half of his mineral water, and left a thousand yuan. The second-generation rich kid also lived alone. It stood to reason that there should not be such a shortage of water for him to drink. Lu Yan paused monitoring, zoomed in, and took screenshots. He didn¡¯t know if it was just an illusion, the second-generation rich kid¡¯s hands were excessively long and slender. Lu Yan stretched out his hand and compared it, the other party¡¯s webbed fingers were obviously larger than normal¡­ and it was almost translucent, the blood vessels underneath could be seen. By the looks of it, these signs were similar to a person contaminated by fish egg parasites and would also be dehydrated. It was reasonable for Lu Yan to report it to the authorities by now. However, the current appearance of the second-generation rich kid was far from the picture. Furthermore, he was a little curious about the distortion process of the Pollutants. Lu Yan asked the System, ¡°Under normal circumstances, can I solve Class F Pollutants?¡± The System said, [50-50 chance. After all, you¡¯re also an Enlightened at the bottom of the food chain. Nevertheless, this Pollutant can also be killed with ordinary physical attacks.] With this, Lu Yan gave up making the call. He took out his compound bow2 from the bottom of the bed and practiced his arrows all afternoon. The seventh day of the city lockdown. Nightfall. Lu Yan didn¡¯t have many recreational activities. His usual hobbies were swimming, archery, and reading. Currently, he couldn¡¯t swim and was tired of shooting at home, therefore, he read a book. Fortunately, he installed bookcases on the four walls of his bedroom and arranged them by category. There were at least two thousand books which were enough to read until the end of time. Lu Yan closed the book, rubbed his astringent eyebrows, and went to sleep. However, this time, he did not sleep well. Because at the door, there was a very faint sound of¡­ a lock being picked. Lu Yan looked at the alarm clock beside the bed. It was three o¡¯clock in the morning. In the middle of the night, K City was all silent. Since the lockdown order was issued, everyone¡¯s nighttime activities had become playing with their mobile phones. Therefore, the doorbell that refused to stop ringing seemed particularly eerie. He picked up the compound bow and hid the military dagger he had bought before under his clothes, which gave him a little bit of courage. The lights in the corridor were dim, flickering like there was poor electrical contact. Lu Yan lightly walked to the door, then turned on the smart peephole¡¯s monitor in front of the door. The person was displayed on the screen. From his clothes, he was the second-generation rich kid who lived diagonally opposite Lu Yan. He vaguely remembered that his name was Zhou Kaiwen. Zhou Kaiwen¡¯s entire skin looked like it had been wrinkled by water, and his entire body appeared green like moss. His eyes were dull, and most of his eyeballs were exposed to the air, as if they were about to fall out of their sockets. Zhou Kaiwen¡¯s slender fingers anxiously pressed the doorbell, translucent mucus dripping down the webs of his fingers. [Oh, no. The toad. The toad has come to eat the flesh of a swan.]3 The System¡¯s playful tone rang in his head. Lu Yan abandoned his plan of opening the door. This big humanoid toad was too ugly to the extent that it was a bit revolting. Nevertheless, the big toad obviously didn¡¯t intend to let Lu Yan go. The tip of Zhou Kaiwen¡¯s nose moved, and his sluggish pupils instantly turned into a vertical line. ¡°Senior,4 I like you. You know, right?¡± There was a hint of excitement in Zhou Kaiwen¡¯s tone, ¡°I know you like me too, you¡¯re just more reserved. I¡¯m so rich that it¡¯s normal for you to like me. My father must have said something to you that made you avoid me. But now, I¡¯ve thought of a way to keep us together forever.¡± In the next second, he very quickly stuck out his tongue. A frog hunted using its tongue, which was long and flexible with a forked tip. Now, a similar tongue stirred into the air in a bizarre arc and then sank into the lock cylinder. At that moment, Lu Yan regretted a little that he didn¡¯t install an electrode tube in the lock. Of course, he couldn¡¯t be blamed for that. It was mostly his experience that limited his imagination and he never expected that he would need such a thing. If someone had told him in the past that someone could pick locks with their tongue, he would have told that person that the psychiatric department was out the door and to the right. Lu Yan silently raised his bow. After a few minutes, there was a soft ¡°click,¡± and the door opened a crack. The light from outside filtered in, and Lu Yan heard his not-so-intense heartbeat. Zhou Kaiwen gripped the door with his webbed hand and gently inquired, ¡°Senior, you¡¯re obviously at home¡­ Why didn¡¯t you open the door?¡± Lu Yan¡¯s consciousness fell into a state of high tension. He was standing behind the cabinet, an angle that would allow him to dodge immediately after shooting. Lu Yan didn¡¯t answer, as soon as he loosened his fingers, the arrow shot with incomparable precision at the neck of the person who came. If it was only a normal person, this sharp arrow was enough to pierce a person through. However, when it shot Zhou Kaiwen in the neck, only the arrowhead pierced through. The foul smell of blood sprayed out. The Frog Man5 winced in pain, his eyes bulging and spewing out a stream of yellow water. The wound caused by the arrowhead was not fatal, but it clearly made the monster even angrier. It leapt forward, its head almost hitting the ceiling. Both the distance and the speed were completely beyond the limits of human beings. It was too fast. To the extent that Lu Yan subconsciously chose to obey when he heard the System¡¯s voice. [Roll.] Lu Yan rolled on the ground and grabbed the military dagger in his pocket, but quickly released it again. This wouldn¡¯t work. Having tried it with a compound bow, he realized that it was difficult for a normal cold weapon to inflict incapacitating damage on Zhou Kaiwen. He could poke his eyes, but because the power gap between the two was too large, Lu Yan probably only had one chance to try. Zhou Kaiwen landed heavily on the floor on all fours, and his saliva dripped out from his mouth to the floor, creating a layer of foam. [You should be glad that it does not excrete much gastric juice comparable to sulfuric acid.] [Its weakness is its stomach. You dissected a lot of frogs when you were studying medicine, you know how to do that, right?] Lu Yan¡¯s eyesight sharpened. He was not good at fighting, but the desire to survive in the face of danger kept him incredibly alert. [Fall back.] [To the left, reverse stab. Run.] Lu Yan¡¯s stamina was considered quite good. After all, whenever the nurse did not immediately arrive, he would take the initiative to carry the patient on a stretcher. Nonetheless, it was completely inadequate in front of Zhou Kaiwen, who had degenerated into a Pollutant. He was thrown to the ground. Zhou Kaiwen grabbed his neck, looking puzzled, ¡°Why aren¡¯t you afraid?¡± Human beings who died in fear were the most delicious food for Pollutants. However, Lu Yan¡¯s expression was extraordinarily calm. Anyway, this wasn¡¯t important. Zhou Kaiwen¡¯s hand moved up, his slender fingers stroked Lu Yan¡¯s eyelids, and his smile almost split his face to the root of his ears, ¡°Let¡¯s start with the eyes, okay? Senior, you don¡¯t know how beautiful your eyes are.¡± It opened its mouth and stuck out its long, disgusting tongue. Lu Yan was waiting for this opportunity. A twisted madness appeared on his calm face, but his hands remained steady. When Lu Yan first took the scalpel, his teacher praised him and said that he was born for this profession. However, it was not only doctors who could steadily hold a knife, but also butchers. Zhou Kaiwen¡¯s fishy tongue was only an inch away from Lu Yan¡¯s eyes. When the map was unrolled, the dagger was revealed.6 The blade plunged deep into the opponent¡¯s abdomen. Red blood gushed out and poured all over Lu Yan¡¯s face. ¡­ The fight was over. The frog that had been ripped open was basically incapacitated, and Lu Yan, fearing that it wasn¡¯t dead through, went up and stabbed several more times. By the time he came out of the bathroom, the Pollutant lying on the ground was already cold. Lu Yan picked up the mop and began cleaning the floor. The blood was a little difficult to wash, but luckily he was prepared. With light salt water and 10% potassium iodide solution, the floor was soon as smooth and clean as new. The author has something to say: Doctor Lu, why are you so proficient in destroying dead bodies? CH 5 Translator¡¯s Note ¡°This kind of frog man has corrosive saliva. Gastric acid is as corrosive as aqua regia.¡±1 ¡°It has an obvious response to human flesh and blood, consistent with the pattern of distortions in polluted patients.¡± ¡°The skin is flexible and waterproof. The weakness is in the abdomen.¡± ¡°Most of its body is composed of rapid muscle fibers. It is preliminarily speculated that it has strong explosive power and poor endurance.¡± Lu Yan wrote down the relevant data in his work record book one by one. Advertisements After two days of recovery, his injuries no longer affected his movement. He¡¯s a doctor who has everything at home. Therefore, it didn¡¯t seem surprising to have a set of scalpels for dissection. Mbkp zso-zlhlz Vszzwvydv bye lppldvkyzzu zspv kvp bwxyd nbyaynvlakpvknp yde bye nsxrzlvlzu zspv kvp pydkvu. Rv sdzu alvykdle y rakxkvkhl elpkal vs pnyhldtl yde oyp ds zsdtla nsdpkelale bwxyd. Lsv vs xldvksd vbyv vbkp twu vakle vs jkzz bkx. Mbwp, yzvbswtb bl pvkzz alvykdle bkp alprlnv qsa bkp talyv vlynbla, Nw Zyd eke dsv pbso xlanu obld bl pvyavle. Nw Zyd vbalo vbl qast xlyv kdvs vbl xlyv takdela yde nbwadle kv wr. Tl vbld qzwpble kv esod vbl eaykd vs ewxr kv. Ebkzl eskdt ps, vbl Fupvlx pyke okvb rkvu, [Mbkp jkde sq qast xlyv¡­kp alyzzu iwkvl vypvu.] Nw Zyd, ¡°R vbkdj vbyv yp y rlapsd, R pbswzed¡¯v.¡± [¡­Rq usw pyu ps.] G eyu byp rypple pkdnl vbl cseu oyp ekprsple sq, yde Nw Zyd bye clld yoyjl qsa dlyazu 30 bswap. Tl qlzz cynj vs pzllr cwv oyp pvkzz yoyjldle cu y jdsnj yv vbl essa yv 10 s¡¯nzsnj kd vbl xsadkdt. Mblal oyp dsvbkdt vs cl esdl pkdnl bl byp yzoyup clld y zktbv pzllrla. The property management brother shouted at the door, ¡°Mr. Lu, are you awake?¡± The name of the property management brother was Shen Qingyang, who has been working here for two years. Advertisements The door lock was corroded before. In this special situation, Lu Yan couldn¡¯t find anyone to change the lock, so he had to change it to a new one himself. Electronic lock and a fingerprint unlock feature¡ª the one without a keyhole. He turned on the smart peephole monitor and asked through the speaker, ¡°What¡¯s the matter?¡± ¡°Do you know where the tenant opposite to you has gone?¡± Shen Qingyang inquired, his eyes were slightly dull, holding a bottle of mineral water in his hand and taking a sip every half a minute. ¡°He didn¡¯t take his water for the last two days. We looked at the surveillance and found no one. We¡¯re wondering where he went.¡± Lu Yan calmly answered, ¡°I don¡¯t know.¡± ¡°Well, if you hear any news, you can contact me in the real estate group. I¡¯m off to the next house to deliver water.¡± Lu Yan wondered if Shen Qingyang himself noticed that when he left, he walked with small skips. If it was a child, it would probably look cute to walk and jump like that. Lu Yan was silent for a moment, feeling that there might be more people infected in this city than he thought. The System also sighed, [The speed of evolution has accelerated. Usually, it will take at least a month from the first stage to the third stage. K City is going to get out of control faster than expected.] Lu Yan hesitated for a moment and asked, ¡°Isn¡¯t there a Pollution Disease Prevention and Control Center?¡± [The number of Enlighteneds could not keep up with the Pollutants, and now they can¡¯t even keep up with the speed of evolution. Fires are starting all over the world. How do you put them out with only a bottle of water?] Advertisements Lu Yan thought it had a point. Lu Yan waited for a while, carried the water and fresh food items into the house, and turned on the TV as usual. Although he had stocked up on supplies, most of them were instant-packed foods. Fresh ingredients needed to be delivered by others. The TV station was broadcasting news at the moment, which was the only program the residents of K City could receive now. The TV station was severely understaffed. Nowadays, they could only provide signals at the 10th, 14th, and 20th hour every day which only lasted for an hour every time. Without covering the truth and pretending that everything was peaceful, the female anchor solemnly introduced the pollution disease on the screen. The anchor¡¯s voice trembled slightly as she read the news, probably seeing the information for the first time as well. This is the most grievous trial humanity has ever faced worldwide since the beginning of the new century. Now K City has issued a yellow warning. This pollution disease is transmitted through egg parasitism, and the parasitized part is infectious. Parasitic fish eggs mostly survive in tap water, so citizens are advised to pay attention to their drinking water. According to research, parasite distortion is divided into three stages. The first stage is characterized by¡­ The distortion period has a duration of 7 to 50 days. The final transformed Pollutants are divided into three categories: Anura,2 Osta,3 and Phyta,4 in ascending order of danger. Distorted people are highly aggressive and are no longer humans. If you encounter a distorted person, please seek shelter immediately. If you notice that someone in your home is starting to show signs of distortion, call the police immediately. Despite the extraordinary strength of the enemy, we still cannot give up hope. The K City authorities have never given up on the citizens. In addition, people who have suffered contamination but no symptoms of distortion can call the Pollution Disease Prevention and Control Center. At this critical moment of life and death, we need everyone¡¯s strength! Advertisements With the photos flashed on the television, the last trace of cover-up regarding the pollution disease was torn off. Trepidation and anxiety gripped everyone¡¯s heart. Many people realized the seriousness of the problem through the TV and went to the shelter, either voluntarily or taken in by the PDC. Other citizens chose to flee overnight and as a result, gunfire rang continuously until dawn. Armed forces were still in service when the social order hadn¡¯t broken down. On the fifteenth day of the blockade, for the first time, someone came to the edge of the city. It was a taxi driver who, with his familiarity with the city, had shaken off the trail behind him. He drove down the highway out of the city, his face showed happiness like he obtained a new lease of life. The streets were empty and more desolate than ever. The driver drove down a side road. This road was in a worse condition, but through this path, he didn¡¯t have to go through the toll station to get on the highway leading to other cities¡­ Passing through the Ancient Tea Horse Road5 was the nearby M City. Seeing the victory ahead, the smile on the driver¡¯s lips solidified on his face. On the edge of K City, a wall several meters high had been built at some point. The wall was endless, smooth, and exceptional, like a giant cage. The Headquarters sent Enlightened reinforcements. With the [Ability: Barrier] and a spiritual power threshold of 8700, Bai Quishi was the SpecOps6 Division¡¯s Team 2 and the Captain of the Squadron 1. Advertisements He sat high up on the city wall. His expression was full of impatience as he listened to Lin Sinan¡¯s report. ¡°It¡¯s impossible to fight. If it weren¡¯t for my fear of dying, I wouldn¡¯t have awakened this ability. Not to mention that I¡¯m not physically fit, and I¡¯m not one of those combat mad dogs ¡­ What? I didn¡¯t scold that guy. I will hold this earthen city wall for you for a week at most. In one week, control all pollution in the city. Otherwise, the Headquarters will consider using thermal weapons. It¡¯s the kind that¡ª boogsh ¡ª explodes like a mushroom. Do you understand?¡± The 16th day of the lockdown. Shen Qingyang¡¯s face already showed obvious signs of distortion, including anterior7 bulging of the eyeballs. Lu Yan dissected Zhou Kaiwen. The other party¡¯s brain was atrophied8 so severely that it was only as big as a walnut. All its surface grooves had disappeared, appearing like a piece of smooth foie gras. 9 This abnormal change of the brain obviously caused the Pollutants to lose rationality. Without a doubt, this was also the reason why some Pollutants were still able to move despite their brains being blown out. It¡¯s ironic why it¡¯s a no-brainer that they don¡¯t need their brains at all. Shen Qingyang stopped at Lu Yan¡¯s door. He rang the doorbell and asked, ¡°Mr. Lu, are you there?¡± A few moments later, Lu Yan¡¯s somewhat distorted voice came from the door¡¯s speaker, ¡°Yes.¡± ¡°It¡¯s good you¡¯re still there. This is the last time I¡¯ll be delivering water. The Pollution Disease Center¡¯s examiner said that I will soon enter the second stage of distortion. Although I don¡¯t know exactly where the distortion has occurred, I can see it. Everyone has become afraid of me.¡± Shen Qingyang¡¯s voice was sluggish, ¡°There is a shortage of people to handle logistics now. I would have gone to the quarantine center a long time ago if there wasn¡¯t a delay in finding someone to replace me¡­ Do you know about the quarantine shelter? It¡¯s where the distorted people are gathered for treatment.¡± ¡°They call it the 22nd Century Concentration Camp. None of the infected people sent there survived. However, there¡¯s no other way. When I watched the news, those who became distorted only have the instinct to eat. It¡¯s said that memories build people, yet when I reached that point of distortion, I would no longer be ¡°me.¡± So I think it doesn¡¯t matter if my body dies at the quarantine shelter.¡± ¡°Although I¡®m unable to know what class distortion I¡¯ll be, it¡¯s inevitable. Dr. Lu, I want to remind you¡­ that you smell different from ordinary people, you smell quite good. You must pay attention to safety. Even though the area has been divided for testing, it¡¯s still very chaotic outside. I have deleted the surveillance for you that night, so it¡¯s good that you¡¯re safe.¡±10 Just like making funeral arrangements, Shen Qingyang rambled on and on. ¡°Also, thank you, Dr. Lu.¡± Shen Qingyang came from the countryside and dropped out of junior high school. Later, he moved bricks on a construction site and broke a leg. It was Lu Yan who was in charge of the operation at that time. He was saved but one of his legs became limp, and he couldn¡¯t go back to work. Lu Yan just saw the recruitment information downstairs and introduced it to him. Out of nowhere, Shen Qingyang¡¯s stomach made a few ¡°rumbles¡± of hunger. He was still eating like usual yet the food no longer gave him a sense of satiety. When he woke up this morning, he even secretly cut off a piece of his own flesh because of hunger, and it unexpectedly didn¡¯t hurt much. Shen Qingyang took one last look at the door of Lu Yan¡¯s house, turned around, and left. Afterwards, he went to the shelter under the supervision of the Pollution Prevention and Control Center¡¯s staff. There were seven people in this neighborhood who went to the shelter. More people in K City suffered from pollution than expected, so the beds here were particularly tight. The accommodation provided by the shelter was a single room. The rooms were temporarily built and were extremely narrow. They were only separated by a metal sheet in the middle, similar to sleeper trains11. There was naturally no sound insulation in such a place. The sound of an apple being chewed from next door could be heard loud and clear. Fortunately, Shen Qingyang was accustomed to hardships, but he didn¡¯t think he could make it out alive. He was just worried about Doctor Lu who was still in the neighborhood. Thus, he spent his first night sleepless. K City was adjacent to W City. A man in a black robe stood on the outskirts of the city, looking at the earthen wall enclosing K City. The high wall not only blocked the land upward but also blocked the river downward. The special medicine used to kill fish eggs has been discharged into the water. In about two days, the Pollutants in the river would be completely poisoned. The black-robed figure could not be identified, whether a man or a woman. The entire person was tightly covered. ¡°The center is the best place to incubate. Only by devouring can we achieve better evolution. Sometimes I really appreciate the bright aspects of human nature. At least they have built a center, haven¡¯t they? The black-robed man stood still, there was no one else around. Surprisingly, the voice was coming from the back of his head. ¡°I don¡¯t know which lucky person the Kingfish egg will fall into¡­In order to hatch this time, I also made sure that H City was in a chaotic state first in order for the Headquarters not to be able to handle it, so of course, they won¡¯t have any spare energy to take care of of this place. ¡°Yes, I know, your son is still in K City. But that doesn¡¯t matter, does it? Besides, don¡¯t tell me you still have some fatherly emotions like that. ¡°This process will naturally involve many sacrifices. However, all sacrifices are for the coming of the great God.¡± The wind blew and lifted the hood off of the black-robed man. Its front face had only one protruding eye, no mouth, and the white of its eye was bloodshot. Behind the head was a constantly changing human face, sometimes male, sometimes female. ¡°K City is just the beginning. Sooner or later, this world will be littered with the relics of God!¡± The human face¡¯s expression was filled with fervor, and then calmed down, ¡°and we are the creators of God.¡± The author has something to say: [Information that can be unlocked] Enlightened (ability users) settings: 1. Divided according to ability: Combat, support, and special. 2. There are strong and weak abilities! 3. Spiritual power threshold: The higher, the stronger. 4. An Enlightened can awaken multiple abilities. 5. Pathological change (mutation) is present in many Enlighteneds. *** Pollutants (diseased evolutionary species) settings: 1. Pollutants also possess abilities similar to Enlighteneds. 2. The strength of the Pollutant relies on the pollution value. There are special testing instruments, and the upper limit of the instrument is 10,000. Comparable to the spiritual power threshold, the higher, the stronger. 3. Three consequences of pollution: A. Death. B. Become a Pollutant after distortion. C. Become an Enlightened. 4. The low-level Pollutants only have the instinct to eat while the high-level Pollutants (perfectly evolved bodies) have intelligence. 5. Normal people¡¯s pathology degree will increase when exposed to Pollutants. However, the Enlightened has a certain resistance. Translator¡¯s Note: CH 6 This chapter is edited by Pierce. Although the house was already clean and the frog man¡¯s bones were disposed of in a pickle jar, since there was really nothing to do, Lu Yan started cleaning again. The System sighed in his ear, [Damn you! Why? Why did you flush the churned frog meat down the drain? Do you know how hard it is to find fresh meat these days?! Wastrel.] This showed that the frog meat was really delicious or the System really wanted Lu Yan to try it. Otherwise, the System wouldn¡¯t repeat it several times. Lu Yan sneered, ¡°Heh.¡±1 Advertisements While cleaning up the TV cabinet, he accidentally knocked over the potted plant on it. Since the city-wide lockdown, Lu Yan had pulled the delicate little flowers from their pots and planted cheap and tasty chives.2 Now that more than half a month has passed, a new batch of chives has just grown. He planned to cut them and make a scrambled egg at noon today. He didn¡¯t even realize that it was the flowerpot that moved first on its own and hit his hand. Mbl nzyu rsv casjl vs vbl taswde. Mbl qkpb ltt, cwakle kd vbl pskz, aszzle swv wdvkz kv alynble Nw Zyd¡¯p qllv. Rv oyp tszeld yde eyggzkdt. Xdl nswze qykdvzu pll y obkvl uswdt qkpb okvbkd. Mbl Ikdtqkpb ltt bye clld cwakle kd vbl pskz qsa xsal vbyd vld eyup yde yrrlyale vs cl psxlobyv pbakhlzle ewl vs zynj sq oyvla. Mbydjp vs kvp lmvaysaekdyau ewayckzkvu, kq kv olal y dsaxyz qkpb ltt, kv oswze byhl ekle sd vbl plnsde eyu kv oyp cwakle. Nw Zyd nyalqwzzu rknjle wr vbl qkpb ltt okvb bkp vollglap yde rzynle kv kd yd lxrvu nwr. Tkp lmralppksd oyp y ckv nsdqwple. ¡°Fupvlx, R alxlxcla vbyv usw vsze xl vbyv vbl byvnble Ikdtqkpb nyd elhswa vbl lttp sq svbla ryaypkvkn qkpb.¡± [Do you want to fight poison with poison? That is indeed a way to treat the pollution disease.] Advertisements ¡°How?¡± [Pollution is an evolution. One of the evolutionary ways for the Enlighteneds is to continuously integrate with Pollutants.] [However, during the integration process, the degree of their own mutation will inevitably increase. Moreover, not all Pollutants can be integrated with the human body.] [Ha. Speaking of which, your current humanity¡¯s strongest combat force is the result of a combination of technology and pollution disease. That man¡¯s mutation degree has reached 95, and he was like a tireless mule who fought fires everywhere. Tsk. He, himself, knew he¡¯s dangerous and the higher-ups also acknowledged that he¡¯s a threat. Yet what can they do about it? They still needed that fire to solve the spreading fire.] The System¡¯s voice was full of mockery. [I can teach you how to integrate with the Kingfish egg. As your ability, what bad intentions can this little system have? ] [Nonetheless, I must tell you the risks, lest you complain about being cheated. The integration process with Pollutants is an irreversible one, and cannot be stopped even if you regret it halfway through. It may also not be 100% successful. In short, it¡¯s considered a success as long as you don¡¯t die.] Lu Yan, ¡°You¡¯ve told me many times that this disease, or rather, this evolutionary process of organisms will erupt all over the world and that K City is just the beginning, not the end.¡± ¡°If most parts of the world are contaminated, I can¡¯t be left alone. The pollution values of Pollutants are far beyond those of normal humans. Ordinary people have no chance to fight back.¡± He needed strength. Otherwise, death was awaiting him. Furthermore, since this pollution disease was called evolution, the eliminated species would one day be annihilated in history and become archaeological relics. ¡°What¡¯s more, I¡¯m a doctor and it is my bounden duty to save the dying and heal the wounded.¡± Lu Yan hadn¡¯t spoken such a long sentence ever since he was birthed from his mother¡¯s womb. Advertisements It was more like he was convincing himself. ¡°Tell me what to do.¡± Lu Yan had held a scalpel many times. He didn¡¯t also have a tendency to do self-harm, yet for the first time, he had to cut himself with a knife. He vaguely remembered that when he pretended to sleep in a mental hospital, he heard the attending doctor and nurse chatting. They said that he was a rare patient in the intensive care unit of the mental hospital who did not harm himself. According to the System, he needed to cut his own blood vessels and stuff the fish egg into them to hatch. The result would be known in about 1 to 3 days. As for why not orally¡­ Those who had taken the fish eggs thru their mouths, Lu Yan had already dissected one. Considering the three features of easy operation, observation, and treatment, Lu Yan chose his arm as a hotbed for incubation. Disinfect, use anesthesia, hold the knife, and cut it. Lu Yan didn¡¯t cut an artery, so the blood did not overflow. There was no bloody event of blood spurting high to the ceiling. The depth of his cut was appropriate. A foreign body entering the bloodstream may form an embolus,3 which could be serious enough to cause paralysis. Judging from the fish egg¡¯s diameter, it could easily block his aorta.4 Lu Yan stuffed the pale golden egg in and stitched it. The whole process did not even exceed 3 minutes. Advertisements It was around 11:00 o¡¯clock, almost noon, when this minor surgery was finished. Just before the meal, Lu Yan started to cook rice and scrambled eggs with chives. He also warmed up the leftover corn-stewed spare ribs5 from yesterday. He has always been a good cook. However, today, as soon as Lu Yan swallowed his first bite of food, he couldn¡¯t help but throw up. ¡°35 minutes post-op: Significant increase in temperature was observed. It was accompanied by dizziness, palpitations, and severe vomiting.¡± Too much vomiting and stomach acid would irritate his throat and cause irreversible damage to his esophagus. Furthermore, Lu Yan felt an unspeakable hunger. Therefore, he chose to give himself a bottle of glucose through an IV drip. There was still the sound of waves surging in his ears. K City was close to the sea. Lu Yan had been to the beach several times during the hospital¡¯s team-building activities. The difference in latitude resulted in differences in the central gravitational fields on the surface, such that the tides vary from region to region. He could hear that this was the sound of Qu tidal waves. Lu Yan wrote down a line in his notebook, ¡°55 minutes post-op: Tinnitus6 symptoms.¡± Advertisements ¡°6 hours post-op: Severe high fever, 42 degrees Celsius; consider the possibility of functional impairment7 or necrosis.¡±8 ¡°Despite these, I didn¡¯t lose consciousness. It¡¯s probably caused by evolution.¡± The System¡¯s tone was odd, [To be honest, I think a normal person would choose to sleep.] Lu Yan could completely hold on. Every time he felt like he was about to pass out, he would madly pinch his own center acupoint.9 Unconsciousness itself was a protective mechanism of the human body that could at least insulate itself from most of the pain. A layer of sweat rose on Lu Yan¡¯s body as he shook his head and replied, ¡°Since I know I might die, I want to at least die awake.¡± Being conscious in death, or, perhaps to a new life. 24 hours after the operation, fish scales grew on Lu Yan¡¯s arm. At the 30th hour, the fish scales disappeared. On the third day, his fever disappeared and symptoms of discomfort subsided. ¡°Body temperature is normal. However, it¡¯s too low¡­ 27 degrees Celsius.¡±10 Thermometers were now electronic and unlikely to make errors. Lu Yan opened his eyes and looked down at his hand. His previous scars disappeared without a trace, leaving only a neat row of stitches. He could feel something swimming in his veins¡ª rapid and slow, very active. [It¡¯s a young Kingfish in a symbiotic state. Congratulations, you got stronger.] [Now, you can rip three of Zhou Kaiwen¡¯s genus of toads with one hand.] It did not seem to be an illusion. Symbiosis and parasitism were two completely different states. Perhaps it¡¯s because Lu Yan remained awake during the integration process. The outcome of his surgery was even better than the System expected. Lu Yan¡¯s body and consciousness had always maintained resistance. The sharp pain, which was enough to make people faint and wake up again and again, just made him sweat a lot. Lu Yan wanted to take a bath, but it did not rain recently. There wasn¡¯t much water in the rainwater filter, so he had to simply clean himself. He then conducted some simple experiments in the kitchen. Lu Yan took out a kitchen knife and slashed his arm without a change in his expression. ¡°Duang¡ª¡ª¡± There was a loud noise similar to cutting ribs with a machete. His arm chipped the kitchen knife and curled the blade. Lu Yan looked pensive, ¡°It doesn¡¯t hurt.¡± Nonetheless, his behavior seemed to scare the juvenile fish in his body. A small bulge formed on his arm like a silent protest. This hardened attribute was only limited to his arm that had grown fish scales. Although there was also increased strength in other parts of his body, it was obviously not as terrifying. After that, Lu Yan took another basin of water and buried his face deep inside. An hour later, except for feeling uncomfortable with too little oxygen in the water, he had no symptoms of drowning or suffocation. As for his other speculated possible changes, there was no way to try them for the time being due to environmental constraints. Lu Yan finally asked the question he was currently most concerned about, ¡°The Kingfish has hatched. How about the cure for other people¡¯s pollution disease?¡± [I told you that on the first day.] The System sounded extremely helpless. Lu Yan thought about it carefully, and said two words out of his mouth, ¡°Shark Evolution¡­?¡±11 Then, he couldn¡¯t help but frown, ¡°But the Kingfish is inside me. Do I have to take it out first every time I devour?¡± System, [Well, why don¡¯t you go out and find a distorted person to try? ] Lu Yan turned his head and looked out of the window to the obscure sky. It was 7 o¡¯clock in the evening and the sky was already completely dark. Due to the serious shortage of power supply three days ago, K City started their rotational blackouts12 at 8 o¡¯clock in the evening and would not return until 8 o¡¯clock in the morning the next day. ¡°Indeed. After being locked up at home for so long, it¡¯s time to go out,¡± Lu Yan muttered to himself. The rotational blackouts in K City were actually not entirely due to power supply issues. According to the latest discovery, the distorted Pollutants in K City were phototropic.13 This was why fishermen, who fish at night, liked to bring bright flashlights. Recently, the central square of K City has been brightly lit. The place was littered with the bodies of Pollutants. Because there was no time to deal with them, some have begun to rot, giving off a pungent fishy smell. Mixed together, it was similar to a canned herring14 that had been fermented for 50 years. Lin Sinan cleared another shot. The monster in the distance collapsed to the ground before it could get close. He had cigarette butts, or rather, military tranquilizers, piled up around his feet. Lin Sinan hadn¡¯t had a wink of sleep for five days. It would not cause sudden death for an Enlightened, only some psychological discomfort. It¡¯s too much. K City was already a large, densely populated city, and the spread of pollution was faster than imagined. The evolved species were even more bizarre. There were less aggressive Ostae15 who sprayed fish eggs on sight. At least two-thirds of the city¡¯s Pollutants were infected by them. There were more hostile Anurae16 that were extremely sensitive to living people. These Pollutants had rudimentary intelligence and would make noise to attract Ostae that would complete the contamination. When the density of Pollutants within the same space became too high, these Anurae would choose to feed directly on them. Even the Phytae with the least number17 that stay in place kept on growing and contaminating. The Phyta who gave the PDC the most headache was the encoder employee, 007.18 This Phyta came from the Internet industry and volunteered to work secretly overtime in the company during the lockdown. After he became contaminated, he refused to be left behind. Now, lush green algae had broken the windows, hanging from the window glass of the Science & Technology Building, squeezing out, and branching out for dozens of meters. These marine plants grew from the belly of the Phyta. Although they were green, they looked like sections of intestines. The thick, dense leaves have embedded eyes for sight and spreading disease. In short, its appearance would cause one¡¯s san index19 to drop. The staff did not dare to look up when they were doing circuit maintenance. The most frightening thing was that, based on the images observed in the drone feed, this Pollutant didn¡¯t even realize that it had suffered contamination and was still writing the last line of codes in his lifetime over and over again¡­ Because of this reason, the Headquarters simply did not dare cut off the electricity to the Science and Technology Park. Every now and then, they would also perform network maintenance, lest this brother found out there was no network and a mass of seaweed would engulf the entire city. Its pollution value had reached an astonishing 1200. The Headquarters decided to wait for the Pollutants in the city to be controlled before letting Bai Qiushi uproot it. Pollution disease generally followed an evolutionary principle, but in many cases, it could not be explained by normal science. In the headset, the voice of the liaison officer came, ¡°Squadron Leader Lin, according to the meter reading, your mutation degree has reached 52. We suggest you return to the Pollution Disease Prevention and Control Center20 immediately for rest and treatment.¡± ¡°No need,¡± Lin Sinan replied while changing the magazine skillfully, ¡°It¡¯s almost the last area. It will be over soon.¡± There were currently 62 Enlighteneds stationed in K City. Among them, there were 12 newcomers in the combat system, who have just awakened recently. In the previous years, these newcomers had to have at least three years of training at the Headquarters before they could take up their posts. It¡¯s just that in this crucial period, the number of Enlighteneds were seriously insufficient. Thus, they could only adopt new training methods. Among them, Bai Qiushi was on the edge of the city, responsible for isolating pollution with his ability. Lin Sinan and the other three were in the central square, responsible for the annihilation of most of the Pollutants. There were seven Enlighteneds guarding the PDC. The remaining 50 people were divided into 25 teams to clean up the hiding Pollutants. Because of the detectors sent by the Research Institute, the fact that the mutation did not last for a long time, and the Enlighteneds¡¯ mutation degree was topped out to 200, there was basically no danger, and it could only be regarded as manual work. At present, in the entire scope of K City, only Qu River District has not been cleaned up. This was also where the Pollution disease originated. Qu River21 District, Yinhe neighborhood. Lu Yan, dressed in all black, carrying a bow and a dagger, sneakily opened the door. ¡°It seems like my night vision has gotten better too,¡± he said to himself as he gently closed the door, ¡°I¡¯m going to shoot ¡­ Oh! No, cure ten people.¡± The author has something to say: *Modified the integration time. Extended from 6 hours to three days. Translator¡¯s Note: Phyta:22 Osta:23 Anura:24 CH 7 This chapter is edited by Pierce. Being preoccupied with the Kingfish egg¡¯s integration, Lu Yan hadn¡¯t been exposed to outside news for a while. As soon as he left the house, he noticed something strange. On the metal security door, there were surprisingly several deep palm marks as if someone had forcefully smashed it. Lu Yan observed it. It didn¡¯t look like human hands, it looked similar to a frog¡¯s webbed hands. Advertisements A strong bloody smell lingered on his nose. The corridor was completely dark because of the rotational blackout. Lu Yan touched his phone interface. [Xdl osae sq nywvksd.] vbl Fupvlx pweeldzu pyke, [Gzvbswtb usw esd¡¯v pll ydu Vszzwvydvp aktbv dso, vblu yal rbsvsvasrkn. R esd¡¯v alnsxxlde wpkdt ydu zktbv pswanl kq usw esd¡¯v oydv vs cl pwaaswdele. Zsw yzalyeu byhl yd ldbydnle dktbv hkpksd. Lso, zlyad vs ynnlrv uswa ekqqlaldnlp qasx saekdyau bwxyd clkdtp.] Nktbv oyp hlau zkxkvle yv dktbv. Mbl vblsau clbkde dktbv hkpksd oyp vbyv vbl alvkdy alqzlnvp kdqayale zktbv yde yxrzkqklp hkpksd,1 ps yp vs pll vbl osaze nzlyazu. Nw Zyd¡¯p lulp olal dso pkxkzya vs qlzkdlp, alqzlnvkdt y cwapv sq ale zktbv. Tsolhla, kd bkp hkpksd, lhlauvbkdt yaswde bkx oyp talld. Mbl essa vs vbl dlktbcsa¡¯p bswpl oyp okel srld, yde vbl kdpkel sq vbl kasd essa oyp nshlale okvb bsaakczl pnayvnblp obknb rashle vbyv psxlsdl bye clld pvawttzkdt clqsal vblka elyvb. Mblal oyp psxl hkpnswp zkiwke sd vbl qzssa sq vbl nsaakesa. Nw Zyd zktbvzu polrv kv okvb bkp qssv. Rv oyp eakle czsse vbyv qlzv zkjl puawr obld pvlrrle sd. Mblpl czssepvykdp pbsole schkswp pktdp sq clkdt eayttle, byzvle qsa y xsxldv kd qasdv sq bkp essa, yde yqvla alyzkgkdt kv oswzed¡¯v srld, blyele qsa vbl byzzoyu. Mbl vaynlp sq czsse yzps ekpyrrlyale yaswde vbl nsadla sq vbl nsaakesa. Jlnywpl sq bkp rasqlppksd, Nw Zyd¡¯p alvwad qasx osaj ekqqlale qasx bkp dlktbcsap. Llhlavblzlpp, bl alxlxclale y qyxkzu sq qswa zkhkdt dlmv essa¡ª nsdpkpvkdt sq y nswrzl, y nbkze, yde yd lzelazu. He looked at the pool of blood, remained silent for a moment, clenched the knife in his hand, and entered the house. Advertisements Excuse me. The smell of blood in the room was much thicker than outside. Looking at the amount of blood, there was definitely more than one victim. Lu Yan walked two steps into the living room following the bloodstains and inadvertently stepped on a half-severed hand. He looked down for a moment and observed that the hand would have belonged to an adult female, and there were obvious bite marks on the wound. Other than that, no visible human remains were seen. It appeared that the Pollutant ate the people whole without even spitting out their bones. The living room was the crime scene, but the starting point of the blood trail was the kid¡¯s room, deep in the hallway. The room was warmly decorated. The corners of the room were filled with Lego toys. It was evident that the child was well-loved in this house. Although the Pollutant had already left, the room still reeked of a damp fish, a chair toppled over the ground, and there were a few broken twine ropes on the floor. [Apparently, the child in this family has mutated. Nonetheless, his parents didn¡¯t want to send him to the shelter. So he was tied up in the room while waiting for a vaccine. In the beginning, the polluted child could still obey his parents, but later, it just became a monster who wanted to eat humans. Finally, one day the monster broke free of the ropes.] Parents¡¯ love was universal and selfless. [Also¡­ Would you like to look up overhead? He seems to have crawled up from the hallway.] A drop of fishy saliva dripped down at Lu Yan¡¯s feet. Advertisements It turned out the room smelled heavily of fish, not because of the monster being locked up for a long time, but because the Pollutant was just right above him. Lu Yan looked up and saw a little boy hung on the wall like a gecko. Its hands were about the same size as its head, and its sticky, webbed hands firmly grasp the ceiling. Probably because it was too full, its belly bulged like a nine-month pregnant woman. A strange smile spread across the infected¡¯s face as it opened its mouth wide, revealing two rows of sharp teeth. Its long tongue flicked out as if hunting and the huge papillae2 on its tongue stood up like sharp barbs. Having dissected an Anura3 once had given Lu Yan the confidence and some insight into this type of Pollutant. Even though an Anura moved fast and had great strength, it could only perform single attacks, either by lunging or whipping. It could also spew corrosive gastric acid, but not much of it. Overcoming the feeling of nausea and wanting to vomit wasn¡¯t too hard to deal with in his current physical condition. Lu Yan only thought for a moment. He did not hide, instead, reached out and grabbed the tongue. Ignoring the barbs on it, the tongue felt slippery to the touch like a piece of fat and tender liver. A look of obvious surprise appeared on the Pollutant¡¯s face. It was just that its eyes were already wide enough that it was completely indistinguishable. Lu Yan¡¯s hand forcefully yanked it from the ceiling to the ground. The Pollutant fell to the ground with a loud bang. Very disturbing. Drawing advantages and avoiding harm were some of the animal¡¯s intrinsic traits. Advertisements It wanted to run, but Lu Yan was incredibly strong that it couldn¡¯t move. The Pollutant cowered at the foot of the wall and let out a struggling hiss. It was very frightened, as it watched Lu Yan coming with a smile, holding his tongue in one hand and a scalpel in the other. ¡°Although I¡¯m not a pediatrician,¡±4 Lu Yan said, ¡°but it¡¯s an urgent situation. Please forgive me. At least I¡¯ve obtained the Standard Physician Qualification Certificate.¡± The knife cut open the Anura¡¯s abdomen. It struggled to death and eventually fell to the ground, motionless. Lu Yan cut out some undigested human bodies and heads from its stomach. [These kinds of completely distorted Pollutants no longer have the chance to become humans once again. As for how to solve the pollution, I probably don¡¯t need to tell you much, you¡¯ll see it soon enough¡­] A blood vessel bulged on Lu Yan¡¯s arm. It was the recovered young Kingfish. Fish scales appeared on his otherwise smooth arm, like armor, covering the surface of his skin. Afterward, these scales stood up. Thin, white filaments protruded from the gaps of the scales and connected to the Anura on the ground, and then began to feed. It was like drawing blood, the white whisker lines were slowly dyed red. Lu Yan reached out his hand and touched the threads. He shivered in pain. It¡¯s not his hand that was hurt, but these threads. The pain was comparable to a cranial nerve being touched with bare hands. No wonder the Kingfish did not come out just now. If the Anura was not dead struggled a little, it would be enough for Lu Yan to die in pain. Advertisements It was about a symbiotic relationship. As the Kingfish ate, he also felt like he was feasting. His stomach felt warm and comfortable. He squinted his eyes, and his fair face was flushed with unusual redness like a hangover. The System was eerily silent, [I think normal people should at least have a mental breakdown when watching this scene.] It was already prepared to be a spiritual advisor, but Lu Yan unexpectedly didn¡¯t give it any face.5 Lu Yan replied with an expressionless face, ¡°In your eyes, human beings are too fragile. Although according to your theory, we are low-level creatures that have not yet fully evolved. Nonetheless, in the millions of years since great apes evolved to humans, mankind has never given up on saving themselves.¡± The meal lasted for half a minute. [Spiritual power threshold: +10. Congratulations, you have been strengthened.] The System let out a cold laugh and whispered, [That rat had good foresight.6 If the Kingfish host is a Pollutant and devoured all the Pollutants in K City, it could indeed exceed that threshold¡­ It was such a pity that it met me though.] Its voice was so small, not to mention the occasional sound of the tidal waves in Lu Yan¡¯s ears, that he didn¡¯t fully hear it. The white glistening tentacles retreated back into Lu Yan¡¯s body as if they had never existed. Perhaps it was because the community had been cleaned once before, Lu Yan never encountered a second Pollutant until he left the neighborhood. The blockade at the entrance to the subdivision was still in place. However, the guards were nowhere to be seen. There was only the blood-stained security booth vaguely hinting at what had happened here. The power was supposedly out all over the city, but in the direction of Qu River Park, it was so brightly lit that it hurt the eyes. [That¡¯s the PDC doing a Pollutant purge. If you are interested, you can go and have a look.] Lu Yan withdrew his gaze in disinterest. The night was excessively quiet in K City. Only when passing certain small paths could Lu Yan hear a few heavy gasps, mixed with chewing sounds. Every now and then, Lu Yan would seek the sound and walk into the alley. He didn¡¯t come to dismantle them, he came to join them. Lu Yan touched his stomach. He had always faithfully followed the principle of eating only 80% full every day. It¡¯s been a long time since he felt like vomiting from eating too much. This evening, his spiritual power threshold had increased by 70 in total. In addition, the integrated Kingfish contributed 100 at once. He was now an Enlightened with a spiritual power threshold of 170. This number was not high. At least judging by the Research Institute¡¯s standards, it was only within the lowest Level 1 Enlightened. However, K City was completely Lu Yan¡¯s home ground, and the suppression of his blood superiority almost made him invincible here. Besides, the strength of an Enlightened was not determined solely by the spiritual power threshold. ¡°I¡¯m full. It¡¯s time to go home and come back tomorrow.¡± He really wanted to meet patients contaminated by the pollution disease who hadn¡¯t completely mutated yet. According to the System¡¯s theory, they could still probably be treated. Nonetheless, this kind of thing obviously couldn¡¯t be forced. It was impossible for him to go door to door and ask with a loudspeaker. Lu Yan was walking on the street when a desolate east wind7 blew, and his phone slightly vibrated in his pocket. It turned out to be the AirDrop function of his iPhone. A message from a stranger popped up,8 [Brother, why are you out there? Several security guards in our neighborhood were infected, but no one came to collect their corpses. Are you f**king looking for death?] He was a warm-hearted and considerate brother. The phone continued to vibrate, [You¡¯re blocking some light. Those Pollutants are very sensitive to light! Don¡¯t you watch the news?! Why the hell did you get out on the street?] [F**k!!! They are coming!!! Run!!!] As soon as the message popped up, the 13th floor of the building behind Lu Yan lit up. A petite girl stood by the window, tapped the window nervously, made a jolting noise, and then ran away like a puff of smoke. A moment later, Lu Yan received a new message on his mobile phone, [This building belongs to my family. I¡¯ll go hide in the other rooms. I can only help you here.] The System said, [Although I have no good feelings for human beings¡ª weak, selfish, and pathetic¡ª but I have to admit that there are always some human behaviors that I find puzzling. This moment made me think, you are very cute.] There was a tremor at the end of the street. A fish-headed man close to three meters tall jumped and came his way. It still had a human-like large body but had a huge fish head, which, looking at the appearance of this species, appeared like a catfish. Its fish lips opened and closed, and its four barbels9 moved even without wind. [Wow, congratulations. You have encountered the first small BOSS in this experience instance. An Osta10 with a pollution value of 400. This Osta had a big appetite when it was still alive and was particularly a great glutton after its mutation. He ate 60 in three days and became so fat. Not only he eats people, but also his own kind. He¡¯s more aggressive than ordinary Ostae.] [However, the good news is that although the eggs that it spews are a bit disgusting, they won¡¯t pollute you. In addition, it didn¡¯t grow such a big head for no reason. You, humans, have a saying, ¡°Bottoms up if you think our friendship is deep, otherwise, just take a sip,¡± and this Osta is quite attached to you¡­11 Its weakness is its gills. In short, be careful.] The Osta¡¯s IQ was not high. It originally came to Lu Yan. After seeing the light on the top of the building, it was quickly attracted, and walked towards the residential unit building with heavy footsteps. All Lu Yan had encountered along the way were Anurae. He had never dissected such a big Osta yet. Moreover, he thought to himself that the probability of his own survival was still much higher when it came to facing Pollutants. Therefore, he turned on the front flashlight of his phone. The Osta suddenly turned his head. It seemed to sense his provocation and rushed towards Lu Yan at an incredible speed. Tonight¡¯s feeding significantly improved Lu Yan¡¯s physical fitness. Almost instantly, he reacted by quickly retreating and dodging the Osta¡¯s attack. It¡¯s just that this Osta was a bit too big. Lu Yan¡¯s arm was scratched by the Osta¡¯s barbels which looked soft and boneless but were surprisingly sharper than swords and spears. His shirt was torn and blood oozed out. The Osta suddenly froze and stopped moving. System, [We¡¯re done for. Your blood, your blood¡ª I should have thought of it long ago!!! F**k!] In the past, the System had always been eccentric and gloomy. This was the first time Lu Yan heard its tone being so flustered. [Stop fighting. Now, come on, quick. Run to the PDC. Run if you don¡¯t want to be surrounded!!!] Qu River Park. Qu River District deserved to be the birthplace of K city¡¯s pollution disease. Although the population was not particularly high in number, the danger and pollution values were far higher than in other areas. One after another, strange-looking Pollutants came here like moths to a flame. The water of Qu River was almost red with blood. A fine layer of sweat appeared on Lin Sinan¡¯s forehead. In order to deal with the Pollutants here, a total of 16 Enlighteneds stayed in the park this time¡ª it was quite a few more than at other times Nonetheless, he still felt powerless as some of the Pollutants here even evolved with a bit of intelligence. However, at two o¡¯clock in the middle of the night, these Pollutants suddenly stood still, completely motionless. Although he didn¡¯t know why Lin Sinan obviously wouldn¡¯t let go of this great opportunity. Only after cleaning for two minutes, the Pollutants before them seemed to wake up from a dream and turn their heads in the same direction. Unexpectedly, their faces appeared¡­ with varying degrees of zealotry and excitement. It¡¯s like a hyena that has been hungry for many days, instantly smelling carrion. No one knew who made the first frog cry. In the next second, not even a single Pollutant paid attention to the brightly lit Qu River Park. They rushed like a tide in the same direction! ¡°What¡¯s going on?¡± asked the shocked examiner beside him. Lin Sinan was stunned for a moment. His expression suddenly turned ugly when a possibility occurred to him. ¡°I¡¯ve only heard of this situation once¡­¡± ¡°In the first Research Institute, Experiment No. 0 awakened a rare healing ability. It was said to be the number one among the ¡°Enlightened¡± rankings. On that day, the Research Institute was also surrounded by Pollutants. ¡°In order to protect No. 0, the Institute had to lock No. 0 into the life capsule.¡± Despite the examiner being an Enlightened, he only possessed a support system. Therefore, his spiritual power threshold was not high. Furthermore, he had always been a resident in K City. It was the first time he has heard of such a thing, and his expression was bewildered, ¡°There¡¯s a healing ability? How come I¡¯ve never heard of it?¡± That¡¯s not nonsense. There were currently only three in the world. One was locked in a life capsule and afraid to be released, and the other was raised like an ancestor in the Headquarters. The remaining one was abroad. Lin Sinan put away his gun, opened his headset, and his eyes were bloodshot as he roared, ¡°Bai Qiushi, don¡¯t just watch the show from the wall! Someone in K City is suspected to have awakened a healing ability. If you don¡¯t f**king come here on time, you better be calling the morgue to collect his corpse!¡± CH 8 This chapter is edited by Pierce. Lu Yan couldn¡¯t remember the last time he had been chased. It should be when he participated in the sports meet during his student days. He was in good health and a fast runner, always followed by seven or eight alumni in those days. Little did he know that after all these years, he would once again experience that intense thrill. Advertisements Lu Yan made a cursory glance. There were Pollutants rushing over from all directions, nowhere could he find a safe place. Steeling himself, he simply chose the route closest to his destination. [You¡¯re not a Pollutant, but you live in symbiosis with the Kingfish. Therefore, your blood is extremely attractive to these parasitic fish contaminants.] Tl yzps alyzkgle kv. Mbl dlyacu ekpvsavle rlsrzl poyaxle vsoyaep bkx yzvstlvbla. Gzvbswtb vblka dwxcla oyp dsv zyatl cwv rykale okvb vblka seezu ekptwpvkdt yrrlyaydnl, kv oyp ldswtb vs nbwad sdl¡¯p pvsxynb. Nw Zyd¡¯p yealdyzkdl psyale, ¡±Fbswzed¡¯v usw byhl vsze xl ycswv vbkp jkde sq vbkdt lyazkla? Mbl Fupvlx alvsavle qsanlqwzzu, [Tso nyd R cl czyxle qsa vbkp? Rq kv olald¡¯v qsa uswa zso prkakvwyz rsola vbalpbsze, R oswzed¡¯v cl ps yxdlpkyn! Mblal¡¯p yd sqq-asye hlbknzl sd vbl zlqv okvb vbl nya jlu kdpkel. Ju vbl oyu, R pwttlpv usw vyjl sqq uswa nzsvblp.] Jlnywpl sq vbl xwnwp qasx vbl Xpvy¡¯p1 vldeakzp, Nw Zyd¡¯p yax oyp pvkzz czllekdt. Mbl ellr, ale, yde qalpb czsse psyjle y zyatl yaly sq bkp pzllhl. Mbl pvasdt pxlzz sq czsse nswze iwknjzu yvvaynv vbl ekpvsavle rlsrzl. Ebld bl vwadle zlqv, vblal oyp dsv sdzu yd sqq-asye hlbknzl cwv yzps y qlo hkszldv yde ycdsaxyz Vszzwvydvp. Gd Gdway fwxrle kdvs vbl yka yde vakle vs vynjzl Nw Zyd vs vbl taswde, cwv oyp jknjle vball xlvlap yoyu. Lu Yan smashed the car window with a fist, rolled over, and got in. He ignited the engine, stepped on the accelerator, and asked, ¡°Won¡¯t this disrupt the city¡¯s public appearance?¡± Advertisements [No, male bodhisattva, take it off.] Lu Yan, ¡°¡­¡± Lu Yan had been a good law-abiding citizen for more than 20 years of his life. For fear of being escorted to the police station, he only partly took it off. He tore off the bloody part of his clothes and threw it out of the car window. If the bleeding wouldn¡¯t stop, he still could tear it a few more times. It¡¯s much more cost-effective than throwing a whole piece. Behind the car, a bunch of strange-looking Pollutants surrounded his clothes and smashed their heads against one another, even going so far as to stack them on top of each other like some kind of meet-and-greet between idols and rabid fans. In the end, the three-meter tall Fish Head Brother managed to defeat the other weak Ostae, swallowed the bloody cloth, and continued to chase in Lu Yan¡¯s direction following his scent. The off-road vehicle made a drift and avoided the Osta that was crashing towards the front window of the car. Lu Yan usually lived in the city, which was usually jammed in traffic. He preferred to walk, to and from work, so he hardly touched a car after obtaining his driver¡¯s license. Accidentally, he didn¡¯t expect to drive again in a difficult situation. Fortunately, there was no one on the streets. A constant stream of Pollutants hit the car, and the iron sheet overhead made a teeth-chattering, scratching sound. It sparked from the Pollutants¡¯ nails. After getting rid of some low-level Pollutants, the forces following Lu Yan¡¯s car gradually decreased. Advertisements Two Ostae, three Anurae. They were much taller than normal varieties. [Already reached the Level E Pollutant Standard with low-level intelligence.] Lu Yan smelled the revolting scent of fish. The speed of this 7L off-road vehicle has reached its limit, but it was only a little faster than these Pollutants. Distorted people who have evolved with low-level intelligence were different. They even learned to spit viscous gastric acid on the wheels. The rubber tires were eroded, making a ¡°sizzling¡± noise. [Doesn¡¯t it feel a bit like years, does it? Who would have thought that only six minutes had passed since we were chased? The good news is that the people at the PDC have noticed the anomaly, and reinforcements are on their way.] Lu Yan could hardly see the way. The off-road vehicle hit Pollutants one after another, and the constant flow of distorted people made his scalp feel numb. His ears were filled with the roars of the Pollutants. But Lu Yan knew clearly that the more this happened, the more he needed to be calm, so he was careful with his every maneuver. The sound of the tide once again emerged in Lu Yan¡¯s ears, accompanied by the loud clattering of helicopter propellers. A row of dazzling searchlights shone on the ground, drawing some of the fire. Lin Sinan narrowed his eyes and shot the Anura that jumped on Lu Yan¡¯s car to death. The Anura¡¯s tongue was poking halfway in, which was extremely disgusting. Advertisements ¡°The mission target has been found. Lin Yi,2 Lin Er,3 you jump for cover and bring the person back. The doctor is on standby.¡± Although the person had been found, Lin Sinan dared not to relax at all. Sniping two more as he spoke, ¡°This task has the highest priority.¡± Because of the suppression brought by the firepower from above, Lu Yan¡¯s difficult situation finally improved. He took the opportunity to pull open the car door and jump out of the oil-leaking off-road vehicle. He climbed to the car roof and waited for rescue. As he watched the ladder increasingly get closer to him, excited shouts abruptly came to Lu Yan¡¯s ears. ¡ª¡±I¡¯m coming, I¡¯m coming! Where¡¯s the healing ability user?¡± The instant the voice fell, a pair of hands picked Lu Yan up by his waist. The speed was so fast, almost like a gust of wind. Lin Sinan cursed from inside the helicopter, ¡°Bai Qiushi! You motherf**king psycho!¡± In a few short breaths, Lu Yan didn¡¯t react at all. Bai Qiushi¡¯s feet had already landed on the rooftop of the mall. The Pollutants at the bottom of the building lost their target, roared angrily, and followed the smell around the mall. The mall doors were closed and the Ostae below were in a terrible rage as they slowly started to climb the building. Bai Qiushi looked down at Lu Yan, smiled, and said, ¡°Oh, really looks handsome.¡± His appearance was peculiar. The most striking thing was his pair of silver eyes with four pupils that kept turning in their sockets, eerie and beautiful. Advertisements Lu Yan, ¡°Thank you. Can you let me down first?¡± ¡°No, I¡¯m here to protect you.¡± Bai Qiushi replied, ¡°It¡¯s not safe yet.¡± After speaking, he held out a hand, looked coldly at the bottom of the building, and spat out five words, ¡°Don¡¯t move, like a mountain.¡± [Ability: Elephantine Pressure] This ability wasn¡¯t ranked high in the sequential list, but with Bai Qiushi¡¯s spiritual power threshold close to 9000, it became almost as terrifying as a death scythe against these low-level Pollutants. Underneath, the densely packed Pollutants seemed to have been hit by an unseen weight. Regardless of their size or category, these Pollutants were all crushed into mush, blood splattered everywhere, and none were spared. Bai Qiushi put Lu Yan down and asked, ¡°Do you think I¡¯m cool? Oh, by the way, let me introduce myself. My name is Bai Qiushi.¡± He revealed a smile comparable to needles hidden in cotton, knives in laughter.4 Even his exposed canines were too sharp, looking no better than those Pollutants¡¯. However, in Lu Yan¡¯s mind, the System gave more detailed information. [Bai Qiushi, 172 in height, so he wears 6cm to increase¡­ Oh, it doesn¡¯t matter.] [His spiritual power threshold is 8700 with a mutation degree of 42.] [Abilities: Barrier, Teleportation, Elephantine Pressure] Lu Yan briefly shook his hand, ¡°Lu Yan.¡± K City, Pollution Disease Prevention and Control Center. On the second day of the pollution outbreak, Lu Yan wanted to give them a call but was stopped by the System. Unexpectedly, after 20 days of hesitation, he came here on his own initiative. The PDC specifically gave him a small room for recuperation. [Well, the good news is that although you haven¡¯t awakened your second ability, for the time being, they have mistaken you for an Enlightened with healing ability. There¡¯s not much information regarding the healing system since there are only a few recorded cases.] Lu Yan was taking a shower. Because of the water outage, his bath water was only filtered rainwater that was boiled before being used for washing. Taking a shower was an extravagance he hadn¡¯t had in a long time. He asked, ¡°You have never let me contact the PDC, and you¡¯re quite leery of the Research Institute. Is there any particular reason?¡± He wasn¡¯t worried about the surveillance here because all his conversations with the System took place inside his head. The System was silent for a moment and replied, [Enlighteneds don¡¯t necessarily possess only one ability. In addition to the ones they awakened themselves, others can also be obtained externally.] [For the future of mankind, they¡¯ll perform some complicated operations to deprive me of a more suitable person.] [However, this kind of deprivation can cause irreversible damage to your brain, such as mental retardation, brain atrophy, and brain death. Moreover, during the deprivation process, the host needs to be fully awake.] [The Institute is not ironclad inside. Some people are there for noble and lofty ideals. Others, just use the pollution disease as a stepping stone. There are numerous filthy matters going on inside.] [You think that pollution diseases have only occurred in the last ten years or so? But in fact, there have been precedents for it since the last century. Later on, one after another, people awakened. Inevitably, there are always some foolish ordinary people who think they can still control the apocalypse¡­] [In addition, as I said, Pollutants evolve much faster than Enlighteneds. Nowadays, there are many existences close to becoming ¡°gods,¡± although they are collectively called ¡°S-level Pollutants¡± in the Institute¡¯s archives.] Lu Yan¡¯s wound was briefly cleaned. After taking a shower, he blow-dried his hair. A staff member led him to the office. Lin Sinan got up to greet him and pulled out a chair for him with a kind smile, ¡°Dr. Lu, I didn¡¯t expect for us to meet again.¡± At the head of the conference table, Bai Qiushi rested his feet on the wooden table and lazily said, ¡°Don¡¯t you get close to him. I saved the man.¡± ¡°You¡¯re mentally unstable, you5 go out first,¡± Lin Sinan pointed to the door. ¡°Standing in front of you is the Vice-Division Leader of the SpecOps and the person-in-charge of the second team. Is this the tone you use to talk when talking to your superior?¡± Bai Qiushi asked angrily. Lin Sinan didn¡¯t really want to pay attention to him. Lu Yan cautiously surveyed the surroundings. There was no window, and the entrance and exit was only that one door. Lin Sinan tried to make himself look amiable, ¡°You don¡¯t have to be too nervous. Let¡¯s start with a simple test.¡± He held up a tester that looked like an electronic thermometer and swept it over Lu Yan¡¯s body. The tester displayed two lines of numbers, ¡°Spiritual power threshold: 174, Mutation Degree: 1.¡± Bai Qiushi raised his eyebrows, ¡°Only one?¡± It was incredibly low. It was hard to imagine that the young man with the calm expression in front of him had been struggling to survive in a pile of Pollutants an hour ago. Lu Yan withdrew his hand and calmly inquired, ¡°Does it particularly mean something?¡± ¡°No, the index is awfully good. The threshold is 174, which is not bad for someone who just recently awakened an ability. Usually, it¡¯s only around 150.¡± Lu Yan was embarrassed to say that when he first awakened, his spiritual power threshold was actually only 0. Lin Sinan¡¯s gaze was scorching, ¡°Dr. Lu, did you vaguely feel your ability after you awakened?¡± [At the end of the last century, before he died, the head of the Institute, Qiao Yu, compiled a periodic table of abilities, ranking all the abilities in accordance with strength. I, ¡°All-Knowing¡±, ranked 6th¡­ I don¡¯t really understand this ranking. I think I can at least be in the top three. In the final analysis, the pure healing ability of ¡°Divine Beginning¡± ranked first. Both humans and the Pollutants share the same talent sequence.] Lu Yan didn¡¯t quite understand either. It could be seen that information was significantly important in any situation. Otherwise, the System, with a lot of nonsense, would not rank sixth. [Currently, the only three remaining healing ability users in the world have the abilities, [Awakened], [Revive], and [Integration], and the only remaining unknown healing ability today is [Devour].] [That¡¯s what you should pretend to be.] ¡°Are healing ability users not afraid of being deprived?¡± Lu Yan asked. [Deprivation doesn¡¯t always work. Besides, the Institute isn¡¯t full of rotten people. It¡¯s too much to explain, so I¡¯ll leave it at that.] After a brief exchange in his mind, Lu Yan raised his head and looked at the person sitting opposite him. He thought for a long time and replied, ¡°I feel¡­ a little hungry.¡± CH 9 This chapter is edited by Pierce. The shelter and the PDC were 13 kilometers apart. Shen Qingyang was locked in and had to pass the time by reading word books since he was restricted from moving around. Had it not been for this sudden pollution disease, he would have planned to take CET-4.1 He didn¡¯t know whether the registration fee was refundable or not. The shelter was restless at night. Advertisements Even though the food was provided here, it wasn¡¯t the kind of food the distorted people wanted to eat. The drugs could slow down the symptoms and signs of the disease, but it didn¡¯t relieve the hunger in their stomachs. Every night, there were distorted people disappearing. Only, no one was reporting them. Naturally, no one really cared. Shen Qingyang¡¯s new neighbor was an Anura, nearly at the end of the second stage of distortion. Not surprisingly, he would be dragged out for cremation in a few days. Tkp dlktbcsa psqvzu vyrrle vbl ryrla-vbkd xlvyz oyzz, ¡°Fvsr xlxsakgkdt osaep. R jdso usw¡¯al vss bwdtau vs pzllr.¡± Fbld Ckdtuydt rwv esod bkp cssj yde zlv swv y psqv ¡°ld.¡± ¡°Gzvbswtb ol¡¯zz cl tkhld nsxrldpyvksd, R esd¡¯v vbkdj ol nyd pwahkhl. Ps usw jdso vbl ryvkldv kd Jzet. 2? Mbl dlmv xsadkdt, ewakdt vbl xsadkdt assx nblnj, sdzu vbl clepbllvp nshlale kd czsse yde casjld qzlpb pvwnj vs vbl nlkzkdt olal qswde. Rv oyp awxsale vblu ekle sq yd kzzdlpp, cwv kd alyzkvu, psxlsdl poyzzsole vblx kd vbl xkeezl sq vbl dktbv.¡± ¡°Jwv vbyv xyd-lyvkdt Vszzwvydv oyp rwzzle swv vbl dlmv eyu yde ekprsple sq.¡± Fbld Ckdtuydt¡¯p hsknl oyp psqv, ¡°Kwpvknl xyu cl zyvl, cwv kv okzz dlhla cl ycpldv.¡± ¡°Ebyv es usw xlyd vbyv Vszzwvydv? Nkjl usw¡¯al dsv y Vszzwvydv uswaplzq. Rv¡¯p clvvla vs byhl y cye zkql vbyd y tsse elyvb. Ebs es usw vbkdj oydvp vs ekl?¡± Tkp dlktbcsa¡¯p vsdl oyp y ckv yddsule, ¡°R fwpv vaydpqlaale qasx Jzet. 3. Rd vbkp jkde sq kdvldpkhl nyal wdkv, bso zsdt byhl usw clld blal?¡± Fbld Ckdtuydt rsdelale y zkvvzl, ¡°R¡¯x yzxspv yv vbl lde sq vbl plnsde pvytl sq ekpvsavksd. Jwv R byhld¡¯v pvyule blal qsa y zsdt vkxl, xyucl fwpv y ollj?¡± ¡°Ty, R eked¡¯v lmrlnv vbyv vbl pkvwyvksd blal oswze cl vbkp tsse. Jwkzekdt 123 oyp nbysvkn yv dktbv, lhld vbl xydytlxldv nswzed¡¯v nsdvasz vblx¡­ Ju vbl oyu, casvbla, R¡¯x y zkvvzl bwdtau.¡± Fbld Ckdtuydt alrzkle psqvzu, ¡°Mblal yal yrrzlp yde kdpvydv dssezlp kd vbl assx tkhld lhlau eyu.¡± His neighbor gave a heavy ¡°tsk¡±, and after a while, a chewing sound came from the small room next door. Advertisements Shen Qingyang¡¯s fingers were still on the cover of his English book. He felt that tonight might not be going to be peaceful. Apparently, his new neighbor was a prick, or he wouldn¡¯t have been placed next door to him by the management. Sure enough, in the middle of the night, there was the sound of nails scratching on the thin metal wall. Sharp fingers pierced the metal sheet and made a loud noise. It was reasonable to say that the five senses of the distorted people have been enhanced. A mosquito buzzing in the middle of the night could keep the whole building awake, yet everyone was unmoved in the face of such loud noise. The distorted people in Building 4 smiled in dissatisfaction into the night and turned around, clearly apathetic, as they covered their heads with their quilts. The wallpaper of the metal sheet was cut open. As the neighbor tore the metal sheet, he said to Shen Qingyang, ¡°I¡¯m sorry. I know this is not good, but I¡¯m too hungry to bear it. It¡¯s death to be eaten by me. It¡¯s death to be sent to the crematorium. It¡¯s better to die in my stomach and I¡¯ll spend the rest of my life thanking you¡­¡± As he spoke, the bald neighbor felt as if he had stepped on something. He looked down at what appeared to be a long tentacle. The tentacle was strewn with flesh tumors, and each sarcoma had an embedded eye on it. Some with pity, others with mockery. ¡°Really?¡± Shen Qingyang asked gently while sitting at his desk. The neighbor raised his neck stiffly and looked at the man in front of him. Shen Qingyang¡¯s face still maintained its original appearance, but from the waist down, his legs were gone, replaced by octopus tentacles. Advertisements These tentacles filled the narrow and cramped room, climbing the walls like plant rhizomes.2 Building 4 was also abnormally different. On the first night, when the management staff woke up, all the distorted people in Building 4 were dead with only Shen Qingyang left. Shen Qianyang said he was only defending himself. From the surveillance, it did look that way. Although he was a distorted person, Shen Qingyang never attacked people actively and would help maintain order. In addition, he hadn¡¯t reached the third stage of distortion for a long time. This made the people above have a different attitude towards him. However, on the third day, the management staff were free of this worry. They concluded that they would not be Shen Qingyang¡¯s opponent¡­ Because of his presence, Building 4, which should have been the most chaotic, was instead the most organized ward in the shelter. The tentacles wrapped around the neighbor¡¯s body, which did not give him much opportunity to struggle. Shen Qingyang still had a warm smile on his face, ¡°Since you understand that living a bad life is better than a good death, why did you still court death?¡± The squelching sound of viscous fluid came from the small room. Shen Qingyang did not use his mouth to eat but relied on his tentacles. These tentacles penetrated into the distorted person¡¯s brain. Soon, the distorted person who was nearly two meters high was sucked into a human stick with only skeletons remaining. Advertisements The resident manager¡¯s hands were shaking as he turned on the lights and used the key to open the door. He pushed open the door, and the room of only more than ten square meters was full of blood. At first, the space dedicated for Shen Qingyang¡¯s activities was only 2.7 square meters, but because his tentacles were increasingly getting longer, the staff had to open up a few nearby rooms for him to rest. Shen Qingyang pointed at the dry corpse on the ground and explained, ¡°He took the initiative to attack me.¡± The manager nodded in a hurry, ¡°I understand, I understand.¡± It could no longer be defeated. If he was not sensible, the situation in the shelter would be very dangerous. Manager, ¡°Actually, I was looking for you tonight because I got a notice from above¡­¡± Shen Qingyang¡¯s expression looked a little surprised. He then calmly said, ¡°I understand. Can you leave me for two minutes? I need to write a suicide note?¡± ¡°No, it¡¯s not into the incinerator.¡± The manager¡¯s back was already oozing with cold sweat. ¡°It¡¯s like this, a notice came from the PDC side, wanting us to find two distorted people in different stages. We just thought of sending you there¡­ Although there¡¯s a certain danger in trying new drugs, in your case, the shelter¡¯s drugs are no longer useful to you¡­ We might as well try. Of course, it still depends on your opinion. Shen Qingyang was silent for a moment, ¡°I don¡¯t have any problem with that.¡± The manager quickly took out the tester, ¡°Okay, I¡¯ll write a report first and then prepare a vehicle to send you to PDC.¡± According to Germane International Standards, a mutation degree above 100 was no longer human but already accomplished an evolution. Advertisements Shen Qingyang stood up from his chair for the first time. His head directly hit the ceiling, his dark tentacles rolled and surged, and gathered in a mass on his lower body. When the meter swept over the person in front of him, it made an alarming ¡°didi¡± sound and emitted a burst of red light. Shen Qingyang, mutation degree: 99.9. Lu Yan sat in front of the examiner¡¯s table. On his left was Bai Qiushi, while on his right was Lin Sinan. After all, he was about to directly face the distorted people here. The slightest misstep would kill the fragile, combat-inefficient Enlightened ability user. Therefore, some strong protection was required. Lin Sinan handed over a round piece of iron sheet, ¡°This is attached to the skin and can be used with the meter to detect and observe the mutation degree.¡± According to Lin Sinan, frequent exposure to Pollutants and excessive use of ability would lead to an increase in mutation degree. This process was usually irreversible. For example, Bai Qiushi¡¯s four eyeballs have grown out, and there was no way to remove them. Healers could not cure themselves. Consequently, Enlightened healers were extremely cautious about using their abilities ¡°Can I really still eat?¡± Lu Yan asked the System. Although he felt like he had digested some of it on the road, Lu Yan still felt uncomfortably bloated in his stomach. [Not a problem, you can rest assured that when you reach the limit, you¡¯ll breakthrough. Somebody else is already washing them clean and directly sending them to you. Isn¡¯t that better than you going door to door looking for fallen salted fish?] Lu Yan thought it had a point. The first to be brought in was a man in the first stage of distortion. This man looked newly polluted and not very dangerous, with only a slight facial deformity and his webbing has not even fully formed yet. The distorted man was tied to the chair with a frightened expression, like a lamb waiting to be slaughtered. Lu Yan got up, slowly approached him, and then extended his hand. A thin, translucent layer of fish scales emerged. Slender, white silk threads came out and took root on top of the distorted person¡¯s head. This scene was a little bizarre. Nevertheless, the two present here were both Enlighteneds who have fought against Pollutants for years. They had long been familiar with some strange occurrences. One by one, the fish eggs were drawn out. The parasitic young fish also sensed the danger lurking inside Lu Yan¡¯s body, as if quietly hibernating. On the meter, the mutation degree of the distorted man took a significant dip. It kept falling from 57, and finally, to 0. It would take a few days for his body to recover, but his consciousness was obviously clearer. ¡°Abba, Abba, Abba ¡­¡­ Thank you, Doc.¡± Lu Yan¡¯s mutation degree did not change much, it only increased by 0.07. The accuracy of this instrument was much higher than that of normal electronic measuring instruments. Seeing the result, Lin Sinan¡¯s face couldn¡¯t help showing joy. This showed that Lu Yan could indeed treat pollution disease and has fairly stable data of his own. Bai Qiushi filled out the form to record and transmit the relevant data back to the Headquarters. Lin Sinan asked, ¡°Dr. Lu, would you like to take a break?¡± Lu Yan supported himself and was about to nod when the System suddenly snapped, [I suggest you take a look. After all, you won¡¯t be able to see it when it¡¯s too late.] ¡°See what?¡± [From humans to Pollutants, it is called ¡°evolution,¡± but there are successes and failures in evolution. What you have seen before, whether it is a distorted person or a Pollutant, is a failed mutationally evolved species. However, this next case belongs to a perfectly evolved species.] ¡°What¡¯s the difference between a perfectly evolved species¡­ and a mutationally evolved species?¡± [If I must say, it¡¯s probably the difference between a phoenix and a chicken.] Lu Yan admitted that the System¡¯s little gimmick had indeed tempted him. He smiled and said, ¡°I¡¯m fine, no need. Let¡¯s settle it all at once.¡± Thus, Lin Sinan spoke a few words towards the intercom. After a while, four strong officers came in carrying an iron cage. This iron cage was urgently sent from the zoo, with a fishing net-like grid on its surface to prevent the captive inside from escaping. Now, there was an¡­octopus in the iron cage? Deep black tentacles filled the three-meter-high cage. The eyes on the surface of the tentacles looked around, full of curiosity and some evil. Bai Qiushi¡¯s four pupils scurried around like a compass in his eye sockets. He frowned, ¡°It¡¯s no longer different from Pollutants. Who sent it?¡± As soon as he finished speaking, the tentacles parted to make a way, allowing the innermost Shen Qingyang to be revealed. Shen Qingyang grabbed the railing with a surprised expression, ¡°Dr. Lu, I didn¡¯t expect to see you again.¡± Lu Yan stared at his face, a little surprised, ¡°I also did not expect it.¡± He thought that the property management brother would turn into an Anura. ¡°I¡¯m relieved to see that you¡¯re alright. I¡¯ve been worried about you these days,¡± Shen Qingyang asked, ¡°Why is Dr. Lu here?¡± Lu Yan succinctly replied, ¡°Treat disease.¡± Shen Qingyang smiled, his eyebrows arched in a soft manner, ¡°It seems that I have become your patient again.¡± Even though Shen Qingyang has been acting meekly, Bai Qiushi¡¯s gaze was still full of vigilance. Lu Yan moved a little closer to the iron cage, then stopped and extended his hand. The thin, white threads spread out once more, only to have a slight hesitation when they approached Shen Qingyang. Shen Qingyang¡¯s expression was full of encouragement. He even took the initiative to reach out a section of his tentacle and stick to Lu Yan¡¯s thin, white threads. Without a doubt, his hand was surprisingly electrified. Only Shen Qingyang¡¯s smile did not change much. Thus, it was clear that that power grid was nothing more than a formality to him. The thin threads wrapped around the tentacle. After realizing that the other party did not intend to resist, the Kingfish became significantly more exuberant. It began to extract the pollution source from Shen Qingyang¡¯s body. The System gave detailed information. [Shen Qingyang, perfectly evolved species, Pollutant. The pollution value is 6100¡ª look, it¡¯s also mutation, yet he¡¯s much stronger than you.] [Mutational Abilities: Mimicry, Life Absorption.] [Mutational Course: Tentacle Gigantization.] Lu Yan was inwardly shocked, ¡°He¡¯s already a Pollutant?¡± [Yes, Mimicry allows him to disguise.] ¡°But he still seems to retain his rationality and social nature.¡± [That¡¯s why it¡¯s called a perfectly evolved species.] ¡­ ¡°The mutation degree has decreased.¡± Lin Sinan stared at the meter with tense seriousness, ¡°but it¡¯s slower.¡± After a full half an hour, Shen Qingyang¡¯s mutation degree only dropped to 90. In contrast, Lu Yan¡¯s mutation degree increased by 2. His spiritual power threshold, on the other hand, skyrocketed by 270. With a total of 440, he would immediately be out of the bottom tier standard. ¡°Stop the experiment,¡± Bai Qiushi said on the spot, ¡°This distorted person doesn¡¯t need to be sent back to the shelter. Stay in the PDC for now.¡± Lin Sinan and Bai Qiushi were students cultivated at the same time and used to live in the same dormitory, which was the reason why Lin Sinan dared to be impudent to him. He knew Bai Qiushi very well. Lin Sinan clearly understood that Qiushi was prepared to kill. Although he didn¡¯t know why. Shen Qingyang didn¡¯t look sad, ¡°Thank you, Mr. Lu. I¡¯m really happy to know you¡¯re fine.¡± There was a saying in traditional Chinese medical science: ¡°That a person in poor health could not handle something so strong as a tonic.¡± Lu Yan felt that his current state was very appropriate. He was tired, lethargic, and just wanted to sleep.3 Lu Yan nodded, ¡°Okay. See you tomorrow.¡± Since he was his own patient, he naturally needed to be treated, even if he was a Pollutant. Shen Qingyang was taken aback, a light smile bloomed on his face, but he did not respond. Together with the cage, he was locked in a closed, dark room in the PDC. The walls of the room were built with special materials that could immensely affect a Pollutants¡¯ state. The smile on Shen Qingyang¡¯s face finally and slowly disappeared. His tentacles in the cage continued to surge, finally converging and gathering into a bundle. Both of his legs reformed back under him. He appeared more human than ever before, but if someone checked with a detection device, they would find that Shen Qingyang¡¯s mutation degree has exceeded the dangerous value of 100. By the second day he spent in the shelter, he was no longer a human being. Shen Qingyang opened the power grid. The high voltage made his hair explode. He felt slightly numb but quite comfortable. He came to the door of the room. The door required a triple password that was impossible for an ordinary person to breakthrough. Therefore, Shen Qingyang did not use any methods that ordinary people would use. A tentacle came out from behind his waist and forcefully slammed the wall in front of him, making a loud crash. The wall made of special alloy collapsed like a piece of tofu with a big hole hewn out. The alarm sounded, but Shen Qingyang didn¡¯t care. He was even in the mood to walk towards the grooming mirror, in front of the bathroom door, to tidy up his clothes. At the end of the corridor, Bai Qiushi entered an obvious state of combat readiness, his eyes full of vigilance. [Ability: Barrier]. An invisible wall of air enveloped the area, blocking all of Shen Qingyang¡¯s retreat. Shen Qingyang sighed, ¡°Although I don¡¯t mind fighting with you, I really don¡¯t want to be seen by Dr. Lu now. Besides, Dr. Lu doesn¡¯t sleep well, the loud sound will wake him.¡± He turned on the faucet, instantly turned into a strip of sarcomas, and burrowed in. The author has something to say: Q: Why is the property management brother so strong? A: The Pollutants¡¯ evolutionary path is different from that of the Enlighteneds. CH 10 This chapter is edited by Pierce. Downstream of the Qu River. A layer of bubbles appeared on the calm water. After confirming that there was no surveillance, Shen Qingyang¡¯s wet head came out of the water, several tentacles climbed up and his huge body slowly moved to the riverbank. He wasn¡¯t quite used to being underwater. Advertisements However, as soon as he got ashore from the river, Shen Qingyang noticed that there was someone nearby. He vigilantly looked around but saw no sign of any creature. This even gave him the impulse to hide under the water again. Kwpv yp Fbld Ckdtuydt oyp ycswv vs es kv, y hsknl qkdyzzu nyxl qasx clbkde. ¡°R¡¯hl clld oykvkdt qsa uswa yaakhyz qsa iwkvl psxl vkxl dso.¡± Rv oyp yd lzltydv qlxyzl hsknl, obknb pssd vwadle kdvs y ellr xyzl hsknl, ¡°Zsw¡¯al xu xspv swvpvydekdt osaj kd I Ukvu.¡± G xyd kd y czynj ascl lxlatle qasx vbl pbyesop. Tl bye ds xswvb yde sdzu sdl bwtl lul sd bkp qynl. ¡°Ebs yal usw?¡± Jlbkde Fbld Ckdtuydt, plhlayz vldvynzlp pzsozu oakttzle, elxsdpvayvkdt y bktb hktkzydnl yde ralryaledlpp vs yvvynj. ¡°Zsw nyd nyzz xl Vasrblv.¡± Tl pyke, ¡°Mbl bwxyd osaze ds zsdtla olznsxlp usw. Rd vbl rypv vball bswap, ydu alzlhydv kdqsaxyvksd ycswv usw byp clld vaydpxkvvle cynj vs vbl VPU Tlyeiwyavlap. Fkdnl usw byhl dsv ulv byaxle ydu rlsrzl, uswa raksakvu aydjkdt kp zso. Tsolhla, R jdso ¡®vbyv xyd¡¯ kp sd bkp oyu. Tl¡¯p vlxrlayxldvyz yde nwaaldvzu kd y qkv sq aytl. Yyucl bl¡¯zz tlv ake sq usw lypkzu. Ysalshla, bl yde Jyk Cwkpbk yal dsv sd vbl pyxl zlhlz. Eswze usw zkjl vs nsxl okvb xl?¡± Fbld Ckdtuydt pxkzle, ¡°R ycbsa uswa pnldv.¡± Mbl Vasrblv zsolale bkp blye yde pdkqqle. It was the strong stench of corpses, but he was used to it. Advertisements ¡°I know your heart still tells you that you are a member of human society. At any rate, those inferior Homo sapiens are nothing more than a nearly archaic species. The future world will be ours,¡± the Prophet¡¯s voice was compelling, ¡°We are the gods of the new world. I know many things. I can make you more powerful¡­¡± Shen Qingyang was not interested in listening to his lengthy ramblings. Therefore, he turned around and walked towards the mountain. ¡°Wait,¡± the Prophet was silent for a long time before calling out to Shen Qingyang once more, ¡°I know what you want.¡± The Prophet opened his eyes, his pupils narrowing as he stared into Shen Qingyang¡¯s eyes. [Ability: Bewitchment] [Ability: Precognition] Under the influence of dual abilities, Shen Qingyang suddenly had a delusional trust towards the person in front of him. ¡°You¡¯ve always been grateful to him for saving you before death¡¯s door. You were born out of wedlock, abandoned by your birth parents, and abused by your adoptive parents. After graduating from junior high school, you escaped from that mountain village¡­ Yes, that¡¯s precisely the mountain village you want to go to right away. You want those people to pay the price.¡± ¡°You¡¯re not a good person, but he is. You haven¡¯t met each other before. He¡¯s a stranger, yet he paid for your medical expenses and gave you a job. You only dare to look at him secretly when he goes to and from work. You know you don¡¯t deserve him. He seems to have a good background, is well-educated, good-looking, has many suitors, and may not even like the same sex. You¡¯re afraid to think much about it, much less talk about it.¡± The Prophet could not see much. He didn¡¯t even know who that person was, but that was enough. The calmness on Shen Qingyang¡¯s face was broken, and he even had an expression of anger. No one liked to be seen through at a glance. Advertisements The human face behind the Prophet profoundly raised the corners of its mouth, ¡°Now, can we have a good talk?¡± ¡°Sure, but you need to understand one thing first. I no longer possess a myriad of human feelings.¡± Shen Qingyang¡¯s demeanor returned to calm as he slowly stated, ¡°He was indeed special to me when I was still human, but that no longer applies now. I believe you won¡¯t be foolish enough to use this as a bargaining chip for blackmail.¡± The Prophet smiled and nodded, ¡°I understand. When I was still a human, I had a very obedient son who now lives in K City. I thought I had kept my paternal love for him¡­ Forget it, enough about that. Let me see what stage of development the Kingfish in your body has developed.¡± Shen Qingyang frowned in some confusion, ¡°What Kingfish?¡± The Prophet froze in a rare surprise, ¡°Isn¡¯t it parasitizing on you?¡± Because he was so tired, Lu Yan fell asleep as soon as his head touched the pillow. Again, because the place where he slept was so unfamiliar, he woke up several times throughout the night, always suspecting that he would be assassinated the next second. Lu Yan¡¯s left palm felt a little hot, slightly painful, and would occasionally twitch uncontrollably. The System said it¡¯s because he ingested an excessive amount of pollution sources. [It¡¯s a bit earlier than I expected, but it did start the second stage of evolution. My copycat is probably pissed off by now.] Getting up early, Lu Yan touched his forehead to determine if he had begun to have a fever again. His throat hurt badly as if it was scorching in flames. He put on his coat and opened the door. Advertisements The staff guarding outside the door strode to keep up and asked, ¡°Dr. Lu, you woke up so early¡­ You don¡¯t seem to be feeling well.¡± Lu Yan replied calmly, ¡°I have difficulty sleeping in a bed other than mine and somehow didn¡¯t sleep well.¡± ¡°What bed do you usually sleep in? Let¡¯s go shopping. Are you getting up early to go to the dining hall? I¡¯ll show you the way.¡± The staff¡¯s attitude was very warm and hospitable. ¡°Doing rounds, where¡¯s my patient?¡± Lu Yan asked. His voice was a little hoarse, and his mouth tasted of dry rust as he spoke. An awkward smile appeared on the staff¡¯s face. The Pollutant escaped right under his nose, Bai Qiushi was furious about it and spent three hours traversing through the rivers in K City, but he couldn¡¯t find where Shen Qingyang was. The information about Shen Qingyang had been sent back to the Headquarters overnight, and it might appear in the bounty column of the PDC after a while. ¡°If you¡¯re talking about the patient who was brought in from the shelter, his condition deteriorated in the middle of the night and fled the PDC. Relevant personnel has gone to deal with it.¡± Lu Yan calmly unscrewed a bottle of mineral water to alleviate the dryness in his throat, ¡°Ah, is that so? When can I go home?¡± If it was just his previous state, Lu Yan felt that it didn¡¯t matter much to stay in the PDC. In particular, he would occasionally see several young brothers in military uniforms, which made the people feel at ease. But not so much in his current condition. Advertisements When he had integrated with the Kingfish before, Lu Yan had briefly lost consciousness. He was worried that he would suddenly pass out here. The staff member looked embarrassed, ¡°I¡¯ll ask Squadron Leader Lin for instructions.¡± Lin Sinan was not the highest person in charge in the current Pollution Disease Prevention and Control Center, but he had met Lu Yan before and was barely considered an acquaintance. The Headquarters was worried that a sudden change of liaison representative would make Lu Yan feel uneasy. Two men sat opposite each other in the semi-opened dining hall. The food in the PDC was satisfactory. Lin Sinan ate but his taste was somewhat dull. His spiritual power threshold was only 1600. However, because he often went out to fight, his mutation rate was not low, and he no longer had that kind of secular desire for ordinary food. Lu Yan asked the System, ¡°Can¡¯t I see what¡¯s wrong with him?¡± Lin Sinan¡¯s eyes were clear and resolute. With the obvious temperament from selected military soldiers, he had a straight back when he sat down. [Lin Sinan, SpecOps Division Team 6¡¯s Squadron 3 Leader. Spiritual power threshold is 1600.] [Enlisted in the military at the age of 22 and assisted in handling pollution incidents at the age of 23. In the same year, he actively signed up for exposure to pollution sources and awakened as an Enlightened.] [Abilities: Homing Shot, Firepower Suppression.] [His appearance looks fine on the outside, but his body is badly corroded inside. Ugh, I don¡¯t want to see it, it¡¯s kind of gross. Parasitic fish eggs are much cuter than those parasitic worm eggs¡­] [I¡¯ll secretly tell you this. If he becomes a Pollutant, there¡¯s a high probability that he¡¯ll turn into an integrated body of worms. Oh, as white as cooked rice.] Lu Yan, ¡°¡­¡± Thanks, I don¡¯t feel like eating rice anymore. [I should have told you that to become an Enlightened, you must first be exposed to the source of pollution. However, exposure to pollution sources has a high probability of outright death or distortion. Only a very small percentage of people can become Enlightened.] [After years of research, the Research Institute has developed a potent drug that has a certain probability of reverting a newly contaminated distorted person to normal.] [Nonetheless, most of those who signed up were prepared to die. If there was no awakening and the special effects of the drugs were useless, then there was only one way left to go.] [It stands to reason that with this kind of high mortality rate, not many people would be willing to do it. However, the soldiers in the First District rarely back down¡­ That is why the pollution control in the First District is much better than in other areas. The First District, at present, has the strongest Enlightened in the world and even the largest number of Enlightened organizations.] Lu Yan did not speak for a long time. Lin Sinan coughed, ¡°Dr. Lu, have you read the news broadcast before? Do you know what an Enlightened is?¡± Lu Yan nodded, ¡°I know.¡± Lin Sinan, ¡°Then, this will be much easier to say. Enlighteneds are divided into three categorical systems: combat, support, and special. Our initial judgment is that your ability is ¡°Devour,¡± which belongs to the healing type ability under the special system. The healing type ability is extremely rare, and the Headquarters has sent a researcher over, hoping to observe and record it. Of course, your consent will be sought beforehand.¡± ¡°Now, you¡¯ve also witnessed the spread of pollution disease in K City. There are such more cases around the world, and they all vary¡­¡± said Lin Sinan, pulling out his tablet and logging into his internal account, ¡°I wonder if you are interested in taking a look.¡± Lu Yan took the tablet. Displayed was a forum that contained the largest section entitled: ¡°Pollution Disease Research History.¡± According to the strength of the pollution source, these cases were classified from S to F. The pollution disease in K City, which was already grave in Lu Yan¡¯s perspective, was only a level ¡°C¡±. ¡°This is because although the degree of infection has increased, the fatality rate was not exceedingly high. Moreover, the level of Pollutant mutation is very low,¡± Lin Sinan explained. Each record was divided into levels. Lu Yan glanced at it twice. So far, there were two Level S pollution cases, codenamed ¡°Heavenly Calamity¡± and ¡°Kingdom of God.¡± Remarks: It has been initially controlled. The surrounding humans have been evacuated. The A-Class Enlighteneds, ¡°Cun Zheng¡± and ¡°Beichen Yidao,¡± fell while assisting in the evacuation. As for other Level A cases, the number continued to increase, ¡°Slaughterhouse¡±, ¡°Nightmare City,¡± ¡°Wall of Resentment¡±, ¡°Luochuan Botanical Garden¡±¡­ with scattered cases covering both local and abroad. Lu Yan casually opened a case called ¡°Wall of Resentment.¡± [Wall of Resentment] Introduction: This is an extremely narrow alley. Randomly appearing at the heart of the city of a particular area. Countless perished remains are embedded on the wall. When a creature passes by, the Wall of Resentment will drag it into the obsession within and start a cycle of reincarnation. Success allows one to come out of this wall, failure results in becoming part of the wall. No successful records have been found so far. A total of 7 Enlighteneds performed this task with a 100% mortality rate. [The following is the public mandate information.] [Appendix: (audio file) ¡°Calling the Headquarters, this is Giant Bear. This will be my last mission report. My mutation degree has reached 97. I have made a total of six reincarnations within the Wall of Resentment. The information and precautions I obtained are as follows¡­ I regret not being able to see the world return to normal with my own eyes. No need to send someone to save me. Please tell my wife that I love her.¡±] Remarks: Examination shows that the Wall of Resentment is constantly expanding in length and the number of people swallowed has exceeded five figures. Researchers in Country X stated that if it is left to evolve, the final length can exceed the Great Wall of Qin Ming. This was the other side of the world that Lu Yan was completely unaware of. He thought he was prepared, but when faced with this cruel, bloody, and even tragic information, he still couldn¡¯t hold back the trembling of his soul. Trembling at one¡¯s weakness, and great respect for those unyielding souls. ¡°This world is already in imminent danger,¡± Lin Sinan tried to make his tone and expression sincere, ¡°We need every bit of strength we can get. You¡¯re a healing ability user. You don¡¯t need to be on the battlefield frequently. We¡¯ll do everything we can to keep you safe.¡± He took out a document and placed it in front of Lu Yan, ¡°I hope you can join the Special Operations Division.¡± Lu Yan did not say anything but showed a pensive look. This inevitably made Lin Sinan feel a little nervous. After a long time, Lu Yan looked up and asked, ¡°Is there a permanent position, five social insurances, and one housing fund?1 In the case of 996,2 does it count as overtime and will there be pay?¡± The focus of part-time employees was always so simple and uncomplicated. The author has something to say: Remarks: The entire content is all fictitious! It has nothing to do with the real world. Translator¡¯s Note: CH 11 This chapter is translated with the assistance of BigDivineBear and Jiao JieJie and is edited by Pierce. Lin Sinan hurriedly nodded, ¡°Yes, yes. Our SpecOps Division has superb benefits. Not only are there five insurances and one housing fund, but you¡¯ll also be given a house once you joined.¡± Lu Yan, ¡°But I don¡¯t need it. I have a 240 square meter flat in the city¡¯s center with a market price of 13 million.¡± The spacious flat was the compensation given to him after the authorities took his father away. During those days, the housing prices weren¡¯t as high as they are now, but the flat was still worth several million. ¡°Not only that, but your family can also enjoy high subsidies and special privileges.¡± Advertisements Lu Yan, ¡°My parents are both dead, and I¡¯m an only child.¡± ¡°Your children will be given priority when applying for prestigious primary and secondary schools.¡± ¡°I like men, and I won¡¯t have any children. Surrogacy seems like a deferral of responsibility, so I¡¯m against it.¡± Nkd Fkdyd, ¡°¡­¡± Nw Zyd ydpolale lyadlpvzu, alplxczkdt y caknjblye vbyv zshlp cknjlakdt yv nsdpvawnvksd pkvlp. Nw Zyd tyhl y zktbv nswtb yde eaydj ydsvbla tzypp sq oyvla, ¡°Tso xwnb kp uswa xsdvbzu pyzyau?¡± Nkd Fkdyd byp clld osajkdt qsa ps zsdt vbyv kv oyp rascyczu vbl qkapv vkxl bl byp ldnswdvlale psxlsdl ypjkdt qsa bkp xsdvbzu pyzyau. Wsa y xsxldv, bl oyp yv y zspp. Gqvla yzz, qsa rlsrzl zkjl vblx, xsdlu oyp vbl zlypv kxrsavydv vbkdt. Nkd Fkdyd, ¡°Xdl bwdeale vbswpyde? ¡­ Mbyv¡¯p vbl cypkn pyzyau rzwp nsxxkppksd.¡± Nw Zyd xyel y xldvyz nyznwzyvksd. Valvvu tsse, xwnb bktbla vbyd obld bl oyp y esnvsa. Gqvla yzz, vbl ryvkldvp bye tsvvld y zsv xlydla yde vbkp pyzyau pbswze cl alypsdyczl. Lu Yan took the file and read through it. Advertisements The contract Lin Sinan brought over was a formal one, but perhaps because he was not from the military, there were not many restrictions. There were only two important requirements: regular reporting to the Headquarters and the need to perform a mission every three months. As long as he joins the PDC, Lu Yan could receive miracle drugs1 every month regularly, get free information regarding pollution disease and attend training at the Headquarters. He could also receive help from organizations if ever he encounters difficulties. In a nutshell, the benefits offered by the Headquarters were tempting and generous to attract more people to this dangerous and life-threatening profession. [The Pollution Prevention and Control Center and the Institute are not the same institutions. In case you want to join, it¡¯s fine.] After reading the employment contract, Lu Yan signed his name in the lower-left corner. Under Lu Yan¡¯s adamant request, Li Sinan sent two members to escort Lu Yan home. Only one night had passed, and the streets seemed to suffer a terrorist attack. Broken glass and fallen streetlights were lying on the ground everywhere. Occasionally, blood stains and mutilated bodies could be seen¡ª some humans, some Pollutants. The Pollutants in K City could also be eliminated with physical attacks. Therefore, many people in military uniforms were busy on the road. Lu Yan rolled down, halfway, the car window and watched the happenings outside. He always stayed at home before and had never been out during the day. Personally seeing it with one¡¯s own eyes was entirely different from seeing it from the news. Due to his enhanced five senses, Lu Yan could even see the tears on an officer¡¯s face, who was collecting the corpses of his comrades. Tears mixed with blood and dust as they flowed in silent grief. Advertisements [How could a mere couple of dozens of Enlighteneds in the K City, even with the assistance of 30,000 or so military officers, save three million people in their entirety? Apparently, some of the humans hiding in their homes were dragged out and eaten by mad Pollutants because of the previous riot. Nom, nom.] The System¡¯s tone of indifference made Lu Yan frown. [It¡¯s a bit of an imposition for the System to empathize like a human.] Lu Yan closed the car window, pressed the palm of his left hand with his right hand, and closed his eyes uncomfortably. There seemed to be something protruding, like bamboo shoots about to burst out of the ground after a rainfall. Lu Yan went home and started the computer he hasn¡¯t used in a long time. He still has Lin Sinan¡¯s contact information in his phone, and the other party had sent over a URL telling him it was an internal forum. Probably because PDC had already done something, Lu Yan¡¯s IP address was no longer trapped inside the firewall. He saw the outside discussion about K City¡¯s lockdown. ¡°Pollution disease,¡± ¡°monsterization,¡± and ¡°distorted person¡±¡­ These issues dominated the hot search for weeks. However, it¡¯s difficult for those who haven¡¯t experienced it to understand what kind of horror it was. [The world¡¯s evolutionary speed is getting increasingly fast. The country chose to spread information. Hoping, through science, more ordinary people will be able to survive when things get tough.] Advertisements [Also, it makes it easier to gather the Enlighteneds.] The internal forum was called ¡°Enlightened,¡± and access was given through invitation only. The forum has records of all the Enlighteneds in the world, even the ones affiliated with the government. The administrator was someone chosen by the PDCs across the countries. To accommodate people from different regions, the forum conveniently came with a translation system. This forum required a fixed user ID, but basically, no real information was recorded. There was also an option to remain anonymous and not even the administrator has the authority to check otherwise. It was said that a foreign official organization once tried to hack into the forum. Even if they didn¡¯t get any information, the general director unexpectedly suffered a violent death the next day. After that, no one dared to do such a thing again. Lu Yan hesitated for a long time on the username column. He wanted to be called ¡°Doctor¡±, but that ID was already registered. Lin Sinan told him that some of the military records of the missions performed by the Enlighteneds may be published in the forum. At that time, their forum name would be substituted for their real name, so he must be careful with his choice. ¡°There¡¯s an Enlightened from Sichuan who registered as ¡°Looking for a Gong.¡± This led to either being avoided like a snake by his straight male teammates or being pestered by strange people when doing tasks later on. In essence, you must think carefully about it. The forum does not sell name change cards.¡± 2 At the end, Lin Sinan seemed to think of something and added, ¡°He ranks quite high in the forum. If you¡¯re a gong ¨C cough, cough ¨C maybe you can post a selfie and try teaming up with him¡­¡± Lu Yan was not interested in forming a team. He thought for a while and typed two words: Curious Listener.3 Curious Listener, the mythical beast who knew everything in the world and could distinguish truth from falsehood. It was quite fitting. Advertisements This time, Lu Yan was able to register successfully. The Enlightened Forum looked like the kind of chat forum when the Internet was just beginning to emerge from the beginning of the last century. Its UI4 was unattractive and rustic, like a final assignment from freshmen computer science students. It was divided into three major sections, ¡°Technical Exchange,¡± ¡°Reward Task,¡± and ¡°Chat Area.¡± Lu Yan clicked on the sub-section, entitled Pollution Disease Case study, under the Technical Exchange section. He then read through all the information from Levels S to F. Information was an extremely vital thing. At least in case of encountering a pollution source, he wouldn¡¯t have to capture it and dissect it to know its characteristics. The lower the pollution source level, the more detailed the information. There were only a few lines of information regarding the Level S pollution disease, but the information about the Level C pollution source, ¡°parasitic fish,¡± was seven or eight pages long. [Ahem. It¡¯s normal. Although they¡¯re a community with a shared future for mankind,5 the Enlighteneds still have their nationality¡­ You can apply for PDC¡¯s internal information, which will be a lot more detailed. Frankly, the First District is already generous since their Enlighteneds provided 40% of the information in the Enlightened Forum.] After all, a community with a shared future for mankind wasn¡¯t kidding about the current situation. The whole world has fallen, and the First District alone wouldn¡¯t last long. Lu Yan has always been a fast reader, but it took him two whole days to finish reading numerous cases. In some cases, just looking at the pictures was similar to being psychologically contaminated, churning people¡¯s stomachs. He saw Lin Sinan¡¯s pollution source, Level C pollutant ¡°parasitic worm.¡± In the image data, the bodies of a great number of deceased people were covered with crawling long, large, and white worms. The plump soft worms came out of the nose, ears, and mouth, rendering people in wanting to drag the photographer, who didn¡¯t use mosaics, out of the computer to beat him up. In the profile section, there was also an ¡°Enlightened Ranking.¡± This was selected and arranged through official evaluation once a year. It was primarily based on the spiritual power threshold, contributions over the past year, and other secretive6 political ploys. A total of more than 60,000 people were registered in the Enlightened Forum, and only the top 100 were announced on the list. Lu Yan scrolled down to the bottom of the list and found that in the 100th place was ¡°Looking for a Gong.¡± Personal Introduction: Face-con here. Ugly gongs, don¡¯t approach. Bai Qiushi, codenamed ¡°Winter Cicada,¡±7 ranked 37th. There were also some foreign names on the list, such as ¡°Buddhist God,¡± ¡°Michael,¡± ¡°Odin,¡± ¡°Miyamoto Musashi,¡± and so on. Lu Yan scrolled up and looked all the way to the first placer. ID: Tyrant. He clicked on it and found that the personal page has only its name hanging alone, under the First District, and the number of visits was amazing. Lu Yan was rendered speechless, ¡°Isn¡¯t it too ch¨±niby¨­8 There is actually someone who named himself Tyrant¡­¡± One other thing he noticed was that the ID, Tyrant, was registered 84 years ago. In other words, even if he registered on the forum as soon as he was born, Tyrant should be 84 years old now. Lu Yan¡¯s registration was dated February 26th of this year. Looking through the other profiles again, the time ranges from the last century to the present. It did not appear to be a system error. ¡°It turns out that there have been pollution diseases and Enlighteneds since the last century.¡± It was estimated that they couldn¡¯t always hide the pollution disease from ordinary people. Thus, allowing these strange phenomenons to be recently disclosed to the public. Like an elderly person who just learned 3G surfing, Lu Yan spent a few days browsing the forum in high spirits. He only dove in and didn¡¯t speak. Furthermore, he learned a lot of useful insights. For example, when encountering a pollution source, the more fearful one was, the faster the mutation degree would increase. The farther one was from the pollution source, the slower the mutation degree would be¡­ In addition, there were two types of Pollutants, one was a Physical Pollutant, the other was a Mental Pollutant. Pollutants in K City belonged to the former. However, powerful Pollutants tend to be both. To boot, Lu Yan also found several posts about ¡°large sums of money for healing system materials¡± in the chat area. In today¡¯s global evolution, in addition to Enlightened Healers, some items could reduce mutation degree. Furthermore, the healing-type abilities were the least numerous among the dozens of ability branches. Only three have been discovered so far. No wonder the PDC was anxious. If not for Lu Yan¡¯s unwillingness, they wanted to send him to the Headquarters to be promoted. On his fourth day returning home, Lu Yan¡¯s symptoms of discomfort finally began to subside. Previously, his arm felt so painful as if it was about to be torn, and his hand wasn¡¯t stable when he cooked. At night, he slept in a cold sweat from the agonizing pain. Now that the pain had abated, there was a change in his body. Lu Yan lowered his head and looked at the palm of his left hand. As he stared, the middle of his palm gradually split open revealing the bright red flesh inside. The edges of the crevice were covered with sharp fangs, similar to shark teeth. Although it looked a little strange, it was certainly a gaping mouth. Lu Yan probed it with his right hand¡¯s fingers. The sensation was strange, his left hand didn¡¯t hurt very much, to say the least. However, it wasn¡¯t comfortable, with his right hand felt like being happily licked by a puppy. He snuck out again in the middle of the night and came back with a cut from a Phyta¡¯s9 tentacle. The mouth on his left hand ate happily, which was much more convenient than the way the white threads ate. Lu Yan asked, ¡°Is my left hand still my own? Will my body still belong to my soul in the end?¡± The system laughed and replied, [It¡¯s still a young fish and is extremely dependent on you. However, if you stay the way you are, when it discovers that it can easily subdue its host, this spoiled fish will turn against its host and eat them, too.] On the seventh day when Lu Yan returned home, the news anchor announced in an uplifting tone, ¡°After a month of unremitting efforts, our unified will have become an impregnable stronghold and finally brought the pollution under control with concerted effort! The Pollution Disease Prevention and Control Center announced that the K City lockdown can be partially lifted after three more days of observation!¡± ¡°This pollution disease incident was designated as a Level B emergency. The source was a Level C pollutant ¡°parasitic fish.¡± This catastrophe caused 46,321 deaths and 456 rescue officials to sacrifice their lives in K City¡­¡± As she read, the anchor¡¯s eyes reddened. Behind each cruel death were a family, a life, and many years of joys and sorrows. After Lu Yan turned off the TV, he was silent for a long time. His social relations have always been weak. But thinking of the dead Doctor Li, the rich second-generation young man, and the missing Shen Qingyang, he inevitably felt some pity and sadness. Fortunately, Lin Sinan¡¯s phone call interrupted his gloomy mood. ¡°Dr. Lu, it¡¯s me. Lin Sinan.¡± On the other end of the phone, Lin Sinan¡¯s hearty laughter could be heard. ¡°Squadron Leader Lin.¡± Lin Sinan, ¡°I have something to discuss with you that¡¯s why I called. An Enlighteneds¡¯ evolution requires exposure to a pollution source. Now that your data has been transmitted back to the Headquarters. The people above have two approaches regarding this matter: one is that they¡¯re hoping that you agree to be trained while ensuring your safety. Now that the world is rapidly changing, personal strength is very important; the other one is for you to go to the Headquarters and evolve by taking the medicine like the ¡®Pope¡¯¡­¡± When talking about ¡°taking medicine,¡± Lin Sinan¡¯s tone was slightly unnatural. System, [Whether it¡¯s to take medicine or eat people, I also want to know. I have to say that among the 13 Research Institutes in the country, the First Research Institute is the perverted one.] [A bunch of lunatics devoid of human feelings conducts experiments that could make even God afraid. Sooner or later, they will be bitten back.] On the phone, Lin Sinan continued, ¡°If you choose the former, the Headquarters has already determined a location. Just in W City, which is near K City, there¡¯s a mountain village there that has mutated. The case code is ¡®Living Dead,¡¯ pollution source is Level E. According to the test, the highest pollution value is 1, 100. Besides me, there¡¯s also an Enlightened with a spiritual power threshold of 3, 000 that will accompany you. In case you choose the latter, I would also be sending you to the First Research Institute. The advantages are that it¡¯s safer and more controllable. ¡°I¡¯m downstairs right now. Once you have decided about it, you can come down and tell me your choice. I¡¯ll be waiting for your answer.¡± Translator¡¯s Note CH 12 This chapter is translated by BigDivineBear and edited by Pierce. ¡ªI¡¯ll be waiting for your answer. That line sounded as if Li Sinan was proposing. Without mulling over it, Lu Yan unreservedly chose the first option. If he chose the Research Institute, it was no different from walking inside the prison. The world outside had a vast and resplendent view. It was with absolute certainty that he wouldn¡¯t set foot in that place in his entire life. Advertisements Not to mention that he was no healing ability user. Lu Yan wore his down-jacket and face mask before he headed downstairs. Li Sinan had been leaning against his car and smoking a cigarette when he noticed his arrival. He promptly extinguished it and the cigarette butt drew a beautiful arc in the air when he threw it directly into the trash can. ¡°Ya. Nw,¡± Nk Fkdyd¡¯p yvvkvwel oyp psxlobyv alplahle. ¡°R¡¯hl vbswtbv kv shla,¡± Nw Zyd vsze bkx, ¡°yde R pvkzz bsrl vs cl ekalnvzu kdhszhle okvb vbl rszzwvksd ekplypl nyplp.¡± Nw Zyd ayalzu bye vbkp jkde sq osazezu elpkal. Rd svbla osaep, vblal oyp sdzu y xlypzu qzwnvwyvksd kd bkp lxsvksdp. Tl dlkvbla qlzv byrrkdlpp dsa psaaso yde oyp kdekqqlaldv vs vbl rskdv sq clkdt kdnyryczl sq qllzkdt lxryvbu. Idsokdt hlau nzlyazu vbyv vblal oyp psxlvbkdt oasdt okvb bkx, bl wpwyzzu ekptwkple bkxplzq. Jlkdt pvwekswp oyp y wdkhlapyz nsdnlrv qsa lhlausdl vs es vblka clpv vs kxrashl. Eblvbla kv oyp pvweukdt sa zlyadkdt xleknyz nsdnlrvp, lhlauvbkdt bl eke oyp rla psnklvu¡¯p ¡°rasraklvu.¡± Tl dlkvbla zkjle dsa ekpzkjle kv. Tsolhla, vbl rszzwvksd ekplypl oyp ekqqlaldv. Rv oyp zkjl y tyxl okvb ds ralelvlaxkdle ldekdt; kv oyp okvbswv pwarakplp obldlhla usw srld kv. Nw Zyd zkjle kv hlau xwnb, vs vbl rskdv oblal bl nswzed¡¯v blzr cwv¡­ valxczl kd lmnkvlxldv. Nk Fkdyd tyhl bkx y rasqswde zssj, ¡°R wdelapvyde. R okzz es lhlauvbkdt kd xu rsola vs ldpwal uswa pyqlvu.¡± Ohld kq kv oyp yv vbl nspv sq bkp sod zkql. Lu Yan, ¡°That will not be necessary.¡± Advertisements ¡°This is an order from the Headquarters.¡± Li Sinan replied, ¡°A soldier must obey these commands.¡± K City, Pollution Disease Prevention and Control Center. A middle-aged man arrived under the protection of several soldiers. This was Ji Wen, a researcher sent by the Headquarters from the Third Research Institute. He had an appearance of a scholar, amiable and refined. The director of the PDC stepped forward, wanting to get close to him. Ji Wen raised his hand and the director had no choice but to retreat awkwardly. He now sat before the computer desk, looking at the precious footage filmed by the smart surveillance. It was a two-part video of Lu Yan curing the Pollutants. Occasionally, Ji Wen would hit the spacebar to pause and contemplate. ¡°Devour?¡± Ji Wen mumbled to himself, ¡°¡®Zero is extremely vulnerable to pollution and thus cannot come in contact with the outside world. It is said that she is always inside the life capsule and no one has ever seen her; ¡®Pope¡¯ is anti-social and rarely leaves the Research Institute¡­ To be honest, I don¡¯t understand much about the potentials of healing ability users.¡± However, he caught sight of the tiny fish scales that emerged on Lu Yan¡¯s arm. ¡°Compared to the ¡®Devour¡¯ ability, I am more inclined to believe that during this catastrophic course of events, he had encountered some Special Pollutant and partly merged with it. This is quite a dangerous approach. But evidently, he has succeeded.¡± ¡°He lied that his ability was ¡®Devour¡¯. The purpose of his deception was to conceal his true ability. Seeing this, he knows something.¡± Advertisements ¡°But Lu Yan¡¯s past has always been monitored, whether it was his online or offline activities. I¡¯m certain that before this incident, he had never been in contact with any information related to the pollution disease, so how could he know?¡± ¡°Therefore, I deduce that he possesses an ability related to information acquisition.¡± ¡°Among the listed abilities, there are a total of 6 abilities related to him. All-Knowing, Precognition, Information Cocoon,1 Mind Reading, Soul Scry, Divine Eye. The one that¡¯s relatively in line with him is¡­ ¡° Ji Wen suddenly became quiet. He then scribbled something on the paper, like a code, that only he could understand. When he was young, Ji Wen and his friends had discovered a type of script, which seemed to be a combination between the Oracle Bone Script and Cuneiform. The origin of this type of text was unknown and it has never circulated on the market. It was very rare. Thus, every time there was something important that needed to be recorded yet couldn¡¯t be known by other people, Ji Wen would always use this kind of writing. He was 47 years old this year. He has been researching pollution disease ever since he was 20 years old, under the tutelage of Qin Changsheng. Qin Changsheng¡¯s teacher was Qiao Yu, who was one of the first to discover the pollution disease and made dedicated research on it in the last century. 20 years ago, Qin Changsheng left the First Research Institute because of their differences in research concepts. From it, he then established the Third Research Institute. As Qin Changsheng¡¯s direct successor, naturally, Ji Wen wasn¡¯t bad either. Neither Li Sinan nor Bai Qiushi had noticed anything, yet Ji Wen was able to roughly deduce the truth just from looking at the surveillance. This was also why the System had been so vigilant about the Research Institute. It was a place where the world¡¯s most intelligent people with the most profound and detailed knowledge about pollution disease were gathered. Ji Wen raised his spectacles and put away his pen. ¡°It stands to reason that I should report this, but he is Experimental Subject 18¡¯s son.¡± Advertisements He turned off the playback software and selected these two sections of the video to be deleted. A warning appeared on the screen. It asked him to enter the authorization password. This kind of elimination was not as simple as when you dragged things into the recycle bin. Rather, in doing so, these two videos would be thoroughly wiped from the face of the world. No one would ever see it again. ¡°Let¡¯s just count it as a payback from when I dissected No.18¡¯s brain¡­ Should I go meet Lu Yan?¡± Ji Wen waited for the computer¡¯s progress bar to reach 100% and took out the evaluation form. [Lu Yan, male, 26 years old. Mental State: Stable. Mutation Degree: Low. Education: Master¡¯s Degree.] [Is fairly perceptive of the surrounding world, has a cautious and suspicious character. It is recommended to not monitor him for long periods to avoid losing trust in the Pollution Disease Prevention and Control Center.] [Previously confirmed to be a Healing type Enlightened with the ability ¡®Devour,¡¯ can utilize his spiritual body to devour the pollution sources. It has an outstanding effect on those with mid to low levels of mutation degree. [Whether or not he can assist the treatment of the Tyrant: Unknown. (Note: Because the spiritual power threshold is too low, contact with the Tyrant is not recommended for the time being as there is a risk of contamination.)] [Danger Level: Low.] Back then, the friend who recorded the script with Ji Wen was called Lu Cheng. It just so happened that he was Lu Yan¡¯s father. 13 years ago, Lu Cheng was infected and became a Pollutant. It was speculated that his ability was Precognition. Advertisements The authorities took him to the First Research Institute and marked him as No.18. The following year, Lu Cheng fled from the Institute and his whereabouts were still unknown. ¡°It¡¯s better if I don¡¯t go meet him. I hugged him once in the past. That child has always had an extraordinary memory so he¡¯ll recognize me. ¡° Ji Wen has stopped writing and contemplated for a while. In the end, he still didn¡¯t feel at ease so he threw the paper written with the special scripture into the shredder along with the photos. Li Sinan brought Lu Yan to the Pollution Disease Prevention and Control Center and had already arranged to meet the researcher who came from the Headquarters. However, upon his arrival, he was stunned to hear that the researcher had already left. ¡°Deputy Director Ji is very busy. ¡° The staff was somewhat a little helpless and said, ¡±He arrived at eight in the morning and left just one hour later at nine. He said that there are still many important experiments waiting to be done. But he had already accomplished the evaluation report. ¡° The System said to Lu Yan in ridicule, [The researcher sent this time seemed to have already discovered my existence. If I¡¯m to be more audacious, I can take away the ¡®seem.¡¯ It looks like I¡¯ve underestimated humans yet again.] [Fortunately, he is on your side for the time being.] Countless things could happen in every part of the world. Although the System may be ¡°All-Knowing¡±, if it knew too many things at once, it would only result in the Host¡¯s brain blowing up and the host will become mentally retarded. Currently, it had a moderate range of perception. Besides this, it had lived up to its name ¡°All-Knowing.¡± ¡°Mr. Lu, please follow me to receive your work clothes as well as this month¡¯s stipend.¡± Lu Yan¡¯s information has already been registered and was now an official staff member. Code-named ¡°Curious Listener,¡± Spiritual Power Threshold 440, Class F Enlightened, Mutation Degree 3.1. Affiliation: SpecOps Division Team 7¡¯s Squadron 1. The staff member opened the vault on the first floor of the Headquarters, took a suitcase from the freezing compartment, and started the introduction. ¡°This is the latest ¡®Galaxy Detector¡¯ created by the Research Center. The default model is a watch. If you don¡¯t like it, you can apply to change it for something you prefer. Including but not limited to necklaces, mobile phones, etc.¡± ¡°The detector can monitor in real-time your mutation degree as well as the pollution value of nearby Pollutants. In addition to this, functions such as navigation, positioning, and Bluetooth call are also available. This is the instruction manual. You can also choose to turn off the Global Positioning System (GPS) and cease the data transmission.¡± The shape of the detector was an exceedingly high-tech electronic watch with exquisite workmanship. Lu Yan didn¡¯t put it on immediately. Rather, he kept it in his pocket. ¡°This is one of the most precious inventions of the Institute, a miracle drug2 for pollution disease. Because the raw materials came from the Pollutants, it is extremely expensive. Please do not sell them in exchange for cash.¡± Due to such precedents that had happened before, the staff specifically emphasized, ¡°If you are short on money, you can directly contact the Headquarters. Your current cash withdrawal limit is 5 million.¡± The miracle drug was in the form of a capsule, and he was given four pills. ¡°The standard allocations for a Level F Enlightened is two pills per month. The remaining two are bonuses for your excellent performance on the treatment of pollution diseases in K City.¡± [This miracle drug is very beneficial. It¡¯s different from the medicine given to Pollutants at the quarantine shelters. At critical moments, it is no different from life-saving medicine. Your mutation degree isn¡¯t high right now so you can save a few more pills.] ¡°This is your work permit.¡± A work permit was similar to an ID card. This included Lu Yan¡¯s photo, fingerprints, and DNA codes. ¡°Every time a mission comes forth, as long as you complete it, you will be able to obtain the corresponding contribution points. Contribution points can be used for exchanging items, tasks issuance, pollution control, and other purposes.¡± ¡°Finally, this is the weapon prepared for you by the Headquarters based on the data sent by the researcher.¡± It was a dagger made from exquisite craftsmanship. Lu Yan unsheathed it from the scabbard, the blade of the dagger glowed with a cold blue light. It had a double-edged blade. [This is something made from the bone of a Level D Pollutant tortoise. It has a market price of 500 contribution points. Any better and it would be wasted on you, not to mention that you¡¯ll easily be robbed of it. It¡¯s sufficiently suitable for you. It seems that the higher-ups had put a lot of effort into this. Are you perhaps the illegitimate child of the person in charge?] ¡°Thank you.¡± Lu Yan responded with a wave, ¡°I quite like it.¡± The staff bowed deeply to him: ¡°As long as you like it. Thank you for your contribution to the future of mankind. I hope to serve you next time as well .¡± When Lu Yan came out, he couldn¡¯t help but say, ¡°This is too formal.¡± He didn¡¯t even do anything yet. [It¡¯s just words. Who hasn¡¯t had heroism and ch¨±niby¨­ disease before? Some people just eat these things up, and you can simply regard this as being treated as a martyr.] This respect was not only exclusive to Lu Yan, but rather to all the Enlighteneds of the SpecOps Division. The Research Institute was the intelligence, the Special Operations Department was the actual combat, and the PDC was the logistics. These three have supported each other to carve out a better future. Lin Sinan was waiting for him by the door of an off-road vehicle, his eyes squinted lazily. After he took the miracle drug, his mutation degree had dropped significantly. His value of 53 from a few days ago had now changed to a 39. Exposure to pollution sources would increase the mutation degree, which slowly decreased to a standard value after some time. The effect of the miracle drug was to reduce it until it reached the standard value. Li Sinan¡¯s current standard value is 31. It coincidentally happened to be exactly ten times that of Lu Yan¡¯s. As the drug intake increased, the human body would also develop resistance to the drug. Nonetheless, there was nothing that could be done about this. Li Sinan waved his hand: ¡°Let¡¯s go, I¡¯ll take you to your team members.¡± He was a member of Team 6 of the Special Operations Group. The teams of the Special Operations Group were divided according to region. The entire western province of K City along with a nearby region was under Team 6¡¯s supervision. It stood to reason that Lu Yan was best to join his team, but the Headquarters probably felt that Lin Sinan¡¯s spiritual power threshold was too low. Added on with the fact that the journey in every mission was more dangerous, Lu Yan ended up being specially assigned to another team. Lin Sinan looked at this matter very openly. After all, his spiritual power threshold was only 1600. According to the grade division, he was only a Level D. It was quite difficult for people to be assured of using him to protect an Enlightened with a healing ability type. The team Lu Yan was going to join was a SpecOps Division that hadn¡¯t received any recruits in years, and Lu Yan was the first one in three years. Lu Yan thought about something as he sat in the back of the car. He turned off the data transmission before he fastened the appraisal watch on his left wrist. The dial showed his mutation value: 7.5. Right hand: 3.1. Sure enough, the two sides were indeed not the same. Lu Yan hasn¡¯t slept well in the past few days. The village he was going to was more than 200 kilometers away from K City and the roads weren¡¯t good. It would take at least three or four hours to get there. He leaned on the back seat, unable to control himself from sinking into his exhaustion. Lin Sinan noticed his exhaustion, and warmly said, ¡°There is a blanket in the back that you can use to cover yourself with as you sleep. I¡¯ll wake you up when we get there.¡± Lu Yan replied with a ¡°yes¡± as he unknowingly fell asleep. When he woke up again, it was completely dark. Lu Yan was a little dazed and wanted to ask, ¡°Why haven¡¯t we arrived yet?¡± when he suddenly became alert. He smelled the scent of blood. It was too quiet here. But more importantly, Lin Sinan was not in the driver¡¯s seat. [You finally woke up. Damn it, why are they here¡­] [My time is running out, you must remember what I¡¯ll say¡ª] [You¡¯ve run into a Level A Pollutant, the Dream Eater. Here is both reality and a dream. What you see may not necessarily be true but it may not be fake either. In other words, if you die here, then you will die in reality and become nourishment for the Dream Eater, without even knowing how your soul tastes. It¡¯s a pity that I am suppressed in this pseudo space because you are not the master of this dream.] [If it¡¯s just the Dream Eater, this wouldn¡¯t be the case. But I didn¡¯t expect that that stinky wall would appear here. Add these two together and it becomes a nightmare-level difficulty. I thought we would go to a novice village,3 but I didn¡¯t expect to drift into a hidden instance.]4 [Rescue is already on its way. The key to leaving this place is: To wake up the owner of this nightmare.] [The only thing to be glad about is the fact that you¡¯re not some unnamed female student in this dream¡­ Okay, I can¡¯t say any more, it¡¯s about to find me.] The System went completely silent. Lu Yan laid quietly in the trunk, not hearing any changes. After a while, he fumbled around and finally found his phone. He blocked the light as he checked his phone. It still has 90% battery left but there was no signal. In the inbox, there was a text message from Li Sinan. ¡°You haven¡¯t woken up yet so I¡¯ll go outside and have a look first. Something doesn¡¯t seem quite right outside. Wait for me to come back and do not go out no matter what. Be careful.¡± When Lu Yan was still a doctor, he discovered that the patients who were discharged first from the hospital were all those who followed the doctor¡¯s advice. So he stayed in the backseat until dawn. Even when there were occasional roars and calls for help outside in the middle of the night, Lu Yan remained unmoved. After dawn, Lu Yan finally discovered the source of the bloody scent. Lin Sinan was nailed to the rear window. Throughout the whole night, the corpse was there, staring through the cold glass window with bloodshot eyes at the person inside the car. Countless, monstrous maggots came out of his ears and crawled on the car window. Lu Yan¡¯s phone fell to the ground. After a long time, he slowly said: ¡°The pupils are evidently dilated and highly turbid. There is a slight stench on the corpse, and the estimated time of death¡­ 36 to 48 hours ago.¡± The suburb of K City and the area bordering W City. The highway was blocked for a long period. Countless traffic policemen were at the front of the blockage line, working busily till they were burnt out. The staff of the PDC urgently rushed to the scene, and have already assisted the researchers on their pollution source analysis for more than 20 hours. Many reporters came and raised the microphones in their hands: ¡ª¡±Excuse me, what is the level of the newly emerged pollution source in K City? Will it be a threat to the survival of nearby residents?¡± ¡ª ¡°May I ask if there are any survivors from the fog in the past 48 hours since its appearance?¡± Behind the traffic police officers was a dense and heavy fog. The gray-black mist kept surging. It was like Leviathan¡¯s5 ruthless mouth, engulfing everything. CH 13 This chapter is translated by Kris Xian, translation checked by Rin, and edited by Cia. Dream Eater, Level A Pollutant. Lu Yan had read about it on the forum. Just as the Enlighteneds were divided into combat system, support system, and special system, the Pollutants were also divided into different categories. They were roughly divided into mental, physical, and special Pollutants. There was no doubt that Dream Eaters were mental Pollutants. Advertisements A Dream Eater¡¯s appearance was unknown. A thick fog would emerge on the area it would appear in. Its pollution values were lower at the edge of the fog, but it grew higher the closer it got to the Dream Eater. The pollution range peaked at 7200 and had a trough of 200. Dream Eaters love frightened souls and feed on dragging people into dreams where their deaths were equivalent to real deaths. Studies had shown that a Dream Eaters¡¯ illusion was not created out of thin air, but was based on other people¡¯s memories. Abilities: Hypnotism, Dream Intrusion. Mbl Fupvlx nbsspkdt vs ekpyrrlya oyp y blzrzlpp xshl. Fvaknvzu prlyjkdt, kv oyp yzps y xldvyz yckzkvu. Gp y nzswe sq prkakvwyz cseu, rlabyrp kv oyp yp nsdprknwswp yp y qzypb taldyel okvbkd psxlsdl lzpl¡¯p xldvyz esxykd. Rq vbl Palyx Oyvla¡¯p yvvldvksd oyp yvvaynvle, Nw Zyd oswze lde wr xkplayczl. Mbl pldpsa oyvnb sd Nw Zyd¡¯p oakpv oyp pvkzz osajkdt, pbsokdt y hyzwl sq 3.2. Wasx vbkp, kv oyp lhkeldv vbyv Nw Zyd¡¯p blyav oyp dsv yp wdekpvwacle yp bkp lmralppksd. Tl oyp yv zlypv y ckv qaktbvldle pkdnl kv kdnalyple cu 0.1. Mbl rszzwvksd hyzwl blal oyp 270. Nw Zyd scplahle vbaswtb vbl tzypp. ¡°Mbl qyvyz kdfwau oyp nywple cu y twdpbsv oswde vs vbl nblpv, cwv vbl nzsvblp pvyule kdvynv, yde vblal yal ds svbla oswdep.¡± Nw Zyd xwvvlale vs bkxplzq, ¡°Mbl xlvbse vs calyj qall qasx blal kp vs oyjl vbl ealyxla, cwv obspl ealyx kp vbkp?¡± Nw Zyd eked¡¯v jdso kq vbkp Nkd Fkdyd oyp vbl alyz Nkd Fkdyd. Tl bsrle dsv. The sky had completely cleared up. Lu Yan didn¡¯t know whether he should get off the car. He was mainly afraid of being killed once he opened the door. The dream might be fake, but he was a real person. Advertisements However, Lu Yan didn¡¯t hesitate for too long as the watch on his wrist suddenly vibrated. He looked down and found that the numbers on the dial were increasing frantically. [Pollution value: 3000¡­4000¡­] The pollution value kept soaring until it stagnated at the number 9999. The upper limit of the pollution value that this meter could detect was 9999. Obviously, something was approaching and it was getting nearer. The surrounding atmosphere became oppressive, accompanied by a searing smell of sulfur. It was very uncomfortable. Within ten seconds, Lu Yan¡¯s throat felt dry and sore. This value had far exceeded the Dream Eater¡¯s. Either the previous data was wrong, the Dream Eater evolved again, or the person who came was not the Dream Eater, but some other monster. Lu Yan wasn¡¯t curious about this, Xiao Ming¡¯s grandfather lived to be 100 years old because of his lack of curiosity.1 He clenched the dagger in his hand and slowed down his breathing as much as possible, to reduce his sense of existence. Nevertheless, the Pollutant did not leave as Lu Yan expected. Advertisements It stopped in front of his car door. From Lu Yan¡¯s perspective, only a section of the suit could be seen, the collar of the white shirt was stained with blood. Looking at the body size, it seemed to be a fairly typical, adult male. Its hand rested on the door handle of the car. Lu Yan tensed. The moment he heard the door open, he opened the door on the other side and rushed out. Unfortunately, his struggle was obviously useless in the face of this unknown Pollutant. A thin chain clasped around his ankle and pulled him back. He felt his vision spin around. Lu Yan fell right at the foot of the Pollutant. The smell of sulfur that filled his nostrils became even stronger. Because it was too strong, Lu Yan felt that he had even lost his sense of smell. He looked up at the man in front of him. It was a man who should be around 30 years old. His exposed skin showed signs of burns to the point of carbonization. In particular, both of his hands had the skin completely melted off, revealing bright red flesh. Advertisements Ignoring the somewhat nasty wounds, the face alone could be called handsome. This was not necessarily good news. The Research Institute had long documented that the closer a Pollutant¡¯s appearance to a human, the higher the contamination level was likely to be, and that it generally came in two forms. Lu Yan confirmed that he had never met the Pollutant in front of him before, nor had he seen any information about it in the database. This implied that all the Enlighteneds who had seen him were dead and didn¡¯t have the chance to send back any useful information. The person in front of him slowly raised his scarlet hand and he faintly felt its scorching heat. Lu Yan knelt down in place and was slowly running out of breath because of the increasing smell of sulfur surrounding him. ¡®Am I going to die?¡¯ This thought inevitably flashed through Lu Yan¡¯s mind, and unexpectedly, he did not feel any fear. To him, death was serenity. However, in the next moment, the scorched hand very gently stroked Lu Yan¡¯s cheek. It was exceedingly hot, but unexpectedly not to the point of scalding. ¡°Meimei,2 why did you run so far this time?¡± The Pollutant asked. Its voice was unexpectedly clear, like spring water hitting a rock, ¡°I¡¯ve been looking for you for a long time. Fortunately, you¡¯re fine. Otherwise, how can gege bear to live alone?¡± Advertisements Lu Yan¡¯s expression was stunned, and he suddenly understood what the System¡¯s phrase ¡°you¡¯re not an unnamed female student¡± really meant. In the dream, he was this Pollutant¡¯s ¡°sister.¡± Lu Yan dug around and fished out a student ID card from his shirt pocket. The name printed on it was ¡°Lu Y¨¢n.¡±3 The photo was torn off, with a steel stamp of ¡°M City No. 3 Middle School¡± visible on the edge. The year was 2111. Ten years ago was also a special day for Lu Yan. That was the year his father¡¯s distortion began. He didn¡¯t know the Pollutant¡¯s name. Because the other party called him his sister, Lu Yan reluctantly gave him the code name ¡°Gege.¡±4 Judging from the burns on Gege and the lingering scent of sulfur surrounding him, it could be determined that his distortion was related to fire. In addition, he also had a chain that served as a weapon. Lu Yan was tied to the front passenger seat. The Pollutant beside him was surprisingly driving in a humane way. The road was a bit bumpy, making Lin Sinan¡¯s body shake. It fell directly into the ditch due to the shaking which made Lu Yan sad. Probably because he had been staring at Lin Sinan for too long, the pressure around Gege suddenly dropped. ¡°Is he the brat you¡¯re dating online? You ran out this time to see him?¡± Gege suppressed his anger and stepped hard on the accelerator, ¡°You¡¯re only in high school and don¡¯t even think of studying properly! All you know is love! When was dating forbidden? Are you only allowed to do it while you¡¯re still studying?¡± ¡°Gege was supposed to be in H City preparing for a lawsuit, but when the nanny said you were missing, I immediately took a plane back to find you. For this reason, I might not even make it to court. Why are you so ignorant?!¡± ¡°I admit that it¡¯s my fault to make those little boyfriends of yours transfer to a different school. But why can¡¯t you understand that it¡¯s for your own good, and you just need to be obedient? If you¡¯re like this, Mom and Dad in the underworld will be deeply hurt.¡± Lu Yan, ¡°¡­¡± He didn¡¯t expect this younger sister¡¯s dating experience to be so rich. The vehicle that Lin Sinan drove was a modified car with great performance. When the accelerator was pressed to its limits, the increasing speed wasn¡¯t much different from flying. On the side of the road, from time to time, he could see several corpses that had been burned into dry coals, trying their best to crawl on the road and seemingly trying to hold on to something. Lu Yan worked in the emergency department in the hospital. This means that he had a little bit of understanding about different kinds of surgical procedures. Every year, the patients he rescued who suffered from burn injuries were many. Nevertheless, the deepest impression he had was the one brought in due to a fuel tank explosion. Due to the high temperature, these patients¡¯ bodies were scalded and their epidermis5 had melted. Some of their bodies were swollen and secreting pus. Some of them had their eyes completely burned and could not be closed, only a layer of red fleshy membrane was left. In order to ensure sufficient respiration, they even needed to cut open their tracheas. The saddest thing was that even if it was extremely painful, the patient was still fully conscious throughout the ordeal. The information revealed by Gege was not much, but it allowed Lu Yan to speculate a little bit. Gege should be a lawyer or a judge by profession. They lost both of their parents, and he relied on his little sister for his determination to continue living. He took the responsibility of being her father, mother, and older brother all at the same time. As a result, he developed an extremely serious desire to control and protect his sister. Gege behaved like a Chinese parent. By the time he reached high school, a serious communication problem developed with his rebellious sister. The love he gave was too heavy, constantly repeating ¡°what he gave up for her,¡± heavy enough to crush the teenage girl¡¯s heart with guilt. Lu Yan was temporarily unable to determine whether Gege was the owner of this dream. He began to miss the System very much. If the System was still here, he might even know the color of this brother¡¯s underwear today. Because it was too close to the pollution source, the sensor watch on Lu Yan¡¯s wrist had already given three warnings. His mutation degree was rising at a stable rate. If this kept up, Lu Yan could only survive for two days in this instance. Lu Yan¡¯s current spiritual power threshold was too low. Even if the Pollutant didn¡¯t release his pollution, he would inevitably be polluted. This was also the reason why Ji Wen previously stated in the evaluation report that he was ¡°not suitable for contact with Tyrant.¡± The car drove for more than an hour and finally stopped at a mid-hill villa area. These villas were overall gray and white, like tombstones towering in the mountains. Gege¡¯s chain was still tied to Lu Yan¡¯s ankle. He walked fast, but fortunately, the chain was long enough that Lu Yan wouldn¡¯t trip if he couldn¡¯t keep up. It was already morning, but the surroundings were still eerily quiet. Not even the sound of animals could be heard. The door opened wide and closed with a heavy thud. It was evident that this family was pretty well-off, they had a two-story townhouse equipped with a garden and garage. The Pollutant took the chain and led Lu Yan towards the second floor. On the second floor, there was Lu Y¨¢n¡¯s bedroom. When the door opened, Lu Yan couldn¡¯t help frowning. The bedroom was quite large, it was at least 30 square feet, with an en-suite bath. However, the windows were fixed with iron bars, and there were several huge eyeballs on the corners of the wall. The eyeballs kept rotating and seemed to be living creatures. Lu Yan immediately reacted and felt that these should be surveillance. However, none of these mattered. In the room, the pale yellow wallpaper was painted with bright red blood. At the very center were several bloody handprints with a line of crooked, bloody writing: Save me. The smell of blood in the room was strong enough to overwhelm the smell of sulfur, but Gege seemed oblivious to it. ¡°Stay in your room and reflect.¡± Gege attached the chains to the head of the bed, ¡°I¡¯m going to meet a client. I¡¯ll be back later.¡± He reached out his hand and gently rubbed Lu Yan¡¯s head. Lu Yan did not evade it. Gege¡¯s mood obviously improved, and a smile hung on his lips. Nonetheless, when he walked to the door, Gege suddenly turned his head, as if remembering something, and casually said, ¡°Meimei is so strange today. Why haven¡¯t you scolded me yet?¡± Surprisingly, it was revealed that he¡¯s a trembling M.6 CH 14 This chapter is translated by BigDivineBear, translation checked by Rin, and edited by Cia. After the brother left, the pollution value on the sensor watch gradually decreased, allowing Lu Yan some space to breathe. The length of the chain was just enough to allow Lu Yan to walk from the head of the bed to the toilet. The eyeballs in the corner of the wall constantly followed Lu Yan¡¯s movements. This feeling of being constantly monitored was very uncomfortable. In addition to the bed, the bedroom also had a TV, desk, bookcase, dressing table, and so on. Advertisements The dressing table was full of cosmetics and skincare products. Lu Yan randomly picked one out, and the brand of the face cream read LA MER. Lu Yan only used Longrich and Vaseline for his skincare, but he had vaguely heard about the price of LA MER. From this you could see that the sister¡¯s daily life was very luxurious. Ls nzsnjp nswze cl qswde kd vbl assx. Nw Zyd vssj swv bkp nlzz rbsdl yde nblnjle vbl vkxl. Rv oyp 9 s¡¯nzsnj kd vbl xsadkdt. Mbl dsvkqknyvksd nldvla alxkdele bkx vbyv bl alnlkhle y vlmv xlppytl. Nw Zyd srldle kv yde pyo vbyv vbl pldela oyp wdlmrlnvlezu Nkd Fkdyd. ¡°Eblal yal usw, obu yal usw xkppkdt?¡± Mbl pwd pbsdl caktbvzu swvpkel vbl assx cwv vbl vlxrlayvwal kdpkel oyp ayvbla zso. Nw Zyd zlv swv y pktb. Tl qlzv alzklhle yqvla pllkdt vbl xlppytl. Fkdnl vbl elye ¡°Nkd Fkdyd¡± nswze pvkzz plde vlmv xlppytlp, kv xlydv vbyv vbl Nkd Fkdyd bl pyo oypd¡¯v vbl alyz Nkd Fkdyd. Tl oydvle vs nyzz cynj, cwv alpkpvle. Vlsrzl obs nswav elyvb zkjl vbkp, wdzlpp vblu olal vbl rasvytsdkpv, tldlayzzu zkhle zlpp vbyd vld xkdwvlp kd y bsaasa xshkl. To his surprise, there was an unfamiliar contact in the text messages of his mobile phone. Advertisements Remarks: Lu Jiahe. The messages stopped in December 2111. Lu Yan clicked on it and saw that it was basically all just messages from the other party. He scrolled up and decided to start reading from the first one. The first text message was sent in 2109. [You told me you had cram school after class, so I didn¡¯t have to pick you up. But what is this?] [Picture] It seemed to be secretly taken. In the picture, he could see the backs of two people. A man and a woman. The distance between them was normal, not excessively intimate. [Did you fucking find someone to supervise me again?] [I¡¯m just worried about you.] [You¡¯re crazy. Get lost.] [Today is Mom and Dads¡¯ memorial day, do you want to go visit their graves with me? ] [You still have the face to see mom and dad?] Advertisements [If it weren¡¯t for you, my parents wouldn¡¯t have died.] [How are things at school? ] [The teacher said you had a fight with the girls in your class. What happened?] [I¡¯m really worried about you acting like this. Let¡¯s go back to M City. Although M City cannot be compared to the first-tier cities, it will be convenient to take care of you.] [No need.] This pair of siblings¡¯ interactions was quite strange. The text messages were everyday conversations. However, for almost a year, there were no exchanges. Lu Yan frowned slightly and scrolled to the end. [Lu Y¨¢n.] [Where are you? Answer me.] [Answer the phone.] [I beg you, please don¡¯t abandon gege.] Advertisements There was still no Internet on his phone. Lu Yan clicked on his WeChat, which was still his own account. It had not become Lu Y¨¢n¡¯s WeChat account. He thought for a while and turned on the TV in the bedroom, tuning in to the news. As expected, the current date was displayed in the lower-left corner of the TV. July 21, 2111. On the TV, the anchor reported the local news. ¡°Recently, a wicked criminal case occurred in our city¡­¡± Lu Yan came to the desk with a fashion magazine on top. Near the lamp was a row of nail polish. A report card was underneath the magazine, and Lu Y¨¢n¡¯s name came second to last. This showed that the sister¡¯s grades weren¡¯t good. No wonder Lu Jiahe was so worried. Combined with the way she spoke, the image of a delinquent girl with a bad attitude immediately appeared in Lu Yan¡¯s mind. There were three cabinets under the desk, all of which were locked. Lu Yan didn¡¯t find the key, so he could only put his hands together and said to the air, ¡°Excuse me.¡± Advertisements Then he punched each of the three cabinets. There was a crackling noise as the doors of the cabinets were smashed to pieces. Lu Yan¡¯s expression remained unchanged as he took out what he wanted from the cabinets. In the first cabinet, he found a group photo with three people, a married couple and a child. The boy¡¯s expression looked particularly restrained. However, from his face, a reflection of Lu Jiahe could be seen. The background was in the ¡°Qiu Shan Orphanage.¡± Below was an adoption registration form. Lu Jiahe¡¯s parents unfortunately passed away in an earthquake, and he, the only survivor, was adopted by Lu Y¨¢n¡¯s parents who had no male children. In the second cabinet was a death notice. When Lu Jiahe was a freshman, he missed the ticket for returning home during the Spring Festival. Lu Y¨¢n¡¯s parents insisted on picking him up, but they ended up dying in a car accident on their way. In the third cabinet was a diary. Lu Yan turned to the first page. The date or time was not written. Reading from the notes, the writing was very immature, but as he continued to flip the pages, the handwriting and tone gradually became like an adult¡¯s. ¡°Clearly, I am the biological child! Clearly, I am the biological child!¡± ¡°I am not Lu Jiahe¡¯s sister.¡± ¡°I said in front of other people today that Lu Jiahe¡¯s parents were dead and it was my family that took him in. He looked sad. I feel a little guilty¡­ So annoying, so annoying!¡± ¡°I told Lu Jiahe not to come back for this year¡¯s Spring Festival. I wanted to spend time with my parents, not with him.¡± ¡°F**k, my parents went to pick up that unlucky harbinger of death.¡± The diary turned to the last page. Lu Yan roughly understood the context of this dream. Lu Y¨¢n was born into a patriarchal family. Her parents couldn¡¯t give birth to children due to various reasons, so they adopted Lu Jiahe. Unlike ordinary adoptions, the child adopted by the Lu husband and wife was already relatively big. It stands to reason that such a healthy and good-looking boy had never lacked interest in being adopted. But the strange thing was that every family that adopted Lu Jiahe would eventually encounter all sorts of misfortunes. Some went bankrupt, some fell ill¡­ and so Lu Jiahe had been returned to the orphanage for the third time. The year he was adopted, Lu Y¨¢n was 6 years old and Lu Jiahe 17. She had no affection for this brother that suddenly appeared. She was like a beast whose territory had been invaded, full of aggressiveness. But Lu Jiahe cherished everything he had. He studied hard, respected his parents, and also learned how to be an older brother. He tolerated every tantrum and fury of his sister. But alas, misfortune still befell this family. Lu Y¨¢n¡¯s parents died in a car accident on their way to pick up Lu Jiahe. Fortunately, Lu Jiahe had already reached adulthood for a long time and could shoulder the responsibility of educating his younger sister¡ª¡ªThough it was still too early for him. After losing his parents, Lu Jiahe¡¯s desire to protect his only sister grew close to being pathological. He controlled her friendship, love, and everything else about Lu Y¨¢n. He wanted her to live in a safe, sterile, and vacuum world. He hated that he couldn¡¯t cut out his own heart and show her the pulsating blood vessels inside it, but his sister never opened her heart to him. After entering the rebellious period, the sister¡¯s behavior became more and more perverse. But after all, Lu Jiahe was not her real brother and his discipline always seemed lacking. ¡°Is this Lu Y¨¢n¡¯s dream or Lu Jiahe¡¯s dream?¡± Lu Yan closed the diary, lost in thought. Lu Yan was more inclined to think that this was the sister¡¯s dream. Here, the surveillance installed were annoying eyes, and the brother¡¯s protection were the chains and shackles tied to his body. ¡®The only thing I don¡¯t quite understand is that if I¡¯m the younger sister, then where is the real younger sister?¡¯ On the TV, the news came to an end. ¡°This is a vicious robbery. The suspect, Zhang¡¯s mother, is the Li family¡¯s nanny. They learned from their mother that the Li family was out on a business trip and only the victim was at home, so the idea of burglary popped into their head. The victim usually stayed at the school dorms, but they played truant that day and rested at home.¡± ¡°After the nanny discovered this, the nanny assisted Zhang in destroying the body and erasing the surveillance. They falsely claimed that the victim ran away from home.¡± After broadcasting this piece of news, the TV made a noise and then proceeded to turn into a glitchy screen. It is said that dreams are the embodiment of the subconscious. Lu Yan didn¡¯t think this was a random, boring piece of news. He looked at the TV screen that had lost the signal, and his expression became weird, ¡°¡­Dead?¡± Lu Yan studied the chains on his feet for a long time and confirmed that he could not unlock it. His watch showed that his mutation degree has risen to 33.7. In addition to his arms, fish scales started growing on his back. Probably because of the lack of water, the scales cocked up and cut him, causing pain to run throughout his body. The increase in the mutation degree was to a certain extent, not that bad. At least Lu Yan could feel that his physical fitness had become stronger again. He was in a good state of mind and even pulled out a fish scale to study it. Looking at the color and shape, after he completely mutated, he would probably become a koi fish. Possessed by a koi, no wonder he was always lucky. In the afternoon, a noise came from the entrance gate. ¡°Meimei.¡± Lu Jiahe¡¯s voice came downstairs. The data on Lu Yan¡¯s watch began to soar rapidly. Lu Jiahe opened the door. There were more bloodstains on his body, and the black suit he wore was drenched. He left behind a bloody footprint every time he took a step. Lu Jiahe¡¯s body showed signs of distortion. Other than the burning wounds, a few bone spurs grew from the back of his bloody hands, resembling a sharp blade. ¡°A lot of strange people have appeared in the city. I feel like they are all here to harm you. But don¡¯t worry, brother will kill them all.¡± He spoke the most frightening words with the most tender expression. As if he was just talking about how good the weather was. Lu Yan said, ¡°I want to go out by myself.¡± Lu Jiahe shook his head firmly, ¡°No, you will definitely run away from home again. I won¡¯t let you go, it¡¯s too dangerous outside.¡± Brother, you really have no self-awareness. Everything outside added together would not be nearly as dangerous as you alone. After only a moment of being near Lu Jiahe, Lu Yan¡¯s mutation degree already reached 49.2. Although he didn¡¯t know what would happen if he exceeded 100 in the dream, Lu Yan vaguely felt that it would not end well. ¡°Wait till I deal with the dangers, then you, my sister can go back to school¡­¡± ¡°Lu Jiahe,¡± Lu Yan said suddenly, ¡°I am not your sister.¡± Naturally, he shouldn¡¯t be so impulsive. He had originally thought that the sister was the master of the dream, but the sister was dead. In that case, the only option left is Lu Jiahe but he had no way to wake the other up. If things dragged on and the mutation degree exceeded 100, then he would still die. This sentence acted like some sort of switch. Outside the window, the sky that was still bright just now became gloomy. Lu Jiahe raised his head, his eyes narrowing slightly. In his pitch-black eyes flashed a trace of blood. Lu Jiahe stood up, walked toward Lu Yan step by step, and strangled Lu Yan¡¯s neck with his hands. Lu Yan was choked to the point he couldn¡¯t breathe, and the smell of burning sulfur rushed into his nose, making his eyes hurt. His heartbeat sped up uncontrollably but it had nothing to do with fear. This was the instinct of a prey facing a hunter. Lu Jiahe reached his hand onto the back of Lu Yan¡¯s nape, rubbed it, and dug off a layer of fish scales. Blood spilled out and wetted his back collar. Needless to say, it was painful. It was like pulling a tooth without anesthesia. ¡°Don¡¯t be mad,¡± Lu Jiahe lowered his eyes and wiped the tears from Lu Yan¡¯s face with his blood-stained hands, ¡°Meimei.¡± Author¡¯s Note: Hello, Reviewer.1 He¡¯s being called ¡°meimei¡± because with the character ¡°Lu Jiahe,¡± his memories in his dreams are in chaos and he regards the protagonist as his dead sister. It¡¯s not orthopedics.2 CH 15 This chapter is translated by Hoenimochi, translation checked by Rin, and edited by Cia. It was quite difficult to wake up a person who was pretending to be asleep. Lu Jiahe straightened Lu Yan¡¯s lapel1 as if he couldn¡¯t smell the scent of blood on his body. He was careful in doing this, for fear that the bone spikes on the back of his hand would scratch Lu Yan¡¯s skin. ¡°Gege is going on a business trip and will be back in two days.¡± Lu Jiahe¡¯s voice was very soft, ¡°After gege cleans up the school, you can go back.¡± Advertisements Lu Yan was tied back to the bedside again. He felt very irritable inside, but because he couldn¡¯t beat Lu Jiahe, he could only hold back. Lu Jiahe closed the door, ¡°Wait for me to come back.¡± There was a layer of gloomy crimson under his eyes. Gqvla bl zlqv, vbl assx qlzv lxrvkla, yde vbl czsse pvykdp sd vbl oyzz pvyavle clnsxkdt aleela. Jlnywpl bl oyp lmvalxlzu vbkapvu, Nw Zyd nbspl vs vyjl y cyvb. Mbl cyvbvwc oyp qwzz sq oyvla obld bl tsv kd, cwv clnyxl byzq lxrvu yp bl tsv swv. Tkp qllzkdt sq vbkapv lyple y zsv clnywpl sq vbkp. Nw Zyd wple y bykaeaula vs eau bkp byka yde vwadle sd vbl MA. Mbl pnalld pvkzz pbsole vbyv vblal oyp ds yhykzyczl pktdyz. Rd Nw Zyd¡¯p cssjnypl, yryav qasx qypbksd xytygkdlp, vblal olal yzps psxl rsrwzya dshlzp. Tkp xsckzl rbsdl bye ds Rdvladlv, yde bl nswzed¡¯v xyjl nyzzp. Jwv kd bkp rbsdl kdcsm, vbl nsdvynv dyxle ¡°Nkd Fkdyd¡± pldv y xlppytl pyukdt vbyv Nw Zyd¡¯p dlozu tasod qkpb pnyzlp olal lmvalxlzu clywvkqwz, bl zkjle vblx hlau xwnb yde oswze zkjl vs rwzz swv vos rklnlp kq bl bye vbl srrsavwdkvu. ¡°¡­¡± Nw Zyd nswzed¡¯v blzr cwv alrzu, ¡°Ebs yal usw?¡± A red exclamation mark appeared on the phone. His phone was not in a serviceable area, so naturally, no messages could be sent. Advertisements Lu Yan was woken up by some noises. Because he was too bored, and he didn¡¯t sleep well before, not long after taking a bath, he fell asleep leaning on the bed. He woke up and looked at the sky outside the window, it was completely dark. Probably because he hadn¡¯t eaten for more than 30 hours, Lu Yan¡¯s stomach grumbled untimely, a little hungry. The sound of a door opening came from downstairs, accompanied by the seemingly non-existent call, ¡°Lu Y¨¢n~! Miss Lu, it¡¯s time to come down and eat.¡± ¡°Mr. Lu would be angry if he finds out that I didn¡¯t take care of you.¡± ¡°I receive my salary from Mr. Lu, so naturally I can¡¯t let him down, right?¡± ¡°Lu Y¨¢n, come out quickly.¡± He was unable to distinguish the gender by the voice, but it was so hoarse that it was unpleasant to hear, like scratching at a blackboard with nails. In the dark night, the sound of footsteps could be heard. Lu Yan listened carefully, it was as if someone was dragging something. In addition to the footsteps, there was also the sound of something metal hitting the wall. Lu Yan listened to the sounds, it seemed like some kind of controlled knife.2 The value on his sensor watch rose rapidly as the person approached. It soon broke through 1000, and finally stabilized at a value of 1500. Lu Yan¡¯s current spiritual power threshold barely reached a fraction of this Pollutant. He decisively stood up and locked the door. Advertisements Lu Yan didn¡¯t know if what he did was useful, but the chains tied to his feet had no intention of loosening, which meant that his range of motion was limited to this bedroom. On the wall, the dried red blood seemed to come alive, seeping out of the wallpaper, and dripping onto the floor. He remembered this should be the nanny Lu Jiahe invited, but Lu Yan had not forgotten the news he had seen during the day. He held the dagger, took a deep breath, and tried to cut the chain with it, but the chain was stronger than he thought. The double-edged dagger worth 500 contribution points stirred up a burst of sparks but did not leave any trace on the iron lock. However, the nanny had already arrived at the door. At first, she wanted to open the door quietly, but when she found that Lu Yan had locked it, she turned to knocking vigorously. The door of the bedroom was just a wooden door, which seemed to have been strengthened to a certain extent in the dream. Even if the knock on the door was frantic as if beating a drum, the bedroom door just kept shaking and didn¡¯t directly break into pieces. ¡°Lu Yan, why are you being so childish!¡± The nanny¡¯s voice was full of anger, ¡°Open the door!¡± In the room, the four eyes that had stayed constantly open were closed tightly at this time. Lu Yan speculated that this meant that the surveillance in the room had been cut off. Lu Yan looked for a weapon that he could use in the room, and answered calmly, ¡°I¡¯m not hungry.¡± ¡°You have to eat even if you¡¯re not hungry. Your brother spoils you too much!¡± the nanny said, ¡°It¡¯s not that I¡¯m blaming you, but where exactly did your brother wrong you?! I¡¯ve never seen a sister like you! It wasn¡¯t easy for him to bring you up, how can you be so unfilial? Your brother is so busy at work, can¡¯t you at least save him the trouble?¡± This was probably the image of Lu Y¨¢n in the eyes of outsiders. Advertisements In the eyes of outsiders, the Lu family accident was completely just a misfortune, and it was hard to say whether it had any direct relation with Lu Jiahe. Lu Y¨¢n might also understand this, but after losing her parents, she could only vent this unspeakable pain through anger. Outside the door, the nanny raised the axe in her hand. She was a strong-looking woman, nearly two meters tall. She wore a bright lipstick and blue eyeshadow, a cotton-padded jacket and trousers. The nanny¡¯s jacket was open, there was a baby pouch, similar to a kangaroo¡¯s, on her belly. A thin, scorched arm poked out of the baby pouch and kept groping around. That was her dear son. Although her son was light-fingered and had a bad habit of petty theft, he only had ill intentions of stealing as he ran into the employer¡¯s sister. It was true that Lu Y¨¢n was not killed by his son. Lu Yan fell to her death when she jumped out the window to escape! This was her dear baby. She had been feeding him spoonfuls of milk and rice until now. He was the lifeblood of the old Wang family and her spiritual support. How could he go to jail? But this damn Lu Jiahe¡ª the nanny knew that he was a well-known lawyer in the industry. He had a reputation for providing pro bono3 legal assistance to many families in need, repeatedly rendering the perpetrators speechless in court, and firmly punishing every criminal with the maximum sentence permitted by law. If they let her son bear all the crimes, he would only have the option of paying with his life. Therefore, she explained that Lu Y¨¢n was pushed down the window by her. She was so furious during their quarrel that she pushed her. This was her confession. It was just that the nanny didn¡¯t expect one thing. Advertisements Lu Jiahe believed in the rule of law. Ee firmly believed that only the law had the power to punish the guilty, even if sometimes, the code was not appropriate. The nanny didn¡¯t expect that such a person would choose to use illegal punishment. Lu Jiahe spent a month memorizing her son¡¯s travel route and behavior. Finally, one night, he secretly took him away without anyone knowing. He locked his son in a basement, castrated him, cut his flesh inch by inch with a knife, and finally set his body on fire, burning him into charcoal. After committing such a heinous crime, the murderer seemed to have disappeared from the world without a trace. He did not even accept legal sanctions! Only her tragically dead son was left to wander alone in hell. She was deeply distraught about this. Fortunately, in this world, the nanny can put his son back in her stomach and help him regenerate again. The nanny raised the bloody axe and slammed it on the door. The axe blade emerged from the other side of the wooden door breaking it into many pieces. ¡°Miss Lu Y¨¢n, don¡¯t hide anymore. Come out to eat¡­¡± A smile appeared on her face, ¡°Don¡¯t hide, my son misses you, too.¡± The nanny stretched out a hand, fumbled a bit, and found the doorknob. Lu Yan hid under the bed and pulled out his phone. The phone still had no signal. He found the dialogue with Gege in the inbox and sent two words without hope, ¡°Help me.¡± -Enlightened Forum- Subject: The newly emerging polluted areas in the suburbs of K City and M City are a collection of Level A Pollutants, ¡®Dream Eater¡¯ and ¡®Walls of Resentment¡¯. The K City and M City PDCs have dispatched more than 12 Enlighteneds and more than 110 soldiers to assist in the investigation, but no one survived during the operation. It is tentatively designated as a Level A pollution incident. 1L: No one survived??? This is too scary. Is there any more news on those who returned? 2L: My house is right in that area. Fuck, K City and M City are next to me. It has always been peaceful before, and the parasitic fish in the Level C pollution incident also occurred in K City a few days ago. 3L: Earth, is doomed one way or another. 4L: There have been more changes recently than in the past ten years, and they are all obvious. Now the news of the pollution disease and the Enlightened has been made public¡­ I hope it will not cause more commotion. 5L: What¡¯s it like abroad? The ¡°Heavenly Calamity¡± in the Level S pollution zone really wiped out a small island country. There is no point in hiding this situation. Sooner or later, everyone will find out that the Public Relations Department has been working overtime for several years and deleting posts on the Internet every day. Let them rest. 6L: Too weak and small, no power.JPG 4 (smoking) ¡­ 73L: Latest news. The Tyrant and his drag-along were dealing with the ¡°Wall of Resentment¡± before. The wall originally appeared abroad last time, and now it has reached M City, he should have followed in. 74L: Did the Tyrant go in? Then it¡¯s been four days, why is there no news at all. 75L: Dream Eater Nightmare Realm + Wall of Resentment, the combination of resentment and reincarnation, no one knows how many small instances are in it¡­ Give them some time to kill? ¡°15 minutes before the start of the entrance exam. Invigilators, please organize the candidates and enter the examination room¡­¡± The voice on the speakers was a bit eerie. Tang Xun¡¯an stood in the corridor, leaning on the balcony to smoke, watching the Pollutants passing by. These strangely distorted people have vicious expressions on their faces, staring at Tang Xun¡¯an motionlessly, the saliva at the corners of their mouths almost dripped to the ground. ¡°Want to eat me?¡± Tang Xun¡¯an¡¯s tone was provocative and a little sloppy, ¡°Come here then.¡± Nonetheless, these pollutants didn¡¯t dare to come over. The exam was about to begin. If one violated the examination room discipline, they would be torn to pieces by the invigilator. Tang Xun¡¯an pinched off the military tranquilizer, his tone was sad, ¡°I didn¡¯t think I would still have nightmares about the college entrance exams when I¡¯ve already graduated for so many years.¡± The stairs vibrated, and in the dark corridor, a pair of scarlet eyes lit up like lights. A steaming hot fish smell was brought by the wind. It was a sickening putrid smell. A two-headed giant wolf, which was a floor tall, came out of the stairs. This was the invigilator for this exam. Mutational Course: Gigantization, Animalization. The giant wolf asked under its breath, ¡°Why didn¡¯t you enter the examination room?¡± Tang Xun¡¯an put his hand on the Tang Blade5 on his waist. This sword is completely dark and had a very special name, ¡°Yellow Dust.¡± Yellow dust and clear water under the Three Mountains. Shift with every thousand years, as fast as a galloping horse.* This name was naturally not randomly chosen. People at the Research Institute said that there was no one who was more suitable for this ancient sword than Tang Xun¡¯an. ¡°Of course, it¡¯s because¡­ I¡¯m waiting for you.¡± Tang Xun¡¯an drew the sword and casually smiled. It¡¯s somewhat different from his usual laid-back temperament, his eyebrows were too cold, like a snow coming late in the middle of winter. Therefore, when he laughed, it inevitably reminded people of the trickle of water under the ice layer in early spring. Tang Xun¡¯an was quick to strike his blade and even quicker in withdrawing it. The light of the sword flashed, and the werewolf in front of him was cut into two. Its blood gushed out and wet the soles of his shoes. The changes of the corpse did not stop there, the werewolf¡¯s dark hair turned gray, showing its aging state, and the body shrank continuously. In just a few breaths, it was like dried bacon, quickly dried and weathered. There were two ways to crack the dream. The first was to kill the Pollutant with the highest pollution value in the dream, and the second was to awaken the dreamer. For the purpose of saving time, Tang Xun¡¯an had always used the first method. He took out his pocket watch and glanced at the value of 97.2. It was a value that would make the Headquarters of the PDC nervous and pass out. The only benefit in the dream was that although the pain was real, no matter the pollution value or the injury, they were actually all fake. As long as they didn¡¯t die and didn¡¯t become a Pollutant, then there wouldn¡¯t be any serious problems. The space in front of him began to twist, reorganize, and finally turned into another dream. A road appeared in front of Tang Xun¡¯an, not knowing where it led to. There was a faint smell of sulfur in the air. On the side of the road, several charred corpses occasionally struggled to climb forward a step or two. ¡°The pollution value exceeds 10,000. Finally¡­¡± Tang Xun¡¯an looked at the distant city, ¡°Can I get off work?¡± The author has something to say: *From Li He¡¯s ¡°Dreaming of Heaven.¡± CH 16 This chapter is translated by BigDivineBear, translation checked by Rin, and edited by Cia. In many cases, hiding under the bed in a crisis was never a wise choice. Lu Yan¡¯s life was monotonous, but he was unexpectedly fond of watching horror movies to relieve stress. In many of these movies, the cannon fodders died under the bed. But in the end, the bed was the only cover available in the bedroom. In terms of safety, it was much more secure than hiding in the closet. He could also choose to recklessly face-off with the nanny, but his physical condition did not allow it. Advertisements The other party was holding a big axe. With his spiritual power threshold of over 500 in this dream and adding the small dagger, it might not even be enough for the other to cut him twice. The axe smashed the door plate into smithereens. The nanny reached into the door and unhooked the security chain to unlock it. There was no one in the room, it was dead silent. Mbl dyddu oyzjle kd okvb vbl yml, yde vbl pxkzl sd bla qynl okeldle, ¡°Ykpp Nw, vbkp vkxl, R pwttlpvle vs xu bwpcyde vs plyz vbl okdeso. Zsw osd¡¯v cl yczl vs fwxr swv sq vbl okdeso yduxsal.¡± Tla psd pxlzzle vbl pnldv sq y zkhkdt rlapsd, bkp rkvnb-czynj yaxp pvalvnble swv qasx bkp xsvbla¡¯p clzzu, eydnkdt kd lnpvypu kd vbl yka. ¡°Nlv xl twlpp, oblal yal usw?¡± Gqvla clnsxkdt y rszzwvydv, vbl dyddu¡¯p olktbv bye kdnalyple y zsv yde vbl qzssa pbssj pzktbvzu yp pbl oyzjle. Mbkp xyel Nw Zyd y zkvvzl pjlrvknyz ycswv vbl cyvvzl rzyd bl bye ralryale¡­ Tkp cseu bye kdelle clld pvaldtvbldle, cwv bl bye ds kely oblvbla vbkp rzyd oyp qlypkczl sa dsv. Rv nyd cl pyke vbyv vbkp oyp vbl sdzu oyu swv kd vbkp elprlayvl pkvwyvksd, kq vbkp eked¡¯v osaj Nw Zyd alyzzu nswzed¡¯v vbkdj sq ydu svbla oyu bl nswze pwahkhl. Mbl dyddu nyaakle vbl yml, yde oyzjle vs vbl cyvbassx essa. Fbl srldle vbl essa, cwv vbl pnldl kdpkel oyp wdscpvawnvle. Nw Zyd oyp dsv blal. Gqvla vbyv, pbl nyxl vs vbl nzsplvp yde bla pxkzl aykple bktb. Ohlau vkxl y essa oyp srldle yde nzsple, y zswe dskpl oswze cl xyel. Ebld pbl tsv vs vbl zypv nzsplv essa, vbl dyddu nswzed¡¯v bsze cynj yduxsal, yde ekalnvzu bynjle kdvs vbl nyckdlv essa okvb vbl ckt yml. ¡°I hate you rich people the most. A girl¡¯s bedroom is bigger than my house.¡± Advertisements ¡°Miss Lu, have you ever been poor? Have you ever tried squeezing a family of five people into a 20-square-foot rental house? The father was sick, and the grandparents were in poor health. It was because of this that my son developed a habit of picking and stealing. He just wanted to reduce the burden on the family.¡± The nanny¡¯s tone became more and more furious, as if she was venting her anger. She chopped a few more times into the closet, flying scraps hit her face but the nanny didn¡¯t even blink her eyes. Although you could see rust on the axe¡¯s surface, it was unexpectedly sharp. ¡°He must be a bad person in your eyes, but who was it that made him like this? Mr. Lu is a good person. He provided legal aid to my husband who couldn¡¯t repay his debts and even gave me a job. However¡­ For what reason can you enjoy all of this, just because you were born into a good family?¡± The nanny took the axe and walked slowly to the princess bed in the corner of the bedroom. Lu Yan could clearly see the pair of bloated feet coming towards him. He squeezed the chain in his hand and rehearsed the movements in his mind hundreds of times, including what to do if faced with a different emergency¡­ But, in this dream, he only had one opportunity. The nanny¡¯s figure kept approaching, and her ankles appeared extraordinarily sturdy. Lu Yan calculated the distance in his mind, he threw the iron chains from under the bed, making it form a circle. It just so happened that the foot of the babysitter stepped in it completely. The unusual movement made her lower her head in confusion. Thanks to the mutation degree that has soared to more than 80 in this dream, Lu Yan¡¯s current reaction speed was faster than that of the Anurae1 he had encountered before. He drilled out from the bottom of the bed like an arrow. Within a few breaths, he had already run to the other side of the room. Advertisements Feeling that the chain had tightened, Lu Yan pulled hard towards himself without hesitation. People with large tonnage are particularly prone to imbalances. The nanny, caught off guard, tripped and fell to the ground. The axe also fell making a dull loud noise. The nanny was in pain and let out a roar from her throat. Lu Yan stepped forward holding the dagger, this was the first time he saw the whole appearance of the monster. It was an obese woman with a height of two meters. Her body was covered with thick heavy layers of fat, and her belly was high and bulging as if another person was fitted into it. Lu Yan had no doubt that he would only be able to pierce the top surface layer of fat with his knife. So he had to temporarily change his plan and instead chose to pierce the dagger into the eyes of the nanny. The nanny was very heavy and had a lot of strength. However, it didn¡¯t seem like she was good at fighting. He knew that this was an unavoidable situation, one of them had to die, so he was merciless when he took action. There was no pause even when the nanny grabbed his neck. The sharp blade pierced her eyeballs, and Lu Yan¡¯s hand was splashed with blood that had long rotted, black and smelly. ¡°Ah!!!¡± The nanny covered her eyes and screamed in agony. She didn¡¯t expect Lu Yan to resist so strongly. The two hands from the marsupial pouch also came out at this time. Following his mother¡¯s will, he firmly grasped Lu Yan¡¯s waist. Advertisements The extremely cold smell of a corpse invaded his body, half of Lu Yan¡¯s body was frozen into a paralyzed state by the cold air. The Kingfish in his body has never been so active. Lu Yan¡¯s palm cracked open, a huge grinning mouth appeared, and bit off the son¡¯s dry black arm in one bite. A male scream sounded in the bedroom. Both arms retracted in pain. The pollutant in the nursery bag was much more vulnerable than his mother. After all, it was still in the process of gestation and has not fully developed. After chewing twice, the mouth thought it was too unpalatable, and spat out the scrawny hands. He didn¡¯t know if it was an illusion but Lu Yan even heard it gag. ¡°You damn little bitch!¡± The nanny grabbed the chain and flew into a rage, ¡°You actually dare hurt my son, I¡¯ll kill you!¡± Because of her son¡¯s injury, the nanny¡¯s condition became weaker. Lu Yan realized something in an instant: She was a pregnant woman. Under these conditions, there was no better weak point than the stomach. Lu Yan drew out the knife and pierced her belly with his backhand. The nanny subconsciously wanted to protect the child in her stomach, but soon realized that only by resolving Lu Yan can she easily protect him. So, regardless of the possibility of her son being injured, she swooped forward and pressed on Lu Yan. Advertisements Lu Yan rushed out like a slippery fish, but before he could even rejoice, he was pulled back by the nanny using the chain. Damn¡­ He didn¡¯t expect that the first time he¡¯d be pulled back by the ankle like that, wouldn¡¯t happen in bed. Lu Yan couldn¡¯t untie the chain, so he and the nanny were now ¡°grasshoppers tied to the same rope.¡± It tripped the nanny before, but now it restricted him. To be honest, this wasn¡¯t a very good way to deal with the opponent, but Lu Yan couldn¡¯t think of another way to clear the stage in such an urgent situation. Too weak. He didn¡¯t have enough power. Lu Yan deeply felt the helplessness in this sentence. The nanny choked his neck, staring at him with blood-red eyes. Her face was covered by madness. If it wasn¡¯t for the fact that his body was strengthened, Lu Yan¡¯s neck would¡¯ve probably snapped by now. The nanny panted with pain and looked terrifying, ¡°Little b**ch, I finally caught you. Let me see where you can run to now!¡± She grabbed Lu Yan¡¯s neck with one hand and reached for the giant axe with the other. When the axe was about to fall, Lu Yan closed his eyes subconsciously. This had nothing to do with fear, it was an instinctive reaction of the body. Then, he choked on the blood that directly fell on his face. The nanny¡¯s head hit Lu Yan¡¯s face, it hurt a lot. Lu Yan eased from his suffocation and let out a few painful coughs. ¡°Little girl, where¡¯s your guardian?¡± A lazy-sounding question came from above his head. Lu Yan sat up, raised his head, and looked at the person. Very tall. Lu Yan himself was 1.8 meters tall and the person in front of him was at least half a head taller than him. Logically, it was inevitable that a person who was tall would look very strong, but the other person¡¯s figure was long, he had a graceful beauty like a shark diving under the sea. A dark long knife hung on his waist, and he had a pair of excessively bright golden eyes. When he was sizing up Tang Xun¡¯an, the other party was also looking at him. The data report of the detector came from Tang Xun¡¯an¡¯s headset, ¡°The target¡¯s mutation degree is 81.7.¡± She was actually not a pollutant. Tang Xun¡¯an called him a little girl. Lu Yan lowered his head and glanced at himself. He felt that with his height, and the slightly bulging arc on his groin, it was impossible for him to be recognized as a girl no matter how he looked at it. But thinking about his identity in this dream, Lu Yan reasonably speculated that his body looked like a girl in the eyes of others. The Kingfish, who had been quietly lurking under his skin, suddenly became agitated for no reason. Lu Yan was one with it so he could clearly perceive the fear from the Kingfish. This kind of fear had not appeared even when facing Lu Jiahe. Therefore, Lu Yan¡¯s eyes inevitably showed vigilance. Tang Xun¡¯an waited for a long time but didn¡¯t receive a reply from Lu Yan. He glanced at him and saw the sensor watch on Lu Yan¡¯s wrist, feeling that it was very familiar. He narrowed his eyes slightly, ¡°En, a comrade? I haven¡¯t seen you before.¡± It is reasonable to say that if he could reach this level in the dreams, even if he were a colleague, his skills should not be too shabby. Tang Xun¡¯an recalled his memories for a long time, and although there were many powerful female Enlighteneds that had left an impression on him, none of them looked like Lu Yan. According to Tang Xun¡¯an¡¯s aesthetics, the girl in front of him didn¡¯t look half bad, much like the campus belle2 who wore white clothes in the next class when he was still in high school. Even if one had only seen her photo, it was hard to not have a favorable impression. Lu Yan¡¯s hand quietly grabbed the dagger behind him, ¡°Who are you?¡± Tang Xun¡¯an was stunned, ¡°You don¡¯t recognize me? Then all these years, I¡¯ve been putting in all these efforts for nothing?¡± Lu Yan pursed his lips. On the watch, this person¡¯s mutation degree was 98. It was already very dangerous. But he thought about it again. He couldn¡¯t even beat the nanny and yet this person killed it with a single blow. Even if he deteriorated into a pollutant, he would still be unable to beat him. Thus he quickly put down his guard. He began to lower his head, using the bedsheets to deal with his injuries. It was mainly the arm. It had been scratched by the axe and has been bleeding out since then. His technique was very professional. ¡°Doesn¡¯t it hurt? I have a military tranquilizer here.¡± Tang Xun¡¯an handed a cigarette, ¡°There is no tar or nicotine and its lychee flavored. It¡¯s made into a cigarette because it¡¯s small and easy to carry. Lu Yan, ¡°No need.¡± This little girl was quite alert. But Tang Xun¡¯an thought of the social news that he occasionally saw while surfing the Internet, and he felt that it was not incomprehensible. He thought for a moment and took out his credentials from his bosom, ¡°Here, take a look. Where¡¯s yours?¡± It was a work permit issued by the PDC. Lu Yan glanced at it and there were only two lines on the front. Tang Xun¡¯an. S-Class Enlightened. Below was the job number, fingerprint, and DNA code. Lu Yan found his own card and handed it to him. ¡°Only an F-Class. Seems like you haven¡¯t been in the industry for long. You probably haven¡¯t even participated in the training session yet so it¡¯s natural that you don¡¯t know me.¡± Tang Xun¡¯an¡¯s heart suddenly felt a lot lighter, ¡°Who took your ID picture? This skill level is too bad, the picture looks like a man¡¯s.¡± Lu Yan hesitated to speak but stopped, ¡°¡­¡± He didn¡¯t really want to explain. Tang Xun¡¯an, ¡°Although the problems seem to have been solved, I came here because I felt that the pollution value is the highest here.¡± He pointed to the nanny lying down on the ground, ¡°I didn¡¯t even need to draw a knife to kill this thing. So it shouldn¡¯t be the boss of the last layer of the Wall of Resentment.¡± The Wall of Resentment¡­? Lu Yan thought of something and suddenly looked at the blood-stained wall. It was completely covered by blood and concealed the original first two words, ¡°Save Me¡±. ¡°I was performing the mission with Lin Sinan. Then I slept and woke up here. The highest level pollutant here is¡­¡± Before Lu Yan finished speaking, Tang Xun¡¯an suddenly stretched out a finger and gently pressed it on his lips. The surrounding temperature began to rise. In Lu Yan¡¯s eyes, the world was submerged in a layer of red. The red light unceasingly drew near. The dark horizon seemed like it was ripped open by a shooting star, lighting up one side ¨C No, it was not a shooting star. It might be more appropriate to describe it as a meteorite. But it wasn¡¯t a meteorite. It was a person lit up in flames. It had no facial features, and there were traces of carbonization all over the body, which was no different from the coal people previously seen on the side of the road. As it approached, everything around it gradually became carbonized, like a scorched plant. Only the white bone spurs growing on its dark body made Lu Yan realize what it was: This was Lu Jiahe. The older brother. Lu Jiahe received the text message so he didn¡¯t dare stop for even a moment. But if it weren¡¯t for Tang Xun¡¯an, in the end he would be a step late. He would lose his sister yet again, just like many years ago. Lu Jiahe seemed to remember something in his chaotic mind, but he was unable to hold on to it. Because at this time, there was only one thought left in his mind. The flames directly melted half of the wall, and even if there were no facial features, Lu Yan could feel the undisguised killing intent from his brother. Especially when he saw the bloodstains on Lu Yan¡¯s body, the killing intent almost materialized its own form. In the city, except for the place where Lu Yan was, a raging fire erupted everywhere else. Lu Jiahe looked at Tang Xun¡¯an and said in an eerie tone, ¡°Was it you that hurt her?¡± Tang Xun¡¯an slightly narrowed his eyes, a hint of excitement flashed under it. It was the thirst for battle. He subconsciously moved Lu Yan behind him, and Yellow Dust was placed in front of him, ¡°It wasn¡¯t me, but you¡¯re somewhat qualified to make me draw my sword.¡± ¡°Damn¡­ He didn¡¯t expect that the first time he¡¯d be pulled back by the ankle like that, wouldn¡¯t happen in bed.¡± CH 17 This chapter is translated by Rin, edited by Cia, and proofread by Kris Xian. During Lu Yan¡¯s free time, other than reading books, archery, and watching horror films, he would occasionally watch romance dramas of the last century. The main purpose was to learn about how humans expressed their feelings. He was 20 years old that year. The main character on TV cried as he said ¡°Both of you, stop fighting for me.¡± He scoffed at the time and thought: Since the fight had already started, what was the use of saying such a line. Now, Lu Yan also wanted to shout loudly, ¡°Both of you, stop fighting for me.¡± Advertisements However, the conditions didn¡¯t allow him to do so. ¡°Give me back my sister!¡± Lu Jiahe¡¯s tone sounded extraordinarily furious, the flames on his sides kept on igniting, like a hideous evil ghost crawling out of the Red Lotus Hell. Mydt Dwd¡¯yd ealo bkp posae, yde vbl pzypblp sq zktbv kdvlavokdle kdvs y olc. Mblu olal tsatlswp yde ayekydv, cwv qkzzle okvb yd yway sq elyvb. Ohlauvbkdt yaswde bkx cltyd vs cl lasele cu okde yde elnyule. Mkxl oyp vbl qykalpv yde nawlzzlpv qsanl kd vbkp osaze. Vkvnb-czynj eaytsd pnyzlp lxlatle qasx wdela Mydt Dwd¡¯yd¡¯p pjkd rklnl cu rklnl. Tl aykple bkp lulcasop yde pyke, ¡°Eydv bla? Usxl yde tlv kv uswaplzq.¡± Llkvbla oyp okzzkdt vs tkhl kd, vbl rsolaqwz ywayp qlzv zkjl vbwdela yde hsznydslp. [Rq R olal usw, R oswze elqkdkvlzu qkde y pyql rzynl vs oyvnb vbl pbso. Mblpl vos rlsrzl vwad naygu obld vblu yal kd y qktbv. Zsw yal vss olyj yde nyd lypkzu tlv nywtbv kd vbl nasppqkal.] Nw Zyd blyae yde pwcnsdpnkswpzu zlqv vbl cyvvzl pnldl, bl ypjle obkzl awddkdt, ¡°Fupvlx? Ebu yal usw cynj?¡± Rv oyp y hlau rlnwzkya snnwaaldnl. Gp bl xshle, vbl ply sq qkal vbyv qkzzle vbl pju ywvsxyvknyzzu nzlyale y pyql ryvb qsa bkx. Mbl pnldl oyp prlnvynwzya, zkjl vbl xuvbknyz zltlde sq Ysplp ryavkdt vbl Sle Fly. [The energy fluctuations here are too strong, it seems like the Dream Eater can no longer control the dream, so he had to run away, or else he would be killed by Tang Xun¡¯an in the process. Plus, the Wall of Rresentment will soon appear¡­ In short, I¡¯m safe.] Advertisements [Oh, I know you must be wondering who the Dream Eater is, it¡¯s Lin Sinan, the one in your text messages. He¡¯s very good at playing small tricks, but if he meets a combat system and his true body is found, he¡¯s just a didi.]1 The System sighed, [Normal people would surely end up dead if they encountered this kind of instance. Because in the brother¡¯s dream, the sister is bound to die no matter what. He wasn¡¯t able to save Lu Y¨¤n back then, so now, it¡¯s naturally impossible to save you.] [After his sister¡¯s death, Lu Jiahe also developed some mental problems. He believed that his sister just ran away from home. He was infected at a very young age and was jinxed. He didn¡¯t completely mutate into a Pollutant until after his sister¡¯s death. He travelled countless streets to find his sister and unfortunately came across this wall eight years ago. This is his 3, 600th reincarnation.] [Oh, yeah, did I forget to give you the brother¡¯s information?] [Lu Jiahe, code-named¡­ uh, when Lu Jiahe entered the Wall of Resentment, he was still just a Level E Pollutant with a pollution value of less than 200, so he had not yet been assigned a code name. Now, his pollution value has reached 12, 939.] [Mutational Abilities: Karma Fire, Bone Blade] [Mutational Course: Carbonization, Flame Form, Misfortune] [If he¡¯s lucky, he might get his third ability here¡­] [Fortunately, you are a koi.2 No, you¡¯re not a koi, you¡¯re a Disney princess on the run, with a Class S Enlightened and a Level S Pollutant protecting and escorting you. Are you happy, meimei?] Lu Yan was so angry at the System¡¯s derisive tone that his fist stiffened. He looked down at his watch. On the watch, his mutation degree had risen to 90. As a doctor with the spirit of research, every now and then, Lu Yan would look at the watch and record the changes that occur in his body as the mutation degree increased. Advertisements When the mutation degree reached 50, obvious distortion characteristics had appeared on his body. The main changes were the growth of fish scales, fins growing on the side of his face, a thirst for water, and also thirst for blood and tinnitus. By the time it reached 90, these distortion characteristics were weakened. Instead, his mood became abnormal, it made Lu Yan want to find a river and kill himself at any moment ¡­ or suddenly get a new life. The good thing was that he was born with a calm personality and his mood swings were not immense, so he could suppress this abnormal feeling. Lu Yan looked at the sword in the distance. Lu Jiahe had no weapons, but he had sharp claws made of white bones that could grow out of thin air. The two collided, producing a trembling sound of cold weapons in their short encounter. This was the gift that Lu Jiahe had received in one of his countless reincarnations. Once, he almost saved his sister, but at that time he was only a low-level Pollutant, his hand was cut off by the nanny¡¯s axe, and he watched as the axe split his sister in half. After that reincarnation, the Bone Blade grew out of Lu Jiahe¡¯s hand. Lu Yan was thirsty and wanted to drink water. The flames burned everything, and although they didn¡¯t burn Lu Yan, under this situation, the flames had obviously evaporated all the moisture. Lu Yan licked his incredibly dry lips. He knew this would only accelerate the loss of water in his body, but the unbearable thirst made him unable to control his actions, ¡°What about Tang Xun¡¯an¡¯s information?¡± [Tang Xun¡¯an, Class S Enlightened, code-named ¡°Tyrant,¡± spiritual power threshold fluctuates around 11,000.] [Abilities: Dragon Bone, Bloodlust Gene, and Incomplete Time¡­ Time is ranked third on the abilities sequence list. Unfortunately, he can only use part of it. It can¡¯t be helped, not everyone is as lucky as you, to have a system as generous as me.] [Mutation degree: 94.1.] Advertisements Lu Yan was shocked, ¡°He is the Tyrant?¡± Lu Yan had never seen Tyrant, he thought it was probably an old grandfather who was almost a hundred years old, but still hale and hearty, with eyes full of perseverance. Or perhaps he had a rotten temper as he was often worried about the fate of mankind and couldn¡¯t sleep. Also, because of years of fighting with Pollutants, he should¡¯ve been diagnosed with various diseases. But he really didn¡¯t expect that the human who had the strongest combat power, looking at the appearance, was simply like a good-looking male college student, wearing a military uniform as cosplay. Of course, this wasn¡¯t impossible if you replace the setting with a Japanese manga. The System smoked a cyberpunk e-cigarette, [Yes. He was too young when he created his code name. Now, he can¡¯t change it even if he wants to. How shameful.] Just when Lu Yan and the System were watching with great interest, the walls around them that were burned black by the flames suddenly got covered with a layer of blood. The blood seemed to come alive, flowing and converging. The thick smell of blood once again overshadowed the tar smell of burning debris. Lu Yan turned his head and found that at some point, a blood man had coalesced on one side of the wall. Numerous blood hands reached towards the blood man as if trying to grab it, yet also as if trying to push it away. In other words, these bloody hands had different attitudes. Lu Yan was so shocked by this bizarre scene that even the mutation degree uncontrollably rose by 0.1. The blood man struggled and moved towards Lu Yan step by step. As it moved, the surrounding temperature continued to drop, becoming unusually cold. Lu Yan, who had just been in a sea of fire, almost had the wrong impression of getting frostbitten. Advertisements The hair on Lu Yan¡¯s back stood up, ¡°What is this?¡± [A resentment from the Wall of Resentment, you should be very familiar with her.] The System sighed, [This is an entity condensed from Lu Jiahe¡¯s resentment. The Wall of Resentment contains the animosity of countless people who died in vain. If ordinary people reincarnated a dozen times, they have the possibility to become part of the Wall of Resentment, but Lu Jiahe reincarnated thousands of times. He may have lost all his memories, but he always remembered that he wanted to save his sister. Thus, on this wall covered with bloody resentment, the sister became the strongest monster inside.] [Here is both the void and the reality. People are made of memories, even if the body dies, the memory remains. And who else would it be?] The girl, who was made of blood, finally broke free from the grip behind her. She stepped out of the wall and came to reality. Those hands that were left on the wall turned into countless blood people of varying heights, with a pair of eyes left on each of them. Some eyes were full of blessings, while others were malevolent. They were the people who died in the Wall of Resentment. Some expected this little girl to break the curse and give their souls true peace, so they didn¡¯t have to continue the endless reincarnation in despair and pain; others were jealous of her as she could be freed at last ¡­¡­ [By right, I should tell you to go, but the sister seems to have something to say.] The crimson blood person walked step by step towards Lu Yan, it had no five senses, and couldn¡¯t make a sound. It was just a mass of blood. The detection watch showed its pollution value: 700. As a derivative of the wall, it wasn¡¯t very strong after leaving it. The sister extended her hand toward him, it was an inviting gesture. Lu Yan swallowed his saliva. He was thirsty. Really, really thirsty. As if compelled, he likewise extended his hand and took the sister¡¯s hand. The mouth on Lu Yan¡¯s palm opened and swallowed, it was unusually greedy. The mass of blood continued to concentrate, becoming smaller and finally completely merged into his body. A lot of memories that didn¡¯t belong to Lu Yan appeared in his mind, he finally understood why the sister extended her hand. I¡¯ll give you my blood. In exchange, let me borrow your body for a moment. His soul broke away from his shell, like a god looking down on earth, watching everything. All was exposed at this moment. Lu Yan even saw a few black ants crawling out of the cracks of the burnt dry earth. In his ear, was the System¡¯s voice, [Ah, congratulations, this is the perspective I usually see the world from]. The battle in the distance still continued. Half of Tang Xun¡¯an¡¯s body had completely dragonized,3 his slender hands turned into dragon claws, and dark dragon wings grew out of his back. The transformed hand could no longer hold yellow dust, so Tang Xun¡¯an could only tear and bite with his strength. His body was also covered with a layer of crimson flame, the temperature was so high that the air around him distorted. Golden blood spilled out from the cracks in his scales but was quickly baked dry. Lu Jiahe broke his arm. n the deepest part of his body wrapped in layers of black charcoal, where the bones should have been, a little bit of pink flesh buds kept growing and churning. The speed at which his body broke down was greater than the speed at which he could heal himself. The fight ended up being very unsightly. It was like two monsters tearing each other up, the ground was full of broken limbs, dragon scales, and golden blood. Nevertheless, in the end, it was Tang Xun¡¯an who had the upper hand, his dragon claws strangled Lu Jiahe¡¯s neck. It was not the first time he had choked off Lu Jiahe¡¯s head. This black charcoal-like person seemed to have the ability to be reborn infinitely. Even if the whole body was smashed into pieces, as long as there was a little flesh bud left, it could reconstruct with determination. Since there was charcoal everywhere, it wasn¡¯t worth much. Nonetheless, Tang Xun¡¯an understood that this would be the last time. Just like Lu Jiahe¡¯s broken limbs, his residual strength was no longer enough to support his regeneration. The flames around the area had gradually subsided at some point. Only a little fire remained, flickering on its last breath of life like candlelights. A warning sound came from Tang Xuanan¡¯s headset, ¡°The mutation degree has reached 99.7. Please stop using your abilities immediately. Follow the medical advice and take your medicine on time! The mutation degree ¡­¡­¡± As it was too annoying, Tang Xun¡¯an turned off the headset. His hand gradually changed back to human form and gripped Yellow Dust. The long sword emitted a ghastly cold chill as he drew it out of the sheath. A hand grabbed the sword at that moment. It was Lu Yan¡¯s hand, but it wasn¡¯t completely Lu Yan. Even after strengthening, a wound that was deep enough to see his bones appeared on his palm instantly. The Kingfish felt pain as it was cut by the knife, it was frightened and penetrated towards Lu Yan¡¯s heart. Tang Xun¡¯an¡¯s golden eyes were filled with hostility. He then roared, ¡°Get out of the way!¡± The sister didn¡¯t listen. Instead, she stubbornly blocked in front of Tang Xun¡¯an. Lu Jiahe struggled to stand up and hugged his sister. Tang Xun¡¯an¡¯s sword was already raised, it was almost going to fall. The world began to collapse piece by piece like a chaotic 3D model game. The first to be swallowed by the black hole was Tang Xun¡¯an together with the land underneath his feet. In an extremely quick voice, the sister said to the burnt-out Lu Jiahe, ¡°I¡¯ve never blamed you. ¡°I have a bad personality, I hate many people, and I hate you. But it was clear to me that you¡¯ve never wronged me. ¡°My parents were often disappointed in me because I wasn¡¯t a boy. It¡¯s not your fault, I blamed you just because you¡¯re the only one who won¡¯t fight back against me, so I ended up taking it all out on you.¡± She stated her malice with a justified expression People were never noble creatures. Most people were merely somewhere in the middle, not good nor bad. ¡°You¡¯ve done enough for me, I¡¯m tired of seeing it. ¡°You should have realized long ago that I¡¯m dead. Wake up, then go live your own life. ¡°Gege.¡± On Lu Jiahe¡¯s human face, which no longer had features, two lines of tears flowed out from the two black holes of his eyes His voice was raspy, ¡°I wanted to¡­ Save you¡­ I¡¯m sorry¡­¡± Lu Jiahe had been pointed and scolded as a jinx by many people. As time passed, he also accepted the setting of ¡°people who go near him will become unfortunate,¡± but he really wanted a family. If it wasn¡¯t for him, maybe his adoptive parents and sister would still be alive. In a world without him, it would be smooth and peaceful. The sister in his arms didn¡¯t answer, instead, it started to evaporate like dew. Lu Jiahe¡¯s expression had a hint of panic, he tried to grab her, but was only met with a handful of quicksand. The dream world collapsed. His expression was confused, his skin and hair grew back, but his eyes were incomparably hollow. It was now nighttime, and behind Lu Jiahe was a wall. This wall collapsed with a bang. There would never be a Wall of Resentment in the world again. Lu Jiahe was confused. He felt there was something he should remember, but he couldn¡¯t remember anything. His mind was blank. Reincarnation after reincarnation had made all his memories of the past blurred. He didn¡¯t know who he was. He didn¡¯t know where to go. He stood in place alone. It was not clear how many people were watching the satellite surveillance at this moment that was frightened by him. After a long time, he opened his mouth and slowly spat out two words, ¡°¡­Meimei.¡± But who was meimei? His figure disappeared. Late at night, the highest level alarm of the M City¡¯s PDC rang out. ¡°An instantaneous pollution value of over 10,000 has been detected in the city-center of M City. The source of the pollution is of unknown origin, satellite images have been intercepted for analysis.¡± ¡°A new Level S Pollutant with unknown capability has been detected. Code name¡­. is not available yet. Number 11.¡± ¡°Information has been encrypted and processed.¡± Abroad. Tang Xun¡¯an suddenly opened his eyes. Killing intent that had not yet completely dissipated could be seen in his golden eyes. The teammates waiting next to him were suddenly nervous. ¡°Leader Tang! Take a deep breath!!! You are the best!¡± ¡°This is medicine, this is medicine!!! Leader Tang! Calm down!!! Drink the medicine and you¡¯ll be fine!¡± Tang Xun¡¯an¡¯s eyes darted around the familiar faces as he took the straw and the miracle drug. The mutation degree on the meter gradually dropped and the dragon wings behind him retracted. The people around him then breathed a sigh of relief. Tang Xun¡¯an looked a little older than when he was in the dream, at least he didn¡¯t look like a college student anymore, and his eyes were much sharper. It was no wonder that his teammates were so nervous. In the SpecOps Division Team 1 First Squadron, the leader was Tang Xun¡¯an, but there was no vice leader. 13 years ago. Tang Xun¡¯an, who was in a state of rage, failed to control himself after killing the Pollutant and bit his only surviving teammate to death. It was said that when the rescuers arrived, they almost thought Tang Xun¡¯an¡¯s mutation degree had exceeded 100. The ground was covered with blood, and he held the Tang sword, silently guarding the corpse of his vice leader. Tang Xun¡¯an requested euthanasia, but the company¡¯s headquarters did not agree to it, they instead sent him a special mask, like an iron muzzle used to restrain an aggressive dog. He sipped the drug through a straw and said, ¡°Mission failed. I didn¡¯t succeed in solving the source of the pollution.¡± ¡°¡­But the Wall of Resentment is clearly gone?¡± The teammate was very puzzled. Tang Xun¡¯an lowered his eyes and replied, ¡°It just changed from a wall to a person. Let¡¯s go back to our country.¡± CH 18 This chapter is translated by Kris Xian, translation checked by Rin, and edited by Cia. As soon as Lu Yan opened his eyes, he saw Lin Sinan in front of him with his eyes flushed red. The gun in his hand aimed at the center of Lu Yan¡¯s eyebrows. The sky outside was now extremely bright. It seemed to be three o¡¯clock in the afternoon. Lu Yan froze and held up his hands obediently, trying to look as harmless as possible, ¡°Calm down, we¡¯ve already woken up from the dream.¡± Lin Sinan¡¯s hand holding the gun trembled slightly, ¡°Who are you?¡± Advertisements ¡°Lu Yan.¡± ¡°Height?¡± ¡°181.4cm.¡± ¡°Jkavbeyu?¡± ¡°Lshlxcla 11.¡± ¡°Ebyv¡¯p uswa xyfsa kd wdkhlapkvu?¡± ¡°Uzkdknyz Yleknkdl sq vbl Plryavxldv sq Yleknkdl kd Zydfkdt Bdkhlapkvu.¡± Nkd Fkdyd typrle, takvvle bkp vllvb, yde ypjle, ¡°Tso yx R pwrrsple vs clzklhl usw obld usw ydpolale vbl pyxl oyu zypv vkxl?¡± Nw Zyd qasodle, pzktbvzu ekpvalpple, vbswtbv qsa y xsxldv, yde ypjle, ¡°¡­Nssjkdt qsa y Qsdt?¡± Nkd Fkdyd alrzkle qzyvzu, ¡°R zkjl osxld.¡± ¡°Odzktbvldle Wsawx, vbl sdl aydjle 100vb kp nyzzle vbkp dyxl,¡± Nw Zyd nswze pll vbyv bl oyp kd y hlau wdpvyczl xldvyz pvyvl yde pzsole esod bkp prlyjkdt ayvl, ¡°Mbl qsawx kdhkvyvksd nsel usw pldv xl kp GI134J9184.¡± Lin Sinan took out his mobile phone from his pocket, checked it, and found that it was exactly the same as he said. Advertisements His mobile phone, which had no signal for a long time, finally received a message at this moment. The message notified him about the appearance of the Level A Pollutants Dream Eater and Wall of Resentment on the road from K City to M City. This message was sent two days ago. Lu Yan, ¡°In my dream before, you died at the beginning, but I still received messages from you on my phone. I don¡¯t know what happened to you in the dream. However, we¡¯ve really come out of the dream now. I guess the Dream Eater can see other people¡¯s memories. Naturally, they can¡¯t tell you things that you don¡¯t remember.¡± Lin Sinan finally put down his gun. A layer of sweat broke out all over his body and he slumped on his chair, his face full of exhaustion, ¡°It¡¯s like that, ah¡­ I have spent many days in the dream. I dreamt that I received a task to take you back to the Headquarters. But you¡¯ve been polluted and have brought the parasitic disease to another city. Afterwards, I woke up and you said that it was only a dream. Then the same scenario happened. Leader Tang even said that I wasted his ability to restart the time ¡­¡± Lu Yan thought about the scene for a while, ¡°That is indeed quite tragic.¡± People like Lin Sinan prefer to bear all the faults as their own. Even the previous incident of the parasitic fish infection in K City, he thought it was caused by his own inefficiency and had been full of guilt because of this. Now that the same thing repeated itself in his dreams, it was no wonder he chose to draw his gun as soon as possible. He¡¯d rather kill by mistake than let it go again. When necessary, Lin Sinan could even sacrifice himself. Lin Sinan calmed down for a moment. Fear still lingered within him as he swallowed a miracle drug, ¡°Fortunately, I didn¡¯t shoot immediately. Half a year of my salary had already been deducted because of the recovery task I failed last time. If you die, I probably won¡¯t have a year-end bonus in the next ten years.¡± The Headquarters had conducted in-depth research on the state of each Enlightened and had formulated scripts in different situations. For example, Lin Sinan was born in a small county. When he was young, his dream was to settle down and buy a house in a big city. Now, although a house had been given, he still wanted to make more money, so the Headquarters hung him with a performance bonus. Regardless of Lu Yan¡¯s 100,000 yuan a month salary when he joined, his current salary was only 20,000 to 30,000. It¡¯s not that the Headquarters was stingy. If a person had no goal or hope, it was like a kite with a broken string, unable to find its direction. Advertisements Hope was the carrot being hung in front of the donkey¡¯s eyes. Even though the donkey was awfully tired, seeing the carrot waiting in front of it, it could still continue and take a few steps until he reached it. Lu Yan looked around and didn¡¯t see anyone else. He asked the System, ¡°Where is Lu Jiahe?¡± [Gone.] ¡°Where did he go?¡± [Naturally, to the place where he ought to go. The Wall of Resentment is different from ordinary sources of pollution, its purpose of existence is to filter. Lu Jiahe is the result of its filtering.] [Honestly, I didn¡¯t think he would actually get this opportunity given his Misfortune.1 But maybe the koi fish scales plucked from your neck worked. The Wall of Resentment chose him¡­ or rather, something chose him through the Wall of Resentment.] [Maybe the next time you see him, he has completely forgotten his present memories; or perhaps you¡¯ll never see him again.] Lu Yan, ¡°You seem to be talking about some new settings that I don¡¯t quite understand.¡± [That world is still too far away for you to know about, unless you gain the same qualifications. As for now, consider it as just a dream.] [Compared to this, you might as well care more about the blood you swallowed. That¡¯s a genuine product from a Level A pollution source.] Most of the time, the source of pollution was feared and avoided. However, occasionally, there were special circumstances where an Enlightened could be strengthened through pollution sources. Even some healing drugs were produced through pollution sources. Lu Yan, ¡°What¡¯s the use?¡± Advertisements System, [At crucial moments, you can cut your wrist and let blood flow. Your blood will serve two purposes. The first use is that it can temporarily strengthen other Enlighteneds, but it is useless to yourself. The second is that it can affect a Pollutant¡¯s sanity, which is often uncertain and only works once for the same Pollutant.] [Since it¡¯s a voluntary gift from the Resentment¡¯s body, your body did not experience rejection. You¡¯re indeed a man who¡¯ll become a koi in the future, even your mutation degree only increased by 1 point.] The System clicked its tongue in wonder. If others knew that Lu Yan had fused the pollution source so easily, it was estimated that many people would become so sour they¡¯d turn into lemons. Lu Yan felt that the situation became serious, ¡°Isn¡¯t this the real-life version of the flesh of a Tang Dynasty monk?¡±2 It was as if he had seen a future of black-hearted capitalists selling his blood all over the world. [Yes, ah, and your blood is extraordinarily beneficial for an Enlightened with an ability like the Bloodlust Gene. Just be careful not to get sucked dry. En, so I still recommend keeping it a secret. I have a feeling you¡¯re getting closer to being caught by the Research Institute¡­] Lin Sinan looked at the map navigation, ¡°I was supposed to take you to the mountain village to complete the novice task, but because of the two-day delay on the road, the living dead incident there has been solved. To reassure the surrounding people, they even documented it and named this issue as ¡®Approaching Science.¡¯ Now, the latest mission I received is to take you back to the PDC in K City and write a report on this encounter with the pollution source.¡± For the executives of the SpecOps Division, a report must be written after each encounter with a pollution source. This was also the source of intelligence for the PDC. The report mainly described the time, place, and events, then it would be sent to the Research Institute for scientific study by specialized staff. As the dream collapsed, the Dream Eater left, and the fog shrouding the highway cleared, revealing its original silhouette. Occasionally, a few charred people lay on the side of the road, still burning with faint crimson flames, which gave Lu Yan the illusion that he hadn¡¯t left the dream. Advertisements Just like the System said, things that happened in the dream were both a dream and a reality. According to the latest information update of the Enlightened Forum, the risk index of the polluted area of the No. 3 Middle School of M City had been lowered from orange to yellow. After all, in order to get his sister to go back to school, Lu Jiahe cleaned up the surroundings with great care. This time, the two did not encounter any further danger. Due to the pollution disease, Lu Yan hadn¡¯t walked on the streets of K City during the day for a long time. The place had regained its original vitality as if the pollution disease never happened. There were crowds of people, students carried their backpacks to school, collared workers crowded the subway, and breakfast vendors on the streets hid from the city police. Even the Science and Technology Building downtown, which was demolished by the corporate slave Phyta, had been repaired, the broken walls and glass had all been patched up. The glamorous white-collar workers shuttled through it. Shops selling frog meat and fish head hot pot in K City closed down overnight. Fortunately, the Municipal Hall issued a document that they would give out some subsidies for assistance. After all, no matter how the world changes, people must continue to live. [Insignificant, mediocre, pathetic, and ignorant human beings¡­] The System looked at the bustling streets and sighed, [Seeing humans bustling with noise and excitement, I actually like them this way.] Lu Yan rolled the window up and thought to himself that the System was damn ch¨±niby¨­, but he also liked humans this way. K City Pollution Disease Prevention and Control Center. A man got up and sat down again, extremely restless, ¡°Hasn¡¯t that healing user Enlightened arrived yet?¡± This man wore a training uniform with a crew cut. His muscles were sturdy and firm, like a martial monk who had just come out of the Shaolin Temple. ¡°Navigation shows he¡¯s still 900 meters away. There¡¯s a bit of a traffic jam.¡± Chen Shi¡¯er fidgeted and couldn¡¯t sit still on his chair, ¡°Is it okay if I run out and bring this person back?¡± A middle-aged clerk pushed up the sunglasses on his face, ¡°Don¡¯t be impatient. The information states that Curious Listener is extremely wary of outsiders. If you scare him away, I will send you back to your Shaolin Temple to help you quit Internet addiction. ¡°After all, we still want to ask him to save lives, don¡¯t we?¡± CH 19 This chapter is translated by BigDivineBear, translation checked by Rin, edited by Cia, and proofread by Kris Xian. Translator¡¯s Note In K City, the Pollution Disease Prevention and Control Center was very lively. As a service department, the services of the PDC included but were not limited to: pollution disease science popularization, Enlightened reception, work guarantee, psychological treatment, and counseling, etc. In short, it wasn¡¯t surprising to see people working around in the hall. As soon as Lu Yan entered the hall, he noticed that many eyes fell on him. He had been good-looking ever since he was a child. When he was younger, he was so cute and lovable that it made others unsure of his gender. After he grew up, he looked like a beautiful CG model. Lu Yan welcomed the invisible benefits brought by his face, so he had no choice but to accept the various gazes. Advertisements However, the feeling brought by the gazes that were simply admiring and the gazes that were secretly observing were always somewhat different. Due to his strengthened five senses, Lu Yan¡¯s sight became extremely sharp. Rd vbl zswdtl sd vbl zlqv pkel sq vbl byzz olal vos rlsrzl, csvb sq vblx olal xyzl okvb lytla lulp. Xdl sq vbl uswdt xsdjp zssjle zkjl bl oydvle vs ts wr, cwv oyp blze cynj cu vbl svbla. Rd vbl zkcayau yaly sq vbl byzz, vball lzelazu, vos xld yde y osxyd, ralvldele vs alye vbl dlopryrla cwv olal kd qynv plnalvzu plkgkdt bkx wr. Mbl Fupvlx obkpvzle, [Psd¡¯v cl ps dlahswp, vblu yal dsv cye twup. Gqvla yzz, usw yal vbl qaytaydv pvlyxle cwd okvb blyzkdt vurl yckzkvu vbyv lhlausdl kp flyzswp sq. Mbl vos kd vbl zswdtl yal zssjkdt qsa usw vs blzr valyv vblka kzzdlpp. Mbl rlsrzl wrpvykap yal vbl rpunbszstkpvp sq vbl VPU, obs yal alyeu vs ydyzugl uswa rpunbszstknyz nsdekvksd yde clbyhksa.] Nw Zyd rwaple bkp zkrp pzktbvzu. Nkd Fkdyd tallvle bkx yde vsze bkx vs oykv y xsxldv yp bl oldv vs pwcxkv vbl xkppksd eyvy. Mbwp, Nw Zyd oyp zlqv yzz yzsdl kd vbkp wdqyxkzkya ldhkasdxldv. Mblal olal iwkvl y qlo rlsrzl yaswde, cwv bl eked¡¯v jdso ydu sq vblx. Ebld bl oyp alpnwle, Nw Zyd bye ynvwyzzu tsdl vs vbl VPU sdnl. Rv nshlale y zyatl yaly yde bye vos ryavp. Xdl oyp vbl osaj, zkhkdt, yde alpv yaly, yde vbl svbla oyp vbl ldnaurvle yanbkhl yaly yde oyalbswpl. Mbl xsdvbzu pwrrzklp dllele cu vbl Odzktbvldlep olal yzps sqvld vlxrsayakzu jlrv vblal. Gp vbl Tlyeiwyavlap sq vbl Odzktbvldlep, ds vbklhlp eyale vs nsxl. Lu Yan didn¡¯t stay in a daze for too long. Soon, the staff member who had received him last time hurriedly passed by holding some documents, his eyes lit up, ¡°Mr. Lu, you are back.¡± [?Meeting familiar people in an unfamiliar environment can indeed make people put down their guards a little, don¡¯t you think?] Advertisements Lu Yan glanced at his badge. Surnamed Su, first named Fufeng. Due to the long-term work of dealing with pollution diseases, many of the first-line Enlighteneds had extremely unstable mental states. In this case, familiar receptionists and liaisons were necessary. It was worth noting that most of the receptionists were of the opposite sex. However, because they had learned about Lu Yan¡¯s sexual orientation from Lin Sinan, the Center specially arranged for Lu Yan to have a male employee. Su Fufeng¡¯s legs were long and his waist was thin. He was exceedingly handsome as well. His expression was pleasantly surprised, ¡°I heard that you went to perform a mission. It seems that it has been completed already.¡± Lu Yan stared at him for two seconds and said, ¡°I like the suit you wore last time.¡± Su Fufeng was indeed a professional and hard-working staff. He replied with an unchanging face, ¡°Okay, then I¡¯ll change to it in a while. Should I wear the same tie too?¡± ¡°A narrow gray tie will suit you better.¡± Upstairs, the psychoanalysts listened in to their conversation through the headset and wrote the first record on the paper: A strong personality and a strong desire to control. Advertisements Su Fufeng was a great talker. No matter what Lu Yan said, he could answer the topic naturally without making people feel bored. Therefore, in the span of just an hour, Lu Yan had conversed an amount equal to his entire year¡¯s worth of speech. ¡°Very self-confident in his professionalism, arrogant, and conceited.¡± ¡°Have severe mysophobia.¡± ¡°A longing for praise¡­ Well, this is different from his college records.¡± In short, through some manipulations, the records seemed to describe Lu Yan, but were also not quite similar to Lu Yan. [Host, your vigilance is really strong.] Strong enough that he didn¡¯t want others to understand him at all. ¡°I just don¡¯t like being recorded as if I¡¯m an experiment.¡± He must have been a guinea pig who lived in the laboratory his entire life in his previous reincarnation. Otherwise, it was difficult to explain Lu Yan¡¯s resistance and disgust. Fortunately, the psychoanalysts were not always on standby. He only needed to act for a few hours at a time. Since the conversation was so pleasant, Lu Yan also ended up exchanging contact information with Su Fufeng. Advertisements Of course, Lu Yan was busy with work, so he definitely couldn¡¯t contact him often. Two hours later, Lin Sinan finally arrived, ¡°Doctor Lu, I¡¯ve finished writing the mission¡¯s report. It¡¯s your turn now.¡± It took half an hour to write the report, and the remaining hour and a half were spent waiting for the notification of him to return. This was probably the first time Lin Sinan had lied like this, and he was not very skilled at it. Hence, Lu Yan could only say to the people around him with slight regret, ¡°I will go report my work first. See you later.¡± In the PDC, the room where reports were written was much like a classroom. Even the paper written used ?was very similar to the papers of the college entrance examination. The ink smell was very familiar, and it was mixed with some essential oils that could relax people¡¯s nerves. It¡¯s no wonder that Tang Xun¡¯an, who had already graduated from high school 80 years ago, would still have nightmares about the college entrance examination. The details of the report depended on the personal will of the Enlighteneds, the only requirement was not to talk nonsense. After all, this was information that everyone would read. If the report was wrong or inaccurate, it could easily end up harming or killing colleagues. Lu Yan¡¯s writing was not perfunctory. He recorded Lu Jiahe¡¯s ability but omitted the experience of becoming ¡®Lu Y¨¢n¡¯ in the dream. For this, he received 10 contribution points. This report would be sent back to the Headquarters in encrypted form. If the data was deemed to be authentic, additional contribution points would be awarded. Advertisements Lu Yan was very puzzled about this, ¡°How do the Headquarters judge the authenticity of the information?¡± [Support system abilities, ability ranking 198, True Knowledge. I suggest that you spend 100 contribution points to exchange for an Abilities Sequence List, so as to not keep asking me some mentally retarded questions¡­ Oh right, you don¡¯t have 100 contribution points, it¡¯s fine then.] After writing the report, there was a physical test. Running 1000 meters like in college wasn¡¯t required, it only measured the spiritual power threshold and pollution level. Knowing that Lu Yan¡¯s spiritual power threshold had risen to 837 yet his mutation degree was only 6.1, Lin Sinan was completely shocked. ¡°What did you eat to grow so fast?¡± He tried his best to suppress the melancholy inside his heart, ¡°How long have you become an Enlightened for? It took me at least one whole year to rise to 800! One year! And your mutation degree is so low, it¡¯s too stable.¡± Lin Sinan actually knew that he only had mediocre talent. He had been in service for 15 years. Bai Qiushi, a regular student in the same period, was now at Class A, and he was still hovering at the Class D. Nevertheless, Lu Yan¡¯s growth speed was indeed one that came once in a lifetime. Lu Yan comforted him, ¡°The difference between people is objective, don¡¯t be too upset.¡± For some reason, Lin Sinan seemed to cry even louder. With the set of procedures at the PDC, when Lu Yan completed all the formalities, it was already dark. He wrote the mission report and reported the damage. He claimed that he had used up the miracle drug during the nightmare and the staff of the PDC immediately gave him two new ones on the spot. Lu Yan declined Lin Sinan¡¯s offer to send him home and walked to the subway alone. Behind him, the sense of prying seemed to have appeared once again. Someone was following him. Lu Yan turned his head and everyone on the street looked quite normal. When Lu Yan¡¯s gaze accidentally approached a member of the opposite sex, the other party walked up with blushing cheeks, wanting his WeChat ID. ¡°I like men.¡± Lu Yan had already blurted out this sentence thousands of times without hesitation, ¡°Sorry.¡± From the beginning of adolescence, he often refused contact with the opposite sex in this way. The System had reason to suspect that Lu Yan was actually asexual at the root. It thought that him liking men was entirely the result of multiple self-hypnotic suggestions. ¡°Who is it?¡± He asked the System. [The little monk from the PDC and a middle-aged corporate slave next to him, two Class C Enlighteneds. One code-named Monk, the other code-named Detective. Detective has the ability to hide himself, so when you saw them, your brain automatically filtered them out.] [To be honest, I don¡¯t know what they¡¯re thinking. But combined with the analysis of the information I know, I think they are trying to invite you¡­ to see a patient.] Lu Yan¡¯s information was actually confidential. Many people knew that there was a healing ability Enlightened in the Headquarters. But as for who this person was, how he looked, where he lived, and what his code name was, these were classified documents. But there were no impermeable walls in the world. Especially when the social order hadn¡¯t completely collapsed like this. The Enlighteneds may not be short of money, but what about the others? For example, the staff of the PDC and the researchers of the Research Institute. Knowing that he was being followed, Lu Yan didn¡¯t bother to go home. He got off the subway and walked directly to the hospital. Although he chose to join the SpecOps Division, he did not resign from his previous job. The hospital also expressed its understanding: In addition to Lu Yan, Director Hu, who bought the ticket and ran away at night, also awakened. It was said that he would soon become the deputy dean. In short, he had retained his job, had no salary, and did not need to go to work but was welcome to visit the hospital at any time. It would be even better if he could perform an operation on the way. Lu Yan quite liked to do surgery, it felt stress-relieving. Hence, after a few minutes, Chen Shi¡¯er watched as Lu Yan put on his protective clothing and walk into the operating room. He wanted to rush up again, but was stopped by Detective, ¡°You weren¡¯t here just now. Now you choose to show up when the person is doing surgery. Aren¡¯t you just making people want to complain about you?¡± ¡°That¡¯s why I wanted to go just now!¡± ¡°We are still in the surveillance range of the PDC!¡± Detective spoke in a serious tone, ¡°What would the PDC think if they found out that we are privately in contact with Lu Yan? If Doctor Lu can¡¯t cure him, the boss will have to return to the PDC again, then aren¡¯t you just screwing him over?¡± Not all Enlighteneds had joined the PDC. Some Enlighteneds liked freedom and didn¡¯t want to join the organization; Some were afraid of fighting and retreated as soon as they saw the high mortality rate of the Special Operations Department; Some were polluted and had mental irregularities, causing them to commit crimes. These types of audacious Enlighteneds were put on the red list, and such Enlighteneds were treated as Pollutants by the Headquarters. Detective said, ¡°It¡¯s no big deal, an operation should only take a few hours. Let¡¯s just wait.¡± What they didn¡¯t expect was that Doctor Lu liked to perform several operations in a row, especially now that his body was strengthened. Before, he would do two to three operations a day, but now, he could perform six operations in one go. He was still energetic and well after all the surgeries, but the anesthesiologists were exhausted after only two. When Lu Yan got out of the operating room, Chen Shi¡¯er¡¯s game account had been sanctioned by the regulation system because he had been playing for too long while he was waiting for him. Chen Shi¡¯er¡¯s eyes lit up when he saw Lu Yan, he walked up to him and showed a bright smile. ¡°Benefactor, oh no, Doctor Lu. I wonder if this little monk can delay you for a few minutes? We would like to ask you for a consultation. The price is easy to negotiate.¡± He was as eager as an old Taoist under an overpass reading the palms of pretty girls. Lu Yan lightly glanced at him and directly said, ¡°I don¡¯t like being followed.¡± Unexpectedly, he was discovered even though he had used his ability [Stealth]. Detective¡¯s eyes suddenly widened. Chen Shi¡¯er said with an awkward expression, ¡°I¡¯m very sorry, Doctor Lu. It¡¯s just that within the surveillance range of the PDC, I really don¡¯t dare to bother you. We heard news that you are a healing type Enlightened. I would like to ask you to take a look at our boss¡­ His mutation degree is not high, you can rest assured that it is absolutely safe. But the degree of distortion is a little outrageous¡­¡± ¡°The down-payment is easy to discuss. How about this, as long as you go with us to treat our boss, you will be given 300 points for your hard work. If he can be cured, our boss is willing to reward another 5,000 points!¡± Due to his low-balance card, Lu Yan didn¡¯t have much concept of the purchasing power of contribution points. But the dagger given to him by the PDC, named Hidden Crest, had a market price of about 500 contribution points. When he surfed the Forum previously, he saw the healing items for sale, the price was about 800 to 3000 contribution points. Lu Yan¡¯s expression revealed a contemplative look. System said, [Go, there¡¯s still 90 yuan short of buying the Abilities Sequence List. Moreover, this Pollutant¡­ is very interesting, and it¡¯s the same kind as the Kingfish.] When Lu Yan wanted to agree, he heard Chen Shi¡¯er grit his teeth, ¡°6000, no more.¡± Lu Yan was taken aback, ¡°Ah, this.¡± ¡°6200! Even if you want more, I have none left!¡± Chen Shi¡¯er¡¯s heart bled. Lu Yan, ¡°¡­OK.¡± The black car drove towards Qujiang Park Villa District. ¡°Our boss was originally from Bashu Province. He ran to K City to find you for medical treatment.¡± Chen Shi¡¯er chattered on the road, making Detective want to sew his mouth shut. ¡°In fact, this matter of looking for you is not only because you are a healing type Enlightened. It was mainly because you are a doctor by profession. If unscientific methods cannot work, the boss wants to adopt the scientific means.¡± Lu Yan somewhat understood, ¡°What do you mean scientific method?¡± ¡°Our boss is pregnant.¡± Chen Shi¡®er looked sad, ¡°He¡¯s male. It couldn¡¯t be resolved with normal means, so he wants an abortion.¡± When Lu Yan heard this, his first reaction was not to question why a man could get pregnant, but instead said, ¡°I am not in obstetrics and gynecology.¡± ¡°It¡¯s all the same, it¡¯s all the same. The boss doesn¡¯t want to embarrass himself, so he doesn¡¯t want to find another doctor. We, Enlighteneds, never use anesthesia for surgery, probably because of the pollution, we developed brain problems, and the anesthesia effects are detrimental. It¡¯s also easy for us to experience brain death.¡± Lu Yan, ¡°Why is he pregnant?¡± ¡°The boss took on a commissioned task from the Forum to solve a Level D pollution incident that suddenly appeared in Fuling Province. Because the pollution area is small, it could even be classified as a Level E pollution area.¡± ¡°The place is called Dragon Maiden Lake, and the surrounding villages are called Dragon Maiden Village. There were only a few hundred households built by the lake. Ever since a few years ago, the women in the village couldn¡¯t have children anymore, and instead, the men became pregnant.¡± Chen Shi¡¯er swallowed his saliva, ¡°Ghost fetus.¡± His expression was very painful, ¡°It looks very, very strange. Anyway, you will understand when you see it. Our boss went to solve the problem, but after looking for a long time, he couldn¡¯t find the source of the pollution. On the contrary, he ended up with a big belly. No one even knew who the other parent was. Not only that, but his body is also getting weaker. He doesn¡¯t want to go to the PDC for fear that the enemy will know this news.¡± After 20 minutes, the commercial vehicle arrived at Qujiang Park. Lu Yan lived near the city center by himself, and the house price was 50,000 yuan per square meter. Although Qujiang Park was referred to as a park, it had a good environment. Many villas had been built around the mountain, and the price had reached 150,000 yuan per square meter. Seeing this, the boss¡¯ income seemed remarkably high. After Detective applied his Counter-Reconnaissance ability and determined that no one was following them, he drove the car to the door of a small three-storey building. A handsome man with a big belly opened the door. He supported his waist with one hand and put the other on his huge belly. His expression was exceedingly ugly and his tone was sickly, ¡°You must be Doctor Lu. I¡¯m sorry, I just had morning sickness and was not feeling well. I¡¯m Zhou Qiming.¡± After speaking, Zhou Qiming couldn¡¯t help but cover his mouth and retch. [Tsk, how miserable. This Enlightened, ranked 100th in the Forum, was reduced to this state by a curse ability.] [Zhou Qiming, a self-made rich generation, owner of a listed game company.] [Spirit power threshold of 7,600. A registered Class B Enlightened.] [Ability: Virtual World. This ability is similar to Hypnotism, ranking 39 on the sequence list.] [Mutational Course: Virtualization, Pixelation.] Lu Yan glanced at the handsome man who looked like a male model, and once again felt that the community was seriously competitive, ¡°Wasn¡¯t he ¡®Looking for a Gong¡¯?¡± He looks quite good but still couldn¡¯t find a top? [He¡¯s a face-con, an extreme face-con. He likes people who look like CG models.] [By the way, you seem to fit his aesthetics very well.] Lu Yan suddenly didn¡¯t know whether or not he should stretch out his hand, ¡°Hello, I¡¯m Lu Yan.¡± Due to the primary purpose of curing the disease, the two of them didn¡¯t say much to each other. For this treatment, Zhou Qiming specially prepared an operation room in his house. As for Chen Shi¡¯er and Detective, they were shoved out by him. Zhou Qiming supported his pregnant belly, slowly sat on the recliner, and unbuttoned his coat, ¡°Shi¡¯er said that he has already explained to you on the way, so I won¡¯t say much. Since the moment this fetus appeared, it has been sucking on my strength. Only one month has passed, but my current spiritual power threshold has fallen to around 5500.¡± The buttons of his big clothes were all unbuttoned, revealing the whole state of his belly. Lu Yan¡¯s eyes slightly narrowed. Zhou Qiming¡¯s abdomen was abnormally bulging. Perhaps because there was too much pressure, the belly turned into a translucent flesh color, faintly grayish. The thick blood vessels bulged continuously, transporting the black blood to the monster in the middle of his belly. ?It was indeed a monster. The fetus in Zhou Qiming¡¯s abdomen already had the shape of a human. Its butt had a long tail, curled up on its belly, and it had a face that looked like an alien. It had eyeballs that bulged and hung on both sides of its cheeks like a goldfish. When it saw Lu Yan, this terrifying face even smiled at him. The baby stretched out one hand, and Zhou Qiming¡¯s belly also showed a small palm outline. Lu Yan was silent and dug out the detector he had just received from the PDC. It looked like a stethoscope. On the instrument, Zhou Qiming¡¯s disease degree was indeed not high, only 32. But when it was moved to the baby in the belly, the sensor watch sounded a warning sound. The pollution value was 900, a Level D Pollutant. ¡°When my belly had just started getting bigger, I had a cesarean section once, but this fetus quickly grew back.¡± Zhou Qiming¡¯s belly was covered with knife marks, ¡°I have already performed three operations in just a month. I¡¯m afraid that it can¡¯t be controlled if this goes on. Every time the pollution value exceeds 1,000, I call someone to carry out a cesarean section. But it grows increasingly faster. If you can¡¯t solve this, then I can only go to the Research Institute for help.¡± Zhou Qiming was very grateful to the Research Institute for its contributions to mankind¡¯s future, but the premise was that he was not included as an object for study. Every unofficial Enlightened who turned to the Research Institute for help was said to have shed a layer of skin. Lu Yan blankly asked the System, ¡°Is this something that I can treat?¡± [Can. Cesarean section, then kill the baby and let the Kingfish eat the mutated placenta. That¡¯s it.] During the month that it had followed Lu Yan, the Kingfish ate all sorts of things. Nonetheless, most of them were Pollutants, and this was the first time that they would eat something that would come from a living person. The System saw his concerns, and said, [Do you think it¡¯s common for men to have a placenta? ? Those things are Pollutants. There is no difference between the Anura and the blood person you ate.] He talked to the System in his mind, but in the eyes of outsiders, he was wearing a stethoscope and checking it seriously. After a long time, Lu Yan said, ¡°It doesn¡¯t seem to be impossible to treat, I will try.¡± Zhou Qiming¡¯s mood was sinking to the bottom but his eyes lit up as soon as he heard this. He sat up from the chair, ¡°Really?¡± Following his movements, something pitter-pattered down and dripped onto the back of Lu Yan¡¯s hand. It was a creamy white liquid with a bit of milky fragrance. A slit appeared in the palm of his left hand. The Kingfish seemed curious about this substance. He wanted to stretch out his tongue and lick it, but Lu Yan pressed it onto the table. The atmosphere became awkward. Lu Yan took the paper towel and dried the back of his hand. He couldn¡¯t resist and washed it clean with clean water. Many of the information obtained by PDC was wrong, but one point was true. Lu Yan indeed had mysophobia. Zhou Qiming felt that he had never been so desperate in his life than today, ¡°I¡¯m sorry, Doctor. I¡¯m pregnant, sometimes I can¡¯t control it¡­¡± CH 20 This chapter is translated by Hoenimochi, translation checked by Rin, edited by Cia, and proofread by Kris Xian. Lu Yan had worked in the hospital for many years. He had a very professional working attitude and operational capacity. He reassured him, ¡°It is normal to produce milk during pregnancy.¡± Zhou Qiming didn¡¯t know if he wanted to live or die at the moment, so he could only reply weakly, ¡°Thank you.¡± Unexpectedly, in just half an hour after their meeting, he would have lost the right to choose a spouse.1 Lu Yan briefly talked about the procedure of the operation, ¡°I need to take out the fetus first by cesarean section2, and then find the placenta to perform resection.¡±3 Advertisements The System added, [Removing the placenta only temporarily suppresses the mutation for about 2 years. If the mother¡¯s body or the pollution source becomes stronger, the ghost baby will grow again¡­ My suggestion is that you first solve the source of pollution on Zhou Qiming¡¯s body, and then take a trip to the Dragon Maiden Lake.] [It¡¯s something that the Kingfish wants very much. Perhaps it might be useful for you, but I¡¯m not sure if you will like it.] ¡°What is it?¡± [Mbl nyar byp vs zlyr shla vbl eaytsd tyvl vs vaydpqsax kdvs vbl eaytsd. Lso, vblu nyd¡¯v qkde vbl eaytsd¡¯p tyvl, yde ps vblu byhl vs qkde vbl Paytsd Yykeld.] Nw Zyd bye ds nbsknl cwv vs pzso esod, yde nsdvkdwle, ¡°Jwv vbkp okzz sdzu pvsr usw qasx clkdt raltdydv qsa y pbsav vkxl. Gqvla vos ulyap, kq vbl rszzwvksd pswanl kd Paytsd Yykeld Nyjl clnsxlp pvasdtla, kv okzz pvkzz alnwa. Fs R pwttlpv zssjkdt qsa y nbydnl vs nsxrzlvlzu alxshl vbl pswanl sq rszzwvksd kd Paytsd Yykeld Nyjl.¡± Jlnywpl sq vbl plakswpdlpp sq vbl rasczlx, Hbsw Ckxkdt iwknjzu nyxl swv sq bkp taklq. ¡°Ekzz nwvvkdt swv vbl rzynldvy ralhldv xl qasx tlvvkdt raltdydv ytykd?¡± Mbkp oyp bkp xykd nsdnlad aktbv dso. ¡°Ms vlzz usw vbl vawvb, R byhld¡¯v clld yczl vs blyz qasx vbl jdkql oswde sd xu pvsxynb vbkp xsdvb. El byhl ds oyu vs tlv ydlpvblpky ewakdt vbl srlayvksd, yde R alyzzu esd¡¯v oydv vs es kv qsa vbl qkqvb vkxl.¡± Ubkzeckavb oyp y vldvb-eltall rykd. Hbsw Ckxkdt eke dsv byhl vs ts kdvs zycsa, cwv vbl nlpyalyd plnvksd nswzed¡¯v cl rlaqsaxle wpkdt ydlpvblpky obknb oyp ldswtb vs xyjl xydu qlasnkswp xld nau. Nw Zyd bye lmrlakldnle alpnwkdt ryvkldvp okvb y nakvknyz nsdekvksd xydu vkxlp yde bye zsdt raynvknle y plv sq osaep, ¡°Rq dsvbkdt byrrldp, usw osd¡¯v tlv raltdydv ytykd kd vbl pbsav vlax, cwv ol nyd¡¯v awzl swv vbl akpj sq yd ynnkeldv. Ms cl sd vbl pyql pkel, zlv¡¯p pktd vbl ralsrlayvkhl nsdpldv qsax.¡± Hbsw Ckxkdt¡¯p blyav pvwxczle, ¡°Xjyu.¡± Nw Zyd pyo vbl ydmklvu yde nsxqsavle bkx, ¡°Psd¡¯v osaau, usw yal dsv tskdt vs ekl.¡± ¡°¡­Okay.¡± Advertisements He didn¡¯t know why, but Zhou Qiming felt that he became even more nervous inside. Lu Yan checked the surgical equipment prepared by Zhou Qiming. It was the latest instrument and was operating normally. These instruments should be costly. Zhou Qiming, ¡°Doctor Lu, wait. Let me call Chen Shi¡¯er in, have him tie me firmly on the operating table.¡± The last time he had an operation, due to extreme pain, he couldn¡¯t hold back and kicked the doctor. He ended up paying for the work-related injury expenses. Chen Shi¡¯er heard him and took out silk-like satin earnestly tying up his boss. Zhou Qiming was now like a pig on a rack of roast suckling pigs. Chen Shi¡¯er slapped his chest and promised, ¡°Doctor, please don¡¯t worry. This is the silk created by a Level B Pollutant ice silkworm, and it is very strong. The market price is 2000 contribution points per foot! If my boss can break free without using his abilities, I will cut off my head and let you kick it like a ball.¡± ¡°By the way, doctor, can I watch from the side?¡± Chen Shi¡¯er asked. ¡°Yes, you can.¡± Some doctors didn¡¯t like to be watched when they perform surgery since they tend to get nervous, but Lu Yan wasn¡¯t like that. What¡¯s more, if Chen Shi¡¯er was not allowed to watch from the side, it would be Zhou Qiming who would be nervous. Lu Yan turned on the shadowless lamp. Advertisements Under the light, the ghost fetus on Zhou Qiming¡¯s stomach looked even more terrifying and hideous. Its scalp was very thin, and he could even faintly see the ghost fetus¡¯ underdeveloped brain. The ghost fetus seemed to be afraid of the light. Perhaps knowing that it would soon follow in the footsteps of its previous brothers, it was punching and kicking in the mother¡¯s body angrily. Zhou Qiming¡¯s eyebrows were deeply knitted in pain, and he couldn¡¯t help cursing in a dialect, ¡°You shake, continue shaking. Shake more. Laozi4will scatter your son of a bitch ashes later!¡± After saying that, he viciously bit the wooden stick. This was done mainly to avoid crying out loud during the operation, and, second, to make the next-door neighbor not think there was a murder happening. If Lu Yan¡¯s hands tremble in fright, it was himself who would suffer. Lu Yan¡¯s previous operations always started accompanied by a few doctors, and there were young nurses and anesthesiologists waiting next to him. During the operation, other doctors would also tell some jokes to lighten the atmosphere. Now, as the only person left to operate alone, it was a bit lonely. Lu Yan did not act right away, but slowly and methodically took out his phone from his pocket and opened the video software. Chen Shi¡¯er on the side was curious, ¡°Doctor, what are you doing?¡± ¡°Watching the video tutorial of cesarean section surgery.¡± Lu Yan replied calmly, ¡°I haven¡¯t had a cesarean section operation nor did I go to the obstetrics and gynecology department for my internship.¡± He didn¡¯t know if it was just his imagination, but with these words, the operating room seemed to become extraordinarily silent. Advertisements Chen Shi¡¯er came over quietly and asked, ¡°Boss, do you want to change the doctor now?¡± Zhou Qiming looked at Lu Yan¡¯s face and his tone was full of sadness as if he had already given up his life, ¡°I don¡¯t! That won¡¯t do, I want this doctor!¡± Lu Yan watched the video at 4.0 times speed and wrote down a few common emergencies that had the possibility to be dealt with. Thinking the plan was foolproof, he raised the knife in his hand. In fact, the body of the Enlightened was very good. Even if Lu Yan¡¯s operation failed, the possibility of death wasn¡¯t big. Nonetheless, as a doctor, Lu Yan still hoped that he could reduce his mistakes as much as possible. ¡°Can¡¯t the epidural anesthesia5 also be used in case of a cesarean section?¡± He asked the System. [If the spinal nerves will be be punctured, there¡¯s a high probability that the whole body will be paralyzed.] ¡°So it doesn¡¯t take much trouble to assassinate an Enlightened, just feed them anesthetics.¡± [The anesthetics on the market are basically useless for the Enlightened, so you don¡¯t have to worry about it. Only after the anesthesia works is it easy to get into trouble. The human brain is very amazing. If the brain loses consciousness and cannot control the source of pollution in the body, the mutation will begin to occur rapidly in a short time.] Lu Yan no longer dwelled on this issue. He finished sterilizing the abdomen and a sterile surgical sheet was laid out. Lu Yan had always been thoroughly attentive when doing surgery. A normal knife couldn¡¯t cut the skin at all. So Zhou Qiming prepared a scalpel himself, a Class B knife, which was very sharp. Advertisements The wound from Zhou Qiming¡¯s last operation hasn¡¯t healed yet. Lu Yan thought for a moment and chose to open another crossing to avoid cross-infection. Lu Yan cut through the fat, fascia,6 and muscle layers, opening up the battered abdominal cavity. A sarcoma-like uterus was growing in Zhou Qiming¡¯s belly. It was not quite the same as the normal uterus. The surface was like a fruit that could breathe, exuding visibly fine and dense veins. For its mother, the fetus itself was a tumor-like existence, and the discomfort during pregnancy was a natural rejection of the body. In the natural world, there was no creature that would not fall into a weakened state during pregnancy. It¡¯s no wonder Zhou Qiming¡¯s spiritual power threshold had been dropping. Lu Yan used gauze to stop the bleeding and prevent contamination of the surgical field of vision. He then gently punctured the fetal membranes, and finally got a good look at the fetus in its entirety. ?Its whole body was gray and black, and the face was covered with a veiny texture, like a pug dog with a human face. There was no umbilical cord on the belly button of the ghost fetus, it entirely relied on the tail at the lumbar vertebrae to obtain nutrition from the mother¡¯s body. The baby¡¯s expression was full of malice. It opened its mouth covered with jagged fangs and let out an ear-piercing cry. Compared to normal babies, it was double the average size and was covered with unknown yellow liquid, emitting a sickening fishy smell. The baby tore open the peritoneum,7 opened its mouth filled with sharp teeth, and bit towards Lu Yan. Chen Shi¡¯er¡¯s hand reacted swiftly after what he saw and hit the ghost fetus¡¯ stomach with his fist. His spiritual power threshold was 3000, so he didn¡¯t need to use his ability to deal with this fetus. It rolled its eyes, and its mouth kept wailing in pain, full of resentment and grievance. The cry of the baby caused Zhou Qiming to struggle violently. The ghost fetus was using this way to arouse its mother¡¯s maternal instinct. Chen Shi¡¯er hands formed a seal, and shouted, ¡°Ha!¡± Shaolin martial arts, Lion¡¯s Roar¡ª stacked with his abilities that can make people who fall into a mad state sober up. Zhou Qiming was affected by his ability, and his eyes gradually gained clarity. Lu Yan inserted the scalpel into the heart of the ghost fetus and finished the last cut. At that instant, his mind violently ached. It was as if he saw a deep ocean, something opened its eyes, and its eerie, cold gaze stared at him. He heard the sound of waves, but this time, it was no longer the tide of the curved sea. [Ah, originally you can still choose to go or not go. However, it seems that you have to go now, you have killed the Dragon Maiden¡¯s child, she will come to you.] Lu Yan¡¯s face was abnormally pale, and when he came back to his senses, the monster in front of him had stopped breathing. ¡°Doctor Lu, are you okay?¡± Chen Shi¡¯er asked softly, ¡°You looked like you were about to faint just now.¡± Lu Yan¡¯s brain was still swollen with pain, ¡°I¡¯m fine.¡± The monster¡¯s tail quickly withered. Lu Yan cut it out and found out that it was actually hollow inside, with rows of teeth growing on the inner wall of the tail. It was more like straw than a tail. Lu Yan began to look for the placenta that the System mentioned. The womb where the ghost fetus was conceived looked like a ball of meat, and the placenta was located deep in the fatty chassis of the flesh ball. It looked like a fresh brain. When the placenta was taken out, Zhou Qiming, who was already numb to the pain, bit the wooden stick in his mouth, his eyeballs protruded, and the blue veins on the sides of his temples burst out, it looked hideous. The thing felt greasy and disgusting. Lu Yan took off his gloves, and his palm cracked open. The teeth on the inner side of the palm had become very sharp. Almost without chewing, it swallowed the source of pollution into its stomach in two or three bites. The texture was exceedingly fatty, like pan-fried foie gras that was rich in fat, but not that greasy. Lu Yan narrowed his eyes slightly, an abnormal blush appeared on his face, like a person who had been starved for a long time suddenly feeling full. It was a look of satisfaction that he did not notice himself. Chen Shi¡¯er was stunned while watching, feeling that Lu Yan was more similar to a Pollutant than a Pollutant to itself. The body of an Enlightened was indeed very good. On the second day after the operation, Zhou Qiming was able to get out of bed and was alive and kicking. Not taking into account the physical pain, he personally came to thank Lu Yan and also brought a bouquet of carnations. Lu Yan happened to be cooking when he came and out of politeness, he asked, ¡°Would you like to come in for dinner?¡± It resulted in the two people staring at each other at the dining table. ¡°I can feel that my body is gradually recovering.¡± Zhou Qiming took the lead in breaking the silence and held Lu Yan¡¯s hand, shaking it nonstop, ¡°That Dragon Maiden Lake is really too strange. Obviously, the pollution source level is not high, but it¡¯s almost insoluble after being polluted. I was almost ready to be voluntarily dissected by the Research Institute.¡± ¡°Anyway, thank you, Doctor. The food you cooked is delicious, and it reminds me of my mother¡¯s cooking.¡± Lu Yan has been thanked by patients a lot, so he was very calm, ¡°You¡¯re most welcome. You don¡¯t need to tell me the latter half of the sentence.¡± ¡°It¡¯s true. Because of the increased mutation degree, I no longer have any appetite for food. I only eat when I remember, but Doctor Lu, the food you cooked was really delicious.¡± Lu Yan didn¡¯t lift his eyelids, ¡°Thank you. No talking while eating.¡± Zhou Qiming¡¯s expression suddenly became serious, ¡°Doctor Lu, you may be the only healing type Enlightened who appears outside the Research Institute.¡± ¡°Since I could find out your true identity, other people must also be able to as well. The healing type heals pollution diseases, often at the cost of their own mutation value growth. The healing ability is too rare, and under desperate situations, not all people will be reasonable.¡± ¡°Okay, I¡¯ll be careful.¡± ¡°I¡¯ll transfer the contribution points to you on the forum.¡± Zhou Qiming took out his mobile phone in good faith, ¡°Doctor, what¡¯s your user ID?¡± Lu Yan reported a string of numbers. Soon, Enlightened Forum sent a notification, saying that ¡°Looking for a Gong¡± sent a friend request. Zhou Qiming coughed embarrassingly, ¡°At that time, I was young. I was ignorant and randomly chose this name.¡± Lu Yan clicked on the other side¡¯s profile and found that the registration time was 25 years ago. ¡°I¡¯m actually 43 years old this year.¡± Zhou Qiming smiled, ¡°It may be the result of evolution, we age very slowly. It can¡¯t be helped. Also, I don¡¯t know how long I can live, Doctor, you should make more Enlightened friends. Otherwise, it¡¯s really too painful to watch your loved ones and friends pass away.¡± Zhou Qiming transferred the contribution points to him, a total of 6, 200, and said casually, ¡°You can contact me at any time. Although I did not join the SpecOps Division, I have been in the industry for so long, no one will dare touch my people.¡± ¡°Really?¡± Lu Yan suddenly thought of something. Zhou Qiming nodded, ¡°Of course.¡± The main point was actually in the latter half, but Lu Yan seemed to have only noticed the first half of the sentence. Lu Yan put down his chopsticks and said seriously, ¡°I want to go to the Dragon Maiden Lake.¡± Special Operations Headquarters. An extremely special meeting was being held in the central conference hall. There were only 13 participants, and these thirteen people were managers of the SpecOps Division. It was known that the mental state of the Enlightened was unstable and their death rate was high. Therefore, they were not suitable to be in management. The minister sat at the top, his tone of anger was forbearing, ¡°Who leaked the information about Curious Listener?¡± The original plan of the SpecOps Division was to let Lu Yan grow rapidly through gradual tasks to achieve the purpose of assisting in the treatment of ¡°Tyrant.¡± As the only Enlightened that had more than five digits of spiritual power threshold all around the world, only Tang Xun¡¯an was able to counter some Level S Pollutants. But Tang Xun¡¯an¡¯s mutation degree was too high, like an overloaded instrument, which could collapse at any time. Whether it was out of a desire to give back for so many years of dedication or the need to fight Pollutants, nothing could happen to the Tyrant. ¡°It¡¯s no longer helpful to pursue this matter now.¡± The person in charge of PDC sighed. She was a woman who had grown silver hair, ¡°What we have to consider is how to control the situation. It is natural that we can¡¯t let go of finding the spy, but the top priority now is to ensure the safety of Curious Listener.¡± The director of the First Research Institute sneered, ¡°If I had known this, I might as well have sent him to the Research Institute in the first place.¡± ¡°Those who have had access to Curious Listener¡¯s information have all been questioned by the ¡®True Knowledge.¡¯ They have not lied. Either their memory has been cleaned, or the materials have been inadvertently leaked without knowing.¡± The deputy minister rubbed his eyebrows. ¡°I have a proposal. Now that Tyrant has returned to China¡­ What if we let them get along first to see? There is no safer place than being around Tang Xun¡¯an.¡± ¡°Because of what happened before, Tyrant prefers to act alone despite having teammates. It¡¯s just because the mutation degree is too high, he can¡¯t act completely alone. Although Curious Listener¡¯s spiritual power threshold is extremely low, the mutation degree is not high. Maybe we can try? If it¡¯s too dangerous, we can just terminate contact?¡± At these words, a brief silence fell over the room. ¡°Will Tyrant agree?¡± ¡°Will Curious Listener be willing to accept this?¡± ¡°Let¡¯s vote.¡± Finally, the minister said, ¡°If the motion is passed, we¡¯ll ask the question. It¡¯s not like something would happen, it won¡¯t hurt to try.¡± 7:6. The motion passed. Translator¡¯s Note CH 21 This chapter is translated by Rin, edited by Cia, and proofread by Kris Xian. The province next to Lu Yan¡¯s location was the Fuling Province. It was established in a coastal area and was economically developed. As the RV turned and went up the mountain, Zhou Qiming vomited into an empty plastic bag. ¡°This is more remote than our poor village in Bashu. Is there really a village in Fuling Province?¡± Due to the bumpy roads, he had been gagging the whole way. Good thing he hadn¡¯t eaten yet, so he didn¡¯t throw up anything. Since they departed from K City to here, seven hours had already passed. The watch on Lu Yan¡¯s hand detected that he had left K City five hours ago. He immediately received a message from Su Fufeng asking him what he was doing outside the province. Advertisements Lu Yan replied, For travel. He didn¡¯t have any intention of turning off the GPS tracker. In case something happened, the PDC would surely come to rescue him on the account that he belonged to the healing system. As the altitude rose, even with the naked eye, a layer of white fog could be seen surrounding the area. The temperature had also decreased by a lot. One could make out abandoned villages through the fog, the prosperity of the past could be vaguely seen. Mbl yka bwxkekvu kdnalyple, yde Nw Zyd¡¯p calyvbkdt clnyxl xskpv. Tl zkjle vbkp qllzkdt, nsxkdt cynj blal qlzv zkjl nsxkdt bsxl. Fkdnl bkp puxckspkp okvb vbl Ikdtqkpb, bl bye nsxl vs ryavknwzyazu zkjl aykdu eyup. Hbsw Ckxkdt pwprlnvle vbyv bl tsv raltdydv clnywpl bl eaydj vbl oyvla kd vbkp yaly, ps vbkp vkxl bl ralryale y prlnkyzkgle SA. Rv oyp y vos-pvsalu SA oblal vblu nswze xyjl qkal kd vbl nya vs nssj. Mblal olal lhld psqyp yde vlzlhkpksdp kdpvyzzle. Rv oyp y tsse vbkdt vbyv yzvbswtb vbl xswdvykd asye oyp y ckv okdeu yde cwxru, kv oypd¡¯v dyaaso. Xvblaokpl, vblu oswze dlle vs nsdpkela vbl rsppkckzkvu sq vbl nya tlvvkdt shlavwadle. Ubld Fbk¡¯la obs pyv kd qasdv pweeldzu vbalo bkp rbsdl kd ydtla, ¡°Pyxd. Ls dlvosaj, R¡¯x pvkzz rzyukdt aydj!¡± Gnnsaekdt vs Hbsw Ckxkdt, obld bl kdhlpvktyvle zypv vkxl, vbl elvlnvle rszzwvksd hyzwl oyp dsv vbyv bktb. Gp y alpwzv, ewl vs bkp pvasdt nsdqkeldnl kd bkp sod yckzkvu, bl nyxl yzsdl. Tl plyanble vbl yaly qsa y zsdt vkxl cwv pvkzz nswzed¡¯v qkde vbl pswanl sq rszzwvksd. Rdpvlye, bl lhld clnyxl raltdydv, ps bl bye ds nbsknl cwv ayd yoyu yv dktbv. Gp qsa obu bl vssj vbkp vypj vbyv pllxle dsv xwnb sq y vbalyv, Hbsw Ckxkdt pvyxxlale qsa y obkzl, cwv oyp wdqsatkhkdtzu alhlyzle cu Ubld Fbk¡¯la, ¡°Tl iwyaalzle okvb psxl rlsrzl sd vbl qsawx. Slxlxcla vbyv bsv rspv yd wrzsyela ydsduxswpzu rspvle, bl pvyvle vbyv vbl nwaaldv ekhkpksd sq rszzwvle yalyp oyp dsv aktsaswp. Rv pyke kv oypd¡¯v yrrasrakyvl vs ekhkel vbl yaly sdzu ynnsaekdt vs vbl jkzzkdt rsola. Mblal olal rszzwvle yalyp vbyv eked¡¯v pllx vs byhl y bktb rszzwvksd hyzwl, cwv lhld vbl Uzypp J Odzktbvldlep nswzed¡¯v pszhl kv.¡± ¡°Mbl cspp alqwple vs clzklhl kd vblpl qyzzynklp, ps bl pldv y rakhyvl xlppytl vs vbl rspvla ypjkdt qsa y ewlz. Gv zypv, vbl svbla pkel vbalo swv vbl yeealpp sq vbl Paytsd Yykeld Nyjl,¡± Plvlnvkhl pyke. The one who was in charge of driving was Detective. He was Zhou Qiming¡¯s secretary. He was a meticulous and calm person but solely belonged to the support system. He was said to be a commercial spy with the ability of Infiltration and Counter-Reconnaissance. His combat power was only half of Lu Yan¡¯s. Advertisements Zhou Qiming felt gloomy. ¡°I think I was set up in a badger game.1 I haven¡¯t surfed the forum for 800 years. Then when I finally decided to go online for once, I saw such a dumb post, and it just happened to target Class B Enlighteneds like me, who was also currently idle.¡± As the drive had already gone on for too long, Lu Yan cooked a meal in the car. Lamb stew and scrambled eggs with onions. The lamb was sent from the Pinghe grassland by flight and was exceedingly fragrant. The people in the vehicle ate like three little pigs. Chen Shi¡¯er was so touched he almost cried. ¡°This is just so tasty. My sense of taste has degraded, I haven¡¯t known the taste of salt for seven to eight years. I really have no regrets anymore after eating this meal!¡± Detective told him not to plant such a terrifying flag. At four o¡¯clock in the afternoon, the RV finally arrived at the entrance of the Dragon Maiden Village. The terrain here was very unique, Dragon Maiden Village was located in the bottom of a valley. It was surrounded by mountains on all sides, which made it hard to access. At its center was a calm and clear lake, shimmering beautifully under the sunlight. The houses in the village were all brick houses of two or three storeys. There were also a few long-scrapped Mercedes parked along the roadside. It seemed that the people in the village were not completely without financial means. There was no one on the road. If not for the occasional barking of dogs, it would be like a deserted village. Lu Yan¡¯s five senses were very sharp, he could feel that someone was watching them through the window. He looked up and saw that all of the people there were strange men of varying ages. Chen Shi¡¯er took out an instrument and started testing. Pollution degree: 30. Even ordinary Anura2 who had just been polluted already had a pollution degree of 100, this value was indeed too low to raise one¡¯s guard. ¡°It was also like this when I came last time.¡± Zhou Qiming got out of the car and breathed in the fresh air. ¡°They don¡¯t seem to like going out and meeting people here because they are pregnant. Their currency is also not circulating, they¡¯re extremely xenophobic. I only got a place to live through modifying the memories of a few villagers with my ability.¡± Advertisements Zhou Qiming was an Enlightened who belonged to the special system. His ability was called ¡°Virtual World,¡± ranked 39. In Zhou Qiming¡¯s mind, the real world could be viewed as a large RPG game. Everyone around him was a game character, including himself. Zhou Qiming¡¯s ability allowed him to add settings to these game characters that were within his capabilities. Whether or not he could succeed, depending on how intricate the setting was. For example, it was easy to add the setting ¡°Zhou Qiming is a member of the village¡± in the minds of the villagers. But to add a setting like ¡°Zhou Qiming will not die,¡± he wouldn¡¯t be able to do this even if his mutation degree burst out of the meter and he turned into a Pollutant. In Zhou Qiming¡¯s world, Lu Yan¡¯s character was actually a bit strange. For example, for Chen Shi¡¯er, the name on his head was ¡°Martial Arts Monk ¨C Chen Shi¡¯er¡± above the name was his title ¡°Shaolin Temple Heir.¡± This way, even if it was his first time meeting a stranger, Zhou Qiming could probably understand some of their information. The title of Lu Yan was ¡°Dr. Cannibal Flower,¡± which he found somewhat puzzling. Zhou Qiming could also be considered a person who could bear hardship, but the environment in Dragon Maiden Village was really too poor. Because of the heavy humidity and low latitude, crawling insects filled the underside of the mats. Insects with shells, without shells¡ª they were all there. This was also the reason why he was determined to drive the RV. Lu Yan asked straightforwardly, ¡°Where¡¯s the source of pollution?¡± The System smiled, [The bottom of the lake. But I suggest you don¡¯t go directly or you¡¯ll be sending yourselves to your deaths. Wander around the village first. I will give you some reminders.] Lu Yan felt that the System was really unreliable, talking like a riddler. Advertisements There was no doubt that it didn¡¯t have the intention of harming Lu Yan, it could even provide much necessary help. But Lu Yan had a vague feeling that even if he died, the System would just find a next host. The System might be a little troublesome, but he was not its only option. Just like Lu Jiahe who was chosen by ¡°something¡± through the Wall of Resentment. When Lu Yan suggested that he wanted to look around, Zhou Qiming chose to accompany him without reluctance. The village wasn¡¯t big, it took less than 20 minutes to walk from one end to another. Further ahead, there was the Dragon Maiden Lake. Lu Yan discovered something. In the courtyard of every house, there was a well. They didn¡¯t look like ordinary wells, many had rusted chains hanging in the mouth of the well, straight down to its depths. This well was called ¡°King Yu¡¯s Dragon Prison Well.¡± He walked into the half-open courtyard overgrown with weeds and observed it carefully. The front of the well was engraved with the date of its construction, September 1, 2101. ¡°They said this kind of well was built to suppress the Scaled Dragons that sent floods.¡± Lu Yan said, ¡°Now it¡¯s become very convenient to get access to water and electricity. There are likely fewer people who would want to build wells, not to mention a Dragon Prison Well. These are not for drinking water, they¡¯re most likely used to suppress something.¡± ¡°Though the talk of ghosts and gods is purely absurd, I think that this is an indication. Since twenty years ago, this place has been polluted and some kind of mutation has occurred.¡± Zhou Qiming nodded. ¡°You have a point.¡± The door, which had been closed tightly, opened a gap at that moment. A middle-aged man with a gloomy complexion looked at them through the gap and asked coldly, ¡°Who are you guys? What are you doing?¡± Lu Yan took out the document issued by the PDC. ¡°I am a staff member from the PDC. I received a report from the public that there¡¯s a contagious pollution disease here. So we¡¯ve come to investigate the situation.¡± Advertisements His tone was calm and certain, somehow inexplicably convincing. The middle-aged man¡¯s expression was still vigilant. ¡°No need! You guys hurry up and leave! It¡¯s for your own good.¡± Zhou Qiming had to add a setting in his mind, ¡°Zhou Qiming is my son, who brought his classmates back from vacation to play.¡± The middle-aged man¡¯s eyes were confused for a moment, and the next moment, he opened the door angrily and gave Zhou Qiming a backhanded slap. ¡°Didn¡¯t I tell you not to come back! Why did you come back! You unfilial son, are you trying to make me angry!¡± Zhou Qiming, ¡°¡­¡± He had wanted to slap back, but this action might be out of character. If that happened, he would have to use his ability again, which was very troublesome, so he had to hold back. The middle-aged man was called Wang Jianjun. His stomach was abnormally swollen, like a ball that would burst at any time. The greenish-black belly had deep purple veins. Organs and bones could no longer be seen through the half-translucent belly, it was only filled with amniotic fluid, and what was inside was no longer a fetus, but a three or four-year-old child. This child¡¯s human body looked very incongruous. It looked more like a water monkey than a human. ¡°Dad,¡± Zhou Qiming asked glumly, ¡°What¡¯s with this belly of yours? It¡¯s getting bigger and bigger.¡± Wang Jianjun looked at the Dragon Prison Well. ¡°Don¡¯t mention it, come in first.¡± Wang Jianjun was happy that his son, whom he hadn¡¯t seen for several years, had come back, even though he had disobeyed him. He took out a bottle of 82-year-old Flying Moutai, peeled two plates of peanut that would go well with the wine, and turned on a dim light. ¡°The village chief said, these are all retributions¡­¡± After drinking a few glasses of wine, Wang Jianjun¡¯s face became abnormally red as tears coursed down, ¡°At first, in order to earn money, we made offerings to the Dragon Maiden. After we earned the money, we lost focus and forgot about the Dragon Maiden, these are all retributions. The people who left the village earned money but did not return, all of them have died. Their whole family died. Dad asked you to study outside, I came back by myself due to the situation, why did you still want to come back!¡± ¡°Uncle, what do you mean by making offerings to the Dragon Maiden?¡± Lu Yan keenly captured the keywords. Wang Jianjun wiped the tears on his face. ¡°The Dragon Maiden Village is too inaccessible and has always been poor. Twenty years ago, a feng shui master passed by. He said that this was a prosperous place, but has stayed poor due to the Great Flood. The Dragon Maiden was locked at the bottom of the lake and hence had her grievances. As long as we made offerings of livestocks to the Dragon Maiden every year, we could become rich and prosperous.¡± ¡°Later, everyone made an offering to the Dragon Maiden, and left the mountains. Within a few months, they became wealthy. I also moved out with your mother and gave birth to you outside. After five years, there was no one left in the village, no one would come back after earning money. As a result, after another five years, the people that came from this village started dying every year. All of them died by drowning¡­ This was when someone felt that something was wrong. The village chief said that the Dragon Maiden told him in his dream that we didn¡¯t keep our word. By then the rest of the people had no choice but to return to the Dragon Maiden Village.¡± ¡°In the beginning, everyone was still talking and laughing. But within two years, all the people who returned had become pregnant. Don¡¯t you think this is strange? Someone wanted to go out to see a doctor but encountered a ghost wall. He drove for three days but still couldn¡¯t get out!¡± ¡°Later, the man said, every time he wanted to go out of the mountain, he didn¡¯t know why but he would return to Dragon Maiden Lake. He would even see a bunch of women laughing in the lake.¡± As Wang Jianjun talked about this matter, his face turned to look more defeated and hideous, as if reliving a great horror. Zhou Qiming¡¯s eyebrows frowned. As an Enlightened, he didn¡¯t believe in ghosts and gods at all. Even if there was something unscientific, most likely it was just a source of pollution. But ordinary people obviously didn¡¯t know. There was no signal here as well. Being in a long-term high-pressure state, it was already considered good if they didn¡¯t go crazy. Zhou Qiming whispered to Lu Yan, ¡°I think that so-called Dragon Maiden is most likely the source of pollution.¡± Lu Yan obviously knew this already, but he was still curious about one more thing. ¡°Only males get pregnant?¡± Lu Yan looked around and didn¡¯t see any female products in this room, even the shoes placed in the doorway were all belonging to a man, ¡°Where is aunty?¡± Since he entered the village, Lu Yan had not seen a woman. Even the dogs barking wildly on the roadside were all males. CH 22 This chapter is translated by Kris Xian, translation checked by Rin, and edited by Bluburry. When asked about this, Wang Jianjun¡¯s face showed a baffled expression. Wang Jianjun replied, ¡°I¡¯m the only villager left in Dragon Maiden Village. What would the women come back for?¡± ¡°They all left the village?¡± ¡°Surely, ah. If they come back, what about the children?¡± Wang Jianjun rubbed his stomach, smacked his lips together, and the child in his belly followed suit. Advertisements He got married after he left the village. Wang Jianjun did not give any more useful information. When they came out of Wang¡¯s home, Lu Yan couldn¡¯t help but take another look at the Dragon Prison Well. Tl zlydle shla vbl srldkdt sq vbl olzz fwpv ldswtb vs pll. Lsv jdsokdt bso ellr vbl olzz oyp, yzz bl nswze pll oyp y rkvnb-eyaj bszl. Nw Zyd nswze qykdvzu blya vbl naklp sq y nbkze yde y osxyd qasx kv. ¡°Gal vbl osxld kd vbl hkzzytl wple yp y pynakqknl?¡± Nw Zyd ypjle. [Mbkp oyp ryavzu clnywpl vbl xypvla sdnl pyke vbyv sdzu cu pynakqknkdt zkhkdt rlsrzl vs vbl tsep nswze olyzvb yde bsdsa cl scvykdle.] Nw Zyd nswzed¡¯v bsze cynj, nwapkdt kd y bwpble hsknl, ¡°Ebyv jkde sq xypvla kp vbyv? Fs nawlz.¡± [Rv¡¯p dsv zkjl bl alyzzu oydvle vbl hkzzytlap vs xyjl y zsv sq xsdlu. Gzz bl¡¯p eskdt kp clokvnbkdt vbl hkzzytl okvb bkp osaep.]1 [Mbkp oyp sdzu y pxyzz, ryvakyanbyz hkzzytl vbyv eked¡¯v bsze xwnb zkql qsanl qsa vbl rypv bwdeale sq ulyap, yde okvbkd y bwdeale-xkzl ayekwp, vblal¡¯p sdzu vbkp sdl zyatl zyjl.] [Rv¡¯p y hlau nsdhldkldv rzynl vs elpvasu nsarplp yde vblka vaynlp, kpd¡¯v kv? Qwlpp bso xydu cycu tkazp yal pwdj yv vbl csvvsx sq vbkp zyjl?] [However, these were only infants, their intellect wasn¡¯t fully developed yet, thus, it wouldn¡¯t be able to form such a powerful curse and resentment. Just 20 years ago, these baby girls still had a ¡®mother¡¯.] Advertisements [It was a schoolgirl who had been abducted.] [She was chained in the basement for three years and gave birth to two children. The male abductor thought that once a woman gave birth and became a mother, she would calm down. But she was different. She was educated and had seen the outside world. She knew good from bad, right from wrong. Moreover, she understood the dignity of being born as a human being, and also knew that sometimes, death was better than life. Nonetheless, she came from a single-parent family. Her mother died when she was very young, leaving only her father. She had been her father¡¯s pride and joy since she was a child, and so she wanted to live in order to see him again.] [The girl was almost saved. Her father searched for her for a long time. He quit his job in a state-owned enterprise and searched all the villages in Fuling Province, until he found the Dragon Maiden Village. She saw her father through a small window from the basement dungeon. Everyone in the village knew there was a person locked in the basement, but no one told the truth.] [The woman finally went crazy. However, she was saved. After going mad, the abductor¡¯s supervision was less strict. She killed the man at night and ran away. Nevertheless, she was chased down by her father-in-law with a dog and was caught back. Her father-in-law planned to give his son a ghost wedding¡ª]2 [Afterwards, that feng shui master came.] The female student was sunk to the bottom of the pond. Not only could she be offered as a sacrifice, but could also take part in a ghost wedding. Killing two birds with one stone. Lu Yan¡¯s mood became extremely heavy. He didn¡¯t want to deal with the people of Dragon Maiden Village, so he turned around and left. He did not approve of a punishment without limits. Being hurt would never be a justifiable reason to hurt others. However, the Dragon Maiden was obviously a person with a sense of propriety. She settled disputes without involving innocents.3 At least, many poor women in the village were fine. In his eyes, in addition to the dead male abductor, the other villagers were also accomplices. From the Dragon Maiden¡¯s point of view, it may be a heavy punishment, but it¡¯s not unacceptable. The purpose of Lu Yan coming here was not to solve the pollution disease of these people in the village, but because he was also targeted by the Dragon Maiden. He faced the well and said softly, ¡°I don¡¯t know if you can hear me, but I sympathize with you and I¡¯m sorry I came so late. One of my professions is a doctor, and I killed your child because it was hurting my friend, who I don¡¯t think did anything to you.¡± Advertisements There was no response from the well. Zhou Qiming asked, ¡°Doctor Lu, what are you doing?¡± Lu Yan withdrew his gaze, ¡°Nothing. Let¡¯s go back first.¡± ¡°Okay, you go back first. I¡¯ll find a boat and go to Dragon Maiden Lake to measure the pollution value.¡± ¡°Shall I come with you?¡± Zhou Qiming thought for a while, ¡°No need. If the boat capsizes, I can run alone, but I¡¯m not sure about you. You should go back quickly. If something happens to you, my game company will go bankrupt.¡± Creating games was a road to ruin. On the surface, Zhou Qiming was the boss of a listed game company. Secretly, he was worried about the source of funds every day and couldn¡¯t sleep. He didn¡¯t join the Special Operations Division, but a certain director of the PDC, who wished to remain anonymous, was a major shareholder in his company, the golden father. Lu Yan originally wanted to say that he was in good health and that his body was probably better in water than on land. However, remembering his delicate and precious setting of ¡°healing ability user Enlightened¡±, he had to give up. When he returned to the RV, Chen Shi¡¯er and Detective were playing poker. The moment he saw Lu Yan, Detective couldn¡¯t hold back and pushed up the frame of his glasses, ¡°Where¡¯s Boss?¡± Advertisements ¡°He went to the center of Dragon Maiden Lake to measure the pollution value.¡± ¡°Doctor Lu,¡± the Detective said, ¡°Can I ask you a question? How old are you this year?¡± Lu Yan had something on his mind and didn¡¯t take this question to heart. He opened the fridge to prepare dinner, and casually replied, ¡°26.¡± ¡°Do you have an older brother or a younger one?¡± ¡°None.¡± Chen Shi¡¯er and Detective looked at each other. Finally, Chen Shi¡¯er took out a student ID from his arms, ¡°That¡¯s too strange. We also went out for a walk in the afternoon and saw an unoccupied house. Detective said his ability alerted him to a clue inside. We sneaked in afterwards and found this.¡± Lu Yan took it, turned it over, and in an instant, his pupils shrank. It¡¯s a student ID card from Yanjing University. The person in the ID photo was seventy percent similar to him, but he had a gloomier expression. The name printed on it was Lu Cheng. It was his father. [Congratulations, you found one of the most important clues on this trip. Your father came here when he was young.] Lu Yan¡¯s father graduated in 2091, which means it was at least 30 years ago. Advertisements ¡°This is my father, who¡¯s already dead.¡± Lu Yan said after a moment¡¯s pause. In Lu Yan¡¯s impression of Lu Cheng, he always had an eerie countenance, his mood was extremely unstable, and his face often wore a morbid sneer. The children of unfortunate families always remember things well very early. Lu Yan still remembered that poor woman, whose figure was awfully delicate and small, who was said to be a junior high school classmate of Lu Cheng¡¯s and had always been secretly in love with him. She wasn¡¯t beautiful, only had an average education, was unemployed, and seemed to be nothing but a hard working housewife. Nonetheless, Lu Yan recalled that she made delicious cakes, and in kindergarten after school, holding her hand also felt very warm. This poor woman would still hug him and whimper softly when she was beaten black and blue, saying that Dad wasn¡¯t like this before, but he was just in a bad mood because the project failed recently. She could always find a lot of excuses for Lu Cheng. Later, the woman jumped off the building. What was more unbearable for her than the physical pain was Lu Cheng¡¯s indifference day after day. Lu Yan wanted to kill Lu Cheng. The other party didn¡¯t seem to mind, and even enjoyed the process. However, Lu Yan, who was still young, always failed. Every time he failed, Lu Yan would receive punishment from his father. Sometimes, it was cutting open his belly and sewing it back on. Occasionally, it was sticking needles in his back. In some cases, it was watching live bugs go through his nose¨Dhe was strapped to an operating bed and couldn¡¯t move. Lu Yan didn¡¯t think it was domestic violence, it was just his punishment for failure. After all, he wanted Lu Cheng¡¯s life. At least, Lu Cheng wouldn¡¯t let him die. The only thing that Lu Yan felt regretful about was when he had thought of a flawless plan to kill Lu Cheng immediately, he hadn¡¯t been able to act on it. In the end, the other party had mutated. Later, news of Lu Cheng¡¯s death came, and he, therefore, was given an apartment as a guarantee of livelihood from the people above. He died so simply that Lu Yan felt extremely regretful. Detective asked, ¡°Why did your father come here? Yanjing isn¡¯t close to Fuling Province.¡± Lu Yan, ¡°I don¡¯t know. Maybe he liked to travel when he was young.¡± The System corrected him, [You know why.] Lu Yan paused for a moment, ¡°Is it that feng shui master?¡± [Yes, I already told you, this is a place to raise gu. Now, the gu has been raised, perhaps? Also, correction, Lu Cheng is not dead, at least he still retains his body, intelligence, and memory.] Lu Yan¡¯s hand still rested on the photo, and his expression became extraordinarily gloomy and cold. His killing intent was so clear and sudden that Chen Shi¡¯er stood up and looked at Lu Yan with some surprise and uncertainty. In the end, the next second, Lu Yan smiled, ¡°I¡¯m sorry. I just remembered something and got lost in thought.¡± Detective touched his own arm, ¡°What, what¡¯s the matter?¡± Lu Yan smiled and said, ¡°The pig raised in my hometown hasn¡¯t been slaughtered yet.¡± The two of them had been with Lu Yan for two days. It was the first time that they saw Lu Yan smile. It was like a spring breeze blowing on their faces which made people¡¯s hearts flutter. After Lu Yan said this, he started cooking in the small kitchen. The RV¡¯s space was small. The two of them played cards in the living room. The sound of Lu Yan chopping vegetables could be clearly heard. It sounded similar to a murder scene where bodies would be dismembered. When Lu Yan¡¯s dishes were almost ready, Zhou Qiming finally came back dripping wet. He had lost a shoe and had a lot of long hair hanging on his body, cutting a sorry figure. ¡°Boss? What happened to you?¡± Chen Shi¡¯er was stunned. ¡°Hurry up and leave now.¡± Zhou Qiming¡¯s expression was even uglier than when his milk had leaked onto Lu Yan¡¯s hands a few days ago, ¡°I saw the Pollutants at the bottom of the lake¡­ The pollution value is 6300. It is not something that we can solve at all. I added a setting of ¡®I am its father¡¯ just to come back alive, and now the setting should be about to expire. Before it goes ashore, let¡¯s quickly leave!¡± Happy Chinese New Year! CH 23 This chapter is translated by BigDivineBear, translation checked by Rin, edited by Bluburry, and proofread by Kris Xian. Zhou Qiming felt that ordinary people could hardly imagine what great horrors he had encountered. After he had bid goodbye to Lu Yan, he came to Dragon Maiden Lake. The sun was setting and the floating light it cast over the golden lake was exceedingly beautiful and peaceful. It is said that the shore dwellers live from the sea1 but Dragon Maiden Village¡¯s people were extremely different. Even a single fishing boat couldn¡¯t be spotted around. Fortunately, this kind of thing was not a big problem for Zhou Qiming. Advertisements He cut down a tree and hollowed out the middle. The buoyancy of the tree was enough to support him to sail in the lake. Zhou Qiming stuck a thread onto the sensor watch and threw it into the water with a ¡°plop.¡± The pollution value report was transmitted through his headset. ¡°Vszzwvksd Ayzwl: 70¡­500¡­1800¡­4900¡­¡± Ekvbkd fwpv y xkdwvl, vbl rszzwvksd hyzwl psyale vs y qktwal vbyv xyel bkx ewxcqswdele. Hbsw Ckxkdt rydknjle yp bkp blyav lmnzykxle kd yzyax. Ebld vbl rszzwvksd hyzwl alynble 6, 300, bl nsxrzlvlzu tyhl wr bkp rzyd vs lmrzsal vbl Paytsd Yykeld Nyjl. Tl eked¡¯v lhld nyal ycswv bkp pldpsa oyvnb yduxsal yde pvyavle asokdt vbl csyv vs zlyhl. Hbsw Ckxkdt bye sdnl zlyadle pykzkdt yde bl nswze yzps es psxl asokdt. Gzvbswtb vbl sya bl bye pbyhle okvb y jdkql oyp y ckv nawel, vbl Paytsd Yykeld Nyjl bye ds wdelanwaaldvp, ds allqp, yde vbl zyjlpbsal oyp fwpv y qlo esgld xlvlap yoyu, ps kv oyp pvkzz ldswtb vs wpl. Ebyv Hbsw Ckxkdt eked¡¯v lmrlnv oyp vbyv yp bl blyele esod, kv qlzv zkjl bl oyp ayxxkdt kdvs y xypp sq oyvla ollep, nywpkdt bkx vs cl wdyczl vs xshl y pkdtzl pvlr. Tl zsolale bkp blye yde sdzu vbld eke bl alyzkgl vbyv vbl oyvla wdela bkp csyv oyp y zsv eyajla vbyd vbl alpv sq bkp pwaaswdekdtp. Rv oypd¡¯v vbyv vbl oyvla oyp nsdvyxkdyvle, cwv clnywpl vblal oyp psxlvbkdt esod clzso. Rd vbl dlmv plnsde, bkp csyv oyp shlavwadle. A cloud of pitch-black hairs grabbed the stern and lifted it up forcefully! Advertisements Zhou Qiming choked on a huge mouth of lake water. The water unexpectedly tasted like rusty blood. Zhou Qiming could swim and had a fit body. Even if he was swimming, he could reach the shore, but the lump of hairs also entangled his ankles and pulled him deep into the water. Crazed demons ran amok beneath the water. Zhou Qiming saw countless babies with fangs and snake tails, some of which were bigger than others, while some were smaller. They were all female. There were no pupils in their eyes, only the ash-colored whites of the eyes remained. The baby girls were like piranhas, giggling around him, eager to immediately devour him. On top of their heads were the words ¡°Dragon Maidens,¡± categorized as ¡°Pollutants¡± with a pollution value of 300. Zhou Qiming also saw a snake-tailed woman. Her body was exaggeratingly huge and her snake-tail filled the entire lake. There were sharp barbs on the ridge of her tail, and she also had no pupils, her expression frigid. Strips of baby snakes sat on her back, like daughters dependent on their mother. ¡°Dragon Maiden¡ªPerfect Evolution.¡± Pollution Value: ??? Whether it was those little infants or the huge snake woman in the middle, they were all Dragon Maidens of the Dragon Maiden Lake. They were neither gods nor demons, and they were simply women who had come to the village to claim debts. Zhou Qiming did not hesitate to pull out the knife on the side of his waist to cut off the head of a Dragon Maiden. He swam towards the lakeshore with all his strength, but just how could a person compete against the Pollutants that inhabit the water? Advertisements Soon, Zhou Qiming suffered a bite wound from the little Dragon Maiden on his body. The smell of blood penetrated into the lake, the scent teased the Pollutants to come feast. He fled as she chased after him. It was impossible to escape. The Dragon Maiden swam idly as if she was strolling in her courtyard, resembling a cat teasing her prey. Zhou Qiming said that humans that died in fear taste the most delicious for Pollutants. Contrary to his will to calm down, his heart couldn¡¯t help but beat thump thump thump. His brain secreted adrenaline frantically, urging him to run away quickly. Zhou Qiming was filled with inner despair. In the water, he was unable to exert even a tenth of his strength, and it didn¡¯t seem like he could defeat the Dragon Maiden either. The Dragon Maiden was so long that she grabbed towards his head like an eagle. However, probably because sufficient contact time had passed, in Zhou Qiming¡¯s line of sight, a question mark appeared on the top of the Dragon Maiden¡¯s head. This meant that he could now use his ability. In a last ditch effort, Zhou Qiming added a setting, ¡°Zhou Qiming is my father.¡± Indeed. Because the situation was urgent, Zhou Qiming didn¡¯t even have time to think. The settings were added automatically. As a result, the hands that originally had almost caught him stopped abruptly. Advertisements On the contrary, each and every one of the little Dragon Maidens who were watching the drama by the side came out shrieking resentfully! They rushed towards him like a school of fish. Zhou Qiming had never swam so fast in his life. His clothes were torn apart as the little Dragon Maidens ate at his flesh one by one, causing his blood to spread explosively in the water. He had finally reached the shore. A persistent little Dragon Maiden who was unwilling to give up jumped onto the shore to bite him but was kicked back by Zhou Qiming. Zhou Qiming was wrapped in a blanket as his body was trembling with cold sweat and pain. He aggrievedly leaned against Lu Yan while telling the others of his tragic experiences. Detective¡¯s tobacco addiction flared up again as he drove the car. He was very anxious, ¡°Then we can only report to the people in the PDC. I thought that something wasn¡¯t quite right about the person who uploaded the post before, it¡¯s better to check on it.¡± Lu Yan¡¯s phone vibrated. It was Chen Shi¡¯er¡¯s text message. ¡°The repercussions of our boss overusing his ability is mental deterioration¡­ Sorry, but please take it easy.¡± This was written in the internal brochure of the PDC. Many Enlighteneds would have repercussions after overusing their abilities, some were physical while some were mental. Since Lu Yan hadn¡¯t overused his ability yet, he didn¡¯t know if he had any repercussions. [Don¡¯t worry. Unless you¡¯re directly asking me things that you shouldn¡¯t know at your current power, you won¡¯t have to worry about repercussions.] [Looking at the whole world, you¡¯re the only one who can use your ability anytime, anywhere.] [Oh, right. Although it¡¯s a little strange, Chen Shi¡¯er didn¡¯t lie to you.] Advertisements Zhou Qiming rubbed his waist and said in an aggrieved manner, ¡°Dr. Lu, that woman is so dreadful. Her claws are so long, so thick, and so hard¡­¡± Lu Yan patted him expressionlessly on the head, ¡°It¡¯s okay, you¡¯re back now.¡± It was daytime when they arrived, and after staying for less than 6 hours, they started on their way back. However, the fog in the mountains and forests seemed to be even thicker at night, and visibility was extremely low. Detective dared not drive the car too fast so the RV was moving slowly along the seemingly endless mountain road. Lu Yan frowned, remembering what had happened to Old Wang before. It was said that someone had wanted to leave the mountain to cure their illness, but in the end, their car went around for three days before finally returning to the Dragon Maiden Lake. Four hours later, a dense layer of sweat formed on Detective¡¯s forehead while driving. ¡°How strange. When we first came, it didn¡¯t take this long to drive, ah. Even if I drive slower at night, it shouldn¡¯t take this long! It¡¯s almost been four hours already.¡± Zhou Qiming had been coaxed to sleep. The remaining two people were a little jittery and had heart palpitations. Chen Shi¡¯er became obviously irritable and had thrown down the Switch console because he had failed to pass the game stage. Lu Yan said, ¡°Park the car first and wait until dawn before driving. Everyone, don¡¯t go out tonight.¡± His voice was very calm and carried some sort of convincing power. Detective, ¡°Okay¡­ Hey, it seems like there¡¯s an exit in front?¡± He stepped on the accelerator excitedly and drove forward. Lu Yan raised his head and glanced at the clock on the table. The hour hand was pointed at exactly twelve o¡¯clock. Across the winding mountain highway, the car came to a flat area where the trees on either side eventually became sparse. Nevertheless, Lu Yan suddenly changed his expression, ¡°Stop!¡± A huge lake appeared in front of them. It was different from the tranquility during the day. At night, the lake water was like water boiling in a pot, constantly rumbling and bubbling. There was an illuminated headlight on the shore of the lake. It was very bright. Under the lamp, a group of men of different ages with big bellies knelt by the lake and were gathered in a circle, continuously kowtowing towards Dragon Maiden Lake. Their eyes were hollow, and under the strong light, twisted baby boys could be seen in their translucent belly. Although their huge bellies made their movements unskilled, their heads touched the ground very religiously. From the lake came the sound of girls chuckling. In the deep night, it was horrifying. Chen Shi¡¯er gasped, ¡°Just what¡­ are those things?¡± These men were still human but not entirely human. These men didn¡¯t need to eat or drink water and yet, they couldn¡¯t die. Unless they were sacrificed in the lake, they would live forever, just like the Dragon Maiden Lake. Lu Yan glanced and saw that there were about 70 people, ranging from 20 to 70 years old. Without exception, all of them were pregnant. After the kowtow, the oldest village chief stood up tremblingly and shouted, ¡°Respectable Dragon Maiden, please choose!¡± All the men around were kneeling in fear. The four people in the car held their breath. Within the crowd, a middle-aged man suddenly screamed. The man clutched his stomach and wailed in pain on the ground. In his belly, the child had clawed his way out with his sharp nails. The whole body was translucent and wet with light-yellow amniotic fluid. Not long after he got out, the baby boy fell aside onto the grass and breathed his last breath. It was as if the only purpose of his existence was to bring pain to these men. But the sacrifice did not stop. The other big-bellied men lifted the unconscious middle-aged man and threw him into the lake. The man didn¡¯t even have time to scream before he was eaten by a group of little Dragon Maidens so hungry that they had lost their minds. The blood spread and dyed the waters a pale pink. The boiling Dragon Maiden Lake finally subsided. The village head tremblingly said, ¡°Well, this month¡¯s sacrifice is over, let¡¯s go back.¡± Chen Shi¡¯er¡¯s fist hardened, ¡°This Pollutant is too much.¡± Lu Yan was silent for a moment before using the background story he had learned from the System, his own guesses, and inferences to say something. Since he was afraid of exposing the System, Lu Yan could only say that he had found some clues on the way back. Chen Shi¡¯er¡¯s fist hardened again, ¡°F**k, they really fucking deserve it.¡± Some of the villagers went and turned off the overhead lights. The men with big bellies were gray and numb and walked towards the village like zombies. From beginning to end, the RV stayed in the woods and didn¡¯t take a single step forward. Detective carefully tried to reverse the car but found that the motor was soaked with water and turned the engine off. The surrounding humidity seemed to be heavier. The System subconsciously lowered its voice, [¡­The Dragon Maiden is going ashore. She has long noticed you.] Amidst the white mist, there was a splash of water, like something huge was protruding out of the water. Lu Yan shook awake the drooling Zhou Qiming who was sleeping on his lap. His patience had finally reached the limit. The freshly awakened Zhou Qiming was still a little confused and asked, ¡°Have we finally arrived?¡± Detective was frightened, his hands and feet felt cold. He opened the car door and said anxiously, ¡°Let¡¯s run in different directions.¡± Lu Yan asked, ¡°Can you still use your ability? Force it out even if you can¡¯t use it. Add one setting for all four of us.¡± Zhou Qiming sat up, ¡°What setting?¡± Lu Yan answered seriously and solemnly, ¡°Gender, female.¡± The author has something to say: The cover has been updated! It¡¯s the handsome Tang Xun¡¯an!2 The full picture is on the creator¡¯s Weibo @СÆßÁ÷. CH 24 This chapter is translated by Hoenimochi, translation checked by Rin, edited by Bluburry, and proofread by Kris Xian. Zhou Qiming felt that Lu Yan¡¯s request was strange. But because Lu Yan was so good-looking, he did as he was told. After all, superficial dog1 and lapdog2 were only one word apart. After Zhou Qiming added this setting to the four of them. The ghastly atmosphere around them suddenly disappeared. However, on the contrary, another desire arose in their hearts. Advertisements It was like a daughter finally got to see her mother who had been away for a long time and wanted to rush into her arms. Sure enough, none of the Pollutants with high pollution values ??were easy to deal with. [Congratulations, you don¡¯t need to be pregnant anymore.] Gzvbswtb kv pyke nsdtayvwzyvksdp, Nw Zyd eked¡¯v jdso obu, cwv vbl Fupvlx¡¯p hsknl pswdele hlau psaau. Rv xyel rlsrzl oydv vs pokdt vblka qkpvp yde tkhl kv vos rwdnblp. Mbl pswde sq cskzkdt oyvla alpswdele kd Nw Zyd¡¯p lya. Rv pswdele zkjl psxlsdl oyp eawxxkdt kdpkel bkp lya, yde yv vbl pyxl vkxl, kv oyp zkjl y xsdpvla oyp nzspl yv byde. Mbl pswde oyp ps rlapkpvldv vbyv kv xyel rlsrzl¡¯p qsalblye ynbl. Mbl alzyvksdpbkr clvolld bwxydp yde Vszzwvydvp oyp zkjl vbspl yv vbl wrrla yde zsola zlhlzp sq vbl qsse nbykd: ayvp yde nyvp, alprlnvkhlzu. Xnnypksdyzzu, y qlo xknl nswze nbypl vbl nyv yde qktbv, cwv xspv sq vbl vkxl, y xswpl¡¯p qkapv alynvksd vs pllkdt y nyv oyp vs awd. Mbkp oyp vbl pwahkhyz kdpvkdnv vbyv bye clld nwzvkhyvle qsa shla vbswpydep sq ulyap yde bye clld ldtayhle kd vblka tldlp. Ekvb vynkv wdelapvydekdt, vbl qswa rlsrzl ytalle vs przkv wr yde awd yoyu. Rq sdl sq vblx nswze pwahkhl, vbld vbyv sdl rlapsd oswze cl alprsdpkczl qsa tlvvkdt vbl dlop swv. Mbkp oyp vbl qkapv zkdl sq vbl qkapv rytl kd vbl ¡®Odzktbvldle Usel¡¯ nsxrkzle yde kppwle cu vbl VPU. Fldvkxldv yde okpesx olal vbl jlup vs zlvvkdt bwxydp elqlyv vbl pvasdt okvb vbl olyj. After leaving Dragon Maiden Lake, they saw mist spreading everywhere, clouding everything from sight. Advertisements Even if Lu Yan had night vision capabilities far beyond ordinary people, he still couldn¡¯t see anything in this white mist. All he could hear was the sharp laughter running through his ears. The Pollutants watched from above, like gods watching humans fight with all their might in desperate situations. Within three minutes, they returned to their original places from different directions. ¡°Can¡¯t get out.¡± Detective wiped the cold sweat on his forehead and said, ¡°My ability ranking is not high, but it is very practical. We also have encountered ghostly walls before and used Stealth to get out. This time, the Stealth failed.¡± [Detective, the spiritual power threshold is 2700. Support system. ] [Ability: Stealth, Tracking, Clue Perception] [Mutational Course: Amnesiac, Hyperthymesia*, Insanity] The Dragon Maiden finally climbed onto the shore. In the moonlight, her hair was black and long, her upper body was covered with fine fish scales, and her lower body wasn¡¯t human legs, but instead a long snake tail. Although the exposed snake tail was five or six meters long, the second half of her tail was still submerged in the lake, and a shadow could be seen under the moonlight. The Dragon Maiden had dragon horns on her head, and there were four or five baby girls on her back. Compared to humans, they looked closer to monsters¡ª their bodies were highly decomposed, and their baby teeth had turned into long and terrifying shark teeth. The pollution level on the sensor watch finally stabilized at 7, 002. Advertisements ¡°You guys go first!¡± Zhou Qiming pulled out his weapon, stood in front of the three of them, and said in a stern voice. He was not a combat system Enlightened, but because of his high spiritual power threshold, he also had some combat abilities. After he finished talking, Zhou Qiming stacked a few BUFFS for himself: [Attack power +150] [Defense value +100] [Automatically release toxins that disrupt the nervous system of aquatic organisms]. After stacking these BUFFS, there was no effect on the Dragon Maiden, but the little Dragon Maidens swam back into the water uncomfortably. Behind him, the calm-faced Dr. Lu suddenly covered his throat and retched. [I feel sorry for you, Zhou Qiming added a BUFF for himself that ¡°automatically releases toxins that disrupt the nervous system of aquatic organisms.¡± Of course, I am not saying that you are an aquatic creature, but the fish in your body is. ] [The Kingfish was on the verge of passing out from vomiting. It sprayed out a lot of fish eggs. Bleargh, bleargh¡ª] Lu Yan, ¡°¡­¡± He felt that the System actually did not need to say it with so much detail. Lu Yan silently moved away from Zhou Qiming, which made him feel a little better. The situation was urgent, and Zhou Qiming did not notice this detail. He just thought that it was the first time Lu Yan had faced a strong Pollution and experienced an adverse reaction. Little did he know that the things he was doing in his pursuit of Dr. Lu caused Dr. Lu to be the number one in sprinting backward. Advertisements ¡°When I fight with her later, you guys run. The further the better, if you return, find a place to hide.¡± Zhou Qiming¡¯s tone was very tragic and cool. At any rate, he ranked amongst the top 100 Enlighteneds on the forum, with a spiritual power threshold of 7, 600 at his peak. Facing the Dragon Maiden, there was still a chance of survival, but even the three of them added up were not enough to fill the gaps between the Pollutant¡¯s teeth.3 Detective¡¯s eyes moistened, ¡°Boss! You must be safe! Next week, our gacha mobile game will be launched on the official platform!!!¡± Zhou Qiming said angrily, ¡°That¡¯s it, I know that you¡¯re a traitor sent by the SpecOps Division. Don¡¯t play me with your words. F**k it, creating games leads to dead ends, I haven¡¯t wanted to do it for a long time!¡± [The Dragon Maiden is not here to find you. When she went ashore, she actually came to find her ¡®father¡¯¡­ Of course, if your hostility is too obvious, she doesn¡¯t mind solving it on the way.] Lu Yan instantly recalled the background of the story that the System had explained. He even had some untimely pity in his heart. The more advanced the Pollutant was, the more intact their consciousness was reserved. The Dragon Maiden had already merged with the hundreds of little Dragon Maidens. Living in resentment every day. It was the setting added by Zhou Qiming that reminded her of something. She still had an old father at home who had been waiting for her to return. Her mother died of cancer, and her father was under pressure and was not willing to remarry. He used to awkwardly comb her hair, make her breakfast, and raised her to be a big girl. Advertisements Every time she talked about her father with others, they were envious of her. The last time they met was 17 years ago. She saw him through a small window in the basement. She was only in her forties, but her hair had turned completely white and her body was haggard. Lu Yan asked the System, ¡°Can you communicate with her?¡± The Dragon Maiden didn¡¯t seem to be able to speak, but her white eyes were a little scary. [The perfect evolution of Dragon Maiden. With a pollution level of 7, 200, she is already a part of Dragon Maiden Lake.] [Mutational Abilities: Mirage, Maternal-Fetal Proliferation.] [Mutational Course: Sea Serpentization.] The mirage was the ghostly wall they encountered, and the maternal-fetal proliferation was the few children that Zhou Qiming killed. [She hasn¡¯t spoken for too long, so she can¡¯t speak anymore. But she still understands, you can try.] Therefore, Lu Yan stood up and walked to the lake. At this time, the atmosphere on the scene was already tense, and it was on the verge of breaking out into something worse. The Dragon Maiden snarled at Lu Yan, revealing her fangs that were not worse than those of the baby girls. Zhou Qiming was anxious, ¡°What are you doing here?¡± As soon as he spoke, the indescribable smell of his body seemed to rush towards Lu Yan. Lu Yan resisted the desire to retch and said to Dragon Maiden, ¡°You didn¡¯t evolve to obtain the ability to mimicry, and with this appearance, it is impossible for you to enter the human habitat and find your father. Human society has stronger protection from the Enlighteneds.¡± ¡°I can help you and bring your father here. I am also an employee of a state-owned enterprise. This is my work permit.¡± Lu Yan took out the ID card issued by the SpecOps Division. ¡°Your father¡ª¡± [Zhao Cheng.] ¡°Zhao Cheng, I have seen him. He has been looking for you.¡± In that instant, the Dragon Lady¡¯s angry expression turned into astonishment. ¡°You should have heard what I said to the Dragon Prison Well.¡± Lu Yan tried his best to make his tone appear sincere, ¡°You are a good person, it is not your fault.¡± The Dragon Maiden turned her head, her eyes forming a deadly stare directed at Lu Yan. She didn¡¯t say anything and seemed to be thinking about something. The pressure of being watched by such a Pollutant was no less than that of waking up early on the day of the college entrance examination and finding that he had missed the Chinese exam. After thinking about it, Zhou Qiming felt that his scalp was tingling. It was also difficult for Lu Yan to keep a straight face. The Dragon Maiden opened her mouth and let out a hiss. The dense and humid fog around slowly dissipated, revealing the way out. However, not everyone could leave. The Dragon Maiden¡¯s snake tail slapped the surface of the lake, making a loud cry like a sea monster. It wasn¡¯t terrible, but because it was too harsh, everyone present couldn¡¯t help but cover their ears. Blood spilled from Detective¡¯s fingers. The others were better, only slightly dizzy. Hundreds of little Dragon Maidens climbed onto the shore from the lake, rushing frantically towards the remaining three. They didn¡¯t have legs, so when they landed, they looked like long worms, twisting and slithering. Although their posture was distorted, they were frighteningly fast. Chen Shi¡¯er was so frightened that he was about to use Iron Sand Palms. He punched the small Pollutants with low pollution value. But his movement was stopped by Lu Yan, ¡°Don¡¯t resist! Trust me.¡± Chen Shi¡¯er had to suppress his fighting instinct and watched the little Dragon Maidens sitting around him in a circle. Fortunately, these horrible and ugly Pollutants did not attack them either. The Dragon Maiden opened her mouth, stuck out her long tongue, and made a ¡°hissing¡± sound. [The Dragon Maiden said, she¡¯ll give you three days. For every three days, if you don¡¯t bring her father over, she will kill a hostage.] Lu Yan repeated the System¡¯s words to others and said with relief, ¡°Don¡¯t worry, I will definitely be back within three days.¡± It couldn¡¯t be helped. Zhou Qiming¡¯s spiritual power threshold had only returned to the level of more than 6,000 now. Obviously, he couldn¡¯t beat the Dragon Maiden. What¡¯s more, the Dragon Maiden was able to make him unconsciously parasitized by a ghostly fetus before, the two were obviously not of the same magnitude. The macho man, Chen Shi¡¯er, shed tears and said, ¡°Doctor, you must come back!¡± Zhou Qiming was shocked, ¡°Dr. Lu, how do you know what she¡¯s talking about?¡± Lu Yan answered without hesitation, ¡°914th ability, cross-species communication.¡± After getting 6, 200 contribution points from Zhou Qiming, he bought the ¡°Periodic Table of Abilities Sequence.¡± Dr. Qiao, who compiled this sequence list, said that this sorting was the result of a comprehensive sorting of factors such as the strength of capabilities and the degree of assistance to humans. The serial number 914 ability only had a single purpose, that it could only be used to talk to intelligent creatures. Many Enlighteneds who had awakened this ability have become excellent veterinarians in the industry. Qiao Yu also said that every seeming junk ability was just a misplaced treasure. At least for now, it was still very useful for Lu Yan to fool people. Yanjing. Special Operations Division Headquarters. In the office, the minister pulled his bow tie a little unnaturally. He had always been called ¡°Iron Blood Yama¡±4 at the Headquarters, but at this time, he actually practiced smiling to the air. It looked very kind, like the Uncle Wang next door who goes out for a walk every night. Tang Xun¡¯an didn¡¯t like contact with strangers, so he was the only one in the office. A few minutes later, the liaison¡¯s voice came from his headset, ¡°Tang Xun¡¯an is here.¡± The office door was pushed open, and a chilling cold air came in. Tang Xun¡¯an pulled out his chair and sat down opposite the minister. ¡°Where to go this time?¡± He put the Yellow Dust on the table casually. Minister Wang laughed loudly, ¡°You have just returned from abroad a few days ago, so what are you thinking about going out for? Don¡¯t tire yourself too much.¡± Tang Xun¡¯an didn¡¯t pick up the conversation, just stared at him with those calm, beautiful golden eyes like he was a dummy. Minister Wang could only bite the bullet and say, ¡°Actually, it¡¯s like this. We want to arrange a new teammate for you. He is a healer type Enlightened. He may be of some help to you.¡± Tang Xun¡¯an inquired seriously, ¡°Is he being sent over to die?¡± ¡°You don¡¯t have to blame yourself too much for what happened back then. We all agree that it is not your fault.¡± The minister hesitated, ¡°If you disagree, then forget it. It was because the news of the Healer Enlightened was leaked. However, he himself did not want to come to the Headquarters. For the sake of protecting the safety of the other party, we only hope that he will follow you¡­¡± Tang Xun¡¯an wanted to smoke a little and also wanted to pet his dog at home. ¡°Give me the information,¡± he said. The minister handed over the document. Tang Xun¡¯an looked at the things the other party handed earnestly, and his expression was unreadable and calm. The minister¡¯s heart became tormented and nervous with each passing second until he finally heard Tang Xun¡¯an¡¯s confusing answer. ¡°Lu Yan, is it. I see.¡± The author has something to say: *Hypermnesia is an extremely rare medical illness, which belongs to the branch of non-selective memory. Its clinical manifestation is that the brain has an automatic memory system. CH 25 This chapter is translated by Rin, edited by Cia, and proofread by Kris Xian. Out of convenience, Lu Yan directly took the exam for the A1 license1 from the beginning. The entirety of the students at the driving school was only going to take up the C12 licence. He was the only one who paid the most, and yet also the one who drove the oldest car. The instructor was puzzled by this, especially after knowing that Lu Yan¡¯s profession was a doctor. After all, with an A1 license, he could also drive coaches. Where would he use it after Lu Yan passed the test? Advertisements But now, Lu Yan was currently driving an RV on the mountain road, impressed with his own foresight. If he didn¡¯t take the A1 license, for safety reasons, Lu Yan wouldn¡¯t have been able to drive the RV. He could only rely on his two legs to walk out of the mountains. Walking down the mountain road would surely be tiring. Vlabyrp bl oswze lhld vyjl vball eyup clqsal bl nswze zlyhl vbl xswdvykdp, cu vbld, Hbsw Ckxkdt yde vbl svbla vos oswze¡¯hl yzalyeu clld jkzzle cu vbl Paytsd Yykeld okvb y nwapl. Nw Zyd eashl yzsdl qsa ycswv vos bswap. Tkp rbsdl qkdyzzu alvwadle vs y plahknlyczl yaly yde bye dso y pktdyz. Tl elnkele vs ekyz vbl wdkqkle nwpvsxla plahknl rbsdl dwxcla yppktdle cu vbl VPU. Nw Zyd oyp pvkzz vbkdjkdt oblvbla ydusdl oswze ydpola yv qkhl kd vbl xsadkdt, cwv dsv lhld y xkdwvl rypple obld psxlsdl ydpolale vbl rbsdl. Rv oyp yd sze yniwykdvydnl. ¡°Ya. Nw.¡± Fw Wwqldt¡¯p hsknl oyp yp tldvzl yp lhla, ¡°Mseyu, R byrrldle vs cl sd ewvu yp vbl zkykpsd. Tso xyu R blzr usw?¡± [Mpj, vbl osaze byp ds pwnb nskdnkeldnl. Gp lmrlnvle, bl¡¯p clld rasxsvle vs cl uswa lmnzwpkhl zkykpsd.] Mbl FrlnXrp Pkhkpksd oswzed¡¯v pkxrzu ynnlrv ydu Odzktbvldlep. First of all, one must have a clean family history and no unforgivable criminal record. Secondly, one¡¯s abilities must be useful¡ªand by useful, it means they should have the ability to fight the Pollutants. Advertisements Confronting Pollutants was more dangerous than one might think, the death rate in the SpecOps Division was always high. If people who had no fighting ability were to replace them, they would just be sending them to their deaths. There were 60, 000 registered Enlighteneds in the forum. Excluding those who were abroad and those with useless abilities, as of now, the members of the SpecOps Division didn¡¯t even reach five hundred. Moreover, behind each member, there were still many people that were needed to serve them. From the research staff of the Research Institute to the most insignificant janitors of the PDC. An exclusive liaison like Su Fufeng would even be on call 24 hours a day. Lu Yan said, ¡°I want to find a person. If possible, please arrange for him to meet me as fast as possible. I have now turned on my location.¡± ¡°His name is Zhao Cheng.¡± [X City resident, ID number ******] As an outsider, it was obviously not very logical for him to know this much. Nevertheless, Lu Yan thought about it and still reported Zhao Cheng¡¯s ID number. Time was short. Zhao Cheng was a very common name. He was afraid that it would be too late if they had to check the archives one by one. If worse comes to worst, he would just blame it on the Dragon Maiden. ¡°Okay, Mr. Lu.¡± Su Fufeng was a little confused, ¡°Why are you looking for him?¡± Advertisements ¡°My friend and I went to a low-level pollution area¡­ ¡± Lu Yan briefly summarised what happened, ¡°If you find him, tell him that we found his daughter and we want to take him to see her. ¡° There was no need to conceal this matter, after all, there were still three people kept as hostages in the village. Su Fufeng¡¯s expression immediately became serious, ¡°You mean there are Pollutants with a pollution value of over 7, 000 in the Dragon Maiden Village?¡± His other hand had already clicked on the Headquarters¡¯ helpline. ¡°Yes.¡± ¡°Okay, I will immediately ask the Headquarters to send someone to solve the pollution.¡±Lu Yan¡¯s eyebrows frowned slightly. ¡°She has been in the Dragon Maiden Village for a long time and hasn¡¯t gone out for more than ten years. She has only stayed in the Dragon Maiden Lake and retaliated against the people who hurt her. If possible, I hope you won¡¯t behave recklessly.¡± ¡°Mr. Lu, don¡¯t look at Pollutants from a human¡¯s point of view, they are just monsters who have mutated.¡± Su Fufeng¡¯s tone was slightly hurried, ¡°Being merciful to Pollutants means you¡¯re being cruel to your own kind. Please don¡¯t retain this kind of ignorant kindness.¡± Lu Yan frowned slightly, ¡°Low-level Pollutants may indeed be like that, but I have seen high-level Pollutants a few times. In my eyes, they are creatures that we can communicate with¡­¡± Su Fufeng, who had received good training, intensified his stance on the matter, ¡°Pollutants have a primitive desire for human flesh and blood, if they don¡¯t eat, they will fall into a state of hunger. Humans are just food for them. No one can endure hunger for a long time, and neither can the Pollutants. They won¡¯t even be able to starve to death, so they are more likely to be motivated by hunger and thus hunt. Do lions feel guilty about biting and killing antelopes?¡± [He¡¯s got a point. Pollutants do crave to feed. But who says that their food source cannot be of the same kind? Pollutants do often eat humans, but only because they taste good and are easier to hunt]. ¡°Mr. Lu, in my eyes, you are very calm and have your own bottom line. But I don¡¯t think this move of yours is mature¡ª¡± Speaking halfway through the sentence, he was interrupted. Advertisements A clamor could be heard through the phone and soon, the person at the other end was replaced by an unfamiliar male voice. ¡°Hello, Mr. Curious Listener. I¡¯m Li Zhiming, deputy director of K City¡¯s PDC.¡± ¡°I am sorry to have given you a bad experience. Su Fufeng¡¯s father died at the hands of Pollutants. He was rescued by members of the SpecOps Division in the rubble¡ª that¡¯s why he feels extreme repulsion towards Pollutants.¡± ¡°Maybe he¡¯s right.¡± Lu Yan sighed, ¡°But this is the deal I made with her. My companions are still in her hands. I don¡¯t want to make any move that could provoke her.¡± ¡°Please wait a few minutes. We¡¯ll send our staff to contact Zhao Cheng first.¡± Lu Yan waited for about ten minutes before he received a call from the PDC. Director Li said, ¡°Your proposal has been carefully considered by the headquarters. It was decided that an experienced member of the SpecOps Division would be dispatched to follow. If it is determined that the Pollutant is too dangerous, extraction measures will be taken. Is this solution acceptable?¡± ¡°Yes.¡± ¡°Okay, please remain where you are and don¡¯t move. Do not turn off the positioning system either,¡± Director Li said in a gentle voice, ¡°We are already transferring small airliners and pilots to the location.¡± Lu Yan looked around. Seeing the rugged mountain road, he felt that it wasn¡¯t a place where a plane could be parked. Because he didn¡¯t know how long he would have to wait, Lu Yan took out his eye mask and earplugs to nap in the RV. He hadn¡¯t slept all day yesterday and was up driving till the early morning, so he was really sleepy now. Advertisements The System said, [Go to sleep, go to sleep, I¡¯ll call you if something happens]. Lu Yan didn¡¯t know how long he slept, it was already dawn when he was woken up by the sound of a plane propeller. He took off his eye mask and walked outside the vehicle. A helicopter was hovering overhead. The sun rose and ruddy rays of dawn appeared in the sky. The helicopter¡¯s hatch opened and Lu Yan saw a man. He was carrying another person in his arms as he leaped straight down from the air. If normal people were to fall down from this height, they could be directly sent to the nearby funeral parlor. The person was against the light, so Lu Yan could not see the man¡¯s face clearly. He could only see the pair of dark black wings that spread out from his back in mid-air. The morning sun shone on the scaly feathers of his wings. It was very beautiful. Tang Xun¡¯an landed firmly on the ground as he put away the enormous wings that spanned almost 4 meters wide. Although there were some differences in the appearance of the other party in real life and in the dream, he was easy to recognize, especially the pair of gold-like radiant eyes he possessed. To be honest, since Lu Yan looked at his own face in the mirror every day, he had become numb towards ¡°good-looking¡± humans. However, Tang Xun¡¯an¡¯s striking appearance still caught his eye. Unlike in the dream, Tang Xun¡¯an¡¯s face was covered with a bark stopper, and half of his face was shrouded in a shade of metalwork. ¡°Hello,¡± Tang Xun¡¯an took out his work ID, ¡°SpecOps Division, Tang Xun¡¯an.¡± He looked a lot more proper and serious now than in the dream. ¡°Lu Yan.¡± It was the first time Zhao Cheng experienced skydiving. Although Tang Xun¡¯an¡¯s movements were very stable, when he was carried down, his legs still shook uncontrollably. A few moments later, after catching his breath, Zhao Cheng pulled out his crutches and tapped it at the ground, his heart racing. ¡°Where¡¯s my daughter?¡± His gaze had already lost focus and he was just groping blankly. Tang Xun¡¯an explained in a low voice, ¡°His daughter has been missing, Zhao Cheng cried his eyes out that they went blind a few years ago. We found him in a community nursing home.¡± Lu Yan pursed his lips. ¡°Uncle Zhao, I¡¯ll take you to see her.¡± Letting a human meet a Pollutant was actually a very risky act. Therefore, Tang Xun¡¯an specially brought Yellow Dust with him this time. He wasn¡¯t very talkative. He talked to dogs more than people in recent years. Therefore, he was silent the whole way. Although his heart was actually not very calm. A few hours later, the group successfully returned to Dragon Maiden Village. Zhao Cheng probably felt that they were taking too long so he couldn¡¯t resist asking ¡°how long is needed to get there¡± many times. The surrounding air started to get more humid as the RV drove nearer to Dragon Maiden Lake. By the lake, Zhou Qiming and the other two were sitting together playing ¡°Fight the Landlord.¡± The game was in full swing. Not only him, but the Dragon Maiden also kept her promise. Almost as soon as the car stopped, Zhao Cheng fumbled impatiently to get out, calling out with his mouth, ¡°YuanYuan! YuanYuan! Daddy¡¯s here!¡± In the lake, the Dragon Maiden emerged once again. She hadn¡¯t thought that Zhao Cheng would actually come so quickly, a slight panic appeared on her expressionless face. She reached out her hand toward Zhao Cheng, but she glimpsed at the incomparably sharp nails and scales on her hand. The next moment, the Dragon Maiden made a move that even made Tang Xun¡¯an feel shocked. She bit off her nails and plucked off the scales piece by piece. Crimson blood flowed out of her arm and mixed with the lake water underneath. All this happened in just a minute. The Dragon Maiden struggled to crawl to the shore. One could not see, and one could not speak. However, as if they could sense each other, Zhao Cheng approached the Dragon Maiden accurately. As soon as he touched the Dragon Maiden¡¯s hand, he suddenly cried out, ¡°YuanYuan, it¡¯s Daddy!¡± Zhao Cheng¡¯s face turned red, and he couldn¡¯t stop sobbing. He was afraid that everything happening now was just a dream, but the touch he felt was so real. After 17 years, if Zhao Yuan hadn¡¯t become a Pollutant, what awaited Zhao Cheng would have been nothing more than the separation of life and death. The Dragon Maiden opened her mouth and tried to speak, but she could only let out a few hoarse chirps. Lu Yan, who did not have much emotion, thought that this scene was quite beautiful. ¡ªThe picture of a blood-drenched monster, and an old man on the verge of death together. It was shockingly beautiful. Lu Yan explained, ¡°Uncle, she¡¯s mute and she can¡¯t speak.¡± It was true that the Dragon Maiden could not speak. Her throat had been reconstructed differently from a human¡¯s throat. There was no vocal tract and its only function was to swallow. However, in the next second, a faint and hoarse female voice rang in Lu Yan¡¯s ears. As if learning to speak for the first time, the Dragon Maiden said with difficulty, ¡°Dad¡­ Dad, Dad¡­¡± Translator¡¯s Note: Although his heart was actually not very calm. CH 26 This chapter is translated by BigDivineBear, translation checked by Kensi, edited by Cia, and proofread by Kris Xian. This scene was extremely touching. Zhou Qiming stopped playing cards and took out his phone while crying to take a picture. He expressed that he wanted to add this plot to the game he was making. His company was currently working on two games, one being a pay-to-win mobile game and the other a triple-A1 masterpiece called ¡°Global Evolution.¡± Zhou Qiming originally made this game because he felt deeply moved by the progressively worsening circumstances due to the pollution. He wanted to do something to let the public know more about the pollution diseases. As a result, because the paper couldn¡¯t contain the fire,2 the government gradually loosened the restrictions on the propaganda of pollution diseases, and the game was currently on the verge of being launched. Advertisements Everyone present at the scene cried, except for Lu Yan and Tang Xun¡¯an. Lu Yan had originally wondered if he ought to squeeze out a tear or two, but when he turned around, Tang Xun¡¯an¡¯s expression was even calmer than his own, so he promptly stopped pretending. Tang Xun¡¯an rested his hand on his Tang blade and tapped the scabbard with his slender middle finger. Tkp ewvu oyp vs alxshl vbl rszzwvksd. Uswdvzlpp Vszzwvydvp bye ekle cu bkp bydep, yde Zlzzso Pwpv eaydj vblka czsse lynb vkxl. Gnnsaekdt vs bkp alypsdkdt, bl pbswze dsv cl blpkvyvkdt. Mydt Dwd¡¯yd byp xlv yde rlapsdyzzu jkzzle xydu bktb-zlhlz Vszzwvydvp. Tl jdlo clvvla vbyd ydusdl lzpl vbyv vbl bktbla vbl zlhlz sq vbl xsdpvla, vbl xsal kdvynv kvp xkde oyp ralplahle. Wasx bkp rskdv sq hklo, vbl nsdqzknv clvolld bwxydp yde Vszzwvydvp oyp kxrsppkczl vs alnsdnkzl. Mbkp oyp y cyvvzl qsalsaeykdkdt lkvbla vblka elyvb sa vbl svbla¡¯p. Rv oyp y oya qswtbv qsa sdl¡¯p pwahkhyz. Jwv kq bl olal vs xyjl y xshl dso, bl oyp yqayke vbyv Hbys Ubldt oswze cl wdyczl vs ynnlrv kv. Mbl qyvbla yde eywtbvla nakle qsa y zsdt vkxl clqsal tayewyzzu nyzxkdt esod. Hbys Ubldt vswnble bkp eywtbvla¡¯p yax, bl qlzv vbl xsvvzle pnyap sd kv, yde bkp blyav vbasccle kd rykd, ¡°Qsse tkaz, Pye okzz vyjl usw bsxl.¡± Mbl Paytsd Yykeld¡¯p vykz oyp pvkzz kd vbl oyvla. Ebld pbl blyae vblpl osaep, pbl pbssj bla blye pzktbvzu, bla qynl qwzz sq psaaso. The Dragon Maiden opened her mouth, letting out some whining noises. Advertisements [She can¡¯t leave. There¡¯s no other way, there are still hundreds of infants in the lake. If the Dragon Maiden leaves, those little dragon girls will follow the river flow like a sturgeon and swim to various waters. Although the pollution values of the little dragon girls were not that high, Pollutants will also evolve.] [What¡¯s more, after being together for more than ten years, she isn¡¯t completely emotionless towards these little monsters.] Lu Yan glanced at her and said, ¡°She can¡¯t go back with you¡­ She¡­ she has children here. There are many of them, she can¡¯t go back.¡± Zhao Cheng was silent for a while, gritted his teeth, and said, ¡°Then I¡¯ll move here!¡± Tang Xun¡¯an rejected the proposal immediately, ¡°No.¡± Letting an ordinary person stay near to such a strong source of pollution was no different from sending him to his death. At this time, the Dragon Maiden screamed hurriedly. Her snake tail slapped the water, splashing it everywhere. [She wants to discuss something with you. She hopes you could send Zhao Cheng away.] Therefore, Lu Yan gave a meaningful look at Chen Shi¡¯er and then said to Zhao Cheng kindly, ¡°Don¡¯t worry, Sir. Go back to the car and take a break. We are going to talk to your daughter for a bit.¡± Zhao Cheng didn¡¯t really want to leave, but Chen Shi¡¯er was exceedingly strong, and the Dragon Maiden patted the back of his hand comfortingly. Only then did Zhao Cheng return to the car. When he reached the car, he grabbed Chen Shi¡¯er¡¯s hand and said in a low voice, ¡°I can¡¯t see, so tell me honestly. Has Yuanyuan become that kind of¡­ monster?¡± Zhao Cheng had heard the news. In the community nursing home, there were also volunteers from the PDC who came to popularize science. Advertisements The X City where he was located was still safe. Although he had never seen it, he had heard of it. Chen Shi¡¯er felt somewhat awkward, not knowing whether to tell him the truth or not. He stalled for a while. Zhao Cheng was an old man, and he had been traveling for more than ten years to find his daughter. There was no type of person he hadn¡¯t encountered, so he was immediately sure that his guess was correct. Zhao Cheng wanted to cry again, but his cloudy eyes quickly became resolute, ¡°It¡¯s okay. She will always be my daughter.¡± By the lake, Tang Xun¡¯an negotiated with the Dragon Maiden with Lu Yan acting as the interpreter. Zhou Qiming and Detective recognized Tang Xun¡¯an, which made them not even dare to breathe, they simply stood obediently on the side. Dragon Maiden, ¡°Ahhh, uh, ah-ah.¡± Lu Yan began to translate, ¡°She said she wouldn¡¯t leave the Dragon Maiden Lake, and she wants to live with Zhao Cheng. She can restrain her instincts and spare the villagers of the Dragon Maiden Village.¡± Tang Xun¡¯an¡¯s eyes swept across the Dragon Maiden¡¯s face and then fell on Lu Yan, ¡°I believe its wishes this time are true, but I don¡¯t believe it can really be done.¡± High-level Pollutants had certain bloodline suppressions toward low-level Pollutants. The Dragon Maiden had some experience with this, considering the dependent attitude of the little dragon girls. Nonetheless, the Dragon Maiden never thought that she would feel this instinctive fear from a human being. She had a certain degree of wisdom and memory, the Dragon Maiden somehow knew well that if she didn¡¯t give a satisfactory answer, she would be killed mercilessly by Tang Xun¡¯an. Tang Xun¡¯an was reluctant to gamble. He would rather bear some infamy and stifle the risks in the cradle. Advertisements The Dragon Maiden made some short tweeting sounds again. ¡°She said she can cut off her gills that she uses for breathing above water, so in this way she can only stay in the water and not be able to breathe the oxygen in the air. She is also willing to cut out the thing in her stomach.¡± [When Zhao Yuan threw herself into the lake, she was already pregnant. Not much time has passed yet since Lu Cheng¡¯s catalysis made the thing in her stomach the real ¡°dragon seed,¡± it is also the source of the majority of her pollution value.] This time, Tang Xun¡¯an didn¡¯t contemplate for too long, ¡°Okay. But I will let satellites monitor this place at all times. If there are any abnormal changes, the PDC will immediately notify the SpecOps Division.¡± There would be no room for a second negotiation by then. Tang Xun¡¯an thought for a while, then added, ¡°Those men in the village have already reached the third stage of distortion, so there is no possibility of them becoming normal again. I permit you to use some non-extreme means to gently resolve it.¡± His words were not rigorous. In the third stage of distortion, as long as they hadn¡¯t become a Pollutant, it could still be cured. However, Tang Xun¡¯an felt that these people were not worth saving. In his earpiece, the liaison officer suddenly stopped talking. The role of the liaison was to deliver messages and soothe emotions. Under normal circumstances, they did not interfere with the choice of the Enlightened, unless the Enlightened¡¯s mental state had become abnormal or they behaved outrageously. Although there was such a high-level Pollutant in the mountainous area of Fuling Province, the local city hall was inevitably a little uneasy, but since it was Tang Xun¡¯an¡¯s judgment, they were willing to believe this choice. A relieved smile appeared on the Dragon Maiden¡¯s face. Advertisements The gills she used to breathe on land were on the side of her ears, like fins. When it was pulled out, two long lines of blood burst out. It was painful to look at. Afterwards, the Dragon Maiden dived into the bottom of the water. A few hoarse roars came from the bottom of the lake, where soon, a rich blood color spread. Moments later, she stretched out a hand and placed the stillborn baby on the shore. On the sensor watch, the pollution value of the Dragon Maiden plummeted from 7, 000 to 3, 600. It was a pale golden, translucent snake. However, there were two small bumps on the top of its head, which looked like dragon horns. This little snake was not completely dead yet, but it had completely hatched with the scales on its golden body. Occasionally, the snake¡¯s tail would swing and struggle. From the moment he saw it, Lu Yan felt an untimely hunger in his stomach. The Kingfish in his body was extremely excited, it was like someone who had been walking in the desert for three days and suddenly saw a water source. Lu Yan wanted it very much, but he couldn¡¯t move yet, because there was a stranger whom he still couldn¡¯t beat standing beside him. Zhou Qiming glanced at it from a distance and sighed, ¡°So this is a special item stripped from a Pollutant? It¡¯s the first time I¡¯ve seen it.¡± Although its function was unknown, these special items were all good things without exception. In the current natural world, Pollutants were the undisputed top hunters, but this kind of thing was not absolute. [There are indeed things on Pollutants that can be used by humans. Tang Xun¡¯an¡¯s pair of dragon wings was also stripped from another Pollutant. The Kingfish you fused with is one too.] Tang Xun¡¯an, ¡°Logically, it should be given to the Research Institute, but this area was discovered and explored by you first, and the Pollutant handed it over voluntarily. Since the remaining three people are not members of the SpecOps Division, you can handle this among yourselves.¡± Although he said ¡°yourselves,¡± Tang Xun¡¯an was looking only at Lu Yan. ¡°You girls shouldn¡¯t come to such a dangerous place in the future. Even if you want to go, you should report it first.¡± Tang Xun¡¯an couldn¡¯t help but add. In his eyes, Lu Yan was really too weak. But for some unknown reason, he always encountered some exceedingly powerful Pollutants. Normal people would have died thousands of times already, which was really dangerous. As he talked, Tang Xun¡¯an¡¯s eyes were lost for a moment, and he felt as if he had forgotten something. But since he forgot about it then it shouldn¡¯t have been that important, otherwise, it wouldn¡¯t be affected by Zhou Qiming¡¯s talent. Hence, Tang Xun¡¯an spread out the wings on his back, ¡°I¡¯ll leave first.¡± Lu Yan, ¡°¡­¡± It was really convenient for people with wings to go wherever they wanted. In just a few seconds, the man disappeared, leaving only Lu Yan and the others to deal with the aftermath. Lu Yan asked the system, ¡°Why does he wear a muzzle?¡± [The price of Tang Xun¡¯an overusing his ability is rage which has made him kill his comrades in arms before. Later, the Headquarters arranged a dog muzzle for him. To be honest, this thing is completely useless against him.] [It is more like a spiritual shackle than physical restraint.] [This muzzle isn¡¯t used to make you feel safe but to make Tang Xun¡¯an feel safe. It makes him believe that he is under restraint and in control, and will not completely degenerate into a Pollutant.] [Are you interested in being his master? I can teach you.] Lu Yan felt that the System¡¯s words were extremely strange and perverse. When Tang Xun¡¯an returned home, the dog he had been raising had already been waiting for a long time. His home was in Yanjing, and he lived alone. In a separate courtyard, no one was around within ten miles. A few miles ahead was the First Research Institute. Tang Xun¡¯an was raising a German Shepherd. It was a special animal that was an Enlightened, its innate ability was to speak human words. This was the 60th birthday gift specially given to him by the PDC. So far, he had accompanied Tang Xun¡¯an for more than 40 years. ¡°Old Tang.¡± The German Shepherd wagged his tail, ¡°You¡¯re finally back. Spring is almost here, when will you take me to the pet blind date market?¡± Tang Xun¡¯an lit a cigarette and smoked it accurately through the iron frame, ¡°Let someone else take you there, I don¡¯t want to move.¡± The German Shepherd took a blanket and laid at his feet, ¡°I called Xiao Wang. Xiao Wang said that you didn¡¯t go to see me when you came back because you went to see some new teammate. How was it?¡± Tang Xun¡¯an thought for a while and replied, ¡°Too weak, not yet suitable to be a teammate.¡± If they wanted to bring Lu Yan on a mission, they would end up having to collect his body if they didn¡¯t pay close enough attention to him. Although he felt that his current teammates were also a group of burdens, their spiritual power threshold was still several thousands. ¡°I thought you would directly refuse.¡± There was a very human smile in the German Shepherd¡¯s eyes, ¡°But I didn¡¯t expect there to be room for negotiation in your words. It seems that you like him a lot.¡± Tang Xun¡¯an¡¯s eyes wandered for a moment. The German Shepherd put his head on his lap and did not continue speaking. Tang Xun¡¯an stretched out his hand and scratched the fur on its neck. Humans get lonely really easily. Doggy understands. Translator¡¯s Note: CH 27 This chapter is translated by Hoenimochi, translation checked by Rin, edited by Bluburry, and proofread by Kris Xian. Lu Yan stood there, hadn¡¯t reacted yet to Tang Xun¡¯an¡¯s phrase ¡°You girls.¡± He said to Zhou Qiming with complicated emotions, ¡°Hurry up and delete the gender female setting for me.¡± Zhou Qiming scratched his head, ¡°But we are still in the Dragon Maiden Lake, do we really want to delete it now? What if we become pregnant?¡± Lu Yan thought about it for a while and felt that what Zhou Qiming said actually made sense, so he gave up. Advertisements Several people gathered around the small golden snake. Chen Shi¡¯er went to the car and took a food storage box, muttering under his breath, ¡°I¡¯m not trying to take it away, I¡¯m just getting a box to put it in.¡± The dragon snake was packed in a glass box. Under the sunlight, it looked like it was some delicious jelly. This kind of special item stripped from the Pollutants had always been something good. Hbsw Ckxkdt nswtble, ¡°R rasrspl vs tkhl vbkp vbkdt vs Pa. Nw. Gqvla yzz, bl¡¯p vbl sdl obs nyzzle vbl alpnwlap blal, yde ol eked¡¯v es yduvbkdt.¡± Mbl alxykdkdt vos ytalle. Mblu eked¡¯v jdso obu, cwv vblu yzoyup qlzv vbyv Nw Zyd yde Mydt Dwd¡¯yd bye y vbkdt okvb lynb svbla. Mbl qynv vbyv Mydt Dwd¡¯yd eked¡¯v cakdt vbl kvlx cynj vs vbl Slplyanb Rdpvkvwvl, nswze yzalyeu lmrzykd vbl rasczlx hlau olzz. Vlsrzl kd vbl qklze xktbv dsv jdso obyv vbl Vszzwvydv nzsplpv vs bsxl zssjle zkjl, cwv vblal oyp ds sdl obs eked¡¯v jdso Mydt Dwd¡¯yd. Zlv Mydt Dwd¡¯yd zkjle vs qktbv yzsdl. Mld ulyap yts, yqvla vbl elyvb sq bkp zypv vlyxxyvl, bl pvyavle vs yrrlya zlpp kd qasdv sq vbl rwczkn lul. Tkp ryka sq tszeld rwrkzp yde knsdkn eaytsd okdtp olal vss lul-nyvnbkdt, xyjkdt kv byae qsa rlsrzl dsv vs alnstdkgl bkx. Mblu bye lmrlakldnle zkql yde elyvb vstlvbla, ps Nw Zyd eke dsv alqwpl, ¡°Xjyu, vbld R okzz tkhl 2,000 rskdvp qsa lynb sq usw, yde valyv kv yp kq R cswtbv kv.¡± He was not the kind of person who wouldn¡¯t appreciate getting a good deal, so he expressed his gratitude very sincerely. Advertisements Lu Yan made another dinner on the way back. Four dishes and one soup, fragrant and delicious, it was so tasty that Chen Shi¡¯er wanted to cry and call ¡°Mom.¡± As the RV left the mountain village, the mountainous area where the Dragon Maiden Lake was located was once again covered by dense fog. There was no way out, and no way back in. Detective looked back and glanced, ¡°Is it really okay to leave Mr. Zhao there? He¡¯s the only normal person there, right¡­¡± There was inevitably some worry in his tone. ¡°That was his own choice.¡± Lu Yan said, ¡°For him, it is already the best choice.¡± Zhou Qiming sent Lu Yan back to K City. Instead of going to the PDC, Lu Yan returned home, logged into the Enlightened Forum, and transferred the contribution points to the other three. Just when he was about to quit the site, a new message popped up. [Tyrant requested to add you as a friend? Accept/Refuse] Lu Yan was taken aback and chose to accept. A few minutes later, a message came in the chatbox. Tyrant: Are you into women¡¯s clothing? Advertisements Because of excessive mental pressure, many Enlighteneds had some problems with their mentality. He knew that Lu Yan was a man. But how was it that both times when he saw Lu Yan, he was dressed like a female high school student. This made Tang Xun¡¯an very¡­ confused. Curious Listener: ? A few days later. On a narrow road covered with fog, two figures¡ª one tall and one short¡ª walked on it. The slightly shorter person slowly said, ¡°Right now, only a few people know. Evolution actually has a course. Just like many years ago, all living things originated from a common cell. Over thousands of years of evolution, different classes have been formed.¡± His voice sounded like a male for a while, and then sounded like a female the next moment. His age also sounded different, which was extremely peculiar. ¡°For you, the final form of evolution is¡­ Are you listening or not?!¡± Next to him, Shen Qingyang stretched out a pitch-black tentacle on his waist, lifted off the white T-shirt, and yawned, ¡°Teacher, I¡¯m sleepy.¡± He was probably really sleepy. Even the eyeballs on the tentacles were half-closed. Because he was staying up late to study high school textbook knowledge, he had not been sleeping enough lately. One thing Shen Qingyang regretted in life was that he had only a junior high school education qualification. Therefore, he couldn¡¯t raise his head in front of Lu Yan because of his low self-esteem. It was a pity that he didn¡¯t have money for tuition at the beginning. He earned enough tuition fees later, but missed the qualified age of studying and had no time to study. Advertisements So much so that he didn¡¯t start high school until now. Prophet also didn¡¯t expect that it was useless to bewitch him for a long time. In the end, the reason that Shen Qingyang agreed to join the group was actually because of his 705 score in the college entrance examination. Prophet¡¯s own pollution value was not low, but because of the mutation in his brain, his combat power was not very strong. If Shen Qingyang fought with him, he probably could only yield ten of his tentacles. Therefore, Prophet could not actually do anything to him. He was silent for a moment and said gloomily, ¡°If you still have this attitude, I won¡¯t tell you how to solve the hyperbolic equation.¡± Shen Qingyang immediately put away his tentacles and said solemnly, ¡°Teacher, please continue.¡± The Pollutants whose mutation degree had exceeded 7,000 were all learning. What excuses do human beings have for not working hard? Prophet felt much better now. The only eye on his front face slightly narrowed, ¡°I started out the arrangement 30 years ago. Dragon Maiden Lake is our first step. Let the mutated Dragon Maiden nurture the Kingfish, after devouring it, you will be one step closer to the divine throne. ¡°Counting the days, the Kingfish should¡¯ve been bred around this time.¡± Shen Qingyang was not interested in becoming a god, but he really had nothing to do. Advertisements ¡°As the Pollutants evolved, they would inevitably devour their own kind. You have to eat more.¡± ¡°Although I don¡¯t know why, that Kingfish did not parasitize on you. But among all the initial forms of this sequence, you are the closest to a God.¡± A trace of enthusiasm appeared in Prophet¡¯s eyes. ¡°Sooner or later, this world will be ours.¡± The two Pollutants walked for a long time, and at the end of their line of sight, a small village finally appeared. Shen Qingyang still felt uncomfortable after leaving the water for too long, even if there was a layer of water vapor wrapped around him. The men with big bellies were muddle-headed, their eyes were empty, and no one even looked at them. Shen Qingyang couldn¡¯t help frowning, ¡°They smell so bad.¡± After all, they were human beings who were already in the third stage of distortion. ¡°Don¡¯t worry, they are just simply the Dragon Maiden culture medium.¡±1 Prophet said indifferently, ¡°Let¡¯s go to the Dragon Maiden Lake. Although it¡¯s also a perfect evolutionary body, it will not be your opponent. It just so happens that you also need to train yourself through battle now.¡± By the Dragon Maiden Lake, Zhao Cheng was still chatting with his daughter. The Dragon Maiden who was listening quietly by the lake suddenly straightened up. Her cloudy irises lacked pupils, but she was a little more vigilant for no reason. She gently pushed her father with her hand, ¡°¡­Go.¡± Zhao Cheng was a little puzzled, ¡°Where to go?¡± The Dragon Maiden still couldn¡¯t say much, she could only point to the woods on one side, and repeated, ¡°Go.¡± Zhao Cheng didn¡¯t understand why, but he still walked into the woods. The Dragon Maiden sneaked into the bottom of the lake. In the Dragon Maiden Lake, hundreds of little Dragon Maidens circled her side. A few minutes later, two people came to the shore. Prophet cleared his throat, and the human face behind him actually shouted in Zhao Cheng¡¯s voice, ¡°YuanYuan¡ª Are you there? Dad came to see you.¡± But the Dragon Maiden Lake was still calm, and just set off a wave of undercurrents. ¡°Can¡¯t trick her.¡± Prophet said, ¡°Do it.¡± Shen Qingyang let out an ¡°en,¡± and his lower body began to twist, turning into a ball of octopus-like tentacles. These tentacles were so long and thick that Shen Qingyang¡¯s entire body became much taller. An inky-black tentacle reached under the water surface, splashing a stream of water. At the bottom of the lake, the little Dragon Maidens screamed and rushed towards it. However, the fangs that could tear Zhou Qiming¡¯s skin so easily could not even leave a single tooth mark on the surface of his tentacle. The second tentacle also reached into the water. Dragon Maiden Lake was not small, but Dragon Maiden¡¯s snake tail was longer. Shen Qingyang¡¯s tentacles found her easily. Then, like a fishing net, it tightened fiercely. He fished the Dragon Maiden out from the lake. Prophet was a little surprised, feeling that the Dragon Maiden seemed much weaker than he imagined. One of Shen Qingyang¡¯s tentacles pierced through her snake¡¯s tail and nailed her to the ground. The Prophet looked at her abdomen, and soon, uncontrollable anger appeared in his tone, ¡°Where is the fish fetus I asked you to raise?!¡± The blood stained the grass on the shore, and the gills that the Dragon Maiden used to breathe on land had been cut off. The suffocation and the severe pain from the snake¡¯s tail made her scream in pain. Zhao Cheng couldn¡¯t see, and he didn¡¯t know what happened, but that didn¡¯t prevent him from hearing his daughter¡¯s cry for help. At that moment, his mind was blank, and he couldn¡¯t care less about anything else. The Dragon Maiden heard him yelling, ¡°What are you doing! Let go of my daughter!¡± Don¡¯t¡­ Don¡¯t come out¡­! The Dragon Maiden wanted to keep him hidden, but the current situation simply did not allow her to do so! Zhao Cheng had never run so fast before, and his body even burst out with the speed and strength that a person should not have in his old age. At this moment, he didn¡¯t even realize that he had awakened into an Enlightened. But a newly awakened Enlightened was so weak that it was pitiful. Shen Qingyang didn¡¯t even need to take action; Prophet grabbed Zhao Cheng by the neck and lifted him into the air. ¡°It was him that asked you to pull out your nails, scratch your dragon scales, peel your gills, and cut your abdomen?¡± Prophet¡¯s tone was full of playfulness. Not caring about her own injuries, the Dragon Maiden angrily stretched out her hand and attacked Prophet, but was quickly beaten to the side by Shen Qingyang¡¯s third tentacle that came swinging in the air. She crawled on the ground and coughed up mouthfuls of blood. Prophet said to Shen Qingyang, ¡°See, this is what happens when you act on your emotions. Emotion is the most useless thing in this world. All relationships are only divided into which one is useful, and which one is useless.¡± Shen Qingyang thought about it, still with a smile on his face, ¡°Is that so?¡± Prophet took two steps forward and pressed Zhao Cheng¡¯s face to the Dragon Maiden¡¯s side. ¡°Who did you give the Kingfish to?¡± Prophet said in a cold and indifferent tone. ¡°Tell me.¡± The Dragon Maiden kept hissing and struggled to crawl towards her father. ¡°Oh, I forgot you can¡¯t talk. Then I¡¯ll change the question.¡± The Prophet grabbed Zhao Cheng¡¯s hair and asked, ¡°Who brought you to the Dragon Maiden Lake?¡± Zhao Cheng¡¯s condition was exceptionally bad. He stretched out his hand tremblingly and patted the back of Dragon Maiden¡¯s hand. ¡°YuanYuan, a long time ago, Dad told you¡­ sooner or later, Dad will leave you first. To be born, to age, to fall sick, and to die are normal. You must have a bottom line and dignity as a human. Dad is really happy to see you again. I¡¯m very blessed. It¡¯s like, back then when I held you for the first time, you were little¡­¡± Prophet was not interested in father-daughter love at all, which would make him think of some disgusting memories. ¡°Hurry up¡ª¡± He interrupted the conversation between the two of them. Zhao Cheng spat on Prophet¡¯s face, ¡°I won¡¯t tell you! You damn dog.¡± After saying that, he used both hands and viciously snapped his own neck. 273rd Ability ¡ª Giant Strength. Translator¡¯s Note CH 28 This chapter is translated by Rin, edited by Bluburry, and proofread by Kris Xian. The next day, after Lu Yan returned home, he received a message from Zhou Qiming. ¡°I went to investigate the abduction case related to Zhao Yuan. After a long search, I found someone who seemed like a suspect. He was sentenced to death 20 years ago for several crimes, such as smuggling guns and trafficking women and children. The punishment has been executed.¡± Looking for a Gong: It felt that there was something wrong, and I went back to read the confession. The trial went for a week, and the condemned man had explained a lot. The women who were trafficked had also been recovered according to his statement, but only Zhao Yuan was not mentioned. At that time, Zhao Yuan clearly had just been sold to the Dragon Maiden Lake. Looking for a Gong: In addition, I also asked the official to check the address of the person who uploaded the post. Officials told me they did not have permission. I went to look for it, but the post was also deleted. It seems that the truth is hidden very deeply. Detective has sent the information report back to Headquarters. Advertisements [The trafficker was arrested when he was already under mental hypnosis and said that he couldn¡¯t remember such a thing.] Lu Yan just thought for a moment, then asked one thing with a definite tone, ¡°Lu Cheng?¡± [Yes, or, you should know his current code name, ¡°Prophet.¡±] Nw Zyd bye alye y zsv sq kdqsaxyvksd ycswv Vszzwvydvp kd vbl Odzktbvldle qsawx. Vasrblv, G-zlhlz Vszzwvydv. Bple vs cl Omrlakxldvyz Fwcflnv Ls. 18 sq vbl Wkapv Slplyanb Rdpvkvwvl. Ywvyvksdyz Gckzkvklp: Valnstdkvksd, Jlokvnbxldv, Turdsvkpx. Slxyaj: Mbl Rdpvkvwvl bye nyzzle Odzktbvldlep vs nyaau swv vbl yaalpv rzyd sq Vasrblv, vbl lmlnwvkhl ¡°G-Uzypp Odzktbvldle ¡ª Qkydv¡± kp dso xkppkdt, pwprlnvle sq elyvb. Ls vaynl sq Vasrblv¡¯p ynvkhkvu byp clld qswde kd vbl Vszzwvksd yalyp. ¡°Eblal kp bl dso?¡± [Gal usw pwal usw oydv vs jdso dso? R nyd blzr usw nblnj, cwv yv vbl pyxl vkxl, usw okzz yzps cl qswde cu Vasrblv. Zsw yal vbl sdl obs jdsop bkx clpv kd vbkp osaze. Zsw jdso vbl nsdpliwldnlp, esd¡¯v usw?] Mblalyqvla, Nw Zyd¡¯p lmralppksd alvwadle vs y pvyvl sq nyzxdlpp. ¡°Zsw¡¯al aktbv.¡± Nw Zyd ealo bkp nsxrspkvl cso; vbl csopvakdt oyp rwzzle swv kdvs y clywvkqwz qszele ydtzl. The arrow sped away; the metal arrowhead pierced the bull¡¯s eye and penetrated deep into the wall behind. Luckily, Lu Yan had not used all his strength, otherwise, the wall would have collapsed. Advertisements Lu Yan changed the question, ¡°He single-handedly planned the abduction case, later went to the Dragon Maiden Village, and then compelled the villagers to drown Zhao Yuan in the pond. What is the purpose of all this?¡± Everything had a purpose, even murderers in the street who killed indiscriminately, did so because they wanted to take revenge on society, and make themselves feel better. Not to mention, a person like Lu Cheng wouldn¡¯t work hard if he didn¡¯t have any benefit in doing so. [Creating a god.] [Meanness is the passport of the mean, nobility is the epitaph of the noble. The gilded sky is filled with the bent reflections of the dead.*] [Only suffering can produce great and noble souls. After the bodies of these souls are fully evolved, they will also become extraordinarily powerful Pollutants. Such a bureau, he has set up seven of them over the decades. The Dragon Maiden Lake you encountered is just one of them.] Dragon Maiden Village. Prophet covered his bloody hand. The huge eye on his face was covered with fine red blood veins. One of his hands had been bitten off by the Dragon Maiden from his wrist. Prophet could see the future, but in the future he saw, it did not include this possibility. Or rather, this miracle. At that moment, all the little Dragon Maidens at the bottom of the Dragon Maiden Lake ran to their ¡°mother¡± like young swallows returning to the forest and merged into the Lady Maiden¡¯s body. Advertisements The monster opened its fangs as if it were returning to life. Second evolution. Prophet had forgotten the last time he had experienced this kind of pain. His tone was filled with anger, ¡°You could have stopped her, why did you just stand by and watch?¡± On Shen Qingyang¡¯s face, there remained a gentle smile. ¡°But, by blocking her, I will also be injured. ¡°Don¡¯t act on emotion, isn¡¯t that what you taught me, Teacher?¡± Lu Yan took out the pale golden snake fish from the refrigerator. The golden snake had been dead for a long time. It was soaked in water, but the smell was unique. What a normal person smelled might be fishy, but in Lu Yan¡¯s olfactory system, the smell was surprisingly sweet. The Kingfish had indeed transformed him. ¡°What¡¯s the use of this stuff?¡± Lu Yan asked. The System replied without a trace of emotion, [Kingfish hatchling, a species of fish eggs like the one you saw. It is extremely useful. I suggest you cook and eat it, don¡¯t swallow it raw.] [Although it will have a weaker effect, it won¡¯t make the two fish inside you fight. The Kingfish when facing you may be kind and behave, but its jealousy is quite strong.] Advertisements [If it finds out that you have a second child, it may quietly bite the second child to death while you are not paying attention.] [After all, it can get stronger by eating it.] A large part of the Pollutant¡¯s evolution was done by eating its own kind. Occasionally, there were extreme cases, such as relying on something else like courage, faith, anger, or willpower, but this was usually more like a miracle. Lu Yan smiled and immediately boiled a pot of water. High-end ingredients often needed to be cooked in the simplest way. Lu Yan asked, ¡°Will putting soy sauce and cooking wine affect the impact of this fish?¡± The System was silent for a moment, [No, but it will make it more delicious]. Lu Yan was satisfied. He opened the back of the Kingfish, sliced it with a fancy knife, and put it in the cooking wine to marinade. After finely chopping the onion and ginger, he sprinkled them on the surface of the fish. Finally, he steamed it in the pot for ten minutes. When it was brought out, he drizzled it with some refreshing soy sauce. The fish was fresh and sweet. The thick, pale golden broth after steaming was so good that he wanted to swallow his tongue. Advertisements Lu Yan declared this is the best fish meal he had ever eaten. [Kingfish is not a fish¡­ Nevermind.] Not quite the same as the last integration, this time, the rejection reaction was not strong. At least, there was no high fever or vomiting. Lu Yan felt like he had drunk too much wine and had a gentle throbbing headache. This was probably also because he was already an Enlightened with a spiritual power threshold close to 1, 000. The translucent fish scales growing on his arms emerged. They were much larger than when they first appeared, and they looked like they belonged to an old koi that had been raised for more than ten years. These scales shifted from red to pale gold. Lu Yan lay on the sofa and spread his hands towards the ceiling. ¡°1 hour after swallowing, the fish scales mutated. Conditions like unconsciousness and limb incoordination appeared. ¡°4 hours, the range of scale growth covered the right hand. ¡°6 hours, shark-like gill slits grew on the side of the ear, three in total. ¡°8 hours, teeth mutation, showing jagged shark tooth form¡­ Two extra rows of teeth appear in the mouth, located at the upper and lower part.¡± ¡­¡­ ¡°13 hours, the end of mutation.¡± A layer of sweat appeared on Lu Yan¡¯s body. At the same time, he also stopped recording. His hazy vision became clear. In his ears, the System¡¯s congratulations rang out, [Congratulations to the Host, you have obtained the 167th ability ¡ª Regeneration.] Regeneration, an ability from the special system. As long as the Enlightened didn¡¯t die, it could regenerate severed limbs on any part of the body. Paired with the combat system ability, he would become an exceptionally difficult character to deal with. [If you swallow that fish alive, you can gain the 29th ability¡ª Immortality. This is the advanced version of Regeneration. Just like I am an advanced version of Prophet¡¯s ability.] [However, I don¡¯t approve of you doing that, it¡¯s too dangerous. Although the first Kingfish is docile inside you and even shows no aggression¡­ it is s the juvenile fish with the strongest evolutionary ability and the strongest final form of all the Kingfish.] Lu Yan took out the sensor watch and measured his physical condition. Spiritual power threshold 1, 450. Mutation degree, 10.2. He swallowed a miracle drug issued by the PDC and it dropped to exactly 10. He swallowed another one and this value did not go down any further. ¡°How many bars in total?¡± Lu Yan asked. Then, he got an unsurprising number: ¡°7.¡±1 The organization¡¯s arranged matchmaking plan was forced to abort because of Tyrant¡¯s lack of cooperation. The Headquarters had to arrange Lu Yan in a different way. K City Pollution and Disease Control Center¡¯s Director Li straightened his bow tie and waited for Lu Yan¡¯s arrival. On the first day that Lu Yan had returned from Dragon Maiden Village, Director Li sent an invitation, but the other party said he was temporarily unavailable, so it was not until three days later that they had the chance to meet officially. Director Li heard that Lu Yan liked good-looking male comrades. He was also a flower in the PDC when he was young, but now that he was in his forties and was even a bit bald because of years of busywork, he was inevitably worried. The organization believed that Su Fufeng was no longer suitable to be Lu Yan¡¯s liaison. Therefore, this position was taken over by Director Li, who had talked to Lu Yan on the phone once, for the time being. Unlike Su Fufeng, who only knew that Lu Yan was an Enlightened, Director Li also knew that Lu Yan was a very precious healing type Enlightened. Although he was still in the growth stage, his future potential was limitless. Being an Enlightened, especially being a liaison for a powerful Enlightened, was a very promising thing. For example, Tang Xun¡¯an¡¯s former liaison had risen to become the manager of the SpecOps Division. Therefore, Director Li still wanted to leave a good impression in front of Lu Yan as much as possible. Half an hour later, Lu Yan arrived at the office of the PDC at the exact time. Director Li was all smiles, ¡°Mr. Curious Listener, you¡¯re here.¡± Lu Yan nodded. ¡°I just finished an operation, and there was a bit of traffic on the road, I¡¯m sorry.¡± ¡°It¡¯s okay, in fact, I didn¡¯t call you here today for a serious matter.¡± Director Li cheerfully said. With his slightly bald head, he was like the Maitreya Buddha, ¡°Because of work errors, your information was inadvertently leaked. Nevertheless, fortunately, when it was discovered, it wasn¡¯t widely spread. The authorities have sent someone to complete the memory cleaning.¡± ¡°In order to prevent this kind of incident from happening again, the organization has decided to change the information on the file, altering the special system to the support system. I hope you can go to the Research Institute to undergo an ability transplant operation to transfer the ¡®Sprint¡¯ ability to you.¡± Sprint, 679th ability. It could ignore gravity, buoyancy, and other factors, running on different plains with great speed. This was also the ability recorded on the file forged by the Headquarters for Lu Yan. ¡°In addition, the SpecOps Division Headquarters will soon start a new round of skill training for new entrants of Enlighteneds for three months. All newly recruited Enlighteneds must join the training. It just so happens that Mr. Zhou Qiming is going to Yanjing to sign the contract. You guys can go together.¡± Lu Yan¡¯s eyebrows raised high. ¡°Abilities can be transplanted as well?¡± Director Li didn¡¯t know much about ability transplantation and could only say vaguely, ¡°I heard it¡¯s the latest technology from the First Research Institute. There won¡¯t be pollution after the operation and no backlash. It¡¯s very effective. Nonetheless, it can only transplant some abilities that are ranked at the back of the Abilities Sequence List, so only less important abilities.¡± Lu Yan didn¡¯t know if this was an illusion. In that instant, he heard the System let out a snicker with cold intent. The author has something to say: *From the poem ¡°Answer¡± by Shiren Beidao. CH 29 This chapter is translated by Rin, edited by Cia, and proofread by Kris Xian. [Ability transplant operation, I would rather call it immediate reincarnation surgery.] [The donor of the surgery immediately reincarnates.] Even Pollutants would fall into a state of extreme weakness when special items were stripped from them, not to mention stripping abilities from humans. Lu Yan still remembered the first day his ability was awakened, when Lin Sinan brought his staff to the door, the System told him never to enter the Research Institute. Advertisements The three departments related to the Enlighteneds were said to be the most mysterious existences in the Research Institute, they were never opened to the public. However, no one could deny the contribution the Research Institute had made. No matter if it was the equipment, the miracle drugs provided by the PDC, or the sensor watch that every Enlightened carried¡ª all of them couldn¡¯t be done without the Research Institute¡¯s sacrifices of working day and night. Just like a knife, the knife itself was harmless, it all depended on the person wielding the knife, either they would try to kill or save lives. Mblalqsal, Nw Zyd pyke qaydjzu, ¡°R ynnlrv vbl nbydtlp kd vbl qkzl, cwv R¡¯x dsv okzzkdt vs ynnlrv yd yckzkvu vaydprzydv.¡± Gp yd lmrlakldnle zstkpvknkyd, Pkalnvsa Nk alrzkle jkdezu, ¡°Xjyu. Mbl Tlyeiwyavlap byp yzps nsdpkelale uswa alzwnvydnl vs wdelats yd yckzkvu vaydprzydv. Rd vbyv nypl, vbl yckzkvklp vbyv okzz cl altkpvlale sd uswa qkzl okzz cl ¡®Oyazu Eyadkdt¡¯ yde ¡®Uaspp-Frlnklp Usxxwdknyvksd,¡¯ obyv es usw vbkdj?¡± ¡°Uaspp-Frlnklp Usxxwdknyvksd¡± oyp vbl kdqsaxyvksd scvykdle qasx vbl alrsavp pldv cynj cu Plvlnvkhl yde Mydt Dwd¡¯yd. Tsolhla, vbkp yckzkvu oyp dsv bktbzu raynvknyz yde oyp dsv kdnzwele kd vbl plzlnvksd nakvlaky sq vbl FrlnXrp Pkhkpksd. ¡°Oyazu Eyadkdt¡± oyp aydjle 501pv sd vbl Gckzkvklp Fliwldnl Nkpv, obknb byrrldle vs cl vbl xspv nsxxsd yckzkvu yoyjldle kd saekdyau rlsrzl. Wwavblaxsal, kv oyp clvvla vbyd svbla sdlp, kv oyp lypu vs rwv kdvs tsse wpl, nsdpkelakdt vbyv ds sdl lmrlnvle y pwrrsav vurl Odzktbvldle nswze jkzz xydu Vszzwvydvp. Nw Zyd vbswtbv kv oyp y tsse kely. Pkalnvsa Nk, ¡°Xjyu. Rd yeekvksd, vbl Slplyanb Rdpvkvwvl byp alye vbl xkppksd alrsav usw oasvl clqsal, yde vblu nsdpkelale kv vs cl hlau hyzwyczl. G prlnkyz ryuxldv sq 100 nsdvakcwvksd rskdvp oswze cl tkhld yp y aloyae qsa vbl kdqsaxyvksd.¡± Mbkp oyp psxlvbkdt Nw Zyd eke dsv lmrlnv. Nw Zyd zlqv vbl ekalnvsa¡¯p sqqknl, oldv vs vbl xleknyz lmyxkdyvksd nldvla, yde wreyvle bkp lxrzsuxldv nyae. ¡°Congratulations, Mr. Lu, you have reached the level of an E-class Enlightened. We will replace your work permit immediately. Advertisements Spiritual power threshold 500-1500: E-class. Lu Yan was at the lowest level, F-class, before this. He didn¡¯t expect that he had already touched the threshold of D-class in just over a month since his awakening. Nonetheless, the few instances he experienced would have been the dead-end of any Enlighteneds with the same level. Danger had always gone hand in hand with opportunities, Lu Yan had no complaints. After his class was updated, he could receive more salary every month. Lu Yan went to the logistics department and received this month¡¯s miracle drug, 3 capsules. He also casually picked up the brochure placed at the front desk. The staff took a glance at the employment card pinned on his chest and smiled, ¡°Hello, Sir. This is the latest warehouse psychic equipment from the K City PDC, as well as a list of contribution point exchange.¡± One contribution point could be exchanged for 10,000 cash, and 100 contribution points for a D-grade miracle drug. Lu Yan took out the medicine he had just received and compared it with the one in the photo, and it was exactly the same. According to the advertisement, the Headquarters invested an average of ten million in the Enlighteneds every month, and it seemed that they weren¡¯t kidding. Lu Yan flipped two more pages to the back. The average price of F-grade psychic weapons was around 100. The average price of F-grade healing items was around 300. Advertisements The first page of the brochure was a B-grade psychic energy equipment, a very beautiful silver longbow, the name was called Startling Dream. Introduction: B-grade psychic equipment. If the arrowhead hits the enemy, it has a hallucinogenic effect and comes with damage reduction. Recommended user¡¯s spiritual power threshold: 5, 000 and above. Price: 30,000 contribution points. Lu Yan had been paid more than 6,000 contribution points for treating Zhou Qiming, but unfortunately, he hadn¡¯t even kept it for a long time before he spent it. Now there was only a little balance remaining in his card, therefore, he had to put down the brochure, pretending not to be interested. The New Enlightened Recruit Training Conference was held in A City. It would last for three months, from April 1 until June 30. While waiting for the training date to arrive, Lu Yan had nothing to do, so he started doing surgeries in the hospital again. Because his body had improved after awakening, Lu Yan was able to do seven or eight major surgeries per day. It reached the point where the anesthesiologists who had to work overtime had their legs shaking whenever they saw him. Even the little nurses who used to sing and dance around him changed expressions and couldn¡¯t wait to leave first every time. Due to Lu Yan¡¯s outstanding performance, he successfully took up the top position and became the youngest chief physician of the First People¡¯s Hospital in K City. This was not in accordance with the rules, but it was reasonable. Since an unknown young doctor suddenly appeared, people who were ignorant expressed dissatisfaction, but they were easily suppressed by the hospital authorities. What a joke, his main job was no longer a doctor, what¡¯s wrong with giving him a chief¡¯s position?! Advertisements Unfortunately, Lu Yan only heard the honorific ¡°Director Lu¡± for a few days before he was forced to hitch a ride with Zhou Qiming and head towards A city. The tickets were booked with the help of the Headquarters, first-class seats. Zhou Qiming drove a silver Rolls Royce at the hospital entrance as he picked up Lu Yan from work. He wore sunglasses and a flowery shirt, like a gigolo1 who was about to go to the nightclub. A big red roll of pennant was also placed on the front passenger seat. When he saw Lu Yan come out, Zhou Qiming got out of the car, took out a pennant, and shook it full of excitement. ¡°Dr. Lu, I searched for it. It says you doctors don¡¯t like many things, but this, do you like it?¡± Lu Yan took a glance at the banner. Two lines of large letters were written on it. ¡ªGynaecological Sage, Doctor¡¯s Benevolence. ¡ªPatient Zhou Qiming presents this to Dr. Lu Yan of K City First People¡¯s Hospital. The System couldn¡¯t hold back, [Pfft.] Lu Yan felt a headache, ¡°¡­ Are you afraid that others won¡¯t know that you were pregnant?¡± At that instant, Zhou Qiming saw a line pop up clearly from the top of Lu Yan¡¯s head. [Favourable impression: -1] Advertisements Yes, because of his ability, Virtual World. Everything around him, in Zhou Qiming¡¯s eyes, could be materialized. The title above Lu Yan¡¯s head had also changed. The previous ¡°Dr. Cannibal Flower,¡± after not meeting for just a few days, he didn¡¯t know why it had become ¡°Bloodlust Fish Killers.¡± Lu Yan confiscated the pennant. He couldn¡¯t afford to embarrass himself. He sat on the passenger side as Zhou Qiming throttled the luxury car all the way from the hospital to the airport. Zhou Qiming: ¡°I didn¡¯t join the SpecOps Division because there¡¯s no freedom. But Dr. Lu, I¡¯m all for you joining. Becoming a public servant, it¡¯s good, even the subsistence allowance is provided. Life is guaranteed. After all, not everyone is a rich generation who started with nothing like me.¡± System, [His business was also sponsored by the PDC to avoid failed investments and retaliation against society.] Zhou Qiming, ¡°My ability serial number ranked 39. It is considered a high-level ability ranked quite at the top. I didn¡¯t carry out much training over the years, so my spiritual threshold had only risen to more than seven thousand. However, I think I¡¯m still relatively reliable, Dr. Lu.¡± Lu Yan didn¡¯t really pay attention on what he was saying, ¡°En.¡± Half an hour later, the car finally arrived at the airport. Lu Yan stepped out of the car and was about to pick up his ticket when he saw Zhou Qiming open the trunk and take out a handful of bright red roses from it. Zhou Qiming said with deep emotion, ¡°We have experienced life and death together. Dr. Lu, I can honestly say that in my whole life of more than 40 years, you are the only person that I have ever felt interested in.¡± The sky was blue and the sun was shining. Zhou Qiming looked extremely handsome. His conditions seemed to be okay. Lu Yan asked the System softly, ¡°Is there any way to politely refuse?¡± Although Lu Yan always said to the public that he was gay, he was actually more like an asexual. His interest in cadavers for dissection in anatomy classes far exceeded that of his interest in living humans. System, [There is, think carefully about his forum name.] Thus, Lu Yan took the roses and smiled, ¡°Mr. Zhou, you are a good person, but I am a shou.¡± The atmosphere became a little bit awkward. Along the way, Zhou Qiming did not say another word to Lu Yan. The spaces between the seats in first class were far away, Lu Yan watched as Zhou Qiming ordered three glasses of whiskey on the plane, trying to drink away his sorrows. Lu Yan thought about it for a while then put on an eye mask and laid down to sleep. However, not long after falling asleep, he was awakened by a violent shaking. Overhead, he could hear the captain¡¯s panicked voice, ¡°We¡¯ve unexpectedly encountered an extreme thunderstorm during the flight. The plane is about to make a forced landing close by, please don¡¯t panic and fasten your seat belt¡ª¡± Lu Yan turned his head and looked out the window. Black clouds were pressing down on the city. The dark clouds were like ink, and occasionally, a few wisps of purple lightning crackled at the edge of the clouds. If this was the case, Lu Yan was not too worried. After all, he heard that the captain was from the fighting nation (Russia), this kind of extreme weather might just be a small event for him. What worried Lu Yan was the rising value on the sensor watch in his hand. Pollution value: 2, 000. The System said faintly, [Mutated flock of birds¡ª they were originally a flock of geese, now they¡¯re called Thunderbirds. E-level Pollutants that usually appear in flocks.] [They are migrating, this plane of yours just happened to encounter them.] [Seriously, this System advises the host to go out less. The fact is that you will always trigger a disaster buff whenever you go out.] ¡°Animals can also mutate?¡± [Animals are also living things, why can¡¯t they mutate? In addition to animals, it¡¯s also possible for plants. Anything with life can mutate. Especially things in the sea¡­ They are much scarier than the Pollutants formed from human mutations.] [The mutations on land started a hundred years ago. But the mutations in the sea had lasted for hundreds of years¡­] Lu Yan ignored the flight attendant¡¯s dissuasion. He unbuckled his seatbelt and came to Zhou Qiming¡¯s side. ¡°Zhou Qiming.¡± Lu Yan shook him awake, ¡°Wake up, there are Pollutants.¡± As the plane was shaking, Lu Yan had almost propped his hands in front of Zhou Qiming¡¯s body, like doing a kabedon.2 Zhou Qiming¡¯s eyes were hazy, and he hadn¡¯t yet recovered from his hangover, so he said with tears in his eyes, ¡°Dr. Lu, you are so handsome. I¡¯ve figured it out, I¡¯m willing to be a gong for love.¡± At that moment, Lu Yan wanted to pour a bottle of water on his face to sober him up. The author has something to say: PS. Enlightened/Pollutant Classes/Levels Classification. 0-500: F-Class 500-1, 500: E-Class 1, 500-2, 500: D-Class 2, 500-5, 000: C-Class 5, 000-8, 000: B-Class 8, 000-10, 000: A-Class 10, 000+: S-Class Translator¡¯s Note CH 30 This chapter is translated by Hoenimochi, translation checked by Rin, and edited by Cia. Zhou Qiming was also an official B-level Enlightened, which belonged to the upper levels of combat power. He was an existence that would be honorably called ¡°General Zhou¡± when he walked outside. He quickly came to his senses, ¡°There are Pollutants? Where did they come from? Did you report to the PDC?¡± The Thunderbirds smelled the breath of human beings on the plane and let out a high-pitched cry as dark thunder clouds approached. Purple lightning lingered in the clouds, multiplying the sense of oppression. A Thunderbird with a sharp beak hit the plane. It was small, but a deep dent was clearly made on the surface of the passenger plane. The airframe shook violently. Separated by a few doors, Lu Yan could still hear the screams of the passengers in the other sections. Advertisements The Thunderbird that hit the plane was dizzied. It shook its head and flew back into the flock. Another Thunderbird followed the former and hit the body of the plane. ¡°Please calm down, passengers, the aircraft is being attacked by a flock of birds. The nearest airport is being contacted for an emergency landing.¡± The captain¡¯s voice came through the radio. There was a city below the clouds. If the plane crashed here, it would be considered no different from a terrorist attack. FrlnXrp Pkhkpksd Oxlatldnu Slprsdpl Vzyd, rytl 7, Gavknzl RRR. Rd vbl lhldv sq yd ynnkeldvyz ldnswdvla okvb Vszzwvydvp, kq vblal yal y zyatl dwxcla sq rlsrzl yv vbl ynnkeldv pkvl, raksakvu oyp tkhld vs nshlakdt vbl lhynwyvksd sq vbl xypplp. Nw Zyd, ¡°Mkxl kp awddkdt swv, kv¡¯p tskdt vs cl vss zyvl kq ol oykv qsa pwrrsav qasx vbl Tlyeiwyavlap. Gee y plvvkdt qsa xl, qzktbv, yde ryppkdt vbaswtb oyzzp.¡± Hbsw Ckxkdt pnayvnble bkp blye, ¡°Xjyu.¡± Fsxl rlsrzl osjl wr cwv olal dsv qwzzu yoyjl. Rv oyp zkjl obld psxlsdl oyp pvkzz yzkhl, cwv vblu yzalyeu bye sdl qssv qsaoyae sd vbl oyu vs elyvb. Xrldkdt vbl lxlatldnu byvnb xke-qzktbv oyp wdeswcvlezu nswavkdt elyvb. Wsavwdyvlzu, vbl yckzkvu, Akavwyz Esaze, oyp alyzzu pvasdt. G ryka sq hkavwyz rwal obkvl okdtp talo swv sq Nw Zyd¡¯p cynj. Tl nswze pll kv okvb bkp lulp, cwv kv qlzv zkjl y nzswe sq yka. He stepped out of the cabin. They were at an altitude of 30,000 feet, and the surrounding temperature was minus 62 degrees Celsius. Advertisements A layer of frost soon formed on Lu Yan¡¯s eyebrows. His body temperature rose rapidly, then a layer of fine scales grew on the surface of his body. It was hidden under his clothes, keeping him warm. The Kingfish even thoughtfully stopped the growth of the scales on his wrist, so as not to be noticed by other people. The difference in air pressure inside and outside the aircraft was huge, and an inexplicable sense of expansion appeared in his internal organs. He just freshly grew a wing, so he was unskilled to use them at first. After a while, Zhou Qiming also came out flapping his wings. ¡°To be honest, when I first awakened my ability, my favorite setting was to give myself the ability to fly.¡± Zhou Qiming pulled out his knife, ¡°Although my ability does not belong to the combat system either, how can I let you go up and fight alone like this.¡± The Thunderbirds themselves were only E-level Pollutants, with a pollution level of around 800. Nonetheless, when they gathered together, the pressure they burdened other people with was not just little. [Try not to be electrocuted, after all, the wings will also be paralyzed. There is little chance of surviving a fall from this height. Also, chop the head.] Lu Yan¡¯s weapon was still the same dagger given by the PDC. It wasn¡¯t long, but it was enough for him to use. After gradually learning how to flap his wings, he shuttled among the birds like a swimming fish. Each time the knife was raised and dropped, a bird was killed with a single blow. The blood of this bird was actually blue. The mouth in his hand emerged, occasionally taking advantage of Lu Yan¡¯s inattention, sneaking a few bites of meat off the corpse of the Thunderbirds. After a while, there was an electrified burp. Advertisements But even so, the Kingfish was still greedy. He chose to eat the most tender thigh meat of the Thunderbird, but because Lu Yan didn¡¯t cooperate, a thin white line even grew out of the crack again. Lu Yan¡¯s stomach felt so uncomfortable that he wanted to vomit. He pulled out a bird¡¯s head and blocked the mouth on his palm. Fortunately, the distance was far away and they were moving fast, so not many people paid attention to this brief anomaly. Lu Yan felt that he would have to buy a pair of gloves to wear some other day. The child was getting rebellious as it got older. In the cabin, many people exclaimed. They couldn¡¯t help taking out their mobile phones to start recording. Some foreign passengers watched this scene and muttered to themselves, ¡°¡­Angels?¡± The pilot captain was stunned for a long time, but he quickly drove the plane to escape from this airspace. When Zhou Qiming disposed of the tenth bird, he wanted to turn his head and have Lu Yan look at his credit. In the blink of an eye, the other party cut two throats. Lu Yan shuttled through the flock of birds with a blank expression. The white wings behind him looked extremely holy under the sunlight, but it made Zhou Qiming shiver involuntarily. At that moment, Zhou Qiming was looking at his indifferent expression, which even appeared like a vaguely pleasured expression, and seemed to be in an illusion. If the things around were not birds but people, it would¡¯ve been the same for Lu Yan. P City, in the middle of nowhere. Advertisements They were at least two hundred miles away from A City, Zhou Qiming and Lu Yan were standing beside the expressway. Neither of the two people were wearing special combat uniforms, and their clothes were inevitably scratched by Thunderbirds a few times. This made their current attire inelegant and distasteful. Especially Zhou Qiming who was electrocuted near the end, he had his head explode into a ball of popcorn. The two people stood on the side of the road, and looked very miserable and desolated. They didn¡¯t look like heroes who had just rescued a plane full of people. They looked like beggars who were unskilled and begging on the street during their first day. Half a day passed and they couldn¡¯t get any vehicles willing to stop. Their luggage and cell phone were on the plane. Lu Yan did bring a sensor watch, but this watch did not have the function of making a phone call. Fortunately, after half an hour, the staff of the P City PDC finally drove over. ¡°Mr. Zhou, Mr. Lu! I am the person in charge of the PDC in P City.¡± The person in charge was a middle-aged woman, ¡°We detected the unusual movement of the Thunderbirds a few hours ago, but we didn¡¯t expect they would suddenly appear on your flight route. On behalf of all the citizens of Luochuan, I would like to express my sincerest gratitude.¡± After speaking, she bowed deeply. Lu Yan had a deep impression of this city. According to the Enlightened Forum¡¯s data, many animal mutations occurred here, and there was also a famous A-level pollution area, the ¡°Luochuan Botanical Garden¡±. The botanical garden was established in the suburbs, and he heard that citizens in a radius of 100 miles have been evacuated. The PDC in Luochuan had thought about removing the pollution. However, the two permanent A-level Enlighteneds were not too sure about this. Since the polluted plants inside had no tendency to spread further, they gave up. Advertisements Enlighteneds were human beings, strategic but could be considered consumable resources with a high loss rate. Most high pollution areas were still too dangerous for the current Enlighteneds. The two people were taken to the PDC and settled down, then their luggage that was left on the plane was returned to their hands. Zhou Qiming turned on his phone, opened his Tiktok, and suddenly yelled, ¡°Damn, Dr. Lu, we¡¯re on the hot search!¡± When the Headquarters was spreading the word about the pollution diseases, they tried to make it sound as serious as possible to avoid making it into a matter of entertainment, but they still couldn¡¯t stop the public¡¯s curiosity. There was even a small group of people on the Internet who regarded the officially disclosed high-level Pollutants as new objects of belief. One wouldn¡¯t know whether to find it funny or be angry. Lu Yan moved his gaze, the title of the video was ¡°Today, I encountered extreme thunderstorms on the plane, and I actually saw an angel in the lightning!¡± It stands to reason that it was both him and Zhou Qiming that fought that day, but they didn¡¯t know why all the shots were focused on Lu Yan. As he opened the comments, all were saying ¡°so handsome, so handsome.¡± Lu Yan was not very interested and withdrew his gaze. Compared to this, he was more interested in the bonus that would be given by the PDC. The PDC specially issued them 1, 000 contribution points as a reward for solving the flock of Thunderbirds. At this rate, as long as he worked hard for three months, he would be able to buy the silver longbow. The System was heartbroken, [Child, grandma is too poor to support you. If you really want to make money, there are many posts in the bounty area of ??the Enlightened Forum.] For example, Luochuan Botanical Garden was the closest one from here. The officials said, as long as someone could solve it, not only could they choose an A-grade psychic weapon at their disposal, one could also be given 100, 000 contribution points. Lu Yan, ¡°We¡¯ll talk about it later.¡± There were some twists and turns in the process, but early morning the next day, Lu Yan finally arrived at A City. Zhou Qiming was actually there to sign a cooperation contract. He was almost late, thus, he could only say goodbye to Lu Yan tearfully saying that he would be in touch when he had time. Lu Yan carried his suitcase alone and arrived at the Headquarters of the SpecOps Division in A City. It was located on the outskirts of A City, described to be a related department, but it was more like an industrial park. There were many buildings inside, and the responsibilities of each area were different. Gates separated the buildings from each other. The management was loose on the outside but strict on the inside, and there was also a large training field. The place Lu Yan was going to stay in was the freshman dormitory in the northwest corner of the headquarters. This was the area closest to the training ground. Although it was called a dormitory, it only housed one person per room. The room was spacious and bright, and SOS devices could be found everywhere. After all, many Enlighteneds were mentally unstable, and this wasn¡¯t a joke. After being polluted, some of the characteristics in one¡¯s personality would be infinitely amplified. Lu Yan had evolved to the stage that he always had to stock disinfectant when going out. When checking in, the eyes of the lady at the front desk couldn¡¯t help but light up, an excited smile appeared on her face, ¡°You are, you are the one that was on the hot search yesterday! The Enlightened with wings, right?¡± Lu Yan¡¯s face was so iconic that it was hard to forget. After speaking, the front desk looked down at the registration form, and gave a somewhat surprised ¡°huh.¡± ¡°Support system Enlightened¡­ ah, but your spiritual power threshold is quite high.¡± He was considered one of the best in this new recruits training. In the Enlightened Support System, there were also some people who had strong abilities. Nevertheless, the abilities Lu Yan registered were only ¡°Early Warning¡± and ¡°Cross-Species Communication.¡± The receptionist was inevitably a little disappointed, but this expression was well concealed, ¡°Mr. Lu, your room has been arranged. Please keep your room card. A special cleaning aunt will come every day. The morning of April 1st, at 8 o¡¯clock, please arrive at the training hall on time.¡± [Tsk, it seems that you are regarded as a weak chicken.] Lu Yan didn¡¯t really care about this. If he didn¡¯t have to come for training, he would still be in the hospital doing surgery. ¡°I don¡¯t need a cleaner,¡± Lu Yan said. ¡°During the three months of training, I don¡¯t want anyone to come into my room without my knowledge.¡± ¡°Okay, I will notify the logistics department. I will also temporarily destroy the spare room card.¡± Lu Yan nodded and dragged his suitcase into the elevator. The German Shepherd raised by Tang Xun¡¯an was called Xiao Tian. In fact, Tang Xun¡¯an named it Wangcai.1 He felt that the name was too terrible and wasn¡¯t able to show his might. Therefore, he changed the name himself. Xiao Tian stepped on the automatic feeder and poured himself dog food. He picked up the poop shovel with his mouth, put the poop buried yesterday into the garbage bag, and threw it away. It was a dog with a strong sense of self-management. By the time all of this was done, it was only seven o¡¯clock in the morning. Xiao Tian bit the dog leash and came to the second floor, ready to let Tang Xun¡¯an take him to the yard for a walk. It pushed open the door with one foot and found that its master, who had always been self-disciplined, was lying on the bed and using his mobile phone. Tang Xun¡¯an was a very light sleeper and often had dreams. Although he went to bed on time at 10 o¡¯clock every night, he often woke up and kept his eyes closed. He wouldn¡¯t be able to sleep until dawn. Xiao Tian jumped onto the bed. On the phone, a video of an Enlightened fighting Pollutants was playing. The Pollutants were low-level Thunderbirds that could kill an ordinary person in one bite. However, because these mutated Thunderbirds looked good, and the person in the video was also good-looking, it looked quite pleasing to the eye. There were a lot of ¡°so handsome, so handsome,¡± ¡°Battle Angel,¡± ¡°Gege,2I¡¯m in love¡± on the stream of comments. The video didn¡¯t last long and was over soon. Xiao Tian found out that Tang Xun¡¯an actually chose to put it in a brainwashing loop. One person and one dog stared at each other on the bed. Tang Xun¡¯an explained, ¡°I was just thinking that his swordsmanship was slightly bad.¡± ¡°But he used a dagger.¡± Tang Xun¡¯an, ¡°¡­¡± Xiao Tian wagged his tail, ¡°By the way, Xiao Wang told me that there seemed to be a shortage of staff for the chief instructor of the New Enlightened Recruit Training. Are you going?¡± The Xiao Wang he spoke of was exactly Tang Xun¡¯an¡¯s former liaison, who was also one of the heads of the current Headquarters of the PDC. Tang Xun¡¯an had lived too long, Xiao Wang was his fourth liaison. For convenience, each of his liaisons was called Xiao Wang. Each Enlightened, especially an Enlightened with a higher mutation degree, would have a long break period after completing a task. It was for bringing their mutation degree back to the standard level. After a few weeks of rest and the unremitting efforts of the Research Institute, Tang Xun¡¯an¡¯s mutation degree had dropped to 94.1. When it returned to the standard of around 90, he would be ready to go on another mission. ¡°Not going.¡± The title of the chief instructor was more symbolic rather than practical. It was a bit like the ¡°chief examiner¡± of the imperial examination in ancient times, it was usually reserved for senior Enlighteneds who liked to perform. Tang Xun¡¯an had no such worldly desires. ¡°The name of the person on this video,¡± Xiao Wang said, ¡°Seems Xiao Lu? He seems to be going there, you still don¡¯t wanna go?¡± ¡°I¡¯ll go.¡± Xiao Tian, ¡°Hah, men.¡± After a moment of silence, he explained, ¡°I¡¯m just going to check the potential of my future teammate.¡± The German Shepherd nodded its dog head hastily, ¡°No need to explain. I understand, I understand.¡± Tang Xun¡¯an, ¡°¡­¡± CH 31 This chapter is translated by Kris Xian, translation checked by Kensi, and edited by Bluburry. The staff dormitory at the Headquarters was very much like a luxury hotel suite, where meals could even be delivered to the door. On the menu, in addition to the normal eight regional cuisines,1 there was also the option to consume Pollutants, but the latter needed to be exchanged with contribution points at a slightly higher price. There was also a note written on it: It is made after years of research by the Seventh Research Institute. It tastes delicious and juicy. The pollution value is negligible, which can improve the spiritual power threshold to a certain extent. [This kind of meat is in shortage outside, and is now a favorite of the dignitaries, completely unaware that eating too much can easily result in becoming a Pollutant.] Advertisements The System unconsciously had taken a slightly sarcastic tone. If there¡¯s a demand, then there will be a business transaction. In many foreign countries, on the fringes of low-level polluted areas, many ordinary people had armed themselves to fight low-level Pollutants and called themselves ¡°calamity hunters.¡± Lu Yan usually ate enough Pollutants, so he had no interest in these expensive things. Tl saelale psxl sq bkp qyhsakvl ekpblp. Tyzq yd bswa zyvla, vbl qsse oyp caswtbv wr kd y nyav. Mbl vypvl oyp pwarakpkdtzu tsse, yv zlypv liwyz vs 80% rla Nw Zyd¡¯p nssjkdt pvydeyaep. Ju vbl vkxl bl qkdkpble lyvkdt, kv oyp yzalyeu plhld s¡¯nzsnj kd vbl lhldkdt. Msxsaaso oyp vbl qkapv eyu sq vaykdkdt. Nw Zyd rzyddle vs vyjl y pbsola, zkl kd cle yde alye qsa y obkzl, yde vbld ts vs pzllr. Fkdnl clkdt puxcksvkn okvb vbl Ikdtqkpb, Nw Zyd lprlnkyzzu zkjle vs vyjl zsdt cyvbp, obknb nswze vyjl wr vs vos bswap. Ebld bl nyxl swv sq vbl cyvbvwc, bl oswze yzps eakdj y pvlyxkdt bsv nwr sq xkzj vs yke bkp pzllr. Nw Zyd pvsse kd qasdv sq vbl cssjpblzq, vbkdjkdt ycswv obyv cssj bl pbswze alye dlmv, obld vbl esax¡¯p essaclzz aydt. Tl pwcnsdpnkswpzu tzydnle yv vbl vkxl; kv oyp 9 VY. Outside the door came a voice, ¡°Hello. This is also my first time participating in this training! My name is Chen Anzhi and I am a combat system Enlightened, codenamed ¡°Undercurrent.¡± I live just across from you. Can we be friends?¡± Advertisements Lu Yan saw Chen Anzhi¡¯s appearance through the smart surveillance¡¯s peephole in front of the door. He was smiling and looked quite approachable and warm, making people involuntarily trust him. [Oh, Chen Anzhi. Spiritual power threshold is 1600. A spiritual Enlightened in the combat system. Among the new batch of members, he¡¯s considered pretty capable. Mutation degree is 37.] [Abilities: 99th Dream Intrusion, 197th Hypnotism, 378th Affinity] [Mutational Course: Neurosis, Schizophrenia] The Research Institute had been in dispute about the Enlighteneds of spiritual type, unsure whether to classify it in the combat or special system. However, ever since an A-Class spiritual type Enlightened magician killed a B-Level Pollutant through mind control, no one argued since then that the spiritual type could not be classified in the combat system. Lu Yan didn¡¯t open the door but instead said, ¡°He seems to have a little higher mutation degree.¡± Lin Sinan¡¯s spiritual threshold and mutation degree were similar to Chen Anzhi¡¯s, but Lin Sinan had been working for over 20 years. As a new employee, Chen Anzhi had only been working for less than a year. [He was originally a Chinese person that was raised overseas, but his island country had become a forbidden land, called ¡°Kingdom of God¡± due to an S-Level Pollutant. Chen Anzhi was one of the survivors back then. He was rescued and raised in China, and had just become an Enlightened last year.] [I don¡¯t recommend you to interact with him. It¡¯s been proven that people who came out of the Kingdom of God are more or less sick in the head.] Even without the System¡¯s advice, Lu Yan wasn¡¯t planning to go out. Advertisements Generally speaking, Lu Yan didn¡¯t like to socialize. Instead of spending time with others, he was more interested in reading, studying, or working. However, growing up, there were always people compelled to get to know him because of his overly distinguished good looks. This made Lu Yan once have the idea of doing plastic surgery. He replied through the door, ¡°Sorry, I¡¯m too tired today. Next time for sure.¡± The smile on Chen Anzhi¡¯s face did not change in the slightest, ¡°OK. See you tomorrow.¡± Chen Anzhi passed by Lu Yan¡¯s door and knocked on the next door. He was well aware that there was surveillance in the hallway and, therefore, with all the people who opened the door, he stood in the doorway and exchanged a few words. Chen Anzhi was a famous social flower in the local PDC, so it was not a collapse of his persona. This time, there were a total of 62 people who came to participate in the new employee training. This number was much higher than in previous years; in fact, it was almost three times higher. Moreover, there were even six people who had more than 1, 000 spiritual power threshold this year alone. The Headquarters all laughed and called this a ¡°bumper harvest year.¡± In one night, Chen Anzhi visited 20 people. Out of them, six people opened the door for him. Advertisements At 11 o¡¯clock in the evening, he stopped socializing and picked a rose from among the flowers in the corridor. In order to make the corridors less monotonous and keep the Enlighteneds in a good mood, the Headquarters had arranged fresh-cut flowers in each corridor. Half an hour later, the staff delivered the aromatherapy diffuser he had asked for. Chen Anzhi couldn¡¯t sleep at night without fragrance; this had also been noted in his file. He returned to his dormitory and lit the rose-scented aromatherapy diffuser. He fell asleep with a rose in his hand and a smile on his face. Midnight. Chen Anzhi¡¯s eyeballs began to turn rapidly and struggle under his eyelids. His lips slowly stretched into a creepy smile, becoming more frightening by the second. Nevertheless, he didn¡¯t wake up. Chaotic darkness appeared before Chen Anzhi¡¯s eyes and then was lit up with a little candle flame. He raised the candle and placed it on the round table in front of him. Six translucent blue souls were drawn to the light and eventually took their seats around the table. These six men were all the Enlighteneds who had opened the door for him today. Their spiritual power threshold wasn¡¯t really high enough to even notice that they had been hypnotized. Advertisements [99th Ability ¡ª Dream Intrusion] Chen Anzhi said softly, ¡°Welcome to the world of dreams. Today, I would like to introduce you to the god of eternal sleep in the distant land. ¡°It is the creator who has fallen into an eternal long sleep, and the universe we are in is only its dream world. ¡°It cannot be seen. It is a void of chaos, existing before the heavens and the earth. No one knows its name, and we must not disturb its long sleep, lest it brings calamity. ¡°Now, it has descended from the void. It dwells in a place that was once my hometown. Now, I would like to call it the ¡®Pure Land of Ultimate Bliss.¡¯ ¡°You are fortunate that the great and holy god is gathering his first followers. Our souls can go in peace to that land where there is no pain.¡± Chen Anzhi stretched out his arms. The candle flame in front of him divided into six and floated to the others. These pale yellow halos enveloped the souls. As a result, they gradually become the same color. Chen Anzhi¡¯s eyes were filled with pious devotion, ¡°Praise the god, bliss and eternal life.¡± The six muddled souls followed suit and spoke, ¡°Praise the god, bliss and eternal life.¡± At 7 o¡¯clock in the morning, Lu Yan woke up on time. The training center was not far from the dormitory, just about a ten-minute walk. He changed into his training uniform and prepared to go to the second-floor cafeteria for an early breakfast. Afterwards, he would head to the training center. Training hours were from 8 AM to 7 PM ¡ª a whole day. Theory in the morning, practice in the afternoon, with a one-hour break in between. Lin Sinan had once participated in the training and had revealed some insider information to Lu Yan. He said that the difficulty of the training mainly depended on who that year¡¯s chief instructor was. When the chief instructor was ruthless, the trainees were miserable. When the chief instructor was kind, the trainees had it a bit better. Moreover, there were cases of death every year. When he pushed the door open to leave, across from him, Chen Anzhi had also happened to come out of his room. The smile on his face was exactly the same as yesterday, not even the curvature had changed. Only his eyes were tranquil and indifferent, which was not quite consistent with his expression. ¡°Hello,¡± Chen Anzhi smiled. ¡°I don¡¯t know your name yet?¡± He had a pair of extraordinary deep eyes, as bright as the stars. Lu Yan subconsciously replied, ¡°Lu Yan.¡± Almost as soon as he finished, he couldn¡¯t help but frown. He had broken free faster than ordinary people. Chen Anzhi, as if sensing something, lowered his head and quietly said, ¡°Sorry. I forgot to wear my glasses. ¡°Because I can¡¯t always control my ability¡­¡± Chen Anzhi¡¯s expression became somewhat sad, ¡°It wasn¡¯t on purpose. I hope you won¡¯t stay away from me because of this.¡± He spoke pathetically, easily softening the hearts of the less strong-willed. [Ay, I¡¯m really annoyed with spiritual ability user people.] The System sighed, [Don¡¯t look at him in the eyes. I¡¯ll keep an eye out for you too.] [The combination of Affinity and Hypnotism is really one of the best matches for a spiritual type Enlightened. Also, try to avoid being in a small place with him or sleeping in front of him.] The System¡¯s voice was quite playful, ¡°By the way, have you ever played Werewolf?2 Among us, there are traitors mixed in.¡± The author has something to say: *Some special terms have been modified. *Revised the places¡¯ names. CH 32 This chapter is translated by Kris Xian, translation checked by Kensi, and edited by Bluburry. With the System¡¯s words, it practically wrote the word ¡°werewolf¡±1 on Chen Anzhi¡¯s forehead. ¡°How are there still traitors?¡± Lu Yan murmured in his mind, ¡°It shouldn¡¯t affect me getting my graduation certificate.¡± System, [Given that the Host¡¯s current spiritual threshold is too low, there may be a risk of brain death if all information is obtained. Do you wish to accept the relevant information: Yes/No.] Lu Yan, ¡°Yes.¡± Advertisements System, [¡­You¡¯re just saying that in anger, I don¡¯t believe it.] Lu Yan smiled and dropped the topic. He didn¡¯t know what he was going to have for breakfast, but the canteen prepared a lot of fish and meat, which was high in sugar, protein, and fat. Nw Zyd alypsdyczu elewnle vbyv y obszl eyu sq vaykdkdt oswze dsv cl lypu. Gqvla vbl xwvyvksd eltall kdnalyple, bl nswze kdelle elvlnv vbyv psxl vurknyz elpkalp olal qyekdt, pwnb yp yrrlvkvl, pzllr, yde plmwyz elpkal. Mbkp xyel Nw Zyd pldpkczu osdela oblvbla vblal oyp y ¡°plnsde pvytl sq ldzktbvldxldv¡±2 kd vbl osaze. Wsavwdyvlzu, vbl nblq¡¯p yckzkvklp kd vbl nyqlvlaky olal alyzzu tsse, yde kv oswze elqkdkvlzu cl ayvle vball Yknblzkd pvyap swvpkel, ds xyvvla obyv. Mblalqsal, lhlausdl¡¯p kdvlalpv kd lyvkdt pvkzz ayd bktb. Nw Zyd tsv yd yrrzl yde vssj y ckvl. Tkp vos asop sq vllvb zlqv qswa asop sq vllvb xyajp sd vbl pwaqynl sq vbl yrrzl. Tl vbld rknjle wr y rzyvl yde qkzzle kv wr okvb bkp qyhsakvl ekpblp. Rd yd ldvbwpkypvkn xyddla, vbl oykvla kd vbl nyqlvlaky yzps pyke vbyv kq vblal oyp y ekpb vblu oydvle vs lyv cwv oypd¡¯v vblal, vblu nswze zlyhl y dyxl yde vbl nblq oswze ralryal kv vbl dlmv eyu. Llo lxrzsullp tyvblale kd taswrp sq vosp yde vballp. Nw Zyd tzydnle yv Ubld Gdgbk, obs pllxle vs cl yczl vs nbyv okvb ydusdl, okvb y tldvzl yde yxkyczl pxkzl taynkdt bkp qynl. Rd vbkp taswr sq rlsrzl, Nw Zyd oyp ynvwyzzu yczl vs pll yd sze yniwykdvydnl. It was Director Hu who had fled K City by plane overnight and had also participated in the parasitic fish surgery. Advertisements The other party apparently saw him too, and waved excitedly, ¡°Xiao Lu!!! You¡¯re here too!¡± Director Hu ran to Lu Yan with his plate, ¡°Hey, K City was under lockdown before, and my phone couldn¡¯t get through. I¡¯m glad you¡¯re fine. I didn¡¯t expect you to become an Enlightened too. Such a big thing like this, why didn¡¯t you tell me on the Moments?3 By the way, I¡¯m from the support system, and my ability is Cell Division. How about you?¡± ¡°I¡¯m also in the support, Early Warning.¡± ¡°It¡¯s good that it¡¯s Early Warning, ah! If there¡¯s danger, run early.¡± Director Hu met his old friend in another country and thus excitedly talked a lot. [Cell Division, 432nd ability. It can accelerate the differentiation of cells in the human body and has a miraculous effect on certain traumatic injuries.] [The top ability in this sequence is called ¡®Gene Recombination,¡¯ serial number 13. Unfortunately, the only human who ever mastered it has passed away. The dragon wings behind Tang Xun¡¯an are the result of genetic recombination. Since that person passed away, there¡¯s no more ¡®perfect synthetic human¡¯ like Tang Xun¡¯an in the world¡­] ¡°You¡¯re talking about Qiao Yu, who compiled the Periodic Table of Abilities Sequence?¡± Lu Yan asked, ¡°Don¡¯t all Enlightenleds live very long?¡± Lu Yan studied medicine and had seen Qiao Yu in his textbooks. At the age of 70, he passed away in 2067, half a century ago. The System went silent for a moment, [Some human beings had a too high and irreversible mutation degree. They would actively choose euthanasia to avoid becoming a Pollutant. Some of the pseudo-concepts created by you humans, such as ¡°faith,¡± ¡°dedication,¡± and ¡°sacrifice,¡± are really interesting and much better than self-hypnosis.] Standing by the door of the multimedia classroom, the assistant instructor responsible for taking attendance had an excited smile on his face. ¡°Have you heard? This time, the chief instructor is Leader Tang!¡± Advertisements Throughout the SpecOps Division, there were quite a few people with the last name Tang, but the name ¡°Leader Tang¡± often only represented one person. ¡°I knew it already.¡± Another assistant instructor replied, he was a C-Class Enlightened, from Team 1, with a kind smile on his face, ¡°My chief instructor back then was also Leader Tang. That was 40 years ago.¡± ¡°Our class was the one with the lowest death rate in the final battle, but the largest number of dropouts.¡± Out of 30 people, 10 withdrew due to being overwhelmed. In the end, zero deaths were recorded, and unprecedented cooperation in the hunt for a C-Level Pollutant occurred. Later, the 20 people who graduated all became the backbone of the SpecOps Division today, including the current leader of the second team, Bai Qiushi. The young assistant next to him shuddered, ¡°That sounds scary, bro.¡± The newly recruited Enlighteneds did not know what hell mode they were about to face. Lu Yan had good grades when he was in school but habitually sat in the middle of the last row of the classroom. It was human nature to live in groups. After just one night, many people had already chosen to gather in twos and threes to warm up in a group, especially those whose dormitories were closer together. This place seemed like some kind of expensive private high school classroom. Hu Youbang, who was over 50 years old, naturally sat down next to Lu Yan. When they were in the hospital, they had a superior and subordinate relationship. Having worked together for several years, their relationship was far stronger than others. Lu Yan did not refuse either. Advertisements At 8 o¡¯clock in the morning, the class bell rang right on time. The sound of the bell was piercing loud that the classroom was instantly silent. Lu Yan¡¯s hearing was great. He could clearly hear the footsteps from far away; the rhythm between each step was just right. But what puzzled him was that he felt that the footsteps didn¡¯t sound like they belonged to a human¡­ more like some four-legged animal. Lu Yan didn¡¯t know if it was just an illusion, but the surrounding temperature seemed to have gotten colder, and the Kingfish inside him lurked quietly as if it had sensed danger. The metal door sensed the arrival of someone and opened automatically. Subsequently, a tall man walked in with a dog on a leash. He wore a dark uniform with a tightly fitted collar, and his eyes were pure gold. Despite that, the most eye-catching thing was probably the somewhat strange looking¡­mask on his face? It was a muzzle for dogs. Even the dog he was leading didn¡¯t have one. Among the newly recruited Enlighteneds, not everyone was ignorant. Someone subconsciously exclaimed, ¡°Is he Tyrant?¡± The German Shepherd jumped on the stool and coughed, ¡°Hello, everyone. I¡¯m the chief instructor¡¯s¡­ dog of this year¡¯s training. You can call me Xiao Tian. Ahem, the chief instructor doesn¡¯t like to talk much, so I will be speaking on his behalf today. Advertisements ¡°The training for new recruits lasts for three months. The first two months will be spent at the base, and the last month is actual combat training. ¡°Currently, the curriculum has arranged for learning theory in the morning and training in the afternoon. Additional classes may be added in the evening depending on the situation. Starting from the second month, all courses will be changed to practical education. Xiao Tian let out a hum and continued, ¡°First of all, let me introduce the ¡®Student Points System.¡¯ Each student has 10 initial points. Once these points are exhausted to zero, you will be dismissed by the Headquarters. We will not allow any Enlightened with insufficient expertise to take work on the front line. However, despite being dismissed from the SpecOps Divisions, you can still join the Pollution Disease Prevention and Control Center. ¡°After graduation, student points can be exchanged for contribution points. The ratio is 1:1000. ¡°The chief instructor of this employee training is my owner, Tang Xun¡¯an. You¡¯re a lucky bunch. You don¡¯t have to worry about the final mortality rate at all, because he¡¯s the only S-Class Enlightened on record. His deeds are too many to list. If you¡¯re interested, you can search it up on your own in the Enlightened Forum. ¡°In addition, the Headquarters has also provided you with six assistant instructors. The ¡®assistant instructor responsibility system¡¯ is being adopted. Here, each assistant instructor is responsible for 10 to 11 new recruits. During the training period, the assistant instructors will also live on the same floor as everyone else.¡± Concurrent job accommodation. Before each new employee came to the Headquarters, the dormitory floor had been arranged and assigned. There were about 7 combat system Enlighteneds on each floor, coupled with 3 support or special systems. ¡°Of course, we are not devils. At the end of each month, the top 3 outstanding students will be awarded points! Other students can also receive special allowances. ¡°When facing Pollutants, any negligence, no matter how small, can be fatal. The sweat and tears you¡¯re about to shed are for the sake of not shedding blood on the front line in the future. Since everyone has joined the SpecOps Division, you must have the determination to pay for it.¡± With that said, a staff member handed over a piece of paper. Lu Yan looked down and found that it was actually a class schedule. The first class starts at 8:30 in the morning, with each class taking one and a half hours. There was also a 20-minute break in between. There was a 40-minute break at noon and in the afternoon. It was even more rigorous than a high school student¡¯s schedule. Morning: Pollutant Identification, Pollutant Distribution Mapping. Afternoon: Strength Training, Endurance Training, Combat Training. Evening: Extreme Temperature Endurance Exercise (1 hour). The courses arranged varied from day to day, with ¡°Weapon Selection,¡± ¡°Extended Ability Training,¡± ¡°Live Pollutant Training,¡± ¡°Hot Weapon Use and Maintenance¡± ¡­and even ¡°Special Vehicle (Aircraft, Ship, Sailboat) Driving.¡± According to the course schedule, there were only two days off per month, uniformly scheduled at the end of the month. Lu Yan¡¯s assistant instructor was also written on his class schedule. Lu Yan lived in Room No. 3 on the 5th floor. The assistant instructor of his floor was the C-Class Enlightened, Lone Wolf. The first month¡¯s course was a general course, and in the second month, different employees would be trained in different classes based on their previous month¡¯s performance. Director Hu looked at the timetable and couldn¡¯t help wailing, ¡°But I¡¯m only a support system! Why should I study too! I¡¯m already 53 years old this year!¡± Xiao Tian¡¯s dog ears caught this sentence. He said, ¡°When facing a Pollutant, the enemy won¡¯t care if you¡¯re a combat or support system. It will only see if you¡¯re easy to kill or not!¡± ¡°To tell you the truth, as an animal Enlightened, I also attended the new employee training and graduated with a certificate of excellence. I have lived for 42 years, and as a human year is equivalent to 18 years for a dog, this means that I am 756 years old! You can¡¯t even be as good as a dog, can¡¯t you, can¡¯t you?¡± Lu Yan couldn¡¯t hold back and asked the System in a low voice, [Are you and it half-brothers?] Their manner of speaking was exactly the same¡ª asking for a beating. System, [¡­Thank you for your sudden concern. ] In the morning theoretical class, the lecturer was a researcher sent from the Second Research Institute, a capable and serious middle-aged woman. Many scientific researchers had not been able to awaken in order to become Enlighteneds, but their understanding of Pollutants was no worse than that of front-line personnel. They had even compiled Pollutants into different categories. ¡°Studies have shown that the mutations of Pollutants will eventually converge. Pollutants of different classes4 will show the same shape and commonality at the end of evolution. ¡°For the Pollutants in the same class, even if we haven¡¯t seen it before, we can infer similar weaknesses from them.¡± This intelligence was worth hundreds of contribution points in the Enlightened Forum. Therefore, Lu Yan studied very seriously. Some of the Enlighteneds in the combat system were not interested and even secretly played with their phones under the desk. As a result, as soon as the class was over, the students who played with their mobile phones were informed by the assistant instructor that 0.5 points had been deducted. Because their break time was so short, lunch was delivered to the teaching area by the canteen staff. The expressions of the staff members were extraordinarily kind, as if they were saying eating well will help you keep going. In the office, the assistant instructor Lone Wolf reported his work in a serious manner and finally said, ¡°Leader Tang. Are strength training and physical fitness training really going to be combined in the afternoon? Won¡¯t it be too difficult?¡± The two classes in the afternoon added up to a total of three hours. According to Tang Xun¡¯an¡¯s instructions, he wanted the trainees to do weighted mountain cross-country orienteering. Awakening into an ¡°Enlightened,¡± whether it was physical strength or resilience, was far beyond ordinary people. Coupled with the ubiquitous real-time monitoring, there was no need to worry about accidents. Tang Xun¡¯an turned his head slightly and asked, ¡°Too difficult?¡± ¡°No.¡± Lone Wolf felt a chill on his back and immediately betrayed his delicate students, ¡°It¡¯s perfect!¡± CH 33 This chapter is translated by Hoenimochi, translation checked by Rin, edited by Cia, and proofread by Kris Xian. From the time it was posted, Lu Yan¡¯s video quickly became popular on the Internet overnight. However, on the next day, the said video had been taken off the shelves as if it had never happened. Originally, the PDC had planned to promote some Enlightened vases1 to increase their public influence, but Lu Yan would definitely not be among the people who would be introduced because this was a very dangerous thing. Research showed that the advanced Pollutants also possessed a certain level of wisdom. Being too famous would not be a good thing. For example, the state would never make a big fanfare of introducing or publicizing the identity of a drug enforcement police who was currently on duty.2 Advertisements In the West Coast Sea. Because the area had always been located in the low latitude, the nearby sea had become significantly hotter. Shen Qingyang hadn¡¯t thought of wearing sunscreen, so a few of his tentacles were a little shriveled up. They were on a boat. A small fishing boat. Fbld Ckdtuydt bye vbl yckzkvu sq Ykxknau, obknb xyel kv nsdhldkldv qsa bkx kd czldekdt kdvs bwxyd psnklvu, cwv qsa Vasrblv, bl eked¡¯v zssj zkjl y bwxyd yv qkapv tzydnl. Rvp czynj ascl oyp nshlale okvb y zyula sq y pvayo nyrl,3 obknb vktbvzu nshlale bkx. Tkp zlqv byde oyp lxrvu, okvb sdl ryzx xkppkdt. Mbl vos sq vblx zssjle zkjl saekdyau qkpblaxld tskdt swv vs vbl ply. Llhlavblzlpp, kq sdl olal vs nsxryal vbl pkgl sq vblka qkpbkdt csyv vs vblka ekpvydnl qasx vbl nsypvzkdl, usw oswze qkde vbyv vblpl vos qkpblaxld olal alyzzu csze. Mblal oyp ds sdl yaswde, xyjkdt plhlayz vldvynzlp sd Fbld Ckdtuydt¡¯p oykpv ekpsclekldvzu lxlatl qasx wdela bkp nzsvblp yde rzwdtl kdvs vbl ply. ¡°Gb, nsxqsavyczl¡­ Jwv obu eslp vbl oyvla byhl ds vypvl, yde vbl pyzkdkvu kp yzps vss zso.¡± It was because of Shen Qingyang¡¯s presence, the marine fishes in a radius of several kilometers avoided this boat like it was a viper. Occasionally, a cloud of shadows would appear in the depths of the sea opening its eyes, but after realizing that the other party was just passing by, it would close them again with disinterest. The place they were going to was an uninhabited island on the West Coast Sea. Advertisements The fishing boat was extremely slow. At first, Prophet wanted Shen Qingyang to simply carry him there but was ruthlessly rejected. According to Prophet, he had recently foreseen a future. A future where ¡°the only person who was a threat to the Pollutants would leave human society because their pollution level had finally exceeded 100.¡± Prophet spoke eloquently, ¡°In the future, I see a black dragon appearing over the Chang Yi Plain, and half of A City will be razed to the ground. It might still retain some memories and emotions that belong to the original person, so it chose to come to the island overseas. ¡°If we can convince them, our future path would be much easier¡­ After all, it is because of those people that they became like this.¡± The Prophet intended to wait for the arrival of the black dragon, just as he waited for Shen Qingyang back then. ¡°It¡¯s unethical to only say half the words, Teacher.¡± The big eyes on Prophet¡¯s face were tightly closed, and a wisp of bright red blood spilled out from the slit of his eyes. ¡°Enough already. Who can spy on the gods without paying the price? Maybe that serial number 6 ability can, but it¡¯s unlikely anyone will get it.¡± Shen Qingyang raised his mobile phone and lay on the deck, swiping through TikTok in a bored manner. The mobile phone was taken from the fishing boat owner before they went to sea, and now that there was no more signal, he could only watch the cached videos. He scrolled and scrolled. Shen Qingyang suddenly sat up from the ground, looking surprised. ¡°What¡¯s wrong?¡± Prophet asked. Advertisements Shen Qingyang smiled slightly, ¡°Nothing. I saw a ghost picture, it scared me to death.¡± However, the picture on his phone screen was clearly a pair of pure white wings. Shen Qingyang put down the phone and thought about it for a long time. He was reluctant to delete the video. Afterwards, he touched the position of his heart and said, ¡°Teach me English grammar today, Teacher.¡± Mountain weight cross-country orienteering. It was fucking devilish to hear. The staff was currently strapping Lu Yan with metal blocks. It had special qualities imbued, becoming dense and heavy. Lu Yan had now reached the standard of a D-Class Enlightened, but his data card had not been updated. So, like other E-Class Enlighteneds, the strap attached to him only amounted to 270 catties. And because he was a support system Enlightened instead of a combat system, an extra 30 catties had also been cut. A mere 240 catties, in terms of Lu Yan¡¯s current physical fitness, was no different from a mere tickle. He didn¡¯t think it was a big problem, but Director Hu, who was tied with 80 catties next to him, was already showing an expression of pain. The chosen venue was located on the outskirts of A City, named Zhengrong Mountain. It had already been preliminarily cleared and was often used as a training ground for the Whistling Arrow Archery Unit. Now, it was taken over by the SpecOps Division. Whistling Arrow was a very famous domestic special forces unit. ¡°If you really can¡¯t take it anymore, use the sensor watch you¡¯re wearing on your wrist to ask for help.¡± Lone Wolf, the teaching assistant, persuaded the trainees in front of him, ¡°Only 0.5 points will be deducted for quitting midway, so it¡¯s not a big problem.¡± Lone Wolf was blind in one eye, like a pirate captain, and his expression relaxed. Advertisements He could already foretell the results. Although there were two students among them with spiritual power thresholds exceeding 1,000, one was a support system and the other was a spiritual type in the combat system. Neither was a person with good physical strength. Therefore, they shouldn¡¯t be yearning for rewards. ¡°Instructor,¡± Lu Yan raised his hand in the crowd, ¡°Is there a reward for being the first to arrive?¡± Lu Yan still planned to buy that silver bow after they finished the training. Compared with working hard outside to earn 30, 000 contribution points, it still sounded easier to figure out how to save up 30 points inside. As soon as this statement came out, many people around laughed. ¡°Bro, I don¡¯t mean to say shit about you. You¡¯re just a support system, but your ambitions are quite lofty.¡± In the class next door, a big tall man with muscles like rocks spoke in a mocking tone. Meanwhile, Lone Wolf replied, ¡°Of course. The first place is awarded 3 points. The second place will get 2 points, and the third place will get 1 point. The remaining 4th to 10th places will be rewarded 0.5 points.¡± Although the value didn¡¯t look that high, if the student points were converted into contribution points, and then converted into money, 0.5 points would already be worth five million. With 1.5 points, Lu Yan could buy another apartment in the center of K City and live like a landlord. Each participant started from the same point, but the destination would be different. It all depended on their navigation. The distances also varied from 12 km to 15 km. It was mainly dependent on the difficulty of the obstacles they would encounter on the road. When it was time to leave, Chen Anzhi leaned closer to Lu Yan and asked in a low voice, ¡°Lu Yan, would 240 catties be too much for you? How about sharing some with me?¡± After all, he was also in the combat system, and he thought that his physical fitness would be stronger than that of Lu Yan. Advertisements Most importantly, Chen Anzhi had a hypnosis ability. He had already planned on finding someone on the road to take advantage of, he would transfer the burden onto him unknowingly. When Lu Yan heard what the other said, he was stunned, ¡°How can there be such a good thing?¡± Chen Anzhi¡¯s expression was full of encouragement, ¡°It¡¯s okay. I asked the instructor, and he said it¡¯s allowed. We are teammates, so we should help each other, right?¡± Lu Yan nonchalantly waved to Director Hu, ¡°Director, come here. Someone here said that they can help you spread the load.¡± Chen Anzhi¡¯s smile suddenly froze, while Director Hu ran over and took his hand shaking it up and down, ¡°You are a good person, bro. In the future, if you come to K City First People¡¯s Hospital for surgery, I¡¯ll give you a 20% discount and pay it with my own pocket! At 2 PM, the orienteering started on time. From the same starting point, 62 students headed in different directions according to the navigation on their watch. [This afternoon¡¯s training is actually just to test the waters. ] The System said lazily, [To find out where your limits lay, so they can find the more convenient way to teach the students according to their aptitude. But I think your main instructor this year is too bad, they¡¯ve put a lot of pitfalls in your way.] [He may think that you really had awakened the Early Warning ability.] [Oh, right. The SpecOps Division has always maintained a belief that the best training is obtained in the midst of danger. And the best way to train an ability is to use it more. So for this afternoon, I¡¯ll pretend to be the ¡°Early Warning.¡±] [300 meters ahead, there¡¯s only emptiness under the grass, a hole below. Avoid it.] [If you don¡¯t pass the bridge within 10 seconds, it will collapse, so run faster.] [Take the Y-axis directly in front of you, one meter is one scale. There are archers in the direction of (297, 311).] ¡°Oh my God.¡± The teaching assistants stood in the monitoring room and had their eyes uncontrollably attracted to the No. 17 screen, ¡°Has the ability serial number 501 now become so strong?¡± Next to them, a researcher from the Third Research Institute explained while recording, ¡°It may be that he has a better compatibility with this ability.¡± Natural compatibility was a result recently produced by the Institute. People from the First Research Institute found that many Enlighteneds who had received the ability transplant surgery did not use their ability much compared to the Enlighteneds who had awakened theirs in a normal method. Thus, the concept of ¡°natural compatibility¡± was proposed. Facts had proved that even if the ability was forcibly transplanted, the effect was often unsatisfactory if the ability wasn¡¯t suitable for the person. Nevertheless, there were still ordinary people lining up to receive the ability transplants. Most of these people were from the wealthy class. This method was undoubtedly much safer than triggering a Pollutant awakening. Tang Xun¡¯an had repeatedly expressed his opposition to this, so now this kind of surgery had been excluded from the routine program of the First Research Institute. As the researcher thought of this, he couldn¡¯t hold back and looked at Tang Xun¡¯an at the front. He was standing at the very front, and only a tall and straight back could be seen. Since he didn¡¯t say anything, it was bound that he would be a little out of place. The researcher vaguely recalled a rumor. Tang Xun¡¯an also received an ability transplant. It was the long-deceased Professor Qiao Yu who was in charge of the operation. That year, Tang Xun¡¯an was only 16 years old. His transplanted ability came from a Pollutant. Tang Xun¡¯an¡¯s rejection was particularly severe when he was getting the transplant from a ?Pollutant. Many people thought he would not survive that winter. Nonetheless, in the end, Tang Xun¡¯an still stubbornly survived. But he was left blind in one eye and deaf in one ear. The pair of golden pupils, he heard, were transplanted into Tang Xun¡¯an later. Because of his hearing impairment, Tang Xun¡¯an still wore a hearing aid specially made by the Research Institute. Fortunately, after surviving the extreme rejection from the operation, Tang Xun¡¯an got the strongest fighting ability in the combat system today. [9th Ability ¡ª Dragon Bone]. The author has something to say: ¡ªThe following information can be unlocked¡ª ¡¾Year 2036¡¿ ¡ª¡±You, go away, I won¡¯t agree. Even if my talent is Gene Recombination, with the current technology, the lethality rate of fusion with a Pollutant is still very high. I won¡¯t consent to minors becoming experimental subjects.¡± ¡ª¡±My father is the initiator of the ¡®Spark Project.¡¯ The program is indeed controversial, so I volunteered.¡± ¡ª¡±Are you really volunteering?¡± ¡ª¡±Yes.¡± ¡ª¡±No, you are not.¡± ¡ª¡±I am.¡± ¡ª¡±You shouldn¡¯t become a victim of your father¡¯s political ideals.¡± ¡ª¡±You misunderstood, Professor Qiao Yu. I¡¯m not here for my father¡¯s ideals, I¡¯m here for my own ideals.¡± ¡ª¡±What ideal?¡± Tang Xun¡¯an stared into the other¡¯s eyes and answered seriously, ¡°To be the last line of defense for human civilization, on the day the worst comes.¡± ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª PPS: Qiao Yu is the protagonist of another book of mine, but the two have a completely different world outlook. Relevant characters/plots will not appear in this novel. I¡¯m only borrowing the experience and name, can be used as an alternate universe. CH 34 This chapter is translated by Rin, edited by Cia, and proofread by Kris Xian. Actually, Lu Yan had thought over it seriously if he wanted to pretend that ¡°Early Warning¡± was working when he was on the way. Since a 100% success rate of Early Warning was too scary. However, as the instructor who had set up traps was too ruthless, it would be too embarrassing if he fell in these traps, so Lu Yan gave up on this thought. System, [I thought you¡¯re a perfunctory master, instead, you¡¯re surprisingly a top cancer.]1 Advertisements Frankly, Lu Yan wasn¡¯t obsessed with getting first place, but he had mysophobia. In his daily life, getting mud on the soles of his shoes infringed upon the limit of his tolerance, he wouldn¡¯t be able to bear it if it got any worse. When Lu Yan arrived at the marked destination, the time on the chronograph exactly hit one hour. Tkp cseu vlxrlayvwal oyp xwnb zsola nsxryale vs dsaxyz rlsrzl, ps yqvla awddkdt, y zyula sq cskzkdt ale nswze cl plld pwaaswdekdt bkp obszl cseu. Rd yeekvksd, Nw Zyd bye qyka pjkd, ps vbl qzwpb zssjle hlau dknl sd bkx, zkjl y rlynb. Mbl pvyqq nyxl qsaoyae yde wdcwnjzle vbl olktbv clzv qsa bkx. Nw Zyd ypjle, ¡°Tso eke R es?¡± ¡°Zsw yal vbl qkapv, lhlausdl lzpl kp pvkzz sd vbl asye.¡± G zsv sq vbl nsxcyv pupvlx Odzktbvldlep olal pvkzz qktbvkdt okvb vbl Vszzwvydvp vbyv pweeldzu yrrlyale sd vblka oyu. Fwrrsav pupvlx Odzktbvldlep bye kv y zkvvzl clvvla, cwv xspv olal pvkzz blyhkzu kdfwale. Pkalnvsa Tw bye yzalyeu wple bkp yckzkvu, Ulzz Pkhkpksd, vs valyv y zsv sq oswdep yde kdfwaklp. Tsolhla, lhld kq lhlausdl¡¯p asyeczsnjp olal ekqqlaldv, vbkp oyp pvkzz y 13jx-zsdt xswdvykd naspp-nswdvau. Mbl pvyqq xlxcla raykple Nw Zyd pkdnlalzu, ¡°Zswa rbupknyz pvaldtvb kp ps xwnb clvvla vbyd vbl dsaxyz pwrrsav pupvlx Odzktbvldlep. Yydu sq vbl nsxcyv pupvlx Odzktbvldlep obknb byhl vbl pyxl zlhlz yp usw nyd¡¯v lhld alynb uswa nwaaldv pvydeyae.¡± ¡°Thank you, I usually do more endurance training.¡± Lu Yan used a towel to wipe away his sweat, ¡°Can I go back first? I want to take a bath.¡± Advertisements The staff member initially wanted to say ¡°yes¡± but suddenly thought that there were still people watching them through the surveillance. Especially this year¡¯s chief instructor Tang Xun¡¯an, who was a person that took discipline to the utmost importance, so he didn¡¯t know how to answer at that moment. He had already hesitated for half a minute, when a voice echoed out from the surveillance which was hung up on a tree. Tang Xun¡¯an¡¯s voice was inevitably distorted through the electronic device. It sounded like a few cubes of old ice dropping into a wine glass filled with brandy. ¡°Can.¡± Lu Yan went back and took a bath. Right after, he put out all his cleaning equipment and cleaned the entire hostel until no speck of dust was in sight. When he went to the classroom in the afternoon, most of the people there were lying down, resting. Some of them leaned against the wall, muddle-headed, while the staff members beside them were holding spoons and feeding them, the whole scene was caring and moving. The big head who trashtalked him on the mountain earlier was there as well. He sat upright and teased, ¡°Isn¡¯t this the support system from the next class? What, only coming back now after withdrawing from the race halfway?¡± The big head¡¯s ID was Metal Fist, his ability was King Kong, which was a combat system ability with a high rank. He only spent 1 hour and 20 minutes completing the orienteering. After asking around, he found that the other people spent half an hour or more than him, so he himself thought that he had won the race. Lu Yan opened the yoghurt he was holding and didn¡¯t really want to talk. Although he had rested for two hours, the high intensity training still made his whole body ache. After a few minutes, the assistant instructor pushed the door open and came in. ¡°Let me announce the ranking of the physical examination held this afternoon.¡± The assistant instructor that came to the class tonight looked like a gentle person. He wore a pair of spectacles, and had the codename Viper. ¡°First place, 503 Lu Yan.¡± Advertisements The number in front of the name was their room number and also their student number. Many gazes filled with surprise turned towards Lu Yan. Lu Yan was a very low-key person, but because of his attractive appearance and high spiritual power threshold, he had made an impression on many people. After reading out the first sentence, Viper put down the report card, ¡°Alright, other than the first place, I don¡¯t think we need to know the others. Since it¡¯s meaningless if it¡¯s not the first place for academism. ¡°The student who got first place this time belongs to the support system. Of course, I don¡¯t mean that the support system is bad, but the combat system¡¯s quality this year is inferior. This makes me feel worried about the actual combat event in two months. ¡°Since the worse you guys are, the more tiring it is for us assistant instructors. Although there¡¯s a casualty indicator, if there are too many deaths, I can only punish myself by drinking three glasses of wine.¡± Viper seemed to be a person who didn¡¯t have a teacher¡¯s ethics, but what he said was indeed the truth. The staff member sitting in front of the surveillance covered his face, ¡°This is why I keep encouraging them to increase the ratio of female Enlighteneds as instructors.¡± If one¡¯s mental state was affected by the pollution, male Enlighteneds would have a 60% possibility of expressing external aggression while female Enlighteneds would mostly express internal aggression. At least, the latter would not hurt others. Enlighteneds that were chosen to be assistant instructors were the group of people who had a rather stable mental state in the SpecOps Division. For the training at night, it only lasted for one hour. It was called ¡°Extreme Temperature Training.¡± System, [This will increase your body¡¯s endurance to extreme weather. As some places have been affected by pollution, ultra-hot temperatures of 60 to 70 degree celsius and ultra-cold temperatures of minus 100 degree celsius can occur. This one-hour training isn¡¯t just torturing you guys, but it will also teach you what you should do while facing these different temperatures and improve your survival rate.] Advertisements [The cabin¡¯s current temperature is around 55 to minus 35 degree celsius. There will be staff members monitoring and controlling the temperature live. In short, it¡¯s still bearable.] Lu Yan, ¡°No matter how I look at it, it doesn¡¯t seem like something a human can endure.¡± System¡¯s voice was filled with joy, [Do you really think you¡¯re still human?] Lu Yan felt the four rows of shark teeth in his mouth become itchy, he couldn¡¯t resist using his tongue to push them. The metal cabin used for the Extreme Temperature Training was like a sauna room. It wasn¡¯t too big, so it was easy to control the temperature inside. For Lu Yan, low temperatures were easy for him to endure. However, once the temperature rose to 50 and above, the scales on his body became uncontrollable. Lu Yan turned on the tap water and plunged his head into the sink. The gills by his ears started to breathe and spout water out, but he was still extremely thirsty. The assistant instructor¡¯s voice came out from the speaker, ¡°When the temperature rises to 45 degree celsius, the high temperature will start to affect a human¡¯s physiology. And with every degree celsius increase after this, it is fatal for ordinary human beings. Every organ would work to decrease the temperature of the body that would make it overwhelmed. While some Enlighteneds could produce heat resistance, still pay attention to your body¡¯s condition carefully. If you feel uncomfortable, please press the door open button or the help button in time.¡± As the assistant instructor finished this sentence, Lu Yan pressed open the door button without hesitation. Lu Yan wasn¡¯t the first one who chose to open the door, but his abnormal reaction was particularly serious. After leaving the high temperature environment, he started to retch in agony while supporting himself against the wall. In front of the monitor, the researcher who was in charge of the recording said, ¡°His pollution source comes from aquatic organisms. In previous records, this kind of Enlighteneds¡¯ heat resistance is really poor.¡± Advertisements It wasn¡¯t only for this training that they brought the new recruits to the Headquarters, this also allowed relevant staff to understand their characteristics and would make job arrangements for them accordingly in the future. Tang Xun¡¯an nodded slightly and deleted the practice ground ¡°Weapon Desert¡± out of the alternatives. Lu Yan was indeed the top student who scored more than 700 marks in the college entrance examination. No matter if it was theory classes or practical classes, his scores were outstanding. Especially in combat class. The weapon Lu Yan chose was a bow. He had already been using compound bows in his previous practice. After his body was strengthened, the arrow he released was even more accurate, and the shooting range reached up to 300 meters. Like a hunter who could hit a bull¡¯s eye on the first shot, his accuracy could also be brought over to the use of firearms. If not for the fact that Lu Yan was using an arrow which was rounded and cushioned, the first casualty might have happened in class instead of the combat drill which would be held in two months. Other combat system Enlighteneds had become moody due to this event. ¡°Lu Yan¡¯s ability is Early Warning, I can¡¯t even ambush him. Fuck, once the distance is pulled apart, one shot of the arrow will do it for him. Isn¡¯t it a cheat to use this kind of cold weapon!¡± ¡°I suggest kicking Lu Yan out of the support system and joining the combat system. If I didn¡¯t remember incorrectly, normally, a team would have a support system member while going out for missions. Don¡¯t let him occupy the precious spot of a support system Enlightened!¡± Everytime one talked about Lu Yan, Metal Fist would now always stay silent and instead increase his own amount of training. He didn¡¯t really understand. His figure was two times that of Lu Yan, and their spiritual power threshold was almost the same. His awakened ability was even a combat system ability that had a high rank. Logically speaking, he should be the top of the same batch of students. Why couldn¡¯t he defeat Lu Yan? As the person who scored the second highest in the college entrance examination, Director Hu was not performing well in the learning process. He had thought of quitting countless times, but when he thought of his grandson¡¯s school district accommodation in the Imperial Capital and his son¡¯s residence in Magic City which were not yet settled, he could only grit his teeth and continue on. With a good performance, it was obvious that one would obtain rewards. Other than the 10 points given at the end of every month, from the second week onwards, there would be staff members sending him medicated bath packets every night. [It¡¯s used to strengthen the body, made with a lot of items from Pollutants. It¡¯s not nice to drink.] The scent of medicinal herbs could be smelled as it was thrown into the bathtub. The Kingfish licked it once out of curiosity but vomited it out uncontrollably after a short while. Lu Yan placed his arm out of the bathtub, letting it vomit as much as it liked. Luckily there was no surveillance installed in the bathroom. ¡°Is it really that disgusting?¡± Lu Yan felt that it was quite fragrant from the smell. However, he wasn¡¯t a person who sought death. He didn¡¯t have the intention to drink his own bath water. However, one day, Lu Yan was too tired from training and accidentally slept in the bathtub. The water flowed into his gills from the back of his ears, it tasted a lot like sewage. The first month of training passed with the students wailing. The theory classes ended and everything turned into practical classes. Everyone was so tired that they didn¡¯t even have any more energy to cry and wail over it. Time quickly passed and there was only one week left until the actual combat drill. Two months of training was not considered long, but for Chen Anzhi who was enthusiastic and had a good personality, he had made many ¡°good friends¡± in school. It was as if there was some kind of magic power on him. No matter male or female, all were attracted to him when they got close. However, Lu Yan was not interested in this kind of people who only acted pitiful. If he were to say his type, his sense of beauty was more traditional. He liked ones that had a big chest and a thin waist. As he thought about this, Instructor Tang, whose waist looked particularly thin, came over with his dog. Xiao Tian opened its mouth, ¡°Congratulations on completing the first phase of learning. In this month, only two students took the initiative to quit and there are no students who have zero points. This makes me really proud. ¡°Being in this training centre headquarters, everyone is not aware of what is happening outside, but I can tell you guys. In the months that had passed, 64 new pollution disease cases had appeared. More than 7, 000 normal people had died, while 6 Enlighteneds also passed away. Among them, the ¡®B-Level Infectious Disease Cannibalism¡¯ case itself caused more than 5000 deaths in the polluted cities. ¡°From the second phase, you will need to prepare for the final actual combat drill. This time, after discussing, the location we chose is in P City, which is also where the A-level pollution area, ¡°Luochuan Botanical Garden¡± is located. But please don¡¯t worry, we are not going into the garden too deeply. Instead, the Headquarters found that in the periphery of the botanical garden, the spore infection was showing signs of spreading, so they are preparing to send people in to clean it up. Not only you guys, but the instructors will also be accompanying you.¡± As it was talking, there were staff members walking in while carrying two heavy metal cabins. Lu Yan was familiar with this kind of metal cabin. When he was in the hospital, the officer who got polluted was also carried in by others like this. The staff member said, ¡°Let me introduce: this is a distorted person polluted by spore infection. It¡¯s in the second phase.¡± Talking about the distorted people, many people present were reminded of memories that were not that pleasing. People who could become Enlighteneds had exposed themselves to pollution sources before. Many people only joined the division after they were saved by the members of the SpecOps Division. The hatch opened slowly and the distorted person inside was shown. The person¡¯s expression was frightening, but their body was locked in the cabin. His whole person was extremely skinny while white-spotted red mushrooms grew all over their person in contrast. It was the red mushroom commonly seen in fairytales.2 It was called the Muscaria, which belonged to one of the Amanita. These mushrooms even grew out from their eye sockets, and under them was a navy coloured fungal root system. ¡°People who are polluted by this kind of spore infection will show three characteristics. This is the most common one, becoming the culture medium of the poisonous mushroom. Despite that, the mushrooms grown on the body still belong to the plant category and can be made into medicine.¡± The System added a sentence indifferently, [Many of the research achievements by the Research Institute were obtained from Pollutants like these distorted people.] ¡°This type of distorted people basically aren¡¯t offensive. But you¡¯ll need to be careful of the mushrooms growing on them. Some of them are deadly and poisonous, some also have hallucination properties.¡° The second hatch was opened. Surprisingly, the first thing that came out was a rhizome in its root form. The root quickly stretched outwards. Tang Xun¡¯an took a glance, drew out Yellow Dust from his waist, and directly cut it off from its root source. A scream of agony echoed out from the cabin. Few wisps of defeated aura dissipated along the wound. In a short time, the root aged and regenerated, then finally, it wilted and dried out completely. This was the power of Time. The staff member opened the hatch with lingering fear. Inside was a human that looked like ginseng. Its whole body had already dried and wilted, it had probably struggled before it died, because its dried out roots were twisted in the air. ¡°This is the second type of distorted person, we call them Vegetative. They like to be active in the daytime and have a strong life force. Their aggressiveness is higher but it isn¡¯t that contagious. ¡°In response to this, the Research Institute had developed a special pesticide for these situations. The mission of our actual combat drill is to enter the pollution area with the instructors and spray the pesticides in groups.¡± Xiao Tian raised up his paw and said solemnly, ¡°This is also the only mission. There¡¯s no competition, and there¡¯s no need for everyone to compete with each other. If uncontrollable danger occurs in the pollution area, we will inform you to retreat immediately. ¡°But even if this is the case, I still want to clarify that there are students who die at the last stage almost every year. Not only for the actual combat drill this time, from now on, when you go out for missions, there will always be a possibility of sacrifice.¡± The classroom was in silence, and the atmosphere turned heavy. Just after Xiao Tian finished speaking, the chief instructor who had never spoken much during the whole training period suddenly said, ¡°I¡¯ve lived 84 years like that.¡± Until now, some students were surprised to realize that Tang Xun¡¯an was not mute. Tang Xun¡¯an looked at the batch of new recruits below and said earnestly, ¡°I don¡¯t have any complaints, but I¡¯m sure many people here can¡¯t accept it. You can still quit now if you want to.¡± Director Hu felt like raising his hand, but when he looked around, it looked like no one was planning to escape from this, so he could only use his left hand to grab his right hand with a miserable expression. He was almost 50 years old this year. Before he came here, he even had a beer belly, but after training for two months, muscles could be seen on his body after removing his clothes. Everyone would say that he was hale and hearty despite his age. A smirk that couldn¡¯t be seen clearly still hung on the corner of Chen Anzhi¡¯s lips. In these two months of training, he had obtained a lot as well. In his previous dream, the mighty god even touched his head as an encouragement. Metal Fist clenched his fists tightly, his eyes filled with determination. Although there weren¡¯t any requirements in this mission, he swore that he would be the sanitation worker who sprayed pesticides the most. Lu Yan had already earned 29 points, only 1 point left and he could buy the silver bow. Of course, he wouldn¡¯t quit. For the other students, they simply thought they only needed to remove the pollution at the periphery and stop the pollution source from spreading. While for Tang Xun¡¯an, his mission was to delve deep into the botanical garden and completely clean up the A-Level Pollutants in it. The mutation of the animals and plants in P City had become more serious. If they didn¡¯t take action now, hundreds and thousands of people nearby would have their lives threatened. Nobody quit. They had already come this far, once they quit, their points would be cleared down to zero. It would be a loss no matter what. The System tsked, [When saying this, he should keep his sword first, ah.] The author has something to say: Next instance: Luochuan Botanical Garden CH 35 This chapter is translated by BigDivineBear, translation checked by Kensi, edited by Bluburry, and proofread by Kris Xian. As the provincial capital, P City has developed well during recent years. After a week of intense training, Lu Yan had finally set foot on the ground here again. Perhaps it was due to the pollution disease that the plants here were particularly lush and prosperous. Large clusters of flowers could be seen everywhere on the street. This time, Lu Yan was actually familiar with the person in charge of the reception at the PDC. It was the female officer from the last time when he made an emergency landing in P City. Advertisements She looked even more haggard than last time, with scary dark circles under her eyes. ¡°I¡¯m very grateful to the SpecOps Division for designating P City as the assessment site for the final drill, and our two A-Class Enlighteneds from P City also agreed to assist in invigilating the exam. If there are any problems, we will enter the examination room any time at once for rescue. ¡°Truth be told, there have been too many changes in P City during the past half month, and the botanical garden area has been completely blocked. However, the number of distorted people in the city is still growing steadily. Although at this time there are more newly awakened Enlighteneds, in general, the ordinary people have suffered heavy casualties.¡± The staff distributed the materials one by one. Rd vbl pbsav rlakse sq vkxl sq ekpvakcwvkdt vbl xyvlakyzp, vbl rlapsd kd nbyatl ynvwyzzu qlzz ypzllr obkzl zlydkdt ytykdpv vbl oyzz. ¡°Grszstklp, vbl osaj byp clld vss kdvldpl alnldvzu.¡± Mbl rlapsd kd nbyatl lmrzykdle, ¡°Mbl yaly sq ??vbl csvydknyz tyaeld kp ekhkele kdvs vbl swvla yde vbl kddla rlakrblaklp. Mbl swvla rlakrblau kp xykdzu vbl sdl pralyekdt vbl prsal kdqlnvksd. Rv xyu cl ryaypkvkn kq usw yal kdqlnvle cu vbl prsalp. Gqvla alrlyvle vlpvp, clnywpl vbl prsalp yal pnyvvlale yde vbl nsdnldvayvksd kp vss zso, vbkp jkde sq ryaypkvkpx kp kdlqqlnvkhl ytykdpv Odzktbvldlep obspl prkakvwyz rsola vbalpbsze lmnllep 100. ¡°Rd yeekvksd vs vbspl kdqlnvle ekpvsavle nalyvwalp, yryav qasx vbl Gtyaknyl1 yde Gnlaynlyl2¡­ Mbl xyfsakvu sq vbl kdqlnvle yal ynvwyzzu pxyzz ckaep yde kdplnvp.¡± Mbl rlapsd kd nbyatl pyke pszlxdzu, ¡°Mbl yaly sq ??vbl xwpbassx taswr kp yrrasmkxyvlzu 120 blnvyalp. Wwavbla kdoyae kp vbl saydtl zlhlz rszzwvksd yaly, Nwsnbwyd Jsvydknyz Qyaeld. Mbl pvyqq xyajle vbl letl sq vbl csvydknyz tyaeld okvb yd saydtl bktbzktbvla. ¡°Mbkp vkxl, ycswv vbl xyvvla sq Nwsnbwyd, R¡¯x alzukdt sd usw.¡± Gqvla prlyjkdt, vbl rlapsd kd nbyatl zsolale bla blye yde csole ellrzu. Mblal oyp y pxyzz obkvl qzsola rkddle vs bla nszzya. Swxsa bye kv vbyv bla qyvbla, bwpcyde, yde eywtbvla bye yzz yoyjldle yde clnyxl Odzktbvldlep. Tsolhla, kd vbl rasnlpp sq pszhkdt vbl rszzwvksd ekplypl kd V Ukvu, vblu olal pynakqknle sdl yqvla ydsvbla. Oynb pvweldv rwv sd y prlnkyz rasvlnvkhl pwkv qasx vbl Slplyanb Rdpvkvwvl yde nyaakle y rlpvknkel vydj olktbkdt 20 jkzstayxp sd vblka cynjp. Mbkp xyel lhlausdl zssj zkjl y tyaeldla. The 60 students were organized into 20 teams, which were essentially composed of 2 combat systems grouped together with some other system. Lu Yan¡¯s team were all old acquaintances. Advertisements Lu Yan¡¯s teammates were Iron Fist and Chen Anzhi. Iron Fist¡¯s name was Zhou Zheng. Before his awakening, he was an underground boxer. Chen Anzhi smiled and said, ¡°Lu Yan, I didn¡¯t expect us to be teammates this time.¡± Iron Fist was full of energy. ¡°In the end, the area where I spray pesticides will definitely be larger than yours!!¡± Lu Yan really didn¡¯t want to talk. The weather in June was already quite hot, and with the addition of the oppressive protective isolation suit, it was like taking a sauna. Although the assistant instructors had repeatedly emphasized many times that the final drill did not depend on the results, in order to incentivize the students, they were still equipped with credit calculating devices. Points were awarded for each Pollutant killed. Perhaps because they were in the Luochuan Botanical Garden, the plants in this polluted area were extremely lush. Branches poked out from within abandoned buildings, from the cracked road, and from the pores of the underground waterway, the roots intertwining endlessly. Because Lu Yan¡¯s group was relatively strong, the spraying areas assigned to them were relatively deep in the forest and quite dense with plants. Lu Yan¡¯s team of three had just landed from the helicopter when they stepped on a clump of mushrooms on the ground. [Today, we come to the Luochan Botanical Garden to identify the popular Pollutants on the Internet.] [The white mushroom under your feet is called the White Poisonous Umbrella. After it rains, it is easy for it to grow everywhere, and it has a pollution value of 5. It is inedible even before its contamination, but now it¡¯s almost a replica of a certain Pollutant.] [Of course, because there are so many people stepping on it every day, it won¡¯t be waking up for the time being. ] Advertisements [To be honest, I only glanced at it casually. Nevertheless, I really recommend that you quit the SpecOps now before it¡¯s too late.] ¡°Why?¡± [There are more than one perfectly evolved species here.] The System said vaguely, [Furthermore. I smelled a very nasty scent. But logically thinking, it should have been trapped in that island country and have been unable to get out.] Lu Yan had always been good at grasping clues. He remembered the information about the S-level pollution case ¡°Kingdom of God¡± that he had seen when he first joined the SpecOps Division. There had always been very little information regarding S-Level Pollutants. Nonetheless, because the ¡°Kingdom of God¡± was so widespread, and in addition to the fact that there were some survivors around the world, it was actually more detailed than some A-level cases. The Kingdom of God, creation of the S-Level Pollutant, ¡°Holy God¡±. Due to the fact that the pollution arose from the sea, the pollution diseases in some island countries were particularly severe. It was undoubtedly a nightmare for ordinary people. Under these circumstances, a group of people gave up atheism and began to believe in ¡°Ultimate Bliss teachings.¡± Believers believed that the ¡°Holy God¡± was the deity who controlled bliss and eternal life, and that the whole world was but a dream of the Holy God. The more people that believe in it, the stronger it becomes. The ¡°Holy God¡± evolved continuously from a low-level Pollutant, and by the time the island country sought help, the Holy God had already become the island¡¯s one and only believed God. Countless people died in their dreams and became nourishment for the ¡°Holy God.¡± This Pollutant killed indiscriminately and could descend upon believers at any time. Regardless of whether the believer was originally an Enlightened or an ordinary person, they could all instantly gain a fraction of the power from the true body of the ¡°Holy God.¡± Advertisements Up till now, no one has seen what the ¡°Holy God¡± really looked like. Some people said that it was a mass of chaos hidden in the depths of a dream. In the end, the Union Alliance could only abandon that island country. Of the millions of people on the island, less than 10,000 survived. Lu Yan¡¯s face felt a little damp. He touched it and actually found some blood on his hand. He was bleeding from the seven apertures.3 Although the injury was not serious, the faint smell of blood still spread in the botanical garden. Numerous slumbering animals and plants slowly opened their eyes. In the silent depths of the forest, the sound of insects flapping their wings could be heard. [Ah¡­ Who can spy on the gods without paying a price, neither No. 66 nor No. 6 can.] The System¡¯s voice was very angry, [Damn it. As long as your spiritual power threshold was around seven or eight thousand, I wouldn¡¯t be hurt by this kind of damned dog.] His abnormality caught Chen Anzhi¡¯s attention. Chen Anzhi, who was spraying pesticide, turned his head and looked worried. ¡°Lu Yan, why are you bleeding?¡± ¡°Ability warning.¡± Lu Yan said solemnly, ¡°Told me that there will be a danger.¡± Advertisements Iron Fist sprayed the medicine for a long time but didn¡¯t see a single Pollutant. He immediately said with disdain, ¡°Stop fooling around. What danger could be there?¡± Lu Yan was too lazy to pay attention to him. He was already used to the setting that he would trigger the [Hell Difficulty Buff] whenever he went out. He felt that it was because of that time when he became the sister of the ¡°Unlucky Star¡±4 in the dream, which had now caused him to have bad luck. He put down the pesticide sprayer and raised his bow. Although it wasn¡¯t some legendary weapon worth 30,000 contribution points, it was still one of the D-level psionic weapons with higher attributes. It was lent to Lu Yan from the Headquarters, and he had to return it when he went back. The arrow feather ignited a ray of flame and plunged deep into the bushes. A mantis the size of half a human was killed by the arrow and fell from the tree. This mantis was almost completely integrated with the surrounding environment, and the edge of its sickle was dark and extremely sharp. At that moment, Lu Yan¡¯s scoreboard jumped, and he was awarded 0.2 points. This was an E-Level Pollutant. Lu Yan¡¯s gaze took on a cold and indifferent look, ¡°Did you really think that a simple spray of medicine can last until the end of the drill? Did the evolution cause your brain to regress into a piece of iron waste?¡± It was possible that Lu Yan didn¡¯t realize that he had fallen into an abnormal state after overusing his ability. Lu Yan put down his bow, his fingers trembling slightly. After overusing their abilities, Zhou Qiming would become weaker, Tang Xun¡¯an would go berserk, and Lin Sinan would excessively blame himself. System, [I suggest the Host to control your emotions. I know that in the face of negative emotions, such as fear and pain, you always like to look for ¡®him,¡¯ like a child who subconsciously looks for his mother after a fall. However, you¡¯re no longer the you from back then, are you?] Lu Yan took a deep breath and asked the System, ¡°I haven¡¯t seen the chief instructor since I got off the plane. Where is he?¡± [Tyrant¡­] The System said, [He¡¯s sharpening his knife and preparing to enter the botanical garden to deal with the big banyan tree.] Tang Xun¡¯an wiped Yellow Dust very quietly. When he lowered his head, a few strands of hair fell down to his forehead. Because his expression was somewhat gentle, he looked much younger. The students had already entered the polluted area. In mid-air, hundreds of pollution detectors were moving and videotaping. These detectors were covered with a special coating that caused them to be regarded as one of their kind by the Pollutants. Tang Xun¡¯an was waiting for the teammates arranged by the Headquarters. Ever since the accident 13 years ago, Tang Xun¡¯an had become accustomed to being alone when he went out on a mission. However, the headquarters said that the volume of Pollutants was too large this time, and thus specially transferred the experimental subject 07 from the First Research Institute. 07: Spiritual Power Threshold: 7,900. 42 Ability ¡ª Karmic Fire. Mutation Degree: 73. This flame-type ability was always greatly useful when facing plant-type Pollutants. At exactly 12 noon, a military car drove up. It was like a prison car. Several staff members got out of the car with an abnormally pale teenager. He was wearing a snow-white prison uniform. Half of his face was terrifyingly scorched, the edge of the wound was like a layer of red lava. The boy was wearing a special handcuff, the chain in the middle was exceedingly long, yet it did not hinder his movements. In addition, he had an obvious black tattoo number, 07, on his arm. ¡°Leader Tang, hello. I¡¯m Ren Xuan, a researcher from the First Research Institute. I¡¯m a senior engineer.¡± A middle-aged man in a white coat walked over with 07. ¡°07 is a particularly precious experimental subject in our research institute. I am the person in charge of him. Please bring him back in full health.¡± As he spoke, 07¡¯s face was expressionless, and his eyes were empty. Like some sort of product being sold. Tang Xun¡¯an felt a little uncomfortable and frowned. He felt that he knew where this uncomfortable feeling came from. The researcher looked at him in the same way that he did at 07. It was as if he wasn¡¯t looking at a person, it was more like he was looking at a perfect tool that he had created. ¡°Aren¡¯t you going to unlock his handcuffs?¡± Tang Xun¡¯an asked. The researcher answered in a straight-forward manner, ¡°Just like how your muzzle never leaves your face, 07¡¯s handcuffs have a similar function. His mutation degree is already very high, so it will be dangerous to unlock it. ¡°By the way, the director said, if you can resolve the banyan tree, we hope for you to bring back the special materials peeled off from it. It¡¯s a critical material for our next experiment.¡± Tang Xun¡¯an listened to half of it and replied half-heartedly with an ¡°en.¡±*It went in one ear and out the other, and he completely did not take it to heart. If the difficulty of disposing Pollutants was 9, then the difficulty of stripping special materials from Pollutants was 10. It had to be stripped from the body while it was still contaminated and alive, which was much harder than just slaughtering it. It¡¯s not every day that one could be lucky enough to meet a perfect evolutionary species like the Dragon Maiden either. The researcher nagged a lot before finally leaving the scene reluctantly. He would go and wait at the Pollution Disease Prevention and Control Center. Tang Xun¡¯an looked at 07¡¯s face. ¡°What¡¯s your name?¡± ¡°07.¡± ¡°I didn¡¯t ask for your number.¡± 07 tilted his head and thought for a long time before saying slowly, ¡°I¡¯m sorry, I forgot.¡± He pointed to his head. ¡°Daddy had sliced off a bit.¡± Translator¡¯s Note CH 36 This chapter is translated by Hoenimochi, translation checked by Rin, edited by Bluburry, and proofread by Kris Xian. [Although I am reluctant to believe this possibility, the worst has happened before.] The System¡¯s voice was much more serious than usual. [In the past, it was always humans who challenged the Pollutants. Even though it was the weak that defeated the strong, but that was only because they had all the information, and there was always the strength to fight.] [And this time, it was the Pollutants who came to besiege the humans. Traitors have also appeared amongst mankind.] [In the beginning, Lu Jiahe appeared in M ??City and was short-lived. His file was labeled 11. Do you know what that means? It means that before him, there were 10 Pollutants of the same level. Because there is no way to resolve these high-level Pollutants, humans did not dare to carelessly interfere with them. However, due to the frequent occurrence of pollution disease in recent years, mankind has gradually become inferior in this war, and this balance has been broken.] Advertisements [Now, what they want to do is to make the situation collapse a little more thoroughly. This node falls on ?Tang Xun¡¯an.] [He is the only S-Class Enlightened that mankind has, and yet may not be. Nonetheless, if the First Research Institute were to release all of the No. 1 to No. 3 experimental subjects, there would be too many uncertainties. At that time, the Enlighteneds would be more like expendables than how they are now. Moreover, after such an incident, will the remaining Enlighteneds in the SpecOps Division really not be bitterly disappointed?] [Therefore, as long as Tang Xun¡¯an dies, or mutates to become a Pollutant, the goal is achieved.] [Rv¡¯p y qwddu vbkdt vbyv vbl bwxyd aynl kp pvkzz kd y pvyvl sq kdvladyz pvakql yde ekpytallxldv. Vszzwvydvp, bsolhla, vssj vbl zlye vs wdkvl.] V Ukvu. Vszzwvksd Pkplypl Valhldvksd yde Usdvasz Uldvla. Mbl pvyqq tyvblale vs oykv qsa vbl alpwzvp. Mblu olal yzps alyeu vs rashkel pwrrsav. Vascyczu clnywpl vbl yvxsprblal oyp vss plakswp, vbl rlapsd kd nbyatl, Yp. Ubld, vssj vbl zlye yde zywtble qkapv, ¡°Psd¡¯v cl ps tzssxu. El byhl vs vawpv vbl FrlnXrp Pkhkpksd yde Nlyela Mydt.¡± ¡°Zlyb, yp zsdt yp vbl csvydknyz tyaeld kp alpszhle, vbl alxykdkdt pxyzz rszzwvle yalyp kd V Ukvu yal dsvbkdt vs cl yqayke sq. Ju vbl lde sq vbl ulya, vblu nyd yzps cl alrsavle yp yd yzvladyvkhl pwahkhyz cypl. Wasx vbl pvyav sq vbl rszzwvksd vs vbl ralpldv, vbkp pbyeso byp clld bydtkdt shla V Ukvu qsa elnyelp¡­ R alyzzu ldhu vbspl ktdsaydv rlsrzl.¡± Yp. Ubld zssjle swv vbl okdeso yp vbl pwd plv, vbl ryzl tszeld zktbv prkzzkdt shla vbl obkvl qzsola sd bla nblpv. Fbl pyke, ¡°Nlv svbla rlsrzl zkhl byrrkzu kd ktdsaydnl yde dlhla byhl vs zkhl wdela vbl qlya sq rszzwvksd. Rpd¡¯v vbyv obyv ol byhl clld qktbvkdt qsa ps qya?¡± Tla osaep caswtbv fsu, yde pxkzlp plvvzle sdvs vbl qynlp sq vbl pvyqq ralpldv. Inside, the only person who seemed a little out of place might be Ren Xuan who came from the First Research Institute. Advertisements Ren Xuan listened without any interest. When he had first joined the Research Institute, he had also been an ambitious young man with lofty ideals and purposes. Today, he was just a middle-aged man that was apathetic and lacked emotion. The only thing that made him feel a little distressed was the fruit of his 20 years labor¡ª 07. However, Ms. Chen¡¯s words finally made him a little sentimental. Ren Xuan left the conference hall, walked to the rooftop, and dialed a phone number. ¡°Teacher, the things we do¡ª are they really right?¡± ¡°Child, this is not a question of right or wrong. Think about the human experiments we have conducted over the years, even if it was never for the purpose of torture and murder, are the people who died in our hands countable? Even for Pollutants, their mothers will cry when they see their children are killed. As humans, won¡¯t we feel heartache?¡± On the phone, an old voice replied, ¡°But we are still insisting on experiments, why? Because we are walking on the road to truth, even if this road is full of sacrifices, even if this road requires us to pay a lot of costs¡ª ¡°What is humanity? What we need is divinity. ¡°That group of outsiders doesn¡¯t understand a thing. Do they even have the right to point fingers at our research? The Third Research Institute is even more traitorous! They have taken away our 50 years of experimental results without reason, and they want to accuse us of unscrupulously experimenting today. Remember, even if everyone says we were wrong, the truth can¡¯t be wrong! Time will give the fairest evaluation. ¡°In the past, in the development of clinical medicine, did anyone care about how many animals died in order to conduct in vivo experiments?1 Maybe there are some, but have in vivo experiments been abolished? We just turned the target of the experiment to humans. Our ultimate goal is to save more people.¡± Ren Xuan took out a tranquilizer from his pocket and slowly lighted it on himself, ¡°Teacher, if this operation fails, I will lose 07 and become a scapegoat, right?¡± If Tang Xun¡¯an were to die, the only power that the other sectors of society could rely on would be the few experimental subjects from the First Research Institute. That way, Ren Xuan¡¯s colleagues could also get more research funding. Some of their controversy-filled studies would no longer be opposed. Advertisements ¡°¡­This is a necessary sacrifice for the preservation of the First Research Institute.¡± Ren Xuan nodded, ¡°I understand, Teacher. I¡¯m on the top floor of the PDC in P City. In the end, whether it¡¯s successful or not, I¡¯ll jump.¡± ¡°You¡¯ve worked hard,¡± the voice replied. Ren Xuan watched the sun slowly sink; the horizon swallowed the last ray of dawn. He suddenly understood that there was no difference between what he and other people did, it was just that everyone chose a different path. Ren Xuan had tears in his eyes, ¡°For the future of mankind.¡± The voice on the phone repeated, ¡°For our future.¡± The bow in Lu Yan¡¯s hand had already shot six arrows in a few minutes. These arrows were flawless and worked exceptionally well when facing those flying insects. There were far more insectoids hidden in the woods than just praying mantises. Lu Yan glanced at it roughly, and some mosquitoes had evolved a human face. The shriveled face had a slender mouthpart, and the flapping wings on the back made an annoying buzzing sound. Judging from the length of this mouthpart, if one got stabbed by this mosquito, one would probably be sucked to death. And judging from the bulging blood sac in the mosquito¡¯s abdomen, it might have already sucked the first victim. Whether it was Zhou Zheng or Chen Anzhi, their expressions changed a little. Advertisements Zhou Zheng was good at melee combat, and his whole body could turn into metal, making him invulnerable. But most insects could fly, which led to him feeling suffocated as if he were ¡°unable to reason with a foolish person.¡± Chen Anzhi¡¯s ability was even more limited in this case. These Pollutants hadn¡¯t even evolved the ability to think, and thus only had primitive instincts. Lu Yan raised his hand and shot another arrow. The arrowhead pierced through the mosquito¡¯s abdomen and nailed it to the tree trunk behind him. Blood exploded like a water balloon that was crushed. While picking up the arrow on the ground, Lu Yan said mockingly, ¡°Combat system, heh.¡± Zhou Zheng¡¯s face was red, while Chen Anzhi stared thoughtfully at Lu Yan¡¯s hanging hand. After he pulled the bow many times without proper protection, Lu Yan¡¯s palm was cut, and there was a faint trace of blood seeping out. He put down the sprayer, took out a bandage from the first aid kit he carried, and wrapped his palm with a frown. While still in K City, Lu Yan discovered that Pollutants were particularly sensitive to the smell of his blood. Shen Qingyang also specifically said that he ¡°smells different from others.¡± Lu Yan didn¡¯t know what was different. However, this was obviously not a good thing. Later, in the Wall of Resentment, after receiving a gift from the ¡°sister,¡± Lu Yan was less likely inclined to bleed himself. Advertisements He didn¡¯t know whether the bandaging was useful or not, and he didn¡¯t know what the blood would attract. More importantly, by maintaining such a fighting stance, Lu Yan didn¡¯t know if he would expose his body¡¯s abnormality. Therefore, acting alone was the most reasonable plan for him. Lu Yan looked at his two teammates and said, ¡°Let¡¯s move separately, don¡¯t follow me.¡± Zhou Zheng frowned, ¡°With the three of us together, the survival rate has increased significantly. Maybe you think you are protecting us now, but after all, I am also Enlightened with a spiritual power threshold of 1,700¡­¡± Nonetheless, Lu Yan didn¡¯t listen. Instead, he picked a path alone and walked forward. Zhou Zheng shouted, ¡°Hey!¡ª¡± He tried to keep up, but soon, an arrow swished right in front of him. If the arrow had been a little faster, or if he had walked a little faster, the arrow would have struck deep into his knee. With Lu Yan¡¯s current strength, it would probably not have been a problem to directly shatter his knee. Zhou Zheng lifted his head and happened to see the expression on Lu Yan¡¯s face. Indifferent and murderous. Like an assassin¡¯s sharp blade out of its sheath, silent and dangerous. Zhou Zheng was standing in place, looking at Lu Yan¡¯s fleeting back, and was stunned. ¡°Holy shit, are you for real?¡± Chen Anzhi¡¯s face possessed the same gentle smile as always, ¡°Lu Yan has always been very withdrawn, and it¡¯s not your first day knowing him. Forget it, it should be fine. The instructor is still watching from the shadows.¡± As his smile rose, many students in different locations in the polluted area, regardless of gender or age, had the same smile on their faces. It was like they were carved out of the same mold. The System sighed, [The werewolf is about to jump out from its disguise. In a desperate and utterly isolated situation without help, what your chief instructor took this time, I¡¯m afraid it¡¯s the script of Farewell My Concubine.]2 Lu Yan carried the medicine can and sprayed the pesticide in one area after another. A few minutes ago, he had called the instructor through the sensor watch, requesting off-field support. However, the dial was unresponsive. [In addition to the ability of Karmic Fire, 07 also has a talent called Magnetic Field Interference. It was transplanted recently.] [Oh, you don¡¯t know 07. But it doesn¡¯t matter, your watch is broken anyway. ] Lu Yan took a breath in silence, then smashed his watch against the tree trunk. This watch, which could locate, call for help, and detect pollution, was indeed a masterpiece of the Research Institute; the mass-produced goods were also very sturdy. The tree trunk was cracked, and yet the watch still worked. It was just that the owner didn¡¯t have the intention to pick it up. The System said, [There is no use in getting angry, except that it makes ¡°him¡± come out faster. You don¡¯t want ¡°him¡± to come out, and neither do I.] ¡°I know.¡± Lu Yan closed his eyes and tried to calm down. [Well, although the situation is very serious, what makes me a System that can do anything?] [Little Koi, I have two methods. The first one will allow you to escape alone, but people in P City, and all nearby cities, will surely die. As for how it will develop in the future, it¡¯s too far away, and I can¡¯t see it.] [The second way, you may die. But if successful, the world will advance in another way.] [Doesn¡¯t it sound interesting that the ¡°heroic view of history,¡± which has been denied for countless years, has become a reality at this point. The node of the future direction of the world is indeed, at this moment, in your hands.] [Now, tell me your choice, Host.] Translator¡¯s Note CH 37 This chapter is translated by Rin, edited by Cia, and proofread by Kris Xian. Lu Yan thought that many things would have multiple available options, but in the end, there was no other choice at all. For example, a university graduate painstakingly searched for a job instead of returning home to inherit the company, was it because he or she liked to work? It was because there wasn¡¯t even a company for him or her to inherit in the first place. Advertisements Just like what was happening now. Lu Yan only thought about it for three seconds before he answered, ¡°I don¡¯t care about the future. I just want to know which choice will make it easier for me to kill Lu Cheng.¡± System: [The second one, if nothing goes wrong.] Nw Zyd ydpolale, ¡°Xjyu, vlzz xl bso vs es kv.¡± [Mbl Vszzwvydv vbyv fskdle vbkp vkxl kp¡­ zlv¡¯p zlyhl swv vblka dyxl, pkdnl usw yzalyeu jdso ycswv kv. Xdl sq bkp yckzkvklp kp nyzzle ¡°Qse¡¯p Plpnldv,¡± vbkp yzzsop bkp clzklhlap vs clnsxl bkp ekprspyczl hlpplzp. Mblpl hlpplzp nyd scvykd yv xspv sdl-vldvb sq bkp rsola. Psd¡¯v vbkdj vbyv sdl-vldvb sq yd F-Nlhlz Odzktbvldle¡¯p rsola kp y 1,000 rszzwvksd hyzwl, kv¡¯p dsv nyznwzyvle zkjl vbyv.] [Mblpl hlpplzp wple cu bkx okzz ekl okvbswv lmnlrvksd. Tsolhla, bl eslpd¡¯v nyal yv yzz, clnywpl bl bye hlpplzp zkjl vbkp yzz shla vbl osaze. Mbl xspv ekptwpvkdt vbkdt kp, yp zsdt yp bkp hlpplzp pvkzz lmkpv, bl osd¡¯v nsxrzlvlzu ekl.] [Tkp plnsde yckzkvu kp nyzzle ¡°Slqwtl kd Jweebkpx.¡± Gp vbl blye sq vbl Bzvkxyvl Jzkpp alzktksd, bl alzkle sd vbkp yckzkvu vs ralynb kd bkp lyazu eyup. Mbkp kp yzps vbl alypsd obu bl oydvp vs nsxl dso. Gp zsdt yp Mydt Dwd¡¯yd kp nsdhlavle vs clnsxl y qszzsola sq vbl Bzvkxyvl Jzkpp alzktksd, bl okzz vbld byhl vbl xspv rsolaqwz clzklhla.] [Gqvla yzz, yp yd F-Nlhlz Vszzwvydv sq vbl prkakvwyz pupvlx, bl nyd sdzu rzyu vaknjp. Rq y cyvvzl alyzzu byrrldle, bl oswze fwpv cl y wplzlpp qktbvla. Tl dllep psxlsdl vs nbyatl ytykdpv vbl ldlxu zkdlp qsa bkx.] Rd vbl kdqsaxyvksd sd vbl Odzktbvldle Wsawx, vblal oyp ds lmynv elqkdkvksd sq obyv y Qse oyp. Tsolhla, zkpvldkdt vs vbl Fupvlx¡¯p vsdl, Tszu Qse oyp yzps yd saekdyau bwxyd kd vbl cltkddkdt. Jlkdt yczl vs rasxsvl vbl Bzvkxyvl Jzkpp alzktksd vs vbkp lmvldv, vbl Tszu Qse¡¯p pyzlp xwpv cl hlau tsse kq bl osajle yp y pyzlpxyd. [Fs, obyv usw byhl vs es dso, kp vs lzkxkdyvl yp xydu sq bkp hlpplzp yp usw nyd, nsdpkelakdt vbyv nyd elpnlde yv vbl pyxl vkxl.] In Lu Yan¡¯s mind, a map lit up. Advertisements It was the botanical garden¡¯s map sent by the PDC before. Currently, 12 light spots had appeared on the map, one of them was even a red-colored light spot. [The red-colored one, this is the source of mutation, Chen Anzhi. The remaining green light spots are all new believers that he developed.] There were only more than 60 students in the entire training center, he didn¡¯t expect that Chen Anzhi had turned more than a third of them. [The ones he started with were people who didn¡¯t have strong guards nor a high spiritual power threshold. As vessels, they are already enough to be used, since they are just disposable items.] Lu Yan said, ¡°I want to settle Chen Anzhi first.¡± [Sure, but he¡¯s not that easy to kill, and the righteous Iron Fist is with him as well.] Lu Yan did not answer, instead, he started moving towards the red spot. In the past two months of learning, his tracking and anti-tracking skills were the best among the students. Midnight came. At the periphery of the botanical garden, small sleeping bags were set up one after another. The students had completed a day of work and were preparing to rest. This was also the reason they must have a group of three people when they created a team, it was inevitably too difficult to survive under these circumstances alone. Advertisements Zhou Zheng took out an astringent from the first aid kit. He gritted his teeth as he pulled out the sting of the poisonous wasp from his arm. The end of the stinger hook of the Pollutant had evolved into barbs. Zhou Zheng didn¡¯t learn anything during the emergency first aid lesson, so when he pulled the stinger out, a large piece of flesh filled with blood was drawn out, and blood suddenly gushed out. Chen Anzhi, who was beside him, said with a guilty expression, ¡°I¡¯m sorry, Zhou-ge.1 If it weren¡¯t for saving me, you wouldn¡¯t have been injured.¡± Zhou Zheng said as if he didn¡¯t mind, ¡°It¡¯s fine. You¡¯re a spiritual system Enlightened, of course, it doesn¡¯t work as well as my combat system¡¯s pure physical attack. I even got stabbed so deeply even though I have a metal arm. If it was you, you¡¯ll be stabbed through.¡± Needless to say, Zhou Zheng still retained the ¡°Jiang Hu righteousness¡± he had when he was still living as a gangster. ¡°But fuck it,¡± Zhou Zheng cursed, ¡°There were too many Pollutants on the way, I wonder if Lu Yan is still alive.¡± Chen Anzhi¡¯s eyes flickered. Under the reflection of the deep red bonfire, he even looked flirtatious. He then said, ¡°Let me keep watch tonight. I¡¯m a spiritual system Enlightened, not being able to sleep for a night wouldn¡¯t affect me much. Also, you¡¯re injured, so it¡¯s better if you rest first.¡± Zhou Zheng didn¡¯t reject him. After he finished dealing with the injuries on his body, he plunged his head into the sleeping bag. It was not without reason that they encountered so many Pollutants. Lu Yan had pierced his own finger and smeared it on the routes that the two of them would take. The fishy smell of the grass and trees could greatly cover up the rusty blood scent. The branches¡¯ color was also deep in shade. Other than innate predators, nobody else would notice. Now, he only needed to wait until night came. Advertisements With the ability of Night Vision, Lu Yan didn¡¯t even need a light source. He hid on the treetop, silently waiting for the right time. A disadvantage of cold weapons was that it was easy to reflect light, so Lu Yan hadn¡¯t drawn out his arrow yet. He saw Chen Anzhi take out a scented candle from his backpack, lit it up, and then placed it in front of him. As a pious believer, Chen Anzhi would preach to the new believers he developed every night in their dreams. His table was already filled with souls in a daze, just waiting for God¡¯s arrival. If nothing went wrong, today would be the last page of the old century. [The ability, Dream Intrusion, is really annoying.] The System who hadn¡¯t talked for a long while suddenly said, [After Chen Anzhi falls asleep, he can still sense spirit bodies nearby.] Lu Yan¡¯s eyebrows wrinkled and prepared to retreat. [The only lucky thing is that he also wants to kill you. There¡¯s no particular reason. He has acted like a great and kind person in the daytime too much, his personality has long been twisted, and he thinks that you¡¯re annoying.] [But I can understand this. Outstanding people will always rouse others¡¯ jealousy.] Chen Anzhi had only closed his eyes for half a minute before slowly opening them again. Advertisements A gentle smile still hung on the corner of his lips, as if he was absolutely harmless to anyone. Chen Anzhi glanced at the sleeping bag and extinguished the bonfire. Looking at his actions, he seemed like he wanted to go piss. Lu Yan naturally followed him. Chen Anzhi knew Lu Yan was there and even wanted to kill him. Thus, he wanted to take advantage of this information gap to turn the predator into prey. He thought of his own attack that was at the fifth level.2 But he didn¡¯t know that Lu Yan was actually in the atmosphere3 because he had the All-Knowing, the cheat System. [Hm, he ignited the soothing scent. Its fragrance can temporarily allow people to enter deep sleep. But because it¡¯s easy to be awakened by external factors, it seems like he wants to rather hypnotize you to commit suicide.] For Lu Yan, holding his breath wasn¡¯t a difficult thing to do, since he had two sets of breathing systems. Lu Yan patted some water towards the part behind his ear. It wasn¡¯t much, but with this, he at least wouldn¡¯t need to worry about being out of breath. He walked towards the direction Chen Anzhi left in¡ª carefully, without making a sound. However, once Lu Yan entered the range of the soothing scent, Lu Yan froze in place and didn¡¯t move as if he had become sluggish. Lu Yan closed both of his eyes, his eyelids trembled, and the eyeballs underneath moved quickly. After a long time, Chen Anzhi¡¯s figure emerged from behind the branches. Chen Anzhi¡¯s eyes were now occupied by black pupils. Looking carefully, deep and light color pigments had accumulated on his iris, which happened to make his pupils look like overlaying big and small black circles. ¡°Your soul is black.¡± Chen Anzhi suddenly said, probably because what he usually showed were all disguises, he was unusually talkative now, ¡°Ordinary peoples¡¯ are in blue, and Tang Xun¡¯an¡¯s in gold. The believers have a red color, but yours is black¡ª Pollutants that still have their sanity intact are also black in color. ¡°But you¡¯re clearly a human, and your mutation degree is also very low. Why is this so?¡± He said all this as he walked in Lu Yan¡¯s direction. ¡°Open your eyes, look at me. I know you¡¯re already tired of this world filled with slaughters and wars, your soul is already tired¡­¡± A smile appeared on Chen Anzhi¡¯s face again, ¡°Then let me bring you to the Ultimate Bliss of Pure Land. In this world, no one will be able to harm your soul ever again.¡± Unlike in the daytime, this time, there was no longer a gentle and light smile on Chen Anzhi¡¯s face. Along with his eyes, he looked to be in a morbid state. Lu Yan opened his eyes as he wished, but he didn¡¯t look into his eyes. With a backhand, he stabbed the sharp wasp¡¯s stinger into Chen Anzhi¡¯s chest. Lu Yan¡¯s movement was too fast. So when Chen Anzhi came to his senses, he only felt a pain on his chest. Everyone knew that Lu Yan was skillful in using bows, but what they didn¡¯t know was that the first weapon he obtained was actually a dagger. Lu Yan strangled Chen Anzhi¡¯s neck with one hand, stopping him from screaming for help. He then used another hand to pull out the tail¡¯s hook that was not-so-long and replaced it with a dagger. He pressed Chen Anzhi to the ground. The other party¡¯s fair face reddened, he even used his Hypnotism ability to the extreme, but it had no effect on Lu Yan. The dagger was twisted in Chen Anzhi¡¯s chest, producing a sticky sound of flesh being churned. Chen Anzhi¡¯s hand grasped onto Lu Yan¡¯s arm painfully, leaving some light traces of scratches on it, ¡°Why¡­ why are you¡­¡± ¡ªNot affected by Hypnotism? ¡°Yeah, why is this so?¡± Lu Yan asked back, with hints of cynical cold in his eyes. The antagonist always died from talking too much. Therefore, after confirming that Chen Anzhi was completely dead, Lu Yan then started rambling towards the corpse. ¡°My father doesn¡¯t like me, he likes my younger brother. ¡°I¡¯m an only child, but I indeed have a younger brother. Doctors call him the secondary personality. Since finding out his existence, my father asked for him to come out every day¡ª So, I was often hypnotized. I knew back then that I was being hypnotized. Lu Cheng wanted to kill me and leave this body to him. ¡°My younger brother also always tells me that if it¡¯s too painful, I don¡¯t need to bear with it anymore. He will bear it all for me. ¡°But I won¡¯t let him come out. After so many years, he has only come out once. ¡°After he came out that one time, mutations suddenly appeared on my father. I saw a second brain grow out from Lu Cheng¡¯s back. I felt its strength, but I also¡­ became afraid. Because of that, I lived in fear. You guys won¡¯t understand it at all, no one understands.¡± Lu Yan wiped the blood on his face, nodded again, and said, ¡°I won¡¯t let him come out.¡± CH 38 This chapter is translated by Kris Xian, translation checked by Kensi, and edited by Cia. [Host¡¯s mental state is detected to be unstable, please take tranquilizers and miracle drugs promptly.] Many people¡¯s tranquilizers were made in the shape of cigarettes, but Lu Yan didn¡¯t like to smoke. Therefore, his tranquilizers were made into candies, mint-flavored. On the detector, Lu Yan¡¯s mutation degree had risen to 14.7, it slowly dropped after he ate a candy. Lu Yan glanced at the man on the ground and asked, ¡°He won¡¯t move as a corpse, will he?¡± Advertisements The System¡¯s tone was full of disgust, [No. If you fight in close combat, an Enlightened with a spiritual system is exceedingly weak. They only have a lot of tricks, which is very annoying. Also, you know, many Enlighteneds aren¡¯t in a good mental state, so this makes them even more annoying.] Next up was the delightful checking of spoils segment. Lu Yan found that Chen Anzhi had brought a lot of things, most were scented cosmetics and skincare products. Fupvlx, [Mbspl yal nsdhldkldv kvlxp kd ykekdt burdspkp, usw nyd yzps wpl kv. Jwv R esd¡¯v vbkdj usw¡¯al pwrrsple vs olya xyjlwr, vbswtb.] [Uydezlp byhl burdsvkn wplp. Fktdkqknydvzu lqqlnvkhl sd bwxydp. Fblzq zkql sq 3 ulyap.] Wasx vbl Fupvlx¡¯p xswvb, vbl cwadkdt yasxyvblayru kvlxp vbyv Ubld Gdgbk wple vs xyjl bkx qyzz ypzllr olal wdkqsaxzu nyzzle nydezlp. [Vsnjlv oyvnb, y burdsvkn kvlx. Valpple wdeladlyvb kv kp bwxyd pjkd, yde byde-rykdvle sd kv yal vbl Bzvkxyvl Jzkpp vlynbkdtp. Rv¡¯p wple yp y vsjld vs ldvla vbl ¡°Ikdtesx sq Qse.¡±] Nw Zyd rakle vbl pwaqynl srld, yde pwal ldswtb, y vbkd rklnl sq bwxyd pjkd okvb y zlyvbla ryrla vurl qllz oyp ralpple kdpkel. Rv oyp rklanle kdvs vbl nsavlm okvb eyaj skz rykdv, qsaxkdt y pvaydtl pvya ryvvlad. Fvyakdt yv kv qsa y zsdt vkxl oswze xyjl sdl ekggu, zkjl psxl jkde sq lhkz yavkqynv. Gqvla vyjkdt kdhldvsau sq vbl prskzp, Nw Zyd qkdkpble elpvasukdt vbl nsarpl yzsdt vbl oyu. Tl nswze yzalyeu blya vbl pswde sq Vszzwvydvp qzyrrkdt vblka okdtp qasx vbl pju yde lpvkxyvle vbyv kv oswzed¡¯v cl zsdt clqsal vbl nbwdjp sq xlyv oswze cl poyzzsole kdvs vblka pvsxynbp. Xd vbl xyr, vbl sdzu ale zktbv prsv oldv swv, zlyhkdt 23 czwl zktbv prsvp. This represented 23 more students who have suffered from spiritual pollution. Advertisements Lu Yan walked towards the light spot closest to him. The assistant instructor had once praised Lu Yan, saying that he must be the best hunter. However, Lu Yan never thought that there would come a day when he would need to hunt ¡°people.¡± Most importantly, Lu Yan had to consider the consequences of the information gap. He would probably be treated as a murderer. Although Lu Yan didn¡¯t really care much about this, he didn¡¯t want to be court-martialed either. The first light spot Lu Yan encountered was an old acquaintance. Director Hu was in charge of night watch tonight. He sat by the bonfire that had already been extinguished. Due to his fatigue, his head kept slowly drooping down. Nevertheless, every time he was about to fall asleep, he would pinch the flesh of his thighs. Lu Yan remembered that Director Hu was a famous surgeon in K City, always walking around the hospital with complacency. When he encountered patients who could not pay their hospital fees, he would always try to find ways to reduce the medical fees. He had been practicing medicine for 30 years and had received more pennants than Lu Yan had ever received since he was a child. Probably because of his soft nature, Director Hu unknowingly became hypnotized as early as the first day and became a Bliss religion believer in his dreams. Lu Yan¡¯s hand was already on his bow and arrow, but he still couldn¡¯t shoot it for a long time. He asked the System, ¡°This kind of spiritual pollution, is it really irreversible? Can¡¯t the Kingfish help?¡± Advertisements System, [The Kingfish can reduce the mutation degree, but it can¡¯t completely destroy the mark on their soul]. ¡°He looks no different from an ordinary person.¡± [You are always merciful in ways I don¡¯t understand, Host.] The System¡¯s voice seemed full of interest, [Even if you don¡¯t kill him, after some time passes, perhaps just a few hours later, that being will descend upon the vessels. Of course, vessels also have feelings, they will feel the pain of their souls being blown up. Even if their body is unharmed, they will feel as if they are being killed with a thousand cuts,1 dying in endless fear and pain.] [Compared to that kind of death, I¡¯m afraid it¡¯s probably better to die now.] A flowering vine dangled from the treetops above Director Hu¡¯s head. It was a Pollutant, quietly approaching its prey. Lu Yan¡¯s sharp arrow on the bowstring that had been resting for a long time finally would be of use. The arrowhead plunged deep into the vine. The blood-sucking vine seemed to be in pain and actually made a shrill scream. This sound awakened Director Hu and his two teammates, who were in their sleeping bags. The teammates hurriedly pulled open the sleeping bags¡¯ zippers in a panic. Director Hu looked at the Pollutant near him and patted his chest, his heart full of lingering fears. Lu Yan jumped down from a tree, like a large nimble cat, landing without a sound. ¡°Ah, Xiao Lu!¡± Director Hu got up, and his face was filled with gratitude. ¡°This arrow looks like you shot it. That accuracy is really great. You don¡¯t need to tell me, I¡¯ll write a letter to ask the Chairman of the Board to give you the position of director at the Emergency Department of K City First People¡¯s Hospital!¡± Lu Yan, ¡°Thanks, I already am.¡± Advertisements Before coming to Yanjing, the Hospital had consciously promoted his position. Director Hu was momentarily speechless, ¡°Why are you here?¡± Lu Yan, ¡°I came here to discuss something with you.¡± ¡°What¡¯s the matter? As long as you¡¯re not trying to marry my daughter, we can discuss it.¡± Lu Yan tried to express the seriousness of the matter as concisely and quickly as possible, ¡°Director, have you ever come into contact with an organization called the Ultimate Bliss religion? You may have been spiritually contaminated. ¡°The S-level Pollutant in the Kingdom of God wants to descend here through its believers. If you have participated in a dream of the Ultimate Bliss religion before, you¡¯ll have its mark. ¡°Tang Xun¡¯an participated in this drill, which made some high-level Pollutants decide to kill him. This includes the ¡®Holy God¡¯ who specializes in spiritual pollution. ¡°Its consciousness will be projected to its believers at the same time. The believers who had become vessels will outright die, because they wouldn¡¯t be able to withstand such powerful spiritual force and pollution value. What I¡¯m doing right now is destroying its vessels before the Pollutant descends. This would help avoid greater losses in the future. ¡°If the Holy God comes, the whole P City may be razed to the ground.¡± Lu Yan omitted some of the associated consequences, like if Tang Xun¡¯an failed, the world¡¯s downfall would follow right after. Director Hu¡¯s teammates were puzzled and asked, ¡°And how did you know that?¡± Lu Yan,¡±I have an additional ability called ¡®Cross-Species Communication.¡¯ I heard these when the insects and plants were talking about it.¡± Advertisements As he spoke, a man-eating flower vine dangled from the tree. Its thick rhizomes had dense sharp fangs inside, opening up, it tried to bite onto Lu Yan. Lu Yan grabbed the flower vine with his free hand, and then twisted it into a ball of twine and threw it aside. ¡°There¡¯s also a traitor from the Kingdom of God in my team. I also interrogated him a bit.¡± ¡°¡­¡± For some reason, it sounded a bit unreliable. Director Hu had developed an unnatural expression on his face halfway through Lu Yan¡¯s explanation. When he finished listening, he was silent for even longer, ¡°So, ah¡­ How are you going to destroy those vessels?¡± ¡°Naturally, I have to let the vessel die.¡± When Lu Yan said this, he stared straight at Director Hu¡¯s eyes. A teammate, keenly aware that the atmosphere was a bit off, touched his weapon uncomfortably. Another teammate tapped on his electronic watch and angrily said, ¡°How come the off-field rescue failed? Where¡¯s the signal?!¡± What they didn¡¯t know was, when the outside found that there were too few calls for help, the supervisory team quickly sent people into the polluted area to find out the cause. However, the mushrooms that littered the ground had woken up. ¡°What he said should be true.¡± Director Hu suddenly said, ¡°For the past two months, I indeed have had similar dreams. I dreamed of light and hope¡­ and there were also people chanting ¡®bliss and eternal life¡¯ in my ears, they say ¡®that is where the happiness of the soul resides.¡¯¡± ¡°Every time I wake up, I feel fear in the midst of contentment. Because all this is so similar to the rumors of the Kingdom of God¡­ but I don¡¯t dare think deeply about it.¡± Director Hu rambled endlessly without getting to the point, probably because his mind was confused, there were no necessary connections between his words. He clutched his head and shivered, looking pitiful. ¡°Dr. Hu,¡± his teammates stepped forward and couldn¡¯t help asking, ¡°There must be another way, right?¡± They looked at Lu Yan for help. However, Lu Yan just shook his head in silence. ¡°I don¡¯t want to die, ah, Dr. Lu.¡± Out of fear, Director Hu¡¯s old face had already twisted in tears, ¡°I, my son¡¯s household registration and my grandson¡¯s school district¡­ are not yet settled. I¡­¡± Lu Yan held up the bow in his hand, ¡°Pardon me, I¡¯m sorry.¡± ¡°Enough!¡± His teammates stood in front of Director Hu, ¡°It¡¯s all just based on your side of the story. Just with these few sentences, you¡¯ll kill him?!¡± ¡°SpecOps Division Staff Affidavit, page 2, line 3,¡± Lu Yan said, ¡°On the first day of training, everyone should¡¯ve memorized it.¡± ¡ªIn order to stop danger at its root, I am ready to sacrifice my life at any time. At that time, Lu Yan even complained to the System that the oath was completely anti-human. Nevertheless, there were still quite a few people who really practiced it as faith. Director Hu¡¯s teammate was stunned, and his hand holding the weapon lowered powerlessly. This was actually a scene that Lu Yan had long expected. [I would like to call it, the price of stupidity.] ¡°I understand what might happen,¡± Lu Yan replied calmly, ¡°but I¡¯ll do it anyway, it¡¯ll make me feel like I¡¯m still human.¡± Lu Yan looked at Director Hu, ¡°If I can leave alive, I will definitely settle the household registration and the school district housing. Now, you can choose to do it yourself or let me.¡± Director Hu¡¯s team had a low threshold of spiritual strength, all three of them combined would still not be enough to stand up to Lu Yan. Director Hu cried for a long time before finally calming down. He said, ¡°Then I¡¯d better do it myself, so I¡¯m at least mentally prepared.¡± When he finished, he pulled out his own scalpel from the pocket of his protective clothing. Director Hu had practiced medicine for many years and performed no less than a thousand surgeries, but this was the first time he held a knife with his hands trembling this hard. After Director Hu died, a wisp of red light emerged from his body and converged into a palm-sized humanoid. The halo on the small figure turned from red to white. The small white figure looked bright and gentle, yet it had a special pattern on its body. It was exactly the same as the one on the human skin paper Lu Yan had gotten. The little man bounced all the way forward. Finally, it disappeared like a puddle of water into the ground without leaving a trace. [Red is the color of polluted souls. When believers die, their souls are divided in two by the Holy God, weighing the good and evil during their lifetime.] [The Holy God will swallow the sinful souls for his own sustenance, such as Chen Anzhi, who directly died without a trace. He will also lead kind souls to the Kingdom of God, like Director Hu.] [In a sense, the Holy God is indeed in a place called the ¡°Pure Land of Ultimate Bliss.¡±] ¡°Why would it do that?¡± [I guess he really likes the feeling of being a ¡°god.¡±] Lu Yan used the white fabric on Director Hu¡¯s body, tied it into a flower, and placed it on the corpse. The strange little white humanoid with strange patterns on its body was seen by everyone present. This made no one doubt the truth of the matter anymore, but the atmosphere seemed to be more depressing and silent. The teammates let out low sobs at the remains of Director Hu. ¡°The traitor told me,¡± said Lu Yan. ¡°There are 23 people who have been tainted by the scourge. I¡¯ll kill the vessels one by one in the cradle before that presence descends. In addition, I hope you can spread this news out as much as possible.¡± Lu Yan peeled a mint candy and held it in his mouth, ¡°Whether others believe it or not, I don¡¯t want to suddenly be brought into the police station.¡± Deep in the botanical garden. An immense and unparalleled banyan tree was deeply rooted in the center. Its huge and incomparable vines spread out into the distance for who knows how many miles. The canopy of the tree covered the sky and could be seen from as far as ten miles away. The banyan tree seemed to be alive, its trunks slowly rising and falling with each breath. But looking closely, its branches were full of terrified human faces. These people were frozen at the last moment of their lives and confined here to become nourishment for the tree. Here, death and life were constantly intertwined. At the very top of the trunk, a huge human face loomed, with a drooping appearance, looking compassionate and merciful. The ground, in turn, was covered with blue mushrooms, glowing with magnificent fluorescent color. A bird of prey passed by and a green vine snapped out, sending the bird into the giant¡¯s ravenous maw. The entrance to the botanical garden had long been filled with vines. Impenetrable. At this point, however, the plants grew rapidly, drawing nutrients from its mother, and then withering away. Everywhere the Yellow Dust passed, not an inch of grass could grow. 07 followed Tang Xun¡¯an and said, ¡°Actually, it doesn¡¯t have to be this troublesome, I can just burn it.¡± ¡°Keep it.¡± Tang Xun¡¯an¡¯s reply was somewhat too rudimentary. The silence here was unsettling. The giant face on the banyan tree opened its eyes and said, ¡°He¡¯s here.¡± Consequently, the wind blew in the botanical garden for no apparent reason, and these wild-growing branches snickered, mouthing the same words with an increasingly shrill accent, ¡°Come, come, come!¡± Eat him. Or, destroy him. CH 39 This chapter is translated by BigDivineBear, translation checked by Kensi, edited by Bluburry, and proofread by Kris Xian. As dawn arrived, the first glimmer of light shone, casting a white glow. Lu Yan didn¡¯t sleep at all during the night, but he seemed to be in good spirits. After all, he was now an evolved race and only required four hours of sleep a day to maintain his vitality all day long. It was a little regretful. If he became Enlightened in high school, he wouldn¡¯t have scored a mere 727 in the college entrance examination. Advertisements [Goodness, it seems that both of the A-Level Pollutants in the botanical garden have woken up. How noisy.] The white poisonous mushrooms on the ground began to turn red, releasing streams of spores. The fine powder exploded in mid-air, marking the completion of a single spread. The wind would carry these pollution sources far away. These spore powders had a very low pollution value and were basically useless against Enlighteneds, but were deadly to ordinary people. Nw Zyd vssj swv vbl rlpvknkel prayukdt elhknl bl nyaakle okvb bkx yde prwavle kv yzz shla. Mbl dlyacu xwpbassxp kxxlekyvlzu okvblale vs y bwpj. Mbl elye csdlp vbyv olal byzq cwakle kd vbl taswde olal lmrsple. Mbkp zyde oswze cl cyaald qsa vbl ytlp vs nsxl, cwv vblal oyp ds svbla oyu. Twxyd clkdtp olal yqayke sq vbl rszzwvksd ekplypl yde eke dsv oydv vs clnsxl ekpvsavle rlsrzl, ps vblu pynakqknle vbl dyvwayz ldhkasdxldv obkzl ralhldvkdt yde nsdvaszzkdt rszzwvksd; cwv qsa Vszzwvydvp, vbl bwxydp olal vbl sdlp vbyv bye kdhyele vblka byckvyvp. Mbkp oyp yd kaalnsdnkzyczl nsdvayeknvksd. Llhlavblzlpp, Nw Zyd eked¡¯v qllz xwnb twkzv obld jkzzkdt vblpl xwpbassxp. Jlnywpl bl oyp pvkzz bwxyd yde oyp ldfsukdt vbl plahknlp sq svbla rlsrzl obkzl xshkdt qsaoyae, bl nswzed¡¯v clbyhl kd yd wdtayvlqwz xyddla. Mbl Fupvlx raykple bkx, [Tspv vawzu eslp dsv zspl pktbv sq bkp saktkdyz kdvldvksdp, qasx vbl cltkddkdt vs vbl lde.] Xd vbl oyu vs jkzzkdt clzklhlap, bl eke dsv qsatlv bkp sod fsc yde osajle ekzktldvzu yp y tyaeldla obs prayule rlpvknkelp. There was a student from the support system in this stage whose talent was called ¡°Ultrasound.¡± The function was somewhat similar to broadcasting. It could transmit audio that was inaudible to normal people far away and then be received by other Enlighteneds. Advertisements That student tried seeking off-site help at the edge of the polluted area but had not yet received a response for the time being. The situation outside was unknown. In short, Lu Yan didn¡¯t even need to interfere since, after the news spread, the eight light spots on the map went out one after another. Just as the last believer was shot, the sedative in Lu Yan¡¯s pocket was empty. He felt that if he burped now, his breath would smell like mint. This class of students led by Tang Xun¡¯an was afraid that, rather than the class with the lowest casualty rate, it would soon become the class with the highest death rate. He glanced at his watch, it was 9:30 in the morning. [Good job. When that existence wakes up, he will soon find that he missed his last chance to descend due to sleeping in late.] [Even for S-Level Pollutants, it is impossible to be forever omnipotent. I love watching these things crumble apart and become incapacitated, really makes one want to laugh to death. Did they really think they are a god? As long as they take a cephalosporin as they drink, they wouldn¡¯t have been wasted to this extent. ]* ¡°I thought you hoped for humanity to go extinct sooner rather than later.¡± System, [Our personalities complement each other very well, Host.] Lu Yan waited for the last bit of sweetness in his mouth to dissipate and asked, ¡°What are we going to do now?¡± [Go to the botanical garden to save people. Your senior officer really is miserable, getting attacked from both sides.] The tone of the System was like an old man strolling around. Advertisements [Don¡¯t worry, if he could come out of the Kingdom of God, he would have done so already. At most, it will make your mutation degree increase a little and the other problems are no big deal.] ¡°Save people¡­? How?¡± Even Lu Yan was shocked. ¡°There are several Pollutants with pollution values of several thousand, and even the S-Class Enlightened is helpless. How can I save them?¡± [The two people entered together. According to the plan, Tang Xun¡¯an would open up the way. After arriving in the central area of ??the botanical garden, 07 will release the Karmic Fire, destroying the little hallucinogenic mushrooms on the ground and injuring the roots of the banyan tree. Then Tang Xun¡¯an will take care of the banyan tree¡­] [But before 07 was sent, the researcher had already stripped the talent of karmic fire from him. However, because part of his brain was removed, 07 doesn¡¯t remember this and he thought he still had it.] [So, 07 is now just a piece of junk with its own magnetic field interference¡­ He¡¯s not even a beauty. ] [If nothing else, your military instructor is still in the illusion, fighting with invisible pollutants. Therefore, you only need to wake him up.] ¡°Although you said it was easy, I always felt that it would not be so.¡± Lu Yan was used to his reverse koi buff. It couldn¡¯t be said that he was lucky since every time he went out, he would meet some sort of trouble. Nonetheless, it was also too much to call it bad luck since if it was someone else, they would have died long ago, yet he was still alive and kicking. His spiritual power threshold was even approaching 2,000. [As long as you stick the human skin from that pocket watch to your body, the Pollutants in the botanical garden won¡¯t attack you. They will think that you are a reinforcement sent by the Kingdom of God¡­ Don¡¯t worry, as long as you don¡¯t believe in this religion, this piece of human skin will have no effect on you. You will simply be noticed by the Holy God.] Lu Yan took the human skin out of the pocket watch. Advertisements It was only two inches in size, and the jet-black tattoo on it seemed to have changed a bit, which was very strange. His movements paused. The System said, [You are doubting me again. It¡¯s good to have doubts, but, Host, you can always trust me. Eyes will deceive you, memory will deceive you, but I will not.] [I am neither a creature nor a god. I am simply your ability. You can use me, as a reference book, like Baidu Encyclopedia. You needn¡¯t worry about mistakes for I am the omniscient truth itself. ] ¡°Okay.¡± Lu Yan stuck the human skin onto the back of his left hand. The Kingfish parasitizing in his body seemed to have been scalded, and punched and kicked at the human skin angrily. A pile of bumps of different sizes swelled up on the back of Lu Yan¡¯s hand. The human skin on the back of his hand seemed to have come alive. It was obviously much more intelligent than the irascible Kingfish. It didn¡¯t fight head-on but quietly covered the skin of Lu Yan¡¯s hand. It even wanted to cover the mouth in Lu Yan¡¯s palm with its skin, but it was quickly torn apart. Soon, the fusion was complete. Lu Yan raised his head subconsciously and looked towards the sky that was mostly covered by the tree canopy. In the void, there seemed to be a god who opened his eyes and glanced at him. At that moment, Lu Yan¡¯s whole body went into a state of uncontrollable alertness, and the fish scales on his body also appeared. Advertisements Fortunately, the attentive gaze didn¡¯t persist for long. Lu Yan glanced at the back of his hand. The human skin and his hand fit together perfectly, completely integrated without distinction. The tattoos on it appeared as if it grew directly from the flesh. [Congratulations to Host, you have obtained a special psionic prop ¡ª Bliss religion guide.] [This is a passport that will allow you entry to Paradise, which of course does not refer to the ¡®Pure Land of Bliss¡¯ of the spiritual world.] [During the ¡°Kingdom of God Operation¡± that year, two A-Level Enlighteneds from East Island committed suicide there according to the instructions of the First Research Institute and became a special unconscious Pollutant sea fog. This sea fog trapped the Kingdom of God and prevented its expansion. It also represents the complete abandonment of the millions of people still on the island.] [Sacrificing a few people to save the majority has always been the method of the First Research Institute.] [Now that you have the Bliss religion guide, you can use the 99th ability, Dream Intrusion. However, the success rate decreases with the number of uses. It¡¯s not as if you really have this ability after all.] Lu Yan stared at the tattoo for a long time, ¡°¡­Looks like I have to buy a pair of gloves.¡± In the past, the Kingfish would occasionally be disobedient and emerge from the palm of his hand to open his mouth. At that time, Lu Yan thought about buying a pair of gloves to wear. But later, Kingfish admitted his mistake and said that he would not mess around, so Lu Yan gave up on this idea. Nonetheless, the tattoo on the back of his hand obviously couldn¡¯t go away. He didn¡¯t want to be considered a cultist so early. [It¡¯s not that big of a big problem. If you really don¡¯t want it, you can just cut it off after things are over. You can even do a skin excision on your left hand directly with your right hand. I trust in your techniques, Dr. Lu!] The tone of the System was suddenly full of encouragement. Lu Yan, ¡°¡­¡± He really felt that he sacrificed a lot to save the world. The System said that as long as this human skin was attached, the Pollutants in the botanical garden would not attack him. But, after all, he only had one life. Thus, before entering the notoriously high-risk pollution area, Lu Yan still found a Pollutant to test it out on. He found an Aceracea who was taking root on the side of the road and cut a shallow wound on his hand with a knife. A bright red drop of blood welled out. A human face appeared on the trunk, and it even drooled greedily with vegetative sap, but the branches didn¡¯t move forward. Great, it seemed that the implant was indeed working. Lu Yan smeared the beads of blood on the tree trunk, and the Pollutant fell into a brief moment of rigidity for about a minute or so. According to the System, the higher the pollution level of the Pollutant, the less affected they were by his blood. In order to facilitate easier movement, Lu Yan took off the protective suit weighing dozens of pounds and the pesticide tank on his back. In front was the danger zone warning line marked by the staff with an orange print. The gate of Luochuan Botanical Garden had collapsed; withered vines wrapped around the iron gate, squeezing the gate to the point of deformation. Lu Yan glanced at it and felt that these plants should have died just recently. When Lu Yan entered, he felt as if he had entered the kingdom of giants. Here, even the weeds on the side of the road were as tall as a person. Mushrooms were big enough to keep out the rain. In the sky, some fluttering insects shuttled through it, and their distorted faces were ferocious and terrifying. The detection watch showed the pollution value: 3,900. The outer periphery was at least a few miles away from the big banyan tree, yet the pollution value was already terrifyingly high. If ordinary people accidentally entered, even if they did not encounter any Pollutants, they may not even last for three hours before distortion would occur. Lu Yan didn¡¯t think this was a big problem for him, but there was still a smell in the air that made him feel uncomfortable. In the darkness, a pair of prying eyes stared at him, sniffed, and after seeing the tattoo on his hand, left uninterested. If it wasn¡¯t for the mark of the Holy God, he would have been torn apart by crazy animals and plants as soon as he arrived. Tang Xun¡¯an and 07 should have been here earlier, judging by the traces of battle left on the ground. Lu Yan followed these traces all the way forward. On the detector, the pollution degree was already high enough to trigger the automatic alarm mechanism. The deeper he went into the botanical garden, the more singular the plant species became, until in the end, there was only one tree left: Ficus Benghalensis. This big banyan tree, which was originally used to seek shelter, became a nightmare for everyone in P City when the pollution disease broke out. Its aerial roots were everywhere on the ground, like blood vessels that carry nutrients. The wind was pouring in from outside and sounded like the heavy breathing of the tree. The roots of the banyan tree were woven into a net on the ground, and despite his careful treading, Lu Yan still stepped on it. The ground trembled, and these roots seemed to come alive, wriggling to make way for Lu Yan. [Light the candles that were looted from Chen Anzhi earlier. Don¡¯t be afraid, move forward and stay calm. You have to act like what the hypnotized person behaves like. Understand?] Lu Yan tried his best to relax his eyes and walked forward. The ground beneath his feet became increasingly wetter; its color gradually turned black, carrying an indescribable corpse odor. When Lu Yan performed operations and the patient was brought over, even if the scene was bloody, they were at least still alive. He didn¡¯t experience much of the smell of dead people. Passing through a dense forest that made one breathless, Lu Yan saw a clear lake. By the lake, the banyan tree dug its thick rhizomes into the bottom of the water, and around it, a bunch of round and lovely white mushrooms grew. [A-Level Pollutant, Banyan Tree. Pollution value was 9,400. Due to the short time of birth, it currently only possesses the intelligence akin to that of a 16-year-old human being.] [Ability: Life Extraction, Longevity] [Mutation Course: Gigantization Tentacles Transformation] [A-Level Pollutant, White Mushrooms. Pollution value was 8,200. No intelligence, co-exists with other Pollutants.] [Ability: Spore Outbreak, Fungal Infection, Hallucination] [Mutation Course: Toxicization?, Proliferation] [Their common trait is the fear of fire.] The mutation course of the big banyan tree was similar to Shen Qingyang, whom Lu Yan had encountered at the beginning. Both were gigantic and tentacled. However, Shen Qingyang¡¯s abilities were ¡°Life Absorption¡± and ¡°Mimicry.¡± [Just one word difference yet they were over 100 ranks apart.] Extraction required processing, life absorption did not. If it weren¡¯t for the fact that processing Tang Xun¡¯an was too troublesome, the big banyan tree might not have asked the Holy God to help. The dragon scales were too hard to chew. [Actually, the talent sequence of Pollutants is not the same as that of human beings, but they generally have the same evolutionary direction.] The System added a sentence. Holding a burning candle in his hand, Lu Yan repeated mechanically, ¡°Praise the Holy God, bliss and eternal life.¡± The branches and leaves of the banyan tree parted, revealing a huge human face hidden within the deepest part. ¡°Why did you arrive so late?¡± Lu Yan, ¡°Was sleeping. Sleepy.¡± The banyan tree was speechless. However, out of respect for its seniors, it could only pretend like nothing had happened. Its enormous trunk wriggled for a while, and the human faces that decorated it seemed to have come alive, slowly spreading out to the sides to reveal the content inside. ¡°Although the mushrooms did make him fall into the illusion, the process was not smooth. The mushrooms were badly injured and turned white again.¡± ¡°His mutation degree is already extremely high, but he has not yet broken through that limit¡­ I feel uneasy. Come on, this person will be handed over to you, remember our deal.¡± ¡°Oh, how strange. Why haven¡¯t you descended upon this vessel yet?¡± Banyan asked. Lu Yan raised his eyes and looked at the person in front of him. The military instructor who had always been solemn, was frowning and had his head lowered. He was still wearing a muzzle on his face and occasionally let out a few groans as if he was in a nightmare. Tang Xun¡¯an¡¯s limbs were wrapped with the dark brown vines of the banyan tree, like the suffering Jesus. Lu Yan had once heard before that it was a crucifixion, and the nails used for punishment were nailed to the wrist of the prisoner. Presently, two vines also pierced through Tang Xun¡¯an¡¯s wrist, leaving behind two horrible bloody holes. Dark dragon scales grew on his body, and the scales reached up to both sides of his cheeks. The dragon wings on his back seemed to be broken and drooped weakly. The banyan tree took Tang Xun¡¯an out of its stomach, so Tang Xun¡¯an was sticky with its gastric juices all over. This gastric juice also seemed to be a little corrosive, and his usual neat uniform was reduced to tatters by the gastric acid. Lu Yan asked the System, ¡°How to wake him up?¡± [Dream Intrusion.] ¡°Something¡¯s not right.¡± Lu Yan said, ¡°I always feel that everything is too coincidental. It can somehow be explained if I account it to my luck, but I always feel that someone is controlling everything behind the scenes.¡± [Doubt is also a side effect of ability overuse, Host. ] ¡°I still don¡¯t feel right.¡± Lu Yan said. System, [?] Lu Yan said in an indifferent tone, expressionlessly as if he was stating a fact, ¡°I¡¯m hard.¡±1 The military officer was beaten so badly, but he actually became excited when he saw his state. This was not right. System, [¡­Indeed, it¡¯s not quite right.] The author has something to say: *Note 1: Do not take antibiotics (such as cephalosporins) after drinking alcohol. There will be disulfiram reactions (specifically, there will be symptoms of blushing, limb weakness, dizziness, headache and palpitations, sweating, nausea and vomiting, chest pain, low blood pressure, dyspnea, weakened to no pulse, coma, etc.). *Note 2: It seems to have been mentioned before. YanYan-zi¡¯s aesthetics are more traditional, and he likes those with big chests and thin waists (.) *Note 3: But not all brawn and no brain! Tang Xun¡¯an is not! PS. Yesterday, many people felt sorry for Director Hu. In fact, he just went to another world to work to pay off the mortgage! Proofreader¡¯s Note CH 40 This chapter is translated by Hoenimochi, translation checked by Rin, edited by Bluburry, and proofread by Kris Xian. [Here¡¯s the thing. Your chief instructor is indeed good-looking, and it¡¯s only natural to desire him.] [Dream Intrusion, this kind of thing, you seem to have experienced it once ¡ª in Lu Jiahe¡¯s dream world. You know what to do.] [But don¡¯t be so stunned anymore. When you go out more, you can see enough.] ¡°I won¡¯t have the energy after going out.¡± Lu Yan felt inexplicably regretful. Advertisements He raised his hand towards Tang Xun¡¯an, and the tattoo on the back of his hand gave off burning heat. [99th Ability ¡ª Dream Intrusion] Lu Yan opened his eyes, feeling slightly dizzy. Tl zssjle esod yde qswde bkxplzq olyakdt y obkvl nsyv yde bszekdt y esnwxldv kd bkp byde. Uyzzkdt kv y esnwxldv oyp dsv iwkvl aktbv, kv pbswze cl nyzzle y nypl qkzl, yde ¡°Fryaj Vasflnv: Psnwxldv Ls. 19¡± oyp oakvvld sd kv. ¡°Fupvlx?¡± Tl nyzzle psqvzu. Mbl Fupvlx eke dsv alprsde, kvp nsddlnvksd rascyczu qwnjkdt easrrle ytykd. G pzktbvzu nbwccu sze xyd nyxl kd, bszekdt bkp pvsxynb. Ebyv xyel Nw Zyd qllz pvaydtl oyp vbyv bkp qynl oyp czydj, zkjl y ewxxu xselz. Xd vbl dyxlrzyvl, bkp dyxl yde vkvzl olal oakvvld, Vasqlppsa Ew*. ¡°Dkys Nw, usw yal yzps y tayewyvl sq Zyd Bdkhlapkvu, aktbv? Fwal ldswtb, usw alyzzu zssj vyzldvle.¡± Vasqlppsa Ew¡¯p vsdl oyp qwzz sq yexkayvksd, ¡°Mbkp vkxl, vbl Rdpvkvwvl kp alnawkvkdt dlo rlsrzl, yde usw yal vbl sdzu sdl nbspld. Psd¡¯v zlv Pkalnvsa Ckys cl ekpyrrskdvle.¡± Pkalnvsa Ckys? Lu Yan calmly opened the document in his hand. Advertisements Inside was a surgical record, written in a mix of English, Chinese, and Japanese. Fortunately, Lu Yan could understand it all. [Year ****, February 11] Tang Xun¡¯an passed the physical examination, see the appendix for details. It was initially confirmed that the mutation course was the combat system Enlightened. He had been exposed to Pollutants, and the distortion was obvious. It was estimated that the probability of becoming an Enlightened was less than 30%. Tang Xun¡¯an has become an adult and signed an informed consent to confirm the operation time. [Year ****, February 18] The 1st Pollutant fusion surgery was performed on Tang Xun¡¯an. The fusion object was Human-Faced Spider, the mutation course was Alienation, and the preoperative consent has been signed. The degree of postoperative rejection was mild, and the transformation can be continued. (Note: Surprisingly, the operation was a success. We were very worried about this child before he went to the operating table. He has tenacious willpower, which means that he would be able to take on more pain during the operation. However, he wasn¡¯t even an Enlightened. Director Qiao has been so stressed lately that he couldn¡¯t eat.) [Year ****, March 11?] 2nd Pollutant fusion surgery. Advertisements The fusion object was Viper¡¯s Fang, and the mutation course was Toxication. The preoperative consent form has been signed. The degree of postoperative rejection was severe, and the Toxication transformation was abandoned. ¡­ ¡­ [Year ****, May 21?] 103rd Pollutants fusion surgery. The fusion object was the Nidhogg Dragon Wings. Mutation course, Dragonization. (Note: I don¡¯t know what the result will be this time¡­ He was the youngest transformation synthetic human in our entire experimental group. Maybe it¡¯s time for me to leave. My mental state has gone bad, and I feel endless pain and guilt whenever I see him. By my design, I transformed people into¡­ weapons.) Lu Yan glanced at the electronic watch hanging on the wall, June 2nd. Professor Wu said, ¡°Director Qiao Yu is still operating. Hai, we advised him to pay attention to his body. He is only in his 40s and already has gray hair, but he just doesn¡¯t listen. And you know, he was also frequently exposed to those Pollutants during surgery, and his mutation degree is already high¡­¡± Lu Yan knew that if he said too much, he was bound to slip up at some point, so he just responded with a sigh. ¡°Professor Catherine, who was in charge of Tang Xun¡¯an, has opted out of the Spark Project because of her depression. Now, the project is seriously short of people. You happen to have awakened into an Enlightened this year, and Director Qiao wants you to be in charge of Tang Xun¡¯an¡¯s daily data records.¡± Advertisements This position was similar to that of a nurse, but it did not require much knowledge of pollution disease. ¡°I think you have signed a non-disclosure agreement and a liability notice. This is a high-risk job, and we do need your help, but if you¡¯re not willing to, you can quit at any time.¡± Lu Yan didn¡¯t know much about the Research Institute. However, right now, the main force of the Research Institute was in different hands¡­ Lu Yan thought for a moment and asked softly, ¡°I do it voluntarily. Professor, who is the researcher with the highest spiritual power threshold in the Research Institute now? Are they all Enlighteneds?¡± Professor Wu replied without hesitation, ¡°Of course, it¡¯s Director Qiao. I heard that he has passed 6,000. You are not bad either. You have more than 400 spiritual power threshold when you just awakened. The data among the Enlighteneds who joined the Institute is good¡­ Besides, how can ordinary people get exposed to Pollutants, isn¡¯t that just waiting for distortion?¡± Very well, it seemed that in the early days of the establishment of the Research Institute, both the experimental subjects and the researchers were actually Enlighteneds. Professor Wu took Lu Yan and walked forward all the way. The researchers who came over were all faceless. Only when passing a silver-haired middle-aged man, Lu Yan could see his facial features clearly. It was someone he had seen in the textbooks, Qiao Yu. He looked younger than in the textbook, but his face was full of weariness, with an expression of urgency. When Qiao Yu passed by Lu Yan, he stopped. ¡°Are you the new researcher?¡± He asked, ¡°Have you read all the information? Tang Xun¡¯an¡¯s mental state is not stable. In addition to that, because he has just been transplanted dragon wings, he¡¯s prone to infection after close contact. You must pay attention to the protective measures.¡± Advertisements After speaking, Qiao Yu hesitated for a moment. ¡°If he¡­ shows a sign that he wants to commit suicide, I remember that your abilities are [Affinity] and [Psychological Counseling]. If the psychological counseling doesn¡¯t work, then let him go. ¡°Sometimes, death is also a type of comfort.¡± After he said that, Qiao Yu nodded and turned to leave. There were no windows in the Research Institute, and the elevators all went from top to bottom because it was underground. It was said that it was built like this in order to avoid the impact of pollution sources as much as possible in the event of a leakage in the experiment. Tang Xun¡¯an¡¯s ward was on the 10th basement floor. Lu Yan heard that he was the only one on the whole floor. Accompanied by Professor Wu, Lu Yan learned how to open the four big doors leading to Tang Xun¡¯an¡¯s ward. Every layer of defense had to be locked so securely similar to a vault or a tomb. ¡°There¡¯s nothing we can do about it, we don¡¯t want to¡­¡± Professor Wu was helpless, ¡°But before, he had already crippled three staff members.¡± Behind the four big doors, the layout inside was no longer ice-cold, and there was a breath of life. ¡°This is a 1:1 replica of Tang Xun¡¯an¡¯s house.¡± From the d¨¦cor, Tang Xun¡¯an¡¯s family background should be well-off. Seemingly noticing Lu Yan¡¯s doubts, Professor Wu smiled, ¡°This child is from a great family background, so he insisted on pestering Director Qiao to join the Spark Project. He had the idea since he was 16 years old, but the fusion surgery was delayed until he was an adult. ¡°Director Qiao often asks me if he has done something wrong.¡± Professor Wu stopped in front of the last door and whispered, ¡°He should have spotted me, so I won¡¯t go in.¡± After he said that, Professor Wu shouted into the door, ¡°Tang Xun¡¯an, do you remember me? I¡¯m Professor Wu. I still have something to do, so I won¡¯t bother you today. The one who came to take care of you this time is the new researcher.¡± Standing in front of the door of the bedroom, Lu Yan finally turned to the most recent page of information. Tang Xun¡¯an Age: 19 Spiritual power threshold: 7,200 Mutation degree: 32.1-97.7 Abilities: Dragon Bone (fusion surgery transplant), unknown ability (preliminarily speculated to be Erosion, which can make creatures die quickly through contact) Notes: 1. Because of the previous fusion surgery, his hearing was slightly impaired, and an artificial ear bone has been re-implanted. 2. While fusing the dragon wings, he suffered additional contamination and his eyes were in a state of blindness. 3. He was more aggressive due to obvious post-operative rejection. The research group discussed euthanizing him, but Tang Xun¡¯an still retains some of his human sanity. Therefore, it was decided to adopt the ¡°Stranger¡¯s Contact Experiment¡± to test whether he still possesses rationality and sociality. Experimental Subject: Lu Yan (signed informed consent form). Lu Yan took a deep breath and opened the door. The bedroom was quite large ¡ª in tones of gray and lighted with warm orange. The work and rest areas are separated, and there was also a private bathroom. There was even a cloakroom with its own full-length mirror, and there were plenty of nice pairs of sneakers in it. On the desk, there was even a copy of the ¡°Five-Three¡±1 spread out. Lu Yan walked in and looked at it. Inside, there was a high school chemistry question that had been answered. The words were beautifully written, and the accuracy rate was not low. The quilt on the bed was a bit messy, indicating that someone had slept in it. The pillow was stained with blood, Lu Yan glanced at it, and there were a few scales that had fallen off. At first glance, he didn¡¯t see where Tang Xun¡¯an was. Nevertheless, Lu Yan could hear something clearly; it sounded like the breathing of a beast. The sound came from the closet. He said from a distance, ¡°Tang Xun¡¯an¡­ are you there?¡± Lu Yan walked forward step by step. The Kingfish inside him sent a frantic warning, struggling to urge him to escape. Lu Yan opened the wardrobe door. Almost instantly, the person inside rushed over, pinned him to the ground, and grabbed his neck with one hand. The person in front of him¡­ It was hard to say that he was still a person. He had a pair of hands that were ferocious and huge, like eagle claws, with sharp barbs growing on them, ferocious fangs, dark dragon scales covering his body, and a pair of bloody dragon wings piercing out from between his shoulder blades. Particularly, there was no trace of human intelligence on his pair of iconic golden pupils. In his eyes, the color of the pupils was extremely light, and at first glance, it seemed to be completely white. If the information was correct, Tang Xun¡¯an should be blind now. This was more like a half-human, half-dragon monster than a human. The overly thick and enormous dragon¡¯s tail pressed on Lu Yan¡¯s body heavily. Tang Xun¡¯an didn¡¯t exert any force, but when the hand pressed down on his neck, Lu Yan still had the illusion of being suffocated. His neck, tethered to an iron collar, said to come from the Pollutants Thunder Eel, could instantly release 100,000 volts of high-voltage electricity. Professor Wu once said that if Tang Xun¡¯an lost control, he could find the button for the high-voltage electricity on his neck; he wouldn¡¯t die but would temporarily incapacitate Tang Xun¡¯an and give him a chance to escape. Lu Yan saw the monitor on the ceiling, with a red light showing that it was working. ¡°Tang Xun¡¯an,¡± he tried to keep his tone calm, ¡°I¡¯m Lu Yan.¡± Tang Xun¡¯an squeezed out two roars from his throat, like the chirping of some beast. ¡°Can you hear me?¡± Lu Yan raised his hand and touched his back, ¡°Don¡¯t be afraid, don¡¯t be afraid.¡± Many researchers were too flustered when they were attacked by Tang Xun¡¯an, and, naturally, they were not able to observe carefully. But Lu Yan noticed it. Tang Xun¡¯an¡¯s hand that grabbed his neck was slightly trembling. ¡°I¡¯m not here to hurt you, don¡¯t be afraid.¡± Proofreader¡¯s Note CH 41 This chapter is translated by Rin, edited by Cia, and proofread by Kris Xian. Lu Yan didn¡¯t have the ability, [Affinity], but he still had a beautiful appearance. When a person so good-looking spoke to others gently, even if he didn¡¯t have the ability of [Affinity], with just the appearance that was vastly different from the majority, the effect would still be similar. In the past, when Lu Yan was still in university, he dissected numerous rabbits. He exactly knew how to calm down a frightened little animal. However, since it was inconvenient for an adult male to touch the other person¡¯s head, Lu Yan just lightly patted his back. Advertisements Tang Xun¡¯an¡¯s heavy breathing gradually calmed down, and his tense expression also relaxed. He withdrew his claws, but did not let his guard down. Instead, he retreated to the corner of the wall, using the thick and long dragon tail at his back to surround himself in a protective circle. Even without his sight, the gaze towards Lu Yan was still full of caution and blatant distrust. In the surveillance room, the rest of the staff were relieved and heaved a long sigh of relief. ¡°Mbyv¡¯p talyv. Mydt pvkzz alvykdp bwxyd kdvlzzlnv yde nsdpnkswpdlpp.¡± Uyvblakdl okrle vbl vlyap qasx vbl nsadlap sq bla lulp okvb y vkppwl. ¡°Mbkp oyu, R nyd zlyhl vbl Slplyanb Rdpvkvwvl okvb rlynl sq xkde.¡± ¡°Mbl ralhkswp kdnkeldv sq kdfwakdt svblap pbswze sdzu cl y pvalpp alprsdpl nywple cu vbl alflnvksd yqvla vbl pwatlau.¡± Vasqlppsa Ew yzps pyke, ¡°Uwaaldvzu, Mydt Dwd¡¯yd¡¯p xwvyvksd eltall kp pvkzz bktb, ol nyd oykv qsa vbl qwpksd vs qkdkpb nsxrzlvlzu clqsal nyaaukdt swv vbl scplahyvksd.¡± Gxsdt vbl taswr sq alplyanblap okvbswv qynkyz qlyvwalp, y rasqlppsa dyxle Qsdt Elkckd oyp ryavknwzyazu lul-nyvnbkdt clnywpl sq bkp yrryaldv bwxyd qynl. Tl bye yd kdekqqlaldv lmralppksd, obknb zssjle y zkvvzl plakswp yde tzssxu, yde bkp qkdtladykzp olal tdyole pbsav. Ysalshla, qsa psxl alypsd, bkp bydep olal rllzkdt, rascyczu clnywpl sq y zynj sq hkvyxkdp. Qsdt Elkckd pyke nszezu, ¡°Psd¡¯v cl vss byrru ulv. Ekvb vbl nwaaldv rastalpp sq qwpksd clvolld bwxydp yde Vszzwvydvp, ds sdl jdsop obyv vbl blzz bl okzz lhldvwyzzu clnsxl. Yydu lmrlakxldvp dlle vkxl vs rashl vbl alpwzv.¡± Rq Nw Zyd oyp blal, bl oswze rascyczu cl pwarakple. Pwakdt vbl vaykdkdt sq dlo alnawkvp yv vbl Tlyeiwyavlap, bl hytwlzu blyae vbyv vbl nwaaldv ekalnvsa sq vbl Wkapv Slplyanb Rdpvkvwvl oyp nyzzle Qsdt Elkckd. Qsdt Elkckd¡¯p osaep xyel Vasqlppsa Uyvblakdl qasod wdnsxqsavyczu, ¡°El yal dsv nsdewnvkdt lmrlakxldvp, ol yal qynkzkvyvsap ¡ª qynkzkvyvkdt vbl nsxcyv pupvlx Odzktbvldlep vs tykd bktbla pvaldtvb.¡± Gong Weibin smiled and didn¡¯t answer, instead, he talked about his own research, ¡°I recently discovered that transplanting a dog¡¯s gene into a synthetic human will make the synthetic human have the same loyalty as a dog¡­¡± Advertisements ¡°I won¡¯t agree with your research proposal.¡± Catherine frowned. Seeing that the atmosphere was not right, Professor Wu quickly interrupted and said, ¡°Okay, okay, Tang Xun¡¯an doesn¡¯t need to be euthanized, this is a happy event. Why are you taking it so seriously? Let¡¯s not talk about work today. Where¡¯s Director Qiao?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know, I heard that he had something to do and went out.¡± The first evolution might have been the choice of God. Among the highly intellectual, there were particularly more awakened Enlighteneds. Yu Hanxi, who was a long-time friend of Qiao Yu, was one of them. The ability he had obtained was called Precognition. Yu Hanxi was also a complete workaholic, he never got married even until he lost the ability to bear children. Two years ago, he adopted a daughter from an orphanage and named her Yu Zhizhi. This little girl was born atypical1 but still looked extremely cute. Professor Yu treated her like his own daughter. He was afraid that she would be neglected when he died, so he created a foundation, especially for her. As both of them were busy with work, when they encountered problems, they often conduct their communication through chat. Only this time, Yu Hanxi insisted that Qiao Yu should come to his house. Therefore, Qiao Yu came. As soon as he saw Yu Hanxi, Qiao Yu understood why the other party had resolutely asked him to come. Yu Hanxi¡¯s appearance was¡­ a bit terrifying. Advertisements The skin on his face was peeling off, and his hair had completely disappeared. The blood vessels on his body were swelling, and bright red blood could be seen seeping out of his capillaries. He looked so much like a person who had suffered severe nuclear radiation. ¡°You¡ª?!¡± Qiao Yu had seen a lot of strange phenomena, but when this kind of scene happened to a close friend, he still found it difficult to maintain his composure, ¡°How did this happen?¡± Yu Hanxi laughed self-deprecatingly, ¡°I¡¯ve overused my ability. Unsurprisingly, I¡¯m going to die soon.¡± ¡°How did you overuse it?¡± Yu Hanxi coughed twice and spat out bits and pieces of flesh broken off from his spleen and lungs, ¡°I didn¡¯t do anything, I just had a dream.¡± ¡°I only have time to tell you¡­ Qiao Yu.¡± Yu Hanxi¡¯s face looked exceedingly tired. ¡°I saw Zhizhi in the dream, and as I approached, her whole body began to glow. Also, as I grew near the light source, I could feel my ability losing its effect¡­ No, it wasn¡¯t actually like it had lost its effect, but it felt more as if I returned to my state before the Cataclysm. ¡°I was really surprised and wanted to quickly find you with Zhizhi. But on the way, we encountered the Wall of Resentment. After the wall was illuminated by the light from Zhizhi¡¯s body, the Wall turned back into an ordinary wall¡­¡± ¡°There were still many other Pollutants on the road. However, they all returned back to their states before the Cataclysm when met with Zhizhi¡¯s light. In the end, there were too many Pollutants. They kept attacking Zhizhi as if they were crazy, and the light on Zhizhi¡¯s body started getting dimmer and dimmer. I wanted to protect her, but she was still extinguished in my arms. The world became pitch black at that moment, shrouded by pollution.¡± Blood and tears flowed out of Yu Hanxi¡¯s face, blurring his vision, ¡°Then I woke up. Do you remember our initial deduction?¡± Qiao Yu felt very shocked in his heart, ¡°¡­Since there is pollution, there will be purification.¡± ¡°Yes, my mutation degree will exceed 100 anytime soon, but I don¡¯t want to become that kind of thing. After you leave, I will end my life.¡± Yu Hanxi¡¯s tone was sparse and normal, as if he was talking to him about the trivialities of daily life, ¡°I¡¯ll leave Yu Zhizhi to you.¡± ¡°Okay.¡± Advertisements Qiao Yu¡¯s tone was firm but heavily traced with indescribable sadness. Yu Hanxi turned his head and waved to the little girl who was silently watching everything upstairs, ¡°Zhizhi, come here. Dad wouldn¡¯t be able to watch you grow up anymore. Listen to Uncle Qiao Yu¡¯s words in the future.¡± In the First Research Institute, another little girl was added. She was neither an Enlightened who came to accept the transformation nor a scientific researcher. She was said to be the only daughter of Director Qiao¡¯s friend who had suddenly died from a cerebral hemorrhage. No one else was available to take care of the child, so Professor Qiao had to take her with him. This reason couldn¡¯t really stand up to scrutiny, because they had done scientific research to the point where they were no longer short of money. Not to mention the cold mechanical instruments, how would it be more colorful and richer than the outside world. However, Yu Zhizhi was extraordinarily calm and quiet. She didn¡¯t cry or cause any trouble. When Qiao Yu was writing the experiment report, she stayed quiet and drew, or played Tetris with the pixel game console. Yu Zhizhi¡¯s paintings were all simple children¡¯s drawings, made up of bright and vivid colors. She looked like a gifted child. Director Qiao had always been known to be a man of his words in the Research Institute, and since Yu Zhizhi never caused trouble, everyone acquiesced to her existence. Some researchers who were full of motherly love would even buy some beautiful dresses after getting off work for Yu Zhizhi to wear. What happened outside the tenth underground floor had nothing to do with Lu Yan for the time being. Advertisements His current job was to record Tang Xun¡¯an¡¯s daily physical condition and feed him. Although Enlighteneds didn¡¯t need much sleep and food, if they didn¡¯t eat or drink for a long time, health problems would still occur. It would manifest in the degeneration of digestive organs. Fortunately, next to Tang Xun¡¯an¡¯s bedroom was Lu Yan¡¯s dormitory and kitchen. Lu Yan was willing to call his dormitory a nanny room. He didn¡¯t know if it was because the basement didn¡¯t have enough space at the end of the construction, but the place where he lived was only a little bigger than a six-person dormitory; the next door was even a game hall that was more spacious. To put it more simply, the size of Lu Yan¡¯s residence was not even as big as the bathroom with a bathtub in Tang Xun¡¯an¡¯s bedroom. When it was probably being built, it didn¡¯t come to their minds that anyone else would come here to live long-term besides Tang Xun¡¯an. Fortunately, Lu Yan lived alone, so he could still make do with this arrangement. At Lu Yan¡¯s request, staff would put fresh ingredients at the elevator door every day. Lu Yan needed to open four doors to go out in the morning. He would pick up the ingredients and then close the four doors to come back. It took half an hour to go back and forth for a distance of less than 500 metres, and he went through 16 verifications as well. Cooking was one of his few hobbies. Today¡¯s lunch was tomato meatball soup2 and stir-fried pork with green peppers.3 He sauteed minced garlic and ginger slices in hot oil, which smelled very appealing. He placed the fried vegetables on a plate. Out of the corner of his eye, he caught a glimpse of someone looking at him through the gap in the kitchen door. However, when he turned his head, there was no one at the door. There was no one else on this floor except for him and Tang Xun¡¯an. He put the dishes on the dining table, thought for a while, and knocked on the bedroom door, ¡°Are you awake? Do you want to come out for dinner?¡± No response. But when Lu Yan took a nap and was about to throw the dishes and cutleries into the dishwasher, he found that the plates on the dining table were already empty. He felt there was no difference between cooking for one person and cooking for two. Lu Yan was already accustomed to serving dishes on separate plates, and he was also used to getting up after a nap to wash the dishes. On the fifth day, his invisible roommate finally came out of the bedroom and sat silently at the dining table. Tang Xun¡¯an¡¯s body size didn¡¯t change much, but the dragon wings and tail behind him still couldn¡¯t be retracted. They took up a lot of space and looked particularly bloated. Lu Yan prepared chopsticks for him, but his obviously deformed hand wouldn¡¯t be able to hold such things. The dishes that were picked up by him would fall back on the table within three seconds. Nevertheless, Tang Xun¡¯an¡¯s character was rather stubborn. He probably wanted to show his ¡°human¡± side in front of Lu Yan. Therefore, even if he lost it many times, he still insisted on using chopsticks to eat. He got so anxious to the point that his eyes turned red. Red bloodshots spread all over his white eyeballs, looking terrifying and ferocious. Lu Yan put down his chopsticks and was silent for a while, ¡°I¡¯ll do it.¡± So, Tang Xun¡¯an sat on the chair and didn¡¯t move. Tang Xun¡¯an¡¯s teeth were sharp, giving Lu Yan the illusion that he would be bitten at any time. But throughout the whole ordeal, he was docile. He even subconsciously wrapped Lu Yan¡¯s waist with his dragon tail. The tenth day of living together arrived. Lu Yan put down the heavy ¡°transformation surgery¡± record report, turned off the lights, and prepared to sleep. He had asked Professor Wu for a lot of research materials considering that in real life, these were all absolutely confidential. If he didn¡¯t read more of it in his dreams, it would be a pity. And things seemed to be going in the right direction. Tang Xun¡¯an¡¯s mutation degree had been slowly decreasing over time, and the dragon wings on his back no longer bled. However, his scales still shed every day. Every morning when Lu Yan went to record data, Tang Xun¡¯an¡¯s bed was always full of blood and black dragon scales. The new scales that appeared would be sharper and firmer than the old scales. If the old scales were not shed completely, two pieces of scales would be squeezed together. This resulted in mutated white scales caused by insufficient energy supply. Therefore, Lu Yan had another task every day, it was to help Tang Xun¡¯an check whether the old dragon scales had been shed properly. If not, he would need to pull them off with a tool. Lu Yan had his scales pulled out before, so he knew that it was painful. But there really was no other way. This time of day was when Tang Xun¡¯an was at his weakest state, with his head resting on Lu Yan¡¯s shoulder, looking particularly weak. As the extra dragon scales were pulled out, groans could be heard from his nasal cavity, sounds similar to a person trying their best to endure the pain. However, painkillers were almost useless to Tang Xun¡¯an, so Lu Yan could only pinch the back of Tang Xun¡¯an¡¯s neck soothingly. Moreover, because of his scales, Tang Xun¡¯an was often badly mutilated, he couldn¡¯t find a place to start even if he wanted to hug him. For both of them, the most torturous area was the scales on the dragon tail, especially at the base of the tail. The senses there were more sensitive than in other places, so when the scales were pulled out, Tang Xun¡¯an¡¯s reaction was exceptionally huge. Specific manifestations include but were not limited to grasping the sheets, shaking all over, and groaning softly. Lu Yan wasn¡¯t sure if he heard Tang Xun¡¯an crying. But even so, the other party was still very obedient and raised his tail to accommodate Lu Yan¡¯s inspection. Lu Yan, ¡°¡­¡± He had only pulled out a few pieces, but he couldn¡¯t help putting down the large surgical forceps in his hand and going to the bathroom to pour some water on himself to calm down. ¡°At least people can¡¯t, shouldn¡¯t¡­¡± Lu Yan said to himself in the mirror expressionlessly, ¡°So, perverted.¡± All in all, everything was going smoothly. On the thirtieth day. The mutation degree on Tang Xun¡¯an¡¯s body finally dropped below 90, his palm had returned to human form, he had acquired basic cognitive ability, and part of his voice was also restored. Tang Xun¡¯an was finally able to speak, and his three most frequently used sentences were, ¡°Lu Yan, hungry¡±, ¡°Lu Yan, sleepy,¡± and ¡°Lu Yan, pain.¡± According to the System¡¯s previous statement, the key to breaking this situation was to wake up the owner of the dream. Nevertheless, Lu Yan had been there for so long already, he still didn¡¯t know how to awake Tang Xun¡¯an. As life there was too peaceful and fitting, Lu Yan even felt like he was becoming immersed in the dream. Only when he saw the people without facial features going back and forth, would he come to and realize that this was not reality. The research team said that with further improvement of the fusion and the reduction of the mutation degree, Tang Xun¡¯an would gradually get out of his ¡°mentally retarded¡± state. Lu Yan felt that this might be true, because after a month, Tang Xun¡¯an had learned to pull out the scales by himself and no longer needed his assistance. When he was kicked out of the bedroom by Tang Xun¡¯an, Lu Yan actually felt a little bitter as if ¡°his child¡¯s wings had hardened.¡±4 After discussing, the research team decided that they would let Tang Xun¡¯an have contact with the outside world to restore his social abilities as soon as possible. So now, Lu Yan had a new task, which he liked to call ¡°walking the dog.¡± One end of the chain was in his hand and the other end was tied to the high-voltage electrical collar around Tang Xun¡¯an¡¯s neck. The 8th and 9th basement floors were the dormitories for other volunteers undergoing transformation surgery, and the 4th to 5th floors were the places where scientific researchers usually lived and rested. The 1st floor was the refuge, and the 2nd and 3rd were the experimental areas. Every day, Lu Yan took Tang Xun¡¯an to go around the 9th to 5th basement floors for 2 hours. This routine was probably of some use since Tang Xun¡¯an¡¯s ability to learn became extremely fast. When they were staying on the 10th floor, he still couldn¡¯t learn how to use the chopsticks after a month, but after going out, he learned how to use chopsticks in only two days. Until now, Lu Yan still didn¡¯t know where the First Research Institute was located. But this underground space should have an inverted pyramid structure¡ª it became narrower as it went down. At first, everyone was a little nervous. After all, if Tang Xun¡¯an suddenly snapped, no one would be able to restrain him. Fortunately, although Tang Xun¡¯an looked fierce, he listened well to Lu Yan¡¯s words. After some time, everyone¡¯s nervousness dissipated. Professor Wu highly praised Lu Yan¡¯s completion of his work, patting Lu Yan on the shoulder, ¡°Xiao Lu, I knew Director Qiao wouldn¡¯t be wrong about you. You¡¯ve simply over-completed the mission!¡± Beside him, there was a timid little girl. What surprised Lu Yan was that the little girl¡¯s face was also clear. After staying for so long in the dream, Lu Yan had basically understood one thing. In Tang Xun¡¯an¡¯s dream, the people whose facial features were still preserved were probably important NPCs. Professor Wu introduced that the child was Director Qiao¡¯s niece, called Yu Zhizhi. Lu Yan replied, ¡°Thank you.¡± Tang Xun¡¯an¡¯s cold gaze turned toward Professor Wu¡¯s hand that had patted Lu Yan. Old Wu suddenly felt a chill behind his back and retracted his hand, ¡°Ha, Professor Qiao said, Tang Xun¡¯an¡¯s eye transformation surgery has been completely designed. And we have found a suitable pollution source. If the transformation is successful, he can get a pair of golden eyes that will never go blind¡­¡± Yu Zhizhi couldn¡¯t speak, she glanced at Lu Yan and Tang Xun¡¯an, lowered her head, and continued to draw on the paper. Lu Yan and Professor Wu just happened to meet in the tea room, so they didn¡¯t talk for too long. Just as he was about to leave, the little girl took a step forward and grabbed the hem of Lu Yan¡¯s clothes. Yu Zhizhi couldn¡¯t speak, so she tiptoed and handed over two paintings. Professor Wu smiled and said, ¡°Zhizhi likes to draw. This is for you guys.¡± ¡°Thank you, Zhizhi.¡± Lu Yan showed her a gentle smile, ¡°This drawing is beautiful.¡± He lowered his head and looked at the two pieces of paper. The smile at the corner of his mouth suddenly froze on his face. A black dragon was drawn on the first sheet of paper. It was huge and surrounded by flames. Although it was a simple drawing, the picture still had a manic feel. Two horizontal bars were deeply colored with blue crayon in the golden eyes, which looked like it was crying. In the other painting, the ocean was drawn with blue waves. A person was on the bottom of the sea, and their gender couldn¡¯t be identified just by looking. The lower body of this person was a long dark golden tail, which looked a lot more similar to a snake or dragon tail rather than a fishtail. The tail took up two-thirds of the entire page. One could obviously see there was no expression drawn on the person¡¯s face, and the colors used for the painting were bright. In contrast, the picture gave out a very gloomy feeling. Seemingly, a thin black thread wrapped around the person¡¯s long tail, as if they were being dragged into the abyss. Proofreader¡¯s Note CH 42 This chapter is translated by Kris Xian, translation checked by Kensi, and edited by Cia. Yu Zhizhi¡¯s drawing somehow portrayed a strange prophecy. Nevertheless, most of the time, this little girl just randomly filled her sketchbook with colors and did not talk about the content of the drawing at all. Lu Yan hadn¡¯t dreamed for a long time, and it¡¯s rare to have a nightmare at night. He couldn¡¯t remember the details. All he could remember was that the surroundings he could see were getting darker and darker, and there were strange prayers whispering in his ears, similar to a fish whistling in the deep sea. Behind him was an abyss as thick as ink, as if a mouth waiting for its prey to throw itself into the net. Advertisements Lu Yan woke up before he could completely fall into it. With a ¡°thud,¡± his head hit the headboard, making a loud noise. The next second, Tang Xun¡¯an appeared at the door and directly broke the door handle, using brute force to break into the door. Mbl dktbvxyal eke dsv qaktbvld Nw Zyd cwv oyp pwarakple cu Mydt Dwyd¡¯yd¡¯p clbyhksa. Tl vwadle sd vbl clepkel zyxr. Mydt Dwyd Gd¡¯p lulp olal pvkzz xkpvu, cwv bl pyo y pldpl sq wdnlavykdvu kd vblx. ¡°¡­Ebyv¡¯p oasdt?¡± Nw Zyd ypjle psqvzu. Mydt Dwd¡¯yd zlv swv y qlo hytwl tasozp qasx bkp vbasyv, ¡°¡­Mbspl vbkdtp.¡± Mbl vbkdtp bl oyp alqlaakdt vs olal Vszzwvydvp. Rv pvydep vs alypsd vbyv vbkp rzynl pbswze cl lmnlrvksdyzzu pyql, cwv Mydt Dwd¡¯yd qlzv yd lmvalxlzu pvasdt rszzwvksd pswanl kd yd kdpvydv. Mbkp xyel bkx zssj y ckv ydmkswp yde alpvzlpp. Rd vbl lde, bl pkxrzu piwllgle kdvs Nw Zyd¡¯p pkel vs pzllr yde nswzed¡¯v cl eakhld yoyu ds xyvvla obyv. Tkp okdtp nswzed¡¯v cl alvaynvle, yde bkp eaytsd vykz oyp vbknj yde zsdt. Mblpl xyel vbl yzalyeu wdprynkswp pvyqq iwyavlap yrrlya dyaasola, lhld nawpbkdt vbl ralnyakswp cle. Ebld vbl clecsyae nszzyrple, Nw Zyd nswze sdzu pyu vbyv qsavwdyvlzu vblal oyp ds sdl lzpl sd vbkp qzssa. Otherwise, the next morning, rumors about ¡°the two of them slept together1 caused the bed to collapse¡± would be a rumor that even jumping into the Yellow River couldn¡¯t wash away. Advertisements Without a better option, Lu Yan had to sleep with Tang Xun¡¯an in his bedroom. The other¡¯s tail kept wrapping around his waist, making Lu Yan have more nightmares. He mostly dreamed of being crushed to death at night. And Tang Xuanan¡¯s scales were quite painful, sharp enough to scratch the skin¡ª so much so that Lu Yan had to spawn fish scales on his body to protect his delicate body. Every day when he woke up and touched a handful of dragon scales, Lu Yan would profoundly ponder about one question: Did he really need these four hours of sleep a day? Three months passed in the blink of an eye at the underground laboratory. Lu Yan was already accustomed to those around him who did not have facial features, and he also got used to getting up early in the morning to see Tang Xun¡¯an¡¯s face plastered too close. After three months of diligent study, Lu Yan felt that he had mastered at least ten new techniques for transplanting and transforming different types of Pollutants. Common mutational courses were divided into six categories: fish, birds, mammals, reptiles, insects, and mythical creatures. Without exception, all required special items dropped from Pollutants. He also had a basic understanding of the structure of the Research Institute. A hundred years ago, there was only one Research Institute in the world, and the main focus was on the transformation and transplants using Pollutants. Most of the people participating in the experiment were soldiers from the army, who signed a confidentiality agreement and informed consent forms. Tang Xun¡¯an was probably the only exception. Advertisements The time had finally come for Tang Xun¡¯an¡¯s eyeball transplant. Lu Yan really wanted to do it himself, but the situation didn¡¯t allow it. Professor Wu looked puzzled, ¡°You¡¯re a psychology student, how can you do surgery? I know that you¡¯re worried, but it¡¯s something that you really can¡¯t help even if you wanted to.¡± In this dream, he actually majored in psychology. Lu Yan waited outside the operating room door, awfully upset. Although he was not an ophthalmologist, his surgery skills were a hundred years ahead. Not to mention that he had studied for three months, so how could he not be qualified to operate on Tang Xuanan? In the family waiting area, Yu Zhizhi walked over carrying a small sketch board. She sat opposite Lu Yan and took out her crayons and began to draw, glancing at the operating room from time to time. Before her drawing was finished, Yu Zhizhi¡¯s eyes went blank, as if she had seen something horrible. Her body was drenched in a cold sweat, and her hands were trembling as if writhing. She behaved too much like a child experiencing a seizure, and Lu Yan couldn¡¯t help but come forward and ask, ¡°Zhizhi, is something wrong?¡± Yu Zhizhi shook his head frantically and finally completed the last stroke of her colored drawing. She took a deep breath, tore off the page, and handed it to Lu Yan. In this colored drawing, black and red occupied a large portion. A building with an inverted pyramid structure was underground in the midst of darkness, and red monsters poured in from all directions. Advertisements In addition, at the top, Yu Zhizhi also wrote the time. [August 24, 2039 00:00] And it¡¯s now August 23rd at 23:45. Lu Yan¡¯s expression subtly changed. If Yu Zhizhi¡¯s drawings were all predictions of the future, then it was clear that the inverted pyramid structure was the Institute and the red things were Pollutants. The lights in the operating room were still red. The Research Institute¡¯s supreme head, Qiao Yu, was still inside and hadn¡¯t come out. Yu Zhizhi¡¯s face flushed with an abnormal flush, and Lu Yan touched her forehead with his hand. It was extremely hot. The little girl let out a heavy gasp. Lu Yan¡¯s heart sank. According to the data, Yu Zhizhi was currently not an Enlightened. However, on the precursor of awakening, an Enlightened was always accompanied by a series of symptoms such as physical discomfort. He remembered a possibility, or rather, a rumor he had heard a long time ago. Experimental Subject No. 0 of the First Research Institute was a rare healing type Enlightened, awakening the serial number one ability, ¡°Divine Beginning.¡± On the day of No. 0¡¯s awakening, countless Pollutants surrounded the Research Institute. Advertisements Due to the huge chaos, especially since it was during the early stages of the pollution disease outbreak, and the First Institute was right under the foot of the Headquarters, the matter was not hidden, and there were discussion threads on the Enlightened Forum about it. The light above his head flickered twice and suddenly exploded. The Kingfish inside Lu Yan¡¯s body issued an uneasy warning. A passing nurse let out a question in confusion, ¡°Wasn¡¯t that just got fixed today? How did it blow up?¡± Lu Yan glanced at the time, 23:47. There was not much time left for them. He picked up Yu Zhizhi and slammed open the door of the operating room. Although the time difference was nearly a hundred years, the structure of the operating room had not changed much. Lu Yan quickly arrived at the operating area. At the sight of him, surprise filled the faces of everyone present. The operation took three hours, but Tang Xun¡¯an had only integrated one eye so far. In his eye socket, the necrotic eyeball had just been removed, leaving only a blood hole on his face. Qiao Yu still had an eyeball in his hand, and his golden pupils darted around as if it was conscious, looking at the person who barged in. As he moved his fingertips, the red polyps attached to the eye continued to grow. [23rd Ability ¡ª Gene Recombination] Despite the word gene in its name, this ability didn¡¯t have anything to do with genetic technology. Its ability user could combine different life forms in a highly unscientific method. ¡°What¡¯s the matter?¡± Qiao Yu asked. Lu Yan took a deep breath and replied succinctly, ¡°Yu Zhizhi seems to be about to awaken. She just drew a picture outside the operating room, which showed that the Research Institute has been surrounded by Pollutants.¡± Almost as soon as he finished speaking, Qiao Yu¡¯s complexion changed drastically, revealing a startled expression. Professor Wu was puzzled, ¡°What¡ªwhat kind of drawing? It was good news for Zhizhi to awaken.¡± Here, he¡¯s afraid that only Qiao Yu and Lu Yan himself were the only two people who realized the graveness of the matter. The last prophecy before Yu Hanxi¡¯s death was never told to anyone else by Qiao Yu in order to avoid any extraneous consequences. According to his inference, Yu Zhizhi¡¯s awakening ability was ¡°Divine Beginning.¡± [1st Ability ¡ª Divine Beginning] Healing type, ability effect: permanent removal of contamination. This ability manifested in the form of light shining out from her body, spreading out from her heart as its center, and the pollution would be cleared wherever the light shone. As long as her spiritual power threshold reached a certain standard, the light would spread to every corner of the earth, even if it was too thin to be seen. On that day, the earth could forever return to its original state prior to Cataclysm. The world would be free from pollution disease. People would no longer have to worry about the monsters that eat people. They also didn¡¯t have to fear of distorting one day. The future Yu Hanxi saw was extremely far away, and Qiao Yu thought he still had a long time to prepare. But this day really came too soon. It was now 23:51. Qiao Yu couldn¡¯t care less about the increase of his mutation degree and accelerated the formation of the eyeball. He then put it into Tang Xun¡¯an¡¯s eye socket. The red polyp squirmed and soon merged with the original nerve. The long period of darkness had left Tang Xuanan not quite accustomed to the light for the time being. He sat up from the operating table, his expression a little blank, and his golden eyes quickly locked into focus. He saw Lu Yan holding Yu Zhizhi, and a smile appeared on his face. Outside, the soldiers were in chaos, and they were particularly supporting a life cabin and rushing it over. Qiao Yu took Yu Zhizhi and as his heart ached for her, he touched her hot forehead, whispering, ¡°Zhizhi, don¡¯t be afraid.¡± He sent Yu Zhizhi into the life cabin, his eyes were deep and sad, and then, closed the cabin door with his own hands. On the Enlightened Forum, there had always been doubts about the existence of Experimental Subject ¡°No. 0.¡± Because except that the Institute was besieged by Pollutants that day, there seemed to be no evidence to prove that No. 0 ever existed. Even the researchers who had worked in the First Research Institute for many years had never seen her. Now, Lu Yan felt that he might know the answer to this question. Qiao Yu held the half-human tall life cabin and handed it to Tang Xuan¡¯an. ¡°The ability you have mastered is Time, and what we are lacking most right now is time,¡± Qiao Yu looked into Tang Xun¡¯an¡¯s eyes and solemnly said, ¡°Go hide here in the future, please.¡± Translator¡¯s Note CH 43 This chapter is translated by BigDivineBear, translation checked by Kensi, and edited by bluburry. ¡ªHide her in the future. The people of the present did not have the ability to preserve this grace from Heaven. Send her to the day where there will be hope for her. Tang Xun¡¯an said, ¡°Understood.¡± Advertisements He had just gotten off of the operating table; the blood in his eye sockets had not yet abated, and his vision was hazy and a little red. Although there were numerous strangers around, he still easily saw Lu Yan at a glance. He stood outside the crowd, with a distant and calm expression, somewhat like an audience not belonging to this world. For some reason, Tang Xun¡¯an felt an impulse to cry. Tl eked¡¯v vyjl vbl zkql nyrpwzl kxxlekyvlzu, cwv kdpvlye pweeldzu vssj y pvlr qsaoyae yde bwttle Nw Zyd. ¡°Nw Zyd.¡± Mydt Dwd¡¯yd bwttle bkx, dspl ale, ¡°Pke vbl qwvwal xl plde usw vs xu pkel?¡± Nw Zyd¡¯p lmralppksd oyp y zkvvzl nsdqwple; bl eked¡¯v iwkvl wdelapvyde vbl xlydkdt sq vbkp pldvldnl. Mydt Dwd¡¯yd¡¯p lulp olal ale, yde bkp hsknl oyp yzxspv rzlyekdt, ¡°Uyd usw oykv wdvkz R nsxl cynj yde dsv zlyhl clqsal?¡± Nw Zyd oyp dsv wple vs clkdt bwttle, ps bl oyp kdlhkvyczu y zkvvzl pvkqq. Tl ryvvle Mydt Dwd¡¯yd sd vbl cynj. ¡°R osd¡¯v zlyhl.¡± Mbkp oyp pvkzz Mydt Dwd¡¯yd¡¯p ealyx. Rq vbl sodla sq vbl ealyx eke dsv oyjl wr, vbl rlapsd obs qlzz kdvs vbl ealyx oswze xspv zkjlzu dsv cl yczl vs tlv swv. Mblal oyp dsv xwnb vkxl zlqv qsa vbl vos vs pyu tssecul. Mydt Dwd¡¯yd vssj vbl zkql nyrpwzl yde qkdyzzu tzydnle kd Nw Zyd¡¯p ekalnvksd. The next second, a circle lit up under his feet, similar to a teleportation array in a game. With the use of his ability, his body distorted. Advertisements He disappeared. Except for Tang Xun¡¯an, no one knew when Zhizhi would appear in the future. However, Lu Yan was clearly aware of one thing, that was, he had to survive despite Tang Xun¡¯an¡¯s absence, after all, if he died in a dream, he would really die. The furious and irrational Pollutants would not give up their attack on the Institute just because No. 0 disappeared. It was now 23:57. The floor slightly shook. Most people didn¡¯t know what was happening, so they walked out of the room in a panic, thinking, ¡°Is there an earthquake?¡± While there was still a signal on the mobile phone, Qiao Yu sent the message to the work group. He didn¡¯t say that it was because Yu Zhizhi¡¯s awakening attracted Pollutants, but only said that the Institute was being surrounded. ¡°Wake up the volunteers in Building 9,¡± he said to the staff on the phone. Huge worms and beetles hit the wall one by one. The entire building of the Institute was cast from a single piece of metal and buried deep underground, which made it far stronger than ordinary buildings. On the ground, the wolves howled at the moon. The largest of these giant wolves was ten meters high. From a distance, it looked like a hill. In addition to them, there was a steady stream of Pollutants coming in. Humanoids and non-humanoids gathered together like a carnival feast. Advertisements Pollutants could evolve by eating their own kind, and of course, they could also evolve by eating Enlighteneds. After all, they were essentially ¡°evolutionary species¡±. The Pollution Disease Prevention and Control Center had discovered something unusual from satellite surveillance and had handed over the information to every Enlightened class all the way to the top. The Headquarters quickly dispatched reinforcements, but no matter how you looked at it, it was like a drop in a bucket. Today, the strongest Enlighteneds in the world were concentrated in the Institute. Now, the Institute could only find a way to save itself. Fortunately, it had not been many years since the outbreak of the pollution disease. In the era of Lu Yan, with the Institute¡¯s combat power, they could only wait for death in place. On the broadcast, a staff member¡¯s notice came, ¡°Everyone, please gather on the first floor. The power supply of the Institute is unstable, please evacuate from the safe passage.¡± The first floor was the shelter built by the Research Institute, which was the most expansive. When it was built, the ground was completely submerged, so it was more like a small town than a shelter. The rooms were all capsule houses, which could accommodate tens of thousands of people. Several officers rushed over and said, ¡°Director, let¡¯s evacuate from the safety elevator first. Your safety is the most important.¡± In their eyes, today¡¯s Qiao Yu was more important than the entire Institute combined. Qiao Yu glanced at the others, nodded slightly, and said, ¡°Okay.¡± After speaking, he naturally said to Lu Yan, ¡°Lu Yan, come with me.¡± Advertisements The officer hesitated, ¡°Director, it¡¯s best to use the safety elevator alone.¡± ¡°The elevator can hold two people.¡± Qiao Yu¡¯s attitude was firm, ¡°He¡¯s Tang Xun¡¯an¡¯s psychiatrist. Tang Xun¡¯an needs him to control the severity of the disease.¡± After hearing this, the officer stopped insisting. The sandworms had bitten through the holes in the metal walls; lava poured in from the outside, and several screams and cries could be heard in the distance. Qiao Yu¡¯s footsteps unavoidably stopped, but quickly moved on under the urging of others. Under the cover of these special forces, Qiao Yu and Lu Yan came to a hidden operating room, revealing the elevator behind them. At the first sight of it, Lu Yan understood why the officer said the safety elevator could only accommodate one person. Compared with an elevator, this was more like a circular vertical passage that had an extremely narrow space. It wasn¡¯t powered by electricity but by magnetism. The elevator was like a tin can. Qiao Yu walked in and waved at Lu Yan. The size of the area was less than 2 square meters, and there were two big men with a height of 180+ standing, which did seem a little narrow and uncomfortable. Qiao Yu pressed the number 1. The elevator started to operate, making Lu Yan feel a little weightless. Advertisements ¡°I heard,¡± Qiao Yu suddenly said. He turned around and looked at Lu Yan. Unlike some old-fashioned photos in textbooks, Qiao Yu, who was over forty years old, still looked young. Even if his hair was slightly gray, it still did not hamper his good appearance. Qiao Yu asked, ¡°Are you from the future?¡± Lu Yan thought for a while, ¡°Yes, but also not quite.¡± Everything here seemed real. Although it was just Tang Xun¡¯an¡¯s dream, everything was like the real world. Truly heart-wrenching. Qiao Yu didn¡¯t bother with his answer but asked, ¡°Is there any change in the future?¡± Lu Yan, ¡°One hundred years from now, society will still have order and civilization. At that time, pollution disease was already serious, but no one gave up.¡± Thus, a smile appeared on Qiao Yu¡¯s face, ¡°That¡¯s really great, even better than the future I imagined.¡± He was very abrupt and pressed the stop button on the elevator. ¡°I¡¯ve performed numerous fusion transplants, but I¡¯ve only failed once in my life. I lost¡­ my love.¡± Lu Yan felt that Director Qiao and his lover must have loved each other so much, because when he said this, Qiao Yu¡¯s mouth had a hint of a smile. ¡°He was contaminated and distorted. To save him, I performed fusion surgery. But he failed to awaken as an Enlightened¡­ It stands to reason that I should have euthanized him according to the experimental rules, but I couldn¡¯t. ¡°I lied. I said that he was just too sick and lost his mind. I then put him on the ninth floor.¡± Qiao Yu got out of the elevator, ¡°Although the volunteers on the ninth floor have a high spiritual power threshold, most of them are still in an unstable state of fusion. I can¡¯t go. Besides, it¡¯s time for me to end this lie with my own hands.¡± Lu Yan grabbed his wrist, ¡°Professor Qiao, let me come with you.¡± Qiao Yu¡¯s current spiritual power threshold is 6,000. Although he was not an Enlightened of the combat system, his physical fitness was not as weak as he imagined. He opened Lu Yan¡¯s fingers and said, ¡°Don¡¯t follow me¡­ Go to the first floor and wait for him to come back alive.¡± After speaking, Qiao Yu used his fingerprint to unlock the emergency plan of the elevator. In the Research Institute, he was the only one who had such authority. After being activated, the elevator reached the first floor at the fastest speed. Lu Yan¡¯s head hurt a lot, and he was a little flustered. Fortunately, in the textbook, Qiao Yu¡¯s death was around 2070. It comforted him a little bit. A few minutes later, the elevator came to the first floor. The staff guarding the door was stunned, ¡°Where¡¯s Director Qiao?!¡± Lu Yan took a deep breath, ¡°He went to the ninth floor. I stopped him, but he didn¡¯t listen. I don¡¯t have elevator access.¡± The two staff looked at each other, one went to report to the Headquarters, and the other led Lu Yan to the refuge area. Some of the people who stay in the institute are researchers, but more are ordinary people such as clerks, nurses, cleaners, and canteen aunts. Because the evacuation had just begun, the two groups of people gathered together, adding up to no more than a hundred people. On the outermost side are the soldiers and the Enlighteneds of the SpecOps Division. If the situation deteriorates further, the protected group of people would hide in the safe cabin. Lu Yan seemed relaxed and comfortable when he saw that some people were still fighting the landlords on the spot, it was probably not a big problem. They didn¡¯t even know the Pollutants were coming, they just thought it was a normal earthquake. Half a day later, Professor Wu and the other researchers were also escorted from the laboratory below. Many people¡¯s expressions were frightened, and described as embarrassed. There were even soldiers who lacked arms and legs. They were even still arguing. @Infinite good text, all in Jinjiang Literature City A group of people cried and shouted, ¡°The data! The data has not been rescued! That computer motherboard! It is more important than my life! Why don¡¯t you let me get it!¡± Another group of people are scolding, ¡°What do you plan on taking?! If you go and take it, you won¡¯t be able to get it out. If you are a combat type, it¡¯s fine, why the hell are you stepping on other people¡¯s lives to take it?! There is hope for people to live. We still remember those numbers in our minds! Give me another five years, no, two years¡ª¡± Seeing Lu Yan, Professor Wu breathed a long sigh of relief, ¡°Damn, the lower floors are too scary, and I almost couldn¡¯t come back. Did you know that some kind of sandworm got in and blocked the corridor. It¡¯s full¡­ like a maggot magnified hundreds of times.¡± ¡°And that kind of beetle that looks like a flying scythe and spews lava from its mouth. Once it¡¯s sprouted, the walls will melt. I built a laboratory that took hundreds of millions of dollars! Damn, everything is wasted already.¡± Lu Yan listened and put down the lunch box in his hand indifferently. ¡°I really envy you, being able to evacuate with Director Qiao.¡± Professor Wu glanced around, ¡°Where¡¯s Director Qiao?¡± Lu Yan had to repeat what he said to the staff. Professor Wu was stunned for a long time and then suddenly burst into tears, ¡°He must have gone back to find Mr. Song. Mr. Song¡¯s surgery failed, and he was already dead when he was sent. We have been revising the disease severity report and lied to him about Mr. Song. He hasn¡¯t become a Pollutant yet, he¡¯s just locked up on the ninth floor and can¡¯t see him yet¡­ Director Qiao, Director Qiao has always wanted to see him.¡± His face was still devoid of features but large teardrops burst out from it. Qiao Yu said that he lied to these researchers. And Professor Wu said that they lied to Qiao Yu. Both parties actually knew, but they thought the other didn¡¯t. Lu Yan rarely had emotional fluctuations, but at this moment, he couldn¡¯t hold back and let out a heavy sigh. The dust of history falls on everyone¡¯s head, as heavy as a mountain.* The author has something to say: *The last sentence is from the Internet, I don¡¯t know the source. ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª PS: As for whether this is a dream or not, yes. but it is also what actually happened in the past (only the truth in the novel). CH 44 This chapter is translated by Hoenimochi, translation checked by Rin, and edited by Bluburry. Although the situation was severe and the survival rate was extremely low, the people on the outside refused to give up on the rescue. All night long, the sound of gunfire continued relentlessly. Thermal weapons were still useful against biochemical Pollutants. It was just that the Headquarters didn¡¯t dare to use missiles with too much lethality. After all, there were still hundreds of lives at stake in the underground. There were four or five hundred people gathered in the hall for refuge. Everyone¡¯s expressions were anxious. Advertisements Lu Yan found an armed man next to him, showed his identity card, and exchanged a pack of cigarettes for a bow. These soldiers were ordinary ones, serving as the last line of defence. The rest of the Enlighteneds had gone to the underground frontline to curb the spread of pollution. Lu Yan didn¡¯t know what was going on underground. Tsolhla, yp qlola yde qlola pwahkhsap nyxl swv, yde vbl nypwyzvu ayvl kdnalyple, bl nswze kxytkdl vbyv vbl pvsau kdpkel xwpv cl vlaakczu vaytkn. Mbkp oyp y pyqlvu zkdl xyel sq qzlpb yde czsse. Nw Zyd rknjle wr bkp sze fsc yde cltyd vs blzr elyz okvb vbl oswdele. Tl oyp olyakdt y obkvl nsyv okvb vbl dyxl nyae sq vbl pvyqq sq vbl Slplyanb Rdpvkvwvl. Mbl pszeklap olal pvkzz kdpkel vbl nbysp, ps ds sdl pvsrrle bkx. Fsxl kdfwaklp olal pkxrzl vaywxy, obkzl svblap olal ekpvsavksd nywple cu vbl rszzwvksd ekplypl. Mbl zyvvla oyp rzynle yzsdl kd vbl kdvldpkhl nyal yaly okvb prlnkyz oyaep. Rv oyp pyke vs cl y oyae, cwv kd qynv, vblal oyp sdzu y nwavykd kd vbl xkeezl plryayvkdt vblx. Mblu olal fwpv oykvkdt vs ekl kd y alzyvkhlzu nsxqsavyczl rzynl. Nw Zyd nypwyzzu srldle y nwavykd yde oyzjle kd. Rdpkel zyu yd Odzktbvldle okvb y casjld zlt. ¡°Wards round. Tell me how did you injure yourself,¡± he asked. Advertisements ¡°I was bitten by a Human-Faced Spider. This thing was not big, but its teeth can easily pierce a battle suit,¡± the Enlightened who was lying on the hospital bed grinned, ¡°My captain, in order to save me¡­ stay below, hasn¡¯t come out yet.¡± A terrifying sarcoma that looked like a human face swelled up on his knee. This patient was probably a chatterbox. Lu Yan had just lost his focus for a moment, and the patient was already talking about other stuff. ¡°I also saw volunteers from the Institute. My god, is that what a human can achieve? There was one that can breathe fire, damn fucking awesome. It burns wherever his breath touches. I wanted to ask him for an autograph, he told me to find him when everything is settled, he lives in the 907 dormitory¡­¡± Lu Yan measured the size of the wound with his hand; his expression looked serious, ¡°No anaesthetic. Will I be able to cut it off?¡± ¡°Hey, doctor, it¡¯s hopeless,¡± the patient sighed. ¡°This human face will grow again after being cut off. I¡¯ve seen other people die, and this face will only grow increasingly bigger and bulge. The rest of the body would be sucked dry, and by the time the mutation degree reached 100, spider legs would emerge from the face and they would become a new Pollutant.¡± Lu Yan said calmly, ¡°Close your eyes and don¡¯t move.¡± The seriously injured Enlightened was a little puzzled but still obediently closed his eyes. Lu Yan took off his gloves, and his palm cracked open. Having not eaten for months, the Kingfish was already hungry. Almost instantly, it bit on the red sarcoma. The sarcoma let out a scream. How should he put it¡­ it was not very tasty, but it was still enough. Advertisements Lu Yan put his gloves back on, ¡°Okay, next one.¡± The treatment process went smoothly. After all, in the early days of the Cataclysm, the pollution value of Pollutants was not so high. What made Lu Yan uneasy was that 24 hours had passed, but Qiao Yu had not come out yet. It was four in the morning. Lu Yan completed the ¡°treatment¡± of the patients in the intensive care unit and was feeling full from eating. People got tired easily when they were full. He leaned against the wall and hadn¡¯t closed his eyes for more than half an hour when the ground suddenly shook. From a distance, a long gap opened. The floor was cracked, and the broken lines spread like spider webs. A long, slender, huge ant leg poked out from the crack. These little ants came like a tidal wave toward the crowd. ¡°Those Pollutants, they came up?!¡± A layer of cold sweat broke out on the forehead of the Enlightened in charge of command. He turned on the pager and asked for support from the ground, but was told that the ground had sent 7 groups of rescuers. Nonetheless, without exception, no one succeeded in reaching here. Advertisements The shelter on the first floor of the Research Institute had become an island in the ocean of Pollutants. Lu Yan heard an extremely panicked scream near his ear. On the test table, the pollution level soared to 5,400 in an instant. The Enlighteneds who were still in the intensive care area struggled to get up and while looking for weapons, they shouted at the others, ¡°Enter the life capsule! Find all the life capsules to enter!¡± Although it was called a life capsule, it was actually just a solid iron box with no life-supplying energy material inside, it was more like a high-tech version of a sleeping bag. If the Pollutants¡¯ issues were not resolved, entering the life capsule was just a matter of waiting for death in another place. Lu Yan didn¡¯t move but began to count how many arrows he had. The patient beside him got anxious and tugged at his collar, ¡°Doctor, why are you still standing there, hurry up and leave.¡± The large half of the giant ant¡¯s body poked out from the ground. This ant had an overly large, scissors-like mouthpart. Two long translucent wings were dragging behind it. The abdomen was bulging, with fist-sized eggs surging inside. It attacked and gave birth at the same time; the eggs in its abdominal cavity sprayed out, and after falling to the ground, they hatched into ferocious worker ants. The final pollution value for this Pollutant was given on the meter. 8,001. Advertisements This giant ant was also sixteen meters tall. It was the king of the underworld. The migration had begun two months ago, the distance spanned half of the first district, all the way from the Yunnan Plateau to Yanjing. There were many Pollutants like it in the ground. Even if all the experimental subjects on the ninth floor were released, there would be no way to solve them at the same time. This was the only enemy that slipped out by chance. Lu Yan thought that while Yu Zhizhi had only awakened today, in fact, from her adoptive father¡¯s dream, this little girl had already embarked on the path of an Enlightened. Pollutants rushed to this underground Research Institute on the outskirts of Yanjing as if they were going to a gathering. The pitch-black worker ants rushed towards the crowd. They were like a piece of darkness with no end in sight. Someone sprayed one with a fire extinguisher, but to the countless ants, it was insignificant. Those who rushed in front were quickly engulfed by the ant tide. The ants burrowed into every hole they could, greedily swallowing the last inch of bone and blood, and left the human skin alone as a breeding ground. Then, they crawled out contentedly, swarming towards the next victim. Since becoming an Enlightened, Lu Yan had to carry out dangerous actions frequently. He took out a mint from his pocket and put it in his mouth, comforting his patient, ¡°Don¡¯t panic. It¡¯s just a small incident.¡± He asked, ¡°Got any gasoline? Alcohol is fine, splash some more.¡± The Enlightened paused for a moment, and then said with great joy, ¡°Yes! Yes!¡± Lu Yan climbed to the three-meter-high light. The view was good there. He tied absorbent cotton and strips of cloth to the tip of the arrow. The arrow went on fire and shot towards the ant colony like a shooting star. These palm-sized ants were not invulnerable, their pollution level was only 80 at best, but they were winning in numbers. The flames caused oil to burst from their bodies, and a layer of meat fat was roasted and burnt in the air. Bottles of gasoline and alcohol were poured on the ants, and the fire quickly spread. The worker ants raised their legs and struggled in the flames. The giant queen squeaked angrily and laid another type of white eggs. The white eggs hatched into a colony of winged termites, like mosquitoes, with long mouthparts. The termites flew towards Lu Yan. Underneath, the patient who was still pouring gasoline suddenly shouted, ¡°Fuck, this stinky ant is no joke! Doctor, come down quickly, let¡¯s retreat first!¡± Lu Yan didn¡¯t answer but picked up the dagger at his waist and fine fish scales appeared on his body. His fighting class always had a grade of A+. The knife fell and the corpses of the termites fell to the ground. The patient was stunned, ¡°Are all the researchers nowadays so awesome?¡± The commotion here finally drew the ant queen¡¯s attention. Lu Yan was not the Enlightened with the highest spiritual power threshold here. The commander himself had a spiritual power threshold of 3,700 and was a rare elite in this era. It originally wanted to deal with the commander of this combat department first, but Lu Yan¡¯s behaviour really annoyed it. Ignoring that she was stabbed several times, the queen turned around and swung her long legs. When the queen ant was moving forward, its speed was particularly slow. But when it was attacking with its feet, it was particularly fast due to gravity. In an instant, the pitch-black ant¡¯s feet approached Lu Yan. The terrifying barbs on its legs were clearly visible. Lu Yan was about to be knocked over by the incoming wind. The gap between power and knowledge was a void that was difficult to bridge. The scales on Lu Yan¡¯s body expanded to the maximum, protecting every part of his body as much as possible. He himself also fell flat to increase the force area and decrease the impact, so as not to be slapped to death. But instead of falling to the ground, he fell into Tang Xun¡¯an¡¯s arms. The severity of the mutation had decreased before, and the dragon scales on Tang Xun¡¯an¡¯s face had retracted. However, it was probably because his ability had been used too frequently recently that the scales reappeared on his face. Behind him, his dark dragon wings spread out, even bigger than when they first met. After Tang Xun¡¯an put Lu Yan down, he didn¡¯t say much, but his golden eyes were like burning flames. He clenched the Yellow Dust in his hand and flew towards the queen ant. At the moment when the knife was drawn, the world seemed to be covered with a layer of grey. Many people cried with joy; only Lu Yan frowned deeply. The brief contact just now made him discover one thing: Tang Xun¡¯an¡¯s disease was too severe, so high that the smell of Pollutants could almost reek through from underneath his scales. Also, he seemed to be injured. Lu Yan spread out his hand. Just now he had touched Tang Xun¡¯an¡¯s arm, and his palm was currently full of dark red blood. He was injured in the future. As if to confirm Lu Yan¡¯s guess, as the battle between Tang Xun¡¯an and the ant queen continued to intensify, the distorted features on his body became increasingly obvious. Emerging one by one ¡ª Dragon Wings, Dragon Tail, Dragon Claws¡­ Even his body continued to expand. In the end, to the shocked eyes of everyone, he completely turned into a black dragon. The black dragon roared and bit off the queen¡¯s neck. The queen was completely immobile. The black dragon had lost a lot of scales and had wounds all over his body. The dragon wings behind him hung down weakly and fell to the ground sideways, similar to a hill. The blood that flowed out was like a stream on a mountain. The golden dragon eyes looked at Lu Yan. Lu Yan suddenly remembered Yu Zhizhi¡¯s painting. A dark dragon, and its eyes full of tears. On the detection equipment, the value sensed from this black dragon was no longer the degree of mutation, but the pollution value. The instrument beeped a warning. After a long silence, a researcher in white came out of the crowd. Gong Weibin pointed to the black dragon on the ground, with his voice trembling, ¡°It¡¯s no longer a human! If you don¡¯t kill it now, when its wounds recover, everyone here will die! You all saw it, right?!¡± There was a trace of fear in the eyes of many people. They were all front-line workers and naturally knew what the Pollutants look like. The gun in the commander¡¯s hand that was raised lowered, ¡°But¡­ this, this is Tang Xun¡¯an, right?¡± ¡°Pollution is irreversible! Minister Wang, don¡¯t be soft-hearted like a woman! Are you trying to kill everyone here?¡± Gong Weibin¡¯s voice was sharp like a hammer and hit the commander¡¯s heart heavily. The others didn¡¯t speak, but the uneasy expressions on their faces said it all. ¡°He hasn¡¯t completely become a Pollutant.¡± Lu Yan suddenly said in the crowd. An angry look appeared on Gong Weibin¡¯s face, ¡°I¡¯m a senior engineer at the Research Institute! Who are you?¡± ¡°I¡¯m his psychological counselor. I¡¯ve been observing him for the past three months.¡± Lu Yan didn¡¯t look at Gong Weibin, but looked at the commander with a firm tone, ¡°I have a solution. Trust me and let me pass.¡± His confident and calm attitude made the commander nod subconsciously. In fact, Lu Yan had no choice. He had no healing-type ability at all, but the Kingfish could eat Pollutants. Based on previous treatments, after eating the pollution source, the mutation degree on the patient could also be significantly reduced. There was nothing he could do, but he wanted to try. Tang Xun¡¯an could die like a hero, but now he was viewed with the same hatred of seeing an enemy. With everyone¡¯s attention, Lu Yan walked towards him. The black dragon¡¯s breath was still heavy and painful, and his mouth was full of blood. Its golden eyes collapsed into a vertical line, a sign of nature¡¯s hunters on the eve of an attack. The commander¡¯s palms were sweating nervously. He was afraid that the black dragon would open its mouth and swallow Lu Yan in one bite. Lu Yan put his hand on its head and repeated the words from the first meeting, ¡°I didn¡¯t come to hurt you, don¡¯t be afraid.¡± The fish scales on Lu Yan¡¯s arm were slightly raised, and thin white lines stretched out from under his arm. Since the Kingfish evolved into its second form, Lu Yan had not used this method of¡­. eating for a long time. ¡°It¡¯ll be fine, I promise you, you¡¯re not turning into a monster,¡± Lu Yan whispered. The golden eyes were focused on him. It was still seriously injured and weak, but a line of tears suddenly flowed out of the corner of its eyes. At this moment, the dream began to collapse. The surroundings, whether people or scenes, were like broken lenses, starting to crumble. [You are finally back. Baby, I miss you so much.] The voice of the System sounded in Lu Yan¡¯s ear. He hadn¡¯t listened to it for three months and felt that it was a little unfamiliar. [Good news, I don¡¯t know how long you have been in your dream, but in reality, it has only been half a minute.] [Bad news, even though half a minute is not a long time, the appearance of you standing in front of him in a daze has already aroused the alert of Ficus Benghalensis. If I were you, I would immediately feed your chief instructor blood and stack a BUFF of Bloodlust Gene.1 So that he can kill this big banyan tree.] The moment Lu Yan raised his head, Tang Xun¡¯an, who was in front of him, also opened his eyes. The emotion that flowed from his eyes was an¡­ attachment that he was extraordinarily familiar with. He didn¡¯t know why, but Lu Yan was feeling embarrassed as if he was being caught off guard meeting his online date. However, there was not much time left for them. Lu Yan immediately pierced his index finger with his fingernail, stepped forward, and inserted his finger through the gap of Tang Xun¡¯an¡¯s bite stopper. ¡°Lick,¡± he said. The author has something to say: ¡¾Next chapter preview ¡¿ ¡°Did the things in the dream really happen?¡± Tang Xun¡¯an stared into his eyes and said in a low voice, ¡°It happened, but there is no you in that reality.¡± Sadly, the severe pain after the transplant surgery, the fear of being treated as a monster. In the real reality, he overcame them all alone. Proofreader¡¯s Note CH 45 This chapter is translated by Hoenimochi, translation checked by Rin, and edited by Mika. Tang Xun¡¯an held Lu Yan¡¯s finger in his mouth. Lu Yan didn¡¯t keep pets but was unexpectedly welcomed by stray animals; every time he passed by the large flower bed downstairs of the hospital, there were always three or four cats surrounding and rubbing around his trouser legs. In an attempt to imitate human behavior, Lu Yan has also tried to touch the chin or head of these little wild cats. Each time, the kittens would happily show their bellies, cutely asking for more affection¡ªsome would even hug his fingers and lick them intimately. Advertisements Lu Yan knew cats had little barbs on their tongues¡ªwhat he didn¡¯t expect was for Tang Xun¡¯an to have them too, causing the tip of his fingers to itch as the barbs swept over. Tang Xun¡¯an¡¯s golden pupils were slitted like a cat¡¯s eye; his gaze focused intensely on the man before him. The breath of [Time] spread from him, causing the vines that bound him to wither and decay, turning to ash as it fell to the ground. Ohld qsa psxlsdl yp pzso yp vbl ckt Jyduyd Mall, kv dsvknle vbyv psxlvbkdt oyp oasdt. ¡°Gald¡¯v usw y twkel qsa vbl Tszu Qse?! Tso nswze vbkp cl?¡± Rvp vsdl oyp qwzz sq pbsnj, ¡°Zsw nzlyazu byhl vbl cayde sq vbl Tszu Qse sd usw!¡± Nw Zyd, ¡°Ms cl bsdlpv, vbl Tszu Qse oydvp vs awzl shla vbl Vszzwvydvp yde clnsxl jkdt. Bdqsavwdyvlzu, vblal yal vss xydu bktb-zlhlz Vszzwvydvp kd vbkp osaze, obknb okzz bkdela bkp rzydp. Fs xu zsae yde xydjkde byhl elnkele vs nssrlayvl yde pktdle y nsdvaynv¡ª ¡°Mbl Sltwzyvksdp sq Vlynlqwz Uslmkpvldnl¡±¡ªusw¡¯al fwpv vbl qkapv pvlr vs lzkxkdyvkdt vbl ekppkeldvp kd vbl Tszu Qse¡¯p oyu.¡± Mbl ckt Jyduyd Mall oyp swvaytle, ¡°Tl ynvwyzzu zlyadle vs clvayu zkjl yd wtzu bwxyd clkdt!¡± Mbl Jyduyd Mall oyp ldaytle, zkqvkdt kvp zsdt caydnblp yde pokdtkdt vblx vsoyaep NwZyd. Tsolhla, clqsal vbl Jyduyd Mall nswze tlv nzspl kv¡¯p caydnblp olal kdvlanlrvle cu y qzypb sq zktbv. Sle pyr prwavle qasx vbl casjld caydnblp, vbl Jyduyd Mall oyp pvwddle. Mydt Dwd¡¯yd pralye srld bkp okdtp yde pvsse kd qasdv sq Nw Zyd, ¡°Qs yde bkel, esd¡¯v ts vss qya.¡± It was still too dangerous for Lu Yan. There was a high probability of him being affected by their fight if he stayed here. Advertisements The brand of the Holy God had lost its effect, which means if he strays too far, he would have to fight off the other Pollutants that were waiting in the shadows. Lu Yan considered his options briefly before he gave a terse nod and turned away. The Pollution Disease Prevention and Control Center in P City finally received the long-awaited help signal. The large number of distress calls from the past two days finally reached the other side, the backlog was heart-attack inducing¡ªthere were even many calls for help sent from the teaching assistants that were in the field. The two A-level Enlighteneds stationed in P City immediately took action and entered the botanical garden to assist in the evacuation of the students and field staff. In the confusion, many Pollutants escaped from the botanical gardens, although their overall pollution value was only three or four thousand, because of the large number of escapees, it was still annoying. The hiding place Lu Yan chose for himself was a pool. It had been tested with a detector, and there were no Pollutants in it. The pool was not too big or deep, so it was not a problem for Lu Yan to swim in it. Water was filtered through the gills behind Lu Yans ears, it was no different from breathing air. And the water source in nature was much better than the tap water in the Headquarters. Under the strong request of the System, Lu Yan stuck out half of his head from the pool and looked at the battle in the distance. [Look at how other people fight, then look at you.] Tang Xun¡¯an¡¯s fighting style was very similar to a CG movie full of violent aesthetics. Advertisements The big Banyan Tree was enormous; it was an extraordinarily tenacious living being. Thousands of roots burrowed out of the soil, these roots were pitch black, looking poisonous with sharp thorns visible on the ends. It didn¡¯t believe that this human, with a mutation degree as high as 97, dares to use his ability without restraint! But Tang Xun¡¯an dared. The roots and swaying branches were cut off one by one, red sap and green leaves falling to the ground. Within half a minute, they withered into yellow mud. The Banyan Tree roared, ¡°You forced me to do it!¡± The main roots of the big Banyan Tree extended far wider than everyone thought, almost the entire P city was within its reach. It didn¡¯t want to use this ultimate weapon. When it was still a tree, although ignorant and ugly humans always liked to carve on its trunk, the staff of the botanical garden would help to water it and keep pesky insects away. It still had fond memories and quite enjoyed their ministrations. Tang Xun¡¯an¡¯s sword was deadly, with his ability [Time] attached to each attack, the Banyan Tree continued to lose its vitality. The Banyan Tree finally had wisdom and life; it did not want to die. The entire P City was shaken as tree roots broke free from below. In the middle of the road, the asphalt was broken apart as thick tree roots rose up, latching on the nearest unsuspecting victim. Advertisements [Ability ¨C Life Extraction] This unfortunate civilian quickly became part of the Banyan Tree, their vitality sucked dry like sap, forever stuck to the tree root like dry bark. ¡°This¡­ what is this?!¡± The others who witnessed this strange phenomenon covered their mouths, screaming bloody mary as they fled in a hurry. The ground cracked and buildings collapsed. Many cars that were driving when the roots surged up collided, people attempted to flee, either by vehicle or foot, as cries echoed through the city. When the researcher standing above on the roof of a tall building witnessed everything, his eyes became dazed. ¡°Teacher, is this the future we expect?¡± He leapt down from the building. The originally weakening Banyan Tree suddenly gained strength, its aura near bursting with renewed energy. Tang Xun¡¯an could guess what happened, his expression was particularly unpleasant. ¡°Damn you.¡± A translucent golden yellow flame suddenly appeared on his blade. Advertisements This was the additional ability of the Dragon Bone, [Dragon¡¯s Breath]. It was just that Tang Xun¡¯an hadn¡¯t used this ability for a long time. The last time he used Dragon¡¯s Breath, he fell into a violent aftermath. It was another nightmare that, until now, he still did not want to recall. The golden-flamed blade smashed into the large tree trunk, a loud sound of gold striking stone resounded, causing the air to tremble faintly. Majority of the big Banyan¡¯s trunk was evaporated out of thin air by the extreme heat the blade emitted. Tang Xun¡¯an quickly sheathed his blade, cold sweat breaking out on his forehead. With trembling hands, he found the cigarette-like tranquilizer in the innermost layer of his uniform and lit it up. The big Banyan Tree spat out red sap. Its face was ferocious and twisted as it roared to the sky, ¡°Holy God! You despicable Pollutant! How dare you turn against me and defect to mankind! My spores will carry this message and fly with the wind to all parts of the world and let every Pollutant know of your treason!¡± The Banyan Tree spoke its last and fell to the ground heavily. All around it, the previously dormant white mushrooms exploded with spores in an instant. The concentration of these small particles was so thick that it was like a dense curtain of impenetrable fog had fallen, blocking the sky for a moment. When a gust of wind blew the spores were carried along towards the rivers and mountains. After this mighty move, all the mushrooms in the botanical garden withered and decayed in an instant. The Holy God, who was sleeping peacefully in the Kingdom of God, suddenly sneezed in its dream. The distant sound of helicopter blades came from the sky. Tang Xun¡¯an¡¯s eyes were covered by blood red tinge, he could vaguely see a human-shaped shadow walking towards him. Tang Xun¡¯an nose picked out Lu Yan¡¯s scent, but this was the last person he wanted to see right now. He held his sword in front of him and roared, ¡°Don¡¯t come here.¡± Stay away from me, please. This clean-up operation and final trainee examination was far more tragic than expected. A total of 29 trainees died, 11 were seriously injured, 3 teaching assistants died, and 1 senior researcher committed suicide. More than 700 civilians were killed and another 1,300 were injured in P city. And to make matters worse, they were unable to locate Subject 07. It was obvious that there was some misstep that went unnoticed in the middle. The main headquarters were furious. On the very same day, Gong Weibin, the current director of the First Research Institute, was invited to the bureau for tea. This matter was still under further investigation. After Lu Yan returned to the college dormitory, he did not see Tang Xun¡¯an. The other party probably went to write a debriefing report. Lu Yan ended up with a total of 53.7 student points. When converted into contribution points, it was 53,700. He got rich overnight, but that¡¯s all. The headquarters gave up the idea of ??holding a graduation party because they were afraid that everyone would be too traumatized from the difficulties experienced during the exam. Instead, a memorial service was held. On Saturday afternoon, Lu Yan dragged his suitcase and prepared to go back to his apartment in K City. Zhou Qiming said that he was also in City A recently, so he would come to pick him up. While he was waiting for the car, Instructor Tang, who had been away for a long time, stepped out of another car off to the side. Tang Xun¡¯an was still dressed in his standard black uniform, even the silver cross on the inner lining tie was not distrubed by the heat of early July. He walked up to Lu Yan and asked, ¡°Are you going back to K City?¡± Lu Yan, ¡°Yes.¡± After all, it was quite difficult to get a residency permit in A City. He also had to go to S City to buy a house in the school district for Director Hu¡¯s grandson. The atmosphere was silent for a while. They haven¡¯t seen each other for more than a week. The impulses they had had calmed down. Lu Yan admitted that he had improper thoughts towards ??Tang Xun¡¯an ¡ª but only to the Tang Xun¡¯an who would grunt and obediently tilt his tail at him. That was not the man in front of him, from whom he could feel a distinct sense of distance and alienation even from several meters away. And the current Tang Xun¡¯an would probably never bend to wrap his tail around him like the 19 years old Tang Xun¡¯an did, or rub against him in his arms. After all, he was a grown man and had his own sense of pride. Lu Yan suddenly asked, ¡°Did the things in the dream really happen?¡± Tang Xun¡¯an lowered his eyes and replied in a low voice, ¡°It happened, but there is no you in the past reality.¡± Sadly, the severe pain after the transplant surgery and the fear of being treated as a monster were what he experienced in full despair. Moreover, reality, Tang Xun¡¯an was forced to overcome them all alone. ¡°What happened to Professor Qiao in the end?¡± ¡°His lover saved him, and at the last moment, it was also Professor Qiao who saved me.¡± Otherwise, he might have been voted as a threat and euthanised. Tang Xun¡¯an knew everything. Lu Yan thought about it and said, ¡°I will keep it a secret.¡± ¡°I¡­¡± Tang Xun¡¯an wanted to say something else, but a car horn suddenly cut him off. Lu Yan turned his head and saw Zhou Qiming driving a pink convertible, honking his horn wildly on the street, head hanging from the window as he grinned, ¡°Yanyan! I¡¯m here to pick you up!¡± After speaking, Zhou Qiming waved his hand and raised a banner with white characters on a vibrant red background. ¡ª[Congratulations to my husband Lu Yan for successfully graduating in first place!] Behind him, the colored banners that the Detective and Chen Shi¡¯er put up at the same time were exceedingly festive and lively for a while. Lu Yan, ¡°¡­¡± System, [Pfft. Well, it looks like your first love is over before it even begins. ] Tang Xun¡¯an doesn¡¯t normally express many emotions, but at this moment, a look of astonishment appeared on his face. He looked at Lu Yan and wanted to ask, but Lu Yan just averted his eyes. Tang Xun¡¯an was not stupid, he already knew the answer. So, he gripped his sword in his hand and pursed his lips, ¡°¡­I still have work to do, I won¡¯t send you off.¡± After speaking, without waiting for Lu Yan to answer, he turned and left. Walking unexpectedly hastily, like a deserter. System, [It¡¯s obviously a movie of three people~~I still can¡¯t~~have a name~~~~~]1 ¡°Shut up.¡± Lu Yan whispered angrily. After all, what happened in the dream was fake. [The dream is false, but the feelings are real.] The System sighed, [I heard that dragons have two chirps, don¡¯t you want to try it? ] ¡°I don¡¯t want to at all, thank you.¡± Lu Yan replied blankly, ¡°And there aren¡¯t two, you shouldn¡¯t listen to rumors.¡± The System¡¯s tone was suddenly full of shock, [What?! How do you know better than me?!] Lu Yan didn¡¯t bother to reply, instead, he started towards Zhou Qiming, asking when he reached the car, ¡°What are you holding?¡± He was referring to the word ¡°husband¡± on the banner. ¡°On our side,¡± Zhou Qiming replied confidently, ¡°Sisters call each other husbands! Unless you want me to call you wife? It¡¯s not impossible either.¡± Lu Yan, ¡°¡­¡± He kind of felt like hitting someone. ¡°Is there a problem?¡± Lu Yan, ¡°¡­None.¡± Zhou Qiming opened the car door very enthusiastically, ¡°Come, Gege will take you to a nice restaurant! By the way, who were you talking to just now? He looked tall and handsome.¡± After speaking, Zhou Qiming looked above Lu Yan¡¯s head subconsciously. Because of his ability [Virtual World], he is able to view their ¡°title¡± that only he could see, as long as they get within a certain distance of himself. After a while, he took off his sunglasses incredulously, unable to hold back a curse, ¡°What have you been doing in this training?!¡± The title above a person¡¯s head could change at any time, but generally, there was only one. Lu Yan actually had two titles this time, one of which was a golden title with the highest rarity! [Dragon Taming Master] [Evil Cult Terminator (Intermediate)] The last time Zhou Qiming saw a golden title was when he passed by Tang Xun¡¯an at the Headquarters of the Prevention and Control Center in A City. Zhou Qiming thought for a moment. Tang Xun¡¯an¡¯s title seemed to be¡­[Black Dragon in Despair]?* The author has something to say: *Tang Xun¡¯an¡¯s dragon wings are from Nidhogg. Nidhogg means ¡°despair.¡± In Norse mythology, it was a black dragon that rests at the bottom of the world tree and constantly gnaws at the world tree¡¯s roots. When the roots are eaten, the tree of the world decays and the world perishes. ¡°How I Chased My Wife in Half a Minute¡± by Tang Xun¡¯an Book Introduction: (written by Xiao Tian) I¡¯ve been practicing blade for 100 years at the Headquarters, and my heart was as cold as my blade. Men only affect the speed of my blade. If Lu Yan asked me to fall in love, just forget I said it. CH 46 This chapter is translated by Kris Xian, translation checked by Kensi, and edited by Kikiji. SpecOps Division Headquarters. Tang Xun¡¯an walked into the innermost central building. The armed men guarding the door saluted him, and Tang Xun¡¯an nodded slightly in response. The guard didn¡¯t know if it was just an illusion, but Tang Xun¡¯an¡¯s expression today was particularly indifferent. Advertisements It vaguely seemed as if he was shrouded in a dark, murderous aura. Few people knew that underneath the central building, there were actually cells for special prisoners. As an institution associated with violence, the SpecOps Division had the leeway to be less humane in its approach when dealing with atypical circumstances. Rv¡¯p clld y ollj pkdnl bl nyxl swv sq vbl csvydknyz tyaeld. Mydt Dwd¡¯yd alrsavle vs vbl Tlyeiwyavlap lhlau eyu, pbsokdt lhld xsal ekzktldnl vbyd rlsrzl obs oyzj vblka estp. 07 oldv xkppkdt yqvla bkp yckzkvu qykzle. Slplyanbla Sld Dwyd nsxxkvvle pwknkel cu fwxrkdt sqq y cwkzekdt. Ylydobkzl, vbl clzklhlap sq vbl Ikdtesx sq Qse bye kdqkzvayvle vbl vaykdkdt vlyx. Xdl vbkdt zle vs ydsvbla; yzz sq vblpl kdnkeldvp rskdvle vs vbl Wkapv Slplyanb Rdpvkvwvl. Rdpkelap lhld pwprlnvle vbyv vbl Wkapv Slplyanb Rdpvkvwvl bye pvawnj y elyz okvb vbspl bktb-zlhlz Vszzwvydvp. Rdvlaastyvksd assx. Jyk Hl nyxl swv sq vbl kxrldlvayczu eyaj assx yde pktble blzrzlppzu. Mydt Dwd¡¯yd oyp pxsjkdt y nktyalvvl cu vbl essa. Mbl dlo vaydiwkzkgla oyp xkdv-qzyhsale. Mbl ralhkswp cyvvzl rwpble bkp xwvyvksd eltall wr cu iwkvl y ckv. Tl bye fwpv tsdl vs vbl Slplyanb Rdpvkvwvl y qlo eyup yts vs rknj wr y dlo eawt. Mbl xkaynzl eawt vbyv Mydt Dwd¡¯yd wple oyp dsv ulv sd vbl xyajlv ewl vs kvp bktb nspv sq xydwqynvwal. ¡°It was useless,¡± Bai Ze said. ¡°He indeed knows something, yet Hypnotism won¡¯t work on him.¡± Advertisements B-Class Support Enlightened, Bai Ze. Ability: Hypnotism, Clue Perception. This ¡°he¡± referred to the current director of the First Research Institute, Gong Weibin. Tang Xun¡¯an opened the door, walked in, and sat opposite Gong Weibin, who wore a scrutinizing gaze. The old man¡¯s hair was already gray, his hands were handcuffed in front of him, and even fleshy brown age spots could be seen under his thinning hair. He was also a researcher of Qiao Yu¡¯s generation, and additionally, was an Enlightened who had awakened the lower alternative of ¡°13th Ability Genetic Recombination¡±¡ª serial number 104, ¡°Gene Editor.¡± He was now almost 140 years old. When he saw Tang Xun¡¯an, the old man couldn¡¯t help but grin. ¡°I still adhere to my original opinion. You¡¯re by far the biggest unstable factor. Unfortunately, Director Qiao was always soft-hearted. Now 100,000 volts of high voltage won¡¯t work on you anymore, will it? As soon as your mutation degree exceeds 100, the black dragon of despair will return to this land, bringing true despair to the world¡­. I¡¯ve seen No. 0¡¯s painting, and you¡¯ve seen it too. We both know what the future looks like.¡± In the earlier days, Tang Xun¡¯an would have been provoked by such words, or in a fit of agitation, say something in defense. However, now, he just smoked quietly. He sat there quite calmly without much of an expression on his face, looking domineering. Long periods of silence often put pressure on the interrogated, and Gong Weibin was no exception, but his demeanor remained composed. He knew that with insufficient evidence and broken leads, Tang Xun¡¯an could do nothing to him. In fact, even his arrest was illegal. Advertisements Only when a cigarette was finished did Tang Xun¡¯an begin speaking. ¡°I have the ability of Time at my disposal,¡± he said. ¡°And I know better than you do that the future can be changed.¡± ¡°Different roads are destined to lead to the same results. It¡¯s like the way various rivers all inevitably pour into the same sea.¡± A sarcastic smile appeared on Gong Weibin¡¯s face. ¡°I admit that I don¡¯t like you. But I¡¯m well aware of your value to humanity at the moment. There are also more than 100 researchers in the First Research Institute, and I cannot indeed guarantee that everyone shares the same exact thoughts.¡± ¡°Likewise, you don¡¯t like me either. My spiritual threshold level is low, and I¡¯m also weak and old. Yet you still haven¡¯t pulled out Yellow Dust, have you?¡± Tang Xun¡¯an¡¯s golden eyes stared at him, cold and inorganic. For a moment, he released his killing intent. However, this killing intent was restrained by reality. The data from the First Research Institute, unfinished scientific research projects, responses from the remaining institutes¡­. The three relevant departments related to pollution diseases cooperate with each other, but rarely interfere with each other ¡ª which also meant that purging was carried out internally. This was primarily done in order to exploit the SpecOps Division. Historically, there had been cases of Enlightened belonging to the SpecOps Division, who, due to quarrels with logistics, had killed and created a sea of blood in a city¡¯s PDC. Weapons have to be controlled and bound by regulations at all times. Gong Weibin could be killed, but the consequences would be troublesome. Because of his special status, there were still many people backing him up. Tang Xun¡¯an did not want to disrupt this delicate balance for the time being. Advertisements Therefore, he changed the condition. ¡°I want the human transplant operation procedure at the First Research Institute to be terminated.¡± In the early days, transplants were mainly from Pollutants. The procedure was risky, incredibly costly, and came with severe rejection symptoms. Despite this, people at the time wanted to get stronger and had no other choice but to try this. Later, Gong Weibin invented the human ability transplant. Taking the ability of a newly awakened Enlightened with a low spiritual threshold and transplanting it to someone with a high spiritual threshold would better exert its strength. He researched for a long time, performed many illegal surgeries, and received many disciplinary actions. However, he still only dared to propose the idea of an ability transplant after Qiao Yu¡¯s death. Gong Weibin wanted to transplant the ¡°Gene Recombination¡± from Qiao Yu to himself for the extremely grandiose reason ¡ª ¡°For the future of humankind.¡± This was certainly not allowed, and as a precaution, Qiao Yu¡¯s students even chose to have their mentor¡¯s body cremated immediately after his death. Finally, Qiao Yu¡¯s urn was sent to the cemetery and buried with his deceased lover. After Qiao Yu¡¯s death, the original Research Institute was divided into 13 institutes, each of which now ventured into various fields of research. Nevertheless, the First Research Institute still had the highest level of scientific research contribution. Gong Weibin unhurriedly said, ¡°The donors we choose are all donating voluntarily, and they are predominantly volunteers who are old enough to die right away. The Research Institute is gratified by their contributions¡­.¡± ¡°If you don¡¯t agree, I will destroy the First Research Institute,¡± Tang Xun¡¯an replied with comparable seriousness. ¡°Just as you feel that I am an unstable factor for humanity, I also feel that your First Institute is likewise a societal unstable factor.¡± ¡°History has always been written by the victors. If you think that the experimental subjects under your hands can win against me, then by all means try.¡± Advertisements Gong Weibin narrowed his eyes to the size of soybeans. Since Director Qiao died, Gong Weibin became the director and took over No. 1 for almost fifty years. In the First Research Institute, Experiment Subject No. 1¡¯s spiritual threshold was actually already higher than Tang Xun¡¯an¡¯s. It is Gong Weibin¡¯s most outstanding work. He even felt that this work could perfectly replace Tang Xun¡¯an ¡ª No. 1 had no less combat ability than Tyrant, and a loyalty to the Research Institute that Tyrant completely did not have. Experiment Subject No. 1. Unregistered S-Class Enlightened, ¡°Hound,¡± with mutation degree of 67.3. Spiritual Threshold: 14, 700. Abilities: 23rd ¡ª Berserk, 129th ¡ª Fighting Expert, 271th ¡ª Teleportation, 273rd ¡ª Great Power. If Tang Xun¡¯an grew up in battle, then this hound took the complete opposite path. He was created out of the consumption of pills. ¡­It was just that it was not yet time to bring out ¡°Hound.¡± Gong Weibin thought for a moment and smiled, ¡°Deal.¡± Late that night, Tang Xun¡¯an finally finished his work for the day and went home. The summer heat lingered, the air conditioner was on, and in the living room, Xiao Tian watched the female anchor practice her dancing. When he was in a good mood, he would sometimes throw the anchor a few small rewards. He shared a bank account with Tang Xun¡¯an. The number of 0s on Tang Xun¡¯an¡¯s bank card was too much for Xiao Tian¡¯s two paws to count. In short, he was the big-time brother of many anchors in the field of live-streaming. Many female anchors have expressed their affections for him, but unfortunately, the difference between humans and dogs was insurmountable, much to Xiao Tian¡¯s regret. Like his owner, he¡¯s an old single dog. Recently, Xiao Tian noticed that his owner seemed to have somewhat changed. More specifically, he stood on the balcony every night, silently looking towards the direction of the Headquarters Training Base. Occasionally, he would suddenly smile foolishly. When he woke up every morning, he would unconsciously use his tail to hook the air next to him. Combined with the information he had previously received from his liaison, Xiao Wang, it was reasonable to deduce that his owner fell in love with a certain trainee with the surname Lu. Today was the official end of the institution¡¯s training. Tang Xun¡¯an had gotten up early and took out the jade pendant that his mother had left him, which had been sitting there untouched for a long time. What his mother said when she died was that she probably wouldn¡¯t have the chance to see Tang Xun¡¯an marry a daughter-in-law. If he met someone he liked in the future, she asked that he remember to leave this heirloom to him or her. However, today, as soon as Tang Xun¡¯an returned, he sat motionless on the sofa, his eyes out of focus. He still had the files sent by Headquarters at hand ¡ª Lu Yan¡¯s information. If Zhou Qiming was present, he probably would have seen a subtle shift in the golden title that remained unchanged for ten thousand years above Tang Xun¡¯an¡¯s head. It was approximately from ¡°Black Dragon in Despair¡± to ¡°Black Dragon with a Broken Heart.¡± Xiao Tian could keenly feel that there was something wrong with his owner¡¯s mood, so he thoughtfully turned off the live broadcast, ambled over to Tang Xun¡¯an, and presented his soft belly. ¡°Touch it, Human. Touch until you¡¯re satisfied.¡± Tang Xun¡¯an glanced at him and did not speak. Xiao Tian looked down. ¡°What happened to your treasure? The heirloom was rejected?¡± ¡°No¡­.¡± Tang Xun¡¯an replied, speaking slowly, word by word, ¡°It wasn¡¯t given.¡± Xiao Tian abruptly jumped three feet high. ¡°Why?! Bro, are you a coward? That¡¯s not your style!¡± ¡°He has a boyfriend.¡± As a person with a high sense of morality, Tang Xun¡¯an could not do such a thing ¡ª especially something like involving himself with someone who was already committed in a relationship. Xiao Tian immediately opened Taobao1 and searched: How to use witchcraft to break couples up? It was disappointing to find that such things had been blocked across the Internet because they involved feudal superstitions. Xiao Tian had to hold out his doggie paws and comfort him, ¡°It¡¯s okay. You¡¯re in good health, and Xiao Lu¡¯s boyfriend will probably die before you.¡± As he was speaking, the iPad screen lit up, and the Enlightened Forum app notified Tang Xun¡¯an of his newly received chat message. He didn¡¯t have this software on his phone, and his iPad was entirely used by his dog. Due to his first place ranking in the Forum, he would receive many private messages every day. Tang Xun¡¯an wouldn¡¯t usually look at it. Nonetheless, today, in order to divert his attention, Xiao Tian immediately opened the chatbox with a glance. ¡°Curious Listener? Who is this person?¡± Xiao Tian muttered to himself. He wasn¡¯t even done speaking before he was swept three meters away by his owner¡¯s hand, and he fell off the sofa in a genuine doggie paste. Curious Listener: To avoid unnecessary misunderstandings, I thought about it and decided it¡¯s still better to have it clarified. Curious Listener: I¡¯m single. Translator¡¯s Note CH 47 This chapter is translated by Rin and edited by Bluburry. Lu Yan was going back to K City today. Before leaving, Zhou Qiming said that since there were still 7 or 8 hours from the flight, why not have a meal at a restaurant first. He thought about it and felt that it was reasonable, since ordinary humans should have meals on time. Moreover, Lu Yan indeed needed some time to think about something. Zhou Qiming brought him to the restaurant that was said to have the best-tasting food in Yan Jing. Advertisements The restaurant was located in a villa area and was for members only. ¡°I have only heard about it and have never had the chance to try out the food. This invitation letter was even sent by a partner. I wonder how big the difference is compared to your skills in cooking, Dr. Lu.¡± Recalling the two meals eaten in the RV last time, Zhou Qiming¡¯s saliva trickled down the corner of his lips uncontrollably. Mbl aldshyvksd sq vbl hkzzy kvplzq yzalyeu nspv y ckzzksd uwyd. Lso, kv bye vbl qkdlpv kdtalekldvp yde nssjkdt vlyx kd vbl osaze. Mbl nwpvsxlap obs nyxl vs vbl alpvywaydv olal olyakdt xypjp yde byhkdt xlyzp yzsdl kd rakhyvl assxp. Mbkp alpvywaydv bye dlkvbla xldwp dsa y dyxl. Gzz kv alzkle sd oyp vbl xykd nblq¡¯p nssjkdt. Mbl rzyvkdt sq vbl qsse oyp elzknyvl yde yasxyvkn. Tsolhla, Hbsw Ckxkdt yde Nw Zyd tzydnle yv lynb svbla yp vblu csvb qswde psxlvbkdt see. Rd vbl alpvywaydv, ds xyvvla oblvbla kv oyp xlyv sa hltlvyczl, vblu yzz nyxl qasx Vszzwvydvp. Gzvbswtb vblu olal yzalyeu rasnlpple, vblka olyj rszzwvksd hyzwl nswze pvkzz cl qlzv. Ebkzl kv oswze dsv nywpl saekdyau rlsrzl vs xwvyvl, kv nswze ynv yp y pvkxwzydv, nywpkdt sdl¡¯p prkakvwyz rsola vbalpbsze vs kdnalypl. ¡°R jdso vbyv vbl Valhldvksd yde Usdvasz Uldval yde vbl Tlyeiwyavlap plzz vbkp jkde sq xlyv vbyv byp clld rasnlpple. Rv¡¯p y rasnlpp rzyd rasxsvle cu vbl Flhldvb Slplyanb Rdpvkvwvl,¡± Hbsw Ckxkdt pyke kd y zso hsknl, ¡°Jwv xspv rlsrzl obs nsxl vs byhl xlyzp blal yal elqkdkvlzu saekdyau bwxydp.¡± ¡°Zlp, R¡¯hl blyae sq kv. Xd vbl qakdtlp sq xydu rszzwvle yalyp ycasye, vblal yal xydu xlanldyaklp obs yal dsv Odzktbvldlep, yde kdpvlye nzykx vs cl ¡®Pkpypvla Twdvlap¡¯, bwdvkdt zso-zlhlz Vszzwvydvp yp kdtalekldvp, ¡± Nw Zyd alrzkle. These kinds of low-level Pollutants were normally human in form. This meant that they were humans before death. Advertisements Compared to animal mutation, human-form low-level Pollutants had much lower pollution value and combat power. Thus, the two of them were not able to continue eating. They had heard that these kinds of restaurants were popular in other countries. [They are not only popular, but they are also a symbol of status and position. If major influencers in IXS have not gone to restaurants like this, their reputation will even be doubted.] The System¡¯s voice sounded enigmatic. On the way to sending Lu Yan to the airport, Zhou Qiming sighed, and felt a little upset, ¡°The ones that experience hardships are always ordinary humans, rich people have even started to eat Pollutants.¡± Lu Yan thought for a while. ¡°Pollutants can indeed be used as a type of resource.¡± In Tang Xun¡¯an¡¯s dream, Lu Yan stayed in the research institute for three months. Occasionally, he would also take a look at the cultivation of the Pollutants. The researchers would raise some small animals, more often plants, to expose them to pollution sources and become Pollutants. They would then kill the plants in their early growth stages and remove the useful parts as ¡°special materials.¡± In addition, there were also ¡°special materials¡± which were hunted from outside that were regularly sent by the SpecOps Division. [You are becoming more and more like a rational person*. ] The System said. Lu Yan said, ¡°This is not a positive word.¡± When he got on the plane, he took out his mobile phone, opened the friend list, and sent Tang Xun¡¯an a message. [Wasn¡¯t your attitude unshakeable before? ] The System imitated his tone and said calmly, [¡°I like the cute Xiao Tang, not the current century-old Tang.¡±] Advertisements Lu Yan¡¯s mood had always been stable, but at this time, he actually had the urge to shut the System¡¯s mouth close. The flight was very smooth. After 7 hours, the plane Lu Yan was sitting in arrived successfully. He switched on his phone and pressed into the Enlightened Forum¡¯s private message interface. There were only a few people on the contact list, and he did not have strangers normally privately messaging him. Therefore, the default profile picture at the top was very attention-seeking. Tang Xun¡¯an: Okay Tang Xun¡¯an: Then can I have your personal contact number? Lu Yan: LY20971111 The System asked, [Am I watching some kind of male high schoolers campus daily dating show?] Lu Yan kept his phone away expressionlessly and said, ¡°You can choose not to watch.¡± When he reached K City, it was already 4 in the morning. Unexpectedly, almost at the same time he had sent out the message, WeChat had notified him of a new friend request. Advertisements The WeChat account was XUNAN. Other than Tang Xun¡¯an¡¯s account, he didn¡¯t have any other people in mind. But the note sent was incomprehensible to Lu Yan. Note: I am Xiao Tian Although Lu Yan didn¡¯t go to bed until 5 am the day before, his tenacious biological clock made him still wake up at 7 o¡¯clock. Today, he would need to go to the Prevention and Control Centre in K City to report on his work and update his employee card. Then, take the high-speed train to S City. At S City, he had to buy a school district house for Director Hu¡¯s grandson. He returned to the Headquarters and was particularly welcomed by Director Li. ¡°Mr. Lu, congratulations on your successful return from training. My colleagues working in Yanjing said that you are the first rank in the training for new employees this time.¡± Lu Yan nodded and answered calmly, ¡°Lucky.¡± He went to the medical examination area and took a simple physical test. He now had a spiritual power threshold of 2100 and a mutation degree of 13.2, reaching the standard D-Class. After reaching D-Class, Lu Yan had unlocked more access to authority. At least the Enlightened Forum¡¯s functions that opened for him were more complete. Advertisements The System sent a message, notifying him that he had obtained the right to join the ¡°Intermediate Title Enlightened Leaderboard.¡± The leaderboard is compiled once a year, and a point system is used according to the strength of the pollution sources that are cleaned up. If one was on the list, one could receive additional resources from the PDC every month. After entering the top 10, there was also the ¡°fusion surgery¡± qualification provided by the Third Research Institute, which could help one install special items stripped from Pollutants on oneself for free, regardless of nationality. In fact, fusing Pollutants had always been a dangerous thing. Slight carelessness would cause complete distortion. It was just that Lu Yan, relying on the System, had been so reckless, yet he had always succeeded. Intermediate Titles: C, D-Class Enlightened. Advanced Title: S, A, B. By right, S-Class should be classified as More Advanced Title. However, there was only one S-Class Enlightened in the whole forum, he would be too alone, so he had to be grouped together with the A and B-Class. Lu Yan simply scrolled through, there were only 50 positions on the leaderboard. The class of the Enlighteneds was also unmistakably in a pyramidal structure, with about 10,000 people competing for this position. He clicked on his information bar and it showed ¡°Contribution is being calculated,¡± so he closed the forum with little interest. Lu Yan went to the logistics department and exchanged the points he had accumulated in the training center for three months of hard study for contribution points. He finally bought the silver longbow that he had been longing for ¡ªmuch earlier than he had expected. There was an obvious, contented look on Lu Yan¡¯s face. It looked like a warm spring breeze, making his face seem very gentle and moving. The System said at an inopportune time, [This bow costs 30,000 contribution points, is a B-Class psionic weapon, and the price is still fine. However, this bow is not easy to carry. Furthermore, rather than selling it for money, the PDC obviously uses it for decorative purposes. By comparison, that C-Class dagger suits you. ] Lu Yan retorted, ¡°But it¡¯s nice-looking.¡± The System, [¡­¡­]. ¡°Poison Fang¡± under the System¡¯s suggestion. It was a C-Class psionic weapon, priced at 10,000 contribution points. It was coated with poison and had an intense effect on physical Pollutants. The dagger could be directly hidden on the body, which was indeed a lot more convenient. Lu Yan was still thinking about the school district house for Director Hu¡¯s grandson. After he finished gathering supplies, he started to walk to the high-speed rail. He was carrying a controlled knife that was dangerous at first glance, and logically, it would not have been able to pass the security check. However, after showing his employee card, Lu Yan was successfully taken to the special passage and boarded the high-speed rail with his precious weapon. The officials not only arranged special passages but also prepared a separate carriage. The conductor smiled and said, ¡°I received a notice from the Headquarters earlier that our high-speed rail had a reservation for the staff of the SpecOps Division. Therefore, a special carriage was specially prepared for you. I wish you a pleasant journey.¡± Lu Yan was the only one in this carriage, with a movie screen, a game console, and even a bed. He could not deny that after joining the SpecOps Division, the preferential resources given really involved all aspects of life. [It is both preferential treatment and isolation.] The System¡¯s response to this was calm and even secretly mocked Lu Yan for never seeing enough of this world. K City was not far from S City. It took less than 2 hours by high-speed train. As an international metropolis and a national financial center, S City was extremely prosperous and full of vitality. The streets were full of young people with hope. Another advantage of joining the SpecOps Division was that no matter where he was, board and lodging would be provided. It saved Lu Yan a lot of accommodation expenses. Each city¡¯s PDC had a special reception center. Food and drink were free, and one could live there for a lifetime. In S City, the staff in charge of Lu Yan¡¯s reception was a woman. Lu Yan glanced at her and found that she looked a little familiar. There were three words written on her work badge: Du Weiwei. ¡°A few months ago, you were in K City, right?¡± Du Weiwei¡¯s face showed an expression of surprise. ¡°Ah, my hometown is in K City, but I came to S City for university. I went back to my hometown during Chinese New Year and happened to encounter the pollution disease. I have indeed stayed there for quite a long time. I just graduated university this year and initially wanted to go back to collect the rent¡­¡± However, after experiencing the pollution disease personally, Du Weiwei realized that she wasn¡¯t able to rest comfortably and peacefully. She still remembered the hopelessness of being stuck at home, and how the staff of the SpecOps Division barged into her house by breaking the door during her most desperate moment. She wanted to do something. Even if she was just an ordinary person and the power she could contribute was also minuscule and almost significant. Lu Yan added, ¡°I know, your house was a building.¡±1 The expression on Du Weiwei¡¯s face was still dazed, and then, as if remembering something, she suddenly said, ¡°You were the one downstairs wandering around that night! Dammit, you actually joined the SpecOps Division! Are you coming to S City to perform a mission?¡± ¡°To buy a school district house.¡± Lu Yan was not really familiar with S City, ¡°Which is the best elementary school in S City?¡± Du Weiwei said without hesitation, ¡°It¡¯s definitely the elementary school of X Middle School in the Red River Area.¡± In the neighbourhood near the elementary school, the house price was about 20,000 yuan per square meter, making it unaffordable to most people. Fortunately, for Lu Yan now, a house worth 20 million was only worth 2,000 contribution points. His balance was more than enough to buy 10 sets of it. Contribution points could be exchanged for cash, but cash could not be exchanged for contribution points. The next day, Lu Yan began to look at houses under the agent¡¯s guide. Considering practicality, he mainly planned to buy finished houses. The kind of house that one could move into right away. In the end, Lu Yan chose a second-hand house with a total price of 27 million. Since he didn¡¯t plan to stay in S City for too long, he made a one-time payment. On the same day, the purchase agreement was signed with the landlord. The real estate agent almost hugged his leg and called him Daddy. The next day, he still had to pay taxes and go to the Department of Housing Management to transfer the house deed. Probably because the relevant departments had notified the Housing Management, Lu Yan was given the green light during the whole process and things went very smoothly. By right, once the house was purchased, the transaction was over. Nonetheless, the landlord approached him enthusiastically and said, ¡°Xiao Lu is not a local, right? To tell the truth, there have been some problems with the business recently. The house you bought is a solution to my urgent needs. ¡°Just in time, I¡¯m going out to talk about business tomorrow.¡± His voice lowered a bit, ¡°Do you know the Mermaid Clubhouse? It¡¯s a very famous place in S City recently.¡± Lu Yan¡¯s eyebrows raised. ¡°What is that?¡± ¡°Isn¡¯t the pollution disease causing the mutation? A group of people living by the sea grew fish tails.¡± The landlord lowered his voice, ¡°Now, they have been living on the island and have built a resort. The clubhouse has been built for many years. It used to be a place that the dignitaries liked and it is finally open to the public. ¡°To be honest, I have a cruise ticket to that island. Seeing that you are a straightforward person, I won¡¯t squeeze money out of you, just 1 million, do you want it? In other places, you can¡¯t see real mermaids.¡± After speaking, the landlord smiled with a wretched smile that meant ¡°every man understands¡± on his face. ¡°I have heard that although these mermaids have different biological structures from humans, they all have genital atriums regardless of their genders, they are said to be the best in the world.¡± ¡°Growing a fishtail, doesn¡¯t that make them a distorted person?¡± Lu Yan asked the System. He recalled the fish-headed mermaid he had seen in K City and suddenly felt nauseous. The System said, [It¡¯s not a distorted person, it¡¯s a Pollutant. This Mermaid Clubhouse, I recommend you go there.] ¡°Why?¡± He was not interested in mermaid genitals. The System thought for a while and said, [You may be able to meet your father.] Away from the mainland, to the west of the sea, Shen Qingyang lay weakly on the reef by the shore. In July, the sun was at low latitudes, so it was much brighter than expected. He felt certain that his tentacles were now fried and cooked. ¡°The black dragon you mentioned, why hasn¡¯t it come yet?¡± Shen Qingyang¡¯s voice was weak. In front of him was a copy of ¡°Three Years College Entrance Examination Five Years Mock Exam: Science Stream Comprehensive Edition.¡± Because of repeated usage and flipping through the pages, it had almost fallen apart. The Prophet sat aside. ¡°Supposedly, it should be coming, since it¡¯s like that, I¡¯ll go take a look.¡± The last prophecy had made him seriously injured. During this period of time, the Prophet had not used his Abilities. He closed his eyes and opened them after only a brief moment. His human eye was bloodshot red. ¡°¡­The future has been altered! Why, this is impossible?!¡± ¡°What do you mean?¡± The Prophet said weakly, ¡°¡­The black dragon won¡¯t come anymore.¡± Shen Qingyang immediately raised his tentacles angrily and slapped them on the sea, causing water to splash several meters high. ¡°I¡¯ve waited here for three months and even missed the college entrance examination! Now, you tell me that we have actually been waiting in vain?¡± The Prophet was speechless for a moment. ¡°You don¡¯t even have an identification card, how would you go take a college entrance examination?¡± Shen Qingyang¡¯s heart hurt so much that his tentacles curled up. ¡°It¡¯s different, I¡¯m not like you, I¡¯m a mimetic. I can knock out any candidate with bad grades on the street and steal his admission pass and help him finish the college entrance examination. With my current level, it¡¯s no problem to score more than 600 points in the test!¡± The Prophet: ¡°¡­¡­¡± He felt a little urge to refute but was stunned to find that this seemed to be fucking feasible. ¡°It¡¯s alright, don¡¯t be sad. You still have next year.¡± The Prophet comforted him, ¡°If you like, you can take the test every year. Now that you can score more than 600 points, if you repeat studying for another year, you¡¯ll score even higher. The person you like will definitely look at you with admiration.¡± Shen Qingyang¡¯s emotions calmed down. ¡°You¡¯re right, Teacher. Where are we going now?¡± He had had enough of this island with no signal. The Prophet bent his fingers, counted, and said, ¡°Go to S City. The fish I raised can be collected now.¡± The author has something to say: *Rational person: An economic concept, referring to a ¡°reasonable person.¡± That is, people who can recognize and pursue the maximization of personal interests. PS: For some well-known reasons, the text will avoid mentioning the government and related departments (desperate to survive). Therefore, there are only three relevant institutions: the Pollution Disease Prevention and Control Center, the Special Operations Division, and the Research Institute. The background isn¡¯t even on Earth!!! (shouting loudly) PPS: Tomorrow is the college entrance examination, I wish all candidates to do well in the exam! Proofreader¡¯s Note CH 48 This chapter is translated by Hoenimochi, translation checked by Rin, and edited by Bluburry. It was said there would be no rewards without risk. However, due to various factors, Lu Yan finally bit the bullet and paid the fee to buy the entry ticket to the Mermaid Clubhouse ¡ª along the way, he marked the landlord as a suspicious person. This ¡®marking¡¯ was also a privilege of the staff of the SpecOps Division. When they felt that a person/s they have come into contact with may be polluted, they could create a ¡®mark¡¯ and upload it to the system, and special staff would come to investigate later. S City was a big city of debauchery and possessed the earliest financial market in the world. The businessmen of S City created countless schemes to get rich overnight. Naturally, there were countless places to drain one¡¯s fortune. Advertisements Anyone could enjoy everything here as long as they had money to spend. Therefore, it didn¡¯t seem that incomprehensible that there was a ¡°Mermaid Clubhouse,¡± where humans could appreciate Pollutants. What Lu Yan brought was a ferry ticket. Gnnsaekdt vs vbl zydezsae, vbl Ylaxyke Uzwcbswpl oyp zsnyvle sd yd kpzyde dlya F Ukvu? yde oyp srld qsa byzq y xsdvb lhlau xsdvb. Gv 7:00 yx sd vbl 15vb sq lhlau xsdvb, twlpvp okvb vknjlvp oswze csyae y nawkpl pbkr kd y wdkqkle xyddla. Rd vbl Ylaxyke Uzwcbswpl, kq sdl caswtbv vbl vknjlv, vbl raknl oswze yzps ldnsxrypp qall qsse, eakdj, yde zsetkdt. Rq sdl oydvle vs lmrlakldnl psxl prlnkyz rastayxp, sdl oswze dlle vs prlde xsdlu. Jlnywpl vbl zsnyvksd sq vbl Ylaxyke Uzwcbswpl clzsdtp vs vbl Gs Lyd Frlnkyz Gexkdkpvayvkhl Pkpvaknv, vbl zydezsae lhld lprlnkyzzu alxkdele Nw Zyd vs cakdt bkp rypp. Mblal olal pvkzz 3 eyup wdvkz vbl 15vb. Nw Zyd rzyddle vs elyz okvb vbl vaydpqla sq Pkalnvsa Tw¡¯p taydepsd qkapv. Gzvbswtb kv oyp y ckv vaswczlpsxl vs vaydpqla y nbkze okvbswv y czsse alzyvksdpbkr vs bkxplzq wdela bkp nyal yde qkdydnkdt, Nw Zyd qlzv vbyv vbl VPU oswze elqkdkvlzu byhl y pszwvksd. Tsolhla, obyv pwarakple Nw Zyd oyp vbyv yqvla tkhkdt vbl kdqsaxyvksd ycswv Pkalnvsa Tw¡¯p taydepsd, Pw Elkolk vsze bkx okvb y clokzelale zssj, ¡°Ya. Nw, vbl kdqsaxyvksd pbsop vbyv Pa. Tw¡¯p psd, eywtbvla-kd-zyo, taydepsd, yde okql yzz rypple yoyu pkm ulyap yts clnywpl sq y nya ynnkeldv.¡± Bpwyzzu, Pkalnvsa Tw oyp yzoyup pxkzkdt yde jkde-blyavle. Eblvbla kv oyp ewakdt kdqsaxyvksd sa okvbkd y taswr sq qakldep, bl oswze yzoyup pbyal pvsaklp ycswv bkp qyxkzu. Rd Nw Zyd¡¯p kxralppksd, Pkalnvsa Tw¡¯p qyxkzu oyp byrru yde rasprlaswp. Mbyv oyp psxlvbkdt vbyv Nw Zyd eke dsv ldhu, cwv czlpple bkx okvb. Whenever Director Hu talked about his family, other doctors in the operating room would always go along with the conversation with a smile. Advertisements Du Weiwei sighed, ¡°After awakening, Director Hu¡¯s mental state became a little abnormal. However, after analysis by the psychiatric evaluator, this abnormality was not considered aggressive or dangerous, so he was still accepted to join the SpecOps Division.¡± A lot of Enlighteneds¡¯ was mentally unstable, and it was not a joke. Tranquilizers and meds were things that most Enlighteneds needed to take with them on a daily basis. Even someone as calm as Lu Yan had inevitably eaten a few tranquilizer mints at work. Lu Yan was silent for a long time, ¡°Okay, I see.¡± On the morning of the 15th, Lu Yan arrived at the agreed port on time with a small suitcase. He had considered whether to tell the SpecOps Division or the PDC, but right now, the treatment of Pollutants still seemed to be a grey area. The answer to the question of whether or not Pollutants have human rights: obviously they do not. Therefore, Lu Yan simply reported his absence and set off alone. After several rises in levels, he changed to a SpecOps Division mobile phone. This kind of mobile phone could intelligently detect nearby pollution values ??with one click and monitor its handler¡¯s mutation value through Bluetooth. It had functions that included navigation, positioning, and customer service, which was much more convenient than using his previous watch. It was just a little expensive. It cost him 200 contribution points. Early in the morning, the luxury cruise ship docked at the ferry port, with beautiful neon lights on the cabin displaying a beautiful mermaid pattern. At exactly 7 am?, the cruise ship opened multiple entrances simultaneously. To Lu Yan¡¯s surprise, there were actually a lot of passengers boarding this cruise ship. Advertisements Hundreds of people, male and female, ages ranging from young to old, seemingly anyone could board so long as they paid. Judging from their clothes, they were all from wealthy families. They carried more or less luxury goods, and some women even wore evening gowns, revealing their wealth and education from the tips of their hair to their designer shoes. It made Lu Yan, who dressed like a college student, look out of place. After verifying the authenticity of the ticket, Lu Yan boarded the cruise ship without showing any extra documentation. Because there was no need to spend the night on the ship, the cruise ship did not have guest rooms. The upper and lower floors were full of restaurants and entertainment facilities. Free for tourists. It was no wonder that a ticket could be sold for a sky-high price of one million, and the demand often exceeded the supply in the market. ¡°The Mermaid Clubhouse should be quite profitable.¡± Lu Yan said to the System. Otherwise, they wouldn¡¯t have spent so much money on arranging and decorating it. Lu Yan even saw a golf course and a helipad parking bay along the way. System, [There is quite a profit, with the elders of the black industry chain backing it up. After all, at a time like this when the social order has not completely collapsed, money is still very useful.] [Oh, by the way, just to remind you¡ª The security guards in the Mermaid Clubhouse are all Enlighteneds.] Not all Enlightened joined the SpecOps Division. Some were free spirits by nature, unwilling to join, but were willing to be supervised, such as Zhou Qiming. Some of them simply had a criminal record, or their mental state was erratic, and couldn¡¯t pass the psychological evaluation process. There would always be people who, after suddenly gaining power that put them above ordinary people, felt they should also gain privileges above the law. Advertisements For example, there are some who have awakened their Hypnotic ability and would go to hypnotize wealthy businessmen and female stars. Another example was of an Enlightened who awakened a combat ability, but because he couldn¡¯t control the violent emotions in his heart, he would go on to kill people to vent. Not only were such people ineligible to join the SpecOps Division. They were even on the internal wanted list, and they would be treated as Pollutants if one were to meet them. Lu Yan was good-looking. Or rather, his facial features align perfectly, and his body¡¯s proportions were extraordinarily perfect. Like a CG model dummy. Therefore, even if he just stood on the deck to enjoy the breeze, wearing an ordinary white T-shirt and black shorts with a pair of sneakers, as common as any college student, countless pairs of prying eyes fell on him. [Do you think being beautiful is a burden?] The System suddenly asked. Lu Yan replied, ¡°No. I know it is something that many people want.¡± Although Lu Yan was occasionally troubled by it, in the process of growing up, he enjoyed the privileges brought by beautiful skin more. The people around him were always gentler, and the elders were always kinder. Even when he went to the cafeteria to eat in college, the auntie would give him two more pieces of meat. System, [But for Mermaids in the Mermaid Clubhouse, being beautiful is a burden.] [Solemn warning to the host: Be careful of Mermaid-cons.] After Lu Yan politely rejected the sixteenth person who came to strike up a conversation, the cruise ship finally sailed off into the pink sea. Advertisements All around, there were a lot of surprised exclamations, ¡°The sea water in Mermaid Bay is really pink!¡± The setting sun gave this pink sea a beautiful hue of rose-like gold. As the salty and humid sea breezes blew in, the beautiful mermaids sang loudly from the reefs in the distance. From this distance, those on the cruise ship obviously weren¡¯t able to make out the tune of the music, but it sounded melodious and heartwarming. The Mermaids lounged on the rock edges, beautiful fish tales swirling the water below them as they sing. Lu Yan¡¯s eyesights were sharp. When the ship got a little closer, he could even see the scales that lined the Mermaid¡¯s belly. This was not a fake fish tail, but a real fish tail that grew from the lower body, and the scales were shining in the setting sun. The Kingfish swam inside his body with a slight restlessness. This was the real voice that belonged to the siren. Many people were so fascinated by the song that they seemed to be reminded of the best memories in their lives, some even shedding tears of happiness as they recalled fond memories. Lu Yan was no exception, but he was only lost in thought for a moment before he returned to his senses. He turned on his phone and looked at the pollution value on it: 120. There was no doubt that the Mermaid Clubhouse was a polluted area. The Mermaids¡¯ singing on the reef were probably Pollutants too. The only thing that puzzled Lu Yan was that these Mermaids were unrestrained, but they didn¡¯t seem to be aggressive. There were already tourists who got off the ship earlier and drove over gleefully on tenders to take pictures with those beautiful Mermaids. From beginning to end, the Mermaids wore smiles with just the right curvature. Lu Yan¡¯s hand touched the knife under the loose hem of his T-shirt and felt a little more at ease. The System said, [You know, the singing of these Pollutants does make people think of the best time in their lives.] [I admit, I shouldn¡¯t be peeking into your head at a time like this, but I am All-Knowing after all. Even if I just glanced at it, I can¡¯t pretend to not see it¡­ I thought that I would see your transcript of 727 points in the college entrance examination, or how you successfully became the chief surgeon of the First People¡¯s Hospital in K City. No matter how bad it was, it might¡¯ve even been you spending your birthday with your mother when you were a child.] The System faintly sighed, [But I really didn¡¯t expect that what I saw was actually that dragon waving its tail towards you¡­ Isn¡¯t this too perverted, Host?] Lu Yan replied expressionlessly, ¡°Shut up.¡± CH 49 This chapter is translated by Hoenimochi, translation checked by Rin, and edited by Kikiji. After Lu Yan got off the boat, he received a room card. Only then did he know that the clients of the Mermaid Clubhouse were also classified by grades. People like him who only paid 1 million for a ticket belonged to the lowest level of customers called ¡°Grey Tail Customers,¡± and there were also the upwards levels of ¡°Blue,¡± ¡°Red,¡± and ¡°Gold.¡± There were a large number of Grey Tail Customers, who could only live in ordinary rooms. They served as a group for comparison to give those actually rich people a sense of the disparity of experiences. Advertisements 3 million were the Blue Tails, 10 million were the Red Tails, and 50 million were the Gold Tails. However, even the ordinary rooms were at the level of five-star hotel suites. In the room, there was a floor made entirely of transparent glass about one meter wide. The pink sea below it could be seen rippling faintly, providing a very beautiful and moving view. Nw Zyd vssj bkp cso yde yaaso swv sq bkp pwkvnypl yde bwdt vblx sd vbl clepkel. Tl ypjle, ¡°Mbl twlpv assx kp ps nzspl vs ply zlhlz. Rpd¡¯v vbl nzwcbswpl osaakle ycswv vbl akpkdt vkel?¡± [Ls, vbl Vszzwvydvp blal jdso bso vs nsdvasz vbl oyvla. Gde lhld kq vbl vkel akplp vss bktb, vbl sdlp obs easod qkapv yal usw Qalu Mykzp obs zkhl sd vbl taswde qzssa.] Nw Zyd oypd¡¯v osaakle ycswv easodkdt, cwv bl eked¡¯v oydv vbl oyvla vs akpl wr yde olv vbl pbllvp kd vbl xkeezl sq vbl dktbv. Tl nblnjle kv qasx vsr vs csvvsx, yde vblal oyp ds pwahlkzzydnl kd vbl assx. Tsolhla, obld bl alynble vbl cyznsdu, Nw Zyd blyae vbl pswde sq vbl vkel bl bye dsv blyae qsa y zsdt vkxl. Ebld bl qkapv qwple okvb vbl Ikdtqkpb, vbl pswde sq snlyd oyhlp dlhla zlqv Nw Zyd¡¯p lyap. Nyvla, yp bkp prkakvwyz rsola vbalpbsze kdnalyple, vbkp dltyvkhl cwqq tayewyzzu pwcpkele. Rv byp yzalyeu clld y zsdt vkxl pkdnl bl¡¯p blyae pwnb y nau. Tsolhla ¡ª Nw Zyd qsnwple sd kv nyalqwzzu ¡ª kv oypd¡¯v vbl pyxl pswde sq vbl snlyd oyhlp yp clqsal. Mbl Fupvlx pyke zygkzu, [Rv¡¯p Ylaxyke Jyu¡¯p vkel.] Gv pkm kd vbl yqvladssd, vbl wdkqsaxle pvyqq jdsnjle sd vbl essa kd y vkxlzu xyddla yde caswtbv ekddla. Lu Yan¡¯s nose was very sharp. He reacts strongly, especially to the fishy smell of aquatic animals. Advertisements He smelled it. The waiter had the faint smell of the sea, which was masked under a fresh patchouli scent. ¡°Good day, sir. Since it¡¯s your first day on Mermaid Island, we have taken it upon ourselves to bring you dinner with a map of Mermaid Island and its precautions. In addition, the buffet restaurant located on the 2nd floor is open 24 hours a day. There will be no extra charge. May I ask if you would like to dine?¡± Lu Yan gave an affirmative, ¡°Yes.¡± The staff stepped forward and placed the plate on the table before bowing deeply and leaving. There was an iron western food lid on the dinner plate. When Lu Yan lifted the lid, the red meat inside sizzled as the aroma of the oil overflowed. It was steak, garnished with a few sprigs of rosemary and served with a generous dollop of cheese and cherry sauce on the side. It looked tempting and delicious. He smelled it, and it wasn¡¯t normal livestock meat either, but Pollutant meat. The meat wasn¡¯t even processed by the Research Institute. The pollution value had already surpassed 5, which completely exceeded the standard of being safe for consumption. Lu Yan eats Pollutants. The extra mouth that grew out of him existed especially to eat this kind of thing. However, when the Pollutants were served in the form of food, for some reason Lu Yan did not really have any appetite. He couldn¡¯t help but remember the information he had seen before. Every year, there would always be a few tourists who come to Mermaid Island and refuse to listen to the advice given. They would insist on swimming into the deep water area and eventually disappear. ¡°Will this be the kind of food that will be served for the next half month?¡± Advertisements System replied, [The meat on this island is all pretty much the same, dear. You can choose to be a vegetarian. At least the plants are still safe~] Lu Yan¡¯s appetite was indeed reduced due to the contamination, but he couldn¡¯t stop eating completely. Therefore after settling in, Lu Yan chose to go to the restaurant on the second floor. The restaurant was no different from some of the posh buffet restaurants he¡¯d seen on TV. The only difference was that there was a large performance stage in the middle of the hall. In addition to a symphony orchestra playing music, there was actually a pool of water. A particularly beautiful red-tailed Mermaid smiled and fiddled with a harp with slender fingers. The Mermaid had hair that curled like ocean waves and wore Greek robe-like performance clothes. A necklace of pearls and gemstones interwoven around his neck, and his lower body consisted of a red fishtail nearly two meters long. Overall the Mermaid looked charming and melancholic. Just glancing at the Mermaid provoked the crotches of many wealthy businessmen to swell up. [Red Tail Mermaid, E-level pollutant, pollution value 300. Under manipulation.] [Ability: Enchantment.] [Mutational course: Mermaidization, Beautification.] Lu Yan was a little surprised. ¡°Being beautiful is actually a mutational course?¡± Advertisements [Being offensively beautiful can also bring harm to people. Want to try becoming beautiful without pain? Mermaid Island Plastic Surgery Center is here for you.] Lu Yan picked up his plate and began to fill it with vegetables, fruits, and eggs. If one didn¡¯t eat meat, they could only rely on fatty fruits and eggs with high protein content to maintain their nutritional intake. Fortunately, the supplies on Mermaid Island were indeed abundant. Lu Yan asked, ¡°What do you mean by being manipulated?¡± [I mean it literally.] ¡°Who is manipulating it?¡± [The big boss behind the scenes, the black-hearted businessman, the streetlight capitalist.]1 ¡°Is he the boss of the Mermaid Clubhouse?¡± Lu Yan thought for a moment and asked. [Don¡¯t ask. As a rule, I can¡¯t spoil anything.] A staff member approached Lu Yan and inquired softly, ¡°Sir, I see that you haven¡¯t even chosen your main meal. Do you need me to give you a recommendation?¡± Lu Yan responded, ¡°No need. I am a Han Buddhist. I am currently devoting myself to the practice of spiritual development, and only eat a vegetarian diet.¡± Advertisements The waiter¡¯s expression was very surprised. ¡°So you are a master. Excuse us for our offense¡­ But master, we still have many upcoming Mermaid performances here¡­ It may break your rules and regulations. How about you¡­?¡± He has been working on Mermaid Island for several years, and this was the first time he has encountered a Buddhist. Lu Yan put his hands together. ¡°Don¡¯t worry, I don¡¯t have that kind of worldly desire. Flesh and body are just organic matter, the product of delusional egoism.¡± The waiter, ¡°¡­¡­¡± Not many people came to the restaurant to eat tonight. As Lu Yan was eating, the chair opposite him was pulled away. ¡°Hello, my name is Shang Zhou.¡± The young man opposite smiled at him. ¡°I¡¯m a travel vlogger.¡± Shang Zhou was quite good-looking. He asked, ¡°Did you also come because you won the Little Sweet Potato lottery?¡± In his eyes, Lu Yan didn¡¯t look like a rich man so he shouldn¡¯t have been able to pay the 1 million entry fee. Little did he know that the other party had just bought a school district house that cost almost 30 million plus tax. ¡°No,¡± Lu Yan thought for a moment and asked, ¡°There¡¯s still a lottery draw? What¡¯s the quota?¡± ¡°Yeah. There¡¯s a total of 20 quotas. At that time, tens of thousands of people shared the post and I was lucky enough to win the lottery,¡± Shang Zhou spoke on one side while turning on his mobile phone on the other. But then, he ¡°Huh¡±-ed for a moment. ¡°The lottery has been deleted. Maybe it¡¯s because the event has already ended. Can I add your contact information? I also came here alone. We can hang out together.¡± The System said indifferently, [He¡¯s gay. Also, tens of thousands of shares were all from a water army,2 and only 20 living people were selected.] [These living people include both males and females. They are all, without exception, good-looking and come from unfortunate families. Either their parents died, or they value boys over girls, or they had cut ties with their original families and their parents don¡¯t care about them. The real goal is simple ¡ª so it will be easy to deal with after death by just giving some money.] Lu Yan didn¡¯t really add friends, but he still agreed. Mermaid Island was a bit weird and his strength alone was still too weak, so he needed a few sources of information. On top of that, Shang Zhou¡¯s appearance matched the System¡¯s background introduction. In Lu Yan¡¯s eyes, he had already become a fish on the chopping block. After making an appointment to ¡°visit Mermaid Island together tomorrow,¡± the two bid farewell politely. The second floor was a restaurant, and the third floor offered a variety of wellness programs, including foot-soaking, ear-picking, massages, and other services. After Lu Yan finished his meal, he couldn¡¯t help going to the third floor for a stroll. He came out refreshed. ¡°The master here has really good skills,¡± he said. ¡°It¡¯s comparable to the old Chinese medicine doctor in our hospital¡¯s Rehabilitation Department.¡± Additionally, their attitudes were warm, the private room was also very spacious, and the experience was first-class. The System was shocked. [You seem to really be here to travel?] Lu Yan felt that since that 1 million was spent, it was not a big problem to enjoy himself occasionally. Grey Tail guests were prohibited from entering the clubhouse from the 4th floor upwards ¡ª unless Lu Yan chose to pay 2 million to upgrade immediately. [The 4th floor is the casino. The 5th floor gives the opportunity to have sex with the Mermaids, and there are others for those who don¡¯t want Mermaids. The 6th floor houses the presidential suites for Gold Tail visitors. The 7th floor is the headquarters of the clubhouse.] [In addition, the 4th floor will be open to all visitors for the last few days. That¡¯s why Mermaid Island was built near the Ao Nan administrative district.] Lu Yan didn¡¯t pay the money to upgrade but instead chose to go back to sleep. Before he¡¯d left, he slipped a piece of paper into the crack of the door, out of sight from the outside. Now that the door has just been opened, the white piece of paper fell off. The only thing on it was a clear, visible crease. Good. No one had been in his room. The bed was a spring mattress from Simmons3, and it was very comfortable to sleep in. But Lu Yan was suspicious. He had a persistent feeling that there was someone in the room. The wardrobe was opened several times, and he even checked under the bed. But it was all empty. He asked the System, ¡°Is anyone there?¡± [Not at the moment.] ¡°That means there will be in the future?¡± [Probably.] Because of this, Lu Yan lay down from 11:00 pm to 3:00 am without falling asleep. His hands were covered under the quilt, and he held the C-class psionic weapon, ¡°Poison Fang,¡± tightly in both hands. At 3:20, everything was silent. The tourists who¡¯d headed down to the beach to have a barbecue all one by one walked back to their rooms to sleep. Lu Yan hasn¡¯t fallen asleep yet, and the sound of tidal waves churned in his ears. It was at this moment that he heard the impact of something slamming against the glass. Lu Yan opened his eyes and got up. The motion sensor light by the bedside automatically turned on and a blanket of warm light was cast over the room. He looked towards the source of the sound. On the transparent glass floor, a frog¡¯s webbed palm was strenuously tapping on the glass. This evoked some bad memories for him. But Lu Yan was already someone who has experienced the bigger world. He picked up his dagger, walked up to the glass floor, and looked down from above. A terrifyingly ugly fish face was pressed up against the glass. No emotion could be seen from its dull, lifeless eyes, but from the incessant tapping of its hand, it can be seen that it was somewhat anxious. This Osta was a little different from the Osta in K City. It has no teeth, and its head resembles that of an anglerfish, having grown out a fin ray from which hung a round light-emitting device that gave off a faint blue light. Its fish head was broad, while its body was small, resembling a frog. There were also several knife wounds on this Osta¡¯s body as if pieces of flesh had been dug out of thin air. Some places were already rotting and giving off a smell. It was a scene that ordinary people wouldn¡¯t dream of even in nightmares. After seeing Lu Yan, the Osta opened his mouth wide, revealing his oral cavity ¡ª it was empty, with no teeth or even a tongue. He simply wanted to show that he was harmless, but he didn¡¯t know how terrifyingly ugly his actions were with that face. Thankfully Lu Yan has already gained a lot of experience, so no fluctuations appeared in his heart at this sight. [Breeding Meatfish. One of the distorted people who still retained their sanity and remained on Mermaid Island. Also part of the last batch of lucky tourists who came to travel.] The System sighed, [He smells the ¡°fish¡± on you. He came here to ask you to go with him and leave Mermaid Island. They can push you out of this surrounding sea. As for the follow-up, there is no guarantee.] ¡°They?¡± [Over the past few decades, there were probably hundreds of such Meatfish.] The System said, [The meat eaten by the Grey Tail tourists is also cut from these Ostae. After eating, some of them will awaken to become Enlighteneds, and these lucky ones will be selected to become Meatfish. Enlighteneds have healthier bodies and don¡¯t die as easily. That streetlight capitalist does things with a bit of a bad taste ¡ª their mutation degrees are kept from reaching 100 and therefore be completely reduced to Pollutants without emotion and sanity.] [These Meatfish have also tried to escape, but in the end, they will all be led back by the sirens¡¯ singing. Some are lucky enough to get out, but they will also be swallowed up by Pollutants on the seabed.] [So, these Meatfish united to help others out of this fate. Unfortunately, not everyone will appreciate it.] Almost as soon as the System finished speaking, a scream rang out from a nearby guest room¡ª ¡°Help!! There are monsters!!!¡± The author has something to say: To explain the streetlight capitalist: I found several versions on the Internet, and the original words were Lenin¡¯s: ¡°For the sake of profit, capitalists will sell the rope to hang themselves.¡± Some people said that ¡°capitalists should hang on streetlights with ropes,¡± and so came the term, ¡°streetlight capitalists.¡± The word ¡°streetlight capitalist¡± used in this article is simply the source of all evil, the boss behind the Mermaid Clubhouse. Over. (Desperate to survive) Bonus: [Tang Xun¡¯an¡¯s Diary of Chasing His Wife] (Small theatre, for pure entertainment, please do not substitute the text) Today, I received a message from the liaison officer that Lu Yan went to the Mermaid Clubhouse. The liaison reassured me that he just made the same mistake men all over the world make and that, of course, I should choose to forgive him. I do not understand. Are fishtails really better looking than dragon tails? CH 50 Translated by Kris Xian, translation checked by Kensi, and edited by Bluburry. The scream came from a male Internet celebrity who had been staying up all night. He was named Jack, and his real name was Ma Jie. Because it didn¡¯t sound refined, Ma Jie never introduced himself as such and only used his English name. His family was not well-off and his father was seriously ill, so he had to support his younger siblings¡¯ education. Initially, he was a straight man, but he had found out that gay people were more popular with Internet users and brands,1 Therefore, he also set-up a gay persona. After a few years of hard work, his deposits finally had a six-digit figure starting with 1. Ma Jie didn¡¯t have the money to buy the ferry ticket, but he had won the lottery. Advertisements Unsurprisingly his superficial brothers were envious as the Mermaid Clubhouse was a famous upscale club. Jack had seen the prosperity of the big city and was reluctant to return to the small county. Not to mention the Mermaid Clubhouse had a high-end atmosphere that completely entranced him. Nowadays, this Internet celebrity was busy thinking about how to catch a blind rich woman like the male protagonist in ¡°Titanic¡± had. Mblal oyp ds dlle qsa vbl aknb osxyd vs cl yp clywvkqwz yp Sspl. Ohld kq vbkp aknb osxyd oyp bktb xykdvldydnl, bl nswze ldewal kv qsa vbl pyjl sq xsdlu. Kwpv yp bl bye nsxl swv sq vbl vwc okvb y vsolz oayrrle yaswde bkx yde bye pvyavle vbkdjkdt ycswv kv, Kynj blyae psxl cydtkdt sd vbl qzssa. Mbl vaydpryaldv qzssa oyp tsatlswp; vbl rkdj ply oyvla clzso yrrlyale tldvzl yde pollv. Rq bl rspvle kv sdzkdl, bl nswze lypkzu tyvbla xsal vbyd y bwdeale zkjlp. Tsolhla, Ylaxyke Uzwcbswpl pyke vbyv kd saela vs yzzso xlxclap vs clvvla ldfsu zkql, vbl dlvosaj pktdyz oyp czsnjle. Rv¡¯p fwpv vbyv Yy Kkl eked¡¯v lmrlnv vbyv sdl eyu bl oswze pll y xsdpvla vbaswtb vbkp tzypp. Yy Kkl bye psxl wdelapvydekdt sq vbl rszzwvksd ekplypl. Gqvla yzz, vbl nswdvau oyp hktsaswpzu rasxsvkdt vbl ralhldvksd yde nsdvasz sq rszzwvksd ekplypl, yde xydu Rdvladlv nlzlcakvklp bye clnsxl rsrwzya clnywpl sq zkhl casyenypv ekpvsavksdp, cwv vbkp oyp kdelle vbl qkapv vkxl bl bye plld y Vszzwvydv wr nzspl. Rv oyp qya xsal vlaakqukdt vbyd bl bye kxytkdle. Mbl yrrlyaydnl sq vbl ekptwpvkdt qkpb blye yde elqsaxle cseu xyel bkp obszl cseu psqvld, yde kv oyp y zsdt vkxl clqsal Yy Kkl piwllgle swv y casjld pnalyx qasx bkp vbasyv. The scream scared off the Osta under the glass and attracted the staff of the Mermaid Clubhouse. Advertisements Ma Jie cried and screamed, clamoring to change rooms, saying there was a monster at the bottom of the sea. Nevertheless, the staff reassured him repeatedly that it was just an illusion. ¡°I apologize, Sir. We don¡¯t think you¡¯re in a very stable mental state,¡± a security guard seriously said, ¡°If you keep insisting this, we¡¯ll have to send you back to S City for the sake of the other members¡¯ comfort.¡± Ma Jie cried, his tears streaming down his face like a weeping beauty. Nonetheless, the security guards were unmoved. They had already seen more mermaids than the number of sponsors Jack had ever received. Ma Jie, who looked handsome, could only be considered as someone in the middle tier here in terms of beauty. For the sake of his ambition, Ma Jie had to tearfully promise that he would not fall for the illusion again and that he would no longer argue about changing rooms. The security guards left feeling satisfied. If Ma Jie had a detector, he would have probably been shocked to find that his mutation degree had risen from 0 to 7 in just one night. Mermaid Clubhouse, 7th floor. Gold and silver plated things could be seen everywhere, with only gold leaf being the cheapest decoration here as an accent to the Hetian jade floor. The ten Golden-tailed members who had feather masks covering their faces sat at the table. Because of the fancy masks, the faces of these golden-tailed members could not be seen. However, there was no doubt that everyone was a ¡°big shot.¡± The combined wealth of these ten people may account for three percent of the world. To become a Golden-tailed member, in addition to the invitation letter, a payment of a $50 million membership fee was also required. Advertisements Some of them had even had ¡°transplant¡± operations. However, they probably relied more on their bodyguards than their own ability. Fresh meat dishes were served by the waiter. The food here was countless times better than what the guests at the bottom ate. ¡°Welcome to the Mermaid Clubhouse. You must have known the content of our 15-day game from the invitation letter. Give it a try. These are the fresh ingredients I bought from the Slaughterhouse at a high price.¡± At the head seat of the long table, a handsome man smiled. He had dark blue eyes, slightly long hair, and deep-sculpted features like someone who was mixed-race. Slaughterhouse was also among the top 10 polluted areas in the Enlightened Forum. It was a meat processing plant located on the outskirts of X City, but no one had ever seen it, let alone knew its exact location. Reportedly, when an order was sent to X City¡¯s post office, a Butcher would come and deliver the meat door-to-door on demand. It¡¯s just that the Butchers charged depending upon their will. Often, customers who could not afford to pay were forced to mortgage a part of their body to a Butcher, sometimes an eye, tongue, or a hand. ¡°Thanks to your grace, I¡¯ve had a chance to eat pork from Slaughterhouse which I never had before.¡± An elegant lady spoke unhurriedly. ¡°It¡¯s the highest honor of our Clubhouse to have your appreciation,¡± the man replied. Advertisements At the dinner table, the only man without a mask was the founder of the Mermaid Clubhouse. No one knew his real identity, therefore, everyone here called him ¡°Boss.¡± The old gentleman with number 03 said, ¡°30 years ago, you looked like this. I¡¯ve now gotten old, yet you still look so young¡­¡± The boss smiled and replied, ¡°After all, I have been injecting the mermaid gene with anti-aging properties. I can also give it to you if you want.¡± The old gentleman shook his head, ¡°I don¡¯t dare ask for your things. Without paying a thousand percent, it¡¯s never possible to make a deal with you. I can¡¯t afford to pay for the price of an eternal life.¡± His words made the lady who was originally eager to inquire suddenly calm down. The boss smiled and didn¡¯t refute it. He spread his arms and an intoxicating smile appeared on his face, ¡°We are gathered here today to celebrate the annual beauty contest once again.¡± The lights in the hall went out in an instant. Behind him, 20 large screens lit up. ¡°This time, the Clubhouse staff found a total of 20 Preparatory mermaids. Disregarding their names, the contestants behind me are numbered 01 to 20 sequentially.¡± In the corner of each screen, different Arabic numerals appeared. ¡°Those stupid Meatfish will definitely remind us how lovely our Mermaids are.¡± The boss smiled, ¡°Unfortunately, as is customary, we never put surveillance in the Mermaid¡¯s bedroom despite how much I want to know how they behave¡­ We better watch the promotional clips that were shot along the way.¡± ¡°Let¡¯s all look forward to who will get the most votes from the judges and become the most expensive golden-tailed Mermaid!¡± Advertisements As he finished speaking, different images appeared on the screen, all sneak peeks from various angles of the cruise ship. These were all recorded using high-definition surveillance from the same ship they came from. There were 20 beautiful faces, both male and female, but the one that caught everyone¡¯s attention the most was undoubtedly the young man with the number ¡°6.¡± He stood on the deck as his hair was blown by the wind. He had an expressionless face, but he was more perfect compared to even an evolved Mermaid. A young man pointed to Lu Yan¡¯s face and said, ¡°On the cruise ship that came, I saw him. I hope that on the last day of the auction, everyone can give me a face.¡±2 [Every year, the Mermaid Clubhouse selects a number of lucky tourists, ranging from 10 to 30, from all over the country. Afterwards, in July, they are called to Mermaid Island in different ways.] [These lucky tourists are the Preparatory Mermaids of the Mermaid Clubhouse. The 15-day journey is a pleasant holiday for others, but for them, it¡¯s a desperate nightmare.] The System slowly introduced the background. [Those Golden-tailed guests, who¡¯re streetlight capitalists wearing masks, will be on the highest floor to watch the distortion of Preparatory Mermaids through monitoring.] [There was a bit of an accident this year. Your ferry ticket originally belonged to a landlord¡¯s daughter. However, this landlord secretly opened his daughter¡¯s parcel and sold the ticket.] [In other words, you¡¯re being treated as a Preparatory Mermaid.] [There is no surveillance in the room, but this Mermaid Island is full of one.] The System continued to say, [Maybe the only thing you can be thankful for is that in this country, the growth of Enlighteneds is slow, therefore, your combat strength can already be ranked in the top ten among the Enlightened in this entire island.] Except for some abnormal situations caused by pollution sources, Lu Yan¡¯s mobile phone could be located at any time; he didn¡¯t have to worry about having no Internet. At this time, Lu Yan turned on his phone, and the signal status displayed on it was ¡°No Service.¡± He was already aware that every time he needed to call the PDC, the mobile phone was always 100% without signal. Lu Yan pressed the glass. His palm touched the Osta¡¯s webbings from across the transparent floor. The Osta had been treated as a monster too many times. He was already desperate, but Lu Yan¡¯s unusual reaction made him involuntarily excited. He opened his mouth wide, trying to speak, but because of the absence of vocal structures, his fish lips could only open and close feebly beneath the water surface. The System listened carefully for a while and replied, [He hasn¡¯t communicated with people for a long time, and now his language ability has regressed to the point where he can only produce some babbling. It may be better if you can encounter some Meatfish that didn¡¯t have a high degree of distortion.] ¡°What is the ability of these Enlightened who turned into Osta?¡± Lu Yan asked. A slight smile could be traced in the System¡¯s tone, [Guess where the First Research Institute finds so many voluntarily given abilities?] [How come the Mermaid Clubhouse has not been discovered by other Enlightened organizations for so many years?] Lu Yan¡¯s lips pursed, and his expression became colder. He inserted the knife into the gap in the transparent glass. If it was done by an ordinary person with an ordinary knife, it was naturally impossible to do so. However, his knife was a psionic weapon. He was also a D-Level Enlightened. It wasn¡¯t a problem to pry open the tempered glass. Seeing the dagger, the Osta thought it was aimed towards him and subconsciously blocked his head with his arms. The light bulb above his head fell down, clearly reflecting his abnormally ugly face. He slowly opened his eyes after realizing that Lu Yan didn¡¯t make any extra moves. Lu Yan asked, ¡°Can you still understand me? Give me your hand.¡± He sounded like he was back in his days as an intern at the hospital. At that time, Lu Yan was on duty in the pediatrics department and used that tone when speaking to children who were a few years old. He always had a strong ability to imitate others. Lu Yan was not only liked by wild animals but also liked by wild children. The Osta hesitated for a moment and then held out a wet hand. The hand had no skin and was covered in scales, with some vaguely visible muscle tissue. Thin white threads protruded from Lu Yan¡¯s sleeves and their ends attached to the Osta¡¯s head. The Osta¡¯s pollution degree was high, but because his own spiritual threshold was too low, the Kingfish swallowed it for a long time. Lu Yan¡¯s mutation degree only went up by 0.01. On the contrary, the eyes of this Osta obviously grew more intelligent. The Kingfish took the initiative to retract its white tentacles. It was impossible to reduce the Osta¡¯s pollution degree to 0. The Osta looked at Lu Yan, still with that terrifying fish face, as his mouth opened and closed. [He said, it¡¯s dangerous here. He wants you to leave Mermaid Island before you become completely distorted. He and the other Ostae can send you out.] Lu Yan asked, ¡°What will happen after I go out?¡± [Once the streetlight capitalists3 find out that there is a contestant missing, in order to save himself, he would activate an emergency plan and escape from Mermaid Island overnight with his assets and beautiful Mermaids. If he can¡¯t stay in the country, he can go abroad at ease. The wealth he has accumulated can allow an ordinary white-collared employee to work from prehistoric civilization to human extinction. He could totally open a new clubhouse by then.] [This Mermaid Island is built on an active volcanic crater. That streetlight capitalist can let the volcano erupt and flood the island at any time.] [At that time, all the crimes he committed will sink to the bottom of the sea along with the island, and no one will ever know about it, leaving behind a white expanse of land that was so clean and free of traces.] Lu Yan did not reply for a long time, but lowered his eyes, as if he was thinking about something. The System couldn¡¯t help but ask, [What are you thinking about?] Lu Yan replied in a low voice, ¡°Thinking about that streetlight capitalist and what color of streetlight he likes.¡± Translator¡¯s Note: CH 51 This chapter is translated by Hoenimochi, translation checked by Rin, and edited by Mika. [I admire your courage. But I would recommend you stay here, no one can go out except through that cruise ship.] The System said leisurely, [ I¡¯ll help remind you that although the land security level of Mermaid Island is average, the Golden-tailed Mermaids in the sea are not characters that are easy to deal with.] Lu Yan didn¡¯t answer the System, but said to the Osta, ¡°I¡¯m not leaving, I want to destroy this island.¡± A dumbfounded look appeared on the Osta¡¯s monster-like face. The best they could think of was to let the survivors flee. Advertisements This was his eighth year as an Osta. When they were still human, the well-to-do life gave them the ability to learn love, courage, and responsibility. Many who had been reduced to this ugly Meatfish had tried to fight back. Fsxl pdwnj kdvs vbl Ylaxyke Uzwcbswpl, vaukdt vs pvlyz y rbsdl vs pralye vbl vawvb; psxl prldv ulyap takdekdt vblka qkdtladykzp qzyv, oakvkdt y oyadkdtp sd vbl allq yde eayttkdt vswakpvp vs pll; svblap vakle vs lpnyrl vbl rkdj ply yaly, cwv yqvla vblu poyx cynj yde qsavb, vblu yzoyup alvwadle vs vbl pyxl rzynl¡­¡­ Plnyelp byhl rypple. Fsxl Xpvyl ekle y xkplayczl elyvb yde olal clblyele kd rwczkn; svblap nswze dsv clya vbl elpryka yde nbspl vs nsxxkv pwknkel. Fsxl Xpvyl pkxrzu yppkpvle vbl lhkzesla, fskdkdt vbl srrspkvksdÒ»vbl Ylaxyke Uzwcbswpl vbyv vwadle vblx kdvs vbl xsdpvlap vblu olal dso. Mbkp yaly sq vbl ply pllxle vs cl kpszyvle, yde vblal oyp dsvbkdt wdelaoyvla lmnlrv qsa vblx, vbl Xpvyl. Yydu Xpvyl nswze sdzu qlle vblxplzhlp sd plyolle yde yztyl. Tsolhla, obld vblu nbspl vs fskd vbl Ylaxyke Uzwcbswpl, vbl Xpvy oswze pkxrzu blzr vbl pvyqq vs nyvnb svbla Xpvyl yde lyv vblka qzlpb vs qkzz vblka pvsxynbp. Mblu eked¡¯v lhld dlle vs nwv vbl xlyv qasx vblxplzhlp1 yduxsal. Mbkp Xpvy eked¡¯v czyxl vblx. Gqvla yzz, yqvla clnsxkdt yd Xpvy, bl yzps dllele vs lyv. Mblu olal wple vs pwnb y eyaj zkql. Fs xwnb ps vbyv obld Nw Zyd pyke bl oydvle vs elpvasu [He said, it¡¯s impossible.] Advertisements [The Clubhouse has been here for decades. No one has ever managed to escape. It¡¯s like a round crystal ball that keeps everyone inside.] [And the boss of the clubhouse can control the mermaids. Those mermaids are Pollutants. Much stronger than Ostae like them.] ¡°I¡¯m the Enlightened of the First District¡¯s SpecOps Division.¡± Lu Yan said to him, then pulled out his employment card, ¡°Trust me.¡± When the Osta came to Mermaid Island, the global pollution disease was not as serious as it is now, as such they had never heard of any SpecOps Division. However, when he looked at the national emblem on the employment card, the Osta¡¯s expression widened in shock and he became visibly excited. Even his eyes couldn¡¯t help but get watery. The Osta gestured at him twice, motioning Lu Yan to wait. He wanted to tell the other Ostae the good news, and then, he would make his plans. Lu Yan glanced at the width of the glass and jumped directly into the water. His line of sight switched, thankfully, his night vision still worked underwater. Nevertheless, inevitably, he wasn¡¯t used to it. Lu Yan stopped breathing through his nose and didn¡¯t feel suffocated. After fusing with the Kingfish for the first time, he discovered that the time he could hold his breath underwater became extraordinarily long. Even more so since the gill slits grew behind his ears, now, returning to the water felt more like coming home. Ostae had no vocal cords and cannot speak in the air. However, at the bottom of the water, Lu Yan heard a cooing sound. [He asked you how long you can hold your breath.] Lu Yan didn¡¯t open his mouth, lest the water would pour in. Instead, he gestured for the Osta to continue moving forward. Advertisements The Osta took him to their gathering place. If someone were to look down from the sea from above, the whole of Mermaid Island was like a water droplet, something similar to half of the Yin-Yang symbol. The Mermaid Club was built on the head of the symbol while the beach and other recreational facilities are on the back of the symbol, and the cruise ships rest on the center between the two. The place where the Ostae live was far away from Mermaid Island. It was a stretch of the sea floor covered with dark red seaweed, similar to large strips of kelp, that floated gently with the current. Like a quiet fairy tale world. It was also the last warmth of Mermaid Island. The Osta let out a few strange cries from within his chest cavity. One by one, fish heads poked out from the seaweed, some of their self-mutilations were quite serious; the flesh of the fish on their bodies had been cut down to the skeleton, their eyes sightless and reeking of decay. Some still retained their human features, except that their heads and faces began to flatten, their limbs became shorter, and their lips were bulging. Their appearance was similar to the ¡®deep divers¡¯ in myths and legends. [Some of those with a low mutation degree were the Enlighteneds who have only awakened in the last year.] The System said, [When the body starts to appear different, the boss will send the doctor on the island for treatment. The doctor will tell them that they might be accidentally polluted and need to seek treatment. At this time, other staff will pretend to be tourists and tell everyone how terrible pollution disease is, saying ¡°I have a friend who was dragged to the Prevention and Control Center and burned to death,¡± and stuff like that, trying to break down other people¡¯s inner defenses. ] [At this time, the doctor will appear again. Telling them that he knows a specific staff member at the Putian Facility2¡­ Oh, no, the staff of the Research Institute. The staff could help to solve pollution diseases, but the fees are very expensive.] [These people are quite rich and could sometimes afford spending much money, but they will put down their guard in this situation.] [Then, they will sign an informed consent form. They would then be sent to a cruise ship for an ability-removal surgery. In short, it was a whole set of scams that is quite complete!] The System¡¯s tone was full of ire, [Unfortunately, when such a set of well combined scams are played out, someone will always be fooled.] Advertisements [As soon as the surgery is done and the anesthesia wears off, this group of people would then find out they¡¯ve become an Osta.] ¡°The ability transplant operation, how exactly is the operation performed?¡± In Tang Xun¡¯an¡¯s dream, Lu Yan followed other researchers to study Pollutant transplant operation for three months. But he really didn¡¯t know what the principle of ability transplant operation was. [There is a special surgical instrument, which is a type of Pollutant¡¯s beak, it¡¯s not difficult to operate using it.] [First, you Insert the beak through the crown of the patient¡¯s head and the Pollutant will automatically suck out the Enlighten¡¯s pineal gland. It takes about 40 minutes. The beak would then be removed, and the pineal gland is frozen for transportation. Pretty unscientific right? But the patient¡¯s ability is definitely contained inside this gland.] If that was all they did then these people would be extremely weak at best. They wouldn¡¯t have just suddenly become an Osta. But this time, after the main procedure, the unscrupulous doctors would give the patients a tube of DNA ¡ª something that was stripped from Pollutants. For example, the boss, who gave himself the ¡®Mermaid gene¡¯; and these Enlighteneds, naturally were given the ¡®Osta gene.¡¯ A group of Ostae surrounded Lu Yan. The Ostae with low mutation degrees¡¯ came up curiously when they saw Lu Yan, while some Ostae with high mutation degrees¡¯ showed hostile expressions. The Ostae let out a burst of cooing noises, and soon, the young Ostae followed suit with a look of joy on their faces and followed to produce them. Nonetheless, the older Ostae were still faintly hostile. It was like some kind of big fish gathering. Compared with the beautiful Mermaid¡¯s singing, the voices of these Ostae were too unpleasant on the ears. Advertisements There was something strange about the Ostae. For some reason, he felt that the older Ostae seemed a little unwelcome to Lu Yan. Their mutation degree was too high, their thoughts were not very clear, and they just repeated the words ¡°liar¡± and ¡°liar.¡± Lu Yan couldn¡¯t understand them, but the System could. [Ah, they seem to think of you as that¡­] The arrival of a Mermaid shattered the joyous atmosphere of the place. ¡°You fools, you really don¡¯t learn from mistakes.¡± The Mermaid let out a cold laugh, ¡°Don¡¯t forget, the boss loves to give hope and break it.¡± Lu Yan looked towards the source of the sound. A Grey-tailed Mermaid traveled from far to near, carrying a large fish basket. It contained live, swimming fish and some fresh vegetables. Compared with other Ostae, this Grey-tailed Mermaid was so much better looking, with a face covered in pretentious heroism. The Osta made a frightened cooing sound and hid behind Lu Yan in fear. [The name of this mermaid is Xu Guanyue, he was originally an Osta, but later defected. He joined the Mermaid Clubhouse and is now in charge of harvesting the Ostae. It is hard for me to judge what kind of person he was. To say he was a good fish, yet he acts as the hand of the evildoer and cuts the flesh of the same kind very skillfully. Because of his many years of contribution to the Mermaid Clubhouse, he has been injected with Mermaid genes, and he has changed from an ugly Osta to a beautiful Mermaid.] [To say he was a bad person yet again if it wasn¡¯t for him saving food and feeding these Osta every day, most of the Ostae here would starve to death. In the past, there were many Osta escape incidents, and he has also been secretly assisting them. ] [In the past few decades, there have been many Osta joining the Mermaid Clubhouse. There are about more than a hundred. He is one of the best of these renegade Osta alve today because of his extraordinarily hard work.] Unable to speak underwater, Lu Yan found a reef and climbed up. Xu Guanyue opened the fish basket and let the fish out. He gave those Ostae some time to eat, then he stuck his head out of the water. ¡°I¡¯m the Enlightened sent by the Headquarters.¡± Lu Yan explained as concisely as possible, ¡°Mermaid Island is a front for a terrible ability transplant operation. You were all awakened Enlightened and subsequently underwent the ability transplantation surgery without your knowledge.¡± Xu Guanyue¡¯s expression was indifferent, ¡°I know. I even sent some to the cruise ship for surgery.¡± Lu Yan looked at his expression and said, ¡°There would be others who would¡¯ve done this even if you chose not too, so you don¡¯t need to blame yourself.¡± Xu Guanyue was just an insignificant screw in the industrial chain. He could choose not to do it, but someone would always have to. The reason Xu Guanyue did it was to give the other survivors room to live. The boss might know what Xu Guanyue was thinking, but he didn¡¯t care. Enlighteneds who had no abilities were at most physically stronger than others. Xu Guanyue simply wouldn¡¯t be a match in comparison to the other Mermaids at all. ¡°Before, it was about fifteen years ago. Some people came to Mermaid Island and said that they were Enlighteneds¡¯ and they were here to save us.¡± Xu Guanyue¡¯s expression remained cold, ¡°I remember him, he looked a lot like you. But I¡¯m sure you¡¯re not the same person, you don¡¯t have that disgusting smell on you.¡± Lu Yan replied, ¡°The one you met is probably my biological father. He did a lot of evil in his lifetime, but now he has become a Pollutant. I¡¯ve been searching for him, I plan to kill him.¡± Xu Guanyue pursed his lips, his eyes bursting with bitter hatred, ¡°Because I believed him, half of the Ostae here died, either from self-inflicted wounds or infighting. He and the boss stood on the cruise ship and poured champagne into the sea to celebrate. The waters of Mermaid Bay turned from green to pink. It was a scene I¡¯ll never forget.¡± His hands clenched into fists. Lu Cheng deceived them. He said that he was an Enlightened with spatial ability and that the Ostae couldn¡¯t get out because they were isolated by space. Then, he said he could take them out with his abilities. When hundreds of Ostae reached the edge of the coast, Lu Cheng said that his ability was not strong enough, so he could only take half of them away. The Mermaid who had become Pollutants sang songs at this time. The singing evoked the deepest longing and the darkest side of these Ostae. They want to go home. Which human nature will always shine brightly? Everyone wanted to get out of this hellhole. As they started losing their minds, the strong Ostae killed the thin and weak Ostae who were unwilling to quit. In the end, it was the two masterminds behind the scenes, laughing loudly on the deck. [Your father is good for nothing.] The System couldn¡¯t help but comment, [You should quickly kill him.] Lu Yan replied, ¡°I agree.¡± After recounting this painful past, Xu Guanyue¡¯s eyes were alert, ¡°So, how can you prove that you are not another scam?¡± Following his words, several Ostae with abnormally high mutation levels stuck their heads out. Their flesh had been pretty much cut from their bodies, but their mouths were full of large, sharp teeth. Without a satisfactory answer, these Ostae wouldn¡¯t mind tearing Lu Yan to pieces. [Show your fish scales,] The System faintly said, [and tell them you¡¯re all in this together. With your face, it will be compelling.] Hearing this, Lu Yan lifted his wet sleeves and let golden fish scales emerge from his arms, ¡°I am this year¡¯s chosen Mermaid.¡± CH 52 This chapter is translated by Rin, edited by Kikiji, and proofread by Kris Xian. Fish scales growing directly out of the flesh couldn¡¯t possibly be faked. Lu Yan¡¯s face was also persuasive enough. Xu Guanyue¡¯s eyes were suddenly filled with pity. ¡°Then you¡¯re even worse off than I am.¡± ¡°For many years, Boss has always wanted a real, evolved Mermaid.¡± Advertisements ¡°The current Mermaids in the Mermaid Clubhouse are actually transformed from Ostae injected with Mermaid genes¡­¡± Xu Guanyue said. ¡°I don¡¯t know what you¡¯ve seen in the brochure, but real Mermaids don¡¯t have genital atriums, only a complete fishtail. Because they¡¯re Pollutants, they don¡¯t need to excrete and even the cloacas1 have degraded. Those genital atriums, like those ¡°Mermaids¡± have, are artificial.¡± The boss was a mad pervert. He enjoyed calling in strong, handsome Mermaids just to pull out their scales. Xu Guanyue had been working in the Mermaid Clubhouse for more than 30 years. The scales on his body had already been broken and grown back, grown back and then broken. He had witnessed many secrets known only to insiders. ¡°Mbl alypsd qsa nbsspkdt y tsse-zssjkdt bwxyd yp y alplahl Ylaxyke kp clnywpl vbl cspp vbkdjp vbyv y rlaqlnv pjkd oswze cakdt sdl nzspla vs ¡®Qse.¡¯ Rv oswze rascyczu xyjl kv lypkla vs clnsxl y alyz Ylaxyke vss.¡± ¡°Tl clzklhlp vbyv alyz Ylaxykep yal kxxsavyz yde rspplpp talyv rsola,¡± Dw Qwyduwl pyke pzsozu. ¡°Jyple sd vbl cspp¡¯p sod osaep, bl ldnswdvlale y pbkroalnj kd vbl rypv yde oyp alpnwle cu y tszeld Ylaxyke. Gqvlaoyaep, vbl cspp wple bkp ldvkal dlv osavb vs srld Ylaxyke Uzwcbswpl, obknb byp clld elhlzsrle wr vs vbkp eyu. Tl pyke vbyv bl¡¯p oykvkdt qsa vbyv tszeld Ylaxyke vs pokx cynj.¡± Xq nswapl, xydu rlsrzl vbswtbv vbyv vbkp oyp y pvsau nalyvle cu vbl cspp vs pnyx rlsrzl¡¯p xsdlu. ¡°Lsoyeyup, vbl plzlnvle Ylaxykep yal yzz bwxyd. Ylaxyke tldlp yal plnalvzu yeele vs vbl oyvla pswanlp vblu wpl altwzyazu. Ju vbl 15vb eyu, vbl Ylaxyke tldlp nsxrzlvlzu vyjl shla. 20 alplahl Ylaxykep okzz cl zsnjle wr kd yd yiwyakwx yde ywnvksdle sqq cyple sd vbl nszsa sq vbl pnyzlp vblu taso swv. Mbl cspp bkxplzq yzps ryavknkryvlp kd vbl ywnvksd¡­. Mbl alplahl Ylaxykep yzz lhldvwyzzu eltldlayvl kdvs alyz Ylaxykep.¡± ¡°Mblpl Ylaxykep, lhld vbswtb vblu¡¯al Vszzwvydvp, nyd sqvld cl psze qsa pju-bktb raknlp, clnywpl vblu¡¯al clywvkqwz clusde clzklq.¡± [Kwpv y cwdnb sq qykzle ekpvsavle pwcflnvp,] vbl Fupvlx pdllale. [Vlaqlnv lhszwvksd nyddsv cl vbyv pkxrzu scvykdle.] Mblal oyp ds pwahlkzzydnl kd vbl oyvlap. Dw Qwyduwl pyke vbyv bl oyp tskdt vs vbl clynb vs qlle vbl Ylaxykep. At night, when the boss was asleep, his control over the Mermaids weakens, so it¡¯s easy for the Mermaids to attack people. After the death of several breeders, the job of feeding the Mermaids every day fell on him and a few other mutinous Ostae. Advertisements The Mermaids¡¯ feed came from Slaughterhouse and consisted of minced human flesh mixed with something else. The Slaughterhouse sold meat countless every day, yet it¡¯s unknown where they manage to get their hands on so much raw material. ¡°The boss himself is only an Enlightened with a spiritual power threshold of around 3,000,¡± Xu Guanyue said. ¡°Therefore, he rarely leaves the 7th floor.¡± ¡°These Mermaid Pollutants, why do they obey the boss?¡± Lu Yan couldn¡¯t help but ask. Xu Guanyue shook his head, ¡°I don¡¯t know.¡± The System laughed, [Oh, I know, because the Mermaid gene is extracted from the boss¡¯ own body.] According to what the System said, Mermaid Island was a relatively closed-off space ¡ª the people inside could not get out, and the people outside, often, could not come in. Phones had no signal. There were surveillance cameras everywhere outside. The boss was staying on the 7th floor and never leaves. The security team was made up of Enlighteneds, and on the side, he¡¯s also raised a group of obedient Mermaids. He needed to think of a way to kill the boss and those guards. Lu Yan did not know how to navigate the sea. He followed Xu Guanyue to the bay where the Mermaids were resting. Dozens of Mermaids were there, sleeping on their backs at the surface of the water like sea otters. After smelling blood on the wind, the Mermaids opened their eyes one after another, and let out a howl in a manner completely different from their behavior during the day. They were similar to wild beasts. No matter how beautiful they were, they were just low-level Pollutants without rationality in the end. Advertisements ¡°Be careful, don¡¯t get too close,¡± Xu Guanyue said to Lu Yan. After a while, he still felt worried and asked him to hide behind the reef. He threw the feed into the sea and the Mermaids opened their mouths, digging in greedily. The blood squeezed out of the feed overflowed through the gaps of their slender, white fingers. [For Pollutants, eating humans is their instinct,] the System said. [It is as normal as a human having meals.] ¡°Humans die if they don¡¯t eat. Is that the case for Pollutants?¡± Lu Yan said, ¡°High-level Pollutants can retain their human sanity. If Tang Xun¡¯an¡¯s mutation degree exceeds 100, will he soberly eat humans?¡± [In my opinion, yes. Pollutants won¡¯t die if they don¡¯t eat, but their strength will surely decrease. Furthermore, hunger¡­. How can it be so easily endured?] [But why are you suddenly curious about this?] Lu Yan still hadn¡¯t figured out how to answer the System¡¯s question before the sudden beam of a flashlight put him on guard. He dove below the sea. Two security guards held up their flashlights and passed by him carelessly, never realizing that there was actually someone there. ¡°It¡¯s been a day, right, Newbie? Gege will bring you to find two Mermaids and have some fun.¡± ¡°Ge, they¡¯re all Pollutants you know¡­.¡± Advertisements ¡°What are you afraid of? These Pollutants only have a pollution value of four or five hundred, and you, a guy with a spiritual power threshold of more than a thousand, are still afraid? Did you really commit a crime before being rejected by the SpecOps Division? You got no courage at all.¡± ¡°I¡­ I was arrested for molestation before. It left a criminal record,¡± the security guard said. ¡°Damn, the person who reported me to the Ministry for audit must¡¯ve been a stinkin¡¯ woman ¡ª it¡¯s not even rape. I was just in the subway and touched a few times.¡± Lu Yan swam beneath the surface, following close behind the two of them. When the two security guards saw Xu Guanyue, they were not afraid. They greeted him cheerfully and picked a blue-tailed female Mermaid. They dragged the Mermaid to the neighboring woods. One was in charge of holding down the Mermaid and the other was in charge of unbuttoning his pants. Lu Yan came out this time without a knife. Fortunately, after several evolutions, his physical strength was much higher than that of the Enlighteneds of the same level. Not to mention that during the Headquarters Training Center¡¯s combat class, Lu Yan had learned many skills that didn¡¯t require a knife to kill someone. The two security guards didn¡¯t even have a chance to make a noise before Lu Yan twisted their necks. The blue-tailed Mermaid was freed from her restraints, yet she did not attack the only living person still present. She looked at Lu Yan with her limpid blue eyes and quickly bursted into tears. Her tears fell to the ground and turned into pearls. As if she was trying to vent all of her anger, the Mermaid let out a cry of grief, lunged at the bodies of the two security guards, and ferociously tore at them with her teeth. The faces of the two security guards were quickly bitten into a bloody mess. Advertisements Not only was Lu Yan not afraid, but on the contrary, he even found this blue-tailed Mermaid¡¯s bloody face quite beautiful. The Mermaid dragged the two corpses back to the bay. From beginning to end, she never attacked Lu Yan. Lu Yan said to the System, ¡°Sometimes, I find that humans are scarier than Pollutants.¡± In the Western Sea, a frigate was sailing across the vast ocean surface. The sea breeze was blowing nicely today, and the sun was also very warm. Bai Qiushi narrowed his eyes and watched the drones fly to and from the frigate overhead. ¡°Has the island still not been found?¡± he asked. Behind him, the head of the Logistics Department Director of S City¡¯s Pollution Disease Prevention and Control Center was covered in fine, cold sweat. ¡°At the time, Mr. Lu had reported to us that he was traveling to Mermaid Island. According to the tracking device, he eventually disappeared at the junction of the Ao Nan Archipelago and the high seas.¡± ¡°We obtained satellite images and expanded the search area,¡± the Director continued. ¡°We¡¯ve sent people to the nearby islands by helicopter to search for him, and even now we still haven¡¯t found any traces of Mr. Lu.¡± Bai Qiushi¡¯s brows furrowed in displeasure. His household registration was located in S City. After graduating from the Headquarters Training Center, he successfully joined the SpecOps Division of S city, area number 2. He¡¯s worked there for many years, and now he¡¯s the leader of the SpecOps Division¡¯s 2nd Team. Bai Qiushi was typically responsible for dealing with any pollution incidents that occurred in numbered areas that began with 2, and on occasion, he would be recruited by Headquarters to work in other places to solve pollution disease cases that were difficult to resolve locally. For example, Bai Qiushi was also responsible for the pollution of parasitic fish in K City that took place before. ¡°What about the information regarding the Mermaid Clubhouse?¡± The director took out the documents. ¡°It has been sorted out. The Mermaid Clubhouse is a private club founded by wealthy foreign businessmen, registered in Ao Nan, and recruits tourists from the Mainland. It¡¯s located on an island.¡± ¡°The entry fee is 1 million. In the business circle, membership in this clubhouse seems to be very popular¡­. Many bosses use it as favors.¡± Bai Qiushi said, ¡°So, what you mean is ¡ª a questionable clubhouse relating to pollution disease has been open in the Western Sea for 47 years. Every month, its ship departs from S City¡¯s port, setting off right under our very noses. Moreover, we didn¡¯t know what was going on at all? We don¡¯t even have any real information on them?¡± The director¡¯s head dropped even lower in response. Bai Qiushi patted the director¡¯s shoulder and said with a smile, ¡°Forget it. How can this be blamed on you? It¡¯s all because those Pollutants are too strong. What¡¯s more, this Mermaid Clubhouse is obviously completely isolated. Otherwise, we wouldn¡¯t still be unable to find it after searching for several days.¡± ¡°I heard that Director has invested in the stock market and made a lot of money recently. You¡¯ve even bought a flat worth hundred of millions in the S city, which is really enviable. Didn¡¯t your son lose his finger because he was gambling in Ao Nan a few years ago?¡± ¡°No, this is all due to my negligence¡­.¡± For some reason, more cold sweat appeared on the director¡¯s forehead. On the morning of the 15th, when Lu Yan sent a message saying that he was going to the Mermaid Clubhouse, he had already noticed things were heading in a bad direction. However, at that time, Lu Yan had already boarded the cruise to Mermaid Island. The Director suppressed this news as much as possible and prayed every day that Lu Yan would come back smoothly after 15 days. The boss had assured him that the returning tourists would have vague memories under the siren¡¯s song, only remembering that they had a pleasant vacation on the island. After so many years of observation, the director found that this was indeed the case, and he had relaxed his highly-tensed heart. Nevertheless, he didn¡¯t expect that Bai Qiushi would come to the Pollution Disease Prevention and Control Center merely a day after Lu Yan disappeared. Moreover, he had taken control of everyone and interrogated them, starting from the person-in-charge. ¡°I know this very clearly. As a director of the logistics department, you¡¯ve always left things to luck, and you didn¡¯t know exactly what you are dealing with. Nowadays, high-end clubhouses using a few Pollutants to add to the fun can almost be regarded as normal. And then, when the first person was killed, you already knew there was no way you could turn back anymore.¡± ¡°To be honest, if my colleagues in A City hadn¡¯t asked me to come in order to check in on why Mr. Lu hasn¡¯t returned any calls, I wouldn¡¯t have even known that he¡¯s not even in S City anymore.¡± In Bai Qiushi¡¯s eyes, four silver eyeballs scurried around, strangely seductive. A smile appeared on his face. ¡°You better pray that Lu Yan is fine, otherwise, I would be extremely worried about your loved ones. Or did you think that sending your wife and son abroad would allow you to sit back and relax?¡± ¡°I won¡¯t raise a hand against you. You¡¯re an ordinary human and I possess power much greater than you. I will control my emotions and ensure my power does not reach beyond the law.¡± He was not very tall, so he stood on tiptoes and patted the director¡¯s head. ¡°But if you¡¯ve turned into a Pollutant, there would be no issues right?¡± The director¡¯s knees weakened, and he knelt on the ship deck. The author has something to say: PS: Bai Qiushi is the A-class Enlightened who appeared in the Parasitic Fish Arc in K City, and the one sent by Headquarters for assistance. His abilities are Barrier, Elephantine Pressure, and Teleportation. 172cm in height, wearing 6cm height-enhancing shoes. Proofreader¡¯s Note CH 53 This chapter is translated by Kris Xian, translation checked by Kensi, and edited by Bluburry. It was already six in the morning when Lu Yan returned to the hotel. Xu Guanyue¡¯s expression still showed his unease. ¡°You just killed the security guards¡­ What will you do if you are discovered?¡± ¡°That won¡¯t happen.¡± Lu Yan looked calm. The shore was not heavily monitored because of the terrain. In addition, thanks to the System¡¯s help, Lu Yan remained in the surveillance¡¯s blind spots. Advertisements Xu Guanyue appeared to hesitate before asking, ¡°Did the Headquarters send you alone?¡± He didn¡¯t know exactly what level Lu Yan currently was, but Lu Yan¡¯s overly beautiful appearance always filled Xu Guanyue with worry. Lu Yan smiled and said, ¡°Don¡¯t worry, I am more than enough to destroy this place.¡± Tl ayalzu pxkzle, vblalqsal, obld bl eke, kv wdyhskeyczu zssjle psxlobyv alyppwakdt. Nw Zyd oyp y pvydeyae okddla kd zkql. Tl oyp tsse-zssjkdt, bktbzu lewnyvle, yde nyryczl kd bkp nyalla. Rv pvsse vs alypsd vbyv bl pbswze byhl lmrlakldnle y pxssvb zkql. Tsolhla, sdzu Nw Zyd jdlo vbyv bl oyp fwpv qszzsokdt y bwxyd vlxrzyvl, vs zkhl cu vbl awzlp. Xaktkdyzzu, bl oyp fwpv nsxrzlvkdt y vypj; kv oyp dsv vs byhl y tsse vkxl. Tl sdzu bye y bydeqwz sq fsuqwz vkxlp kd bkp zkql. Xvblaokpl, kd vbl Ylaxyke¡¯p pkdtkdt, bl oswzed¡¯v sdzu cl pllkdt Mydt Dwd¡¯yd¡¯p vykz. Nw Zyd zkqvle vbl tzypp yde alvwadle vs bkp twlpv assx. Tl awxxytle vbaswtb vbl pwkvnypl bl bye caswtbv okvb bkx yde rwzzle swv vbl bwxyd pjkd ryrla bl bye kdkvkyzzu pnyhldtle qasx Ubld Gdgbk. Mbkp pxyzz rklnl sq bwxyd pjkd nswze vlxrsayakzu tkhl Nw Zyd vbl yckzkvu vs ldvla ealyxp, sdzu vbl pvakrrkdt rasnlpp oyp pzktbvzu czsseu. Wsavwdyvlzu, Nw Zyd byp vbl 167vb yckzkvu sq Sltldlayvksd. Ebld vbl pjkd vkppwl sd vbl cynj sq vbl byde oyp nwv sqq, kv nswze cl alpvsale kd zlpp vbyd byzq y xkdwvl. The pattern on the human skin had changed. It was originally a weird starry sky map, but now it had become a narrow black eye. Advertisements System, [The pattern is always random. The Holy God has a split personality, and the different patterns represent what kind of personality state he is in at the moment.] Lu Yan once again applied the human skin to the back of his hand. A much colder sensation came from the back of his hand compared to the last time he had used it. He closed his eyes and entered the dream world. At the same time, the eye on the back of his hand looked around, eventually becoming a real eyeball. The System said, [Brother. You¡¯re too late, he already has another parasite on him.] Nevertheless, the eyeball couldn¡¯t hear, or, even if it did, it didn¡¯t care. After all, it¡¯s part of a body stripped from an S-class Pollutant. Ordinary parasitic creatures couldn¡¯t beat it. It bulged from the back of Lu Yan¡¯s hand and wanted to explore. As a result, the palm of Lu Yan¡¯s hand suddenly split open, a long red tongue jumped out and clenched into a fist, backhandedly slapping the wandering eyeball. The eyeball was punched until it was dizzy and its sclera1 was bloodshot. It could only shrink back into Lu Yan¡¯s hand in grievance. The Kingfish hadn¡¯t vented enough. He immediately sent a chaotic combination of punches. It forced the eyeball to form back into a real tattoo, and only then did it cease its attacks and withdrew in satisfaction. The System couldn¡¯t help shivering, [¡­This petty fish is really scary.] Advertisements In the dream, Lu Yan saw a gloomy blackness. A little candle flame lit up from the palm of his hand. This candlelight was the key for him to gather the rest of the souls. On this floor, all the sleeping white souls floated over following this warm light. It was much easier for ordinary people to enter a dream than Enlightens. The white souls buzzed, full of wonder, ¡°Who are you?¡± ¡°Where is this?¡± ¡°Wow, my hands have become translucent, eh! Lu Yan placed the candlelight on the table in front of him. He held out his hand and saw the color of his soul. Black. However, it was inexplicably bright, edged with a warm yellow glow. It was like a burning fire. He thought about Chen Anzhi; his demeanor and tone changed, ¡°I am the island god of Mermaid Island. It is isolated from the world, and the Mermaids live happily on the seaside. However, one day, the establishment of the Mermaid Clubhouse changed all that.¡± ¡°The life of each and every one of you is at stake. I hope you can remember it well¡­¡± The manner in which Lu Yan told the story resembled a huckster. After dozens of white souls heard the salaciousness of the Mermaid Clubhouse, many of them burned with anger, ¡°This is too hateful! We¡¯ll leave the island tomorrow and expose them!¡± Advertisements Lu Yan said, ¡°You may not be able to remember when you wake up from your sleep. I can only deliver the message in this way. Beware of the Mermaid Clubhouse.¡± He wasn¡¯t a spiritual Enlightened, and performing an entry into a dream was far more exhausting than one might think. Therefore, after a few minutes, the dream ended, and Lu Yan fell deep asleep. The bodies of the two security guards were eventually found in the fish pond. The first to notice was a tourist taking their morning walk around the bay early in the morning. From afar, he saw two sets of drenched clothes stuck on the beach. This tourist initially thought that someone was drying clothes on the beach, but when he walked over and lifted them up, he was almost scared half to death. The corpses¡¯ pants hung from their knees, and only bitten skeletons remained on the exposed parts. On the snow-white bones, pieces of pink flesh were stuck to them. On the other side of the reef, the Mermaids smiled softly. Their nails seemed to be tinged with a bit of blood. Shaking, the tourist pulled out his cell phone and tried to call the police, but there was no signal. Here, the only two things that could be called were the customer service center of the Mermaid Clubhouse and the landline phone in the guest rooms. When the captain of the Mermaid Clubhouse¡¯s security team received the notice, he felt like his head would explode, ¡°What happened to these two people? Two people, with a combined spiritual power threshold of 3,000, can still be bitten to death by Mermaids with a pollution level less than 500? ¡± Advertisements A thousand or so spiritual power threshold may have the primary level of E or D when placed in the Headquarters. Nevertheless, considering the captain of SpecOps¡¯ 7th Team, even Lin Sinan¡¯s spiritual power threshold hadn¡¯t reached 2,000 yet. At first, the three-meter tall Osta Lu Yan had encountered on the street had only a pollution value of more than 500. The captain called the supervisor. The two of them made their way from the hotel all the way to the beach, with no one else on the road. All he could see was a group of Mermaids biting and gnawing at the bodies of the two guards like they were on a rampage, ripping their heads off and kicking them as balls. If no tourists had found out, this would have been a trivial matter¡ª at best two losers who couldn¡¯t control their lower bodies were killed by Pollutants. They only needed to pay some pension to the family and be done with it. Unfortunately, it was a tourist who found them and called a large crowd to watch. The incident soon spread among the tourists on the first floor. Many people were suddenly in no mood to appreciate the beautiful Mermaids and asked for refunds to return back home. The lobby manager stepped forward to make amends, ¡°I¡¯m sorry for such an accident. Nonetheless, our Mermaids won¡¯t harm guests. These two guards were trying to steal the Mermaids in the middle of the night in violation of the law, and only then were they counterattacked by them. ¡± ¡°Please rest assured, later, all the Mermaids will be accompanied by the staff for everyone to watch. Please feel free to spend 2 weeks of leisure time in the Mermaid Clubhouse. We have been notified that this vacation is all free. One million will be refunded to everyone¡¯s balance account within seven working days after returning.¡± The staff wasn¡¯t worried about what would happen to the guests when they returned. Anyway, with the Mermaid¡¯s song, they would only remember spending a pleasant half-a-month holiday. According to reason, most tourists would accept this compensation of getting back their million. At most, only one or two would protest in dissatisfaction. However, this time, after he finished speaking, there were still dozens of people who surrounded him and insisted on returning. These dozens of people, without exception, were all people Lu Yan had met in the dream. After they woke up, they didn¡¯t remember what happened in the dream, but they inexplicably felt animosity toward the Mermaid Clubhouse. Even the Preparatory Mermaids ¡ª Shang Zhou and Ma Jie ¡ª also felt the same way. The manager instantly showed a gloomy expression, ¡°Do you know how much it costs to make a round-trip cruise? As long as I can collect 50 million immediately, I will let the crew prepare.¡± Grey-tailed guests were considered successful people in normal society. Otherwise, they wouldn¡¯t be willing to spend 1 million just to travel. It was just that coming up with 50 million right away was beyond their scope of ability. ¡°What a scam! How could such a round-trip cruise be so expensive?!¡± The manager haughtily lifted up his chin, ¡°Then you go find another boat, or swim out on your own.¡± In their eyes, Grey-tailed guests were nothing more than just meat and fish reserves. It was pretty hard to maintain superficial respect. This scene also caused the other tourists, who were originally satisfied with the handling of this incident, to feel revolted. Due to this scene, even the boss residing on the 7th floor became annoyed. ¡°Tell those idiots in the security team to mind their lower bodies. I don¡¯t want this kind of thing to happen again.¡± With that, he took a long leap into the infinity pool. There were 20 large screens next to the pool, tracking the performance of the Preparatory Mermaids. These Preparatory Mermaids were ordinary people, only their skin looked good. When their souls were cut out and revealed, they were dull and boring. Some were keen on fame and fortune, some simply wanted to travel, and some even slept until one in the afternoon. Disappointed, the boss turned off the screens indifferently. Fortunately, in order to prevent the Golden-tailed clients on the 7th floor from being bored, the boss had already found someone to arrange a different play. What¡¯s more, from the second week onwards, these Preparatory Mermaids would begin to distort. When that time came, it would be pleasurable to watch the desperate, helpless faces of these people. Lu Yan was a little worried that the hotel cleaners would come in and search for things while he was not in the room. Therefore, he simply carried the dagger with him, locked the bow and other items in his suitcase, and hid it underwater. On the third day, according to the play, there would be a bonfire party by the sea, and the Meatfish would be driven to the shore by Xu Guanyue for the lucky ¡°Preparatory Mermaids¡± to see. Panic could make the mutation degree rapidly rise. Lu Yan practiced several times in the room by himself, before he learned to look like he was in a panic. The bonfire party was performed by Mermaids, and Lu Yan¡¯s seat in the audience was placed at the outermost edge. It was so close to the coast that Lu Yan could even feel the waves brushing his ankles. Soon, he felt his ankle being grabbed by a hand. Lu Yan looked back, and a few meters away, under the water, a Meatfish grinned at him. Based on the play, he should fall to the ground and call a security guard in a panic. Nonetheless, because the ground was too dirty, Lu Yan stiffened for close to half a minute and hadn¡¯t moved yet, making Xu Guangyue, who was hiding behind the reef extremely anxious. The System reassured him, [Forbearance, Host, you are someone who wants to do great things. Think of these streetlight capitalists, think of the other Ostae who suffer!] Lu Yan¡¯s heart fluttered, and he fell to the ground, letting the sea water mix with mud and the sand stain his body. A strong murderous aura erupted in his heart, and he hated the streetlight capitalists like never before. A security guard came quickly with a worried tone, ¡°What¡¯s the matter, Sir?¡± ¡°There¡¯s a monster¡ª a monster in the sea,¡± Lu Yan grabbed the security guard¡¯s arm, looking panicked beyond belief, and pointed to the surface, ¡°with a fish head and a human body. It must be a Pollutant, so terrible-looking.¡± Lu Yan tried several times, but couldn¡¯t squeeze out his tears. Thus, he just lowered his head and hugged himself, shivering. ¡°There¡¯s nothing in the sea. You must have seen it wrong, Sir.¡± The security guard¡¯s voice was soft, and he draped him with a blanket to shield him from the wind, ¡°You look like you feel uncomfortable. Should I send you back to the hotel first? ¡± Lu Yan nodded obediently. A lovely and pitiful beauty that had a trace of fragility was more attractive than his usually cold expression, especially when the seawater dampened his clothes and outlined the counters of his body under his thin shirt. The boss brought his face close to the screen and licked it with his tongue; his eyes full of obsession, ¡°He¡¯s so pretty, isn¡¯t he?¡± He was sure that this man would be the most perfect Mermaid this year. Thankfully, Lu Yan couldn¡¯t see his expressions or his actions. He returned to the hotel accompanied by the security guard, closed the door to his room, and backhandedly pulled out the disinfectant and sprayed it on himself. It felt disgusting and revolting. If it wasn¡¯t because the water source in the room was not clean with some Mermaid gene mixed in it, Lu Yan wanted to immediately take a shower and soak in water for a few days. He lifted the glass cover under the bed and jumped into the sea. Scales emerged from Lu Yan¡¯s arms, all the way to cover the side of his face. These days, Lu Yan had been helping the Ostae reduce their pollution degree. He didn¡¯t know if it was the reason that despite his distortion being manageable, it became more pronounced. Recently, when he woke up, he would even feel some itchiness on his waist. He lifted the quilt to take a look and saw some golden scales. The first Osta, after two days of recovery, had his fish head almost changed back to a human one. The good thing was that it still retained the ability to live underwater. These Ostae were extremely attached to Lu Yan, similar to how the little dragon girls were attached to the Dragon Maiden at the lake. Looking out over the bay, Mermaid Island continued its festivities.2 Thinking that he would soon be able to kill them all, Lu Yan¡¯s mood improved. CH 54 This chapter is translated by Hoenimochi, translation checked by Rin, and edited by Mika. Lu Yan was a man of action. This was evident by his following actions: On the first day of his visit, he stabbed two security guards. That was just the start, every night thereafter, he would lurk on the shores of Mermaid Bay, waiting for the opportunity to stab at the new patrolling security guards. Lu Yan wouldn¡¯t have minded sneaking onto the 7th floor and dealing with the real source of the crime if he hadn¡¯t been worried about the security cameras exposing him or there being too many people for him to fight. For several days in a row, security personnel would die on the shores of Mermaid Bay. Advertisements Without exception, they were all gnawed to the bone by the Mermaids. When the feeding was over, the Mermaids sang at night, like a requiem to send the dead on their way. All the drama caused Mermaid Bay to be temporarily blocked, which led to a lot of complaints from tourists. Rv oyp dsv vbyv vbl plnwakvu vlyx byed¡¯v vyjld ynvksd. Rv nswzed¡¯v cl blzrle vbyv Nw Zyd byp y JBQ-zkjl yckzkvu vbyv cypknyzzu yzzsole bkx vs nblyv. [Psd¡¯v ts vseyu, vblu¡¯hl plv wr yd yxcwpb.] Mbwp, Nw Zyd kxxlekyvlzu tyhl wr tskdt swv yde zyu esod vs pzllr. Rd saela vs xyvnb bkp wpwyz ckszstknyz nzsnj, bl qsanle bkxplzq vs pzllr qasx 1 yx vs 1 rx. Mbl cspp oyp qwakswp ycswv vbkp yde lhld pwprlnvle vbyv vblal oyp y vaykvsa kd bkp plnwakvu rlapsddlz. ¡°Rq kv olald¡¯v qsa xl, usw¡¯e pvkzz cl y nakrrzl. R prlde bwdealep sq vbswpydep sq eszzyap y xsdvb vs bkal usw vs osaj qsa xl, yde R lhld prlnkyzzu nsdvynvle y alplyanbla vs rlaqsax y qwpksd srlayvksd sd usw,¡± bl pyke ydtakzu vs vbl plnwakvu nbklq kd qasdv sq bkx, ¡°yde dso R ypj usw vs qkde sdl nassj, yde usw nyd¡¯v lhld es vbyv?! Ebyv wpl es usw byhl vbld?!¡± Mbl lmrldpkhl ydvkiwl rsanlzykd nwr oyp pxypble vs vbl taswde cu vbl cspp, ¡°R esd¡¯v clzklhl kv, nswze vbl kdvawela xyjl bkxplzq kdhkpkczl? Rp bl y tbspv?!¡± Mbl qaytxldv sq rsanlzykd qlzz yv vbl qllv sq vbl plnwakvu nbklq. Tl pvyale yv vbl rsanlzykd qsa y xsxldv yde pyke pzsozu, ¡°Tl kp dsv dlnlppyakzu yczl vs vwad kdhkpkczl, yde kv¡¯p zlpp zkjlzu qsa bkx vs cl y tbspv¡­ Mbl rlapsd xwpv jdso bso vs ekhl.¡± The security chief¡¯s surname was Yang and his first name was Tianxin. He was a combat system with a spiritual power threshold of 3,700. He had reached the C-Class standard. Advertisements Combat System, C-Class. If he was outside, he would be a highly sought-after person. He approached Xu Guangyue and quite bluntly grabbed him by the neck to drag him out of the water. ¡°Six days. Every night the people died, you were the one feeding the fish. I don¡¯t believe you didn¡¯t see anything.¡± Xu Guanyue had two sets of breathing systems and could use gills to breathe. Nonetheless, being strangled out of the water, he still felt a long-lost sense of suffocation. His fishtail swung up wildly in the water, and his sharp nails scratched Yang Tianxin¡¯s neck, but it was hard to shake Yang Tianxin¡¯s iron-like grip even a little. ¡°I¡­really¡­didn¡¯t¡­see any¡­anything¡­ ¡° Xu Guanyue squeezed out a few words from his throat, words as thin and shaky as reeds in the river. He was really close to being strangled to death. His eyes were turning in their sockets, rolling upwards. Before he could faint, Yang Tianxin finally let him go and gazed down at Xu Guanyue. On the other party¡¯s fishtail, there were fresh scars of a few pulled-off scales. It seemed that the boss lost his temper again. Without the scales covering it, the tender pink flesh on the grey fishtail was bubbling with blood in round shapes similar to the tips of fingers that had had their nail caps plucked. ¡°You don¡¯t have to feed the fish anymore,¡± he said as he turned around and walked towards the door. Advertisements Xu Guanyue was lying on the edge of the pool, coughing in pain, the lingering smell of rust in his throat, ¡°Chief Yang!¡± Yang Tianxin paused, turned around, and looked slightly puzzled. ¡°You should know what the boss has been doing all these years¡­¡± Xu Guangyue¡¯s vision blurred, ¡°You¡¯ve helped me several times. You should be able to tell the difference between good and bad, so why do you still help the enemy?¡± Yang Tianxin raised his head slightly and thought for a moment, ¡°He may be a bad person to everyone else, but not to me. What¡¯s more, for people like us, are ordinary people really the same kind?¡± The boss was right. If he hadn¡¯t met him, he would just be a cripple now with two useless legs, confined to bed. He was a long-distance runner who lost both of his legs in a car accident. It was the boss who paid for the installment of the metal prosthesis on him. ¡°My ability is¡­ the 311st, Lone Wolf.¡± Yang Tianxin¡¯s expression was nostalgic, ¡°When I used this ability for the first time, I didn¡¯t control it well, and I turned into a giant wolf and couldn¡¯t transform back for a long time. My mother screamed and called the police. Later, although the misunderstanding was solved, it was clear that they looked at me with fear in their eyes. There is no one who won¡¯t be afraid of monsters like us, is there?¡± This time, as he left, Yang Tianxin did not look back. Beneath the black security uniform trousers, a metal ankle with no skin was exposed. In the days that followed, the System sent Lu Yan alert signals. Lu Yan had no choice but to hold his ground and had the Ostae stop moving as well. Advertisements Day 10. The preparatory Mermaids grew scales one after another. The trustee of the Mermaid Club had been in the crowd, promoting how terrible the pollution disease was. How miserable the outcome would be if they were not saved after they were found to be mutated. So much so that these poor Mermaids with long scales either put on long sleeves in the summer or simply stay out of the house. Every day, they looked forward to an early return trip to the Pollution Disease Prevention and Control Center to apply for free assistance. They had national medical insurance ¡ª full reimbursement for the treatment of pollution diseases. After many days of publicity, this incident had become deeply rooted in the hearts of people as much as watching the traffic lights when they were crossing roads. Lu Yan was going to try to enter their dreams to warn those affected but for some reason, the Kingdom of God skin tattoo wasn¡¯t working ¡ª it seemed to have wilted, losing its vitality and refusing to merge with his own body. If it couldn¡¯t be integrated, naturally, he wouldn¡¯t be able to use the ability. Mermaid Island was filled with a tense atmosphere as if something significant was going to happen. Day 14, the last day of the trip, and the day before the cruise returned to port. The degree of distortion of the preparatory Mermaids was already quite high. Some people had fish scales growing on their inner thighs; their appearance in the mirror was getting more beautiful. It should have been a pleasure to look good. However, now, the preparatory Mermaids looked at the increasingly unfamiliar faces in the mirror, and they were feeling a sense of panic of not knowing what to do. Lu Yan looked at the mirror and wiped his dagger. In his ears, the System was feeding him information. Advertisements [On the last day, the staff will inject a lethal dose of the drug into the rooms by the ventilation system.] [After confirming that you are completely unconscious, someone will put you in an airtight iron cage and send it to the auction hall on the 7th floor. On this day, both the boss and the Golden-tailed clients will bid at the auction site.] [There will be several security officers at the scene, and their threshold of spiritual power is higher than yours. However, you have the 167th ability, Regeneration. As long as you don¡¯t face off against the security chief and trade blows, the chances of winning are still very high.] The System¡¯s tone was a little nervous, which was rare, [To be honest, I think your strength is still too weak. However, there is no turning back, it seems to be too late to run now.] Lu Yan put down the knife and remembered the outline of the security team chief¡¯s face in his mind. Because he still needed to eat, he went to the restaurant every day. One day, when he was eating, he felt a hawk-like gaze fall on his body. The System told him that it was because he was very popular with the boss, which made this Mr. Yang a little curious. Yang Tianxin, a C-level Enlightened person, had a spiritual power threshold of 3,700. Ability: Lone Wolf. [This lone wolf doesn¡¯t know that on that rainy night, the person who hit him and ran away in the car accident was the boss. Therefore, he is extremely loyal to the Mermaid Clubhouse.] The Mermaid Clubhouse had waterways throughout the building to facilitate the transportation of Mermaids. If it went well, Xu Guanyue would take the Ostae upstream to join the battle. Even if they were deprived of their ability, the Ostae were not completely powerless to fight. At times like this, an extra point of strength was always better than Lu Yan fighting alone. Ten o¡¯clock at night. Lu Yan soaked some water behind his ears. Because of the gill slits, the moist water vapor could keep him awake even when he held his breath. The ventilation fan was closed. The door locked automatically, and white mist gushed out from the corner of the room. For fear of being seen with scales on their bodies, the preparatory Mermaids often wear thick clothes. Lu Yan was no exception. He hid the thin blade between his double layers, then he chose an area of clean carpet and collapsed on the floor. After about an hour, the door opened. Two staff members wearing gas masks walked in. They lifted Lu Yan, put him in a cage, and covered him with a white cloth. They then headed for the freight lift. This elevator could only go up to the fifth floor. After reaching the fifth floor, security guards would take them to the 7th floor for the auction. The others had genuinely fainted, only Lu Yan was pretending. According to Lu Yan¡¯s plan, he originally planned to stop pretending when he reached the 7th floor. Using the information gap and time difference, he would take care of the security guards carrying him and then start cleaning up the rubbish in order. However, there seemed to be a slight change in his plan. In the elevator, Yang Tianxin, who was supposed to be by the boss¡¯ side, came out. He glanced at Lu Yan and said to the security guard, ¡°Leave it to me, I¡¯ll take care of this.¡± The author has something to say: Outside, the dog dragon couldn¡¯t find his master and was already anxious to kill someone.