Chapter 8: A Change in the Sky

Chapter 8: A Change in the Sky

Zhu Ning opened the system panel and began to study her stats again, which now included many more data points.

Name: Zhu Ning

Age: 19

Education: Bachelor's Degree in Mechanical Engineering

Status: Fifth-Class Citizen

Talent: Danger Premonition

Mutation Direction: Unknown

Mutation Level: Unknown

Physical Strength: Unenhanced

Mental Value: 100 (Average person: 20)

Health Value: 20 (Average person: 70)

Luck Value: 1 (Average person: 50)

Purification Value: 545 (Can be exchanged or added to other stats; every 100 Purification Value increases Health Value by 1)

The Purification Value and Luck Value were newly activated. Her Luck Value was only 1, which made sense—no wonder she had encountered such an unlucky situation with the misrated contaminated area.

Purification Values can be exchanged for rewards or added to other stats. Starting from 500 Purification Values, each exchange increases Health Value by 5.

Notably, her Health Value seemed quite low, at only 20.

She had acquired a basic talent called Danger Premonition. Li Nianchuan had mentioned it before, but she wasn't sure how it would work. The Mutation Direction and Mutation Level were still completely unknown.

Rotten Fish Head sounded more practical. Previously, Zhu Ning could only be contaminated by pollutants, but now she could contaminate others.

Worth mentioning was that she could also apply mental contamination to pollutants, making them even dirtier. When escaping, she could boost her speed.

However, it required consuming Health Value, and since hers hadn't increased yet, it might not be sustainable. Another reward, explosives, could destroy buildings, but Zhu Ning hadn't encountered any large-scale missions yet.

Moreover, this item had significant destructive power and limited usage scenarios. Zhu Ning needed to ensure it wouldn't harm her teammates.

After summarizing her experience, did she get any rewards? Yes, but could she use them? Not currently. It felt like she had gained nothing.

The rewards were good, but she couldn't use them, which made them somewhat useless.

Could they give her some beginner-friendly items instead of these high-level ones?

Wait... Zhu Ning suddenly had a hunch.

With such high-level items, she would need to accumulate Purification Values and Health Values to use them. Was this system forcing her to level up?

Zhu Ning: "…"

Had the system seen through her laid-back nature and decided to intervene? Despite her efforts, she had only completed 1% of the main mission to purify her home.

Her intuition was right—it was a lofty goal that would require her entire life.

But she seemed to have grasped a hint about purification. To complete the main mission, she needed to enter contaminated areas continuously and contain pollution spores.

The Cleaner Work Manual, Rule 5: Containing pollution spores is the top priority.

Zhu Ning took out a straw-like tool from her cleaning backpack and began to collect spores diligently.

"Ding—Purification Value +1"

Every spore she collected added to her Purification Value, which kept accumulating. This was no longer just "picking cotton"; it was accumulating Health Value!

Li Nianchuan rushed off the train, which had become rotten and stinky. His first concern after getting off was finding Zhu Ning.

To his surprise, Zhu Ning was fine, diligently... sweeping garbage.

Despite being so disheveled, with fish marks on her work uniform and a cracked helmet, she continued to collect pollution spores calmly.

Li Nianchuan was stunned. What kind of overachiever was Zhu Ning? Even now, she didn't forget her mission. She could fight monsters and clean up, like a living monk!

"You..." Li Nianchuan asked, "Are you working?"

Zhu Ning didn't look up. "What else?"

"Isn't that too much?" Li Nianchuan couldn't fathom it. The horrors he had seen in the contaminated area would haunt him for a month.

He lacked the mental fortitude to switch from fighting monsters to working immediately.

Zhu Ning sighed, "It's all commission."

Her mind kept reminding her of the Purification Value increase, making it hard to resist.

Li Nianchuan: "..."

So what Zhu Ning said on the subway was true? She really was creating performance?

"Hello? Li Nianchuan?" Static crackled through the helmet. After the fish people died, the mental contamination disappeared, and communication was restored.

Hearing Xu Meng's voice, Li Nianchuan almost cried out, "Captain!"

Xu Meng's voice sounded anxious. "Are you okay? What about Zhu Ning?"

Zhu Ning, one hand busy containing the contaminated spores, replied, "Alive."

Xu Meng breathed a sigh of relief. Heaven knew it was a miracle that two cleaners could survive in a contaminated area.

Xu Meng: "The Technical Center made an error in the rating. You mistakenly entered a Level D contaminated zone."

Sure enough, it was Level D, Li Nianchuan thought to himself. His estimation was correct.

Xu Meng: "The contaminated area has now split open. I'll be there soon. Stay where you are and don't move. The Demon Hunters have arrived and will start the rescue immediately."

A Level D contaminated zone isn't too difficult for Demon Hunters.

Li Nianchuan cautiously said, "Actually... the Demon Hunters don't need to come."

"Why?" Xu Meng wondered, the sound of wind indicating she was on her way.

Li Nianchuan scanned the surroundings, filled with dead contaminants and spores, confirming no living contaminant remained. This contaminated area was exceptionally clean.

He and Zhu Ning had done this all by themselves, without a single Demon Hunter stepping in. Two garbage collectors had eliminated a Level D contaminated zone!

Li Nianchuan proudly declared, "We cleaners don't need the Demon Hunters to rescue us."

Xu Meng: "?"

Isn't this the time to be upset?

"Um..." Xu Meng asked carefully, "Are you mentally stable?"

This was the most reasonable assumption; she suspected Li Nianchuan had lost his mind.

Li Nianchuan boldly stated, "Send another cleaning team from the organization. We might not manage alone."

Xu Meng: "?"

...

After hanging up, Li Nianchuan let out a long breath, drenched in sweat under his work uniform.

He felt a sense of relief after surviving the ordeal and plopped down on the ground. Li Nianchuan relaxed, the tension in his mind easing, "I think I can't go on."

His mental strength was low, initially affected by mental contamination, and now surrounded by spores, he became even more contaminated as he relaxed.

"Get away," Zhu Ning glanced at him, moving away when contaminated.

"No!" Li Nianchuan clung tightly to Zhu Ning, realizing she was more reliable than the Demon Hunters, "I won't leave you."

Zhu Ning: "..."

Alright, starting to lose it.

With the Demon Hunters arriving soon, Zhu Ning wasn't too worried about Li Nianchuan's mental state. She focused on containing the spores, ignoring Li Nianchuan's antics.

Zhu Ning watched as Li Nianchuan suddenly raised his hands.

She quickly knocked them down. Li Nianchuan lifted his arms again. With no danger now, he intended to do something bold—remove his helmet!

"Hey?" Zhu Ning pressed down on Li Nianchuan's helmet, stopping him, "What are you doing?"

"I can't breathe," Li Nianchuan said.

Removing the helmet would easily lead to infection. Zhu Ning sternly warned, "Don't remove your helmet, understand?"

Li Nianchuan softly responded, clearly disappointed, and lowered his hands. Then, in front of Zhu Ning, he slowly drew his knees up and hugged them, crouching beside her like a puppy.

Is this moderate mental contamination? Zhu Ning recalled Xu Meng mentioning a colleague who believed they were a pink double-headed lotus after contamination. She wondered what Li Nianchuan thought he was.

Zhu Ning tentatively asked, "Who are you?"

Li Nianchuan buried his head in his knees and said, "I'm Sister's little dog."

Zhu Ning: "..."

Young man, are you revealing some hidden kinks?

...

103 District Cleaning Center.

If it was chaotic like a securities center when Zhu Ning first came, it now resembled a battlefield.

Minister Lu Qiqin was furious. "Rating error! How could there be a rating error!"

"Do you know how much trouble this is causing?"

"There are no Demon Hunters inside, only two cleaners responsible for logistics, with no weapons or experience. Do you think they stand a chance?"

"... Just garbage collectors..."

Cleaners' lives were cheap; ten cleaners weren't worth one Demon Hunter. If Demon Hunters couldn't enter to rescue, sacrificing the two cleaners might be considered necessary.

"Clean your ancestors!" Lu Qiqin sneered, "If the contaminated area isn't controlled, and the spores spread, do you know how many people in 103 District will die?"

"Do you want to keep your job? If not, get out!"

The technician responsible for monitoring kept his head down, not daring to utter a word.

"A Demon Hunter is already on the way," someone whispered.

"Being on the way is useless!" Lu Qiqin cursed. "Fifteen minutes have passed already; the best rescue time has been missed!"

Lu Qiqin casually threw a cup, knowing that the time flow in the contaminated area was different from outside. Fifteen minutes here could mean several days inside.

"That... The technician weakly raised a hand. "The contamination level seems to be decreasing."

The contamination level, initially at 90%, was now gradually dropping.

88%, 80%, 71%...

Lu Qiqin frowned and pushed aside the technician, walking over to the machine himself. His hands quickly tapped on the keyboard, confirming that the numbers were indeed decreasing.

"Where are the Demon Hunters?" Lu Qiqin asked.

Fang Ying, who had been standing outside with her arms crossed, finally spoke up: "They just left. They're expected to reach the designated location in seventeen minutes."

The Demon Hunters hadn't arrived yet, but the contaminated area was already purifying itself.

"Report!" An underling appeared. "We've contacted Xu Meng, the leader of the three-person cleaning team. All three are confirmed alive."

Lu Qiqin coldly asked, "Who's inside?"

Fang Ying held a panel in her hand. "Two cleaners."

Lu Qiqin took the panel and glanced at it, then furrowed his brow deeply.

The panel displayed information about two individuals. Li Nianchuan's data was unremarkable across all metrics, especially his mental strength, which was too weak—staying in a heavily contaminated area for an hour might lead to brain death.

He had no outstanding skills, which was why he was part of the cleaning team rather than the Demon Hunter squad. The other person's information was completely blank.

Only her name was known: Zhu Ning.

"New recruit?" Lu Qiqin asked.

Only probationary new recruits would have no data collected.

Fang Ying: "Yes, I just processed her entry today."

A newly interviewed recruit still in the probationary stage, without any data collected. Zhu Ning's task today should have been to learn how to clean and take it easy, collecting a meager salary while waiting for further instructions from the Cleaning Center.

Instead, she not only cleaned up but also did the Demon Hunters' job!

This situation was getting strange. The data from the Cleaning Center was usually accurate; the last error was eighty years ago, due to that person.

Zhu Ning started work today, coinciding with a data error and mistakenly entering a Level D contaminated zone. Without any weapon support or prior knowledge, she not only survived but also purified the area?

Fortunately, Lu Qiqin wasn't the head of the Demon Hunters; otherwise, his face would have been slapped by these two cleaners today.

Fang Ying: "To be honest, I'm also puzzled."

When Fang Ying received the message, she was as shocked as Lu Qiqin. She personally processed Zhu Ning's entry. With no data available, Fang Ying relied on her personal experience. After interacting with Zhu Ning, she found her to be very brave.

Being brave was good, indicating she was suitable for this line of work.

But she didn't expect a series of "accidents" to follow, with Zhu Ning being the key point in each one. The only reasonable explanation was that Zhu Ning was chosen by "it."

Fang Ying said, "Xuan Qing wants to see you."

Xuan Qing, the head of the War Section, oversees the Demon Hunters in Zone 103. While their departments interact closely, they also maintain a certain distance.

"And Xie Jiazu, the head of the Cleaning Department," Fang Ying added.

These three, plus Fang Ying, the center assistant, who, despite her role, manages the entire center.

Lu Qiqin frowned. The Cleaning Center was about to undergo a significant change.