Chapter 23

Chapter 23

"Is it because you're feeling sorry for yourself, is that why..."

Lin Lin couldn't help but think as his gaze shifted toward the person next to him.

Going out for drinks was pretty normal.

Because for people in their line of work, there were only a few ways to relieve stress.

As Bureau of Infection Management and Control employees, the pressure from handling a source of infection could easily build up, like a balloon about to burst. If they didn’t let it out in time, their minds might just go ‘boom,’ like an explosion. So, this was an important matter.

But however you look at it—

He couldn't imagine he was actually drinking with a guy in sunglasses.

They were at a street-side food stall.

And the other guy was even picking up the tab.

Lin Lin stared at the beer sitting on the table before him.

The shop owner had just taken it out of the icebox, so cold air was still coming off the glass, and water droplets were sliding down the bottle.

A little fog drifted up.

He looked up and realized the guy with sunglasses had lit a cigarette without him noticing.

"I'm about to report the mission," Lin Lin frowned and, unable to take it anymore, said, "If you've got something to say, I'm not interested."

Even if he didn’t head back to the nearby shelter, he could still contact the captain on his comm device.

In short, he wasn’t sticking around to wait for the other guy’s silence.

But the guy in sunglasses glanced at him and said, "You know I killed my partner with my own hands, right?"

"..." Lin Lin.

He immediately plopped back down.

"What are you saying? You're threatening me?" he retorted stubbornly, "Don’t think I’ll stay because of that, heh, I’m not scared of you at all."

"I wasn’t the one who killed him."

"..."

"That guy... wasn’t human."

That’s more than I needed to know.

Lin Lin was taken aback and let out a confused "Ah?"

"Once a source of infection passes the initial three days of chaos, it will enter the 'second stage,' which is what we call the latent period. After that, unless special methods are used for precise testing, it's impossible to determine if it's a source of infection."

Lin Lin: "I just passed the Level 2 exam, I know that."

But the person in front of him didn’t respond and continued to talk as if to themselves.

"My partner—the victim you often mention. Before joining the Bureau of Infection Management and Control, he was already a source of infection, but the bureau didn't detect it. It used this 'light-under-the-lamp' effect, a situation where something is hidden in plain sight, to quietly hide its identity."

That's not out of the question.

However, most sources of infection would avoid the bureau as soon as they hear about it. After all, before becoming one of those things, they were all human and knew full well what the consequences would be of going against such an official organization. Unless they are extremely confident in their abilities, they wouldn't deliberately approach bureau employees.

So, Lin Lin had never heard of anything like that.

"Are you saying that during your mission, you found out it was a source of infection, which is why you took care of it?"

Wei Yangze took a deep breath upon hearing this question.

If only the answer was as simple as that.

However, the truth was—

Until that moment, he hadn't uncovered the other party's true identity.

It was four months ago, on that night.

Summer had just begun.

The rain poured down, turning the roads muddy.

Occasionally, it would cause traffic jams in the district.

But no matter how difficult it was, they had to join the line of cars, unable to relax.

After all, as a Level 1 Enforcer, he was responsible for the safety of the entire district.

They had privately agreed to drive around from 7 to 10 PM, making regular patrols to sense if any source of infection had emerged.

It was sort of a daily routine.

But that night, they were very lucky and finished their patrol unusually early.

Wei Yangze's residence was a prefab house provided by headquarters.

It was mainly convenient for dismantling and relocating at any time, without leaving a record of his identity at a hotel.

The prefab house had no air conditioning, and it was extremely hot.

But that night, he slept unusually soundly.

Until midnight, when heavy rain fell again, hitting the edge of the prefab house and waking him from a deep sleep.

Half-awake, he saw a blurry black figure standing in front of his bed, not knowing how long it had been watching him.

In that instant, he jolted awake.

He quietly reached for his sunglasses and turned on the light, only to be shocked by what he saw.

It was a bloodied and disfigured humanoid figure with only parts of its limbs still attached to its body.

As he turned on the light, the blood-soaked monster let out a strange groan, its mouth constantly spewing sentences he couldn't understand.

"I've carefully planned for so long, killed so many people, searched through all kinds of information in the bureau, and finally found that very special human I've been looking for all this time..."

"But I never imagined that this area was where **that being** resided..."

"I actually dared to disturb Him."

"Even though I only saw Him from afar and barely escaped, He will definitely punish me—"

The rain soaked its body, sending up hissing white smoke.

The surrounding air was filled with the smell of burning and the sharp, pungent odor of sulfur.

Wei Yangze was stiff all over, drenched in cold sweat.

The voice belonged to his partner, who had been laughing and telling him 'see you tomorrow' just that day.

Wei Yangze had long since gotten his Level 1 certification.

Even though it was difficult to believe, he should have realized the other's identity by now.

Though he was careful, his actions eventually drew its attention.

By the time it turned its face towards him, Wei Yangze was ready to fight.

But suddenly, it grabbed his hand and, with a 'thud,' knelt down before him.

"Please, kill me now. I know Level 1 Enforcers can kill sources of infection. Please, just do it!"

The grotesque humanoid pressed its forehead to the back of his hand, whimpering and pleading.

"It's so disgusting."

His hand was covered in sticky blood.

"The more it wailed like a baby, the more nauseating it became."

"Wei Yangze's stomach churned, and a sharp pain shot through his head."

"What the hell was this?"

The fear of being found by 'Him' had reduced it to a begging dog before the Enforcer.

Even after escaping, it was still restless, deranged, and would rather die than face Him.

Lin Lin: "...So, did you kill it?"

"No."

Wei Yangze gave him a deep look.

Of course, he didn't kill it.

The professionalism of a Level 1 Enforcer made him pause for only a moment before urgently pressing the question, "Who is that special human you mentioned? And what is this 'Him'? Where exactly in the sector is it?!"

"If you don't explain clearly, I will never let you die in peace!!"

"It: 'That human is—'"

A moment later.

"A 'rustling' sound came from in front of Wei Yangze."

Instead, it came from the position of his right hand, which was tightly grabbed by the monster.

The body in front of him suddenly melted before his eyes, as if just hot water had been poured over the skeleton. The surface of the skin and muscle tissue melted like rotten porridge, falling to the ground in an instant—and just like that, it vanished before him.

All that remained was a puddle of water.

He stood there, staring at the ground, unable to say a word.

"..." Lin Lin, "Is it over?"

"No, I submitted the mission report to the headquarters, but there has been no further feedback."

Everything was eerily quiet, as if it had all been a figment of his imagination.

That rainy night, he had killed his own partner.

This rumor spread, and since then, the district was missing a Level 1 Administrative Enforcer.

"..."

A thin layer of sweat formed on Lin Lin's palms.

Almost instantly, he thought of the "Source of Infection 3301" which had died in the aquarium today.

It, too, had met an extremely abnormal death.

Could it be similar to what Wei Yangze encountered before?

"I've been thinking a lot about it." Wei Yangze extinguished his cigarette. "Although the pronunciation is the same, I believe it refers to a deity—【He】."

"A deity?"

But deities don't exist in this world.

Like the evil gods and spirits in novels, they sound powerful but, much like supernatural powers, they don't exist at all.

So, it was likely a human who, faced with fear, instinctively resorted to the term for gods.

But what kind of special source of infection was it?

It had completely shattered its understanding, invoking such intense, bone-chilling fear.

The more Lin Lin thought about it, the more horrified he became, struggling to comprehend what kind of existence that was. He blurted out,

"…I understand. Don't worry, I'll report it truthfully and in detail to the headquarters again. Our newly appointed Special-Class Captain is highly capable, and everyone acknowledges her skills. She will definitely not allow such a dangerous area to continue existing..."

"No."

"…?"

"I never said this area was dangerous."

"Ah?"

"On the contrary," Wei Yangze said slowly, "This is the safest district. The event diffusion rate is 0."

In other words, since he was transferred here, no abnormal events have occurred.

It's like...

A place like an eerie utopia.

It’s as if this place were a small, isolated world, where there is no 'source of infection,' no anomalous events.

Everyone is going about their lives in an orderly fashion.

There’s no need to worry about sudden attacks from distorted monsters, their minds are clear, living in a peaceful, ordinary dream.

Here, a Level 1 Enforcer is utterly useless.

Wei Yangze’s lack of diligence suddenly had a concrete reason.

"But this is just too bizarre."

"Isn’t ordinariness… precisely the real anomaly?"

At this thought, Lin Lin opened his mouth, then closed it again.

He had an absurd idea.

That this very ordinariness and calm were the unbreakable taboos of this land.

He picked up the beer, took a big sip, and then set it back down.

A moment later.

"I’m still going to report this to the captain."

"Do what you want," Wei Yangze said.

At that moment, both their phones on the table suddenly let out a sharp beep.

Lin Lin immediately stopped what he was doing and turned to look.

It was a new task alert.

He quickly grabbed it, unlocked the screen with his face, and immediately saw a message: "Infection Source Diffusion Warning! (95% Probability!)"

"Preliminary assessment places it in [Stage Three]."

The location: a university.

It was very familiar, exactly where Ye Jishu was.

And "Stage Three" meant it was even more dangerous!

This indicated that the 'source of infection' had reached its final stage, completely abandoning its human form.

No longer a living body—the original entity was already dead.

Thus, they were no longer constrained by any limitations, and could even create their own unique dimensions, like something out of a comic book, making them extremely troublesome.

Lin Lin abruptly looked up at Wei Yangze, his face twisted in anger.

"Were you lying to me all along?!"

But to his surprise, in response to his accusation, Wei Yangze placed the extinguished cigarette on the table and picked up the car keys that were lying on the side.

"Let's go, we're going to check it out right now, and you'll understand what I mean."

Although his tone was calm,

Lin Lin noticed that his fingers were trembling, and the knuckles holding the keys were already clenched.

The other person was afraid.

Even though he was sure the infection wouldn't spread, he was still afraid.

But this fear wasn't because of the suddenly emerging third-stage source of infection, but instead... because of the possible appearance of "Him."

……

Ye Jishu quietly opened the window.

And then, he saw the dorm manager sitting with his back to him, watching TV.

"Teacher," he called out.

The dorm manager didn't respond.

So, he tried again, "Teacher?"

A moment later, the dorm manager swayed and collapsed onto the sofa.

Ye Jishu watched, waiting.

He carefully climbed in through the window.

Ye Jishu thought, somewhat guiltily.

If any other students saw this, they'd probably be freaked out too.

When he reached the sofa, he checked the dorm manager and saw that his eyes were tightly closed—likely asleep.

He grabbed the exit card from the dorm manager's desk.

Then, he glanced at the dorm manager's computer, which was still on.

Ye Jishu walked over and leaned down to nudge the mouse.

The computer screen lit up and unlocked.

His luck held—there was no password.

A few clicks later, he found the file he needed.

Like the counselor, the dorm manager had a private contact list for reaching teachers. And for easier management, if a teacher had to stay late, they needed to sign the duty roster.

"Chen Wanhui"

"Minghui Building, office 421—on duty."

Sure enough, it was in the math department building.

Ye Jishu made a mental note of the location.

He glanced at the dorm supervisor again, called out to him, and then patted his face.

He thought it would be useless.

But the supervisor groaned and opened his eyes a few seconds later.

"Ah... you..."

The supervisor struggled to fully wake up, looking at Ye Jishu with a dazed expression.

"Professor, a student passed out on the third floor."

"Hmm? Okay..."

"You should see a doctor too."

Ye Jishu checked the supervisor's condition and saw that the supervisor had indeed listened to him, then left through the door.

Fortunately, it wasn’t far from the dormitory.

Even without the campus bus at night, it wouldn’t be an issue to get there.

As he walked into the rain, Ye Jishu realized he had forgotten his umbrella.

He pulled up the hood of his jacket.

Then, he thought about sending a message to Yan Mei, but remembered his phone was dead.

"So, it’s not my fault."

But the unease in his heart suddenly got worse.

Ye Jishu made his way toward Minghui Building.

The building was dark, with no lights on.

Looking ahead, two concrete pillars were in front, with a banner between them that read "Mingde Jingxin" in big characters.

On the fourth floor.

In the darkness, he paid no attention to anything and went straight up the stairs.

Sure enough, Professor Chen was in the office.

When he reached the fourth floor, he saw that only one office was lit with a pale, harsh light.

Ye Jishu couldn’t see his roommate anywhere.

"Hasn’t he arrived yet?"

But the other person had left much earlier, so he should be here by now.

He looked left and right, a sense of doubt creeping into his mind.

He pulled off the hood of his sweatshirt, which was dripping wet and hanging limp behind him, making him feel extremely uncomfortable.

Just then, he suddenly heard a voice behind him.

"Jishu."

"..."

It was an extremely familiar voice.

In his memory, only one person called his name in that tone.

Ye Jishu stiffened.

He slowly turned around and met Yan Mei's smiling face not far away.

It was a face that was impossible to look away from.

As a thunderclap exploded in the corridor, his tall figure was fully revealed, radiating a dangerous allure.

Purple light brightened the sky and cast a glow through the corridor windows, making everything blurry.

Shadows fell between them.

"Why is Ye Jishu here?"

"…Looking for someone."

He didn’t say outright that he was looking for his roommate.

Because he didn’t see the need.

After all, Yan Mei probably didn’t know the other person.

If he brought it up, he might have to explain, and that would be a hassle.

However—

"I’m here for the same reason," Yan Mei's smile faded, and he said in a low voice, "Something Jishu mentioned earlier has been on my mind. So I arranged to meet the Professor, hoping we could meet as soon as possible. I didn’t expect the Professor to agree and say it could happen tonight."

The office, lit by white fluorescent lights, cast a glow from behind Ye Jishu.

The room was silent.

Even straining to hear something, there was only silence.

"Want to take another look together?"

Yan Mei said flatly, "Maybe the person Jishu is looking for, the one you went out to find so late at night, is just inside."