Chapter 10: East City of Q City

Chapter 10: Q City East District

"An hour ago, members of the guard team observed the Undertaker hanging upside down from a seventh-floor window, face covered with black cloth that had two holes cut out for eyes, staring directly back at them."

Zhou Ye reported the current intel from the passenger seat.

"Simultaneously, a Raven was spotted in the city center - a large black bird speaking human language. It called out several names before disappearing rapidly, with multiple witnesses capturing video evidence."

He spoke rapidly as the vehicle sped through streets; he hadn't fastened his seatbelt in their rushed departure. A sharp turn nearly sent him crashing through the windshield.

After hastily fastening his seatbelt, Zhou Ye accessed the witness recording on the car's display.

The video captured the person filming's trembling fingers and panicked breathing, clearly recognizing the creature as the ominous Raven. The shaking footage conveyed extreme fear.

The black bird perched on a traffic light pole preening its feathers, its sharp beak lined with teeth and crimson horizontal pupils fixed on the person filming.

It suddenly shrieked - a sound resembling a mix of crying children and women.

As the eerie cries continued, the person filming visibly panicked, the footage shaking violently as sobs became audible.

The Raven screeched several names, paused to stare intently at the person filming, then spat out one last name before the device clattered to the ground and the creature vanished from frame.

Li Zhiyan watched the entire video from the backseat.

"The last name was his?"

"Correct." Zhou Ye nodded, closing the video. "The names of everyone who’d seen the Undertaker were on the list. Guards immediately searched for those named, but... they were too late."

The videos had inexplicably spread online, spreading through the East District like a virus within hours.

Viewers universally reported discomfort and sensations of being watched, with some already spotting figures hanging upside down outside their windows.

Panic spread rapidly.

"Class C Pollutants have learned to use human tools for spreading pollution." Li Zhiyan reopened the video. "Was the network severed?"

"Cutting the network didn’t work. The video persists through any signal - even phone calls carry strange noises that soon manifest physically around the caller."

"Like digital ghosts."

The vehicle lurched to a halt, throwing Zhou Ye against his seatbelt before both men exited swiftly.

Guards had established tight control throughout East District, armed soldiers maintaining vigilant watch over every sector.

That familiar rottenness permeated the air - not through scent but through an inescapable perception. Li Zhiyan covered his nose instinctively.

Zhou Ye stood beside him. "Captain, orders?"

"Lead rescue operations. Neutralize all threats excluding the Undertaker itself." Li Zhiyan stared ahead through covered nose. "Minimize Contaminated Patients numbers at all costs."

"Understood." Zhou Ye rolled his shoulders. "We'll eliminate other mutated pollutants first."

"Move out!"

/

The shelter alarms activated shortly after the petition signing.

Having spent days at the facility, Shen Ji recognized the alert signals immediately.

Amber lights pulsed with distinctive warning tones as emergency mobilization orders flashed across every phone screen - a Class C Pollutant emergence requiring field medical support.

"Security teams are heading to East City in large numbers, and the containment order is also for East City. There's no doubt about it—it's gotta be the Gravedigger."

"Not good, Li Zhiyan has gone to East City. We need to catch the Gravedigger before Li Zhiyan does!"

East City is truly dangerous. After much hesitation, the shelter still sent out two vehicles of personnel, including Shen Ji. It's said that the shelter dispatched all the staff who had signed up, and that was all they had.

Shen Ji got on the vehicle and, while looking for a suitable seat, spotted a familiar face. Zhang Qingli was wearing a brown jacket, a book spread open on his knees, muttering softly to himself as he read.

Did he sign up too?

Shen Ji sat down next to him and managed to hear what he was muttering.

Even though it was quiet, the crude, angry swearing was still very noticeable.

As if sensing someone sitting beside him, Zhang Qingli’s muttering paused for a few seconds. He turned his head and, upon seeing it was Shen Ji, his eyes filled with surprise and astonishment.

"You signed up?" Zhang Qingli sounded puzzled. "Why would a temporary worker like you go to such a dangerous place?"

"Mutants can be infected too!"

Instead of making up a lie, Shen Ji turned the question back on him. "Then why did you sign up? Aren’t you only Class D? Class D Mutants shouldn’t go to such dangerous places."

"What’s wrong with Class D? Class D is still plenty strong! I signed because I felt my Talent could do something useful!"

Zhang Qingli nearly stood up to argue with Shen Ji, but the vehicle started moving. The acceleration pressed him back into his seat, and he didn’t manage to get up.

Shen Ji watched him for a few seconds before speaking. His usual cold tone unexpectedly carried a hint of dejection.

"Actually, I’m the same as you."

"I signed because I hoped I could do something."

Zhang Qingli stammered. After a few seconds, he went back to his book without another word, though his ears were noticeably turned bright red—whether from embarrassment or something else was unclear.

"He’s going to feel so guilty tonight he won’t be able to sleep, *Host*. You’re really something!"

'How could that be? I was just answering his question seriously. I signed to do something, and I didn’t lie to him.'

"You certainly are doing something, but that 'something' is completely different from what he had in mind, right?"

Shen Ji tsked mentally, then pulled a glasses cloth from his pocket and began cleaning his glasses, putting on the act of 'doing something to calm his nerves.'

Perhaps to ease the awkwardness, Zhang Qingli glanced at him again.

"The contaminant that broke out in East City this time is the Gravedigger."

"Its contamination is very unpredictable, so you need to be careful... though being careful might not help. If you’re unlucky enough to be targeted by the Gravedigger, you’ll be marked with a contamination symbol immediately."

"But given your luck in cheating death this long, it probably won’t be a problem for you."

As he spoke, Zhang Qingli started cursing under his breath again. "Why would the Gravedigger appear in Q City? Weren’t they supposed to be wiped out in urban zones? Damn it! It should just go to hell and then some, and after being turned into a specimen, be utterly destroyed!"

"The shelter has strict protocols for handling contaminants. They can’t be kept as specimens," Shen Ji kindly reminded him. "Given the nature of contaminants, even specimens would likely carry contamination."

"That’s exactly what’s so frustrating!" A vein throbbed at Zhang Qingli’s temple. "Without being able to deeply autopsy and study the contaminated entities, it’s hard to find a cure for the corruption sickness!"

"Damn, dedicated much? You want to autopsy a contaminant to study contamination?"

"What a shame. Even after death, contaminants remain small contamination-release machines. They continuously spread contamination, like organisms spewing spores to multiply."

Amid Zhang Qingli's restless, anxious chatter, the vehicle arrived at East City half an hour later.

The weather was terrible today. Dark clouds hung low in the sky, so low you could almost touch them. Even though it was noon, the sky was as dim as dusk. A biting wind blew constantly, sharp as a razor, scraping painfully against their faces.

Contrary to what Shen Ji had expected of ordinary people crying for help and hoping for swift evacuation, the entire city felt lifeless and silent, like a ghost town.

The vehicle entered East City and split off in two completely different directions.

From a modern perspective, rescue efforts would prioritize severely affected areas to save as many lives as possible.

But this was the apocalypse, a terrifying world of pollution. So, during a C-class or higher pollution disaster, the shelter and guard teams would first rescue areas with lower contamination levels, trying to save as many lightly-polluted and uncontaminated people as possible before attending to the severely affected high-pollution victims.

This wasn't a disregard for life but a strategy to protect the greatest number of lives.

The vehicle stopped, and Shen Ji and the others disembarked at their rescue destination: an educational district.

From kindergarten to high school, this area featured an extensive street of schools. The neighborhood around it was filled with families who had moved here for their children's education, resulting in a dense and mixed population with a high proportion of children and elderly. Due to its low pollution level, it was chosen as the primary rescue target.

"Doctors, spread out and follow us to evacuate the crowd," the guard team leader said politely, gesturing for them to proceed. "If you find victims infected with pollution, we're counting on you."

Before dispersing, Zhang Qingli looked at Shen Ji uneasily, frowned, and told him to be careful before turning to leave.

"He's quite worried about you."

'Maybe he feels uneasy looking at me, thinking it's a sixth sense telling him something bad will happen to me,' Shen Ji replied.

He followed three guard team members toward the school area, where teachers' and high school students' dormitories were located, housing a large number of trapped people.

As he walked, Shen Ji couldn't help but reflect, 'It feels like being on a battlefield.'

"Every fight against pollutants is a war. This war will claim many lives and come with unbearable costs. But if we don't fight, humanity will lose everything, so we have no choice but to engage."

'I actually once considered becoming a war correspondent, but my supervisor disagreed, so it never happened.'

"The great war correspondent Shen Ji, I express my sincere respect, but could we focus on finding the Undertaker first?"

Shen Ji sighed helplessly, seemingly disappointed by the System's impatience.

He pushed his glasses up on the bridge of his nose and glanced at the three guard team members ahead, who were carefully scanning for and detecting pollution levels.

'What should I do?'

"The S-class pollutant 'Filth' possesses the most unique pollution in the world. It has a terrifying ability to consume pollution and an incredibly powerful reproductive capacity. Its mushrooms can grow anywhere, consuming all life and pollution, leaving only a carpet of hyphae behind... Of course, we don’t need to go that far."

"The hyphae are your eyes. Where they reach is where you are. You will monitor your domain, not missing a single blade of grass."

"You can do this now."

Shen Ji slowly closed his eyes, sensing the air and searching for the tiny beings fused with him. He issued commands, directing them to expand and invade.

Fine, white hyphae sprouted from beneath Shen Ji's feet, spreading in a thin layer across the ground and rapidly extending outward. The guard team members suddenly looked up, their detectors having briefly registered a terrifying number—a value that spiked and plummeted, appearing for only a moment before returning to its original level.

"Report: Detected extreme pollution! Pollution level 1563! Duration 0.3 seconds!"

They reported to their superiors one after another. Not just them—other team members in different areas also detected this brief but horrifying number.

Sweat broke out on their backs at the implication of such a terrifying value, yet they remained completely unaware that the ground was already covered in a fine layer of white hyphae. The hyphae, like spiderwebs, extended continuously from Shen Ji's feet, climbing up buildings and trees, opening their caps on treetops to absorb pollution from the air.

"All personnel, observe your surroundings! Confirm the situation before proceeding!" came the command from above.

In such an urgent situation, no one dared to act recklessly. They began using more precise instruments to check, hoping to locate the source of that terrifying number from earlier.

"You accidentally leaked a bit of contamination and it was detected," the system reminded Shen Ji.

"Sorry, still getting the hang of it," Shen Ji replied dismissively.

He leaned quietly against the wall, looking up at the sky. Dark clouds blocked the sun, but they couldn't stop the mushrooms from growing. Around his wrist coiled coils of tiny organisms, these little things constantly reporting areas of intense contamination, insatiably pleading with their master for permission to consume everything here.

No one noticed: his right eye had already turned glassy-translucent, sharp like fractured porcelain, emanating a faint, terrifying aura.

Anyone who took one look would understand... this was anything but ordinary.