Chapter 11: East City of Q City

Chapter 11 East District of Q City

Although the Gravedigger shares the same origin as the Raven, they never appear simultaneously.

According to the experience of the Pollution Prevention Center, the Gravediggers that appear near victims are mostly projections, while the true body remains deeply hidden. In such cases, the only option is to first capture the Raven, which appears when the true body is present.

Once the Raven is captured, the Gravedigger of the same origin will appear to rescue it.

Li Zhiyan waited for the reports from the guard teams in various areas. He needed to locate the area with the highest pollution level—the most likely spot for the Raven to appear.

"Area One pollution level 22, does not match the predicted central pollution level."

"Area Three pollution level 56, approaching the predicted central pollution level."

"Area Four pollution level 41, does not match the predicted central pollution level."

With his eyes closed, listening to the team members' reports, Li Zhiyan seemed to be dozing, exuding an aura of calm and laziness. He bore no resemblance to the renowned S-Class Mutant known throughout the Pollution Prevention Center at all.

So, a small mushroom slowly lowered itself from a branch, as if secretly observing this eerily quiet protagonist.

Li Zhiyan appeared unaware even after those few seconds of observation. He remained still, until suddenly the mushroom trembled violently and shot back up as if startled.

At that moment, Li Zhiyan abruptly opened his eyes.

Those blue, stained-glass-like, translucent eyes reflected the image of the small mushroom. A slender hand grabbed the little mushroom attempting to escape.

"Hmm?" Li Zhiyan looked at what he had captured in his hand. "A mushroom?"

*"Oh no, caught."*

Shen Ji immediately severed the psychic connection between that mushroom and himself.

He pressed his temple, his tone strange. "Why did it end up near the protagonist?"

Just like Li Zhiyan, Shen Ji was also searching for the area with the strongest pollution. The Gravedigger and the Raven were notoriously difficult to find. Finally, the system suggested: compared to the Gravedigger, the Raven is more likely to appear.

It’s an established fact that the higher the pollution, the more likely the Raven will emerge. So the hyphae channeled Shen Ji’s consciousness and swiftly darted to where they believed the pollution was highest.

Specifically: near the protagonist.

*Shen Ji, who went with expectations only to encounter the terrifying protagonist: ...*

*"Dear little mushroom, we’re trying to save ourselves here, not commit suicide."*

"Ah, well, it might be because the protagonist is an S-Class Mutant. Similar to pollutants, the higher the mutant’s level, the more pollution they can control. An S-Class Mutant is already on par with an S-Class pollutant."

"The hyphae couldn’t distinguish between mutants and pollutants."

"It’s fine! Let’s skip this area. There can’t possibly be a second S-Class Mutant."

Shen Ji didn’t respond to the system further. He closed his eyes and continued to wait, all the small mushrooms in the area standing on high alert.

The victims whose names were called out by the Raven were dying one by one. After the Gravedigger killed the first round of victims, the Raven would appear to announce the names of those who would die in the second round.

They had to seize this opportunity.

The last victim whose name was called by the Raven had died. The guard team announced the news over the broadcast.

Shen Ji’s eyes snapped open, his silver pupils cold.

"It’s here."

He turned to look left. "So nearby? It’s targeting the school with all those people?"

At the same time, Li Zhiyan also gotten the data he wanted.

"Area Seven’s pollution level has risen to 79! Matches the predicted central pollution level! Matches the predicted central pollution level!"

"Area Seven has a large combined school! Guard teams and Containment Center personnel are conducting rescue operations near the school! There are a large number of children in the area! Requesting backup!"

"Requesting backup! The Raven has appeared!"

A giant black bird, as tall as a person, flapped its wings on the school playground. It opened its mouth and let out strange cries, as if announcing the names written by death for the next round.

All guard team members originally engaged in rescue operations received emergency orders to head to the Raven’s location. The doctors from the Containment Center could evacuate immediately, but most followed, including Shen Ji.

Everyone was running. Even though those present were all low-level mutants, the highest-ranking rescue team leader was only C-Class.

"Filth released five sources of pollution during the contamination leak incident. The Gravedigger is just one of them."

"The driver delivering fruits and vegetables to the Containment Center brought pollution back to Q City. He began suffering from sleepless nights, haunted by nightmares of evil spirits even when he managed to sleep. He grew fearful of his own shadow, convinced something terrifying lived within it. His condition deteriorated rapidly, leaving him unaware to turn himself in to the Pollution Prevention Center, and the contamination spread."

"The Gravedigger caused the most casualties among the pollution disasters. Guard team casualties exceeded triple digits, with countless victims. Q City never recovered from this blow until the protagonist discovered traces of the Final Villain and uncovered the enemy hiding in the shadows."

"Black Rat, Withered Tree, Gravedigger, Decaying Organism... what else?"

"Not sure. The novel ended abruptly without elaborating further."

The guard team members there for rescue fired pollution-suppression rounds at the giant black bird. The bullets struck but ricocheted off its feathers. The Raven is a pollutant connected to the Gravedigger; a C-Class pollutant is already beyond what ordinary equipment can handle.

"Pollution-suppression rounds are ineffective!"

"Report! Environmental pollution level is rising! Pollution level has exceeded 80!"

"Nearby residents, teachers, and students don’t have time to evacuate!"

The leader gritted his teeth and raised his gun. "Keep firing! The Raven initiates a new wave of widespread pollution when announcing the names of the deceased. Buy time! Captain Li will arrive soon!"

Shen Ji stood not far behind them, the wind causing his white coat flapping loudly. He watched the large black bird flapping its wings, silver threads seeming to writhe within his transparent pupils.

"Use their attack to entangle it with hyphae."

Hyphae climbed along the guard team members into their guns, threading through the bullet holes onto the rounds. With a bang, a bullet was fired, the hyphae piercing the Raven's wing along with it.

The Raven let out a miserable shriek.

The guard team members widened their eyes. Most instinctively checked their firearms and ammunition, completely baffled as to why the previously useless bullets had suddenly managed to pierce the Raven's wing.

"Don't stop!" the leader quickly stopped them. "Continue firing!"

There was no time to ponder the sudden effectiveness now. They had to use all their ammunition to prevent the Raven from initiating a new wave of pollution. This unexpected turn was a godsend!

The Raven screeched in fury. Shen Ji knew why it was angry—the hyphae shot out with the bullets had already burrowed into its flesh through the wound. It frantically beat its wings but couldn't dislodge the hyphae within. It tried to take flight, but the hyphae on the ground had already ensnared its feet.

"Ah—!" The Raven's cries grew increasingly piercing.

"The pollution level is still rising! It's rising too fast!"

Nearby monitoring personnel watched in horror as the numbers skyrocketed. "93, 109, 137, 184..."

"Control it, pump the contamination in, don't worry about its body—we'll junk it after anyway."

"The protagonist is about to arrive, we must finish before he gets here."

Shen Ji frowned slightly; he was struggling too, as he was negotiating with the hyphae that had burrowed into the Raven's body.

These hyphae possessed the most primitive contaminant instinct: consumption. Like bottomless stomachs, they endlessly consumed contamination and channeled it back to the Miasma. This was the Miasma’s most unique characteristic of contamination, and it had now become Shen Ji’s biggest headache.

Because these little things only ate, never spat anything out. Getting them to give contamination to an outsider was worse than killing them.

"Cough it up," Shen Ji commanded them. "You can eat it back later, and even more. No lies, no siding with outsiders, and certainly no abandoning you."

As an unmarried man, Shen Ji felt the frustration of dealing with a wailing brat.

"Hurry!" the system snapped at Shen Ji. "The protagonist’s presence detected! He’s coming!"

Shen Ji let out a heavy sigh, raised his head, and locked eyes with the Raven before him.

"Now."

The tightly bound Raven screamed—a raw, piercing shriek. It began to cry blood, crimson droplets streaming from its beak. Countless hyphae burrowed into its eyes, squirming through its veins, seizing control of every muscle.

This was what greeted Li Zhiyan upon arrival.

The blood-crying Raven beat its wings, a strong contamination wave hit his face. A trace of surprise flickered in Li Zhiyan’s pale blue eyes.

"...Level A?"

"What?!" Zhou Ye, who had joined Li Zhiyan midway and arrived with him, jumped. "A... A, Level A?! Wasn’t it supposed to be just Level C?!"

Li Zhiyan unbuttoned his uniform, shrugged off his jacket. His silver-white long hair fluttered in the wind. In an instant, he appeared at the front of all the guard team members. The moment he arrived, the entire team breathed a sigh of relief; without needing orders from the leader, they quickly retreated.

A blue butterfly flickered into view on Li Zhiyan’s wrist. The butterfly seemed illusory, dreamlike, holding the eye instantly.

It didn’t seem like a product of this world, carrying an alien shimmer, drifting ethereally with Li Zhiyan’s movements, fragile as if it would break at the slightest touch.

Yet, this fragile beauty radiated an extremely terrifying contamination aura.

Shen Ji almost lost his grip on the Raven’s escape instinct, forcing the hyphae to pin the Raven firmly to the ground.

"Ah!!" Caught between flight instinct and forced control, the Raven’s neck twisted as if broken, bending at an unnatural angle. It tilted its head toward the sky, blood streaming from its eyes and mouth.

"Quick, devour it! If the protagonist gets to it first, he’ll discover you!"

The Raven twisted its neck, emitting a guttural, awful screech.

"The deceased!" With each word it spat, the Raven hocked up a mouthful of blood. Its down was already stained crimson, its grating voice echoing across the playground.

"The deceased..."

Before it could utter a name, the Raven wilted rapidly and collapsed. Within three seconds of hitting the ground, it shriveled into a desiccated bird corpse. Its black feathers loosened and fell off, scattering into the air with the wind, drifting aimlessly.

Even Li Zhiyan was taken aback by this turn of events. It took him a few seconds to react before retracting the butterfly on his wrist.

He walked over to the bird corpse, crouched down, and examined the Raven’s remains. The Level A Raven was undeniably dead—its body shriveled, devoid of any trace of contamination, as if completely sucked dry.

"Captain?" Zhou Ye called out to him from a short distance away. "What happened?"

Li Zhiyan shook his head, offering no answer.

A few seconds later, he stood up. "Upgrade the disaster level to B. Initiate a full lockdown of the eastern city from now on."

Zhou Ye froze for a second. "That serious?"

"Class A undertakers don’t have strong offensive abilities, but they possess a particularly troublesome pollution ability," Li Zhiyan explained. "Undertakers and ravens are bound together—they share life but not death. As long as one remains alive, the other can revive even after death. I’m not sure why it died, but it's likely to wake up at any moment."

Zhou Ye drew a sharp breath. He quickly notified the Pollution Prevention Center to upgrade the disaster level and immediately led a team to search for the undertaker that had yet to appear.

This was no joking matter!

After calling in specialists to handle the raven’s corpse—preferably getting the Academy of Sciences involved for a thorough examination—Li Zhiyan remained standing there silently for a good while.

A few moments later, he turned his gaze toward the rescue personnel and shelter staff who were already preparing to evacuate.

They were organizing their equipment while doing their utmost to evacuate the residents from the area.

As he watched, someone noticed his stare. The person turned around and met his gaze.

The man had a striking appearance—not in a modern, pretty-boy way, but more ruggedly handsome, with a really distinctive look. Behind black-rimmed glasses, dark eyes calmly observed him. He carried an innate air of refinement, yet his cool gaze gave him an air of rationality, especially as he stood alone in an empty area wearing a white coat.

Li Zhiyan noticed the work badge pinned to his chest—the emblem of shelter assistance.

"Doctor, we’re evacuating!" someone called out to him.

The man nodded, cast one last glance at Li Zhiyan, then turned and left without a backward glance.

Li Zhiyan felt his heart suddenly skip a beat.

Hm. He looks familiar… Have I seen him somewhere before?