Chapter 16: East City of Q City

Chapter 16 East District of Q City

Liu Chuanyang and the driver were retrieved by isolation units and would soon be sent back to the containment facility.

As for the remaining personnel, after self-administering pollution inhibitors, they decided to continue working.

The most dangerous element, the "Undertaker" pollutant, had been found dead, and there were no remaining pollutants in the area capable of causing significant harm. Remaining here posed no additional risks, especially since S-Class Mutant Li Zhiyan would be temporarily stationed here following the incident.

There was even less reason to leave now.

Shen Ji was assigned to a nearby area. This zone no longer contained any pollutants, and ordinary Contaminated patients could be handled by the guard team alone. Thus, this safe area was assigned to Shen Ji, who was still a newcomer—this was them looking out for him.

However, this area contained the protagonist.

After testing the pollution levels of the last Contaminated patient and administering pollution inhibitors of varying concentrations, Shen Ji openly started slacking, as the next batch of Contaminated patients would need to be gathered by the guard team.

He turned to look at Li Zhiyan, who stood not far away, in front of the Undertaker's corpse.

The man observed the body for a while, then unabashedly yawned once, then again, before finally pulling out his phone from his pocket to start playing with it.

Now that's what I call work ethic.

"Being the protagonist is so great—he slacks off so boldly."

"It’s not just any protagonist—it’s him. The entire story lacks any pressure-filled plotlines for him. It’s one big power fantasy novel. Though there were some seemingly pressure-filled foreshadowings, the author botched the ending. The book concluded before any real pressure could build."

"Based on my experience as a writer, the pressure point for this character likely lies in his background."

"You consider yourself a writer?"

"Hey, that’s rude. Don’t journalists write interview pieces?"

Shen Ji lowered his head to check his remaining stock of pollution inhibitors. Before he could finish counting, a voice suddenly spoke beside him.

"There are unexpectedly many patients this time. You might have to work overtime later."

Shen Ji jerked his head up, locking eyes with Li Zhiyan. The distance was so close that Shen Ji could clearly see Li Zhiyan’s pale blue pupils and notice that his eyes seemed not only different in color from ordinary people’s but also contained faint, fragmented patterns, like butterfly wings.

"What?" Li Zhiyan looked at him. "Did I scare you?"

"No," Shen Ji replied appropriately.

Yet, he had already started internally complaining to the system.

'Does he walk without making a sound? Did he fly over? How did he suddenly appear beside me?'

"The protagonist shouldn’t be able to fly. I ran a full-text search—there’s no instance of the protagonist suddenly taking flight. No need to worry about him flying away abruptly."

Shen Ji: …

"Work is so boring. I wanna sleep," Li Zhiyan yawned. "By the way, I asked earlier—staff at the containment facility mentioned you'd headed in this direction. Did you see anything strange?"

"So this is an interrogation."

Shen Ji adopted a posture of recollection, pretending to ponder deeply for a few seconds before answering.

"I came through here earlier. At the time, this residential area didn’t look like this. I saw a pollutant by the security booth entrance and left because I didn’t think I could deal with it."

He pointed toward the security booth not far away. "Back then, I saw through the window—the pollutant was clutching a corpse."

Li Zhiyan nodded, "Correct, there was indeed a pollutant corpse and a human corpse at the entrance of the security booth. It was likely an attack by a low-grade pollutant."

"However, you were able to get so close to the Undertaker's contaminated zone without getting contaminated. It seems your Talent level isn't low."

"...Indeed, now that you mention it, only Class C or higher can withstand the Undertaker's contamination. Of course, Filth wouldn’t be affected by a mere Class C Pollutant. To others, it would appear that your Talent level is high enough—exceeding Class C—to remain completely unaffected."

Shen Ji stayed pretty calm.

He replied helplessly, "I don’t know. Although I awakened my Talent, I still have no idea what it actually is."

"That’s partly why I signed up to come here—to find out if my Talent can be used to do more."

Li Zhiyan was staring at Shen Ji. Just as Shen Ji began to wonder if the protagonist had seen through something, Li Zhiyan nodded seriously.

His tone was full of satisfaction, "An excellent answer, absolutely perfect."

"So fitting. How could there be someone who meets my standards so perfectly?"

Shen Ji: …

*'System, is the protagonist crazy? What does he mean?'*

"...I don’t know."

So Shen Ji could only watch as Li Zhiyan turned away contentedly and returned to guarding the Undertaker’s corpse while playing on his phone and dozing off.

What was that about?!

Shen Ji tsk'd to himself, withdrew his gaze, and continued organizing the pollution inhibitors he was working on.

Love the job you do—present-day Shen Ji was no longer an investigative journalist but a medical support worker on the front lines, who got as much respect as a war correspondent. This was work worth doing well; who knows, maybe he’d even get officially hired and never have to worry about food and shelter again?

Soon, medical staff from different areas returned one after another. Aside from a few heavily contaminated zones, the conditions of contaminated patients in other areas weren’t too severe. Most were in Stage I or II, with very few reaching Stage III, so handling them was relatively straightforward.

After letting everyone know he was safe, Shen Ji rejoined the group and saw Zhang Qingli run up to Li Zhiyan to start talking to him.

"Xiao Zhang is quite bold," Doctor Cheng remarked with admiration. "Captain Li actually engaged with him."

Shen Ji turned to Doctor Cheng, "Is he scary or something?"

"Not intimidating, but respect is a serious matter—it can make people lose their natural desire to express themselves." Doctor Cheng smiled warmly at Shen Ji. "Everyone here respects Mr. Li a lot. After all, he is the genuine authority and guardian of the Q City Pollution Prevention Center."

"Someone like you, Xiao Ji, who doesn't get flustered at all around him, is quite rare."

Alright, alright—the protagonist halo in effect. Too bad this is a no-romance book; by the end, Li Zhiyan still hadn’t found a partner.

After chatting for a while, Zhang Qingli soon came back looking thrilled.

He excitedly shared his success with everyone around.

"Mr. Li agreed to let us dissect the Undertaker’s corpse!"

This even surprised Cheng Gu, "Really?! The corpse of a Class C Pollutant?!"

"Yes! Mr. Li told me himself—after this operation wraps up, the body will be sent to the shelter. We get to keep it for research!"

"But our requests to research pollutant corpses have never been approved before because even dead pollutants carry contamination," another person brought up worriedly. "We originally hoped to get a Class D pollutant corpse at most, but this is Class C."

"It’s fine," Zhang Qingli said even more happily. "Mr. Li said this corpse is no longer contaminated! Because of some special circumstance, its body has become a hollow shell—all the pollution has been sucked dry. It’s perfect for our dissection and research!"

Upon hearing this, everyone's furrowed brows instantly relaxed, and they began to grin, brainstorming how to divvy up the roles of lead surgeon and assistant.

Shen Ji:...

These doctors are terrifying.

"You're even more terrifying than them—you ate the pollutant down to its shell."

'That's different. I am a pollutant, and pollutants naturally consume pollutants,' Shen Ji shot back matter-of-factly.

"Given how highly they regard you, you might even get a chance to observe from the sidelines. And, watch out—something's headed this way."

Shen Ji sidestepped and knocked down with a kick a person who suddenly charged at him.

The man didn't cry out in pain after falling but instead looked up, staring Shen Ji down with pure venom. Shen Ji could see nothing but hatred in his eyes.

Two security team members followed, pinning the man to the ground.

"What are you running for? Go to the shelter for treatment like you're supposed to!"

"I won't go!" the man shrieked. "My wife was sent to the shelter and they killed her there! I refuse to go! No one ever comes out of the shelter alive! You're just stuffing patients in there to die!"

He then glared fiercely at Shen Ji. "Butchers! You so-called doctors are nothing but partners in murder!"

The shelter staff looked at each other uncomfortably. Some wanted to refute him but didn't know how, as the low cure rate at the shelter was indeed their biggest painful truth.

'Was he trying to attack me just now?' Shen Ji focused on another detail. 'Why me?'

"Maybe you look harmless on the outside?... I can't figure it out. Seriously, why you? Just cursed?"

The two security team members were also embarrassed. They quickly apologized to the medical staff of the shelter and tried to forcibly drag the patient away. But before they could move him even a meter, a monitor suddenly started blaring on the infected patient.

"Warning! Pollution level increased by 34%! Warning! Patient has entered stage IV contamination!"

Everyone present was stunned. The patient broke free from the two security members and lunged at Shen Ji, who was closest to him.

Before anyone could react, the patient let out a sharp cry. The next moment, he had him under his boot. Shen Ji calmly stepped on his back, inserted a contamination sensor into his exposed neck for a blood test, and jabbed him with pollution inhibitors.

Everyone:...

The security team quickly restrained the patient. After dragging him away, the remaining member exclaimed, "Impressive! You subdued a patient mid-outbreak just like that."

"Would you consider transferring to our security team?"

Shen Ji lowered his eyes slightly, his tone humble. "I only did what I was capable of."

'System, an official gig is within reach!'

"Sometimes I find your fake humble act is kinda charming."

'Don't you think being a member of the security team would make me seem less like a pollutant than being part of the shelter?'

"...You’re not wrong about that."

"What's all this? Xiao Ji is one of our star players! You can't just snatch him up like that!" Doctor Cheng stepped in, waving his hand in refusal. "We finally found someone like him—hands off our guy!"

"Haha, just joking. Anyway, thank you so much for the shelter's support this time."

"We'll get a transport lined up to take everyone back soon."

Doctor Cheng snorted, "That's more like it."

"Your civil service status is gone."

Shen Ji gave a slight smirk, a hint of amusement in his eyes, after all, the so-called civil service status was just a joke.

But in reality, Doctor Cheng was already absolutely thrilled.

He's an elite! A true elite!

He can treat contamination illness inside the containment center, and fight contaminants barehanded outside! What a talent to have actually chosen their City Q—it’s truly a blessing for City Q!

He really hoped this one could stay in City Q a little longer, just a little longer.

That way, veterans like us, who spent day after day, month after month, year after year in the containment center, would have something to look forward to.