Chapter 27: Treatment Plan

Chapter 27: Treatment Plan

The shelter provided centralized treatment for medical personnel exposed to pollution. Some patients with mild contamination showed excellent results, meeting recovery standards after just three days of treatment and three days of observation.

Director Wen Jingyu released another video statement announcing the successful application of this special medicine.

Shen Ji sat in the cafeteria yawning, while across from him, Zhang Qingli watched the video while gnawing on chicken breast.

"Didn't sleep well last night?" Zhang Qingli glanced at him.

"It's alright," Shen Ji closed his eyes. "Just a bit noisy."

"Nighttime noise? You should report that to the dorm supervisor and have them handle it."

But it wasn't that.

Shen Ji had begun treating Chu Ye. The pollution within Chu Ye's body was entrenched, making eradication extremely difficult, but this wasn't the worst problem.

The worst part was: this pollution was extremely appealing to the small mushrooms.

They couldn't resist gorging on large quantities of the pollution, placing immense strain on Chu Ye's body, especially during treatment. The mycelium repeatedly conveyed excited consciousness like 'So spicy! So appetizing!'

Shen Ji: ...

The little things even enjoyed spicy flavors.

So Shen Ji cracked down hard on them, threatening that if they didn't behave, they would be cut off completely from pollution. In response, they burrowed into Shen Ji's blankets at midnight, exploding mushroom spores all over and claiming his entire bed as their own, fighting tooth and nail to protect their right to devour pollution.

They had seen through their master's 'sharp tongue but soft heart' nature, understanding that no matter what they did, their owner wouldn't truly blame them.

This left Shen Ji so angry he couldn't sleep all night.

"Wonder when the Gravekeeper's body will arrive," Zhang Qingli muttered while eating, still preoccupied with the pollutant's body. "The Security Team said it should be in the next couple of days. Really looking forward to it."

Shen Ji picked up a strand of noodles with his chopsticks.

"Just don't make me go observe. I finally don't have to work overtime so late—I'd rather go back to the dorm and get some more sleep."

Zhang Qingli shook his head helplessly. "Given your Talent, why don't you ever push yourself?"

Shen Ji thought: The Gravekeeper had already been completely consumed, leaving no pollution behind. Why would he exert effort over something worthless?

'But if the shelter is so efficient, why hasn't the Pollution Prevention Center ever approved pollutant's bodies for their research?'

Shen Ji was somewhat curious.

"Because pollutant's bodies, like living contaminants, uncontrollably emit pollution, similar to radioactive material. Close contact can easily contaminate even Mutants. Containing this pollution requires special methods, taking anywhere from a few months to a year or two."

"Meanwhile, contamination illnesses have very short time-sensitivity—two months is enough for all these patients to either die or mutate."

"Either quickly cured, or quickly dead—that's the fate of contaminated patients."

"This time went so smoothly purely because you were involved."

Shen Ji took another slurp of noodles.

Actually, pollution itself has very short time-sensitivity. Except for special contaminants like the Gravekeeper, most pollution outbreaks flare up during specific windows, suppressed by Security Teams, and generally conclude within a month. Afterward, similar contaminants don't reappear. So spending one or two years researching a contamination illness that won't occur again is really hardly worthwhile.

Probably only someone like Zhang Qingli would keep petitioning the Security Team and Pollution Prevention Center for pollutant's bodies.

After breakfast, Shen Ji returned his tray to its place and left the cafeteria with Zhang Qingli to head back to the patient ward.

The sun outside was quite bright, but the wind was strong. It was already mid-autumn, and the wind had a biting chill.

Just as they stepped out of the cafeteria, the communicator in Shen Ji’s pocket suddenly rang. Zhang Qingli, mid-yawn, almost jumped at the sound.

“Wh-what’s going on?!”

Every medical staff member at the Pollution Prevention Center was equipped with a special communicator that reported a patient’s pollution level to their primary care physician and the senior doctors if any abnormalities arose.

“Warning, warning!” A mechanical alarm sounded from the communicator.

“Ⅱ-C3-05 patient’s pollution level has increased by 30!”

“Warning! Pollution level has increased by 40!”

This surprised Zhang Qingli, as he had never heard Shen Ji’s communicator go off before.

Shen Ji’s patients had always been compliant, whether in their attitude toward taking medication or their recovery statistics. Those Contaminated patients who were difficult to manage under others’ care would become docile, like house cats, in front of Shen Ji. They took their medicine when he instructed, and the positive results were always notably effective.

Zhang Qingli had almost started to believe that the patients under Shen Ji’s care would never have any issues.

While Zhang Qingli was surprised, Shen Ji showed little reaction to the numbers. He didn’t even furrow his brow, remaining calm as if he had long expected a patient’s pollution level to rise.

“Do you need my help?” Zhang Qingli asked.

“Help me clear out a containment room,” Shen Ji said. “Any ward area will do. I need to transfer a patient there soon.”

“Alright,” Zhang Qingli replied.

Rising pollution levels among patients at the containment facility were common, and most medical staff had their own ways of handling it, so Zhang Qingli handled it routinely.

Shen Ji, meanwhile, headed to Chu Ye’s temporary residence.

Yes, Patient Ⅱ-C3-05 was Chu Ye.

Arriving at the medical staff housing, Shen Ji found that everyone inside had already been evacuated and were waiting for the containment team to arrive.

“They evacuated so quickly?”

“Did you forget who lives next door to him?”

Shen Ji turned and saw a little girl sitting on the ground, completely absorbed in a book. Chen Guo was deeply absorbed in her fairy tale book, her mother sitting with her nearby.

When she noticed Shen Ji, Chen Guo gave him a big smile.

Chen Guo had become very attached to Shen Ji. Over the past few days, whenever he came to deliver medicine to Chu Ye, he would run into her. Each time, she would cling to his arm and cling to him for a bit.

The system’s explanation for this was: The mycelium had consumed the pollution within her body. Even though the mycelium was now gone, its residual influence still made Chen Guo feel close to him.

For children, the first reaction to someone they feel close to is to cling to them!

“Chen Guo’s Talent has progressed very quickly. She’s already at the edge of C-rank and will soon reach B-rank. As a nearly B-rank psychic mutant living next door, she must have sensed something wrong before Chu Ye’s pollution erupted and gotten everyone evacuated.”

Shen Ji wasn’t the only one who had gone from a pollution victim to a savior.

Making his way through the crowd, Shen Ji arrived at Chu Ye’s room. He tried pushing the door but found it firmly locked from the inside. The pollution detector on his person was emitting a shrill, high-pollution alert.

“Chu Ye,” Shen Ji started knocking on the door.

There was no sound from inside, but a few seconds later, Shen Ji's comms device buzzed. When he checked the screen, he saw that the caller was Chu Ye.

He answered the call, "Chu Ye? What's wrong?"

"Shen... Doctor Shen." Chu Ye's voice sounded awful, like someone who had walked through the desert for three days and nights without a drop of water. His throat was hoarse, and he seemed to be struggling to breathe, about to black out. "I’m feeling... really unwell right now."

"Don’t panic. Remember what I told you? During the treatment process, your pollution might spike."

"A fluctuation that jumps from 50 straight to... 88?"

Shen Ji nodded calmly and seriously without missing a beat. "Yes, exactly."

Chu Ye: ...

He sighed helplessly. "So what should I do now? My body feels heavy, I can’t move, and everything hurts."

Having worked on the front lines for so long, he had been injured and exhausted to the point of collapsing into sleep, but he had never experienced such intense pain before. It felt as though someone were cutting into his flesh, digging out his bones, shattering them, and then forcefully cramming them back in.

He felt like the pain was killing him.

"My colleagues will be here soon. We’ll temporarily move you over to an isolation room at the shelter. As for the reason for your pollution flare-up, it’s because it’s always been this high."

Shen Ji leaned against the door and calmly explained the truth to Chu Ye over the phone.

His voice had never wavered; from beginning to end, there was no extreme reaction. This steady tone made Chu Ye couldn’t help but relax.

"I don’t know if you’ve seen other doctors or what conclusions they gave you, but the pollution level detected in you was inaccurate. It wasn’t as low as 39. From the very beginning, it should have been as high as 90, but for some reason, it was hidden."

"Now you’re just back to your actual pollution level. This is a good thing—it means your pollution is starting to stabilize."

Chu Ye was well aware that his pollution wasn’t right. If it were normal pollution, it shouldn’t be incurable—even the Healing-type mutants at the Pollution Prevention Center had no clue.

But he never expected his pollution level to be as high as 90!

90—no matter where you were, that was a number high enough to warrant a death warrant and immediate transfer to the Pollution Harmless Treatment Center.

Chu Ye dragged himself up and, enduring the pain, opened the door for Shen Ji.

In the last second before passing out, he said to Shen Ji:

"If it can’t be treated, get me out of here. Don’t let me harm any innocent people."

/

Chu Ye’s sudden spike in pollution level even alarmed the Director and several older doctors.

The older doctors stood in front of the isolation room, staring at that crazy high number. They followed procedure and asked Shen Ji what had happened. After hearing his explanation, they asked for his opinion.

When Shen Ji said, "It should be fine," the older doctors marveled once more and left.

Yes, they weren’t worried at all.

Since Shen Ji said it was fine, they were 100% sure that it would be fine.

After all, the last person whose pollution level suddenly fluctuated and shot up was Chen Guo!

Chen Guo’s pollution level had shot up to 60 in a short time, and they had panicked. But before they could even transfer her to another ward, she had recovered on her own. Not only did her pollution level drop back to normal, but she also awakened as a C-grade psychic mutant, now on the verge of reaching B-grade.

Maybe Chu Ye would be like Chen Guo—his pollution level would plummet and return to normal in no time. His original Talent level was B-grade, and after recovering, he might even rise to A-grade.

That’s how they trusted Shen Ji without question.

On the other side, Chu Ye wasn't getting as good a deal as Chen Guo.

He had passed out from the excruciating pain caused by the sudden surge in his pollution level, only to be jolted back awake by the same agony. When he came to, he found himself already placed in an isolation room, with Shen Ji, the medic assigned to him, also present.

Shen Ji didn’t seem to notice he was awake, merely resting a hand on his chest. Chu Ye could feel the faint coolness of his palm.

The pain was so intense that he couldn’t even make a sound.

“Your heart has been eroded,” Shen Ji remarked casually, a statement that nearly shocked Chu Ye wide awake. “A few days later, and you really would’ve been shipped off to the Pollution Harmless Treatment Center.”

“His willpower is decent, though. It kept him from offing himself during the pollution outbreak. Also, he’s awake.”

Shen Ji glanced down at him. “Don’t move or struggle now that you’re awake. I’m examining you.”

“Don’t worry, if you can’t be cured, I’ll get a coffin ready for you. How do you feel about an ice coffin?”

Chu Ye: …

This sudden deadpan humor in such a serious setting inexplicably reminded him of Li Zhiyan.

But unlike this stern doctor, Li Zhiyan was someone who could be completely unhinged in any situation—not only looking unlike a human but also behaving in ways that defied human norms… Why was he thinking of him now? If it were Li Zhiyan, though, he’d probably be the one to take care of his body. Who knows where Li Zhiyan would bury him?

Given Li Zhiyan’s personality, he might even bury him under a tree. After all, Li Zhiyan loved plants, whether flowers, grass, or trees.

While Chu Ye was lost in these random thoughts, Shen Ji was directing the hyphae to go to war inside his body.

Chu Ye’s body had become a fragile battlefield; the slightest misstep could shatter his internal organs. No matter how strong a person was, their insides were always vulnerable. The hyphae could navigate around these delicate organs, but the pollution that had first taken over his body would not.

It was like a wild beast, its claws tearing countless wounds. It saw Chu Ye as its private stash and refused to let anyone else take a bite.

So, it would rather destroy this private stash before the hyphae could devour all the pollution—if it couldn’t have him, no one would.

The little mushrooms always did like their food spicy, and now, with the opponent going berserk, it was like an exhilarating game with a reward on the line.

Their hunting instincts were provoked by this beast. The hyphae surrounded it from all sides, forming a semi-enclosed cage, watching maliciously as the beast let out a trapped, threatening growl.

The standoff lasted a full half hour.

Finally, Shen Ji pressed a finger against Chu Ye’s heart and said, “Eat.”

The hyphae swarmed over it, seizing the beast and tearing into it. The beast fought back desperately, but without its master present, it stood no chance and was ultimately completely consumed.

The moment the pollution was devoured, Chu Ye let out an uncontrollable scream. The intense pain sapped the last of his strength, leaving him with nothing but that cry.

In his final moments of consciousness, Chu Ye felt as though something enveloped his entire body.

Cool and smooth… like some kind of living silken blanket.

Shen Ji, however, suddenly opened his eyes.

His pupils instantly turned a pale, milky white. The pollution detector in the isolation room emitted a single tone before fritzing out, its screen going black. Delicate hyphae crawled out from Shen Ji’s temples, giving off a thick wave of polluted air.

“Shen Ji?!”

The system was startled. “Reel it in!”

Shen Ji glanced at the broken pollution detector, and the hyphae quickly enveloped the entire pollution isolation room, forming a translucent, pinkish shell. They tightly contained Shen Ji’s pollution within the narrow confines of the isolation room, without letting a single whiff escape.

Only then did Shen Ji stand up. His mismatched red and white eyes fixed on the unconscious Chu Ye. While devouring Chu Ye’s pollution, he'd seen a pair of eyes.

Those eyes were green, etched with the shapes of stars and the moon, like a deity from ancient myth gazing down upon humankind from the heavens.

It seemed to be in a very distant place, yet it could connect here through the pollution on Chu Ye's body, confronting Shen Ji as if from nowhere.

"This aura..." The system abruptly detected something, "Is it really an S-class pollutant?!"

Brrring-brrring—

A phone rang out through the disconnected, signal-blocking isolation room, impossible to ignore.

Shen Ji glanced at the phone; the caller ID displayed four Chinese characters.

"Unscrupulous Gardener."

A pungent smell filled Shen Ji's nostrils, and the hyphae no longer showed the same greed toward this pollution as toward others. They moved warily through the isolation room.

The overwhelming pollution signaled to them this was not food, but an opponent.

The phone kept ringing. Shen Ji narrowed his eyes slightly and answered the call.

"Who are you?" A voice came from the other end of the line.

It was an extremely strange voice—frail and ancient yet tinged with a child's innocence, like an asthma patient gasping their last breath or a newborn crying out at birth.

The peculiar voice was accompanied by the crackle of static, making Shen Ji suspect the phone might break down at any second.

But Shen Ji's phone was incredibly durable, not failing despite the intense pollution and interference, faithfully transmitting the other party's voice.

"I've never seen you before. When did you appear?"

"Where are you?"

After a pause, the bizarre voice added, "And why did you steal my seed?"

...Seed?

Shen Ji looked down at the unconscious Chu Ye. Was he its seed?

"I see. Chu Ye is bait thrown back by an S-class pollutant for hunting, a cultivated high-grade ingredient. That's why his pollution level has been tightly controlled below 40, like a free-range chicken—showing no signs of illness and able to roam everywhere."

Shen Ji was unsettled by the system's comparison and frowned slightly.

Shen Ji already had a rather aloof appearance. He was handsome, but his handsomeness was sharp, not gentle. He had always tried to suppress his inherent sharpness, but now, with that frown paired with his naturally cold eyes, he looked exceedingly callous.

"That's for you to answer," Shen Ji said, his voice distant, aligning more and more with the cold, ruthless character of the original work.

"If he's your seed, why did he sprout legs and wander into my territory?"

"Since he dared to come to my territory, he's mine now."

The line went silent.

The phone's static kept crackling, the hyphae remained tense, and the strange pollution aura had not dissipated.

After several seconds of silence, the other end finally spoke.

"If he entered your territory, then it's his problem. You can eliminate him."

"So, who are you really?"

"In the original work, Filth is the most hidden pollutant because it can truly hide all its pollution and disguise itself as a human. Or perhaps, in the author's outline, Filth was originally the Final Villain, but because the author wanted to abruptly end the story, they found an excuse to bring Filth out early, leading to its exposure."

"It seems that in reality, Filth is also a nonexistent/invisible entity among the S-class pollutants."

"I'm a reporter," Shen Ji recalled the note on his phone and tentatively introduced himself as such.

"Reporter? Humans gave you the name 'Journalist'?" The other side seemed puzzled by the term. After a long pause, they asked curiously, "Does it mean the same as Gardener?"

"Humans named me Gardener. They told me: In human society, a gardener is a profession that takes care of plants. I really like this title."

Shen Ji's expression turned subtle. "You've had contact with humans?"

"Occasionally, some humans appear in my plantation for unknown reasons. I sometimes release some and keep others. Those humans get very excited, shouting 'Gardener' at me loudly. Not only do they attack me, but they also uproot the seeds I've planted. It makes me very angry, so I kill them."

"Occasionally, there are humans suitable to be hosts for seeds. For those, I let them leave with the seeds."

"...Truly worthy of the name 'Shameless Gardener.'"

The Gardener is an S-class pollutant mentioned in the original work. This S-class pollutant was never dealt with by the finale, and there was no way to do so—after all, the author abruptly ended the story.

In the original work, the Gardener owns a vast plantation, and the contaminated zone where it resides is called the "Terrifying Botanical Garden."

Along with "Abyss Zero," "Time Forest," and "Moth Valley," it is known as one of the four major polluted forbidden zones.

Why would a plantation have a name straight out of a horror movie? Because it contains horrifying things just like in horror films—whether it's seeds growing on human bodies, humanoid plants rooted in the ground, or a tree covered in human heads.

Nothing is beyond its capabilities.

The Gardener is also referred to in the original work as the 'S-class pollutant with the most horrifying methods.'

"I also quite like the name Journalist," Shen Ji said. "Where are you now?"

"I'm in my plantation," the Gardener replied. "Why are you asking where my home is? Are you coming to visit?"

Shen Ji responded in a gentle and polite tone, "Maybe."

Once I find your home, I'll raze your entire plantation to the ground! I'll even dig up the ground and plow it into farmland!

"You're very strange," the Gardener's tone suddenly turned eerie and obsessive, an androgynous voice brimming with an eerie vibe.

"Don't you have your own territory? Why do you want to go to someone else's territory?"

"Are you trying to steal my territory? If so, neither I nor my seeds will allow it!"

Massive pollution filled the entire isolation room. If Shen Ji hadn't had the hyphae envelop the area, the entire containment center would have been affected. Perhaps if Shen Ji left even the slightest gap, the Pollution Detectors on this floor would explode.

This is the terrifying polluting power of an S-class pollutant.

"High-level pollutants have a strong sense of territory. They mostly occupy their own polluted areas and rarely appear in cities. Your attempt to locate the plantation has riled it up."

"I have no intention of stealing your territory, but your seed did indeed enter my territory."

Shen Ji's tone was sharp. "Would you like to try sending pollution over here again?"

The other side fell silent. The polluted aura seemed to stall for a moment. A few seconds later, the call ended with a click, and the pollution fled, as if to avoid acknowledging this "fact."

Shen Ji:...

He let out a soft sigh. The hyphae released the isolation room, and his pupils turned back to black.

"I never expected that the one contaminating Chu Ye was actually the S-class Contaminant Gardener. Not to mention, in the original story, no cure could ever be found for him, and he ended up dying in the contamination zone."

Shen Ji didn’t speak. He simply stepped out of the isolation chamber after confirming that the surrounding contamination level was normal.

After examining the fried pollution detector and confirming it couldn’t be restarted, he called for maintenance personnel.

The silence stretched on for quite a while, and even the system didn’t dare to speak.

Shen Ji’s personality was actually quite good. Though he looked a bit cold, he was a kind person who often said off-the-wall stuff and always did more than he spoke.

But when Shen Ji fell silent like this, he became downright scary. His eyes behind his glasses turned icy, carrying a weirdly intimidating vibe that made people afraid to approach him.

"I can’t lump the novel together with reality."

Suddenly, Shen Ji spoke just like that.

"What do you mean?"

"In the novel, Chu Ye’s sacrifice was just a couple paragraphs. I read it and moved on. I might have felt a slight emotional fluctuation for his sacrifice at the time, but I always knew it was just a story, not reality. But now that I’m here, I’ve met real people."

Whether it was Zhang Qingli, Wang Anle, Chu Ye, or even Wen Jingyu, who persisted in his research and still took to the lab bench despite his advanced age—they were all real, flesh-and-blood people.

Shen Ji repeated, "I can’t lump the novel together with reality."

"So you saved them."

Even though it was a mechanical voice, one could hear the system’s attempt to sound as gentle as possible. It was doing its darnedest.

"Reporter, you’re no villain now. In the eyes of everyone at the containment site, you’re the Savior who has saved countless people."

"You are the Savior!"