Chapter 47: Terrifying Botanical Garden

Chapter 47: The Terrifying Botanical Garden

Chu Ye was only one step away from assimilation with the Central Tree.

The seed's root system had already spread throughout his entire body. The sapling had begun to grow, and his pollution aura had become so heavy that it was indistinguishable from that of a pollutant.

Whether by the standards of the Pollution Prevention Center or the containment facility, he should be sent to the Pollution Harmless Treatment Center.

To put it nicely, it's called euthanasia; to put it bluntly, you don't have a choice - you're going to die.

"Doctor Shen... I..." Chu Ye was in so much pain he was gasping for air.

He couldn't concentrate at all. Over-assimilation with the Crystal Tree made him unable to tell whether he was a person or a tree. He could sense countless Crystal Trees scattered everywhere, his consciousness shattered into fragments, all crammed into his brain.

He wanted to ask Shen Ji about the current situation and where Li Zhiyan was.

But the shifting winds would immediately divert his attention, making it impossible for him to think like a human being.

Where was he? What was he?

...Was he a tree?

"His consciousness is scattering," the system reported on Chu Ye's condition. "Pollution level continues to rise: 94, 105, 179!"

"We must immediately get that parasitic seed out of his chest to stop the assimilation!"

"I know," Shen Ji laid Chu Ye down carefully on the ground, his hand gently resting on his chest.

"Chu Ye, relax."

The hyphae scouted the situation inside Chu Ye's body, moving through his blood vessels, which were already clogged with tree seeds. To get in, they had to fight first, chewing through the roots.

Every fight, every bite of pollution, Chu Ye felt a searing, knife-like pain.

"I will do my best, but surviving this is up to you."

Shen Ji let out a breath. "Just hang in there."

Chu Ye's consciousness gathered because of Shen Ji's words. He looked at Shen Ji.

Without his glasses on, Chu Ye could see Shen Ji's eyes clearly. Doctor Shen didn't like to smile, so his eyes were always cold, a stark contrast to his outside appearance. It was an unsettling aura of detachment, carrying an intimidating presence.

Though he couldn't sense any pollution aura, Chu Ye felt that at this moment, Shen Ji seemed more dangerous than the S-class Pollutant Gardener.

Chu Ye forced his breathing to slow, trying to relax as much as possible.

The Gardener's pollution was indeed aggressive, especially since this was the seed of the Crystal Tree central tree that the Gardener had always cared about. But no matter how aggressive the pollution, it was no problem for Shen Ji. His hyphae could devour all pollution in this world, whether from S-class pollutants or S-class mutants.

The hyphae were utterly obedient. They went after the seed's root system, not even glancing at Li Zhiyan and the Gardener fighting nearby.

They were Shen Ji's pollution. Whatever Shen Ji wanted to do, they wanted to do.

Only when Shen Ji wasn't doing serious work would they act up and ask him for food.

And so, they worked tirelessly, gnawing through almost all the roots, cutting the connections to Chu Ye's internal organs.

Shen Ji reached out and pressed down on Chu Ye's chest.

"Are you ready?"

Chu Ye stared in confusion.

Ready for what?!

Shen Ji didn't say anything, just started to put pressure. With a tearing sound, the sapling was yanked completely out of his chest.

Blood splattered, staining Shen Ji's soaked white shirt, blooming into pale red stains.

Chu Ye was in so much pain he saw stars, his ears ringing, his heart feeling as if it had stopped.

But his heart was still beating, his blood still flowing, everything still where it should be, nothing missing.

Shen Ji let out a relieved breath. He threw the pulled-out sapling aside, and the hyphae surrounding them quickly pounced on it like a pack of starving dogs, soon devouring the entire contaminated sapling.

"You okay?" Shen Ji asked Chu Ye.

He flicked the blood from his hand, then took the glasses hanging on his shirt pocket and put them on. As he did, bloodstains on his arm streaked across his face, making the corners of his eyes red. The blood intensified his cold demeanor, but because he was soaked, it gave off a weirdly captivating look.

Unfortunately, Chu Ye's vision was blurry; he couldn't see Shen Ji's appearance and couldn't answer his question.

He managed to point in a direction, his lips moving slightly, then lost consciousness entirely.

"That way?" Shen Ji looked in that direction. "System, what's over there?"

"I'm reading his lips. Though it's not very clear, Chu Ye seems to have said: The botanical garden is there."

"Isn't this the Gardener's botanical garden?"

"It's likely not entirely his," the system analyzed. "Every pollutant has a very strong territorial awareness, just like when the Gardener's pollution seeds invaded, you wanted to plow through the Gardener's plantation. This is an instinctual urge, something uncontrollable. But you and the protagonist have been in this plantation for so long, and the Gardener didn't expel you immediately."

"This is strange."

"But if this isn't inside the Gardener's plantation, then it makes sense."

"You mean: the little mushrooms consider the entire Q City their territory, but in reality, the territory the little mushrooms identify with most is the containment facility. Simply invading Q City won't make them do things that are too out of the ordinary; what they care about most is still the containment facility."

"That's right, you understand well, as expected of an S-class pollutant, Hui!"

"Don't call me Hui." Shen Ji stood up.

The hyphae moved with his will, a mushroom army, swarming towards the direction Chu Ye pointed.

Their master wants them to scout! To fight!

Hmph! We'll show you what us little mushrooms can do!

Occupy the entire plantation and gnaw away all the pollution!

Outside the Crystal Forest, Li Zhiyan was blocking the Gardener's invasion. Half of the Gardener's hair was already scorched, and charred branches hung in his hair, reeking of burnt hair.

"Human." The Gardener stared intently at Li Zhiyan. "Why are you acting with the reporter?"

A butterfly rested on the top of Li Zhiyan's hair. He asked with great curiosity, "Why do you call him the reporter?"

The Gardener frowned, "Because he is a reporter, so I call him the reporter!"

Li Zhiyan: ...

"Just like I'm called the Gardener, he's called the reporter." The Gardener explained again, "They're all names humans gave us."

Li Zhiyan shook his head, "Your name was given by humans, but his wasn't. He has his own name; he isn't called Journalist."

Gardener: ……

"He lied to me!" Gardener flew into a rage again, "He isn't even called Journalist, yet he deceived me into thinking he was!"

In his rage, Gardener forgot to question why Shen Ji, an S-class pollutant, was mingling with a human mutant.

Just then, both Gardener and Li Zhiyan turned their heads simultaneously.

They saw nothing, but they could sense a very strange pollution approaching. That pollution, in massive numbers, bypassed them and rushed rapidly in one direction. Before Li Zhiyan could react, Gardener's expression changed first.

It no longer even cared about its Crystal Tree seeds being destroyed and simply vanished right in front of Li Zhiyan.

Li Zhiyan tilted his head curiously, the little butterfly perched on his head as he gazed in the direction where the pollution had rushed off in a mighty wave.

"What did they discover?"

Li Zhiyan muttered to himself, "I wonder how Chu Ye is doing."

"Let's go back and check first."

With the little butterfly still on his head, he returned to where Chu Ye was and saw Shen Ji kneeling on the ground, pressing down on Chu Ye's chest.

The work jacket covering Chu Ye had turned from deep blue to dark purple, soaked in blood and emitting a warm scent of blood. Beside them was the uprooted sapling of the Crystal Tree, now withered, its vibrant petals scattered all over the ground.

It seemed the treatment had been successful.

Li Zhiyan walked over, "How is he?"

"Still alive." Shen Ji removed his hand and sighed softly, "He's really tough."

Shen Ji sat down on the ground, not caring whether it had just rained or if there was mud everywhere. After all, both he and Li Zhiyan had been drenched by the rain, and now they were covered in blood from saving someone. They were already a mess.

He'd probably never been this filthy in his entire life.

Li Zhiyan sat down beside Shen Ji, "Thanks."

"No need to thank me. I'm shelter staff..."

"Your shelter's commitment to saving people is just as strong as our guard team's," Li Zhiyan cut him off. "I understand. Dr. Shen has always acted this way."

Even though he was interrupted, Shen Ji didn't feel annoyed. He just let out a soft exhale.

Then he chuckled softly at Li Zhiyan.

He was soaked all over, his black hair wet and clinging together. His white shirt was splattered with blood, and he wore dark blue cargo pants. His entire appearance was disheveled, except for the white shirt, which was meticulously buttoned up to the top.

It was this version of Shen Ji who smiled gently at Li Zhiyan.

Li Zhiyan was stunned for a second, reluctantly pulling his gaze away only after Shen Ji stopped smiling.

"Dr. Shen should smile more. You have a really nice smile."

"I'll smile when it's appropriate. Don't ask for the impossible, Mr. Li."

"Really glad I brought you along. Even in a situation like this, you managed to save him."

Li Zhiyan looked at Chu Ye, who was dead to the world, appearing haggard, his face pale. The gaping hole in his chest hadn't healed yet; it was just covered by Shen Ji's jacket, which was still wet.

But Li Zhiyan could clearly sense that the pollution aura around Chu Ye had significantly receded, dropping from a potential pollutant level to that of a stage III contaminated patient.

With continued treatment, he would eventually recover and return to being human.

Li Zhiyan had always been someone who didn't care much about labels. He didn't adhere to the standards of the Pollution Prevention Center, nor did he define others.

He could be a small mushroom, a little journalist, or anyone else.

Li Zhiyan only knew one thing: he had saved Chu Ye, and he had saved many others.

Shen Ji, Shen Ji—he still wanted to have him for himself.

"I saved him because I wanted to," Shen Ji spoke up at that moment.

Unlike other times, there was no exaggeration in Shen Ji's tone, nor did he embellish his words. It was as if he were simply chatting with a friend about his own thoughts.

"I'm someone who sees things through. He is my patient, and I won't let him die again because of pollution. It's my principle."

"Besides, I did it for myself too."

In the original story, far too many people had died—Chu Ye, Chen Guo, even the medical staff busily working at the shelter. They all died before the S-class pollutant, Filth. After they were all gone, it was his turn. Time ticked away until it was finally the moment for the Final Villain to die.

Shen Ji thought: Save Chu Ye.

Save all those who died in the original story, and he'd be more confident he could avoid the original story's plot and survive.

Li Zhiyan was still waiting for him to explain, but Shen Ji didn't want to say too much.

After a moment, Shen Ji stood up, "I'm going to find some firewood. We'll need to warm up by a fire later. The two of us are fine, but if Chu Ye stays like this, his wound might get infected."

"Stay here with him."

Li Zhiyan nodded, watching as Shen Ji got up from the ground and walked away. Just as Shen Ji was about to disappear from his sight, Li Zhiyan spoke up.

"Shen Ji."

Li Zhiyan called out to him, "Don't go too far."

Shen Ji turned back to look at him, "I won't get lost."

"I know," Li Zhiyan nodded, muttering softly, "I'm just a little worried you might not come back."

But Li Zhiyan wouldn't stop him.

People are born free; they should get to choose their own risks.

Shen Ji was a free bird, a flower in the rain. Standing there, he seemed as if he could blend into the wind. Such a free person should, of course, be able to choose whether to leave or stay.

"Dr. Shen," Li Zhiyan finally asked that question again.

"Are you really unwilling to join the guard team?"

Shen Ji fell silent for a few seconds, then shook his head at him. As if following some strange standard procedure, Shen Ji finally turned and left, disappearing from Li Zhiyan's sight.

Li Zhiyan watched until he could no longer see him, then lowered his head and began fiddling with the stones on the ground.

A little blue butterfly landed on a stone, fluttering its wings.

So Li Zhiyan stopped playing with the stones and turned to glance at Chu Ye, who was dead to the world.

"I actually kinda wanna chase after him," Li Zhiyan said. "But I can't just leave you alone here. What if a bear suddenly shows up and mistakes you for winter fat reserves?"

"It's all your fault."

Li Zhiyan, putting romance before friendship, declared, "Chu Ye, I hold a grudge."

"You'll have to work my shifts for three years before I forgive you."

/

"Our covers are basically blown. Looks like we'll have to actually fake our deaths."

"Sigh, where should we go after we leave?"

Shen Ji was puzzled. "How did our covers get exposed so suddenly? Are you sure?"

"Didn't you check with your little mushroom?" the system said with a sigh. "I heard Li Zhiyan ask the Gardener: 'Why do they call you the Reporter?'"

"The protagonist already knows the codename you made up for yourself is 'Reporter.'"

Shen Ji: "..."

When? When exactly was his cover blown?

What?

Shen Ji looked at the firewood he was trying to gather, was silent for three seconds, and then decided to leave it.

Let Li Zhiyan have the butterflies move it themselves!

"But Li Zhiyan didn't ask me," Shen Ji said. "He didn't say anything, and he didn't act any differently."

"That's just how the protagonist is. He might not care at all whether you're a pollutant or not. But we can't rely on or guess the protagonist's trust."

The system was even more torn up about it than Shen Ji.

It had come here with Shen Ji, watched him gradually establish himself at the shelter, seen him meet Li Zhiyan and slowly become friends. Their dynamic was something even an AI like the system could sense—they really clicked.

Whether in personality or behavior, they were a perfect match.

As friends, they'd be the best friends who roast each other; as family, they'd rely on each other; as lovers, they'd be the two people who understood each other most in the world.

But unfortunately, they were the protagonist and the antagonist.

In the original story, the protagonist kills the antagonist.

"Before the rushed ending concludes, it's best to temporarily leave the protagonist. We should carry out our plan and make the protagonist believe we're dead."

"That aligns better with the original story and helps us avoid the plot."

"In the original, the S-class pollutant 'Filth' dies in a bizarre way, and the story ends. But 'Filth' didn't actually die—it just faked its death and went elsewhere. This lets the plot continue normally."

"For freedom!"

Shen Ji thought for a few seconds, then nodded calmly. "Okay, no problem."

"..."

Shen Ji's compliance threw the system off.

It had expected him to be more resistant, not want to go.

As if sensing the system's thoughts, Shen Ji sighed softly, but his tone was unexpectedly firm.

"System, you know what? When survival is on the line, everything else is secondary."

"I have to make sure I stay alive first before I can worry about anything else."

Shen Ji was a reporter. He always stood on the side of truth, having witnessed enough of life's ups and downs and the unpredictability of the world.

He was lucid and knew now wasn't the time to be emotional.

He knew his identity would be exposed eventually—this faked death was always gonna happen. Identity exposure was something he and the system had already considered, so it wasn't outside the plan. They just had to stick to the plan.

"I understand."

The system said, "I'll plan the next steps. Since we're out, there's no point going back. You're probably not about to spare the Gardener, so let's go eat the Gardener first!"

Shen Ji raised an eyebrow slightly. "I thought you'd tell me to run for it now."

"We're already here," the system said, being even more of a deadbeat than Shen Ji. "Our covers will be blown sooner or later anyway. Let's let our little mushroom eat its fill first!"

Shen Ji nodded and turned in the direction Chu Ye had pointed.

The little mushroom had already reached the spot and was constantly emitting weird "wow!" noises toward him.

They hid while exclaiming in amazement, so enthralled they barely ate any pollution. Instead, they kept babbling in his mind about everything they saw.

Green! So deep! The pollution looks delicious but so dangerous!

Shen Ji tried to use an empathic link to get a read on the situation but found that even that couldn't fully clarify what was happening over there.

In an instant, he only caught a glimpse of the Gardener's grotesque face.

For now, it was better to meet up with the little mushrooms.

On the other side, Li Zhiyan sat on the ground, looking up at the sky.

His phone was soaked and wouldn't turn on, and he was bored, so he let out two little butterflies to flit about in front of him.

As they fluttered, the two little butterflies somehow started fighting, their wings beating wildly as they drifted.

Li Zhiyan: "..."

Well, maybe the warring thoughts in his head were making the butterflies he created start fighting too.

But he couldn't blame himself for that—he could only blame Shen Ji.

Li Zhiyan had a lot of work to do, so much that he started wanting to goof off and put things off.

He couldn't leave Chu Ye lying here alone. He had to deal with the Gardener and find a way to help Shen Ji a little, to make his identity harder to uncover.

Shen Ji was terrible at keeping cover.

The little mushrooms were all over the place, and while he hid in the shelter treating pollution sickness, he insisted he wasn't a doctor. It even seemed like he was slow to catch on to his identity as a "Healing-type mutant," making it seem like he wasn't quite with the times.

Too much to do. He wasn't in the mood for any of it.

Just as Li Zhiyan was still thinking about dodging work, Chu Ye, lying on the ground, let out a pained groan and slowly opened his eyes.

Due to excessive blood loss and excruciating pain, his mind was still buzzing.

He could feel a piece of clothing laid over him, so he turned his head to look for the person nearby, and the next moment he saw White Hair sitting beside him.

"Li..." Chu Ye called out, "Li Zhiyan."

Li Zhiyan turned to him. "You're awake?"

"Why are you here?" Chu Ye looked at him in surprise. "Why didn't you go find the Gardener? Where’s Doctor Shen?"

"Doctor Shen left," Li Zhiyan said, not hiding it. After hesitating for three seconds, he added, "Maybe he went to find the Gardener."

"What? You let a Healingtype mutant go after the Gardener?!"

Chu Ye was stunned. "Shouldn't Doctor Shen be the one staying here, and you be the one going?"

Chu Ye managed to sit up. Because he was a mutant and was currently affected by pollution, the wound on his chest had already started to heal and was no longer intensely painful.

He pressed his fingers to his temples, trying to remember what had happened earlier.

He remembered being saved by Shen Ji, who pulled the small sapling out of his chest and stopped the bleeding...

And also... earlier, had he seen something?

"There was something about Doctor Shen’s eyes," Chu Ye suddenly said.

Li Zhiyan looked at him in surprise. "You saw it?"

"When he came to save me, I saw something strange," Chu Ye said, his tone still dazed. "His eyes were silver, and there were some weird, round... twigs? Branches? in his hair?"

"Is Doctor Shen contaminated?"

"That can’t be right—if he were contaminated, he wouldn’t have been able to save me." Chu Ye rapped his own knuckles against his head hard.

He decided to drop the subject and instead started pushing Li Zhiyan away, pointing in a direction. "Forget about me. Go that way—the Gardener’s central garden is over there. Go now!"

Li Zhiyan let out a soft sigh and got up from the ground.

"I understand, but about what you saw regarding Doctor Shen, remember not to talk about it casually with anyone else."

"Huh? Why?" Chu Ye looked confused. "Isn’t that just ordinary contamination traits from overusing his Talent? Like your hair?"

Li Zhiyan:...

Great, this guy noticed nothing at all.

After giving Chu Ye a few final reminders, Li Zhiyan set off for the Gardener’s central plant garden.

As he walked, Li Zhiyan suddenly stopped.

He really wanted to send a message to Shen Ji right now, but unfortunately, his phone was waterlogged and wouldn’t turn on, so he couldn’t even send a text.

"So unfair."

Li Zhiyan muttered quietly, feeling wronged. "Chu Ye got to see, but I didn’t."

"I want to see too."

"Little mushrooms on his head... pretty and probably tasty."

"I'm so jealous."