Chapter 49: Terrifying Botanical Garden

Chapter 49: The Terrifying Botanical Garden

"Too bad you didn't draw it, hmph!"

"And also: the pollution level is rising. According to human standards, the current pollution readings are 830, 961, over 1k, and still climbing."

Black mist rapidly spread through the air, and the sense of strangeness grew increasingly palpable.

Humans struggle to survive in high-pollution zones; even other contaminated beings find it difficult to move in excessively contaminated zones. Only A-rank or higher mutants and pollutants can function in such overwhelmingly polluted environments.

"Indeed, it was the right call not to bring anyone else," Li Zhiyan remarked, gazing at the darkening sky.

Then he turned to Shen Ji. "Will it being this dark affect the growth of the small mushroom?"

Shen Ji met Li Zhiyan's gaze, pausing to think before answering, "As you should know, mushrooms thrive in dark, damp places."

So Li Zhiyan started thinking it over.

The sky was now obscured by black mist, growing darker by the minute—definitely dark. It had just rained, and though it was the irrigation system at work, the air was thick with moisture—so definitely damp.

Conclusion: this was a dark, damp place, ideal for mushroom growth!

Meanwhile, in the Crystal Forest, Chu Ye was attempting to get up. The wound on his chest hadn't fully healed, but thanks to the mutant's powerful regenerative abilities, the pain had subsided considerably.

Just as he prepared to shift positions or go straight to find Li Zhiyan—

He froze in his tracks.

Even without Li Zhiyan's superior pollution detection abilities, with only a B-rank Talent and not even being a sensory-type, he could still sense that something was wrong.

The atmosphere around him felt oppressive. Black mist slowly crept over the world from afar, the sky gradually darkening as if covered by dense clouds.

Chu Ye leaned against a tree trunk to stand, shrugging his coat on and resting a hand on the gun at his waist.

Under these circumstances, he really shouldn’t use his Talent. To some extent, Talents and pollution were just two sides of the same coin. But to ensure his survival, he had no choice. At worst, he’d just have to spend more time in a containment facility afterward and have Li Zhiyan send more gifts to Doctor Shen.

In the tense atmosphere, every one of Chu Ye’s nerves was on edge.

It was an overwhelmingly oppressive pollution aura, this pollution aura accompanied by the spreading black mist seeping into the Crystal Trees around him.

Because he had previously assimilated with the central tree of the Crystal Trees, traces of pollution that hadn’t been completely purged still lingered in his body.

He heard the Crystal Trees wailing.

No... it was the wailing of humans fused with the Crystal Trees.

Chu Ye immediately opened fire. The bullet struck a Crystal Tree, shattering it like glass, which rained down on the ground, but in the next instant, it vanished completely, not even fragments remaining.

"Illusions."

Chu Ye took a deep breath, concentrating to recall the routes from his memories during his assimilation with the Crystal Trees.

Clutching his chest, he bolted in the direction from his memories, firing shots ahead as he ran. Bullets struck countless transparent sheets of glass, clearing a path.

As if finally realizing illusions were useless against Chu Ye, the trees ceased producing them and instead appeared before him in reality. They uprooted themselves, emitting a dark pollution aura, each tree housing a wailing human.

"It hurts so much!" they cried.

"My roots are broken, my arms are broken! Why did you have to cut them off!"

Their wails gradually twisted into resentment.

"Why are you the only one who escaped? Why are you the only one who didn’t become a tree!"

Chu Ye ignored every word, simply firing bullet after bullet.

Once they became pollutants, they were no longer human. Creatures driven solely by obsession would never understand the perspectives they held as humans.

They were filled with endless resentment and appetite.

Elsewhere, Shen Ji and Li Zhiyan simultaneously sensed the change in the atmosphere around them.

Pollution has a smell, and it has a sound.

They both caught the strong stench of pollution, accompanied by an intense burning sensation, and heard the incessant wailing that spread through the air. The trees around them were revolting, frantically uprooting themselves from the soil. With each root pulled, clusters of hyphae were yanked out along with them.

Li Zhiyan stared at the hyphae for a moment, then turned to look at Shen Ji.

Shen Ji silently turned his gaze away.

"I'll handle this pollution rift," Li Zhiyan said. "Could our Doctor Shen take care of the rampaging plants in this botanical garden?"

Shen Ji tilted his head, studying Li Zhiyan, and after a moment replied, "Why should I?"

"Your patient is still in that Crystal Forest," Li Zhiyan said, referring to Chu Ye. "If something happens to him, your previous efforts to save him would be wasted."

That really hit Shen Ji where it hurt.

He truly did not want to save Chu Ye a third time.

Shen Ji sidestepped Li Zhiyan, turning his back to him and facing the vast, endless mountains behind; Li Zhiyan stood back-to-back with Shen Ji, facing the pollution rift spewing black mist and the Gardener madly extending its branches.

This was their first collaboration.

Shen Ji thought expressionlessly: Perhaps also the last.

The hyphae had long since spread throughout the plantation, lurking in the soil across several mountains, waiting only for Shen Ji’s command to burst forth.

Now, the command had come.

Shen Ji’s silver pupils glowed with a cold, moon-like radiance as he spoke into the darkness.

"Eat them."

In an instant, the hyphae surged forth. No longer lurking, they madly rushed toward the polluted plants.

Filth—officially designated by the author as the most terrifying pollutant—what harmless little thing could its pollution be? They exist solely according to their master’s preferences; it’s not as though they’re a bunch of naive, innocent little bunnies.

The hyphae fiercely pounced on every plant; even the black mist’s enhancements proved utterly useless against them.

In the Crystal Forest, Chu Ye was finding it harder and harder to resist. Blood seeped once again from the wound on his chest, but he had no time to tend to it, only continuously dodging the attacking trunks of the Crystal Trees.

Just as he was cornered in the center with no room left to resist, countless hyphae suddenly erupted from the ground.

Chu Ye’s eyes widened in terror.

"What?!" Chu Ye stepped back. "What strange plants are these now?!"

But soon, Chu Ye realized these plants weren’t attacking him.

Those translucent, slightly pink things spread across the sky like an ocean, in the blink of an eye enveloping all the crystal trees before them.

They were like a swarm of ravenous locusts; within seconds, the crystal trees collapsed with a thunderous crash, shattering into piles of glass fragments upon hitting the ground.

Just like that, Chu Ye watched as the crystal trees shattered one by one. In less than ten minutes, the entire crystal forest vanished, leaving behind an empty field littered with debris.

This was a speed Chu Ye could hardly comprehend.

As a high-ranking official of the Pollution Prevention Center, although he had never personally faced an S-class pollutant (of course, the Gardener didn’t count), he was well-acquainted with the polluting power of S-class pollutants through various records.

During the earthquake at Zero Abyss, countless low-level pollutants fled to human settlements, ultimately because they couldn’t withstand 'Wrath's' contamination.

They would be utterly devoured by "Wrath," and it wouldn’t even take ten minutes for "Wrath" to completely consume all pollution and humans within a ten-kilometer radius.

Back then, Chu Ye had wondered: What kind of scene could devour so much pollution in just ten minutes?

Now, he was finally witnessing it firsthand.

It was the panic of suddenly encountering something unbelievable, the helplessness of an event defying all common sense.

Chu Ye sat on the ground. The hyphae, having devoured the pollution and let out satisfied burps, noticed him. Some quietly crept onto the hem of his pants.

Chu Ye didn’t dare move a muscle, his eyes fixed intently on them.

Once assured this person posed no threat, the hyphae departed in a grand procession once more—they still had more pollution to devour!

Their master’s mission was clear: destroy the entire plantation!

/

Taking advantage of Shen Ji having his back turned, Li Zhiyan stole a glance at him.

No matter how one looked at it, it was difficult to perceive Shen Ji as a pollutant. Aside from his obvious polluting traits and pollution aura, Shen Ji lacked any stereotypical characteristics of a pollutant.

Even his posture while standing was remarkably human.

Somewhat conflicted, Li Zhiyan turned back to face the massive pollution rift. The Gardener was still relentlessly releasing pollution; it had already sensed its botanical garden being torn apart by Shen Ji and could only focus on protecting its pollution rift as much as possible.

"Let’s see if we can push it to the brink."

Tiny points of light flickered around him. Upon closer inspection, they were countless blue butterflies. Under Li Zhiyan’s command, the butterflies surged into the pollution rift, swarming toward the Gardener and bursting into flames upon contact with the pollution.

With a roar, the sound of flames rapidly erupting filled the air.

Startled by the noise, Shen Ji instinctively turned around, and in that moment, he witnessed the most magnificent blaze he had ever seen in his life.

Blue flames burned from the sky down to the depths of the rift, fueled by the pollution, relentlessly consuming everything. The Gardener, trapped within the inferno, tried to extinguish the flames, but how can paper possibly smother fire? The Gardener’s pollution only caused the flames to burn more fiercely.

This reminded Shen Ji of the legendary feat that made Li Zhiyan famous in the original storyline.

He had incinerated an entire pollution rift, burning it to utter uselessness.

The Gardener’s blood-red eyes fixed intently on them. In the next moment, countless leaves flew out of the rift, forming numerous duplicates of the "Gardener" all around, lunging toward Shen Ji and Li Zhiyan.

These Gardener duplicates were other selves formed when the Gardener collected plants. They possessed abilities related to the plants, only slightly stronger.

This was also why the Gardener constantly sought out different plants.

Li Zhiyan drew the gun from his waist; the bullets shot out with blue trails. With a bang, one of the Gardener duplicates began to burn.

Without needing any signal from Shen Ji, the hyphae surged forward, eagerly tangling with those "Gardeners." The skyrocketing pollution aura caused Shen Ji’s left eye to faintly tinge red again.

"You should still avoid excessive use of pollution for now," the system advised. "I checked—although your soul and spirit are human, your body is still that of a pollutant, and moreover, a pollutant."

"After excessive use of pollution, you’ll be dominated by the pollutant’s instincts, reverting to how you were before."

"That’s the innate devouring desire of the pollutant."

"How annoying," Shen Ji frowned, his tone growing colder. "When I don’t eat, I want to; when I do eat, I’m affected. Why is it so troublesome?"

"...See, you’re being influenced again."

The normal Shen Ji was adept at disguise. Although his demeanor was inherently cold, he used various means to soften his aura, presenting himself as gentle, generous, and righteous—thus crafting an image of a reticent, upright individual. But once influenced, that aloofness returned in full force, intensified even further.

Making him appear all the more ruthless and detached.

It fit the image of the pollutant from the original story quite well.

Li Zhiyan overheard Shen Ji’s words; his nose and ears had always been sharp. He turned to look at Shen Ji, seemingly wanting to ask what he had just said.

Then his eyes met Shen Ji’s icy gaze.

...He had to admit: he looked really handsome.

The hyphae impaled all the surrounding Gardener duplicates, yet Shen Ji remained motionless, coldly standing in place. Those heterochromatic eyes calmly stared back at him, devoid of smile or expression, as if merely observing.

Li Zhiyan felt his heartbeat quicken.

Shen Ji looked at Li Zhiyan and slightly frowned.

He thought: This person looks rather delicious. Why hadn’t I eaten him before?

"...Don’t eat him!" the system timely intervened. "First, you can’t devour him; second, when you’re normal, you don’t want to eat him; and lastly, he’s the protagonist. If you eat him, how will the plot proceed?"

But he looks very tasty.

"Even if he looks tasty, you can’t eat him!"

Li Zhiyan: "..."

For some reason, after staring at him for a while, Shen Ji regretfully averted his gaze, then glanced back at him once more, that look filled with reluctance.

He couldn’t shake the feeling that Shen Ji had just been thinking very impolite thoughts.

"Don’t let your hyphae near the pollution rift," Li Zhiyan reminded, still puzzled.

Shen Ji shot him a glance, his eyes carrying a trace of cold allure. His expression seemed to ask: Why?

Li Zhiyan fired his gun, shattering another Gardener duplicate. "My Talent, to some extent, is beyond my control, so I try not to push it to the extreme."

He was referring to the blue flames burning within the pollution rift. "Once released, there are only two outcomes."

"Either the pollution is completely burned away and the flames extinguish, or I’m entirely drained, with no pollution left to sustain them, and the flames die out."

"If they fall in, your small mushroom will become a roasted mushroom."

Shen Ji: "..."

Roasted mushroom? Shen Ji pondered thoughtfully.

Would it taste good?

"...Don't eat it!"

The Gardener finally realized that the fire burning into the contamination fissure couldn't be extinguished. It emerged from the fissure, its hair still trailing flames, watching helplessly as the contamination fissure was incinerated—a pain even greater than having its botanical garden overturned.

Born from the contamination fissure, this was its territory, its home. Now, its home had been torched by thieves!

"You... deserve to die!"

The Gardener glared at them with hatred, its voice growing increasingly blurred. The high-pitched shrieks of children, the aggressive shouts of adults, the righteous tones of the elderly—countless voices merged together, eventually forming the Gardener's hoarse timbre.

Countless branches sprouted from its back, each emanating distinct contamination auras. The branches madly assaulted Shen Ji and Li Zhiyan.

Li Zhiyan dodged the branches, searching for cover, only to find the area had long been completely dug up by Shen Ji's hyphae. Aside from soil, there was nothing to shield him.

Just as he debated whether to set another fire, he turned and saw Shen Ji.

White hyphae formed an undulating river in the air, shielding Shen Ji. The branches struck them but caused no damage; instead, the hyphae began crawling up the branches upon contact.

Of course, the hyphae weren't omnipotent. They could die, they could be harmed by contamination, but their rate of death was far outstripped by their rate of reproduction.

Invisible mushroom spores scattered, just as the Gardener had failed to eradicate the hyphae before—now, it couldn't handle it now either.

So, Li Zhiyan surreptitiously shifted behind Shen Ji.

Shen Ji glanced back at him but offered no further reaction.

He appeared silent and steady, but in reality, he was contemplating what to eat.

This person wasn't edible, roasted mushrooms weren't edible... then what about grilled Gardener?

"Don't... Huh? Wait, this one is edible! This is fine."

"But I should remind you: I just checked the issue of the original contamination fissure and found that S-class pollutants cannot be completely eradicated."

"As long as the contamination fissure exists, even if you destroy the pollutant born from it, it will just spawn the next contamination, over and over. If you eat it, another Gardener will be born someday."

"However, the protagonist's flames have probably damaged this contamination fissure, so it probably won't produce another S-class for a while."

"Then it's fine."

Shen Ji's differently-colored pupils fixed on the Gardener before him. "Time to barbecue."

"Barbecue?" Li Zhiyan was puzzled again. "What do you want to eat?"

Shen Ji didn't answer. Li Zhiyan watched as Shen Ji led his mushroom horde charging forward.

The Gardener's branches were swarmed by countless tiny mushrooms from all directions. They wrapped around the Gardener like ropes, immobilizing it completely. The Gardener struggled, its branches growing continuously, repeatedly trying to break free from the mushrooms' grip.

The hyphae finally became annoyed. They tore through the Gardener's defenses, ripping the branches right out of its back. Green blood gushed out.

The Gardener let out a scream, finally feeling fear.

Even among S-class pollutants, there were disparities in power. The Gardener had always believed itself omnipotent, incessantly sowing Contaminated Seeds among humans and collecting bizarre plants. It naively thought humans had no way to deal with it, becoming increasingly unrestrained and arrogant.

Only today did it realize: it wasn't omnipotent.

Another S-class pollutant or an S-class Mutant of the same level could render it powerless.

After all its methods failed, the Gardener decisively abandoned its territory, shedding all its branches on its back and turning to flee.

But Shen Ji had no intention of letting it escape.

The hyphae blocked its escape routes one by one. Shen Ji's eyes even held a rare hint of predatory desire.

Seeing all escape routes sealed, the Gardener grew more and more panicked.

"Reporter!" the Gardener gasped, sounding like an asthmatic old man about to die. "Being so aggressive benefits neither of us. We shouldn't be competitors."

"Humans have endless territory. They are the resources, the common enemy we should unite against!"

Shen Ji didn't listen, nor did he care what it said.

"This is just playing into human hands!"

"Even if it benefits humans, it won't advantage you."

Shen Ji finally spoke, his eyes cold, his tone icy. "I gave you a chance to leave my territory, and you refused. Now, I won't let you go."

"This is retribution. You brought this upon yourself."

The Gardener finally understood it had provoked a contamination it shouldn't have. Gnashing its teeth, it gathered all its contamination and charged at Shen Ji.

The hyphae were long prepared for this move. They overturned the Gardener and hauled it directly into the still-raging blue flames.

Grilled Gardener!

Roasting makes it tastier!

"Ah!!" The sensation of being burned made the Gardener let out a miserable, piercing shriek.

Li Zhiyan:...

He finally realized what Shen Ji wanted to eat.

The flames continued to burn, the surrounding contamination diminishing as it was incinerated. The Gardener's cries gradually faded, as if it had been completely consumed by the flames.

Or perhaps already devoured by the small mushrooms.

Shen Ji stood at the edge of the contamination fissure, staring into its depths. His back was to Li Zhiyan, looking no different from the Shen Ji Li Zhiyan knew.

Even with a sprouting of small white-jade mushrooms on his forehead.

Because of the flames, his white shirt flapped, and his dark blue work pants still clung to him, making him appear even more tall and slender.

Li Zhiyan thought: He needed to find a way.

How to perfectly cover this up, so Shen Ji could continue staying at the containment center, or remain in his security team.

"Shen Ji." Li Zhiyan called his name.

Shen Ji heard him and turned around.

Against the dazzling blue flames, his silver-red pupils gradually receded, returning to ink-black. The small mushrooms on his hair quietly faded away, leaving only his most fundamental human essence.

"Shall we go back together?" Li Zhiyan asked.

Shen Ji and Li Zhiyan's eyes met, and after a few seconds, he gave a faint smile.

Before he could respond, a charred branch suddenly shot out, wrapping around Shen Ji’s ankle and dragging him instantly into the blazing blue flames.

"Perfect timing!" the system said quickly. "Initiate the fake death plan! Shen Ji, don’t resist!"

"Li Zhiyan’s flames are naturally lethal to pollution—an original pollution rift plus Li Zhiyan’s Talent flames are more than enough for us to fake our deaths!"

Caught off guard, Li Zhiyan instinctively lunged forward. He managed to grab one of Shen Ji’s fingers, but it wasn’t enough to stop the force pulling him into the abyss. The finger slipped from his grasp, and Li Zhiyan could only watch helplessly as Shen Ji vanished into the vast blue flames.

"Hahaha!" the Gardener’s laughter echoed through the botanical garden. "Reporter! Since you won’t let me go, we’ll die together!"

"It hurts, it hurts so much!"

"Hahaha! Die together—none of us will survive!!"

Li Zhiyan felt dazed, his mind reeling.

As the Gardener struggled, the flames grew fiercer, dyeing the sky a vivid hue. The distorted air shimmered with flecks of blue, and little blue butterflies emerged from the edges of the fire, only to dissolve back into tiny sparks.

Countless branches and leaves slowly covered the entire pollution rift—not to escape, but to prevent anything from breaking free. The Gardener unleashed all its pollution in a final effort to drag Shen Ji down with it.

"Shen Ji?" Li Zhiyan snapped back to reality.

More little blue butterflies appeared, diving into the flames in an attempt to find the one who had fallen in, while also tearing at the rift the Gardener had tightly sealed.

But they found nothing.

Inside was only the endless stream of pollution aura seeping from the rift, the Gardener—now burned to its limit—and a motionless black mass restrained by countless branches.

The Gardener could no longer hold on. It laughed maniacally as it dissolved into its original form of pollution, merging into the rift and awaiting a distant second birth. Only Li Zhiyan remained, standing alone and desperate, trying to fish his small mushroom out of the inextinguishable flames.

The black mass no longer moved, devoid of any pollution aura, as though it had been completely consumed by the fire.

How had things come to this?

Li Zhiyan reached out, stretching his hand into the flames, trying to retrieve the motionless black mass.

"Li Zhiyan?!" Chu Ye finally arrived, leaning on a stick. Seeing this, he threw the stick aside and rushed forward, grabbing Li Zhiyan’s arm.

"What are you doing?"

Li Zhiyan looked at Chu Ye, and after a long moment, he frowned slightly.

"Fishing for mushrooms."

"...Huh?"

Li Zhiyan didn’t answer again.

Chu Ye turned to look at the terrifying blue flames. The fire burned even fiercer now, crackling loudly in the air. The intense heat baked all the moisture from Chu Ye’s clothes.

After a long silence, Chu Ye finally spoke. "With a fire this big, is there really any mushroom left to fish for?"

"Li Zhiyan, did you accidentally burn something again?"