Chapter 51: Pollution Harmless Treatment Center

Chapter 51 Pollution Neutralization Treatment Center

Where is the most terrifying place in this post-apocalyptic world?

Is it the shelters with orderly isolation rooms resembling laboratories? Or the pollution fissures where contamination frequently occurs and pollutants keep emerging?

Actually, neither.

The most terrifying place in this post-apocalyptic world is the Pollution Neutralization Treatment Center.

As the name suggests, the Pollution Neutralization Treatment Center is a facility for handling pollution. This establishment serves two functions: first, the harmless disposal of various pollutant corpses; second, the harmless treatment of contaminated patients deemed beyond saving by various shelters, regardless of whether they are alive or dead.

A girl wearing glasses and a hazmat suit held a stack of documents in one arm while dragging a single-person gurney with the other hand. On the gurney, a pollutant corpse was secured with special restraints.

As she rounded a corner, the gurney jerked, and she instinctively reached to steady it, and the documents in her hand scattered all over the floor.

"Ah!" the girl couldn't help but let out a low scream. "I'm swamped!"

"Can't the center hire more people?!"

Though she complained, the girl knew better than anyone that the Pollution Neutralization Treatment Center was a place everyone avoided like the plague. As a dangerous, involving close contact with pollution, and stigmatized logistics department, its reputation could only be described as horrifying.

Those mutants would rather be in the public eye in the Guard Corps than come to the Pollution Neutralization Treatment Center to move corpses.

After muttering complaints under her breath, the girl resignedly crouched down to pick up the scattered documents.

Halfway through, someone suddenly crouched down beside her and began helping her gather the files.

"Thank you!"

The girl looked up, and her voice abruptly cut off.

In this pollution treatment center, everyone around her was nothing but old men. They all had thinning hair and dark circles under their eyes from being so busy. The criminals sent here to serve their sentences due to staff shortages were even worse to look at. Yet, the person helping her pick up the documents was undeniably handsome.

The handsome man wasn't wearing a heavy protective suit but rather light protective gear. The girl recognized this outfit—it was the uniform of the logistics corpse disposal department. The uniform was jokingly called the "white sack" by department members, but the man in front of her made even the sack look extremely pleasing to the eye.

Paired with the black-framed glasses on his nose bridge and a white mask, he was outright a god-tier handsome man.

Wait? Where did this person come from?

The handsome man handed her the gathered documents.

She took them in a daze. "...Really, thank you."

"You're welcome."

Damn, even his voice was nice!

Unfortunately, probing into strangers was time-consuming, and time was what she lacked most right now. So, she very regretfully continued forward, clutching the documents and dragging the corpse.

After delivering the corpse to the responsible department and having the documents signed by the person in charge, she finally breathed a sigh of relief.

"Hey, did you know?"

She struck up a conversation with someone in the department. "I ran into a handsome guy on my way here. Tall and handsome! Wearing a mask with icy eyes, like he walked right out of a TV drama."

The person inputting files with a gloomy expression looked up. "You ran into Shen Ji, didn't you?"

"Shen Ji?"

"Our newly hired staff member." The person continued typing fiercely and resentfully. "A rare mutant who actively came to join the treatment center. He baffled our boss so much that after the interview, the boss came back and asked us what social anxiety is and why someone with social anxiety only wants to face corpses and not living people."

"Yesterday was his first day on the job; he just finished his shift and clocked out."

"He's a mutant?"

"Not just any mutant, he's a psychic mutant."

"...Wow, a psychic mutant willing to come to the treatment center. He's really a good person."

Elsewhere, Shen Ji was walking through the Pollution Neutralization Treatment Center.

He once thought the rumors about the Pollution Neutralization Treatment Center were exaggerated, but only after joining did he understand: they were all true.

This place was utterly insane.

"I told you long ago, this place is a mess. Too bad you had stars in your eyes and insisted on coming here."

"The more chaotic a place is, the more inspiration it provides. This place is full of news material." Shen Ji's hands itched with anticipation. "I want to interview everyone here and write a feature article."

"Do you know 'The Genius in the Left, the Madman in the Right'? I plan to write it in that style—it will definitely sell well!"

"...This isn't a mental hospital."

"It's all the same." Shen Ji didn't mind. "To ensure authenticity, I need to buy a camera for recording. My money..."

Shen Ji suddenly remembered that the money he earned at the shelter was in his previous account. If he used it, not only would Li Zhiyan find out, but he might even expose his location due to the transaction point.

He suddenly deflated.

"Even if you had money, it wouldn't work. Do you remember your persona?"

"Dear Xiao Ji, you are a socially anxious person who only wants to interact with corpses and not deal with people."

Shen Ji:...

Damn, a reporter turned socially anxious person—really hard to get used to.

Fortunately, he had always acted quiet and unsmiling, so the probability of being discovered wasn't very high.

Feeling relieved, he walked out. Just then, a commotion erupted.

A person rushed rapidly from around the corner. From afar, he snarled viciously at Shen Ji, "Get out of the way!"

Shen Ji, who had originally intended to move aside, now took offense. As the person charged over, Shen Ji turned to let him pass. A small mushroom on the floor swiftly poked its head out. The person cleanly stepped on the mushroom, which made a squelching sound and bounced him away. Wide-eyed, the person flew backward.

He landed face-first, successfully knocking himself out.

Shen Ji glanced at him and continued walking. Finally, people caught up from around the corner.

They wore Guard Corps uniforms, panting heavily as they reached the unconscious man.

"He ran pretty fast. Must be a mutant." They pinned the unconscious man down, pressed his hands behind his back, and handcuffed him.

Then, one of the Guard Corps members who had recovered shouted to Shen Ji, "Thanks!"

They thought Shen Ji had tripped the guy, causing him to fly out and knock himself out.

Shen Ji didn't respond, merely giving them a slight nod before continuing on his way. Because he was wearing a mask, the Guard Corps members didn't get a clear look at his face.

The security team didn't mind this either; each grabbing a leg, they casually dragged the knocked-out guy away.

No one around batted an eye, not even sparing them a glance. Clearly, this kind of thing had happened so many times that everyone was used to it.

Due to an extreme shortage of personnel, the Pollution Harmless Treatment Center recruited prisoners to serve as volunteers here. One day of volunteer work could reduce their sentence by three days, but even so, very few prisoners were willing to come. As a result, voluntary recruitment turned into forced conscription.

Among every group of forced prisoners, there would always be one or two who thought they were geniuses and could definitely escape from this hellhole.

Of course, so far, not a single prisoner had successfully escaped. Instead, countless prisoners had their sentences extended for attempting to flee, ultimately forcing them to prolong their volunteer service here.

Shen Ji quipped about this: "It's like playing a battle royale game."

Exiting the treatment center's main gate, Shen Ji headed toward the shuttle bus area. The Pollution Harmless Treatment Center provided dormitories, and the conditions were even slightly better than those of the three major bureaus.

When asked why, the answer was: "With such hard and dangerous work, how could it be acceptable without better accommodation and higher pay?!"

"High salaries and good treatment still can’t attract people—just how dangerous is the Pollution Harmless Treatment Center?"

"It’s still very dangerous. According to statistics, this year, 37 contaminated corpses have resurrected at the Pollution Harmless Treatment Center, and 81 Stage IV contaminated patients have mutated into contaminants on the spot. The number of casualties exceeds a hundred every year."

"Excluding special circumstances, the casualty rate at the Pollution Harmless Treatment Center is higher than that of both the security team and the shelter."

Shen Ji sighed, "Nothing is easy anywhere."

While sighing, Shen Ji walked toward the waiting area. As soon as he approached, he saw a strange man sitting inside.

The man was wearing a bright yellow Daoist robe, which looked very eye-catching. His hair was not neatly tied under the Daoist crown, with a few strands falling loosely, giving him a somewhat crazed appearance.

Hiss... such a distinctive outfit.

"Absolutely correct, you’re not mistaken. This person is Qin Changye."

"Qin Changye, the third male lead in the protagonist's team, a self-proclaimed combination of atavism + celestial reincarnation + Daoist... a fake Daoist. He claims to be able to perform divination and see the causal threads of humans. He was dug out from a street fortune-telling scam by the protagonist Li Zhiyan and recruited into the protagonist's team."

"Why is he here?"

Shen Ji wondered too.

Most of Li Zhiyan's team members were personally recruited by him one by one. However, the team wasn’t always together; in fact, they could hardly ever gather as a full group throughout the year. Zhou Ye was one of the members who often stayed by Li Zhiyan's side. Jiang Ying, as the deputy team leader and also the head of Q City’s Pollution Harmless Treatment Center, rarely made appearances.

Let alone Qin Changye, who often acted unhinged and was frequently left behind by Li Zhiyan to guard the Pollution Prevention Center.

Shouldn’t he be at the Pollution Prevention Center right now, drawing circles and casting curses on those higher-ups?

"Kitten, you’ve got to believe me! This divination I did is extremely accurate!" Qin Changye was still on the phone.

"It’s a tremendous karmic connection! I must come and see what this connection is all about! My turtle shell has never given me such a big hint before!"

"Don’t insult my turtle shell! It’s a treasure left behind by a thousand-year-old turtle after its passing! It’s definitely not some contaminated turtle shell!"

"Ah? You ask what kind of connection it is? It’s an ill-fated connection! An omen of bloodshed!"

"Yeah! Even if it’s an omen of bloodshed, I still have to come and see."

Shen Ji: ...

*System, let’s take another route.*

"...I think so too."

So they turned around and left, heading to another waiting area for the bus.

Just like that, Qin Changye finished his phone call happily with Zhou Ye and began waiting for the omen of bloodshed in his divination. However, after waiting for half an hour, nothing happened.

Puzzled, he took out his turtle shell from his clothes and immediately started divining.

As he calculated, he exclaimed, "He left?!"

"Something is blocking fate from bringing us together. Damn it! Let me calculate what’s blocking our meeting!"

"It’s a strange substance without a body? What is that?"

"A ghost?!"

"...emmmm."

On the bus, Shen Ji sat in the back row. The small mushrooms, as usual, clung to the window, constantly leaning out. The wind blew so hard that their caps were almost torn off, swaying wildly, but they never tired of it, treating it as a fun game.

'What’s wrong with you?' Shen Ji asked the system.

"He called me a ghost," the system grumbled. "Can I strike him with lightning?"

Shen Ji was surprised, 'You can strike people with lightning?'

"Although I can’t, I can infect his computer and phone with viruses. When he’s cyber-cursing the higher-ups by drawing circles, I’ll send those circles to the people he’s cursing."

The system added fiercely, "I’ll even 'accidentally' send it to a few more people, making him wildly suspect who betrayed him."

Shen Ji: ...

So fierce, so terrifying.

On the other side, Qin Changye, who was still fortune-telling, suddenly shuddered with a chill. Puzzled, he recalculated for himself.

"Dammit! Why has the omen of bloodshed gotten even worse?! I haven’t even met that person yet!"

/

After getting off the bus, Shen Ji returned to the dormitory. There weren't many people in the dormitory building, but there were quite a few people like him who had just finished their shifts. A few people tried to strike up a conversation with Shen Ji.

Without exception, everyone’s first question was why he had been so unwise as to seek employment at the control center.

Shen Ji, adhering to his socially anxious persona, ended every conversation with three words.

"I don’t know."

Seeing the other person fall silent, Shen Ji stayed quiet for a moment before adding three more words.

"I’m sorry."

With that, everyone backed away.

Pretending to be socially anxious wasn’t that hard. Isn’t social anxiety just difficulty communicating with people? After saying something awkward, just add an "I’m sorry."

"...Xiao Ji, you’re so timid. I feel like even if Li Zhiyan showed up here, he wouldn’t dare recognize you."

"Doctor Xiao Ji, who dared to argue sarcastically with him, now only dares to say 'I’m sorry' to people."

"That's how a disguise works; otherwise, what’s the point of pretending?" Shen Ji locked the dormitory door tightly. "It’s better if he doesn’t recognize me."

Before Shen Ji moved in, the Pollution Harmless Treatment Center had already cleaned the entire dormitory and replaced the bedding with new ones. Shen Ji could move in directly, so after entering, he went straight to bed and lay down.

How could anyone not like beds! Lying around doing nothing *is* the life goal!

He pulled out his phone, planning to scroll through it for a bit, and the next moment saw a new message from Li Zhiyan.

"Troublesome protagonist: [Image]"

Since it was just a single image, he couldn’t even tap to expand it and see what it was.

"Ugh, is he still not giving up?" the system remarked. "Blasting you with a message every single day, even though they’re all unread. Maybe you should just give in and tap to mark it as read."

"It hasn't come to that," Shen Ji dismissed the message with a tap. "System, we can’t surrender easily. We’ve already faked our deaths."

"But have you noticed? The way the Pollution Harmless Treatment Center handles corpses of the contaminated is somewhat similar to Li Zhiyan’s flames."

The original novel's plot never covered the Pollution Harmless Treatment Center; the only related point was Jiang Ying.

Jiang Ying, the former director of the Q City Pollution Harmless Treatment Center, was recruited by Li Zhiyan to serve as vice-captain of his team. But actually, the plot mentioned that Jiang Ying initially tried to recruit Li Zhiyan into the treatment center, only to end up being recruited herself and joining the Special Operations Team.

"The Pollution Harmless Treatment Center collaborates with the Academy of Sciences, using a special 'fighting pollution with pollution' method to handle contaminated objects and the bodies of contaminated patients."

"This technology originates from one of the four major contaminated forbidden zones, Moth Valley. Within ten kilometers of Moth Valley’s edge, a plant called Moth Flower grows. It appears pale yellow and, when picked, catches fire. These flames can incinerate contaminants, significantly reducing pollution levels."

Shen Ji raised an eyebrow slightly. "Doesn’t that sound even more like Li Zhiyan’s Talent?"

"Well, it depends on Li Zhiyan's origins. Many Mutants’ Talents are connected to their place of origin. For example, Mutants who awaken during the Peach Blossom Calamity often gain dream-walking abilities, while those who awaken during the Black Rat Incident secrete venom and have hardened bodies."

"And Li Zhiyan—he's from near Moth Valley."

Shen Ji pondered. "So, does that mean 【Mimic Butterfly】 could also be called 【Mimic Moth】?"

"But 'butterfly' sounds much better than 'moth'!"

Shen Ji: …

Well, that’s true.

But he genuinely hadn’t expected Li Zhiyan to have been born near Moth Valley. Even the original novel never mentioned this.

Curious, he asked, "How did you know Li Zhiyan originated from Moth Valley?"

"《Pollution Prevention Center’s Top Secret Files: S-Class Mutant Li Zhiyan》."

"Hmph! This system isn’t made of paper! I will be stalking everyone who conflicts with us in the original story!"

Shen Ji tsked twice, impressed by the system’s dedication and hard work.

After putting the system in a beaming mood, Shen Ji got up from the bed and walked to the windowsill. He pushed the window open, and the chilly autumn wind instantly blew in. The small mushrooms followed his movement, coiling around the windowsill with him, curiously peering outside. One small mushroom was blown out by the wind but managed to climb back up, huffing and puffing.

Shen Ji glanced at them.

"Why are there so few?"

Every time he arrived at a new place, countless fungal threads would surround him, and small mushrooms would fill the room to the brim. Why were there so few this time?

"They’re getting familiar with the new territory," the system explained, still pleased. "So most of them stayed behind at the Pollution Harmless Treatment Center. Once they’ve settled in, some will return."

"Actually, you could say the few that followed you back came along because they were worried you'd be lonely, so they specifically came to keep you company."

"Afraid I’d feel lonely?" Shen Ji poked one of the small mushroom heads on the windowsill.

"These little ones think quite a lot."

The small mushroom head nuzzled Shen Ji’s finger, then happily wrapped around his wrist to continue playing, swinging from it.

Shen Ji: …

Still can’t shake their mischievous nature.

After poking the small mushroom heads a few more times, Shen Ji changed the subject.

"What’s going on with Qin Changye? Why did he come to the Pollution Harmless Treatment Center?"

"I checked. Part of it is due to pressure from a big shot."

"Someone important?" Shen Ji was puzzled. "Who?"

"It’s an order from a high-ranking official in the Pollution Prevention Center," the system replied. "This person has a daughter in her early twenties, a Class C Mutant. She’s always wanted to join the Guard Team, but as the official’s only precious daughter, he wouldn’t allow it. So she ran away from home, concealed her identity, and joined the Guard Team. During the recent minor earthquake at Zero Point Abyss, she was dispatched."

"That high-ranking official was going crazy looking for her and only traced her recently, discovering she’d been contaminated. Following procedure, she was sent to the Pollution Harmless Treatment Center."

The system sighed. "Qin Changye came precisely for this. He needs to intervene before the treatment center disposes of and incinerates her."

Shen Ji clicked his tongue. "Abusing power for personal gain?"

"It certainly has that element."

The system remarked, "There’s still a gap between ordinary people and those with power. High-ranking officials in the Pollution Prevention Center at least have access to Healing-type Mutants and can make a last-ditch effort."

As for ordinary people who, after being contaminated, can only enter Shelters, once the Shelter doctors are powerless, they can only be sent to the control center for processing.

Even the child of F City’s Shelter Director could only be saved because, as a Class C Psychic Mutant, they had enough value to warrant asking Chu Ye to step in. Chu Ye then reported to Wen Jingyu to request Shen Ji’s help.

No matter the era, power is a valuable thing.

But Shen Ji still had some doubts.

"Would Qin Changye agree to this official’s abuse of power?"

Actually, in the original story, Li Zhiyan’s group of protagonists were all somewhat free-spirited and unruly. Perhaps due to Li Zhiyan’s preferences, he enjoyed recruiting such unconventional people as teammates.

These people feared nothing; if the sky fell, Li Zhiyan would hold it up. So why would they be threatened by a high-ranking official in the Pollution Prevention Center?

"That brings me to the second reason: Qin Changye came here voluntarily."

"Do you remember the original plot? Qin Changye occasionally was bored and would mess with people, pretending to be a Taoist priest under a bridge and telling fortunes. That girl came to him for a fortune-telling."

At this, Shen Ji recalled.

In the original story, there was indeed such a foreshadowing. A young person came to Qin Changye’s stall for a fortune. By then, Qin Changye was already a famously accurate fortune-teller in the central district, especially since he appeared sporadically, adding to his mystique. Countless people waited under the bridge for his arrival.

That young person asked Qin Changye if she should give up her desire to join the Guard Team due to her family’s opposition.

That was the longest reading Qin Changye ever conducted. It took a full half-hour, and the young person waited patiently. After finishing, Qin Changye remained silent for a while before speaking.

He told her that joining the Guard Team would be the beginning of her descent into the abyss. Her path ahead was dark, possibly even life-threatening, but if she persevered, she would gain unimaginable rewards. However, Qin Changye did not recommend she join and advised her to think carefully and make her own choice.

When Shen Ji read this part, he felt it was definitely foreshadowing and noted it down, waiting for it to be revealed.

Then the novel got cancelled.

"Why is an unrevealed plot thread resurfacing now?"

Shen Ji absentmindedly tugged at his own hair, feeling the slight sting from the strands being pulled. "Did Qin Changye find out about this?"

"Exactly. She still disguised her identity to join the guard team, got contaminated at Zero Abyss, and is now just a hair's breadth from death."

"Qin Changye is planning to intervene. He feels a shared history with her."

Shen Ji nodded, then fell silent again for a moment.

"Wait a minute." Shen Ji asked, "System, does this mean we’ve accidentally stumbled back into the main plot again?"

"Is this the main storyline after the botched ending?"

"...Oh, right!"

"Xiao Ji, what kind of messed-up luck is this? You just randomly pick a place to stage your death and lay low, and you still end up walking right into the main plot?!"

"Wait, does this mean we’ll run into the protagonists soon?!"

"Oh, no, I forgot—you're actually dying to meet the main characters, aren’t you?"

Shen Ji: ...

Since when was he ever particularly eager to see Li Zhiyan?!