Chapter 57: Pollution Harmless Treatment Center

Chapter 57 Pollution Harmless Treatment Center

No one expected things to turn out this way, including those spectating.

What? Love 'em and leave 'em? Scumbag?

Someone had played with Li Zhiyan's feelings and then abandoned him? Their strongest S-Class Mutant at the Pollution Prevention Center??

By this man who looked clean and refined...?

Everyone was dumbfounded, dropping whatever they were holding. Soon, nearly half of them were bending over to pick things up off the ground, creating a surreal picture.

"Stop talking nonsense!"

Shen Ji was shocked and denied it. "I don't know you. Who are you? Why would I play with your feelings and then abandon you?"

"You're a man!"

Li Zhiyan paid no attention to this. He gripped Shen Ji's wrist tightly, not letting him break free. "When we were spending time together chatting about everything under the sun, why didn't you say I was a man then?"

Shen Ji: ...???

Damn, when had he ever spent time chatting with Li Zhiyan about everything under the sun?!

"I've been lovesick every day. I couldn't sleep after you left."

Li Zhiyan was still acting. "I was wrong. I'll listen to everything you say from now on. Won't you come back?"

To be honest, Shen Ji really hadn't expected this move.

This person had no shame at all, actually putting on an act of tragic, deep love here?

A straight guy selling BL deserves to be struck by lightning!

"Huh? But I think the protagonist is gay. Look how gay he is."

'You shut up!'

"...Eep."

In this situation, it was even more impossible for Shen Ji to admit that he was the missing 'Doctor Shen.' It would be ridiculous—if he admitted it now, wouldn't that confirm he was the scumbag Li Zhiyan claimed he was?

Even though, damn it, this scumbag was a complete fabrication!

"You've really got the wrong person." Shen Ji tried hard to pull his hand back. "Sir, please let me go."

Li Zhiyan refused to let go. He was taking advantage of the fact that, in front of so many people, Shen Ji couldn't run away immediately. A small mushroom disguised as a human wouldn't easily reveal its true nature as a mushroom.

He even used the opportunity to pull Shen Ji into a hug. Caught off guard, Shen Ji found himself wrapped in Li Zhiyan's arms.

Li Zhiyan closed his eyes, savoring the warmth of Shen Ji's body. After enjoying it for a moment, he whispered very softly into Shen Ji's ear.

"Keep pretending, why don't you?" His voice carried a hint of amusement.

"I still have the whole 'cry, make a scene, threaten suicide' combo move. Are you sure you can handle it?"

Shen Ji: ...

Shameless bastard!

Just then, Jiang Ying, who had been working while eating melon (gossiping) at the entrance, looked up.

"Captain!" she called out. "Communications are restored!"

"Can't you see I'm busy?" Li Zhiyan said dismissively. "Make the decision yourself."

"Understood!"

Shen Ji struggled to suppress the urge to beat Li Zhiyan up. But just then, the phone in his pocket suddenly vibrated. It shook so intensely it seemed like it had malfunctioned.

Then Shen Ji realized: it was Li Zhiyan's text messages.

This guy had sent him a ton of texts when he entered the contaminated area. Now that communications were restored, all those failed messages were automatically sent at once, causing Shen Ji's phone to keep buzzing with notifications.

Li Zhiyan raised an eyebrow slightly. He was actually very clever—who said abstract thinkers had no brains?

He immediately recognized what the sound was and realized in an instant that these were his own messages.

He smiled, then looked down and met Shen Ji's icy glare. He quickly wiped the smile off his face and coughed.

Li Zhiyan put on a sad act. "Who sent you so many messages? Did you find someone else after abandoning me?"

Shen Ji thought expressionlessly: Which dog sent those messages? Could he really not know?

Across from them, Jiang Ying squatted by the entrance, watching the two.

Li Zhiyan's butterflies were still fluttering around. The person he was forcibly holding kicked him, breaking free the moment Li Zhiyan loosened his grip, and ran. Li Zhiyan immediately gave chase. Everyone watched as the two of them, one running and one chasing, disappeared from sight.

"Alright, alright, stop staring!" Jiang Ying shouted. "Back to work!"

"All teams at the Pollution Harmless Treatment Center, confirm your headcount! Guards, go in and rescue survivors! Everyone, get moving!"

Once everyone was busy, Jiang Ying turned to Qin Changye, who was squatting nearby.

"What's going on with those two?"

"Ask me?" Qin Changye thought for a moment, puzzled. "I'm not too sure. I haven't seen the captain in a long time. But as for the other one... his name is Shen Ji."

"Shen... same name as Doctor Shen?" Jiang Ying blinked.

Qin Changye blinked back. "Maybe it's the same person?"

Jiang Ying fell silent.

A few seconds later, she asked doubtfully, "Didn't Doctor Shen sacrifice himself?"

"Maybe he came back to life?"

"Can mutants come back to life?"

"What era is this? An age where superstitions become reality. Is it really so surprising if a mutant comes back to life?" Qin Changye said.

Jiang Ying thought for a long moment. "...Is that how it is?"

"Jiang Ying, you're something else." Qin Changye laughed. "If he came back to life, it means he never died in the first place."

Jiang Ying fell silent. She directly smacked Qin Changye from behind, sending him tumbling to the ground.

Serves you right for teasing people when you have nothing better to do. If I can't hit Li Zhiyan, can't I hit you?

Qin Changye: ...

His cyber-curse list was about to get one name longer!

/

Li Zhiyan chased after him, only to find that Shen Ji hadn't gone far at all; in fact, he showed no intention of escaping whatsoever.

He had originally thought that Shen Ji would immediately turn into a small mushroom after running off, hiding in the grass where he’d never find him.

The Pollution Harmless Treatment Center was even more remote than the shelter. Its work was extremely dangerous and made the area completely unfit for human habitation, so the area was completely deserted, with nothing but barren wilderness outside.

Well, it couldn’t be helped—it was late autumn, nearly winter, and all the leaves had fallen.

The wind blew against Shen Ji’s protective suit, filling it and puffing it up. It looked pretty funny.

Li Zhiyan stood behind Shen Ji, watching him, his azure-blue eyes reflecting Shen Ji’s form.

Even though the young man had altered his appearance, his physique remained the same. He was still tall and slender, his excellent figure complementing his aura. And even with his altered looks, he was still handsome—his good looks paired with his cool, detached air made it impossible for him to fade into the background no matter what.

He wore white gloves and a face mask, a getup meant to help him keep a low profile, but because of his looks, it had the opposite effect—instead, it made everyone look his way.

He hadn’t even bothered to change his name.

"Why are you called Shen Ji?" Li Zhiyan asked him.

Shen Ji turned back and shot him a weird look. "My parents named me Shen Ji, so of course that’s my name."

...So it wasn’t a name he chose himself—it was his real name.

He had a real name?

A pollutant has a real name?

"Shen Ji, is that your real name?" Li Zhiyan asked.

Shen Ji was even more baffled. "What? Isn’t Li Zhiyan your real name?"

"No, it’s not."

"Then it’s just..." Shen Ji paused. "It’s not? Li Zhiyan? This isn’t your real name?"

"...Huh? What? Li Zhiyan isn’t the protagonist’s real name? The protagonist has another name? But the original work never mentioned that!"

"I’ve searched through the original work dozens of times! Nowhere does it say this isn’t the protagonist’s real name!"

"And no parents would name their child ‘Zhiyan’ anyway."

Li Zhiyan even seemed a little pleased to have fooled someone. "There’s no particular story behind it either."

Shen Ji looked at him and immediately quoted an old poem: "When illness comes, I drink without growing weary; after dreams, I lean on the tower with endless emotion."

"They didn’t have that kind of poetic sensibility. The name Zhiyan is one I gave myself." Li Zhiyan flashed Shen Ji a peace sign. "It’s a screen name."

That was something Shen Ji hadn’t expected.

But he suddenly remembered: Li Zhiyan had once replied to a post on the pollutant forum under his real name. Although it was to extract the route map of Bus 7739 from a low-level AI, using his real name to reply to a forum post was a bold move in itself.

If it was just an online alias...

"But I’ve gone by this name for so long, I’ve almost forgotten what my real name is."

Li Zhiyan sighed. "Too much time has passed, and even my memories have gotten fuzzy."

"Why use an online alias as your name?"

"Because it felt weird," Li Zhiyan said. "Back then, I didn’t know anything. I was lonely and scared, so when I was wary, I didn’t even dare tell others my real name."

Shen Ji had never expected to hear such words from Li Zhiyan.

Whether in the original work or after meeting Li Zhiyan, Shen Ji had always seen him as confident.

He could slack off every day, messing with everyone around him in his weird, abstract way, or argue with and mock the higher-ups at the Pollution Prevention Center, taunting them as ‘old baldies’.

He was bold and unconstrained—so why would he be lonely and afraid?

Li Zhiyan looked at him helplessly. "I’m not a god. I had my own… adjustment phase right after I awakened. It’s normal to feel scared."

"Especially since I had just been found by the security team back then. Those people were trying to recruit me like crazy, just like human traffickers. The whole thing looked shady as hell, so using a fake name was also a test."

"Who knew they were the real deal?"

Shen Ji: ...

So you just went along with using a fake name, huh.

Of course they’d bend over backwards to recruit an S-Class Mutant, but you thought they were human traffickers.

Typical you.

"So what is your real name?"

"You’re not my lover, so why should I tell you?" Li Zhiyan spread his hands. "I’ll only tell my real name to the person closest to me."

"He’s the world’s worst mushroom. He wooed me, won me, and then skipped town without a backward glance, didn’t even leave a note."

"Such a cold, heartless, utterly terrible person, yet I can’t forget him."

Li Zhiyan put on a show of being heartbroken. "I’ll leave my name to him as an inheritance."

Shen Ji looked at him with disgust.

Who would want your name as an inheritance?

"So, are you that lover who loved me and left me?"

"Sorry, I don’t know what you’re talking about," Shen Ji replied politely. "Could you please not disturb me while I’m enjoying the view?"

Li Zhiyan didn’t push it, simply sitting down beside Shen Ji to enjoy the view with him.

Not that there was much of a view to enjoy—just barren emptiness.

"I found the foreshadowing!" the System suddenly shouted.

"When Li Zhiyan first joined the security team, there was this bit where his teammate called out to him, but Li Zhiyan didn’t respond immediately. When the teammate asked, he replied, 'I forgot my name is Li Zhiyan.'"

"But because of the protagonist’s generally odd personality, readers just thought he was being abstract again!"

"Little did they know it was because his real name isn’t Li Zhiyan at all!"

*'So what's his real name then?'*

"No record of this."

"What good are you if you don't know anything?!"

But it had to be said, Shen Ji was indeed becoming interested in Li Zhiyan.

If he was like this now, what was he like before? He said his name was fake, so what was his real name? Why was he so afraid of the Guard Team, even to the point of giving a fake name?

Shen Ji's professional curiosity was piqued; he wanted to uncover Li Zhiyan's secrets.

But Li Zhiyan kept things deeply hidden. He was intentionally dangling a little bait to tempt Shen Ji, trying to pique his interest and make him take the initiative to understand him.

If he really got hooked, it would be over.

Shen Ji thought expressionlessly: "Truly a social butterfly—really knows how to strut his stuff."

Was there really no way to uncover his secrets without interacting with Li Zhiyan?

"...It sounds like you're asking if there's a way to get into bed without taking responsibility."

Shen Ji: ...

'All-Powerful System, you need a content filter.'

"Isn't it you who's trying to dig into the protagonist's past? I've consulted countless materials and finally summarized one golden rule."

"That is: The endpoint of being interested in someone's past is always ending up in bed!"

"The male lead is gay, and you're gay too!"

Shen Ji: ...

After a moment of silence, Shen Ji casually refuted.

'You're wrong.'

'Mushrooms are fungi, and fungi have no sex drive.'

"...?"

Fungi have no sex drive, but pollutants do!!

"Captain!" Just then, someone called out to Li Zhiyan not far away.

Li Zhiyan turned around; it was Jiang Ying holding a laptop. "It's a call from the higher-ups at the Pollution Prevention Center! They said you blocked them, so they called me!"

"Boss, come quick and take the call!"

Li Zhiyan tch'd in annoyance and stood up very reluctantly. "Don't you dare run off."

Before leaving, he said with exaggerated seriousness, "I'll chase you to the ends of the earth."

With that, Li Zhiyan turned and walked over to Jiang Ying to take the call.

Shen Ji watched him from a distance. After a while, Shen Ji suddenly sighed.

"Really, is there no way to uncover his secrets without interacting with him?"

"My reporter's itch is acting up! Damn it, I want to uncover the truth! I want to write a report!"

"Come up with a sensational title, like 'Shocking! The Untold Stories of S-Class Mutant Li Zhiyan!'"

"So cliché."

"Extreme tackiness is elegance in disguise!"

"You liar, you don't want to write 'The Untold Stories of Qin Changye'—you only want to write about Li Zhiyan. Don't hide it; you just want to obsess over the protagonist."

"Damn it, even though we've both faked our deaths, you're still so hung up on the protagonist; and the protagonist too, even after you faked your death, he's still chasing after you, even spreading rumors that you ditched him."

The system said indignantly, "The hero and villain can never be together! They can't."

Shen Ji couldn't help but laugh.

Well, what can you do? There are moments when people's hormones take over, irresistibly drawn to someone. It's just how it is.

Not far away, Li Zhiyan seemed to sense something and turned around. His eyes met Shen Ji's, and he saw the smile in Shen Ji's expression.

The autumn sunlight carried a sense of lingering twilight. It spilled over Shen Ji, wrapping him in a slow, hazy, golden filter, making even his aura seem softer.

Jiang Ying followed Li Zhiyan's gaze forward.

This was her first time seeing the 'legendary Doctor Shen.' Although his appearance differed slightly from his ID photo, his demeanor was indeed very similar.

"Easy on the eyes, right?"

Li Zhiyan said happily, "Getting played once was kinda worth it."

Jiang Ying: ...

Boss, I'm still not convinced you were actually played...

Poor Doctor Shen, just getting himself tangled up like that.

/

All survivors were rescued. In the end, it was confirmed: in this accidental contamination incident, the number of people infected with contamination sickness was 27, the number of people physically injured due to contamination was 12, and the death toll was 3, all of whom were Stage IV contaminated patients. There were no other victims.

In reality, the Guard Team had no idea why the contamination suddenly stopped. Most of them were running around like headless flies in the disordered space, completely unable to find their way.

In the end, Li Zhiyan said he had run into Qin Changye and, through Qin Changye's divination, made it to the end and neutralized the pollutant.

Everyone believed this reason.

After all, it was Li Zhiyan and Qin Changye!

Anyway, Shen Ji showed up for work at his usual time.

But as soon as he entered the Pollution Harmless Treatment Center to clock in, he saw the security guards' eyes perk up. A few guards seemed to want to say something but, noticing Shen Ji looking at them, they clammed up.

They just stood in awkward silence for ten seconds before Shen Ji turned and walked inside.

The security guards: ...

So much for being socially anxious! After ten seconds of eye contact, how could they still dare to gossip?

The entire way to work, it was the same: people would see him, look away, suddenly remember something, then do a double-take and stare with wide eyes as he walked away.

By the end, Shen Ji was pretty much numb.

He wanted to kill someone, wanted to kill Li Zhiyan and take the protagonist role himself.

He walked all the way to the office, even tossing the documents in his hand onto the desk. Shen Ji sat at his desk, silently mulling over ways to assassinate Li Zhiyan.

Just then, the colleague next to him sneakily peeked over.

"Hey, Xiao Ji, how are things with Mr. Li?"

"Don't know him, never met him, no feelings—he's mistaken."

The person beside him: ...

Whoa!

But if they don’t know each other, would Li Zhiyan tarnish his rep like that in public?

Or was he ditched?!

Are the two of them having some kind of conflict? Crap! I'm dying to know!

But the person being gossiped about isn’t willing to talk, what do we do?!

Just then, there was a knock on the door outside. Shen Ji turned to look and was shocked to see a well-dressed Qin Changye.

Qin Changye’s Daoist robes were crisp and tidy. This time, his hairpiece was perfectly set without any stray hairs, making him look all mystical and immortal-like.

"Mr. Shen," Qin Changye said. "Do you have time? I’d like to talk with you."

Everyone in the office: ...Whoa!

Is he here to propose or something?

Even without knowing what these people were thinking, Shen Ji could tell from their gleaming eyes that they weren’t thinking anything good.

He stood up and walked out of the office, walking with Qin Changye to a nearby meeting room.

The meeting room was empty, with just the two of them inside.

After Shen Ji sat down, Qin Changye suddenly gave a cupped-hand salute.

Shen Ji hurriedly stood up. "What are you doing?"

"I’m thanking you, Mr. Shen," Qin Changye said with a smile. "Earlier, I was still puzzled as to why Miss He’s fate shifted toward hope, and why her pollution level suddenly dropped. Now I understand—it’s because she truly encountered a miracle that could change her destiny."

"I thank you on her behalf."

Shen Ji: ...

Time to act clueless.

"What?" Shen Ji asked, confused. "Who is this about?"

Qin Changye thought for a moment, then spoke again. "How about this: I owe you a favor, Mr. Shen. If there’s anything you want to know, you can ask me. I promise I’ll figure out the best path for you."

"After Miss He wakes up, I’ll also have her come personally to thank you."

After saying this, Qin Changye turned and left without another word.

As if afraid that someone might suddenly appear, catch him red-handed, and dock his pay for another year.

Shen Ji sighed. He left the meeting room and turned to head back to his office.

It seemed the Pollution Harmless Treatment Center was no longer a place he could stay. He needed to find a new job.

Where to go next? He couldn’t go to the Guard Team, he’d already worked at the shelter, and the Pollution Prevention Center was part of the Guard Team. Could it be that he’d have to go to the Academy of Sciences?

But he was a journalist—he didn’t understand science.

"Oh, Xiao Ji, you’re here."

Shen Ji turned around. Cheng Feng was motioning to him from the door of the supervisor’s office. "Come here, come here. I need to talk to you."

He walked over. "Good morning, Mr. Cheng."

"Mm, morning." Cheng Feng led Shen Ji into the office and, after locking the door, fished out two files from a pile behind him.

He handed one of them to Shen Ji.

"This is Li Zhiyan’s transfer request," Cheng Feng said. "He wants you transferred to the Guard Team, to join his unit."

Shen Ji glanced at Cheng Feng but said nothing.

It wasn’t about maintaining his socially awkward act—he just really didn’t want to go.

Messing with the protagonist was fun, but seeing him every day was a different story. Close relationships between people require distance.

He didn’t want to get too close to Li Zhiyan.

Seeing Shen Ji’s disinterested expression, Cheng Feng grinned. He knew Shen Ji wouldn’t be willing to go.

That bastard Li Zhiyan had stolen his best trainee back then, forcing him to put in overtime at the Pollution Harmless Treatment Center for three years! And now Li Zhiyan actually wanted to snatch another up-and-comer he had his eye on?

Not a chance!

Cheng Feng pushed the other document toward Shen Ji.

Shen Ji picked it up and saw that it was also a transfer order.

"The Pollution Harmless Treatment Center isn’t just a simple place to dump polluted corpses. Our department also carries the important responsibility of researching how to destroy pollution. The flames we use to incinerate contaminated bodies were developed in collaboration with the Academy of Sciences."

"To prevent possible future disasters, our Second Department is researching how to handle pollution rifts. Would you be willing to transfer to the Second Department?"

"If you agree, just sign here. I’ll arrange a car to take you there right now."

Shen Ji and Cheng Feng stared at each other. After a few seconds, Shen Ji glanced at the other document, as if asking: What about this one?

Cheng Feng stood up, took the document, and directly stuck it in the shredder.

The document was completely shredded. Cheng Feng sat back down and sighed. "The weather’s real nice today. No paperwork came from upstairs."

"Xiao Ji, would you like to work in the Second Department?"

Shen Ji nodded. "The weather really is nice today. Feels like a good day for a walk."

He signed his name on the document.

Li Zhiyan, one day I’ll make you volunteer your real name and willingly place your butterfly feelers in my hand.

Let’s see which of us can hold out longer.