Chapter 58: Pollution Fissure Research Institute

Chapter 58 Pollution Fissure Research Institute

The Special Operations Team was a special force jointly established by the Guard Team and the Pollution Prevention Center on the premise that it could handle most pollution incidents.

The team is made up of elite members of the Guard Team, including various rare Psychic Mutants and Healingtype Mutants. The nominal head of the entire Special Operations Team is Li Zhiyan.

Although Li Zhiyan doesn't handle any actual management and merely uses this title to recruit members for his own team.

He even insists on using the number six—his team must be the Sixth Special Operations Team.

Because this makes his team seem incredibly "666" (Chinese internet slang for "awesome").

This fully demonstrates what a character Li Zhiyan is.

Cheng Feng sat calmly in his chair, watching this usually very distinctive captain of the Special Operations Team standing opposite him, asking for his man back, and he felt quite pleased.

"Xiao Ji is under my authority, so of course I have the right to decide where he goes," Cheng Feng said. "My procedures are legal and compliant; your complaint won’t do any good."

"So where’s my transfer order?"

"Transfer order?" Cheng Feng said, playing dumb. "What transfer order? I have no idea what you're talking about."

Li Zhiyan was speechless.

Seeing Li Zhiyan speechless, Cheng Feng pulled open a drawer, rummaged around inside it for a moment, and then pushed two envelopes he found toward Li Zhiyan.

Li Zhiyan picked up the envelopes curiously. "What’s this? Love letters that Shen Ji wrote me?"

"No," Cheng Feng said expressionlessly. "Complaint letters. I wrote them. Two."

"I was planning to mail them to your office, but since you’re here now, just take them with you. Saves me the stamp."

Li Zhiyan: …

He made a trip, came away empty-handed, and ended up with two complaint letters.

Actually, where Shen Ji had gone wasn't exactly a mystery. Cheng Feng wasn't only the head of the Pollution Harmless Treatment Center—or rather, the Center itself wasn't just that one facility. There was another location not publicized but known internally: the "Pollution Fissure Research Institute."

This organization was different from the Pollution Harmless Treatment Center. It was created to control pollution fissures, with branches scattered everywhere. Wherever there was a pollution fissure, there would be a branch.

But therein lay the problem.

Pollution Fissure Research Institute branches were located all over the world, and Li Zhiyan had no idea which branch Shen Ji had gone to.

Cheng Feng wouldn’t tell him, and Li Zhiyan couldn't exactly check every single one.

And so, Li Zhiyan left in a huff with the complaint letters. His plans to make a scene—crying, making a fuss, and threatening to hang himself—were stillborn before they could even be implemented.

Too bad.

Just as he stepped out of the treatment center, Li Zhiyan saw Qin Changye overseeing as people moved He Linqiu away. Although her pollution level had decreased, the woman was still unconscious and needed to go to a containment ward for further treatment. This time, her father could finally pull some strings to find a Healingtype Mutant for her.

"Qin Changye," Li Zhiyan called out to him.

Qin Changye turned and saw Li Zhiyan. His first instinct was to run.

Ever since his encounter with Shen Ji, Qin Changye had watched his fate slide straight toward financial loss and bloodshed, most of it brought on by Li Zhiyan.

It seemed Li Zhiyan’s Luck E brought Luck E to everyone around him.

"Stop right there," Li Zhiyan said. "Why are you running?"

"No, no reason," Qin Changye said with an awkward laugh. "Boss, what are you doing here? Are you looking for Mr. Shen?"

"Yeah, but I couldn’t find him," Li Zhiyan walked over. "Help me figure out where he is right now."

Qin Changye waved his hands in panic, his expression horrified. "No, no, I can’t do that! It’ll take years off my life!"

"I tried doing a little reading for him before, and that same day I fell three times, almost breaking my foot."

"Besides, you should know yourself where he went, Boss. Even if you find him, what's the point?"

"He'd just take off again."

Li Zhiyan: …

A critical hit, stabbing him enough to make him want to fine someone (maybe Qin) out of sheer frustration.

It was true.

Shen Ji’s actions might as well have been saying: Not only do I not want to join your team, I don’t even want to see you.

Get out of my life!

Li Zhiyan began to sulk.

He squatted down directly, trying to figure out what he'd done wrong to be disliked so much. But he had always been quite popular—why was Shen Ji the exception?

Or was it: Did he care that much that Shen Ji was a pollutant?

Watching his captain sulk, Qin Changye couldn’t hold back. It was the first time he had seen his eccentric captain so hung up on someone.

He quietly did a reading on Li Zhiyan’s love life. After finishing, he was bewildered.

Li Zhiyan did indeed have a romantic fate line, and the other end was indeed connected to Shen Ji. But this line was extremely fragile, even broken into several segments in the middle, as if something sharp had sliced it into pieces, as pitiful as broken thread.

Yet, it was this pitiful, broken line that was slowly, painstakingly tying itself back together, knot by knot, just barely holding on.

As if... a line that should have broken refused to let go, forcibly keeping itself connected.

It was both pitiful and somewhat inspiring.

"Give Mr. Shen a little more time," Qin Changye finally said. "Maybe Mr. Shen hasn’t figured it out yet, and you haven’t either, Captain. You need to think carefully too."

"Both of you have some things you haven’t figured out."

Li Zhiyan looked up at him. After a long while, he spoke. "Qin, the Divine Calculator, when will he figure it out?"

Qin Changye hesitated again. "Perhaps you should ask yourself that, Boss."

"There are many things you haven’t told him either, right?"

Li Zhiyan fell silent.

Qin Changye ran another calculation for him and let out a sigh of relief when he was done.

"Just wait a little longer. Perhaps when the Zero Abyss earthquake happens, there will be progress between you two."

The Zero Abyss Great Earthquake, the S-class pollutant "Wrath" triggers a regular great earthquake every two years. Yes, the time for the great earthquake is almost here.

In response, the Pollution Prevention Center is on high alert. All members of the security teams are on standby unless absolutely necessary. As part of the logistics department, both the containment facility and the Academy of Sciences are operating at full capacity. To handle emergencies, the Pollution Prevention Center has even arranged for two S-Class Mutants to participate in the rescue efforts.

One of them is Li Zhiyan.

He has already been appointed as the overall commander for this operation.

After he finished speaking, Qin Changye suddenly realized, "Huh? Wait—"

"What's Mr. Shen doing getting involved in the great earthquake incident? Isn't he part of the logistics department? Whether it's the containment facility or the Pollution Harmless Treatment Center, neither requires being on the front lines, right?"

"It's still early. We'll find out later."

Li Zhiyan didn’t seem concerned about this. "Alright, you can go now."

Qin Changye: …So he’s just going to discard me after use, huh?

He turned and left, deciding to double today’s online curses!

Completely unconcerned about whether someone was cyber-cursing him, Li Zhiyan stood up and left the Pollution Harmless Treatment Center. On the way, he pulled out his phone.

He pulled up the unintentional recording of Shen Ji he had taken and opened it for what felt like the millionth time.

Watching Shen Ji in the video, Li Zhiyan’s pale blue eyes reflected the image of him walking away.

The moment the camera shifted away, he also averted his gaze from the screen.

The little mushroom is timid. It doesn’t like being discovered as a mushroom, even though it hides clumsily and is a little lost in the human world.

The little mushroom is also kind of a tease. It knows it’s liked but ignores that affection, leaving without a trace, not leaving anything behind.

Sigh, how did he end up liking someone like this?

But human emotions are just that troublesome—suddenly taking an interest in someone at a certain time, feeling happy when together. He believes Shen Ji was happy with him too, whether they were arguing, chatting, or even just sitting on a barren mountain watching the scenery like yesterday.

I’m in this for the long haul.

Li Zhiyan thought: As long as I persist, I’ll eventually harvest a complete mushroom.

Maybe even that pure, flawless little white flower.

Finally, Li Zhiyan opened Shen Ji’s contact and sent him a message.

"Li Zhiyan: If I’m willing to tell you my real name, will you tell me why you’ve been avoiding me?"

The message was sent, but it remained unread.

Li Zhiyan boredly scrolled up through the chat history. He looked at the strings of messages he had sent, neatly lined up on the right side, long and short ones clustered together. No replies, no reads—it was like a one-man show performed by Li Zhiyan.

Shen Ji doesn’t want to see me, nor does he want to see my messages.

Li Zhiyan sighed and hit the back button.

Just at that moment, Li Zhiyan noticed his latest message had turned to "read."

He paused, then clicked back into the chat.

That long string of messages was now jumping to "read" one by one from the bottom up. Those green "read" indicators made Li Zhiyan’s heart race, pounding loudly like a cold wind at the end of autumn.

When the last message finally turned to "read," the other side finally sent a new reply.

"little mushroom: When I want to know, I’ll ask you."

In that moment, Li Zhiyan forgave everything.

/

"Why did you click into it again?" the system asked Shen Ji curiously.

"Because there’s no need to hide anymore. The only person we wanted to keep in the dark with our death fake-out was Li Zhiyan," Shen Ji said, reading through the messages one by one.

"Besides, he’s not stupid, and he’s not that shameless either."

Shen Ji’s first death fake-out was to distance himself from the plot. The second time he left the Pollution Harmless Treatment Center was to avoid Li Zhiyan.

Li Zhiyan could easily figure it out: Shen Ji didn’t want to interact with him.

Maybe Li Zhiyan didn’t understand why—after all, he didn’t know he was the protagonist and Shen Ji was the villain. He never cared about the difference between pollutants and humans, so it would confuse him.

He could only conclude: Shen Ji didn’t want to meet him.

That conclusion was hurtful enough.

"You understand the protagonist better and better," the system said, amazed. "So much that it’s starting to scare me. You two won’t actually end up together, will you?"

"I don’t mind," Shen Ji said indifferently. "As long as he’s interesting, that’s enough."

"Such low standards."

"No, my standards are quite high," Shen Ji retorted. "There aren’t many people in this world who can hold my interest."

"But what should we do next?" Shen Ji asked the system, closing his phone.

"Now that we’ve survived the rushed ending—though it hasn’t been long, so we should still avoid the protagonist as much as possible—what comes after? Achieving the true ending feels like a false proposition, doesn’t it?"

"Yikes, I haven’t thought about that," the system admitted, confused. "I only thought about being free after surviving the rushed ending, not having to worry about the original story anymore."

"...I never considered what to do afterward."

Being carefree is nice—it’s like a break.

But Shen Ji isn’t the type to stay carefree forever.

He slacks off and procrastinates at work, but that doesn’t mean he’s okay with a life of only slacking and no plans.

Otherwise, he wouldn’t have become a journalist.

He needs structure, rationality, and follow-through.

Shen Ji thought for a moment. "Should we investigate why Filth was labeled the Final Villain?"

The system responded with a confused question mark.

"Even though it was a rushed ending, the original story automatically fills in gaps when adapted to reality. If we hadn’t saved Chen Guo and affected the subsequent plot, the story would have followed the original path. But now we know the Q City containment facility pollution leak wasn’t Filth’s doing."

"Oh, right," the system said, suddenly understanding. "Based on the protagonist’s current personality, it doesn’t seem like he’d immediately attack Filth on sight."

"So why did Filth die at his hands in the original story?"

Shen Ji nodded. "We can treat this as a phase of our investigation. For now, our goal is still to avoid the protagonist."

"This time we really had bad luck. In the original story, he never went to the Pollution Harmless Treatment Center at all, but because of Qin Changye, everything went off track."

"I thought we could at least avoid him for a month or two."

"Don’t forget, Li Zhiyan is the protagonist."

The system sighed, "Although the protagonist has E-rank luck, he always manages to accomplish whatever he sets out to do. Tracking someone down is effortless for him."

"This is the world’s bias toward the protagonist!"

Shen Ji: ...

Tch, and now they’re dragging the World Consciousness into it.

When he read novels, he hated the so-called World Consciousness the most. Whether it was transmigration or plot revisions, once the World Consciousness got involved, the story always ended up with the protagonist fighting against it.

How boring.

Just then, there was a knock on the door. Shen Ji looked up toward the entrance.

Shen Ji was currently in his newly assigned dorm.

After Shen Ji signed the papers yesterday, Cheng Feng had someone transfer him. To avoid being discovered by Li Zhiyan, he was sent to a remote pollution fissure. Shen Ji had looked up the location during the car ride—the destination was on the outskirts of G City, far up north in the country, where the late autumn cold was already bone-chilling.

The car traveled for a full day and night, finally arriving around noon.

Shen Ji walked over and opened the dormitory door. Standing outside was someone who had come with him, a colleague who, like him, had been sent by Cheng Feng for training.

His name was Kang Xiaodong, a Class C Mutant, reportedly also a young man who had voluntarily joined the Pollution Harmless Treatment Center.

"Are you ready?" Kang Xiaodong asked. "It’s time to assemble."

Shen Ji nodded. "Thanks."

"No need to thank me. There are only two of us who came this time; we should support each other."

They went downstairs and followed their escort.

Kang Xiaodong muttered to Shen Ji under his breath, "Did you do any research on this place?"

Shen Ji glanced at him. "Research what?"

"Oh right, you’re new." It dawned on Kang Xiaodong. "Actually, staff from our Pollution Harmless Treatment Center are sent to support the Pollution Fissure Research Institute under special circumstances. We usually stay for a month or two before returning; we don’t normally get stuck here permanently."

"But where we’re sent is random—it could be in completely opposite directions."

"Pollution fissures vary in size, and the fatality rates differ as well."

Shen Ji thought for a moment. "Like medical students doing rotations in different departments?"

"Huh?" Kang Xiaodong was puzzled. "Medical students? Rotations?"

"Never mind." Shen Ji shook his head. "Go on."

Not understanding what Shen Ji meant by medical student rotations but not wanting to press further, Kang Xiaodong continued.

"We’re unlucky. This pollution fissure in G City is newly discovered and currently in its outbreak phase. Although the guard team suppressed it once, it’s still quite dangerous."

"Pollution fissures, like volcanoes, have dormant and outbreak phases, and most are irregular. But there’s one exception."

"When a pollution fissure first forms, it’s always in an outbreak phase. During this phase, low-level pollutants run rampant, and high-level pollutants can even emerge."

The system was a little excited. "Our little mushroom’s food supply is here!"

Shen Ji nodded. "And then?"

"And then...?" Kang Xiaodong was dumbfounded. "Isn’t that enough?"

The average person would be terrified upon hearing this.

Although they were staff of the Pollution Harmless Treatment Center, they usually dealt with the corpses of pollutants and contaminated patients. There was a chance the corpses could reanimate, but it was low, and guards were always on hand to suppress any incidents. The casualty rate was high, but it was still far safer than this place.

The Pollution Fissure Research Institute, however, was a place where they were on the front lines against active pollutants.

Of course, Kang Xiaodong wasn’t a coward, but any normal person would feel anxious when sent to such a dangerous location.

Yet Shen Ji didn’t seem afraid at all.

Looking at the calm, composed expression in Shen Ji’s dark eyes, Kang Xiaodong thought: No wonder even Li Zhiyan is obsessed with him.

This level of composure was indeed reassuring. Even he couldn’t help but be influenced, his tension slowly easing.

In the office, several middle-aged men in lab coats were watching the surveillance feed and quietly laughing.

The one sitting at the front pointed at Shen Ji and praised, "This young man is the real deal. No wonder Cheng Feng dared to outright ignore Li Zhiyan’s transfer request and send him here."

"His courage is impressive," another nodded. "If Cheng Feng’s investigation is correct, his Talent level might not be just D—it could even be A or S. Otherwise, some random Class D Mutant wouldn’t have made Li Zhiyan start rumors about being 'love-'em-and-leave-'em' just to recruit him."

Cheng Feng was, after all, the head of the Pollution Harmless Treatment Center.

Although he had noticed Shen Ji during the dancer incident, he wouldn’t have chosen him so quickly.

It was the moment Li Zhiyan uttered the words "love 'em and leave 'em" that Cheng Feng sensed something amiss.

Li Zhiyan didn’t seem like the type to obsess over someone like a lost puppy.

So he investigated further, even digging around with Jiang Ying, and only then did he learn that Li Zhiyan had met a pollution disease doctor named Shen Ji in Q City. Though he called himself a medical care worker, he single-handedly boosted the recovery rate for pollution diseases in an entire shelter and even cured the well-known contaminated patient Chu Ye.

Now everyone knew that Chu Ye had been contaminated by an S-class pollutant, "The Gardener."

This alone was enough to prove how high his Talent level was and how capable he truly was.

The shelter couldn’t retain him, but if their treatment center could, they would be set for the future.

So Cheng Feng defied Li Zhiyan directly and, with Shen Ji’s agreement, sent him here.

"Alright, they’re about to come in," someone from the back said. "Hurry up and turn it off. We need to meet the newcomers."

They turned off the surveillance and took their seats. Three seconds later, the office door opened, and the staff member who had brought them followed procedure to show them in.

"Professor Yang, I’ve brought the newcomers."

Professor Yang nodded, thanked the staff, and then stood up. "Hello, I am Yang Xu, Director of the Pollution Fissure Research Institute. You can call me Professor Yang."

"Yang Xu, Director of the Pollution Fissure Research Institute. Note: This director is the main Director, not some branch chief. He and Cheng Feng are of the same rank."

"Whoa, his rank is no joke."

"The pollution fissure in G City has been in a constant outbreak phase. The guard team conducted a large-scale cleanup operation but couldn’t stop the fissure from continuously producing pollutants. So Yang Xu was transferred to G City to handle the pollution control efforts. So far, the outbreak phase has slowed, and pollution incidents have dropped significantly."

Shen Ji looked up and met Professor Yang's gaze. Unbothered, Professor Yang gave him a warm, gentle smile.

"Old Cheng told me that both of you are top talents among the youth at the Containment Center. I hope you can learn something from me—I'm happy to have you."

He continued, "My only requirement for you is: keep yourselves safe."

"This place is extremely dangerous, several times more hazardous than your Containment Center. Even with the support of the guard team, our casualty rate remains high. Old Cheng has high hopes for you—don’t throw your lives away for the sake of short-term research gains. Understood?"

Kang Xiaodong and Shen Ji responded in unison. Professor Yang nodded and led them on a tour of the temporary research institute.

As they passed by a window, Shen Ji turned to look outside. He saw a towering wall at least twenty meters high, standing tall and blocking out the sunlight.

Noticing Shen Ji’s gaze, Professor Yang also looked out.

"That’s the high wall isolating the pollution fissure. It was created by a mutant with the pollution talent 【High Wall】," Professor Yang explained. "It serves to prevent pollutants originating from the pollution fissure from escaping, and also to stop contaminated individuals from willingly stepping into the pollution fissure."

Kang Xiaodong asked curiously, "Do people really enter the pollution fissure?"

"Of course they do. The pollution fissure has a strong attraction for pollutants," Professor Yang replied. "It’s the source of pollution release. High-level pollutants treat the pollution fissure as their own contaminated zone. Those affected by pollution develop mental issues and are drawn here against their will."

"Like moths to a flame, they leap into the pollution fissure."

Contaminated patients who might still have been saved become beyond saving the moment they jump into the pollution fissure.

Shen Ji placed his hand on the window, staring at the high wall outside. After a long silence, he finally spoke—though it was to the system.

'Most high-level pollutants are born from pollution fissures. Where did Hui originate?'

'Was he also born from a pollution fissure?'

"That’s unclear."

The system hesitated. "All I know is that the S-class pollutant Hui is a being whose presence turns any place into his territory. The source material didn’t mention his origins, and I can’t analyze it either."

"None of the currently known pollution fissures seem suitable for Hui’s birth."

"Xiao Ji?" Professor Yang called out to him. "Let’s go, we’re heading to the archives room."

Shen Ji turned around. "Professor Yang, my surname is Shen."

"Old Cheng said you’re called Xiao Ji," Professor Yang said with a smile. "Besides, Xiao Ji sounds much more endearing than Xiao Shen."

"Let’s go, let’s go. After looking around, you both need to rest. You're probably tired from the journey."

Shen Ji: …

The 'Xiao Ji' curse was still haunting him.