Chapter 60: Pollution Fissure Research Institute

Chapter 60 Pollution Fissure Research Institute

In fact, Li Zhiyan had noticed this before.

When Shen Ji was still at the Q City shelter, they could still chat peacefully. Back then, Shen Ji often used some older-generation vocabulary, whether it was about funerals or cosplay. However, Shen Ji would quickly catch himself and claim he had heard them from elderly patients.

At the time, Li Zhiyan believed him.

But now, it seemed this wasn't a minor issue, but a major one.

Most high-level pollutants are born within Pollution Fissures, especially S-class pollutants. They are nurtured by primitive fissures, and these primitive pollution fissures are their territory. All three currently known S-class pollutants fit this pattern.

But Shen Ji has a name of his own, one he personally admitted was given to him by his parents.

He was once human.

Shen Ji possesses knowledge from before the apocalypse. He isn’t unfamiliar with terms like "express delivery" and doesn’t even see them as archaic vocabulary.

This suggests he comes from before the apocalypse, possibly even transitioning from pre-apocalyptic times to the present in a short period. Otherwise, there wouldn't be such a big difference in his spoken language/colloquial recognition.

Weird.

None of the five known primitive fissures have polluted zones/areas that match Shen Ji’s contamination characteristics. The gardener in the Terror Botanical Garden has already been destroyed, the Great Earthquake in Abyss Zero is about to begin, and the Time Forest is extremely mysterious, with no detailed observation records to date.

No S-class pollutants have emerged from Moth Valley, though the surrounding Moth Flowers are a crucial material/component for destroying pollution.

The primitive fissure in the northwest not only hasn’t produced any pollutants—it doesn’t even have a single blade of grass. The Pollution Prevention Center is proposing to name this primitive fissure the "Silent Desert."

So, truly, there isn’t a single place that could nurture a cute little mushroom like that.

Shen Ji is like a high-level pollutant that appeared out of nowhere, leaving no traces or history.

He was born just like that, with nothing.

Thinking about it this way, it's actually kinda cute.

Li Zhiyan picked up some spinach with his chopsticks. Looking at the green, yet dead, spinach, he felt no appetite at all.

So he put his chopsticks down again.

"Captain, stop being picky. Aren’t plants your favorite?"

"I like living ones, not dead ones." Li Zhiyan picked up a piece of chicken instead and tentatively took a bite.

This one’s okay.

"That spinach died for you so you could eat it," Jiang Ying said, pointing at the spinach. "If you don’t eat it now, it died for nothing."

Li Zhiyan glanced at Jiang Ying, then at the spinach.

In the end, he still didn’t eat it. Instead, he only picked a few pieces of chicken, wasting the rest as usual.

Jiang Ying cleared away the remaining food. Looking at the amount of food left over, she sighed softly.

She always felt like Li Zhiyan was eating less and less.

When she first joined the Special Operations Team, Li Zhiyan could still eat a normal portion during team gatherings. Later, his appetite seemed to change in the opposite direction to his rank/level—the higher his rank, the less he ate. Now, it’s common for him to go a whole day without eating.

Li Zhiyan even went for a check-up, but no issues were found.

Mutants often develop various problems as their bodies undergo changes. Some mutants can go without food or water during the refractory period after awakening, so this didn’t seem like a big deal—it was just not eating.

As long as Li Zhiyan’s body didn’t develop issues because of it, no intervention was needed.

After cleaning up, Jiang Ying looked over at Li Zhiyan. He was sitting on the windowsill, gazing at the scenery outside. On the other side of the windowsill sat a pot of pale blue flowers.

This was the same pot of flowers he had given to Shen Ji. After Shen Ji left, he went to the shelter to retrieve it, though Wen Jingyu gave him an earful for it.

But in the end, he got the flowers back.

After staring for a while, Li Zhiyan withdrew his gaze. Humming, he took a photo of the flowers and sent it to Shen Ji.

"Li Zhiyan: /image/, it looks really delicious. I want to try it."

/

Shen Ji was long accustomed to Li Zhiyan’s weird eating habits. He calmly watched as Li Zhiyan once again expressed a desire to eat flowers.

He initially wanted to reply, "Then go ahead and eat it," but upon closer inspection of the image, he saw that it seemed to be his pot of flowers. Shen Ji fell silent.

Deleting all four characters, Shen Ji typed a new reply.

"Shen Ji: Damaging others’ property will result in legal liability."

After sending the message, he ignored Li Zhiyan and continued eating his lunch.

The work meal wasn’t tasty. Since the area wasn’t fully equipped yet, and it was late autumn turning into early winter, vegetable varieties were limited. But ever since becoming corrupted, Shen Ji’s appetite had become incredibly good. Even the mediocre work meal, he still ate two servings. The people around him eating lunch regarded him with awe.

This kid can eat! Two plates! What an appetite! Impressive!

Restraining himself from eating more, he stood up to return his tray.

Even though he had eaten two work meals, his stomach showed no bulge. Fortunately, his oversized jacket covered his body well enough to hide it.

Shen Ji hesitated, thinking: It seems I should eat less in the future, reducing it to a normal portion.

"Then you can just wear loose jackets every time you eat. That way, no one will notice. If anyone asks, just say you have digestive issues—you eat a lot but don’t gain weight."

'System, you’re right!'

Never neglect your appetite!

Satisfied, Shen Ji carried his tray to the return area.

As he approached, he saw someone throwing food away into the trash.

The food on the tray looked like it had barely been touched, all poured into the bin. The person seemed to notice Shen Ji’s gaze, turned to meet his eyes, then placed the tray back in its spot.

He then walked right past Shen Ji and left.

"What a waste," Shen Ji muttered, watching him. "...And, it smells weird."

Shen Ji frowned slightly, glancing at the nearby trash bin. Was it the smell of rotting leftovers?

"It’s not the trash," the system said. "Before assuming it’s rot, consider that what you’re smelling might be pollution, not decay."

"Pollution?"

"That person who just walked by has a pollution level of 87. He’s practically a quasi-pollutant already."

Shen Ji placed his tray back in its spot and walked out. The man in staff uniform showed no obvious abnormalities—he was clearing away utensils from the tables, with no signs of physical pollution or mental contamination tendencies.

"Pollutants cannot consume human food. After transforming into contamination, they feed on contamination itself. Low-level Pollutants prey on humans because they can only extract contamination from the bodies of humans or other Pollutants, though humans are easier targets compared to their own kind."

"In other words: Human food tastes utterly repulsive to Pollutants. It couldn't stomach the meal, so it dumped everything."

"Then how come I can eat so much?"

"Because Hui is different. Born from devouring contamination, it can consume anything in this world. Mere human food is nothing."

"So I'm actually the freak here?"

"Congratulations, you finally figured it out!"

Shen Ji took a photo of him from afar, zoomed in to confirm all basic features were captured.

"Huh? Xiao Ji? Didn't you go back to the dorm to sleep?"

Shen Ji looked up to see Yang Xu.

Yang Xu had just finished his unpleasant work meal and was returning his tray.

"Professor Yang." Shen Ji greeted him. "Woke up hungry halfway through sleeping, so came to eat."

"By the way, do you have Chen Ting's contact information?"

"Chen Ting?" Yang Xu remembered everyone at the institute, including Containment Site Pollution Doctor Chen Ting who came as support. Then he recalled Shen Ji's possible former identity as a Containment Site doctor.

Ah, doctors will always recognize fellow doctors.

"Of course. Do you need Dr. Chen for something?"

"Nothing major." Shen Ji showed Yang Xu the photo he just took. "This person seems to fit the Contaminated patient he's been searching for. Best to have Chen Ting come verify."

"Oh, I see. Contaminated patient... Wait? Contaminated patient?!"

Nothing major???

Yang Xu stared at Shen Ji in astonishment, pointing at the person on screen with wide eyes.

"Contaminated patient?"

"Yes, probably quite a severe case too."

Watching Shen Ji's casual composure, Yang Xu's hands trembled slightly before he finally collected himself, inwardly marveling: Truly a legendary Pollution Doctor!

Having faced countless Contaminated patients, of course he wouldn't be bothered by one or two appearing.

But this is the Pollution Fissure Research Institute!

Everyone here is a Mutant - pollution fissures are extremely dangerous, ordinary people get contaminated quickly here, and even staff safety rates are low. That's why every Pollution Fissure Research Institute is equipped with highest-level pollution detectors.

The pollution detector didn't go off, yet Shen Ji discovered a Contaminated patient.

This reminded Yang Xu of Chen Ting's current research case.

Could Chen Ting's worst-case scenario actually be coming true?!

Yang Xu rushed out immediately, calling the security team and Chen Ting. But as if anticipating danger, the person who'd been sitting at the dining table had mysteriously vanished.

Shen Ji watched the chaotic search efforts, quietly yawning.

Despite two cafeteria meals, he still felt lethargic and sleepy.

I should head back to the dorm.

Yang Xu's team should handle this Contaminated patient fine.

Returning to the dorm, Shen Ji yawned again while opening the door, feeling unusually drowsy.

Could this level of exhaustion - barely able to keep my eyes open - really happen to a Pollutant like him who doesn't need food or sleep?

"...Shen Ji?"

Shen Ji didn't respond, just pushed open the door and made straight for bed.

"No way! I knew we shouldn't have come to the pollution fissure! Your Small Mushroom overate again!"

"You've been constantly digesting the continuous influx of contamination - that's why you're so sleepy!"

"My god, the contamination infusion started when you arrived at this institute and the Small Mushroom mysteriously disappeared. No wonder you've been lethargic and exhausted."

"Don't let the Small Mushroom keep eating!"

Shen Ji could no longer hear the system, already curled up in bed falling into deep sleep.

Though the institute's heating wasn't fully operational yet, the dorm's heating worked perfectly. The warm room made sleeping even easier.

Anyway, today's a day off - work officially starts tomorrow. Might as well get some more sleep.

Fungal fibers gradually spread from beneath him, exuded contamination growing into large mushrooms that crowded together, each trying to climb onto bed near their master, slowly wrapping Shen Ji into a white cocoon.

Master! Let's sleep with master!

The system remained silent for a long moment before suddenly exclaiming.

"That's so cute."

"Whatever, he's just sleeping. Probably won't cause major issues."

"Yeah, definitely won't."

/

"I am not contaminated."

The man muttered while walking unsteadily, his movements awkward, eyes dull like dead ashes.

With each step, yellow gritty soil fell from his feet.

"Someone's trying to harm me."

He talked to himself. "Clearly there's nothing wrong with me, clearly I'm not contaminated. Why do they all say I'm polluted? They're trying to suppress me, to drive me out."

"Who's trying to harm me?"

He pondered for a long time before finally recalling the young man who brushed past him in the cafeteria and made eye contact.

The newcomer who just arrived today. Rumor said Cheng Feng valued him highly, sent him here for experience, even specially called Yang Xu to request special care.

He must have taken a dislike to me, found some pretext to frame me.

So what if I didn't eat? So what if I dumped one plate of awful work meal...

"Yes, I need to make him pay. It's all his fault. He's the one harming me!"

As if having made up his mind, the man turned around. The Pollution Fissure Research Institute was already sparsely populated, so avoiding others wasn't difficult, especially since he wasn't even inside the institute at the moment.

After circling around and successfully reaching the dormitory, the deathly gray in the man's eyes grew even more intense.

He grinned, and crumbs scattered all over the ground.

On the other side, Yang Xu had already met up with Chen Ting. They were with the security team members to search for this missing staff member.

"No one in the surveillance footage! He must not be in the institute right now," Chen Ting said.

Yang Xu frowned as he was reviewing the staff member's file.

He Yaozhong, Ning Peng's research partner, worked on data calculations in the outskirts of the pollution fissure.

The Pollution Fissure Research Institute had strict detection protocols: field work required teams, protective suits were required during work, and everyone had to be screened before being allowed back in. But no one had expected that this pollution could fool the pollution detectors.

If Chen Ting hadn't noticed Ning Peng's abnormality and Shen Ji hadn't detected He Yaozhong's contamination, the entire Pollution Fissure Research Institute could've been compromised without anyone realizing.

"I was negligent," Chen Ting said with regret in his voice. "If I had thought more at the time, I would have realized we needed to investigate Ning Peng's partner."

"This isn't on you, son," Professor Yang shook his head. "It's not too late to realize it now."

"First, find He Yaozhong. Then, conduct a full contamination screening for everyone. It would be best to have Xiao Ji observe everyone."

Chen Ting also breathed out heavily. "We really owe thanks to Mr. Shen this time. If he hadn't come, we wouldn't have noticed at all."

Both nodded simultaneously and continued searching for traces of He Yaozhong.

Just then, a surveillance camera suddenly triggered an alarm. Chen Ting looked at the monitor and the next second saw the person they were looking for walking step by step into the dormitory building.

Compared to earlier in the cafeteria, he was now showing clear signs of contamination.

His eyes gone deathly gray and the chunks of yellow dirt falling at his feet were enough proof that his condition was very poor. Moreover, the nearby pollution detectors finally registered his current pollution level in real time.

A whopping 89!

"Not good! He's entered the dormitory!"

"I remember there are multiple people still in there."

By now, He Yaozhong had already entered the dormitory area.

He remembered which two rooms had new arrivals today. Since those two newcomers were inside, if he couldn't tell which was which, he'd just kill both.

Yellow soil debris covered the entire staircase.

Chen Ting was pulling up the dorm cameras to pinpoint his location, while Yang Xu led the security team members to head over.

"What's happening?" Yang Xu asked Chen Ting as he hurried along.

"He seems to have a target," Chen Ting said, watching the feed. "He hasn't stopped; he's been moving forward. Where is he planning to go?"

As he walked, He Yaozhong suddenly stopped. He turned to look at one of the dormitory doors, stared for a moment, and then cracked a smile. As he smiled, more chunks of yellow dirt crumbled away.

He grabbed the doorknob and started working it.

"Not good!" Chen Ting screamed. "His target is Mr. Shen! He's opening Mr. Shen's door!"

Yang Xu panicked even more.

Inside the dormitory, Shen Ji was still asleep. Large and small mushrooms covered his whole bed, and one particularly plump mushroom had even nestled in Shen Ji's arms, being hugged as he slept. The chubby mushroom gave way a little with each press, like a soft oversized pillow.

The system, which didn’t require sleep, detected the commotion outside.

"Shen Ji?"

The system called out to him, "There's a contaminant outside picking your lock."

Shen Ji didn’t respond and continued sleeping.

With his eyes closed in sleep, without his usual sharpness, Shen Ji seemed gentler at this moment. Especially since he hadn’t cut his hair recently—what was once slightly short had now grown long enough to cover his eyebrows, softening his appearance.

In reality, as a journalist, Shen Ji didn’t keep long hair, but he never let it get as short as it had been before.

Conventional wisdom said: men with buzz cuts are not to be messed with.

"Shen Ji?"

Amid the sound of the door lock clicking and scraping, the system continued calling him.

"If the contaminant gets inside, it’ll be troublesome later. Can you maybe put sleep on hold for now? Deal with this problem first, then sleep?"

It was too annoying. With his eyes still closed, Shen Ji grabbed a mushroom and plugged his ears with it.

The little mushrooms: ...Eep!

But mushrooms were mushrooms, and mushrooms were also Xiao Ji. Trying to block sound with mushrooms was pointless!

Click—the door lock was forced open.

Shen Ji’s eyes flew open, and he sat up in bed.

So He Yaozhong, sneering, saw Shen Ji sitting on the bed, his cold eyes locking onto his.

Even though there was only one person on the entire bed, He Yaozhong felt a crushing pressure. He had come for revenge, but the moment he saw Shen Ji, his survival instinct kicked in.

As alarms blared in his head, He Yaozhong began to retreat.

But Shen Ji wasn’t about to let him go.

Fungal strands grabbed his legs as he tried to flee. Shen Ji stepped forward, and right at the dormitory doorway, he single-handedly seized He Yaozhong by the throat.

With a loud thud, He Yaozhong was slammed hard against the floor.

The tremendous noise jolted Kang Xiaodong, who was sleeping across the hall, awake.

Trembling, he sat up in his dormitory bed, initially thinking it was a nightmare, until he heard intermittent screams coming from the hallway outside.

In his dazed state, not fully conscious, Kang Xiaodong chose to get out of bed and open his dormitory door. The moment he did, he was met with a horrifying scene.

He saw Shen Ji, who had come here with him, pinning someone to the ground. Shen Ji was gripping the person’s neck, veins bulging on his wrist, clearly exerting force.

The person being strangled had a pale face, dead gray pupils, and was struggling like a fish out of water.

Shen Ji continued to apply pressure until a crisp snap was heard—the neck of the person beneath him was twisted.

The next moment, the person abruptly broke apart into several segments, each one a dull gray sculpture. Within seconds, the sculptures dissolved into piles of flying sand, unable to hold form, scattering uselessly.

Although terrified, Kang Xiaodong was the first to react.

That was a contaminant!

Suppressing the urge to scream, he scrambled over and hit the alarm button.

Just then, Yang Xu finally arrived with the security team. The group stood there panting, all staring in shock at the pile of sand on the ground, then at Shen Ji, who stood up after the noise stopped.

Shen Ji was still in a daze. He yawned and scanned the people standing there.

So hungry, so sleepy.

Humans. Can't eat humans.

Can't eat, might as well sleep. Sleep.

Shen Ji yawned again, turned around casually, and headed back to his dorm room. The door clicked closed, leaving the stunned crowd outside.

Everyone looked at each other, until Yang Xu finally spoke up.

"Let's secure the scene first!"

After returning to his room, Shen Ji lay back down on the bed and closed his eyes, but his phone, lying on the pillow, chimed.

The hyphae lifted the phone and presented it to Shen Ji. He glanced at it, making out only the words "Butterfly Spirit."

Mmm... Butterfly Spirit. Tasty.

Very tasty.

So the hyphae, acting on Shen Ji's desire, unlocked the phone and began typing out Shen Ji's craving.

"...Oh my god."

The system gasped. "Shen Ji, you are so going to regret this when you wake up tomorrow."

But Shen Ji couldn't hear the system. After replying to the message, he drifted back into deep sleep.

He slept right through until the next afternoon.

During this time, he didn't report for work at the scheduled time, didn't request time off, didn't contact Yang Xu, yet no one dared call to check, let alone knock on his door to check on him.

Everyone waited quietly for Shen Ji to come out of his dorm.

Finally, Shen Ji blearily opened his eyes.

He stretched in bed and gave a huge yawn.

"Man, I slept great," Shen Ji remarked. "Haven't slept that good in ages."

"Good afternoon," the system murmured. "Um, I suggest you don't open your phone today."

"Why?" Shen Ji asked, puzzled.

"Just to keep you from freaking out."

Shen Ji frowned in confusion.

He always lived by one principle: if someone told him not to do something, he had to do it. Since the system told him not to check his phone, he just had to check it to see what was going on.

So Shen Ji opened his phone and saw the messages from Li Zhiyan.

"Butterfly Spirit: I inherited this legally from my partner's estate, so it doesn't count as illegal damage."

"Shen Ji: Wanna eat butterfly."

"Butterfly Spirit: ?"

"Shen Ji: Butterfly, tasty. So hungry. Wanna eat."

"Butterfly Spirit: …? Feel like I got ripped off here. This isn't good. We should have a fair trade."

"Butterfly Spirit: Next time, can I taste your mushrooms?"

Shen Ji: ...

What the— What the hell is all this?!