Chapter 69: Abyss Zero

Chapter 69: The Zero Abyss

"Li Zhiyan happened to be in Butterfly Valley during the Red Mist Incident, which, in reality, is called Moth Valley."

"That's one of the five forbidden zones, an original pollution fissure born during the early stages of the pollution," Shen Ji looked at Li Zhiyan. "So, could he be a pollutant?"

"I'm not sure."

The system said, "Because in the original work, the author designated 'the pollutant Hui' as the only S-class pollutant possessing rationality. Apart from him, all other pollutants only have instincts and nascent intelligence, not yet comparable to humans."

"In other words: even if Li Zhiyan is a pollutant, he shouldn't act so much like a human."

"Furthermore, all S-class pollutants in the original work were born from original pollution fissures. But now, it seems Li Zhiyan has his own human life—parents gave him a name, he has goals and dreams. He isn't a primordial pollutant that jumped out of a pollution fissure."

Shen Ji nodded subtly, thinking: Li Zhiyan's identity background is a problem, and the existence form of the pollutant is also a problem. He and the system still don't know where the pollutant originated from.

Thinking about it this way: they're a match made in heaven.

"...You two!"

"Shen Ji, the red mist," Li Zhiyan turned to ask him, "Will there be reports criticizing the pollution tomorrow?"

Shen Ji thought for a moment and nodded, "There will be. It's a hot topic recently."

Some media write reports like this—exaggerating conflicts and escalating the issue.

This inexplicable red mist will definitely be sensationalized.

"Then we can just ride the trend," Li Zhiyan was somewhat happy. "Red mist is rare. If we take photos and record videos in the red mist, we might even go viral."

"You can write reports, right?"

"Are you questioning my professional ability?"

Li Zhiyan laughed, "Of course not. Er Gou, San Hua, we're heading down into the valley now!"

"Leave the captions and video to our reporter Shen Ji!"

Shen Ji fell silent as he watched Li Zhiyan, wearing a raincoat, happily return to the tent to pack his things.

If this were a horror novel, running toward the hotspot instead of away after a strange event would indeed be asking to get killed. But the Red Mist Incident was a global initial outbreak of pollution; no one could hide from it. Everyone was directly exposed to this pollution.

Even researchers at the Academy of Sciences proposed a terrifying theory.

Only humans resistant to pollution survived. Those without resistance all died in the Red Mist Incident. Resistant humans bore the next generation, which led to the emergence of different types of mutants. But at the same time, pollution was also evolving.

It was gradually overcoming human resistance, infecting and causing illness.

Li Zhiyan and the other two packed up and motioned for Shen Ji to join them in descending into the valley. As they left, they asked Shen Ji if what he was wearing would be hard to walk in.

Only then did Shen Ji look down at his clothes.

The familiar black uniform was so familiar it made his vision darken.

The Guard Team's uniform.

In the dream, Li Zhiyan had secretly put him in the Guard Team uniform. His campaign to poach me was still ongoing!

"It won't be inconvenient," Shen Ji shot Li Zhiyan an annoyed look. "I didn't bring any other clothes."

Li Zhiyan, under his gaze: ...

Why is he looking at me like that?

Does he dislike me? But just a few minutes ago, he said I would definitely succeed! Does he like me? But this looks more like a look of disdain?

So complicated. I love it.

However, the valley looked small but was unexpectedly steep.

Especially now with the drizzling rain. This place was remote, belonging to the countryside, and the only path was overrun with weeds. Stepping on it would cause slipping, so they had to support each other to keep from slipping on the way down. If they were going to die, they'd die together!

Indeed, Shen Ji still hated people like Li Zhiyan the most.

It took a full half hour to inch their way down to the valley bottom. The valley was full of small white flowers, but not a single butterfly could be found. Shen Ji looked at Li Zhiyan and noticed an action camera clipped to Li Zhiyan's chest.

Although his photography skills weren't the best, shooting vlogs didn't require many angles—it's more about knowing how to edit.

"Da Li, never mind butterflies; there isn't even a single caterpillar."

"Er Gou, there seem to be butterfly cocoons over here."

"Really?"

Er Gou walked toward San Hua.

Shen Ji took a photo of Li Zhiyan. Li Zhiyan looked over, then smiled and made a peace sign.

...Such a cheesy photo pose.

At the same time, Er Gou and San Hua discovered a large number of butterfly cocoons. The cocoons were all empty, meaning the butterflies had already emerged. But indeed, not a single butterfly could be found in the entire valley.

"Did they hide?" Er Gou said. "Did they go shelter from the rain? I remember that if a butterfly's wings get wet, it can't fly."

San Hua nodded and looked at Li Zhiyan. "Da Li, should we head back first? When the rain stops and the sun comes out, the butterflies will probably appear."

Li Zhiyan turned to face them. "Do you two want to take a photo? Reporter Shen takes great photos."

Seeing their looks of disdain, Li Zhiyan sighed and pulled out a detector from his backpack.

Shen Ji looked at the detector in his hand. "What is this?"

"Probably something like a life detector?" Li Zhiyan wasn't too sure either. "After realizing it would be overcast for a while, I knew we might not see butterflies. So I brought this thing—maybe it can detect where the butterflies are, and we can take a few photos of butterflies in the rain."

Er Gou and San Hua also came over, braving the light rain to watch Li Zhiyan fire up the life detector.

With the startup sound, soon the detector showed a mass of small dots covering the entire valley, moving slowly.

Stationary in place were four large dots, right where the four of them were standing.

Everyone present held their breath.

They looked at the countless red dots on the detector, then at the empty sky outside.

"...Da Li, your detector must be broken."

Li Zhiyan silently turned off the detector. "Maybe."

San Hua was silent for a moment. "Let's just get back up to the top. When the rain stops, the butterflies will come out."

No one objected this time.

They headed back the way they came. Although the descent had been slippery, going downhill was still easier than climbing up the wet, difficult slope. They had to step on weeds for traction, and it took even longer to ascend than it had to descend. When they finally reached the top, Shen Ji glanced at the red mist—it had already spread to Butterfly Valley.

The red mist slowly crept into the valley. As it seeped in, Shen Ji spotted tiny shapes fluttering within the fog.

They were the size of fingernails, invisible in the air but clearly outlined in the red mist. They danced within the haze like a strange performance.

"Butterflies?" Er Gou also saw it, staring in shock at the scene within the red mist. "Why are there so many butterflies all of a sudden?"

The sight was undeniably eerie. Anyone with common sense could tell something was wrong.

Li Zhiyan acted decisively. "Let's get out of here, now! San Hua, go get the car!"

"What about our stuff?"

"Leave it! We need to get out of here first!"

San Hua ran for the car, but within seconds, the red mist engulfed the entire valley, trapping everyone within the fog.

"This is our chance, Shen Ji. Get out of here now," the system urged. "From this point on, everything is what Li Zhiyan himself experienced. Your presence here might alter the course of events, so we must avoid affecting the authenticity of this dream."

Shen Ji slowly retreated, eventually hiding behind a large tree.

Although this was Li Zhiyan's dream, it was Shen Ji's first time facing the Red Mist Incident from the original story—the beginning of the massive contamination event that would pollute the entire world.

The three of them—Li Zhiyan, Er Gou, and San Hua—didn't notice Shen Ji's disappearance. After all, Shen Ji wasn't part of this memory. His presence had been accepted by Li Zhiyan, and his absence wouldn't raise suspicion.

Countless butterflies surrounded the three of them. The butterflies had blue tail-like appendages, and flames seemed to burn in the air. San Hua fumbled through the red mist toward the car. The moment he opened the car door, a blood-curdling scream pierced the air.

Er Gou was curled up on the ground, writhing in agony and screaming hysterically.

Li Zhiyan quickly knelt on one knee, trying to pull him up.

"Er Gou, Er Gou?!" He frantically searched his backpack for the various emergency medicines he had prepared in advance, but he had no idea what was happening. He could only try to feed Er Gou painkillers.

Er Gou screamed, pushing his hand away, and thrashed wildly on the ground.

Li Zhiyan couldn't hold him down at all. He could only watch helplessly as Er Gou thrashed in the drizzle, covered in mud.

"He's been contaminated," the system said. "The contamination level is extremely high."

After struggling for a few more seconds, Er Gou's mouth gaped open, but no sound came out. His fingers stiffened, and he fell completely still. Li Zhiyan forced himself to stay calm, checking for a pulse and preparing to perform CPR. But the moment he pulled open Er Gou's jacket, he froze in shock.

Er Gou's chest was rising and falling rhythmically, but it wasn't breathing—instead, countless tiny dots were squirming beneath the skin.

Before Li Zhiyan could reach out, Er Gou's body burst open. Blood splattered across Li Zhiyan's face as a dense mass of caterpillars crawled out from Er Gou's chest.

They devoured Er Gou's flesh and blood, then instantly pupated and transformed into butterflies.

Countless butterflies flew out from his chest.

"The insect eggs got into his eyes!"

San Hua, who was preparing to drive, heard the commotion but stayed focused on starting the car. It was only when he realized the car wouldn't start that he abandoned it and ran back to find Li Zhiyan. What he saw was Er Gou's gruesome corpse on the ground and the blood on Li Zhiyan's face.

"Holy shit!" San Hua couldn't control his outburst. "What the hell happened?!"

"Call the police," Li Zhiyan said. "We need to get out of here now. Let the police handle this. Something's wrong with this place."

San Hua understood the severity. Trembling, he pulled out his phone and dialed 911, but the call wouldn't go through. It was only then that he noticed the once-full signal bars were now replaced by a red "×"—the signal was gone.

"I can't get through!" San Hua took a pained glance at Er Gou's body. "Da Li, let's get out first and call the police later."

But before he could finish his sentence, a loud crack echoed, and the ground began to shake.

"Earthquake?"

"No." Shen Ji stood still, watching them. "It's a contamination fissure."

A massive fissure split open beneath their feet. A bottomless chasm devoured the entire Butterfly Valley. Li Zhiyan and San Hua, along with everything around them, plummeted into the deep ravine. Shen Ji hesitated for a moment but ultimately leaped into the valley to observe everything unfolding in this dream.

Li Zhiyan had abysmal luck, but as the protagonist, he also had his own moments of absolute fortune.

For example: as he fell, he was caught by a tree, then fell again from another spot, landing at the bottom of the ravine without dying instantly.

He lay on the ground, breathing shallowly. His right arm was still functional, but his left arm and both legs were completely numb.

"...San Hua." He tried to call out for the person who had fallen with him.

No response. No answer.

From such a height, most people would have died on impact.

Li Zhiyan turned his head and saw his backpack lying nearby. He stretched out his hand, using his remaining strength to grab the strap.

Inside the backpack was the distress signal device he had prepared in advance.

When the distress light flickered on, Shen Ji almost wanted to cheer for him.

You had to hand it to someone who frequently ventured into dangerous areas—Li Zhiyan's series of actions and preparations were textbook.

He had learned first aid, stocked up on all possible medications, decided to evacuate at the first sign of trouble, and even prepared a distress signal.

But unfortunately, this was the Red Mist Incident—the beginning of the apocalypse. No one was coming to save him.

Thump. A strange sound came from nearby. Li Zhiyan turned his head dazedly and saw countless butterflies emerging from the grass. They danced gracefully in the red mist, like blades in a pool of blood.

Was this Er Gou? Or San Hua?

Shen Ji realized belatedly: being able to use this Talent must have been excruciatingly painful for Li Zhiyan.

After all, it was these very butterflies that had killed his friends—perhaps even his colleagues, accomplices, or kindred spirits.

He began to cough, coughing up large amounts of blood.

His pupils contracted. In his black irises, something like butterflies seemed to be spreading their wings. He shut his eyes in agony. A searing pain tore through his chest, and something began squirming inside him, just like it had with Er Gou. It felt as though those things were about to burst out of his body.

Li Zhiyan tightly gripped the backpack strap beside him. Finally, he fumbled inside and pulled out a utility knife.

With one hand, he removed the blade's protective cover and, without hesitation, stabbed the knife into his own chest.

The blade sank in, and bright red blood spilled out. But soon, the blood gradually turned from red to blue. Blue blood gushed from his body.

"Ah, I see now!"

After witnessing this, the system finally understood Li Zhiyan's nature.

"In the original work's early stages, the author established a setting: in this world, there exists a very peculiar type of Mutant, different from normal Mutants—they awaken during deep contamination."

"Chen Guo?"

"Not Chen Guo! First, this human possesses the potential to awaken a Talent, such as C-level pollution corresponding to a C-level Talent. When contaminated by C-level pollution and the Mutant awakens precisely at that moment, it results in a consequence: the pollutant contaminates the Mutant, the Mutant awakens their Talent, and simultaneously uses the pollutant as material for the awakening."

"Thus, the pollutant directly influences the Mutant's Talent, and the Mutant is no longer purely human."

"They exist stuck between pollutants and humans, closer to pollutants."

"This process can only occur between pollutants and Mutants of the same level, and the conditions are incredibly rare, so there are very few cases worldwide."

"But Li Zhiyan is S-level on S-level."

"That's why he possesses a pollution level comparable to pollutants, yet retains human rationality—because he is neither fully pollutant nor fully human."

At the same time, Shen Ji finally understood why Li Zhiyan almost unreservedly regarded him as a kindred spirit.

Because he is both a pollutant and a human.

Countless butterflies erupted from Li Zhiyan's chest, but he neither screamed nor cried. It was unclear whether it was because this was a dream and he could no longer feel pain, or because his senses had completely faded.

Li Zhiyan simply watched the butterflies in the air, thinking: My birthday hasn't even arrived yet.

The birthday cake he'd prepared was buried in the fissure along with the car, perhaps alongside the bodies of Er Gou and San Hua. His dreams were dying with him, leaving only these endless butterflies.

Am I not dreaming?

Why does it hurt this much in a dream?

The blue butterflies transformed into a cocoon, which gradually enveloped Li Zhiyan. The red mist continued to spread, and the alarm beside him kept beeping until its battery drained and it could no longer emit a signal.

Just like that, the world fell silent, and no one knew someone was sleeping here.

/

Time leaves no traces in dreams. Shen Ji sat at the edge of the rift valley, watching the sky change colors. On one hand, Li Zhiyan was an abstract person, but on the other, his bones were steeped in free-spirited romanticism, so the sky cycled through seasons at his will.

Shen Ji counted exactly 27 day-night cycles. After the 27th, he saw the cocoon in the rift valley finally stir.

"...So, in the original work's first chapter, Li Zhiyan had just emerged from the cocoon not long ago. No wonder he seemed so awkward in Chapter One."

"Li Zhiyan had been slumbering in the cocoon for 27 years."

Li Zhiyan, climbing out of the cocoon, looked around in confusion at his surroundings. It was as if he hadn't experienced the passage of time—27 years later, he remained just as young, though his appearance had transformed into the familiar figure Shen Ji knew: silver hair cascading over his shoulders, sky-blue eyes.

Except Shen Ji suddenly realized that his eyes resembled less the sky and more the wings of those butterflies.

"Where is this?" Li Zhiyan rubbed his temples in confusion. The next moment, he touched his hair, tugged at it for a moment, and then spoke.

"White? Long?" Li Zhiyan exclaimed in surprise. "Anime? Cosplay?"

"No, no, I'm not into anime—San Hua is the anime fan."

The moment the words left his mouth, he froze. Memories resurfaced, and he finally recalled everything that had brought him here.

"Er Gou? San Hua?!"

Li Zhiyan called out, but the valley was filled with Moth Flowers burning with blue flames. No voice answered him. So Li Zhiyan waded through the flowers, step by step, calling out for his friends as he went. The 27 years of slumber held no place in his memory.

So it seemed he didn't know they had died in the Red Mist Incident 27 years ago.

He searched for a long time. The entire valley resembled a grave, with only patches of Moth Flowers swaying in the wind. Li Zhiyan looked at the flowers, reached out to pick one, and the moment his hand touched it, the flower transformed into a burning blue butterfly that circled around him.

"I should call the police," Li Zhiyan muttered to himself. "The police are more professional than me; they can find missing people."

"I need to leave this place to find someone."

Li Zhiyan began searching for a way out.

But this was a massive canyon, with steep cliffs on both sides. Li Zhiyan had done rock climbing before, but even so, he didn't think he could scale this bottomless abyss.

"What follows should be the records of the Pollution Prevention Center," the system added data to its repository. "Chu Ye led a team to collect Moth Flowers and encountered Li Zhiyan leaving the Moth Valley. The records clearly state that Li Zhiyan sought help, but Chu Ye did not go to the location he mentioned. Instead, after testing his pollution level, he took him back to the Pollution Prevention Center."

"It seems Chu Ye determined the place he was talking about was inside the Moth Valley and assumed he was hallucinating."

Shen Ji watched Li Zhiyan trying to leave.

Freshly awakened, he knew nothing. He was unaware of the apocalyptic world, unaware of his strange new powers. He still thought of himself as that young extreme sports enthusiast who would die if he fell from a height.

So he was wary and fearful.

He should have already understood that Er Gou and San Hua were dead, that he was the only survivor in this place. He just refused to believe it, still wanting to call the police and let professionals make the judgment.

"This protagonist really has it tough," Shen Ji said. "I even feel a bit sorry for him."

"That's how protagonists are—pitied by readers for their tragic backgrounds, their hardships shaping their character through their suffering."

Shen Ji smiled. "It doesn't contradict feeling sorry for him."

"Who made me unable to help but pity him?"

As he spoke, Shen Ji stood up. He stood behind Li Zhiyan, who was trying to fashion a sturdy rope himself. Those blue eyes were filled with anxiety; he wasn't as calm and strong as he appeared on the surface.

So Shen Ji tapped him on the shoulder from behind.

Li Zhiyan turned around in surprise. The moment his eyes met Shen Ji's, countless scenes faded away, leaving only the two of them in the entire world.

A familiar scent lingered at the tip of Shen Ji's nose.

It was the warm breeze of spring, the floral fragrance of summer, the abundant fruits of autumn, and the icy chill of winter—everything in nature, the true essence of Li Zhiyan.

"Since this is a nightmare, let's end this nightmare," Shen Ji reached out to him. "Wake up."

Li Zhiyan looked at him hesitantly, as if wondering who he was.

But Li Zhiyan was too lonely and too afraid. He couldn't find a single familiar person here; everything around him was unfamiliar. He could only hide himself away tightly, not even daring to give his real name, pretending to have amnesia as he cautiously explored this world.

The apocalypse? Red mist? So many people dead? The global missing count in the Red Mist Incident reached hundreds of millions.

That home he found suffocating, and the parents who gave him his name—they were gone too.

Li Zhiyan cautiously took Shen Ji's hand, his voice hesitant and full of grievance.

"I've been left behind by this world."

"Don't you still have me?"

Shen Ji's voice was gentle and light. "See, I'll take you with me."

"We are kindred spirits, born before the apocalypse in the 21st century, awakened after the pollution outbreak in the post-apocalyptic era, using our 21st-century upbringing to navigate this post-apocalyptic world."

"Li Zhiyan, you still have me."