Chapter 73: Containment Shelter Headquarters

Chapter 73 Pollution Prevention Center Headquarters

If possible, Shen Ji would have preferred to leave Gao Yuan alone for a while, at least not to handle this situation in public.

Last time, publicly choking a pollutant to death on camera was damaging enough to his image.

"But that's not an option," the system gloated. "Your hyphae are already battling the pollution inside him. If you don't completely crush it this time, it will come back stronger next time, and Gao Yuan will definitely turn into an idiot."

Shen Ji...

To prevent the blue-ringed octopus from becoming an idiot, he had to take some risks.

His image, though.

His serious, reliable, hardworking, taciturn but low-profile image!

No time to mourn the loss of his image. Shen Ji drew the multifunctional knife from its sheath, pointing the tip at Gao Yuan's tentacles. In that instant, an overwhelming pollution aura instantly destroyed the pollution detector in the isolation room.

Of course, Shen Ji didn't care about that. He could just blame it on Gao Yuan later—since the guy was unconscious, he was the perfect scapegoat.

As the pollution was released, Gao Yuan suddenly opened his eyes, countless tentacles writhing toward Shen Ji.

But he wasn't regaining consciousness; it was just pure rampage, like an eel thrown into a basin and sprinkled with salt.

It was his instinctive reaction to pollution.

After thirty years as an S-Class Mutant, even in a rampage state, he would react to pollution.

A reaction was good—it meant his brain wasn't completely fried.

Blue-purple powder drifted from Gao Yuan's body. His pitch-black eyes fixed intently on Shen Ji as tentacles shot forward, all their suckers wide open, mucus carrying a strong chemical scent. Shen Ji dodged one tentacle and grabbed another.

The multifunctional knife couldn't pierce the slippery tentacles; it was utterly useless.

"Calm down," Shen Ji said.

Gao Yuan, unconscious, naturally didn't listen. Controlled by the pollution inside him, he only felt that the pollution before him was very familiar.

It was something else competing with them for territory, something that needed to be cleared out!

The tentacle tried to break free from Shen Ji's grip. When it couldn't, more tentacles attacked. Shen Ji didn't dodge or evade. His hair moved as if stirred by wind, his black eyes gradually turning white as hyphae crawled out from his wrist.

Shen Ji's voice remained calm. "I told you to calm down."

The hyphae pierced the tentacle, then spread across the ground and stabbed fiercely into Gao Yuan's body. Gao Yuan screamed in pain, trying to tear off the hyphae drilling into him from all directions, but the hyphae were greedy and endless.

Once even a thread entered, they could continuously multiply and grow by devouring, until they occupied the entire territory.

"You can be rougher," the system said. "He's an S-Class Mutant, thick-skinned and tough, not so easy to kill."

"Beat him into submission first."

Shen Ji raised an eyebrow slightly, a flash of red passing through his left eye.

In the next instant, transparent hyphae pierced through Gao Yuan's back, excitedly dragging the large prey toward the wall.

Gao Yuan struggled, but all his joints were controlled from within by the hyphae. Every tentacle was pinned at the root, hanging limp on the ground, flailing like a fish out of water.

The hyphae climbed up the wall, hoisting Gao Yuan high. Green blood dripped down the hyphae and onto the floor.

Sizzle—the floor corroded into small holes.

Gao Yuan was actually quite easy to handle. Probably even Li Zhiyan could easily defeat him if he were here. But the Pollution Prevention Center was severely lacking in S-Class Mutants internally. While defeating Gao Yuan was easy, preventing him from losing control again was the real challenge. The difficulty of his condition lay in his constant, recurring out-of-control episodes.

Suppress him this time, and he'll rampage again next time.

Those who lose control can hardly restrain their actions even when they feel pain. Gao Yuan was no exception. His dark eyes reflected nothing as he struggled desperately, trying to tear his tentacles from the wall and fiercely attack the person before him.

So the hyphae tightened around his neck, leaving bloody marks.

Shen Ji expressionlessly said, "I'm treating you. Even if it hurts, endure it."

The hyphae pierced his neck, merging inside with the previously integrated hyphae.

Due to being out of control, Gao Yuan let out an earth-shattering scream.

It was pain like being burned by fire, countless needles wriggling inside his body. The agony was so intense that Gao Yuan regained consciousness for a few seconds, only to pass out from the pain again, over and over.

Blue-purple venom soaked through Gao Yuan's black uniform, dripping down the wall and corroding a patch of the floor.

By the time Huang Jining, fully suited in protective gear, rushed in, Shen Ji had already left the isolation room.

He very skillfully activated the purification system to handle the dense toxic gas in the isolation room.

Huang Jining stood frozen in place.

He asked blankly, "Doctor Xiao Ji?"

"Doctor Huang?" Shen Ji's tone carried concern. "Why are you here? The air hasn't been fully treated yet; it's still dangerous. Would you like to wait outside?"

Just like that, Huang Jining, who had just rushed in, was firmly escorted out.

Standing at the door for a few seconds, he seemed to come to his senses, took off his protective suit, placed it on a nearby chair, stood there for another moment, and finally spoke.

He muttered to himself, "What happened?"

As Gao Yuan's former attending physician, Huang Jining knew better than anyone how difficult it was to handle Gao Yuan after losing control. The toxins that even A-Level Mutants couldn't withstand, coupled with the explosively released pollution aura, made the doctors at their containment center hesitant to approach.

So they always let Gao Yuan rage alone, waiting until he exhausted himself before suiting up in protective gear to administer anesthesia and inhibitors.

Even then, they often got injured.

But now, in just a few minutes, Gao Yuan's rampage was over? And Doctor Xiao Ji stood inside completely unaffected?

As he pondered, the door creaked open, and Shen Ji stepped out.

"Doctor Huang, you handle the aftermath. I'm going back to get some sleep."

With that, Shen Ji turned and left.

Huang Jining could only agree, watching Shen Ji leave before peeking into the isolation room.

Gao Yuan was drenched in venom and blood, a pitiful sight at first glance—even more so than the corroded wall beside him. He huddled in the corner, clutching his eight tentacles and trembling.

Huang Jining walked in. Hearing the noise, Gao Yuan hugged his tentacles tighter and shuffled further into the corner.

Like a beaten dog, utterly pitiful.

Huang Jining...

What was he thinking? This old guy is over fifty, no acting cute allowed!

"Could it be that S-Class mutants differ physically from ordinary mutants?" Huang Jining wondered. "Even Healing-type mutants have the ability to suppress other mutants?"

Huang Jining didn't quite understand. He was a B-Class Healing-type mutant, currently the highest-ranked Healing-type mutant.

Forget S-Class, he hadn't even seen an A-Class mutant, let alone speculate about their specific conditions.

Huang Jining set aside his doubts and first measured the room's specific pollution concentration. After confirming the pollution had returned to normal levels, he called in support personnel from the Academy of Sciences. They replaced the pollution detector in the isolation room and checked the surveillance cameras, then informed Huang Jining that the monitoring equipment was functioning properly.

But earlier, the surveillance footage had indeed become very blurry.

"It might be the pollution affecting the machinery. Look, even the pollution detector is broken," speculated the Academy of Sciences staff.

Huang Jining was surprised. "This has never happened before."

"Before, the pollution detectors have never been this thoroughly broken either," the staff member said. "It might be due to the combined effect of two S-Class mutants causing the issue."

Huang Jining nodded and looked toward Gao Yuan, who was still hugging his tentacles and huddled in the corner. "Let's first check his pollution level."

The newly installed pollution detector started operating and soon reported the current pollution level.

"Warning: Isolation room pollution level 97. Current pollution level extremely high. Recommend immediate handling!"

"97, the pollution level is still quite high," the support staff said.

After saying this, the support staff paused, and Huang Jining also paused. They exchanged glances, both seeing shock in each other's eyes.

"97?!"

They tested again and again, repeatedly measuring, striving for the most accurate number without approaching Gao Yuan. Each time, the pollution level fluctuated between 95 and 100, indicating stability—his pollution level was consistently within this range.

But every time before, during his outbursts, Gao Yuan's pollution level exceeded 200, approaching 300. Even during non-outburst periods, it remained stable at 150.

Now it's only 97?!

"How did the pollution level suddenly drop by half?" The Academy of Sciences staff were also quite excited. "Did the treatment work?"

"Doctor Xiao Ji gave him treatment."

The shock in Huang Jining's eyes hadn't faded. "Doctor Xiao Ji came during his loss of control and just told me he was very tired and went back to rest first."

"...So the exhaustion was from overusing his Talent during treatment. Even though he was so tired, he still purified the toxins and pollution in the room, only letting me take over after ensuring everything was safe."

In that moment, Huang Jining understood everything.

He finally understood why the Q City Containment Center held such high regard and affection for this young man.

Because he truly deserved it.

/

Meanwhile, at Zero Abyss, Li Zhiyan was working hard to finish his tasks.

Having finally reunited with Shen Ji, before they could spend much time together, Shen Ji was transferred. Li Zhiyan was very dissatisfied, so he was unusually diligent in his work, striving to return home early to find Shen Ji.

Zhou Ye and others were still cleaning up the pollutants that had emerged due to the earthquake. Logistics had tallied the sacrificed staff members, and so far, the only missing person unaccounted for was: He Linqiu.

The woman who had lost all her memories but always felt she had forgotten something important. Qin Changye respected her choice and brought her to Zero Abyss.

However, that very night, He Linqiu was controlled by Wrath and left the temporary base, disappearing ever since.

To find out where she went, they had to ask the local authority here—Wrath.

Finding Wrath was quite simple; this guy was very blatant about his human disguise. Li Zhiyan found him with little effort.

At this moment, Wrath was disguised as a logistics support staff member, following the person in front to record data but, unable to understand, was doodling in his notebook.

So, Li Zhiyan, without alerting anyone, had Jiang Ying bring the person to his temporary work area.

Initially just following Jiang Ying, the moment the person saw Li Zhiyan, their pupils began to contract. But before Wrath could escape, countless blue butterflies enveloped his entire body.

"Wrath," Li Zhiyan said calmly, remaining seated. "Shall we talk?"

Wrath glanced at the butterflies around him with his pitch-black eyes, his meaning clear: "Got nothing to say to you."

"From today on, I will have every staff member carry a butterfly. If a staff member doesn't have a butterfly, it can be determined that they have been corrupted by Wrath and need to be dealt with on the spot." Li Zhiyan slightly curled his lips. "Do you think this is more fun?"

Wrath: ...

Not only does this guy see through him every time, but now he wants all humans to see through him too.

So annoying.

Wrath, using the staff member's body, moved back to the chair and sat down angrily. "Butterfly, you're so annoying."

"Not as likable as Mushroom."

Li Zhiyan declared matter-of-factly, "Of course! No one is more likable than him! I'm plenty likable too!"

Wrath: ...

Huh, for some reason, I felt the urge to scowl and snarl at him.

"Ahem." Li Zhiyan coughed, holding back a flood of praise that came to his lips, then asked, "Why is Zero Abyss expanding?"

"Isn't having a larger territory better? Butterfly, don't you want a bigger territory?"

Li Zhiyan looked subtly at the person possessed by Wrath.

Actually, people possessed by Wrath are easy to identify. Everyone he controls has smoky black eyes, the black almost consumed the entire eyeball, with nothing visible but black at a glance, though the pupils are faintly white.

It's just that the pollution emitted by Wrath has a slight mental influence, making those around unable to notice this anomaly.

"You mean my territory?"

"Isn't the huge Butterfly Valley big enough for you? You still go to other places; isn't that because you want a larger territory?"

Li Zhiyan: ...

The pollutant called "Wrath" sat here calmly, seeing his essence at a glance.

The primordial pollution rift known as Moth Valley is actually Butterfly Valley, and part of him is the S-Class pollutant within Butterfly Valley.

"Your eyes are really dangerous," Wrath leaned back in his chair. "I'm not interested in your secrets, nor do I want to reveal them to the public. There's no need for you to confront me."

Li Zhiyan stared at Wrath. "So, the expansion of Zero Abyss is because you want to enlarge your territory?"

"Of course not. This is Zero Abyss expanding on its own; it has nothing to do with me." Wrath retorted: "I have no interest in expanding territory; my goal is to become everything! If you think Zero Abyss has expanded too much, just set it on fire."

No desire to possess territory, only disdain for trouble.

Wrath merely treated each earthquake as a "human trial run." Every time an earthquake occurred, many humans would come, and he would randomly choose one to inhabit and live as a human for a while.

Of course, this didn't mean he enjoyed being human—it was just that when a trial run came along, why not give it a try?

Compared to humans, he also wanted to be a bird, a cricket, a rabbit, a tiger, flowers, trees...

Though it was rather troublesome to be those things, far less convenient than being human.

A very peculiar hobby, but Li Zhiyan expressed understanding.

In his three years of work, Li Zhiyan had determined that S-class pollutants, to some extent, possessed intelligence and learning abilities comparable to humans. They could communicate and fully understand human demands, but their way of thinking was vastly different from that of humans.

Humans advocate rationality, while pollutants are driven solely by obsession and instinct.

Take this S-class pollutant, Wrath, for example, with his desire to "become all things" and his view of being human as just a "human trial run."

Li Zhiyan thought for a moment, "Anything else?"

"What about He Linqiu? You know her, right? The person you took away that night."

Wrath fell silent for a while, his gaze meeting Li Zhiyan's.

A few seconds later, Wrath looked away. "She plunged into the Abyss."

"During the last human trial run, I chose someone with her, a girl similar to her." Wrath propped his chin with one hand, leaning on the table to keep from toppling over. "I played a game of hide-and-seek from pollutants and finding companions with her. The game was fun, and I enjoyed it a lot."

"But we took the wrong path and direction. That road led to the Abyss, not the human settlement. Along the way, a pollutant suddenly jumped out from the grass. She pushed me away and fell into the pollution rift herself."

Wrath's expression was strange, as if puzzled.

Of course, from the perspective of an S-class pollutant, he truly didn't understand. It was just an ordinary low-level pollutant, utterly incapable of harming him. Why would a fragile human protect it and end up falling into a terrifying place?

After his confusion, Wrath pulled her out of the Abyss and returned her to the humans, watching as they took her away.

"When she fell into Zero Pollution, she had already merged with the Zero Abyss. I ripped away some tendrils but couldn't do more, so I had to return her to the humans."

"But she came back." Wrath asked Li Zhiyan, puzzled. "Does she like it here?"

Assimilation.

Li Zhiyan lowered his gaze slightly, a faint shadow crossing his ice-blue eyes.

He certainly knew what assimilation meant, because he had witnessed Er Gou being consumed by butterflies right before his eyes—that was a failed assimilation.

"At first, I only wanted to stop her from coming back, but I couldn't." Wrath said, "She jumped into the Abyss again."

"Assimilation was completed."

Li Zhiyan wanted to ask what would happen after assimilation was complete, but Wrath no longer wished to continue talking with someone he disliked.

Amid a swarm of butterflies, the staff member collapsed softly. The presence of Wrath around them instantly dissipated, leaving only a faint scent of blossoms in the air.

Flowers?

Li Zhiyan turned to look beside him. It was the chrysanthemums collected by the logistics staff for research, temporarily kept in Li Zhiyan's office in a vase of water.

After staring for a while, Li Zhiyan searched through the files for He Linqiu's information.

If he hadn't misjudged, the only difference in this Zero Pollution earthquake compared to previous ones was that the Zero Abyss was suddenly filled with golden chrysanthemums.

Finally finding He Linqiu's identity file among a pile of documents, Li Zhiyan opened it.

"He Linqiu, B-class mutant, Pollution Talent: Tagging."

"She could mark pollution in some form. When the tagged pollution reappeared, it would carry the marker with it, allowing the pollution's reach to be determined."

He Linqiu, tagging.

Autumn, chrysanthemums.

Li Zhiyan closed the file and sat in silence for a long time.

"...So, the chrysanthemums growing from the pollution rift only have slight pollution."

"Because it's just a tag left by a mutant, to alert humans that pollution would spread here."

He began thinking about how to tell Qin Changye about this.

Qin Changye had read He Linqiu's fortune twice. The first time was to determine whether she should join the security detail. To change her fate, Qin Changye even went to the Pollution Harmless Treatment Center to retrieve her, and she barely made it out thanks to Shen Ji's presence.

The second time, He Linqiu requested to return to the Zero Abyss. Qin Changye read her fortune again, and the result was a messy, hard-to-read fortune. After consideration, Qin Changye agreed.

But in the end, He Linqiu still couldn't avoid it.

She fell into the Zero Abyss and transformed into golden chrysanthemums guarding humanity.

It did align with the "major sacrifice" Qin Changye had divined.

But this "major sacrifice" was not good news for Qin Changye.

After agonizing over it for a while, Li Zhiyan lay on the table and opened his phone. He first admired the crystal-clear little mushroom with Shen Ji's name written on it for a bit, and after calming down, he opened Shen Ji's text thread.

"Li Zhiyan: Wrath knows I'm a butterfly."

"Spirited Mushroom: You are a butterfly."

"Li Zhiyan: I mean a pollutant."

"Spirited Mushroom: Oh."

"Li Zhiyan: You're not even shocked."

Shen Ji really wasn't surprised. He couldn't muster any emotions; he was so sleepy he could barely keep his eyes open, fighting to stay conscious enough to read Li Zhiyan's messages.

After barely finishing Li Zhiyan's messages, Shen Ji slowly cocooned himself into the blankets.

Li Zhiyan's home wasn't messy, but it wasn't overly tidy either. The neat room was dotted with knickknacks, and the balcony was filled with flowers. Even in the chilly end of autumn, the flowers were in full bloom, and after Shen Ji entered, they vied to blossom even more brilliantly for him.

It seemed they had been coaxed by Li Zhiyan into blooming at the sight of people.

The flowers are nice—their owner isn't!

He curled up under the blankets and slowly typed.

"Shen Ji: Rather than surprise, you sound off."

"Spaceman: ...He Linqiu is gone."

Shen Ji thought for a long time before remembering who He Linqiu was. My bad, he was dead tired, and it took a while for his brain to put a name to a face.

He Linqiu was the person Qin Changye went to the Pollution Harmless Treatment Center to pick up. At the time, she was unconsciously saved by a small mushroom. Later, apparently, she followed Li Zhiyan’s team to Zero Abyss.

“Shen Ji: You don’t know whether to tell Qin Changye about this thing?”

“Astronaut: Bingo.”

“Shen Ji: You’re lying. You’ve already decided to tell him. Don't you always trust them? You wouldn’t think he couldn’t handle it—at most, you’d just hesitate over whether to put it gently.”

Reading this, Li Zhiyan suddenly really wanted to laugh.

He thought: How does Shen Ji get him so well? So well that Li Zhiyan’s fingertips went numb.

After hesitating for a moment, Li Zhiyan hit the video call button. Although the signal here wasn’t great… he really wanted to see Shen Ji.

The call rang without an answer. Just as Li Zhiyan thought Shen Ji wouldn’t pick up, the connection glitched for a second and the call connected.

But the person who answered wasn’t Shen Ji—Shen Ji had already crashed in bed and fallen asleep.

The phone was propped up in a corner, only capturing the lower half of Shen Ji’s face and a section of his neck. From the decorations around, Li Zhiyan recognized it as his own home. Shen Ji was sleeping in his bedroom, on his bed.

Li Zhiyan suddenly felt his mouth went dry.

He swallowed thickly. “Shen Ji?”

There was no response—only the sound of Shen Ji’s steady breathing from the phone.

Gazing at Shen Ji’s sleeping face, Li Zhiyan leaned on the desk and lightly tapped the screen with his finger.

Secretly, he traced his own name over the phone screen.

After a moment’s hesitation, he erased it and instead traced Shen Ji’s name.

Maybe he should just use a permanent marker to write Shen Ji’s name on himself.

Li Zhiyan thought: After all, he’s willing.