Chapter 162

Chapter 162

The sky cleared.

The pollution ceased its spread, and the Aliens were held at bay outside the mountain city. For now, the city was safe, its security temporarily assured.

Yet, the faces of the city's inhabitants were etched with gloom. Many queued for injections of high-concentration pollution inhibitors.

Zhao An arrived with his transport team, observing the red scars mottling the city dwellers' skin; some patients were already delirious. He said little, instead urging his transport and action teams to swiftly distribute all inhibitors throughout the mountain city.

Three days had passed since Lin Jiaxu fell into his slumber.

Zhao An surveyed the area two kilometers beyond the contaminated zone, now a scene of utter devastation.

Days of rain had turned the earth into a muddy quagmire.

Untreated Alien and Pollution Beast carcasses lay scattered. Those evacuated from the contaminated zone had found temporary refuge nearby.

The situation was dire, with casualties everywhere—local residents, as well as wounded from the action teams and military. He had never witnessed such a crisis, not even in Lan City, and turned away, unable to bear the sight.

Zhao An spotted Xu Leyu and her group, but Zhong Qian was nowhere to be seen. He asked anxiously, "Where's Zhong Qian? Why isn't he here? Did something happen to him too?"

Xu Leyu, sitting while medical staff bandaged her wounds, sighed. "No, he went into the mountains to check on Jia Jia."

Jia Jia had contained the pollution, but the Aliens remained a threat. They had fought almost ceaselessly for days, only today managing to confine the Aliens within the contaminated zone.

After waiting for Lin Jiaxu for several hours without any response, Zhong Qian had to act.

Song Bao couldn't hold on much longer; soaked in the rain for hours, she quickly developed a fever.

Seeing Lin Jiaxu motionless—a situation similar to before—Zhong Qian, unsure of what was happening but noting no other unusual activity, took Song Bao out of the contaminated area and joined the fight against the Aliens on the outskirts.

Since Lin Jiaxu's true form was large enough to be visible even from outside the contaminated area, Zhong Qian would notice immediately if he woke up. Still, the distance made him uneasy.

So, after taking care of urgent business today, Zhong Qian went back into the mountains to check on Jia Jia.

"I heard other regions were in chaos too? Because of the blood moon?" Xu Leyu whispered.

Though they had been fighting with little time to focus on the outside world, they'd still gotten news from Lan City.

"Not entirely. Pollution outbreaks have occurred in multiple areas. Lan City asked me to inform you that the Pollution Beast tide in the Anshan Mountains might come early." Zhao An's expression was grave. Initially, some people had been affected by the blood moon, but now that it was closed, its impact was minimal. The pollution problem, however, had grown more severe.

Xu Leyu felt her heart sink a little. She pulled back her bandaged arm. "I'll return as soon as possible."

Zhao An quickly stopped her. "There's no rush. Even if it does arrive early, Lan City can hold on for now. The main concern is when Jia Jia will wake up."

The Alien Bureau hadn't pushed them to return, but Lin Jiaxu's abnormal state was the most worrying. Zhao An had received over a hundred calls about it in the past few days.

Xu Leyu shook her head. Since Lin Jiaxu had transformed, she hadn't been able to speak a word to him. Their only communication had been through tentacle handshakes... The thought left her too tired to even be angry, and she sighed softly.

Zhao An looked up and saw the tightly closed crescent moons in the sky again. He quickly lowered his head, worried. "Will the moons stay like this in the sky from now on?"

Xu Leyu shook her head, unsure whether the blood moons would disappear. Wearily, she asked, "When will the professor and the others arrive?"

"Soon. They said they'd be here this afternoon."

Seeing her pale complexion and numerous external injuries, Zhao An knew that while Superhumans had strong physiques, all the blood on her was still alarming.

After asking a few more questions and discussing the professor's arrangements, he let her rest.

*

In his slumber, Lin Jiaxu heard Zhong Qian's voice again.

Zhong Qian reached out and touched the huge creature that only he dared to go near. "Still sleeping today? If you don't wake up soon, I might get used to this ugly form of yours. Who knows, I might even forget what you originally looked like..."

Lin Jiaxu thought to himself that Zhong Qian was the chatterbox he always was.

Even if you forgot, there were still photos. He didn't believe Zhong Qian would actually forget—he was probably just trying to get him to wake up.

Still, Lin Jiaxu could sense his unease and concern and wanted to respond. But after trying to reconnect with his main form, he felt frustrated again. It still wasn't working.

After sharing his thoughts, Zhong Qian began talking about what had been happening: "The mountain city is stable for now, but other provinces and cities are experiencing pollution outbreaks. The Aliens trapped in the deep mountains have also been acting strangely lately." He lowered his voice and added, "Jia Jia, if you still don't wake up in a few days, I might not be able to stay here waiting for you."

Was Zhong Qian leaving?

The cloud of mist in space trembled, devouring the dim starlight around it.

It took a good while for the turbulence to gradually settle.

Zhong Qian didn't stay long. There was too much to do outside, and he couldn't remain by Lin Jiaxu's side indefinitely.

After he left, the blood moons in the sky slowly opened again. They didn't open fully, only showing a sliver, like a crescent moon, their gaze fixed on Zhong Qian and the people of the mountain city.

Lin Jiaxu first scanned the area. Song Bao was with Eighth Master, accompanied by Flower.

The others had injuries of varying severity, but all could still speak, move, and handle their duties. Relieved, Lin Jiaxu figured nothing serious was wrong.

His gaze lingered on Zhong Qian, who was discussing with the people of the mountain city about defending against future Alien attacks and settling personnel.

Zhong Qian suddenly stopped speaking.

His eyes discreetly scanned the surroundings. Finding nothing amiss, he seemed to remember something and looked up.

The twin blood moons had indeed opened a slit at some point, unnoticed.

As if aware of his gaze, the blood moons blinked rapidly, though it might have been an illusion.

Zhong Qian was surprised for a second, then laughed aloud.

The person discussing with him asked, puzzled, "What's wrong? Is there an issue?"

"Nothing, continue." Zhong Qian replied casually, turning back to listen. Still, he felt somewhat reassured by Lin Jiaxu's earlier gesture.

...

Lin Jiaxu watched the tiny figures below busily working.

The professor and his team arrived quickly. With prior arrangements made, Professor Wen, fully equipped in thick specially-made protective gear, led the group into the mountains.

However, they stopped about a hundred meters away from Lin Jiaxu's true form.

Professor Wen was slightly breathless, both from the heavy clothing and the invisible pressure emanating from Lin Jiaxu's true form.

The others were in a similar state. Attempting to move closer, they found their limbs growing weak and unable to advance or even retreat.

Zhong Qian and the accompanying Special Team members had to assist them back beyond the hundred-meter mark.

Zhong Qian, Xu Lechen, and the others fell silent. If even the professor couldn't resolve Lin Jiaxu's issue, the outcome could be bad.

After recovering slightly, Professor Wen noticed their grim expressions and said, "Alright, so we can't get close. That doesn't mean there are no other options. Zhong Qian, you're fast. Try to collect a tissue sample from Jia Jia's true form."

"That's one way to do it," Zhong Qian said. "I'll be right back."

Zhong Qian took the sample container handed to him by a nearby researcher, memorized how to collect the sample, and in a few quick flashes, he appeared beside Lin Jiaxu's true form. Lin Jiaxu's form remained icy cold, with a smooth, jiggly like jelly texture. He attempted to insert a needle, but the thin needle wouldn't go in at all; with a bit more force, it even bent.

Zhong Qian was a little surprised. He looked down at the needle in his hand, pondered for a few seconds, then simply took out a small knife and tried cutting Lin Jiaxu's body, gradually increasing the force. After several attempts, he finally put the knife away.

The smooth skin of the creature before him didn't show a single mark.

"Jia Jia... you really have thick skin," Zhong Qian remarked, sounding a bit helpless, but he looked up intently at the weird blood moon.

Naturally, Lin Jiaxu heard his complaint and wished he could move right then to throw a few punches at him. The blood moon kept blinking rapidly several times.

Zhong Qian saw Lin Jiaxu blinking at him and laughed.

It seemed Lin Jiaxu could hear him, but why hadn't he woken up yet?

Zhong Qian went back and reported Lin Jiaxu's condition to the professor.

Everyone was a little surprised, even Xu Leyu found it hard to believe.

Huh?

What are you talking about?

You're saying Jia Jia can't move, but he's actually awake?

That blood moon opening and closing like it's going crazy was actually winking at you?

Professor Wen took a second to process this, then accepted it calmly. "So you're saying Jia Jia might be unable to move for some reason, but his consciousness is actually awake?"

Zhong Qian nodded. "I suspect Jia Jia's current state might be due to absorbing the pollution."

Lin Jiaxu had suddenly turned into this state while trying to block and absorb the pollution.

Professor Wen thought for a moment, then smiled a little. "If that's the case, Jia Jia should be fine."

"Why do you say that?"

Everyone looked at him, puzzled.

"Do you remember what happened in Shihu District before? Back then, Jia Jia would pass out every now and then because he absorbed too much pollution."

The two instances of deep sleep were actually quite similar. It was just that Zhong Qian, worried about Lin Jiaxu's human form collapsing and suddenly reverting to his true form, had overlooked this detail in his panic. Now that Professor Wen mentioned it, Zhong Qian immediately remembered.

Zhong Qian's heart jumped. "So, Jia Jia is the same this time?"

Professor Wen: "It's still just speculation for now. Try to collect some pollution samples first."

Two days later, Professor Wen said, "The pollution here is no different from that in Shihu District. If nothing unexpected happens, Jia Jia will wake up on his own once he's processed it. We just don't know how long it will take."

Professor Wen's words reassured Zhong Qian a great deal, but this time was different from before—there was an additional issue.

That was the problem of Lin Jiaxu's human form.

Lin Jiaxu's human form had completely collapsed and lost control in front of them.

Zhong Qian looked down. "Professor, can Jia Jia's human form be restored?"

Professor Wen told him about the previous research and data on maintaining the stability of Lin Jiaxu's true form and sighed. "I can't make any promises. Jia Jia is a special case; he's different from other Aliens. The reason we had him maintain a human form as much as possible was because we weren't sure if he could recover. His human form is both his disguise and another layer of his true form."

Even Professor Wen didn't know if Lin Jiaxu would be able to restore his human form this time.

Zhong Qian left the Mountain City Research Institute in silence. He looked up instinctively, wanting to see the blood moon in the sky, as if Lin Jiaxu were still by his side.

But as he looked up, the sky had unknowingly returned to its former same foggy, gloomy look—a dark night with no moon or stars shining through.

His face fell. "Where's the blood moon?"

The blood moon had disappeared.

Zhong Qian immediately looked into the distance. The massive, hill-sized creature that was always visible from Mountain City was gone too.

Suddenly, he thought of something, his heart pounding. Not stopping to think, he took off flying straight toward the distant mountains where Lin Jiaxu's true form had previously been.