Chapter 7

Chapter 7

The mushroom in Lin Juan's hand struggled even more fiercely.

Yet, no matter how hard it tried, Lin Juan's seemingly delicate grip remained like an iron shackle, firmly restraining it.

"This... Mr. Lin, anomalies aren’t edible..." stammered a baby-faced young man in the team.

The reason anomalies are difficult to deal with, aside from their mysterious and unpredictable power, is their strong contamination.

Ordinary people would suffer severe contamination just by getting close—like those brought by Lin Juan. Only superpower holders can resist to some extent.

Someone like Mr. Lin, totally immune to anomalies, is an extremely rare existence.

Zhuang Yufeng understood this better than anyone.

In his past life, even though China had more than one S-class superpower holder, none could ignore anomaly contamination to the extent Lin Juan did.

"Can't eat it, huh," Lin Juan said, rather disappointed, giving the mushroom he held a shake. "Then let's kill it."

The long-haired youth seemed unassuming and harmless, as if he had said something utterly ordinary. Only the nearby "Magic Mushroom" felt the intense killing intent.

"If Mr. Lin doesn't mind, you can hand it over to us for disposal." The Paranormal Special Affairs Office had a specialized method for handling subdued anomalies.

"No rush," Lin Juan replied, not handing over the large mushroom. Instead, he said, "First, please help Dr. Zhuang treat the people I brought."

"But..." Dr. Zhuang’s abilities were already drained.

Before the baby-faced young man could finish, Zhuang Yufeng interrupted, "Alright."

He walked toward Lu Mingxuan and the others.

Lu Mingxuan instinctively hid behind Lin Juan.

He was already half-mutated, sprouting a mushroom-like growth, and naturally feared higher-ranked superpower holders.

Zhuang Yufeng used his ability, enveloping the group in a pale white glow. Lin Juan curiously poked at the light in front of him—it felt warm.

"My superpower is insufficient now. I can only temporarily suppress the contamination in their bodies. To fully purify them, I need to recover first." As the pale white light faded, Zhuang Yufeng's face turned deathly pale.

"Alright." Lin Juan noticed how pale he looked and didn't push it.

As the last bit of his strength gave way, Zhuang Yufeng's body went limp, and he fell backward.

Sheng Tianzong, who was nearby, caught him.

Zhuang Yufeng, mustering his last ounce of strength, looked toward Lin Juan and warned, "What Mr. Lin is holding is a Class C Anomaly, the 'Magic Mushroom.' It has a powerful camouflage power. Mr. Lin must not be deceived by it!"

"Understood. I just need to kill it directly, right?" With that, Lin Juan squeezed hard, and the faintly glowing mushroom snapped into two pieces in his hand.

He had originally thought that the large mushroom protected at the center of the mushroom wall might reverse the condition of Lu Mingxuan and the others, restoring them to normal. To his surprise, no matter how he threatened or bribed it, the large mushroom stayed inert and unresponsive.

Since it was so useless, he might as well kill it.

As the large mushroom broke, the flowing blue light around them gradually faded. Without the "Magic Mushroom's" hallucinatory ability, the massive mushroom wall revealed its original form.

Large patches of dark, indescribable, foul-smelling rotten flesh scattered everywhere, with stark white bones exposed within. The mushroom in Lin Juan's hand also turned into a disgusting, rotting lump.

Disgusted, Lin Juan flung the thing aside and covered his nose with his other hand. "No wonder this thing can't be eaten."

The Vanguard Squad was stunned. Before they could say anything, they saw Lin Juan easily take care of the Class C Anomaly that they couldn't handle even with their strongest forces.

They had been amazed when Lin Juan dealt with the mushroom wall earlier, and shocked again when he brought back the "Magic Mushroom." They thought nothing else he did would surprise them, until he easily killed the Class C Anomaly.

That was a Class C Anomaly!

Their captain had to burn through his life force and drain his abilities to deal with a Class C Anomaly!

Everyone was in a daze.

Were they still trapped in the illusion created by the "Magic Mushroom"?

"Uncle, I feel a bit dizzy..." Lu Mingxuan swayed on his feet, his vision blurring.

"The fumes are poisonous!" Zhuang Yufeng struggled to stand. "Everyone, be careful!"

No one had expected that the anomaly's death would still pose a threat to them.

"This must be the 'Magic Mushroom's' last-ditch attack," Sheng Tianzong mused. "Everyone, put on your protective masks."

The teammates, still in a daze, acted faster than they could think. At Sheng Tianzong's command, they quickly put on their masks and also provided specialized masks for Lu Mingxuan and the others.

They stood amidst the massive fragments of rotten flesh, surrounded by emptiness and silence, as if only the few of them remained in the world.

A wordless sorrow descended upon them.

It was Zhuang Yufeng, who’d lived through the apocalypse, who first realized something was wrong. He shouted, "The masks can only offer limited protection. We need to leave quickly and find the 'Tail Feather' team to handle this."

After speaking, Zhuang Yufeng released his last bit of superpower, shielding everyone from interference once more, then closed his eyes and blacked out.

He had reached his limit.

Lin Juan quickly checked on Lu Mingxuan and the others. Lu Mingxuan was recovering slightly better—the mushroom transformation on him had receded. The others showed reduced levels of mutation but had all fallen unconscious.

The protective masks on their faces weren’t reacting for now.

"Mr. Lin, no need to worry. Their unconsciousness is a form of instinctive defense mechanism, preventing them from being further controlled," Sheng Tianzong explained, seeing Lin Juan frown.

"If I killed this mushroom, wouldn't they recover?" Isn't that how it works in games? Kill the monster, and the debuff is lifted.

"Unfortunately, aside from superpower holders with purification-type abilities using their powers, once humans are contaminated, they cannot return to their original state."

Sheng Tianzong paused, his expression grave. "From what we see now, after the 'Magic Mushroom' died, there was a final attack. It's unclear whether this is a unique skill of the 'Magic Mushroom' or a common trait of Class C and higher anomalies."

If it was the latter, that’d be really bad news for them.

"My bad, I was careless." Lin Juan hadn't expected that killing the anomaly wasn't the real solution.

"I'll see if my superpower can incinerate this stuff."

Lin Juan looked around and cut him off: "What if the smoke from burning is also toxic?"

If the smoke is toxic and spreads everywhere, it would be even more troublesome.

"Let's leave this place first," Sheng Tianzong decided, promptly reporting the situation to command.

The higher-ups took it very seriously and responded soon after.

"This area will be sealed off. Let's leave first." Staying any longer would cause the pollution levels in their bodies to exceed the limit.

Zhuang Yufeng remained unconscious. If an ability-user were to lose control, it would definitely not be good news.

Soon, the sound of helicopter rotors could be heard. Soldiers in specialized combat gear descended from the helicopters, and Lin Juan, Sheng Tianzong, and the others boarded the aircraft.

From the person who received them, Lin Juan learned that the girls who had come with them had been found and evacuated immediately. They were lucky and hadn’t encountered any supernatural entities.

Returning to the First Hospital again, this time, unlike before, they went directly into the inner building.

"This is a dedicated treatment center for patients contaminated by supernatural entities," explained the head nurse, a capable woman and also one of the members of "Tail Feather."

Lin Juan observed that the overall security level of this building was much higher than outside. Security personnel armed with weapons were everywhere—likely ability-users as well.

Lin Juan didn’t need to be hospitalized, but Lu Mingxuan did.

Old Mr. Lu and Eldest Brother Lu received the news and hurried over.

Looking at their grandson/son lying in bed, they were both angry and heartbroken: "You went out for a nice spring outing—how did you end up like this?"

Lu Mingxuan was covered in injuries from fighting the "mushroom people." As one of the only two who remained conscious, he and Lin Juan had signed non-disclosure agreements.

"I accidentally tumbled down the slope. Fortunately, Little Uncle saved me," Lu Mingxuan said with a grin.

His injuries could somewhat be explained away as having tumbled down a slope.

Fortunately, the abnormal transformations on his body had disappeared. Otherwise, with his half-human, half-fungus appearance, he would have been quarantined.

Just like the others.

The parents of the other affected individuals had also arrived but hadn’t been able to see them yet.

"Fortunately, Xiao Juan was there." Old Mr. Lu sensed that the situation wasn’t as simple as Lu Mingxuan made it out to be, but he didn't probe further.

While Eldest Sister-in-law Lu spoke with Lu Mingxuan, Lin Juan and Old Mr. Lu went outside.

"Xiao Juan, Mingxuan, he—"

"Uncle, don’t worry. Everyone is fine. We were just unlucky to come across a patch of toxic mushrooms. The doctors will know how to handle it."

Hearing this, Old Mr. Lu understood that his grandson would be alright and didn’t inquire further. Instead, he asked, "Are you injured?"

"I’m fine."

Lin Juan wasn’t injured, and his pollution readings were low, so there was no need for hospitalization. That evening, under Lu Mingxuan’s reluctant gaze, he left with Old Mr. Lu.

"Little Uncle, you must come see me tomorrow, okay?"

Eldest Brother Lu patted him lightly. "Isn’t it enough that your mom and I are here?"

"I was only joking," Lu Mingxuan said, covering his head. "I'll be fine here, Dad. You and Mom should go back with Grandpa."

He was still contaminated, and it would be bad if his parents got infected.

After fussing, pleading, and trying every method he could think of, Lu Mingxuan finally convinced his parents to leave.

Even if he hadn’t, the hospital wouldn’t have allowed regular people to stay overnight.

After all, this place treated contaminated humans, and it wasn’t safe for regular people to remain.

Back at the Lu residence, Lin Juan changed clothes and went to eat. Knowing he was exhausted from the day, Old Mr. Lu didn’t keep him and let him rest after the meal.

Lin Juan had expended much energy today. Sitting by the bed, he looked at the man lying peacefully and joked, "You know, when you told me not to go out today, did you know I’d run into a supernatural entity?"

Naturally, there was no response.

Lin Juan laughed at himself. "What was I thinking? You’re still unconscious."

"Huh?"

Was it an illusion?

Lin Juan thought he saw the man’s eyes move.

He leaned in closer to observe.

His long hair, smooth as fine silk, cascaded onto the man’s chest.

A thumb-sized transparent mushroom slid down along a strand of hair.

"Eh?"

Lin Juan instinctively reached to grab it, but the tiny transparent mushroom had already landed on the man’s chest and was gradually vanishing.

Lin Juan quickly pulled open the man’s shirt.

On the slightly raised pectoral muscles, there was nothing.

No transparent mushroom.

It was as if it had been absorbed by the man.

Lin Juan touched the spot.

The feel was really good.

Wait, no—this wasn’t the time to think about that. Lin Juan pressed again but detected no foreign object.

Where did the little transparent mushroom go?

Had he seen too many mushrooms today and was seeing things?

"What are you doing?"

A deep masculine voice came from above. Lin Juan froze, slowly looking up to meet a pair of pitch-black eyes.

Crucially—

Those eyes were open!

No way?

Lin Juan mentally groaned.

Why did he have to wake up now?

What had he just done?

Looking at the other’s disarranged clothing and recalling his own touching and pressing, wasn’t this clear molestation?

Lin Juan’s hand, still resting on the man’s pectoral muscle, curled slightly. If he withdrew it now and pretended nothing happened, would he be in time?

Maybe he should just knock him unconscious again?