Chapter 105

Chapter 105

Lu Yan returned home to find Tang Xian’an absent.

Xiao Tian said the old man had gone to headquarters for a meeting.

Because of the Blood Moon phenomenon, the Prevention and Control Center had been holding more meetings lately. They’d decided to organize Awakened teams to handle Pollution Disease cases in various provinces and cities, to prevent pollutants from causing riots during the Blood Moon and disrupting social order.

High-level cases could be put on hold for now. But D-Class and below? They were to be eradicated, completely.

Right now, only the First District in the entire world had the audacity to make such a ruthless declaration.

No wonder the school district apartment Lu Yan bought in S City kept appreciating. Last time he checked, the price for a second-hand unit had already surpassed 350,000 per square meter.

Lu Yan planned to return to S City tomorrow. It was close to the sea, which would make finding a boat easier.

He walked into the bedroom to pack, but there was too little to pack, really. So he headed to the kitchen to start cooking instead.

Xiao Tian pulled out his specially customized dog phone and began frantically messaging Tang Xian’an’s private account.

[Old Tang, get home now. Doctor Lu is cooking.]

[If you’re not back by the time he’s done, I’ll lose all respect for you.]

Thus, at the Special Operations Department meeting, Tang Xian’an began checking the time on his watch with increasing frequency.

The understanding Minister Wang remarked without batting an eye, "The team assignments are mostly settled… Shall we call it a day?"

A chorus of agreement immediately rose from below.

Tang Xian’an arrived home just as Lu Yan finished preparing three dishes and a soup.

Most humans, after awakening, gradually lose their appetite as their contamination level rises. Post-aberration, everything tastes like boiled chicken breast, and the need for normal food diminishes.

Consequently, laboratories worldwide were working on making pollutants edible.

Yet, Lu Yan’s cooking was unexpectedly delicious.

Tang Xian’an didn’t understand the principle behind it, but he ate happily.

The atmosphere felt decent, so Lu Yan said, "I accepted a mission."

"I know." Tang Xian’an lowered his gaze. "During the backend team assignments today, I tried to put you in my squad. But the system said you already had a mission."

"Mm," Lu Yan replied calmly. "I accepted the 'Divine Kingdom Operation.'"

Tang Xian’an: "…"

He took a deep breath, opened the Special Operations staff app, navigated to the first page of the mission list, selected the top entry, and hit 'Accept.'

A dialogue box popped up on his phone less than half a second later.

[System Alert: Sorry, you are prohibited from accepting this mission.]

Almost immediately after he clicked confirm, his liaison officer, Little Wang, called. "Team Leader Tang!! The backend alerted me that you tried to take the S-Class 'Divine Kingdom Operation'! You absolutely cannot do that!!"

"Other S-Class missions, fine! But this one is truly impossible!!"

Little Wang, past fifty, was shouting himself hoarse on the other end of the line—

"Your contamination level has finally dropped with great difficulty! Even if you don’t consider yourself, think of Doctor Lu!! Lu Yan is still a month away from turning 27!!! Can you bear to make him a widower?!"

Tang Xian’an felt it wasn’t a question of Lu Yan being widowed, but of him being widowed.

He hung up the phone and said to Lu Yan, "I’m going with you."

Tang Xian’an’s expression was deadly serious. This was no idle threat.

Lu Yan produced the analysis report he’d written that afternoon and handed it over. "I don’t think that’s appropriate."

After returning from the Prevention and Control Center, he’d spent some time typing up a concise 500-word essay on why taking Tang Xian’an was a bad idea.

The summary: Lu Yan’s contamination level was low, his mental state stable, and his spiritual power threshold was already over seven thousand. Furthermore, the airport incident proved he had some immunity to psychic attacks. Tang Xian’an did not.

Tang Xian’an set the report facedown on the table. "Lu Yan, I participated in the last Divine Kingdom Operation."

The Blissful Creed had spread silently, insidiously. Many didn’t even know it was a church founded by a pollutant. On the day it erupted, countless believers worldwide died in their sleep, reaching the so-called "Blissful Pure Land."

Over a hundred thousand people died every day. Worse, the more who died, the stronger the Holy Deity grew.

That time, it took a coordinated effort from Awakened across the globe to inflict critical damage on the Holy Deity’s main body, strangling that horrific nightmare in its cradle.

Headquarters had researched how to kill the Holy Deity. But due to its "divine descent" characteristic—as long as a single believer remained alive anywhere in the world, it would not die—they ultimately had no choice but to seal off the entire Divine Kingdom.

After Tang Xian’an finished describing this S-Class polluted zone, silence fell over the dining room.

Lu Yan couldn’t help but remark to the system, "That sounds incredibly dangerous."

The system replied, [Confidence. You can drop the 'sounds.']

"I plan to go to S City tomorrow," Lu Yan said aloud. "Then take a boat near the Divine Kingdom and pass through the sea fog."

Tang Xian’an asked, "Do you have to go?"

"I’m an Awakened. The Holy Deity is a pollutant. I have a chance to resolve this now. If I miss this window, I might not get another."

Tang Xian’an understood perfectly. Lu Yan was informing him, not asking. Even if it felt like a bone stuck in his throat, he had to accept it.

Even parents or lovers had no right to forcibly interfere with another’s choices.

Tang Xian’an’s hand rested on the table, words failing him for a long moment.

His golden eyes remained fixed on Lu Yan, the gaze a silent plea.

The system commented coolly, [Don’t take him. Let him hide under the covers and cry in secret.]

The stalemate stretched. Xiao Tian, eavesdropping from the corner, opened his mouth several times only to close it again, wisely deciding to stay out of it.

Tang Xian’an began, "I—"

Lu Yan abruptly stood up.

He walked to Tang Xian’an’s side and kissed him, a gesture meant to soothe.

Lu Yan wasn’t sure what else to do, so he chose the simplest, most direct method to make him stop talking.

Simple and direct, but effective.

Tang Xian’an fell silent instantly. A moment later, as if retaliating, his hands gripped Lu Yan’s waist and pressed him down onto the table.

Xiao Tian covered his eyes and left.

The system was forcibly disconnected.

In front of Lu Yan, Tang Xian’an was always restrained and quiet, rarely showing his aggressive side.

Lu Yan still remembered their first meeting, within the cycles of the Nightmare Wall. Back then, Tang Xian’an had the face of an eighteen or nineteen-year-old youth, and he could still smile.

The system said that was what Tang Xian’an looked like in his youth.

He carried too much responsibility and knew exactly when he would die. In his lucid moments, he didn’t dare utter the word 'like' lightly.

His love was a burden.

Lu Yan was kissed breathless. In a hazy moment between thoughts, it occurred to him that next time the system claimed Tang Xian’an 'wasn’t up to it,' he could probably refute that directly.

He patted Tang Xian’an’s back, wanting him to let go, but Tang Xian’an just kissed, nipped, and licked like a dog who’d just discovered meat.

Lu Yan had had enough. He wrapped his legs around Tang Xian’an’s waist, hooked an elbow around his neck, and with a surge of muscle, flipped him over and pinned him to the floor.

A grappling technique from his previous training.

Lu Yan knew Tang Xian’an’s body was tough, so he didn’t hold back. Anyone else might have ended up with a fractured cervical vertebra.

Fortunately, Tang Xian’an endured it, preventing the kiss from escalating into close-quarters combat.

"Trust me," Lu Yan said.

"Alright," Tang Xian’an replied. "But wait one more day before leaving."

Lu Yan soon learned why Tang Xian’an wanted him to wait.

The incredibly expensive dagger he’d seen at the mall—'Hellfire,' supposedly going up for auction next week—had been airlifted from overseas.

Tang Xian’an handed him the sheath with the dagger inside. "I meant to give it to you for your birthday. But you seem in a hurry to leave."

It was already October. Lu Yan’s 27th birthday was indeed close.

"One month," Tang Xian’an said. "This month, I’ll assist with domestic Pollution Disease incidents. If you’re not back in one month, I’ll come to the Divine Kingdom to find you."

Alive, he’d see the person. Dead, he’d see the body.

*

Changjia Nation.

The humans here had grown accustomed to the white fog perpetually shrouding the sea.

The Lords of the Divine Race said the world beyond the fog was full of danger, and the fog was the merciful deity’s protection for them.

Song Jingchen was eighteen. He lived in a collective dormitory.

The dormitory was like a tiny ant nest. A 0.9-meter single bed and a door constituted the entire meaning of "home."

People here had no parents. From birth, infants were taken from their parents and sent to various schools for uniform upbringing and education.

Every year on October 10th, all children who had turned eighteen gathered in the central square, waiting to be chosen by the Lords.

Today was October 3rd.

They were the Attached—the lowest stratum of society. As the name implied, they lived by the grace and favor of the deity.

After turning eighteen, the fortunate among the Attached would be selected by the Divine Race to enter the "Divine Kingdom" in the sky and serve the Lords. The majority, however, would be sent to different places to labor, like worker ants.

Song Jingchen entered the collective cafeteria. Everyone’s expression was uniformly silent.

The clock’s hands reached eight in the evening.

Instantly, a chant echoed across the entire nation: "Praise the Holy Deity, for bliss and eternal life."

They praised the eternal deity with heartfelt gratitude, then began their dinner.

Dinner was a lump of deep red nutrient paste. No one knew what it was made from.

They ate at 10 AM and 8 PM. Two meals a day, the same food. Song Jingchen had been eating it for over a decade.

The cafeteria supervisor, a man in his thirties, cleared his throat from the central podium. "Recently, the heretics have grown increasingly brazen! These ungrateful traitors blaspheme our deity, insult the Divine Race. They preach hatred for their own gain. I do not want any student from our school associated with heretics! Anyone discovered will be expelled immediately!"

His hawk-like gaze swept over the faces in the room. "Is that clear?"

A thunderous reply echoed through the cafeteria. "Yes, sir!"

Song Jingchen chanted the response with the others.

After dinner came one hour of mandatory labor. Students washed dishes, scrubbed floors, cleaned the school.

At 9:30 sharp, dormitory checks began. Any student absent would lose credits, damaging their final evaluation upon coming of age.

Song Jingchen washed his bowl clean. While the others weren't looking, he slipped through a gap in the school's fence.

He had a secret place. A rocky outcrop on the shore.

At school, he played the part of a sickly weakling. But when he ran, he moved like the wind.

[Talent 679 - Swift Foot]. Not that he knew what that meant.

In the rocky sea cave, he lit an oil lamp and hungrily opened a book. Middle School Geography (People's Education Press).

Years ago, a heretic had broken into their school, hiding in a storage shed to tend his wounds.

A man with graying hair, his face deeply lined with age.

He called himself a Seer. One of his legs was gone.

Having lived his whole life at the school, Song Jingchen had never seen an old person before.

A born rebel, Song Jingchen found him but didn't report him.

The heretic gave him this book.

On the third day, the smell of blood finally drew the supervisors.

That was also the first time Song Jingchen saw the Lords of the Divine Race.

Their forms varied. One Lord resembled a slug, its face a cluster of shifting eyeballs, moving on bristles along its underside.

The Lords dragged the heretic to the schoolyard, before the statue of the Holy Deity, for a public execution.

Lingchi. Death by a thousand cuts.

The heretic seemed not to feel the pain. He just laughed wildly at the sky. "To kill a few more pollutants before I die—I got my worth!"

Struggling, he sank his teeth into a Lord's ankle.

He died badly, of course.

That was ten years ago. For some reason, Song Jingchen had never forgotten it. He could still recall every deep wrinkle on that weathered face.

The supervisor said all books not on the approved list were forbidden.

Yet, by some twist of fate, he had kept this one.

The book described a vast, astonishing world.

The Earth was round. Beyond the white fog, there was a wider sky. Places of nothing but sand, called deserts. Lands buried under ice, called glaciers…

Song Jingchen was endlessly captivated by the world within its pages. He wanted to know more. But he never encountered another heretic.

In a few days, he would come of age and leave the school.

The geography book was nearly worn through from handling. Song Jingchen turned to the final page. A line of handwritten black ink stared back:

"Never abandon hope. Never yield to the darkness. Humanity will never be slaves. Persevere."

The characters were bold, the strokes powerful and resolute.

Song Jingchen didn't fully understand the meaning. He wasn't even entirely sure what "humanity" meant.

Yet every time he saw those words, his eyes stung.

Judging by the moon's position, dorm check was in half an hour.

Song Jingchen wrapped the book in cloth and buried it beneath a heavy stone.

He was about to leave when a shape on the horizon made him freeze, his breath catching in his throat.

A… mermaid?

Song Jingchen’s eyes widened. He clamped a hand over his mouth, ducking behind the rocks to peer out cautiously.

In the rolling waves, a figure with a golden fish tail emerged at the water's edge.

The deep blue water caressed the scales of its lower body, shimmering, breathtakingly beautiful.

Then, the tail vanished beneath the surface.

From the gentle swell of the waves, a man rose, emerging from the sea.

His features were perfectly proportioned. The most beautiful person Song Jingchen had ever seen. His heart began to beat a strange, frantic rhythm.

Lu Yan pulled trousers from his pack and pulled them on, his expression blank.

[System: Congratulations, Host. You have successfully traversed the white fog and the Xiling Strait, arriving at the S-Class polluted zone: Divine Kingdom.]

Lu Yan looked somewhat worse for wear, a few strands of seaweed clinging to his hair.

At the edge of the fog, ordinary boats couldn't proceed. He'd been forced to shift into his mermaid form and swim the rest of the way from the seabed.

Along the route, he'd encountered several polluted sea snakes. Hideous things, far more vicious than any land-based pollutant.

Fortunately, at his current level, dealing with them wasn't difficult. Lu Yan swam for two days, surviving on snake meat.

Wang Yu had reverted to its simple, larval state, left to its own digestive processes. Luckily, in his mermaid physiology, the diet posed no issue.

Lu Yan wrung the seawater from his clothes. He took out his phone—no signal—and ran a quick contamination level scan.

"210. Not high."

[Correct. This is the lowest stratum of the Divine Kingdom. See the Babel Tower in the sky? Above the clouds lies the Central Divine Court, where the Holy Deity resides.]

As the system spoke, Lu Yan started walking forward.

Song Jingchen flinched, holding his breath, trying to shrink back into the shadows. It was so dark, so far. Surely the man couldn't see him.

A second later, an utterly unfamiliar voice spoke directly above his head.

"See something you like, kid?"