Chapter 27

027

Lu Yan stood frozen in place, still processing Tang Xian'an's words about "you girls."

With a complicated mix of emotions, he said to Zhou Qimeng, "Delete that 'female' setting. Now."

Zhou Qimeng scratched his head. "But we're still at Longnu Lake. Are you sure we should do it now? What if you get pregnant?"

Lu Yan thought about it and, finding the argument oddly reasonable, let the matter drop.

The group gathered around the small golden snake. Chen Shisi fetched a plastic container from the vehicle, muttering to himself, "I'm not taking it, just... putting it in a box for safekeeping."

The dragon-snake was sealed inside the clear container. Under the sunlight, it looked like a shimmering piece of gelatin.

Items stripped from pollutants were always valuable.

Zhou Qimeng cleared his throat. "I propose we give it to Doctor Lu. He's the one who called in the cavalry. We didn't really do much."

The other two agreed without hesitation.

For some reason, they all had the distinct impression that Lu Yan and Tang Xian'an were... involved. The fact that Tang Xian'an hadn't confiscated the item for the Research Institute spoke volumes.

In their circles, you might not know what the pollutant down your street looked like, but everyone knew Tang Xian'an. The man preferred to work alone. After his last teammate from the old days died over a decade ago, he'd vanished from the public eye even more. Those golden eyes and the unmistakable draconic wings were impossible to miss.

They'd been through life and death together. Lu Yan didn't refuse the offer. "Alright. I'll transfer 2,000 contribution points to each of you. Consider it a purchase."

He wasn't one to take advantage without giving back. His gratitude was genuine.

On the road back, Lu Yan cooked dinner again. Four dishes and a soup, the aroma mouthwatering. It was so good Chen Shisi nearly wept and called out for his mother.

As their RV left the mountain village behind, the thick fog descended once more over the range containing Longnu Lake, swallowing the road ahead and the path behind.

The detective glanced back, worry creeping into his voice. "Is it really okay to leave Old Man Zhao there? He's the only normal person left..."

"That was his choice," Lu Yan replied. "For him, it was the best option."

Zhou Qimeng dropped Lu Yan off in City K.

Instead of heading to the Prevention and Control Center, Lu Yan went home, logged into the Apocalypse Forum, and transferred the contribution points to the other three.

Just as he was about to log off, a new notification popped up.

[The Tyrant has sent you a friend request. Accept/Decline?]

Lu Yan paused, then clicked accept.

A few minutes later, a message arrived.

The Tyrant: Do you like wearing women's clothes?

The immense psychological strain left many Awakened with... quirks.

He knew Lu Yan was male. But both times he'd seen him, Lu Yan had been dressed as a high school girl. It left Tang Xian'an deeply... perplexed.

Clairaudient: ?

*

Several days later.

Two figures, one tall, one shorter, walked along a narrow road shrouded in mist.

The shorter one spoke slowly, his voice a strange, shifting thing—sometimes male, sometimes female, the apparent age never constant. "Few realize it yet, but evolution has a direction. Just as, eons ago, all life sprang from a single cell. Over millennia, it diverged into different families, different orders."

He continued, "For you, the ultimate form of evolution is... are you even listening?!"

Beside him, a pitch-black tentacle extended from Shen Qingyang's side, lifting the hem of his white t-shirt as if to yawn. "Teacher, I'm tired."

He truly was exhausted. Even the eyeball on the tentacle was half-closed. Pulling all-nighters to study high school textbooks had left him perpetually sleep-deprived. One of Shen Qingyang's bigger regrets in life was only finishing middle school. It made him feel unbearably inferior in front of Lu Yan.

Back then, he hadn't had the tuition. By the time he could afford it, he'd missed his chance—no age for schooling, no time for learning. So here he was, starting high school now.

The Prophet never imagined that after all his persuasion had failed, the thing that finally made Shen Qingyang agree to join him was the fact that he'd scored 705 on his college entrance exams.

The Prophet's own pollution level wasn't low, but because his aberration was centered in the brain, his combat abilities weren't particularly strong. In a fight, Shen Qingyang could afford to give him ten tentacles.

So, frankly, the Prophet had little leverage over him.

After a moment of ominous silence, the Prophet hissed, "If you maintain this attitude, I will not explain how to solve that hyperbolic equation."

Shen Qingyang instantly retracted the tentacle, straightening up. "Please continue, Teacher."

If a pollutant with a corruption level over 7,000 was still hitting the books, what excuse did any human have?

Somewhat mollified, the Prophet went on. The single eye on what passed for his face narrowed slightly. "My plans began thirty years ago. Longnu Lake is our first step. We let the aberrant Longnu nurture the King Fish. Once you devour it, you will draw closer to the divine throne."

"By my calculations, the King Fish should be nearly ready."

Shen Qingyang wasn't particularly interested in godhood, but he had little else to do.

"The evolution of pollutants inevitably involves devouring your kind. You must consume more."

"Though I don't know why that particular King Fish didn't parasitize you, among all the initial forms in this sequence, you are the one closest to divinity."

A fanatical gleam entered the Prophet's eye. "The day will come when this world is ours."

……

……

The two pollutants walked for a long time before a small village finally emerged from the mist at the road's end.

Having been away from water for too long, Shen Qingyang felt unwell despite the damp air.

The men with swollen bellies wandered in a daze, eyes vacant. None even glanced their way.

Shen Qingyang couldn't help but frown. "They smell foul."

They were, after all, humans in the third stage of aberration.

"Pay them no mind. They're merely culture medium for the Longnu," the Prophet said dismissively. "We go to the lake. Though she is also a perfect evolved form, she will be no match for you. Consider it training."

By the shores of Longnu Lake, Zhao Cheng was still murmuring to his daughter. The Longnu, who had been listening quietly, suddenly straightened.

Her murky, pupil-less eyes held a new, inexplicable wariness.

She gently pushed her father. "...Go."

Zhao Cheng was confused. "Go where?"

Her vocabulary was still limited. She could only point toward a nearby grove of trees and repeat, "Go."

Not understanding, Zhao Cheng nevertheless retreated into the woods.

The Longnu slipped beneath the lake's surface.

Hundreds of smaller dragon-snakes swarmed around her in the depths.

Minutes later, two figures arrived at the water's edge.

The Prophet cleared his throat. The human face on his back began to call out in Zhao Cheng's voice, "Yuanyuan—are you there? Daddy's come to see you."

The lake remained still, only a dark undercurrent stirring beneath.

"Can't lure her out," the Prophet said. "Do it."

Shen Qingyang gave a soft "Mm." His lower body began to twist and contort, transforming into a mass of thick, octopus-like tentacles. They lengthened and thickened, lifting his entire form taller.

One inky-black tentacle plunged into the water, sending up a spray.

Below, the smaller dragon-snakes shrieked and threw themselves at it. Fangs that could tear Zhou Qimeng's skin left not even a scratch on the tentacle's surface.

A second tentacle followed it into the lake.

Longnu Lake was sizable, but the Longnu's serpentine tail was longer still.

Shen Qingyang's tentacles found her with ease. Then, like a hunter's net, they snapped tight.

He hauled the Longnu from the water.

The Prophet seemed surprised. She was weaker than he'd anticipated.

One of Shen Qingyang's tentacles speared through her serpent tail, pinning her mercilessly to the ground.

The Prophet's gaze fell to her abdomen. His voice soon trembled with uncontrolled fury. "Where is the fish embryo you were meant to nurture?!"

Blood stained the grassy shore. The gills the Longnu used to breathe on land had been cut away. The agony in her tail and the suffocating lack of air forced a pained whimper from her throat.

Zhao Cheng couldn't see. He didn't know what was happening, but that didn't stop him from hearing his daughter's cry.

His mind went blank. Nothing else mattered.

The Longnu heard his roar. "What are you doing?! Let my daughter go!"

No... don't come out...!

She wanted to shield him, but in her current state, it was impossible.

Zhao Cheng had never run so fast in his life. His body erupted with a speed and strength no elderly man should possess. In that instant, without even realizing it, he Awakened.

But a newly Awakened was pitifully weak. The Prophet didn't need Shen Qingyang's help. He seized Zhao Cheng by the throat and lifted him high.

"So, you're the one," the Prophet mused, his tone dripping with cruel amusement. "The one for whom she pulled out her nails, scraped off her scales, cut her gills, slit her belly?"

Forgetting her own wounds, the Longnu lashed out at the Prophet with a furious swipe of her hand. A third tentacle from Shen Qingyang sent her crashing aside.

She crumpled to the ground, coughing up great mouthfuls of blood.

The Prophet turned to Shen Qingyang. "You see? This is the price of sentiment. Emotion is the most useless thing in this world. All relationships are either useful, or they are waste."

Shen Qingyang tilted his head, a faint smile still playing on his lips. "Is that so?"

The Prophet took two steps forward and pressed Zhao Cheng's face against the Longnu's bloodied cheek.

"Who did you give the King Fish to?" His voice was cold, cadaverous. "Tell me."

The Longnu hissed and writhed, dragging herself toward her father.

"Ah, I forgot. You can't speak. Let me rephrase."

The Prophet grabbed a fistful of Zhao Cheng's hair. "Who brought you to Longnu Lake?"

Zhao Cheng was in a bad way. His hand trembled as he lifted it, patting the back of the Longnu's scaled hand. "Yuanyuan... I told you a long time ago... one day, your old man would have to leave you first. Birth, age, sickness, death... it's all just the way of things. To be human is to have a bottom line. To have dignity." A tear traced a path through the grime on his cheek. "Getting to see you again... it made me so happy. So happy. It was like... like the first time I held you. You were so small..."

The Prophet had no interest in paternal sentiment. It stirred up memories that turned his stomach.

"Speak—" he snarled, cutting the exchange short.

Zhao Cheng gathered the last moisture in his mouth and spat it into the Prophet's face. "I'll never tell you, you son of a bitch."

Then, with both hands, he wrenched his own neck sideways with a sickening, wet crack.

Talent #273: Superhuman Strength.