Chapter 30

Chapter 030

Zhou Qimeng was, after all, an officially certified B-Class Revelationer—a high-level combat asset, the kind of person who'd be respectfully called "Director Zhou" out on the street.

He snapped back to focus quickly. "Pollutants? Where from? Has it been reported to the Prevention Center?"

The Stormcrows had caught the scent of humans. A piercing shriek tore through the air as the seething black cloud of birds surged closer. Violet lightning writhed within the mass, multiplying the sense of crushing pressure.

A Stormcrow with a needle-like beak slammed into the fuselage. It wasn't large, but the passenger plane's skin dented inward with a sickening crunch. The aircraft shuddered violently. Even through multiple layers of doors, Lu Yan heard the passengers' screams.

The bird that struck reeled, shook its head dazedly, and winged back to the flock. Another took its place immediately, hurtling toward the plane.

"Please remain calm," the captain's voice crackled over the intercom, strained. "We are experiencing a bird strike. Contacting the nearest airport for an emergency landing."

Beneath the cloud layer sprawled a city. A crash here would be indistinguishable from a terrorist attack.

Special Operations Department Contingency Protocol, Page 7, Article 3: When encountering pollutants unexpectedly in a populated area, priority is the evacuation and protection of civilians.

"Time's tight. No waiting for headquarters support," Lu Yan stated flatly. "Give me a flying trait. And phasing."

Zhou Qimeng scratched his head. "Right."

Some people were awake, but not fully. Like some were alive, but one foot was already on the road.

Opening the emergency hatch mid-flight was a sure way to find that road.

Fortunately, the [Virtual World] talent was formidable.

A pair of illusory, pure white wings unfurled from Lu Yan's back. Visible to the eye, they felt like nothing but empty air to the touch.

He stepped out of the cabin. At thirty thousand feet, the air temperature was negative sixty-two degrees Celsius.

Frost crystallized on his eyebrows almost instantly. His core temperature spiked in response, a layer of fine scales erupting across his skin beneath his clothes, trapping warmth. Wang Yu was considerate enough to halt the scales' growth at the wrists, preventing obvious detection.

The pressure differential between cabin and sky was severe, a strange, bloating sensation filling his organs.

These were newly-grown wings, clumsy and unfamiliar. A moment later, he saw Zhou Qimeng flapping his way out.

"To be honest," Zhou Qimeng called out, drawing a blade, "when I first awakened my talent, adding flight was my favorite trick. I'm not combat-spec either, but I can't let you have all the fun."

A single Stormcrow was merely an E-Class pollutant, contamination value around 800. But as a cohesive swarm, the pressure they exerted was magnitudes greater.

[Try not to get electrocuted. The wings will paralyze too. Survival probability after a fall is negligible. Also, aim for the head.]

Lu Yan's weapon was still the dagger gifted by the Prevention Center. Short, but sufficient.

Once he'd roughly mastered the art of flapping, he moved through the flock like a shark through a school of fish. Every sweep of his blade was a kill.

The birds' blood, surprisingly, was blue.

The mouth in his palm emerged, occasionally sneaking bites of flesh from the fallen Stormcrows when Lu Yan's attention was elsewhere. Soon, it was emitting little electrified burps.

Yet Wang Yu remained ravenous, targeting the tender thigh meat specifically. Frustrated by Lu Yan's lack of cooperation, it sent out thin white threads from the fissure once more.

Lu Yan's stomach churned, overfull and nauseous. He ripped off a bird's head and stuffed it into the grasping mouth in his palm.

Fortunately, the distance was great, their movement swift. Few noticed the brief aberration.

I need to buy gloves one of these days, Lu Yan thought. The kid's growing up. Getting rebellious.

Inside the cabin, gasps and exclamations rose. People fumbled for phones, recording the scene.

A foreign passenger stared, muttering, "...Angel?"

After a long, stunned moment, the captain swiftly piloted the plane away from the airspace.

By the time Zhou Qimeng dispatched his tenth bird, he turned, ready to boast to Lu Yan. In the blink of an eye, his companion had slit the throats of two more.

Lu Yan moved through the avian storm, expressionless. His pristine white wings shone with an almost holy radiance against the sky. Yet Zhou Qimeng felt an involuntary shiver crawl down his spine.

In that moment, watching Lu Yan's detached, almost serene expression, a disquieting thought surfaced.

If the surrounding creatures weren't birds, but people... for Lu Yan, it would likely feel the same.

……

……

City P, the desolate outskirts.

Still a good sixty miles from City A, Zhou Qimeng and Lu Yan stood by the highway.

Neither wore special ops gear. Their regular clothes had suffered tears from Stormcrow talons, leaving them in a less-than-dignified state. Zhou Qimeng, having been zapped by lightning last, sported a head of hair exploded into a popcorn-like frizz.

They stood by the roadside, a picture of utter wretchedness—far from the heroes who'd just saved a plane full of people, more like amateur beggars on their first unsuccessful day. Not a single passing vehicle would stop.

Their luggage and phones were still on the plane. Lu Yan had his monitoring watch, but it lacked calling functionality.

Finally, after half an hour, a vehicle from the City P Pollution Disease Prevention Center arrived.

"Mr. Zhou, Mr. Lu! I'm the director of the P City Prevention Center." The director, a middle-aged woman, continued, "We detected abnormal movement in the Stormcrow flock hours ago, but never anticipated they'd appear directly on a flight path. On behalf of all citizens of Luochuan, please accept our deepest gratitude." She offered a profound bow.

Lu Yan recalled this city. Data on the Revelation Forum indicated numerous animal mutations originated here. It also housed a famous A-Class polluted zone: the "Luochuan Botanical Gardens."

The gardens were established in the suburbs. Rumor had it all residents within a fifty-mile radius had been evacuated.

The Luochuan Prevention Center had considered purification. However, the two resident A-Class Revelationers lacked confidence, and since the polluted flora showed no signs of further spread, the matter was tabled.

Revelationers were human, strategic assets, and consumables with a high attrition rate. Most high-level polluted zones remained lethally dangerous for current Revelationers.

The two were escorted to the Prevention Center for brief arrangements. Later, their luggage from the plane was returned.

Zhou Qimeng, scrolling through his phone, suddenly exclaimed, "Holy—! Doctor Lu, we're trending!"

Headquarters, in its public messaging on the Pollution Disease, aimed for utmost seriousness, avoiding sensationalism. Yet it couldn't stifle public curiosity. A small, disturbing faction online even venerated the officially disclosed high-level pollutants as objects of worship. It was hard to know whether to laugh or cry.

Lu Yan glanced over. The video title read: "Plane Hit by Extreme Thunderstorm Today—Saw an Angel in the Lightning?!"

It should have featured both of them, but for some reason, the footage focused entirely on Lu Yan. The comments were a sea of "So handsome!"

Lu Yan lost interest and looked away. He was far more interested in the bonus issued by the Prevention Center.

For resolving the Stormcrow threat, the Center awarded them one thousand contribution points.

At this rate, just three months of hard work would secure that silver longbow.

The system lamented, [Son, it's your mother who's too poor to provide for you. If you really want money, the bounty board on the Revelation Forum has many listings.]

Like the nearby Luochuan Botanical Gardens. The official posting stated anyone who resolved it could not only choose any A-Class spiritual weapon but also receive a bonus of one hundred thousand contribution points.

"Maybe later," Lu Yan said.

The journey had its complications. But at dawn the next day, Lu Yan finally arrived in City A.

Zhou Qimeng, running late to sign partnership contracts, bid Lu Yan a tearful "keep in touch" before rushing off.

Alone with his suitcase, Lu Yan arrived at the Special Operations Department headquarters in City A.

Located in the suburbs, it resembled an industrial park more than a government complex. Numerous buildings stood within, each cluster serving distinct functions.

Access between buildings required clearance. Security was deceptively relaxed on the surface, tightly controlled beneath. A large training field occupied a central area.

Lu Yan's assigned lodging was in the freshman dormitory at the northwest corner of the compound—the area closest to the training grounds.

Though called a dormitory, it offered private rooms. They were spacious, well-lit, equipped with emergency call buttons at every turn.

Many Revelationers struggled with mental instability. This was no joke.

After contamination, certain personality traits could amplify indefinitely. Lu Yan had already evolved to the stage of carrying disinfectant everywhere.

While processing his check-in, the front desk attendant's eyes lit up. She couldn't suppress an excited smile. "You're... you're the one from yesterday's trending topic! The Revelationer with wings, right?"

Lu Yan's face was rather memorable.

Then, glancing down at the registration form, she let out a surprised, "Huh?"

"An auxiliary-type Revelationer... Ah, but your spiritual power threshold is quite high."

A standout among this intake of trainees.

Even among auxiliary-type Revelationers, there were some with formidable abilities. But the talents registered for Lu Yan were "Precognition" and "Cross-Species Communication."

The front desk attendant couldn't help but feel a flicker of disappointment, though she hid it well. "Mr. Lu, your room is ready. Here's your key card. A cleaning service will come by daily. Please report to the main training hall by 8 AM on April 1st."

[Tsk. Looks like you've been labeled a weakling.]

Lu Yan wasn't particularly bothered. If not for the mandatory training, he'd still be in an operating room right now.

"I don't need the cleaning service," he stated. "For the duration of this three-month training, I don't want anyone entering my room without my knowledge."

"Understood. I'll notify logistics. The backup key card for your room will also be temporarily deactivated."

Lu Yan gave a slight nod and wheeled his suitcase into the elevator.

*

The German Shepherd Tang Xian'an kept was named Xiao Tian.

To be precise, Tang Xian'an had originally named it Wang Cai, but the dog found that name utterly disgraceful and wholly unworthy of its majestic bearing. So it had taken matters into its own paws and chosen a new one.

Xiao Tian stepped on the automatic feeder, dispensing a portion of kibble.

It then picked up the pooper-scooper, bagged yesterday's buried treasure, and trotted it to the trash.

It was a dog with a strong sense of self-management.

Having completed its morning routine, the clock struck seven. Xiao Tian clamped the leash in its jaws and padded up to the second floor, ready for its human to take it out for a proper walk in the yard.

It nudged the bedroom door open with a paw and found its usually disciplined master still in bed, scrolling through his phone.

Tang Xian'an was a light sleeper, plagued by frequent dreams. Though he went to bed punctually at ten every night, he often just lay there with his eyes closed, awake until dawn.

Xiao Tian hopped onto the bed. On the phone screen played a video of a Revelationer battling pollutants. The pollutants were low-level Stormcrows—the kind it could crush with a single bite.

But because these mutated birds were visually striking and the person in the video was easy on the eyes, the whole scene was rather pleasing to watch.

A stream of comments scrolled past: "So handsome!", "Battle Angel", "I volunteer, brother!"

The clip was short and soon ended. Xiao Tian realized, with a canine sense of disbelief, that Tang Xian'an had it set to loop.

Man and dog stared at each other on the bed.

"I was just thinking his blade work is sloppy," Tang Xian'an explained.

"But he's using a dagger."

Tang Xian'an: "..."

Xiao Tian wagged its tail. "By the way, Little Wang mentioned they're still one head instructor short for this batch of new Revelationer trainees. You going?" The 'Little Wang' in question was Tang Xian'an's former liaison officer, now one of the heads at the Prevention Center headquarters.

Tang Xian'an had lived too long. This Little Wang was his fourth liaison. For convenience, he called all of them Little Wang.

Every Revelationer, especially those with higher contamination levels, had a mandatory recovery period after missions to let their readings drop back to an acceptable baseline.

After several weeks of rest and the Research Institute's relentless efforts, Tang Xian'an's contamination level had fallen to 94.1. Once it was back around the standard 90, he'd be cleared for field duty again.

"No."

The head instructor role was more symbolic than practical—akin to the chief examiner of imperial exams in ancient times. It was usually a vanity post for high-level Revelationers who enjoyed the spotlight.

Tang Xian'an had no such worldly desires.

"That person in the video," Xiao Tian pressed, "Little Wang said his name was... Little Lu, right? He's in this batch. Going?"

"Yes."

Xiao Tian snorted. "Typical."

A beat of silence. "I'm just going to evaluate a potential future teammate," Tang Xian'an clarified.

The German Shepherd nodded its head vigorously. "No need to explain. I get it. I totally get it."

Tang Xian'an: "..."