Chapter 61

Chapter 61

Since changing jobs, Lu Yan found himself traveling seven days out of ten. Now, after a twenty-day absence, a fine layer of dust had settled over his happy home in K City, making him frown.

So, even though he arrived home at 11 PM, Lu Yan ignored his own aches and pains and launched into a deep clean. He sent Tang Xian’an a message while he was at it, letting him know he was back in K City and not to worry.

In his ear, the System was tallying the results of his Mermaid Island trip. [Congratulations on completing the hidden quest: Mermaid Island. Reward: Wang Yu fish egg +1. Dog-dragon favorability +10. Fishy favorability +10. Forum points +35.]

Lu Yan reflexively questioned it. "Only a ten-point increase?"

[To fit the System’s parameters, I made it up. Feelings can’t really be measured by data.]

[Item consumed: Human Skin Paper -1.]

The System had warned him that the Dream Induction would gradually fail with repeated use. He just hadn’t expected it to fail after only two tries.

Lu Yan pondered; it was probably because he’d stayed in the dream too long the first time.

He had no idea what his "precious son" had done to that poor piece of human skin paper while he was dreaming.

[Your current spiritual power threshold is 3,100. Lesion progression: 19.9%. Account balance: 9,700 contribution points.]

Lu Yan was mopping the floor when he suddenly remembered something crucial. "Didn’t you say I could meet Lu Cheng there?"

The main reason he’d agreed to go to Mermaid Island was because the System said he might encounter the Prophet there.

[He encountered a slight delay on the road. Analogous to driving an unlicensed vehicle for illegal passenger transport and being pulled over by traffic police.] the System explained. [Being unable to produce a driver’s license, the Prophet chose to postpone his trip to Mermaid Island.]

It probably never imagined the fish it had raised for over a decade would just vanish.

Lu Yan’s lips pressed into a thin, displeased line.

[You’ll meet again soon.] the System consoled him. [To be honest, at your current level, you couldn’t kill the Prophet anyway. You’d only risk alerting him… You scored 22 points higher than him on the college entrance exam, but that doesn’t represent everything. For one, he was born 26 years earlier than you, so his pollution value is much higher now.]

The way the System comforted Lu Yan was eerily similar to how the Prophet comforted Shen Qingyang.

Lu Yan didn’t reply. He just kept mopping.

The place was too big, making cleaning slow. Thankfully, his constitution was strong. By 3 AM, the apartment was finally spotless.

Times like these made him envy those who’d grown extra hands due to their lesions. A few more limbs, and maybe he could manage more than seven surgeries a day.

At 3:30 AM, he finally crawled into bed.

"System." Lu Yan placed his hands over his abdomen. "The first Wang Yu I ate formed a symbiotic relationship inside me. The second was steamed. Besides the aberration, they gave the 'Regeneration' skill book. What about the third fish? It was huge, and all I got was a fishtail?"

The mermaid had been beautiful, and the golden tail that grew was stunning. But Lu Yan was a thorough pragmatist. However he looked at it, a fishtail didn’t seem particularly useful.

[There should have been one. Perhaps your aptitude compatibility with the third fish wasn’t ideal.]

[That fish was formed from Its throat. Under normal circumstances, a perfect evolution would grant the talent 'Prophecy.' Its lower-tier substitute is 'Delirium.' They rank 11th and 111th, respectively.]

The descriptions for higher-ranked talents on the aptitude list were sparse. Their abilities were largely guesswork, with no concrete examples.

Prophecy was said to possess the power of "words becoming law."

Delirium, in its original Chinese meaning, referred to the ravings of a feverish mind.

But undoubtedly, both talents were intimately connected to speech.

[Is this the punishment for being taciturn?] the System lamented. [I think you chat with me quite happily. Such a handsome young man, why so reluctant to speak?]

Lu Yan considered this pure slander. There were many times he wanted to strangle it, with no desire to speak at all.

Lu Yan: "What parts did the first two come from?"

[Mouth and heart.]

Lu Yan raised his hand, looking at his palm. A seam split open. The Wang Yu extended a long, soft tongue, its tip forking to form a heart shape in the air.

Theoretically grotesque, but Lu Yan found it rather pleasing.

[With all due respect,] the System stated, [in a while, we may need to find a way to remove our 'precious son's' autonomous consciousness. Its independence seems to be growing.]

[It’s not a good fish. Bad fish can turn on their master.]

Lu Yan asked expressionlessly, "What about bad Systems?"

[I’m a law-abiding citizen! Stop treating me like the villain!] the System retorted, somewhat flustered.

Lu Yan closed his eyes and said nothing.

He rarely dreamed. For someone with a concealed mental illness, dreaming was a rare occurrence.

He dreamed of an ocean. Looking down, he saw a golden fishtail on his own body.

This seemed to be the deep sea. Darkness pressed in from all sides. Occasionally, gigantic marine creatures drifted by. Lu Yan couldn’t make out their forms, only vast shadows, their auras damp and chilling.

The golden tail was long, but still insignificant next to the leviathans, like a newborn fry.

This wasn’t his first time seeing this sea. He was sinking deeper than before.

The sound of the tides in his ears felt particularly alien.

"System?" Lu Yan called out softly.

No response.

He knew clearly this was a dream, yet it felt like something more.

Lu Yan swam forward, manipulating the unfamiliar tail with clumsy effort.

He swam for an unknowable length of time until a dim light appeared ahead.

Humans and fish alike are drawn to light. Instinctively, Lu Yan swam toward it.

Only when he drew near did he realize the light source was a single, luminescent eye.

On the seabed, clusters of fleshy tumors bulged like blisters. Each blister’s surface held a seam.

One eye opened. Then two… countless eyes opened. Before him, beneath him, above him.

Eyes everywhere.

And they began to speak. Not one uttered human words.

Blue whales, orcas, seabirds, tides—a cacophony of countless noises rose, chattering incessantly in his ears.

His mind felt ready to burst. Tears spilled uncontrollably from his eyes.

A flood of repressed emotions surged. Lu Yan clutched his chest, the dull ache registering a moment too late.

He finally understood what the chorus of eyes was saying.

"Go home." "Go home."

"—Go home!"

Lu Yan jolted upright in bed.

He turned. Daylight streamed through the window. The sheets were damp with cold sweat.

A nightmare. He couldn’t recall the details, only the clinging, bone-deep fear that remained.

He got up, his body frighteningly weak—more so than ever before. A throbbing pain pulsed at his temples.

The mirror reflected his current state.

It was a handsome face, one he’d seen for years, but lately, it seemed to be approaching… perfection.

How does a person tend toward perfection?

Or rather, how can a person be perfect?

He tried to speak, but only a faint sound escaped. The potted plant in his bathroom instantly withered.

[Talent #111 - Delirium].

The System had told him before: unless he consumed the fish alive, unlocking a top-tier talent was difficult. But eating a live fish would increase the number of parasitic fish inside him.

Lu Yan had seen what happened to someone fully parasitized by the Wang Yu.

Like that weakened merman who couldn’t even lift his arm, ultimately dying of suffocation.

So, he had chosen the less risky path.

[Yes. Compared to Evolvers, this talent appears more frequently among pollutants…] the System said. [Don’t worry. Delirium is controllable. You’ve just acquired it and aren’t skilled yet. A siren’s song is a form of Delirium.]

Delirium’s effect was to plunge any creature hearing it into a state of chaos. It was particularly potent against humans.

Its effect on pollutants was average.

Lu Yan was silent for a long time. Then, he drove his fist into the mirror. A web of cracks spread across the surface.

In a foul mood, Lu Yan went to the hospital and, without a word, began performing surgeries.

His stamina was exceptional, and no one in the entire hospital dared put on airs around him anymore. The procedures went smoothly.

By 7 AM the next day, when he finally left the operating theater, three doctors who had assisted him had collapsed from exhaustion.

If not for the call from the Prevention and Control Center, Lu Yan felt he could have done several more.

The caller was his liaison in K City, Director Li.

Probably aware that Lu Yan had topped the intermediate-level ranking list, the director’s voice was respectful. "Mr. Clairaudient. Since we received no reply, I had to take the liberty of calling."

"Could you come to the Prevention and Control Center for a brief meeting this afternoon at 3 PM?"