Chapter 73

Chapter 73

Young Lu Yan clutched the scalpel, his expression blank with terror, utterly lost.

Behind him, a profound silence reigned. A mass of black fog churned, expanding, drawing closer.

Instinct screamed at him: do not let that fog consume you.

The will to survive was etched into the genes of every living thing. He did not want to die.

This fog was spreading across the world. In his daze, Lu Yan heard the mournful cries of countless souls.

Corpses littered the earth. Life was reduced to ash.

After the sun set, the world seemed to lose all light. Visibility plunged to near zero.

All warmth appeared to vanish with the falling sun. The air grew colder, and colder still. Lu Yan sprinted down the deserted road as if traversing a glacier.

The cold seeped into his bones, slowing his movements.

From within the fog, tendrils of mist coalesced into a hand that closed around his ankle.

Lu Yan slashed out with the scalpel, aiming to sever it.

But the hand had no substance. The black fog emitted a sound like a mocking, cruel laugh.

More hands reached out, grasping, trying to drag him into the abyss.

A strange, chanting voice drifted from the mist. "Come home. Come home. Come home…"

Where the fog touched, his skin flash-froze, becoming as brittle as thin ice. A single tap would shatter it.

Lu Yan shivered uncontrollably, despair flooding his heart.

Then, a flame erupted into the sky.

Light blazed forth in the darkness, burning away the black tendrils wrapped around him. The fog shrieked.

Black flakes, like the ash of burnt paper, drifted down all around.

The flames wove together, forming the silhouette of a burning man. Featureless, a phantom cast from firelight—warm and brilliant.

On his shoulder perched a small, crimson bird.

In this darkness, he was the only source of light.

The bird let out a clear, melodious cry. It took flight from his shoulder, trailing a long ribbon of flame, and soared forward.

"Follow it," the burning man said, his voice carrying an undeniable authority. "Don't look back."

Lu Yan didn't know him. But something in that tone commanded belief.

He followed the burning bird, stumbling forward in a daze. His heart began to throb with a sharp, sickening pain.

Behind him, the burning man dissolved into a shower of sparks, a magnificent burst of radiance.

The flames reared up, forming a towering wall that halted the fog's advance. This wall of fire stretched for untold miles, a blazing Great Wall standing guard over a fallen homeland.

The flames burned high, but the fog grew denser, the cold more profound.

Unwilling to yield, the fire was frozen where it stood—clusters of blazing, dead flame, like crimson coral encased in ice.

Even in death, it did not go out.

The black fog issued a cold sneer and rolled onward.

The burning bird led Lu Yan all the way to a cliff's edge.

There, like a flower that had bloomed to its absolute limit, it began to wither in mid-air. It dissolved into embers that fell to the ground and vanished.

At the cliff's edge waited a dragon, its scales pitch black. It had fierce, brilliantly golden eyes.

With a low rumble, the black dragon lowered its massive body, dipping its head.

Lu Yan's face was still a mask of confusion. He felt his soul was like cracked glass, on the verge of splintering apart.

He looked back. The black fog was closing in again, more menacing than before. Even from hundreds of meters away, he could smell the thick, coppery stench of blood.

He had no choice. Lu Yan climbed onto the dragon's back, his fingers gripping tightly to the scales on its neck.

The black dragon surged upward, shooting straight into the clouds.

The fog reached the cliff edge and released a roar of fury, the sound of some primordial beast denied its prey.

As if sensing it, Lu Yan glanced back.

He saw a figure step from the heart of the fog.

It wore a face identical to his own, its expression utterly blank.

The figure looked up. Though the distance was vast, Lu Yan felt seen—as if its eyes were not in its skull, but set in the sky itself.

It raised a hand. With its index finger, it gently tapped its own temple. A sickly smile spread across its features.

A heartbeat later, the black fog swallowed it whole.

Lu Yan didn't immediately understand the meaning of that gesture.

His limbs turned to ice, his mind a swamp of confusion and dread. Yet, he somehow knew the immediate danger had passed.

He sat astride the dragon's back, a blood-scented wind whipping against his face.

From this height, he looked down upon the world below.

Vast expanses of ruin. Land scarred and mutilated, like the ravaged corpse of something that had suffered endlessly.

In the pitch-black night, pinpricks of light glimmered, concentrated in a few small, isolated areas.

Survivor bases.

A sharp, stabbing pain lanced through Lu Yan's mind.

He gripped the scalpel. Suddenly, he understood the meaning of that final gesture.

"I am Lu Yan."

His eyes had, at some point, shifted to a silver hue, the whites now webbed with fine, crimson veins.

He raised the scalpel, pressing its tip against the center of his own forehead.

"Find the right… brain? I have the feeling I've failed at this many times before."

Schlick.

Blood welled around the blade. Lu Yan twisted the handle. A chorus of agonized wails echoed in his skull.

It was his brain. And yet, it wasn't.

Lu Yan couldn't hold back a low laugh. "So, you were here after all."

…

…

Divine Kingdom.

Many brains lay scattered across the ground, emitting pained shrieks.

They were like overloaded computer drives, surfaces glowing red-hot before swiftly melting into pools of white cerebral matter. Add some chopped scallions, and they'd probably taste alright.

The souls laboring in the Divine Kingdom felt the earth tremble violently. Cracks split open, swallowing countless white spirits, turning them into nutrient paste to replenish the Sacred One's energy.

When the 23rd sub-brain was dug out, the Sacred One clearly breathed a sigh of relief.

At first, it could still receive some images. Later, the scenes transmitted by the 23rd brain became pure torment—nothing but a swirling mass of distorted fog accompanied by whispers from the abyss.

That thing was awakening. It had almost stirred.

The Sacred One had lived a long time. Since becoming a pollutant, it had forgotten the meaning of fear. Yet, in that instant, it felt a chill that froze it to the core.

Who could spy on a god and pay no price?

Foresight could not. Omniscience could not.

Not even the Sacred One, with its pollution value exceeding ten thousand, could.

Fortunately, it had plenty of brains. And the Divine Kingdom held plenty of souls. Isolated as it was from the world, it also didn't have to worry about news of its severe injury leaking out and attracting a human purge.

The Sacred One compressed itself into a solid meat-pie, curled up in a corner, and fell into a deep, death-like sleep once more.

*

City A, Third Research Institute.

Three days prior, Lu Yan had been attacked by the pollutant known as the Sacred One at the airport. He had fallen into a coma and had not yet awakened.

Seven hours into Lu Yan's unconsciousness, the helpless Prevention and Control Center headquarters transferred him to the Third Research Institute.

Researchers held a brief meeting, their voices hushed in the tense, solemn atmosphere.

"Still not awake?"

"No. We've called in every available psychic-type Awakener we could reach." Researcher A took a drag from his cigarette, sighing at the report. "B-Class Awakener Bai Ze, Hypnosis talent. Attempted to use his talent to rouse 'Karna'. Suffered a backlash and is currently in the ICU. Applied for 20,000 contribution points in work injury compensation."

"A-Class Awakener, The Magician. He only took the task as a personal favor to the Tyrant. His psychic projection entered Karna's consciousness space. He was forcibly ejected a few minutes ago and is currently in the post-talent-use 'imbecile phase'."

Researcher B murmured, "It's been 13 years since the 'Divine Kingdom Operation'. I thought the hidden dangers from back then were resolved. To think the Sacred One has evolved to this extent? A single sub-brain has left us utterly helpless."

Researcher C looked dazed. "Given the rate of pollution spread, humanity is doomed. It's too hopeless. I don't want to do research anymore. While I'm still alive, I should go home and spend more time with my parents…"

A grabbed his shoulders, shaking him. "Snap out of it, C! Our research is meant to ensure ordinary people without abilities can survive! Don't abandon your ideals!"

Outside the Intensive Care Unit.

Ji Wen held a chart, addressing the man before him. "Lu Yan's condition is critical. His lesion progression continues to rise. Vital signs are weakening. We've tried many methods. So far, progress is slow."

Tang Xun'an said nothing. He seemed distracted, his thoughts elsewhere.

Ji Wen continued, "The Sacred One's sub-brain lay dormant inside a normal human host for a decade without detection. I admit, this was a failure on our part."

Over twenty years ago, security checkpoints nationwide—subway stations, customs—had been equipped with gates that could detect pollution values. Even city streets had real-time pollution monitors.

No one expected this sub-brain to have its host live as a shut-in virtual streamer, making money from home without stepping outside for ten years.

After the sub-brain forcibly invaded Lu Yan's consciousness space, that recluse was declared brain dead.

"Due to the Sacred One's unique method of pollution, aside from psychic-type Awakeners, no one else possesses the ability to enter a consciousness space."

Tang Xun'an finally spoke. "What you're saying is, all I can do is wait to collect his body. Is that correct?"

Ji Wen's back stiffened instantly. "Lu Yan's will to survive is extremely strong. I believe he can overcome this."

Tang Xun'an's hand tightened on the hilt of his blade. "I'm going to the Divine Kingdom."

It wasn't a question. It was a statement.

"We all know the Divine Kingdom is at sea," Ji Wen explained with forced calm, "but the entrance has been sealed. It's a high-risk pollution zone. Even as an S-Class, I don't believe you can handle the Sacred One. Moreover, your mental state is less stable than most... and most importantly, even eliminating the Sacred One doesn't guarantee Lu Yan will wake up."

"Even if you wanted to go, headquarters would never approve."

Tang Xun'an was silent for a long time.

"For years," he finally said, his voice low, "people have demanded things of me. Stay rational. Learn to assess situations correctly. Don't feel too much, because I'm humanity's hope against the pollution."

"I am a tool to be used. Tools shouldn't have excess emotions. They should choose the option that maximizes gain."

"People I know keep leaving this world. And I can't grieve too deeply, because it makes the lesion progression spike uncontrollably."

Ji Wen suddenly regretted not bringing a psychologist.

"No one thinks of you as a machine..."

Tang Xun'an's golden eyes met his, their gaze unsettlingly serene. "I don't care what happens to me. Right now, I want to save him. If I just stand here and wait, I will go mad."

A tremor ran through Ji Wen. He opened his mouth to respond, but a shrill alarm cut through the air from the monitoring room.

Inside, surrounded by a nest of tubes and wires, Lu Yan's eyes slowly opened. He stared at the coffin-like metal ceiling, confusion clouding his features for a moment.

In his ear, the system whistled like a street punk.

[Awake at last, Sleeping Beauty.]