Chapter 81

Chapter 81

The suburbs of City A.

Past midnight, the main city center still blazed with light, nightclubs thrumming with dancing bodies, but near the cemetery, a heavy silence had fallen.

Two workers drove a van through the gates after flashing a pass, parking it inside the graveyard before hauling a heavy wooden coffin from the back.

Cremation had been the norm for years. Outside of remote villages, few were buried whole anymore.

Yanping Cemetery, north of City A, was one of the city's rare exceptions, still permitting traditional burials.

"Fucking spooky," the foreman muttered, wiping cold sweat from his brow. "Who demands a burial in the dead of night without a single family member present? Wouldn't have taken this job if the pay wasn't so damn good."

A day ago, they'd received a strange online order. The client claimed his son, a homosexual, had committed suicide during a depressive episode. The family, ashamed and considering it bad luck, wanted him buried quietly at night. The client had provided a funeral home certificate.

The foreman, a former street thug used to shaking people down and no stranger to a police cell, was bold by nature. The hefty sum clinched the deal, and he reluctantly accepted.

The two men carried the coffin to the prepared plot. The cemetery custodian, flashlight in hand, yawned widely, barely awake.

The coffin felt solid, made of dense wood. That wasn't cheap. Add a full burial plot in this city, and the client had to be wealthy or powerful. Given this was City A, maybe an old military or political family. Their odd request became slightly more understandable.

Even if it wasn't, they had to understand. After all, these workers had already been hypnotized, completely unaware.

"Still homophobic in this day and age," the foreman grumbled as they lowered the coffin into the open grave.

"What's next?" his partner asked.

The foreman meant to say "fill it in," but the words that left his mouth were different: "Open it."

They lifted the heavy lid. As the seal broke, a stream of blood, bright red and unsettlingly vivid, poured from the coffin's seam.

A few drops splashed onto their arms, sizzling and burning holes straight through flesh.

They showed no sign of pain, continuing to lift.

Inside lay a young man with long lashes, his body emanating a peculiar, fishy stench.

The Gu Master's eyelashes fluttered. Then, his eyes opened.

Pitch black, with a glass-like sheen, they resembled the eyes of an alien from a sci-fi film.

Beside him, the bodies of the three men began to swell grotesquely, skin sloughing off to reveal raw, crimson flesh. Monsters straight out of a bio-horror film. Or second-stage infected from a Pollution Disease case file.

Above, the moon shone brightly, its edges ringed by a faint, bloody halo. Astronomically, it was a lunar halo, a trick of refracted light.

But tonight, that red ring felt deeply ominous.

The custodian, playing a game in the duty room, heard strange noises outside.

Stepping out of the office, he witnessed a scene that froze the blood in his veins.

Across the cemetery, countless half-rotted corpses were clawing their way out of their graves.

A two-meter-tall figure of raw, dripping flesh took heavy, plodding steps toward him, like a hyena scenting carrion.

[Talent 2 - Life and Death]: The living can die. The dead can live.

...

First Research Institute, Sub-level 9. Room 03.

The Pope lay connected to numerous tubes, pain keeping him unconscious for most of the day.

His eyes slowly opened. A monitor nearby began to shriek an alarm.

Clutching his chest, the Pope coughed violently, expelling great mouthfuls of black blood.

-

Simultaneously, Qinglong Reservoir, City A suburbs.

A van rolled to a stop by the water's edge.

The City Lord was a bundle of nerves, palms slick with sweat. "I've only ever played racing games. First time driving a real vehicle. Thank god we didn't crash or get pulled over."

The Prophet could drive, but he'd lost a hand at Longnv Lake, and it hadn't regrown. One-handed driving was a challenge.

The face on his back spoke. "Worried about traffic cops now?"

The City Lord's cheeks flushed. "It's not worry... It's... respect."

Shen Qingyang, lacking faith in the City Lord's driving skills, had taken the metro.

07, now a small bird, perched on a branch. To prevent local pollution detectors from alarming, its tiny beak had already disabled several cameras. Even as a pollutant, the signal-jamming talent grafted onto it remained.

The location of the First Research Institute was a mystery to most.

Years ago, when the Prophet had escaped, he'd looked back to see an endless expanse of water.

The Institute was built deep beneath Qinglong Reservoir.

The Prophet checked the time, his eyes lowering, an aura of mystic certainty settling around him. "The hour has come."

"The Gu Master's work should have begun."

The Life and Death talent, when only "Death" was active, was better named "Reaper."

Within the range of the Gu Master's pollution spread, all living humans would perish or transform into pollutants.

Those infected by him would become new pollution sources, carriers of a plague to infect more of the living.

Only by muddying the waters of City A, the global headquarters for Pollution Disease prevention, did they stand a chance.

In the Prophet's original vision, the Holy One and Silkworm Mother were to participate. But the Holy One, for unknown reasons, had not descended upon City A, instead falling into deep slumber and losing contact again. The Silkworm Mother had also met an untimely end.

The ordained future had shifted once more.

The Prophet wasn't foolish. Aside from his traumatic time in the Institute, his foresight talent had always smoothed his path. But since this year began, it felt like a curse of bad luck, everything going wrong.

There had to be a reason.

Yet the Prophet couldn't see it, didn't know which butterfly in the darkness had lightly flapped its wings.

Credit was due to headquarters' secrecy protocols. As a rare healing-type Awakener, Lu Yan's records were exceptionally well-hidden. His file listed little beyond "top scorer in new employee assessment."

And in the futures the Prophet saw, Lu Yan was absent.

He could not be seen.

Due to certain changes, Tang Xun'an had not become a pollutant.

But the Prophet already had a countermeasure in mind.

Test Subject 01 had ripened. The sweet fruit was ready for plucking.

If they could find Gong Weibin first, force him to release 01, then even Tang Xun'an would be no great threat.

...

The City Lord took a deep breath, raising his hands. The pixelation on his body intensified, several fingers glitching through each other.

His talent was called World—it could create spaces, and also divide them.

At Qinglong Reservoir, the placid surface erupted. A titanic wave rose, the waters parting down the middle, forced back to either side to reveal the long-submerged entrance gate of the First Research Institute. Covered in moss from disuse, it remained massive and immovable.

The water level surged meters higher with a deafening roar.

Residents kilometers away jolted awake. "What's happening? An earthquake?!"

From the reservoir's depths came a low, rumbling draconic cry.

Qinglong Reservoir was named for the dragon within—a genuine dragon.

A rare animal-type Awakener, like Xiaotian: a massive, azure water serpent.

It was the Institute's first line of defense.

Shen Qingyang was sick of the sight of dragons.

And so, within the towering waves, thick, black tentacles studded with eyes began to rise.

-

City A suburbs. A woman stepped from a private car, a Gucci suitcase in hand.

She wore a sweeping red gown that hid the writhing serpent's tail beneath. Her face was stunning, radiant, as if on her way to a grand ball.

Lü Zhi licked her lips. "Said I didn't want to come... but here I am. Can't let a prime opportunity to collect some 'meat pigs' slip away, after all."

...

...

Lu Yan felt the First Research Institute had chosen a terrible time to blow up, like a third wheel killing the mood. The atmosphere had been good just now. They might have even tried a kiss.

He had four rows of shark teeth. Tang Xun'an's tongue had barbs. Kissing would require perfect timing, the right setting, mutual consent, and no small amount of courage.

Almost the moment the System finished speaking, Tang Xun'an received the message from headquarters.

"Captain Tang! Pollutants invading City A! Satellite coordinates sent to your phone." The situation was critical; the operator patched directly into his earpiece. "Bai Ze, Nineteen, and Lingshan are already en route. Highest detected pollution value is approaching ten thousand..."

Tang Xun'an's brow furrowed instantly. His dark dragon wings unfurled behind him, casting a vast shadow across the room.

He said something that sounded suspiciously like a promise destined to be broken: "Wait for me."

For Tang Xun'an, this was just one of many emergencies. Not worth special mention, and certainly no cause for prolonged farewells.

Deal with it quickly, and he might even be back for breakfast.

Those who could fly had the advantage. A beat of his wings, and he was gone in an instant.

Xiao Tian let out a mournful "awoo" at his retreating back, then flopped to the floor with a heavy sigh, his dog-face etched with worry.

"Lao Tang's always getting called in for sudden overtime," he grumbled. "Hah... even after all these years, I can't get used to it. He always leaves just fine, but comes back covered in wounds."

The system seized the moment to whisper poison in his ear: [See, my good boy? A man whose career is his whole life is no good. Headquarters just snaps its fingers and he runs off, and he doesn't even take you!]

Lu Yan: "..."

Three minutes later, his own liaison officer called.

"Mr. Diting," the voice said, urgent. "Two A-Class Pollution Disease incidents have erupted in City A. Immediate reinforcement is required. Please proceed to the Prevention Center for assembly immediately. A helicopter to retrieve you is already en route."

While waiting for the chopper, headquarters also transmitted an encrypted file via fax.

According to the satellite imagery, the current pollution outbreaks in City A were concentrated in two locations, one to the south, one to the north. The southern site was the Azure Dragon Reservoir. The northern site was Yanping Cemetery.

"The Azure Dragon Reservoir is under attack by high-level pollutants. Current count shows three individuals: the Prophet, the City Lord, and the Blue-Eyed Octopus. Based on the last detection report, the pollution values of all three range between 6,000 and 8,000."

The satellite image wasn't high-definition. Lu Yan's gaze settled on the figure in black robes standing by the lakeshore.

The Prophet was looking up at the sky, a single, enormous human eye covering his face.

Lu Yan narrowed his eyes slightly, couldn't help himself, and used a finger to scratch the eye off the photo.

"Additionally, an unidentified pollution source has been detected. It is unclear if it is a pollutant."

This line referred to the small red bird perched on a tree branch nearby.

It looked like an ordinary finch.

"Yanping Cemetery shows a pollution value around 4,000. The pollutant type is living corpses; furthermore, signs of human-to-human transmission of the Pollution Disease have been observed. The contagion is rapid. Signals in the area are being jammed. Evacuation orders for residents have been issued. Special Operations personnel have already entered the cemetery in an attempt to neutralize the pollution source."

"In addition, brief but intense pollution spikes have been detected near the Great Wall in the suburbs and along National Highway G19. Suspected presence of other high-level pollutants."

It wasn't just Lu Yan who received the alert. Awakeners from several nearby provinces were also mobilized for reinforcement.

From the report, City A currently resembled a ship springing leaks from every side.

Headquarters was scrambling for planks to patch the sinking vessel.

[I recommend you head to the First Research Institute, the Azure Dragon Reservoir site. The cemetery's value is only 4,000 because the Gu Master hasn't really started yet. The other high-level pollutants popping up elsewhere are even tougher—one is Lu Zhi, the other is 01... Comparatively, the reservoir is safer.]

[At least Doggy Dragon is there.]

Even though the system currently viewed Tang Xian'an with all the disdain of a wicked mother-in-law, it had to admit that wherever Tang Xian'an was, there was a profound sense of security.

Even without the system's input, Lu Yan had already decided on the reservoir.

First, the reservoir had lots of water, which suited his abilities.

Second, he'd said he wanted to see the Institute's fireworks show. If he wasn't at ground zero, wouldn't his whole stay in City A have been a waste?

Finally, and most importantly, Lu Cheng was there.

As long as Lu Cheng was alive, Lu Yan's meals just didn't taste right.

Lu Yan loaded his gun, packed ample ammunition into his backpack along with his dagger and bow.

The sedatives went into an inner pocket, close to his body.

He casually tossed a bullet into Wang Yu's mouth, then pulled on his gloves, concealing the mark. He walked up to the rooftop helipad, watching the helicopter approach in the distance. A deep, somber hue slowly bled into his dark eyes.

The moon overhead glowed with an ominous, bloody light.

"The wind is picking up."