Chapter 85

Chapter 85

Within the Research Institute, the most important experimental subjects were sealed inside life-support pods. They were identical to the metal container once used to transport Subject 07.

Subjects within these pods fell into a state of coma. Forcibly opening a pod from the outside would trigger its self-destruct sequence.

This was precisely why Subject 01 wanted to exchange Lu Yan for the other subjects.

While Lu Yan sincerely believed that interrogating a few more researchers for the access codes would be a far better plan than trading him, he had no power to change 01's mind.

In the face of absolute power, all thoughts and opinions became superfluous.

Even though 01 was consciously restraining his aura, merely being near such a potent pollution source caused Lu Yan's lesion index to climb uncontrollably. Qin Woyu, clutched in his arms, gasped for air, a painful cough rattling in her throat.

Fine, elongated downy hairs sprouted across Subject 03's pallid face.

[Many years ago, a researcher's operational error had forced 03's lesion index past 100. Upon breaking that threshold, 03 did not become a pollutant. Instead, his index plummeted to 13.]

[In truth, 03 had died once. Though he couldn't truly perish, he still experienced agony equivalent to death.]

Likely for this reason, 01 hadn't brought 03 along, instead leaving him in a side room with the intention of retrieving him later.

03 grabbed 01's arm. "Don't... drag unrelated people into this."

No flicker of emotion showed in 01's crimson eyes. His voice was a low, deliberate rumble. "Anyone who can appear here is, by definition, not unrelated."

With that, 01 closed the door.

*

Sub-Level Eight**

It took Tang Xun'an only a few minutes to hear Subject 07's story.

When the narrative reached the human experimentation, the teammate beside him wore a look of stunned disbelief. "How could that be? The Research Institute has regulations! No experiment violates a volunteer's will or human ethics—"

07's gaze remained fixed on Tang Xun'an's eyes. "I have no reason to lie. The Institute now is nothing like it was under Professor Qiao. We met months ago in the Luochuan Botanical Garden. I don't believe you noticed nothing."

"You've encountered plenty of pollutants on your way here. As experimental subjects, every one of them exceeded the permitted contamination standards. The First Research Institute lost its original purpose thirty years ago when the 'Deification Project' began." A small, dancing flame ignited at 07's fingertip. "I am the monster born from that project, standing atop an evolution sequence, codenamed 'God.'"

"You are too. Subjects 01 through 10. The Institute's first ten volunteers correspond perfectly to the ten evolutionary paths foretold in the Revelation. You were fortunate. A father in a high position, who even in death makes others hesitate to move against you."

Tang Xun'an's expression was grimly silent, his hand gripping his sword's hilt until the leather creaked.

Surviving researchers, yet to be evacuated and hiding behind the other Awakened, shouted from their makeshift safety zone, their voices raw with fervor. "Our research is for a better future! Sacrifices are inevitable! If I were a test subject, I would gladly offer myself!"

A flash of violent malice crossed 07's face. The flames around him flared brighter for an instant.

But he quickly regained his composure. "I lived twenty years as a human, over eighty more as an Awakened. I know our situation well. You possess great power, yet in the end, you either succumb to high lesion levels and are euthanized, or you fall in battle against pollutants. The very people you protect don't even see you as human."

"I haven't measured my current pollution value, but I imagine it's not low. I am a pollutant. I don't fear the lesion index. But you are different, Tang Xun'an. You cannot save everyone. I wouldn't oppose whoever you choose to protect. I only wish to take the other subjects. 03 through 09... my blood family is gone. They are my family now."

"I admit, to rescue them, I've had to employ methods that will likely cost many ordinary lives. But once the others are free, I am willing to atone with my death."

Tang Xun'an finally spoke. "Zong Yan. Even if you die, those people won't come back. Mothers losing children, wives losing husbands. Is that a debt your death can simply erase?"

"I sympathize with your suffering. This matter could have been resolved differently. After I returned from Luochuan, headquarters had already begun an investigation. Gong Weibin fled to avoid punishment. That's why I've remained in City A—awaiting further orders."

07 looked stunned.

"It's regrettable that the actions of a few destroyed your trust in humanity. That is not your fault." Tang Xun'an drew his blade, the metal singing as it cleared the sheath. "But the moment you chose this path, reconciliation became impossible. The ten minutes are up. Step aside."

This was the fate Tang Xun'an had chosen for himself.

07 was correct. Subduing him would indeed take considerable time. Important personnel and data awaited on Sub-Level Nine, along with the life-support pods containing the subjects—all part of Tang Xun'an's mission objectives.

Eliminating 07 was, for now, a lower priority.

From the shadows, a slow, mocking clap echoed.

"How noble, Subject 10." Gu Zheng stepped out from a corridor junction, Lu Yan held firmly in his arms. "What if 03 through 09 were your family? Would your choice remain the same? I heard the talk about you in the Institute. They said you valued duty above your own life."

The aura of pollution rolling off him was so dense that Lu Yan could no longer suppress his own aberrations.

Gu Zheng pinched Lu Yan's chin, turning his face toward Tang Xun'an. "What about the lives of others?" he asked with keen interest.

Tang Xun'an's golden pupils contracted to slits. A bestial growl vibrated in his throat. "Let him go!"

07's face paled with shock. "01?! What are you doing here?!" He had planned to rescue the subjects first, then find Gong Weibin to free 01.

"Ah, well, because—"

The moment Gu Zheng glanced away, Tang Xun'an's blade, Huangchen, flashed.

But Gu Zheng made no defensive move. Instead, he shifted his grip to Lu Yan's waist, using him as a living shield.

The blade, trailing cold light, halted a mere inch from its target.

The sword's residual edge grazed Lu Yan's chest, drawing a line of crimson.

Blood vessels webbed the whites of Tang Xun'an's eyes. His jaw clenched so tight the bone ached, his hand trembling so violently he nearly lost his grip on the sword.

A fraction of a second slower.

He would have killed Lu Yan.

The system breathed a mental sigh of relief. [Well, damn. If Tang Xun'an had been any slower on the draw, we'd be a pair of star-crossed lovebirds joining the choir invisible.]

Lu Yan wished the system would study proper language and stop mangling metaphors.

Gu Zheng, as if witnessing the most hilarious spectacle, doubled over with laughter that echoed through the sub-level.

"You're afraid! You're terrified!" He pointed at Tang Xun'an, howling with mirth. "All your pretty words mean nothing when the knife isn't at your own throat. Other people's dead children and wives are none of my concern. I only want the people I care about to live."

His finger traced the cut on Lu Yan's chest, smearing the blood. The motion was rough, making Lu Yan flinch.

"Survival of the fittest. Humans kill more of their own than pollutants ever consume. Where is your justice for that?"

Gu Zheng brought his bloodied finger to his nose and sniffed. "Smells... sweet?"

Almost reflexively, he licked it.

Lu Yan's blood had fused with that from the Wall of Resentment.

It could enhance an Awakened's abilities and exerted a certain influence on pollutants.

For a fleeting instant, Gu Zheng's mind drifted.

He was decades younger, submitting his discharge papers to his commanding officer.

The officer had said, "We're about to promote you. Why resign now?"

The Ember Project was classified. Rules forbade disclosing it to civilians.

01 remembered his own grinning reply. "Reporting, sir! Secret mission assignment! Orphan since childhood, no spouse. If I buy the farm, just pour one out for me at the graveside each Qingming, will you?"

The officer hadn't taken him seriously, giving him a light kick. "Brat. A sniper with your talent comes once in a career. You skated through drills faster than anyone, laziest soldier I ever met. I think you just don't want to serve!"

……

……

His momentary rigidity was obvious. Brief as it was, someone seized the opportunity.

Shen Qingyang, grievously wounded, erupted into motion. His inky-black tentacles swelled to several times their size, lashing out not toward Tang Xun'an, but in another direction.

"Hm?" Gu Zheng's brow furrowed. The tentacles posed little threat, but they were a nuisance—especially with his hands occupied holding Lu Yan.

The massive, dark appendages threatened to engulf him.

Gu Zheng stood his ground. His head split open in a grotesquely unnatural fissure that extended down to his neck, like a starfish unfurling its arms or a carnivorous plant opening its maw. The bloody inner surface was lined with rows of sharp, bony teeth.

The fleshy strips splitting from 01's head clearly lacked the ability to expand and elongate like Shen Qingyang's tentacles.

The collision was instantaneous. The crimson tendrils struck like vipers, sinking into the tentacles and ripping away great chunks of flesh, a whirlwind of grinding blades.

To Lu Yan, it was only a violent gust of wind. The fight was over before he could process it.

A spray of blue blood drenched him.

[Well, well, if it isn’t the little dirt octopus,] the system mused with a touch of pity. [Haven’t seen you in a few days. Look at you now.]

Too gravely wounded to maintain his fully aberrant form, Shen Qingyang plummeted from the ceiling.

His lower body was gone, as if cleanly severed at the waist, leaving a ruin of mangled flesh and bone. His left eye socket was empty, a few thin, black tentacles writhing within—the location of his primary brain, connected to his one remaining heart.

In other words, destroy that tentacle, and Shen Qingyang died.

The severed tentacles shrank to their normal size, thumping wetly onto the floor. They still held a flicker of consciousness, twitching feebly.

"How pitiful. Just one left." Gu Zheng’s gaze swept over him, deep red eyes glinting with cold mockery that swiftly ignited into rage. "You think you’re worthy of killing me?!"

[Talent 271 — Teleportation].

The talent worked only on himself, useless for transporting others. For Gu Zheng, it was enough.

He drove his foot down toward Shen Qingyang’s face.

It had been a long time since Shen Qingyang, as a pollutant, had felt this kind of imminent death.

Yet when that boot descended, his first instinct wasn’t to protect his primary brain. Instead, his hand shot out, fingers clamping like a vice around Gu Zheng’s ankle.

Tang Xian’an’s obsidian dragon wings snapped open behind him. He surged forward, wrapping Lu Yan in his embrace and shielding his back with the leathery wings, a living barrier against Subject 01’s retaliation.

In that split second, Gu Zheng tried to teleport back.

A wall of flame erupted before him, sudden and searing.

The hellfire wouldn’t cripple him, but passing through it stole his momentum, slowed him down for a crucial heartbeat.

It was all the opening Tang Xian’an needed.

Gu Zheng’s eyes found Subject 07, brimming with confusion and fury. "07?!"

Betrayal. The rage of it surged through him, so potent it disrupted his control. White bone spikes erupted from his skin, piercing through from the inside. Beyond the split head and the metallic, ammunition-filled arm, his entire body bristled like a porcupine, covered in jagged spines.

Subject 07 slowly lowered his hand, the flames dissolving back into his form.

Zong Yan’s gaze fell. "I’m sorry," he murmured. "The doctor saved me once, too."