Chapter 9

Chapter 009

Thirteen kilometers separated the containment facility from the Prevention and Treatment Center.

Locked inside, Shen Qingyang had little to do but study his vocabulary book to pass the time. If not for the sudden outbreak of the Pollution Disease, he’d have been preparing for the CET-4 exam. He wondered if the registration fee was refundable.

Nights in the containment block were restless.

They provided meals, but not the kind the aberrants craved. The special medication slowed the progression, but did nothing to quell the gnawing hunger in their bellies.

Every night, aberrants went missing. No one reported it, so no one cared.

Shen Qingyang’s new neighbor was a fish-man in the late second stage of aberration. Barring a miracle, he’d be dragged out for cremation in a few days.

The neighbor tapped lightly on the paper-thin sheet metal wall. "Stop memorizing words. I know you’re too hungry to sleep, too."

Shen Qingyang set his book down with a soft rustle. "Mm."

"Even with the treatment covered, we’re still dead men walking. You hear about the patient in Block 2? The dorm supervisor checked his room at dawn. Nothing but blood on the sheets, bits of flesh stuck to the ceiling. They called it a disease death. Truth is, something ate him in the night."

"But the aberrant that ate him was taken out and 'processed' the next day," Shen Qingyang replied, his voice gentle. "Justice might be slow, but it arrives."

"‘That aberrant’? Like you’re not one of us. A wretched life is better than a clean death. Who wants to die?" The neighbor’s tone grew agitated. "I just got transferred from Block 3. This place is basically the intensive care unit, right? How long have you been here?"

Shen Qingyang thought for a moment. "Most in the late second stage end up here. I haven’t been here long, maybe a week?"

"Hah. Surprising there’s any order at all. Blocks 1 through 3 go feral at night. The supervisors can’t keep up… Hey, buddy. I’m… really hungry."

"There are apples and instant noodles in the room," Shen Qingyang answered softly. "They bring them daily."

The neighbor let out a heavy, dissatisfied click of his tongue. A moment later, the sound of chewing came from the tiny cell next door.

Shen Qingyang’s fingers remained on the cover of his English book. Tonight, he sensed, would not be quiet.

The new neighbor was clearly a troublemaker. Why else would the supervisors have placed him right next door?

Sure enough, in the dead of night, a scraping sound began on the thin metal wall.

A sharp finger punched through the sheet metal with a loud crunch.

Aberrants’ senses were enhanced. The buzz of a single mosquito could keep a whole block awake. Yet, against this racket, everyone remained still.

The aberrants of Block 4 chuckled coldly into the darkness, turned over, and pulled their thin blankets over their heads with disinterest.

The metal ‘wallpaper’ was torn open. The neighbor ripped through the gap, muttering to himself, "Sorry, I know it’s wrong. But I’m starving. Can’t take it anymore. Eaten by me or burned in the furnace, you’re dead either way. Might as well die in my belly. I’ll thank you for the rest of my—"

His words cut off as his bare foot landed on something.

He looked down. A long, thick tentacle. It was studded with fleshy nodules, each sprouting a single eye. Some held pity in their gaze. Others, mockery.

"Is that so?" Shen Qingyang asked gently from his desk.

The neighbor’s neck creaked as he lifted his head.

Shen Qingyang’s face remained human, unchanged. But from the waist down, his legs were gone, replaced by a mass of octopus-like tentacles.

They filled the cramped, claustrophobic room, climbing the walls like thick, pale roots.

Block 4 wasn’t without its incidents.

The first night, there had been one. The dorm supervisors woke to find every aberrant in Block 4 dead. Only Shen Qingyang remained.

Shen Qingyang claimed self-defense. The surveillance footage backed him up.

Though aberrant, he never initiated attacks. He even helped maintain order. And he stubbornly remained just shy of the third stage of aberration. Headquarters couldn’t decide what to do with him.

By the third day, the supervisors no longer had that problem.

They’d concluded that, combined, they wouldn’t stand a chance against him…

Because of his presence, Block 4—the block that should have been the most chaotic—was instead the most orderly ward in the entire containment facility.

Tentacles coiled around the neighbor’s body, allowing no time for struggle.

A mild, pleasant smile still graced Shen Qingyang’s face. "If you understand that a wretched life is better than a clean death, why come looking for one?"

……

……

Wet, viscous sounds filled the small room. Shen Qingyang didn’t eat with his mouth. His tentacles did the work.

They drilled into the aberrant’s skull. Soon, the nearly two-meter-tall figure was sucked dry, reduced to a husk of skin and bones.

The dorm supervisor’s hand trembled as he turned the key and pushed the door open.

The smell of blood hit him in the face, thick in the ten-square-meter space.

Initially, Shen Qingyang’s allotted space was less than three square meters. But as his tentacles grew, the supervisors had been forced to knock through several adjacent cells to give him room.

Shen Qingyang pointed at the desiccated corpse on the floor. "He attacked me first."

The supervisor nodded frantically. "I understand. I understand."

When you can’t win, it’s wise to be understanding. Life in the containment facility was dangerous enough.

"Actually… the reason I came tonight," the supervisor stammered, "is we got a notification from above…"

Shen Qingyang looked momentarily surprised, then his expression smoothed into acceptance. "I see. May I have two minutes to write a will?"

"No, no! Not the furnace." Cold sweat soaked the supervisor’s back. "It’s like this… the Prevention and Treatment Center sent a request. They need two aberrants at different stages to test a new drug. We thought of sending you… Testing has risks, but the standard meds here don’t work on you anymore in your condition… It might be worth a try. Of course, it’s entirely your decision."

Shen Qingyang was silent for a moment. "I have no objections."

The supervisor hurriedly produced a scanner. "Good, good. I’ll record your data first, then you’ll take a vehicle to the Center."

By international standards, once the Pollution Index surpassed 100, a subject was no longer classified as human. They had completed an evolution.

Shen Qingyang rose, standing from his chair for the first time.

His head brushed the low ceiling. The mass of dark, roiling tentacles gathered beneath his torso into a single, shifting knot.

The scanner beeped an alarm as it passed over him, its screen flashing red.

Shen Qingyang. Pollution Index: 99.9.

*

Lu Yan sat at the examination station. Bai Qiushi was to his left, Lin Sinan to his right.

He was about to face aberrants directly. One misstep, and a fragile, non-combatant healing-type Awakener could be killed. Powerful protection was a necessity.

Lin Sinan handed him a small, circular metal patch. "Stick this to your skin. The instruments can monitor your Pollution Index in real-time."

According to Lin Sinan, frequent exposure to pollutants and overuse of one’s talent both drove the Index up. The process was usually irreversible. Bai Qiushi’s four eyeballs, for instance, were out for good. No poking them back in.

Healers couldn’t heal themselves. Healing-type Awakeners were extremely cautious with their own abilities.

"Can I really handle more?" Lu Yan asked the system internally.

He’d digested some on the way, but his stomach still felt painfully distended.

[It’s fine. Don’t worry. When you hit your limit, you’ll break through. They’re washing them and delivering them to your door. Beats hunting lone stragglers, right?]

Lu Yan had to admit it made sense.

The first aberrant brought in was in the initial stage.

He looked recently contaminated, low threat. Only minor facial distortion, not even fully formed webbing between his fingers.

Bound tightly to a chair, the aberrant looked terrified, a lamb for the slaughter.

Lu Yan stood and approached slowly, then extended his hand.

A layer of fine, translucent fish scales shimmered on his skin. Slender, white filaments emerged from his fingertips, rooting themselves into the aberrant’s scalp.

It was a bizarre sight.

But the two veteran Awakeners present had fought pollutants for years. Strange scenes hardly fazed them anymore.

One by one, fish eggs were extracted. The juvenile King Fish inside Lu Yan seemed to sense the danger, lying dormant within him as if in hibernation.

On the monitor, the aberrant’s Pollution Index plummeted. From 57, it fell steadily until it hit 0. The aberrant’s body would need days to fully revert, but his consciousness was clearly much clearer.

"Th-th-thank you, doctor," he stammered.

Lu Yan’s own Index showed almost no change, rising a mere 0.07.

This instrument was far more precise than standard models.

Seeing the result, a look of genuine relief crossed Lin Sinan’s face. This proved Lu Yan could treat the Pollution Disease, and his own data remained remarkably stable.

Bai Qiushi filled out forms, transmitting the data back to headquarters.

"Doctor Lu, would you like to rest?" Lin Sinan asked.

Lu Yan felt painfully full and was about to nod when the system chimed in: [I suggest you keep watching. You might miss it if you wait.]

"Miss what?"

The transition from human to pollutant was called "evolution." But evolution came in two flavors: success and failure. All the aberrants and pollutants Lu Yan had seen before were failed, diseased specimens.

The one being brought in now was a perfect evolutionary specimen.

"A perfect specimen…" Lu Yan murmured. "What's the difference?"

[If I had to put it in terms you'd understand,] the system replied, [it's the difference between a phoenix and a chicken.]

Lu Yan had to admit the system's little trick had piqued his interest.

"I can continue," he said, a faint smile on his lips. "No need for a break. Let's handle this all at once."

Lin Sinan spoke a few words into his radio.

Moments later, four burly officers carried in an iron cage.

It was a cage hastily delivered from the zoo, its surface covered in a fishnet-like electric mesh to prevent the creature inside from escaping.

Inside was… an octopus?

Jet-black tentacles filled the three-meter-tall cage to bursting. Eyes dotted their surfaces, swiveling with a curiosity that bordered on malevolence.

Bai Qiushi’s four pupils darted in their sockets like compass needles gone haywire. He frowned. "This is indistinguishable from a pollutant. Who authorized this transfer?"

As if in response, the tentacles parted, revealing the figure at their center.

Shen Qingyang gripped the bars, his expression one of genuine delight. "Doctor Lu. I never thought I’d see you again."

Lu Yan studied his face, surprised. "I didn’t either."

He’d assumed the property manager would have turned into a frog-man.

"I’m glad you’re alright," Shen Qingyang said, his voice soft. "I’ve been worried about you all this time. Why are you here, Doctor Lu?"

"To treat the sick," Lu Yan answered simply.

Shen Qingyang’s smile widened, his eyes crinkling with warmth. "Then it seems I’ve become your patient again."

Despite Shen Qingyang’s docile demeanor, Bai Qiushi’s gaze remained sharp with suspicion.

Lu Yan took a step closer to the cage, then stopped, extending his hand.

The fine white filaments unfurled once more, but they hesitated as they neared Shen Qingyang.

Shen Qingyang’s expression was encouraging. He even extended a tentacle, pressing it gently against the white threads.

The resulting electric shock didn’t seem to faze him. His smile didn’t waver, proving the high-voltage mesh was little more than a mild annoyance.

The filaments coiled around the tentacle. Sensing no resistance, the juvenile King Fish inside Lu Yan grew visibly excited.

It began to draw out the pollution source.

The system provided a detailed readout.

[Shen Qingyang. Perfect Evolutionary Specimen. Pollutant. Pollution Index: 6100. See? You both started from the same point, but he’s left you in the dust.]

[Aberrant Talents: Mimicry, Life Drain.]

[Aberration Direction: Gigantification, Tentacles.]

He’s already a pollutant? Lu Yan thought, stunned.

[Yes. Mimicry allows him to disguise himself.]

"But he’s retained his cognitive function and social awareness."

[Hence the term ‘perfect specimen.’]

……

……

"The aberration level is decreasing," Lin Sinan announced, his eyes fixed on the monitor, tense and serious. "But the rate is slow."

A full half-hour passed. Shen Qingyang’s aberration level had only dropped to 90.

In contrast, Lu Yan’s own Pollution Index had risen by 2. His spiritual power threshold, however, had skyrocketed by 270. It now stood at 440, nearly pushing him out of the lowest-tier classification.

"Terminate the experiment," Bai Qiushi ordered without hesitation. "This aberrant is not to be returned to the containment facility. He stays here at the Center."

Lin Sinan and Bai Qiushi had trained together, even shared a dorm. It was why Lin Sinan often treated him with a casual lack of deference.

He knew Bai Qiushi well.

Lin Sinan recognized the look in his eyes—cold, calculating intent.

He just didn’t know why.

Shen Qingyang didn’t seem upset. "Thank you, Doctor Lu. Knowing you’re safe… it truly makes me happy."

There was a term in traditional medicine: ‘too weak to withstand tonics.’

Lu Yan felt it described his current state perfectly. He was drained, lethargic, wanting nothing more than to sleep.

He nodded. "Alright. See you tomorrow."

If this was his patient, he would treat him. Pollutant or not.

Shen Qingyang paused, a soft smile blooming on his face, but he didn’t reply.

Cage and all, he was locked inside a sealed, pitch-black room within the Prevention and Treatment Center.

The walls were made of a special material designed to maximally suppress a pollutant’s state.

Finally, Shen Qingyang’s smile faded.

The tentacles in the cage churned, coalescing, drawing inward.

Two legs reformed beneath him.

He looked more human than before. But if anyone scanned him with a detector, they’d find his aberration level had long since crossed the dangerous threshold of 100.

He had ceased to be human on his second day in the containment facility.

Shen Qingyang pulled apart the electric mesh. The high voltage made his hair stand on end, a pleasant, tingling sensation.

He walked to the room’s door.

It required three separate codes. Impossible for any ordinary person to breach.

So Shen Qingyang didn’t use ordinary methods.

A tentacle whipped out from behind his waist, slamming into the wall with a deafening crash.

The special alloy wall crumbled like tofu, leaving a gaping hole.

Alarms blared. Shen Qingyang ignored them. He even took a moment to stop before the mirror in the attached bathroom, straightening his clothes.

At the end of the corridor, Bai Qiushi stood in clear combat readiness, his gaze wary.

[Talent - Barrier]. An invisible wall of force sealed the area, blocking all of Shen Qingyang’s potential escape routes.

Shen Qingyang sighed. "While I don’t mind a fight, I’d rather Doctor Lu not see me like this. Besides, he has trouble sleeping. Too much noise will wake him."

He turned on the faucet.

Then, in an instant, he dissolved into a stream of fleshy nodules and flowed down the drain.