Abyss of Memories

Chapter 14

Shen Wang hid behind a wall, exhaled, and peeked out. The red in his irises gradually receded to black, and the thorns swiftly retracted into his body as his appearance returned to normal.

He straightened his collar, then stepped out — and came face to face with Zhou Xiangzhe. Just his luck.

...Fucking perfect timing.

‘You're here?’ Zhou Xiangzhe spoke first.

Shen Wang was about to answer when Zhou Xiangzhe suddenly closed in, his hand pressing forward, shoving Shen Wang back against the wall.

What?! Had he been found out?

‘You...’

‘Wait.’ Zhou Xiangzhe reached out with his other hand, and his black-gloved fingers plucked a vivid petal from the back of Shen Wang's neck.

A Blood Thorn flower petal.

Tch. He'd been so focused on returning to normal he forgot — standing in the center of the flower sea, naturally a petal or two would land on him.

Shen Wang's thoughts teetered: Fight him? Or... fight him?

Just as he was weighing his chances, Zhou Xiangzhe spoke. ‘You ran into Blood Thorn?’

Zhou Xiangzhe had followed the direction Blood Thorn fled and found Shen Wang instead. A normal person wouldn't equate a Contaminant with a human; the instinctive assumption would be a brief encounter — hence the petal.

‘Mm?’ Shen Wang nodded, casual, even a little regretful. ‘Guess so.’

‘Can you let go of me now?’

Only then did Zhou Xiangzhe register the situation. He withdrew his hand and freed Shen Wang from the wall.

Shen Wang rubbed his wrist, his gaze fixed on Zhou Xiangzhe's eyes, a flicker of curiosity in their depths.

‘So what brings Zhou-dui here? This is just a Grade C Contamination source.’

Zhou Xiangzhe raised an eyebrow. He met Shen Wang's gaze for a beat before looking away, but his understanding of the current Shen Wang had sharpened considerably.

In such a short time, Shen Wang had not only identified the Grade C source and located its core, but also consciously evaded a Grade A Contaminant. Every bit of it pointed to someone cautious and observant.

Someone like that was perfectly suited for a dispatch team.

And it was in that moment that Zhou Xiangzhe finally, truly, began to pull Shen Wang out of the shadow of someone in need of protection and reassess his capabilities as a Mutant.

Still thinking, he answered the previous question offhandedly. ‘I came to bring you back.’

Shen Wang was baffled.

He was just a rookie Polaris dispatch member who hadn't even run a mission yet — why would Zhou Xiangzhe come fetch him personally?

But Zhou Xiangzhe clearly wasn't keen on explaining. He just told Shen Wang to follow.

Shen Wang clicked his tongue and fell in behind. They walked a few dozen meters before the flower sea he'd left behind came into view. It was still running perfectly, thorns churning within it, seeming to sense their master’s presence and trying to crawl his way.

Shen Wang hurriedly sent them a mental signal — get the hell away. Do NOT come over.

So the thorns and flowers, aggrieved, rolled off in the opposite direction.

‘Don't go near that flower sea. It's a trap set by the Grade A Contaminant Blood Thorn,’ Zhou Xiangzhe said at almost the same time.

Shen Wang answered casually, ‘A flower sea inside a Contamination source is suspicious no matter how you look at it. I doubt anyone would walk in.’

“Not necessarily.” Zhou Xiangzhe was quite wary of Blood Thorn. “This flower sea has Mental Contamination. An ordinary person would be lured the instant they saw it. We can only be thankful it's isolated by the Isolation Barrier—a Grade C contamination source—and not inside Central City.”

No need for gratitude.

Shen Wang thought: He wouldn't release something like that in Central City where people live. He wasn't that monstrous.

He stepped forward and walked alongside Zhou Xiangzhe, saying nothing.

Zhou Xiangzhe glanced at him, a subtle flicker in his golden eyes, but he didn't comment, nor did he refuse.

Truth was, Zhou Xiangzhe didn't like walking ahead of others. But too many people respected him too much — and feared him.

Only Shen Wang, with his prickly temper, wouldn't be scared even without recognizing who he was.

The thought almost made Zhou Xiangzhe laugh. He'd never imagined a bad temper could count as a virtue.

They returned to Building Two together. Jiang Mengchi was still sitting in the same spot, his gaze hollow, staring ahead with no expression or movement.

‘You didn't deal with him?’ Shen Wang was a little surprised.

Zhou Xiangzhe looked at Jiang Mengchi. ‘The Controller.’

‘And inside a Contamination source, clearing out a Contaminant is wasted effort. Best practice is to isolate the whole source along with everything inside it.’

Jiang Mengchi's best outcome would be to stay buried here forever, sealed away with this Grade C source, once Zhou Xiangzhe took Shen Wang out.

Zhou Xiangzhe took a few photos of Jiang Mengchi and jotted down some data, then said, ‘Wait here. I'll go check the exit point.’

‘Shen Wang, keep watch over the perimeter. Stay alert.’

‘Yeah.’ Shen Wang nodded, calm and easy.

Zhou Xiangzhe didn't mind. He gave a mild shake of his head and turned to leave, not a single sharp word.

The moment Zhou Xiangzhe was out of sight, Jiang Mengchi's fingers twitched. The Controller on his wrist crackled with a sound like electricity, and his whole body spasmed with a violent noise.

Shen Wang turned to look at him.

Jiang Mengchi tilted his head crookedly and asked, ‘What's your relationship with Zhou Xiangzhe?’

‘Me and Zhou Xiangzhe?’ Shen Wang sat on a rock next to Jiang Mengchi, the notebook he'd tossed aside earlier back in his hands. He flipped through it idly, utterly unhurried by the situation.

‘Captain and team member, I guess?’

Jiang Mengchi cocked his head. ‘Really, just that?’

‘What else?’

‘Zhou Xiangzhe is Central City's protector. His Polaris is the strongest special operations team in the city. But everyone respects him — and keeps their distance.’

‘Because he's the most severely Aberrated Mutant in this world.’

Shen Wang was genuinely jolted. He turned to Jiang Mengchi. ‘What did you say?’

‘Aberrated? Aside from his hair and eye color, where's the sign of Aberration?’

‘I didn't get it before either. I just thought he was unapproachable.’ Jiang Mengchi lowered his head, staring at the ground. ‘Not until now — until I became like this — did I finally sense something wrong. There's an aura of decay from him. His Contamination Level is definitely over 80%.’

‘Other Mutants can't pinpoint it. They just feel something off by instinct, so they treat it as respect and steer clear. In truth, they're afraid of him.’

But Zhou Xiangzhe was too irreplaceable. As long as he showed no obvious signs of mental instability, the Anti-Contamination Center would not force him into Sector S for treatment.

Shen Wang had wondered about Zhou Xiangzhe's white hair, his golden eyes — even why Central City residents weren't fazed by his unusual appearance. But he'd never guessed Zhou Xiangzhe was a Mutant with a critically high Contamination Level.

‘But.’ Jiang Mengchi looked at Shen Wang again. ‘When he looks at you, he seems... human.’

Zhou Xiangzhe really shouldn't have entered a Contamination source. The airborne Contamination here was far denser than dealing with a single Contaminant. Given his condition, coming inside would inevitably raise his Contamination Level.

That was unexpected news.

Shen Wang thought: Contaminating an S-grade Mutant was incredibly difficult. But Zhou Xiangzhe had actually killed a Grade S Contaminant.

That was the deed that forged his reputation in Central City, making him the undisputed Strongest Mutant.

But that raised a new question.

Given Zhou Xiangzhe's complicated physical state, why would the Anti-Contamination Center let him enter Qianzhen Residential Area? This was just a standard Grade C Contamination source — there was no need for Zhou Xiangzhe at all.

Shen Wang pondered, and as he did, he felt something poking him from behind.

Assuming it was Jiang Mengchi, he ignored it.

The poking grew harder. Shen Wang frowned slightly. ‘Quit bothering me.’

‘...Who are you talking to?’ Jiang Mengchi's voice was slow and halting.

Shen Wang blinked. He looked at Jiang Mengchi a short distance away and belatedly realized Jiang Mengchi was not close enough to poke him — unless his hand had Aberrated five meters long.

So Shen Wang turned around, wholly unfazed by any potential jump-scare behind him.

Jiang Mengchi's gasp came faster and louder than his, because Shen Wang didn't gasp — he only wanted to curse.

Behind him was a tangle of three or four thorny vines, vivid flowers blooming along them. They had crawled all the way from the distant Contamination Source Core, and when they caught Shen Wang's attention, they reared up high like an eager offering. Impaled on the ends of the thorns was a gruesome Aberrant corpse.

They even waggled as if showing off — as if saying:

‘Master, I went hunting!’

‘Master! Look at the prey I brought back!’

‘Master, praise me! Come on, praise me!’

Shen Wang: ......

He distinctly remembered unleashing a Contamination Talent, not a pet, right???

Patter patter — footsteps approached in the distance. Zhou Xiangzhe was coming back.

‘Go! Now.’ Before Zhou Xiangzhe got closer, Shen Wang hissed urgently, ‘Get back!’

The thorns had the heart to please but, presumably, no brains. They totally missed Shen Wang's meaning, assuming instead that he was refusing their prey.

So they tried even harder to shove the Aberrant corpse at him.

‘Master! Prey! Yours!’

Fuck... fine, fend for yourselves.

The footsteps grew clearer — then stopped abruptly. The instant they halted, the Aberrant corpse in front of him exploded with a bang. It was so sudden that Shen Wang had to dodge fast to keep the fluids from splashing onto him.

Once clear, Shen Wang looked to the side in feigned alarm.

Zhou Xiangzhe stood there, his golden eyes reflecting those three or four thorny vines. His gaze was so cold Shen Wang almost didn't recognize him.

Only then did Shen Wang truly register that the Zhou Xiangzhe before him was the invincible, ice-faced god of war from the news.

‘Blood Thorn.’ Zhou Xiangzhe's voice was cold enough to chip ice. ‘You have a death wish.’

Daring to attack Shen Wang when he wasn't there!

Shen Wang — Blood Thorn himself: ......

He didn't know why, but he felt a wave of inexplicable awkwardness.

The thorns flailed in the air, as if searching for the prey that had just been in their grasp. But the moment they registered Zhou Xiangzhe, even their spines went rigid — like they were screaming.

‘That vicious human!’

So the thorns bolted backward. No need for further urging from Shen Wang — they vanished instantly. Very quick on the uptake.

Zhou Xiangzhe ignored the fleeing thorns. He quickly helped Shen Wang up, worry plain in his eyes. ‘Shen Wang, are you all right?’

Actually, he was fine. They just came to show their master some affection.

But somehow saying 'I'm fine' now would feel like a total waste of Zhou Xiangzhe's concern.

So Shen Wang immediately put on a frightened act. ‘That was terrifying!’

Jiang Mengchi, who had watched the entire scene unfold: ......

Truly terrifying!