Contamination Prelude

Chapter 17

Xu Yue is dead.

In the car on the way back, Ming Guang said while driving.

'Dead?' Zhou Xiangzhe lifted his eyes slightly, a hint of surprise in them. 'Who handled it?'

To take down a Grade A Contaminant in such a short time—how did he not know there was a Mutant that powerful in Central City?

'I don’t know. He just died suddenly, and the ward was burned along with him.' Ming Guang sighed. 'It happened last night. This morning, Xu Yue’s body was taken away by people sent from the Science Academy. They said they want to study how he managed to hide in Sector S all this time without being discovered.'

The moment Zhou Xiangzhe heard 'Science Academy', his expression turned sour.

Shen Wang watched his expression with some interest. Zhou Xiangzhe was a rather cold person; his tone was chilly and he didn’t talk much, mostly silent. But that iciness wasn’t disdainful—it was just how he was. This time, however, Shen Wang clearly picked up on a subtle disgust.

'You hate the Science Academy?' Shen Wang asked curiously.

'The Science Academy once conducted a human experiment that "could enhance Mutant abilities" and required Zhou Xiangzhe to be the first test subject for the modification. He refused.' Ming Guang answered for Zhou Xiangzhe while driving. 'The modification was a failure. A year later, all the Mutants who had accepted the modification started having rapid spikes in their Contamination Level.'

This time, Zhou Xiangzhe wasn’t in the back seat. He sat in the passenger seat, his golden eyes watching Shen Wang through the rearview mirror.

Realizing Shen Wang was genuinely curious, he picked up the conversation.

'They think that just because they succeeded once, they can succeed again. Using completely subpar experimental results and treating people like lab rats—I hate how the Science Academy doesn’t treat human lives as human lives.'

Ming Guang sighed. 'People say there are two groups of lunatics in the world: one in Sector S, the other in the Science Academy.'

'Even their only successful experimental subject defected cleanly. In the end, they haven’t produced anything except a Grade S dual-talent enemy for humanity.'

'Not everyone is [Codename Lan].'

Zhou Xiangzhe said, 'The fact that Lan succeeded only proves he had the innate potential to be a Grade S Mutant.'

'The Science Academy just hit the jackpot—they got an unprecedented Grade S grand prize among that batch of test subjects.'

Shen Wang listened to their words, then opened his phone and searched [Codename Lan] in the internal Mutant database.

As a member of Polaris, his clearance was high. He could access materials that ordinary Mutants couldn’t see.

Soon, the file loaded.

[Codename Lan: The Science Academy’s only successful experimental subject, Wanted List No. 2, Grade S dual-talent Mutant. Defected and attacked the Science Academy five years ago, causing the 'Fall of the Old Academy', the 'Science Academy Mass Subject Escape', and the 'Old Academy Mass Contamination Incident'.]

[Confirmed talent one: precognition. The second remains unknown.]

[Moves with the new Science Academy labs. Long-term camping and sniping at Science Academy experiment bases. Last observed location: Science Academy Lab No. 3.]

[Those listed on the Wanted List are treated the same as Contaminants. Danger level: SS.]

Shen Wang: ... Wow.

/

As the victim, after having his Contamination Level tested, Shen Wang was allowed to go back. Ming Guang drove him to his apartment complex. Looking at the shabby little building he hadn’t seen in days, Shen Wang even felt a bit nostalgic.

Going upstairs, he found that the door he had kicked in next door had been repaired. He didn’t know if a new neighbor had moved in.

Better not be anyone. If they’re noisy, it’s really annoying.

Shen Wang yawned and used his key to open his own door, but the moment the door opened, he froze slightly.

A melodious piece of music drifted out of the room. It was from his collection. The song playing was called 'Hometown,' an old-era tune. The singer was male, his voice full of emotion, a bold sound brimming with nostalgia.

But Shen Wang didn’t remember leaving the music on before he left, nor did he remember having another person in his home.

He stepped back, glanced at the apartment number, then looked again at the furnishings inside.

Yep, this was his place.

Shen Wang raised an eyebrow slightly.

As if hearing the sound, the young man sitting on the living room sofa listening to music and reading a book looked up. The hood slipped back from the movement, and Shen Wang caught sight of his features. Silvery-violet eyes held a mechanical coldness. Compared to the surface-level chill of Zhou Xiangzhe, this person’s cold was bone-deep ruthlessness.

Shen Wang closed the door behind him without turning around, but didn’t step any closer.

'Who are you?' he asked.

The young man’s gaze rested on him. His hood had fallen back a little, revealing a very thin jawline. Those silvery-violet eyes held neither sorrow nor joy.

Compared to Zhou Xiangzhe, this guy’s menace was far more intense.

That was because Zhou Xiangzhe was a good person, the protector of Central City. Zhou Xiangzhe wouldn’t do anything harmful to humanity, much less hurt anyone on a whim. But not this person. At first glance, Shen Wang knew this was a madman who would drag others into things just to do whatever he wanted.

'In the old era, many viewed “Hometown” as an unconventional love song, sung to one’s own homeland, and also to one’s past self and the family of one’s youth.' The young man spoke in a cold voice. 'Shen Wang, that should be your name now.'

'Do you still remember your hometown?'

'I imagine you don’t remember, because I don’t either. Humans are forgetful creatures. Even I don’t remember the life of my younger days.'

The young man turned off the music player. 'But do you want to go home?'

He pushed back his hood, and Shen Wang was completely stunned.

Because the young man’s face had a strange familiarity, a familiarity that made even someone who never got scared like Shen Wang feel a chill down his spine.

Three seconds later, Shen Wang realized where that feeling was coming from.

Because the young man in front of him bore a resemblance to him—you could even say their features were identical...

They looked alike. Alike as brothers.

'You...!'

'Let me introduce myself. My name is Lan.' The young man sat there holding a book, quietly watching Shen Wang. 'Your brother you’ve never met.'

'Of course, we actually met when we were very young. I remember you, but you were too small, you probably don’t remember me.'

'This is wonderful. I’ve found you.'

Shen Wang got a real fright.

He remembered the name Lan, because he’d just looked it up on the way home.

Codename Lan, Wanted List No. 2, the Science Academy’s only successful experimental subject, a Grade S dual-talent Mutant, and the only SS-class dangerous individual who, after defecting, frequently carried out targeted strikes on the Science Academy.

What was he saying? Claiming to be family? His brother? No joke?

'I’ll explain everything to you.'

Lan didn’t seem to care about Shen Wang’s current existential doubts. He just said very softly, ‘Given our appearances, you should believe a little, right?’

'No, whether I believe you or not doesn’t stop you from explaining.'

After the shock passed, Shen Wang actually calmed down. He spread his hands, not at all flustered by the situation.

Come on, he’d been a patient in the hospital for so many years. He’d seen endless upheavals in life; he wasn’t going to be scared by something this minor.

And honestly, he didn’t have any longing for family.

When he was young he lived in an orphanage, with only one friend. Later he lived in the hospital, and though he was supposedly adopted, it was just a fake name the hospital used to keep him there. In the hospital, he had long witnessed the complexity of families.

Some kneeled and begged the gods to save their families; others signed do-not-resuscitate forms with cold eyes, completely ignoring the patient’s pleading gaze.

Shen Wang never expected his never-before-seen family to be the former kind. He’d long figured that his family died early in the apocalypse—there were plenty of kids both parents gone like him.

No expectations, no disappointments.

So Shen Wang said with interest, ‘So tell me, what’s the story?’

Lan looked into Shen Wang’s eyes, his expression still calm, as if a little surprised by Shen Wang’s coolness. But a few seconds later he smiled, and the chill in his eyes melted instantly. In that moment, this gloomy, cold man in sackcloth seemed to thaw into spring.

His smile was gentle and beautiful, but it was only like this when facing Shen Wang.

'Alright.' He smiled and said, 'I’ll tell you everything.'

And then Shen Wang heard a fantastical story.

Unlike Shen Wang, who had been in the orphanage for as long as he could remember, Lan still had childhood memories. He was three years older than Shen Wang, and was five when they were separated.

He still remembered having a mom and dad. His blurry memory of his father was a tall, straight back; his mother was gentle and beautiful; his little brother was babbling. On sunny days, Mother would hold his brother’s hand and take them out to bask in the sun. Father would go to work every day, and when he came home at night, he would embrace them.

They were probably a happy family, until one day, a group of people showed up at their home.

Lan had mostly forgotten what exactly those people did. He only remembered his mother telling them to leave immediately, to ‘hide among the humans.’

Their home disappeared, and so did their parents. Lan and his younger brother were discovered by an early dispatch team and brought into The High Wall of humanity, but they were separated and sent to different orphanages.

In order to find his brother, Lan escaped from the orphanage, but unexpectedly was caught by the Science Academy while selecting test subjects.

‘From then on, I was locked in the Science Academy and couldn’t leave, and I never found your trace again—until yesterday, when I finally saw you in the future.’

‘The future?’ Shen Wang recalled Lan’s talent: precognition.

Lan opened the book in his hands and gazed at it. ‘Mm. The future.’

Shen Wang walked over, but what he saw was an empty book. The pages were completely blank, not a single mark on them.

Lan like this looked especially eerie, especially with those silvery-violet eyes. He didn’t seem like a normal person, more like a Contaminant.

‘What’s with your eyes?’ Shen Wang asked him.

‘Eyes?’ Lan turned to look at Shen Wang, his eyelids drooping slightly. Shen Wang watched in surprise as his irises gradually darkened, finally turning into a deep black.

‘You can do this sort of thing too, right?’ Lan tilted his head, a hint of confusion in his dark eyes.

Shen Wang: ...

Wait?

Shen Wang had always known he was strange. What was strange was his Genetic Disease, along with his intense appetite for Contaminants, and even an allure for Contaminants when his illness flared up. He’d always known his sickness was not exactly human.

It seemed Lan had a similar illness, and he thought it was perfectly normal.

Damn, doesn’t that make them even more like biological brothers?!

‘Plunder.’ Lan uttered a word.

‘Able to seize the Contamination Talent of other Contaminants for my own use. This is a talent inherited from our father.’

‘Because our father is the pinnacle of the Zero Contamination Zone, the absolute king who rules all Contaminants, the SSS-class Contaminant, [Tyrant].’

Lan said with a tone so matter-of-fact it was arrogant:

‘What’s theirs is ours. It’s that simple.’