Chapter 31

Chapter 31

Zhou Xiangzhe rarely removed the Pollution Inhibitor from his body.

Over these three years he'd gone through more iterations of the inhibitor than anyone could count — every newest model was always tested on him, both to keep his Contamination Level in check and to keep him lucid.

But those inhibitors did suppress his own abilities, especially the full power of the Deer God Entity's talent.

Invisible Contamination leaked out into the air, and as a fellow Class S Mutant, Lan could feel the shift in it easily.

He thought: guessed wrong. Right now Zhou Xiangzhe's Contamination Level far surpassed the other two Class S Mutants — he'd even started drifting toward becoming a Pollutant himself.

And yet, despite a Contamination Level that high, Zhou Xiangzhe still had his normal capacity to think. That was genuinely surprising.

The bullet was stopped before a transparent wall, but it didn't halt — black liquid clung all around it, and that liquid rapidly corroded the invisible barrier, like a poison that could eat through anything. That was the most terrifying thing about the Deer God Entity.

It was the origin of faith, and the poison that killed the faithful.

Everywhere the Contamination reached, every painting along the corridor began to corrode. The portraits trembled into twisted, terrified expressions, eyes spilling down out of them, until they too were eaten clean away.

What a horrifying sight.

'You're the one who killed Xu Yue.'

The whites of Zhou Xiangzhe's eyes were slowly staining black, the irises still gold, giving him an utterly bizarre look. He said, 'He stayed in the S-Zone because you made him stay. He died because you knew he'd been discovered.'

'I should've realized it was you sooner. A lab this close to Central City — the Academy must have picked their test subjects from the S-Zone. That's why you were controlling Xu Yue.'

Lan watched Zhou Xiangzhe calmly. 'You should thank me. I cleaned up a tumor for your Pollution Control Center.'

'If not for me, guess how many people he'd have killed by the time he was done?'

'You just decided he wasn't useful anymore, so you silenced him outright.'

Zhou Xiangzhe fired again, and the transparent wall in front of him shattered instantly.

Lan turned his head to dodge the bullet, a chill flashing through his pale eyes.

Spatial was only a support talent — being a Class S Mutant didn't change that, because the Class S Pollutant Deer God Entity carried an extraordinarily powerful offensive talent. Its whole body was a non-human monster shaped by the faith of its believers; even the air it breathed out could contaminate an ordinary person.

The cyan faded from his hair, leaving only deep black, and his pale eyes turned back to silver-violet. Lan drew out from inside his coat the book whose contents Shen Wang could never see.

When the next bullet came at him, Lan calmly opened the book and held it before his chest.

With a click, the bullet ricocheted straight off — the book wasn't even scratched.

Who here wasn't a Class S too?

'People are creatures of desire. Everyone moves forward for the sake of their desires.'

Lan flipped the book open. 'Zhou Xiangzhe, what's yours?'

Zhou Xiangzhe surged forward, silver hair flying high, Lan's expression turning hostile as the book in his hand flipped its own pages.

But in the very instant they were about to clash, Zhou Xiangzhe abruptly stopped, and Lan snapped the book shut. They both looked toward the same direction in unison, the frenzied battle-tension around them cooling fast — falling into a deadlock.

'Not good.' Lan frowned slightly, his already gloomy aura sinking even lower. 'Shen Wang's been taken.'

'A mere Class A Contaminant — what nerve.'

Zhou Xiangzhe clenched his hand and shot Lan a cold glance. Finding Shen Wang mattered more than dealing with Lan.

Once Zhou Xiangzhe's figure had vanished completely, Lan looked down at his book and mused.

'You've been making rather a lot of mistakes lately, haven't you?'

'What are you saying? The little brother is a key node, that's why this problem keeps coming up... what? The little brother's still the protagonist?'

'Don't go pushing the blame outward.'

'You're Premonition — a Class S talent. Not Omniscience, but close enough. Be a little more reliable.'

'Still...' Lan turned his head toward the direction Zhou Xiangzhe had left. 'Looks like this time the outcome will be a good one.'

'It's all the Academy's fault. If not for them back then, my little brother and I would never have been separated, and he'd never have met Zhou Xiangzhe.'

Lan concluded darkly, 'So we really do have to tear down this damned Academy after all!'

/

Shen Wang and Lily didn't chase after Lan. They chose to stay put and wait for Zhou Xiangzhe to show up, the researcher beside them cursing at them the whole time.

Before Shen Wang could physically shut the researcher up, the man suddenly let out a horrible scream and clutched at half his face, which had split open. His whole body looked like it was being corroded by something, his eyes dropping out of the eroded half of his face. Lily's expression turned absolutely grim.

A thick wave of Contamination — even stronger than that of [Hundred Eyes] — radiated out across the whole space.

Shen Wang immediately caught a scent richer than before. At once he felt his stomach howling with hunger again, saliva pooling in his mouth on its own. He realized instantly that this Contamination came from Zhou Xiangzhe.

Zhou Xiangzhe and Lan had clashed.

He wanted to go out and take a look, but he'd barely taken one step when Lily caught hold of his wrist.

'Don't go,' Lily said. 'It's dangerous out there.'

But in the very next moment, Shen Wang watched the enormous painting in the reception hall suddenly bulge outward, and in an instant it Devoured them, pulling them inside.

When he opened his eyes again, Shen Wang found himself kneeling on one knee in an empty space. The floor under his feet was cold as ice, and on the wall before him hung a sign reading 'Third Floor.'

'Third Floor?' Shen Wang stood up, startled. 'Where the main body of [Hundred Eyes] is?'

Compared to the winding corridors of the first and second floors, the third was far too empty — blackness in every direction, four paths extending outward, and Shen Wang standing right at their center.

After thinking it over, he chose the path ahead and walked forward.

The path turned out to be surprisingly short. After only a little while Shen Wang reached its end — but what was there gave him a scare.

In a square space no more than nine square meters lay a woman's corpse, in the center of the room. Her face was deathly pale, her black combat uniform stained with blood, a sharp needle-like object piercing her chest. Her eyes were open, but there was no fear in them — as if death were an ending she'd long foreseen.

Lily.

Shen Wang walked over, crouched down, and studied how Lily had died.

When anyone joined the Pollution Control Center they were issued an anti-contamination manual, which laid out standard procedures for when a Pollutant appeared, along with some basic judgment calls. One of them was 'examining a teammate's corpse,' because a dead teammate's body carried the risk of being used by a Pollutant.

Her skin was no longer warm — in fact it was excessively stiff, which was enough to tell him Lily hadn't died just now.

Her time of death was at least three hours ago.

Shen Wang frowned. 'Then who, exactly, was the Lily who was with me on the second floor?'

'Who disguised themselves as Lily and made contact with me?'

Shen Wang stood up, pulled the Communicator from his pocket, and took several photos of Lily's corpse as evidence. Once he'd confirmed there was nothing in here besides her body, he turned to leave — and before he did, he looked at Lily long and hard.

Polar Star always faced high-grade Pollutants, so the death rate had always been high — or rather, every Dispatch Team had a high death rate.

He'd only met her twice; Shen Wang didn't even know what kind of girl she'd been, and now she'd died here just like that.

This was the sorrow of the apocalypse.

Back at his starting point, Shen Wang didn't hesitate — he headed straight in the direction opposite Lily's corpse, trying to reach Zhou Xiangzhe as he walked.

Zhou Xiangzhe was the captain of Polar Star. He had to know about Lily's death.

Unfortunately, this was the stronghold of [Hundred Eyes], and communications simply wouldn't connect. Shen Wang tried several times without getting a single message out. In the end he sighed and shoved the Communicator back into his pocket — he'd just have to tell Zhou Xiangzhe in person when they met.

This corridor was a little longer than the last. The further forward he went, the more uneasy it grew. Strange streaks spread across the walls, covered in blood-red writing.

[Where are my eyes? Who stole my eyes!]

[Did you hear? She went mad after losing her eyes. So awful. Nobody cares about her, and there's no money for surgery.]

[What about her teacher? Just abandoned her?]

[Why does Mother keep me locked at home? I want to go to school too. I want to go out and see the world. Why can't I?]

[What could someone who never went to school possibly paint? I'll laugh at anyone who buys her work.]

[A timid girl like this — just a little coaxing and you'll have her.]

[Why don't I have any talent!]

[Who'd have thought she'd paint like this. How hideous. This whole family line is going to die out in her hands.]

[Won't they have another child?]

[Didn't you know? He's infertile... this is the only child.]

The blood-colored writing scrawled itself across the black wall — as Shen Wang walked forward, it kept writing, as if someone were trailing right beside him, inscribing each stroke in blood. He'd seen this handwriting before: that line at the very start, in the first part of the Gallery, 'Welcome to the Art Sanctuary,' had been the same.

Blood slid down the wall, dyeing the whole surface unspeakably horrifying. An ordinary person standing here would probably be frightened into contamination on the spot.

Shen Wang frowned slightly and covered his nose — the overpowering stench of blood was a little too foul.

Walking on, Shen Wang finally saw a bit of light. The long corridor ended, and before him was another small room of nine square meters.

Unlike the room where Lily's corpse lay, this small room had a long table in its center, with three white candles standing on it, and on the wall facing the candles hung three portrait paintings.

They were three young girls.

The girl in the first painting had no eyes. She clawed at the frame in agony, her mouth gaping wide, as if wailing from the pain.

The girl in the second painting looked timid. She gazed out mournfully, gripping cage-like bars, and behind her stood a woman in a dress, her back turned.

The girl in the third painting wore a crown and was laughing out loud, standing on a stage with a glittering golden palace behind her — but even as she laughed, tears streamed down her face.

Every painting was signed [Hundred Eyes].

'Are you wondering who they are?'

A familiar voice rang out by his ear. Shen Wang whipped his head around — in the doorway, 'Lily' stood there, smiling.

The light flickered, and Lily was gone again. Shen Wang turned back to the portraits — and sure enough, Lily had appeared beneath them, admiring the three paintings.

'Actually, they're all [Hundred Eyes].'

Shen Wang watched her. 'Who are you?'

'I'm Lily, of course.' Lily smiled at him, looking exactly like a normal person from every angle.

If Shen Wang hadn't seen Lily's corpse, given how little he and Lily actually knew each other, he'd absolutely have been fooled.

'Don't change the subject. I haven't finished telling you the story of [Hundred Eyes] yet.'

Lily pointed at the three paintings on the wall. 'Where was I? Right — “actually, they're all [Hundred Eyes].”'

'Because [Hundred Eyes] was never one person. It was three.'

From 'Lily's' mouth, Shen Wang heard a strange story.

A girl was born into a family of painters going back generations, and great things were expected of her. But sadly, she had no talent for painting at all.

For a family like that, the simple solution was to just have another, gifted child. But unfortunately her father was diagnosed with azoospermia — apart from this girl, he could never have another child. So he had no choice but to pour everything into cultivating this talentless daughter.

But no talent was no talent. The girl couldn't paint; her brain simply didn't have that wiring. Even copying others she did terribly.

Her father was crushed, yet unwilling to give up the reputation he had — so he came up with an idea.

He'd find people with real painting talent and take them on as students, and have them all use a single signature, while the daughter accepted the awards on their behalf, muddying the waters.

Anyone who wanted to be his student had to accept this.

[Hundred Eyes] Number One was an ordinary university student studying art. She had talent and was lost in love with painting, but her impoverished family couldn't bear the steep cost of studying it.

[Hundred Eyes] Number Two couldn't escape the grip of her family of origin. She'd never gone to school, had no sense of security, and her weak character made her easy to manipulate.

[Hundred Eyes] Number Three was the daughter — a figurehead with no talent at all, who nominally enjoyed every achievement.

Things carried on quietly like that, until one day [Hundred Eyes] Number One was in a car accident on her way to school and lost her eyes.

The one who loved painting most broke down. She begged the teacher to help heal her eyes — only to find the teacher had long since cast her aside, already preparing to take on someone new.

Overwhelming despair and collapse mutated her into a Pollutant, and her craving to get her eyes back made her sprout countless eyes.

She was jealous of the remaining girls — jealous that they still had eyes, could still paint, could even go on living as before. That jealousy erupted into intense Contamination, contaminating both of the other [Hundred Eyes]. She killed them and gouged out their eyes.

That was the story of [Hundred Eyes].

Shen Wang watched 'Lily,' and only once he was sure she'd finished the story did he ask, 'So which number [Hundred Eyes] are you?'

'Lily' turned to look at Shen Wang, eyes full of mirth. 'Which number do you think I am?'

It was hard to say, because the paintings Shen Wang had passed through held a trace of each of them.

The first painting held the longing after losing one's eyes — the hope for a hospital that could cure eye disease one hundred percent.

The second painting held the Mother in her cage, wantonly torturing the bird trapped inside.

And this final place was a glittering golden gallery, packed everywhere with the paintings of [Hundred Eyes] — clearly a display of the third [Hundred Eyes]' power and status.

Shen Wang thought it over, then spoke. 'You're the [Hundred Eyes] with no talent, aren't you.'

The smile on 'Lily's' face went stiff, even turning a little ugly.

'Why would you think that?!'

'Because in the story you just told, the first to become a Pollutant was Number One. Now, me — I'm the type who loves to doubt people. The more obvious something is, the less it passes muster with me. So I ruled out Number One first.'

'I ruled out Number Two because the family of origin is a hurdle you can't step past — it shapes a person their whole life. And you don't carry that timidity.'

'So that leaves only Number Three.'

Shen Wang tilted his head, her figure reflected in his black eyes.

'Number Three — no talent, but born into a famous family, arrogant by nature.'

'Lily' looked at him coldly, the corner of her mouth twitching once.

She sneered, 'Clever after all. No wonder they all like you.'

'Lily's' face was veiled by a cloud of mist, and beneath it her features shifted bit by bit. When the mist cleared, she'd become someone else entirely.

She was a woman steeped in artistic flair, in a simple dress smeared with colorful paint, but beneath her eyes was a pair of blue eye-marks, and around her body floated violet eye-pupil ornaments. From her neck hung curved horns like brush-tips dipped in paint.

'Number One wanted to kill me, because losing her eyes was too painful, and she was jealous I still had mine.'

'But my pain was no less than hers — only more. I was born into a family like that, and no matter how hard I tried, I could never paint freely the way she could.'

'My jealousy was fiercer than hers! I hate every single person more talented than me!'

Her pupils narrowed into beastlike vertical slits, carrying a terrifying menace.

Contamination burst outward, and the blood-colored writing spread rapidly across the walls of this room.

Shen Wang watched the writing. He stepped back to avoid it as it crept toward the soles of his feet, his breathing still steady, feeling no fear at the scene before him.

He was too clever — the moment he knew she was the third [Hundred Eyes], he'd realized a few things.

'The story Lily first knew through Empathy wasn't your story.'

'Of course.' [Hundred Eyes] stepped closer, one step at a time. 'People only become famous by packaging themselves.'

'Nobody needs a talentless piece of trash. They need a young genius, a martyr who suffered tragic misfortune, an idealist who held onto her dream even in the most wretched family. Playing the victim is the most useful way to make a name in this world.'

'I need the best reputation, the best talent, and the strongest power!'

Shen Wang backed away step by step. He understood what [Hundred Eyes] meant.

After learning Lily was already dead, he'd found it strange.

Lily was dead, and [Hundred Eyes] could disguise herself as Lily. So why disguise herself as Lily to approach him? That was highly unusual.

Though Shen Wang attracted Pollutants when his illness flared, that only went up to Class B and below. Once it reached Class A, it stopped being drawn to him — because Class A Contaminants were dangerous, and his illness was meant to capture food and increase his power, not to serve himself up on a plate.

So [Hundred Eyes] hadn't been drawn to him. She had come looking for him on her own.

'Your Contaminated Talent isn't Artistic Manifestation — because you can't paint at all, so how could you turn your own paintings into reality?'

'Your true Contaminated Talent is this: stealing other people's lives, and turning their lives into your paintings.'

[Hundred Eyes] smiled at him, but there wasn't the faintest smile in her eyes.

'Being too clever can make a person quite hateful.'

Yes — the third [Hundred Eyes] had no talent whatsoever. All her achievements were born of plagiarism; every one of her works had been painted by someone else.

So her talent was to steal lives.

She could turn a contaminated person's life into a painting, and could also use a life she'd taken to disguise herself as that person. That was how she'd turned the paintings of [Hundred Eyes] One and Two into reality, and how she could disguise herself as 'Lily' to deceive Shen Wang on the second floor.

Back then she'd had all of the dead Lily's memories, which was why she hadn't roused Shen Wang's suspicion.

'I want your eyes, and I want your life too.'

[Hundred Eyes] said, 'They all like you. They all let their guard down around you. As long as I become you, I can be right there at their side.'

'Two Class S Mutants — devour just one, and I'll be stronger!'

...So it was that point she'd fixed her eyes on.

Shen Wang thought, speechless: he was probably the only person ever targeted precisely because he had ties to two Class S Mutants.

Never mind that she'd suddenly contacted him on the second floor, demanding he leave Lan — that was probably out of fear of Lan, since Lan was Class S and she was only Class A. She'd even managed to trigger a riot among each Distorted Human connected to the main body of [Hundred Eyes]. At the time Shen Wang had thought it a real waste for someone with talent and maneuvering like Lily's to be stuck doing logistics.

Only, [Hundred Eyes] hadn't expected that after Shen Wang left, Lan would actually follow behind them, going along with them to find the researcher.

Back then 'Lily' had looked surprised — she'd probably been seething inside.

With a Class S Mutant present, she hadn't dared make a single rash move. The gap in class was simply too hard to cross.

It wasn't until Lan and Zhou Xiangzhe clashed that she'd finally had her chance to snatch Shen Wang away.

Fine — thinking it through carefully, it really was a decent plan.

After all, two Class S Mutants had come; the odds of a single Class A surviving were too slim, so better to gamble it all — and as luck would have it, there was a low-grade Mutant here that both of them let their guard down around.

But...

'Aren't you being a little overconfident?'

Shen Wang watched [Hundred Eyes]. 'You think that once you steal my life you can move against them. But have you ever wondered why two Class S Mutants would both let their guard down around me?'

'Even after becoming a Pollutant, you're still that stupid.'

[Hundred Eyes] froze for a moment, staring hard at Shen Wang. 'What did you say?!'

'You really didn't look at what was happening inside the paintings at all, did you.'

Shen Wang placed his hand on the wall, utterly unbothered by the layer upon layer of bloody writing covering it.

Blood-colored thorns grew and spread out from beneath his hand. The instant the little thorns appeared they latched onto the bloody writing on the wall, devouring those contaminated strokes in great, hungry mouthfuls.

'Tasty prey!'

'Master! Good stuff!'

'Eat fast, eat fast — eat it before we get found out again!'

'Watch me chew the whole thing up in one bite!'

The thorns spread across the entire corridor wall faster than the bloody writing could. [Hundred Eyes] stared wide-eyed at the spreading thorns.

Those thorns extended a small budding horn, and they climbed cautiously up onto Shen Wang's body, poking out at his shoulder. Shen Wang's pupils stained red bit by bit, his hair whitening from root to tip. His inhuman appearance laid his identity bare — and yet his body carried not a single trace of Pollutant aura.

'You're a Pollutant?!' [Hundred Eyes] stared at him in shock. 'No — no, that's wrong, this aura isn't a Pollutant's. You're still human.'

'Is this a talent? No — not a simple talent.'

She couldn't help taking a step back.

'What in the world are you?!'