Chapter 51

Chapter 51

In the end, aside from tightening Central City's defenses, nothing else came out of the discussion.

Apart from the extra line of text and the holes chewed into them by teeth, each Flyer really was just an ordinary Flyer—no Contamination on it at all. The Pollution Control Center even tried calling the number, and the call actually went through, except it got hung up the very next second.

Call again, and you got a notice that you'd been blacklisted.

Oh, a fish running a business that actually blacklists its customers!

Someone suggested extracting DNA from the bite marks for a comparison, then got talked out of it by everyone's strange looks—after all, in this era, the population had plummeted, the Pollutants had basically destroyed the pre-apocalypse gene banks, and post-apocalypse gene collection had become difficult thanks to all the chaos.

So even if they extracted the DNA, there'd be nothing to match it against.

Still, this time Flyers had turned up inside Central City too, which indirectly soothed the unrest at the Outer Wall—after all, if even Central City couldn't keep them out, the Outer Wall obviously couldn't either, and if things really went wrong and people had to run, the Outer Wall would definitely run faster than Central City.

Their Outer Wall administrator was a Class S Mutant, after all!

Thinking about it that way, the protestors immediately packed up and went home.

After the meeting ended, Shen Wang left with both hands in his pockets, walking forward with his head lowered, thoughts swimming in his dark eyes.

He wondered how Lan was doing right now.

That morning Shen Wang had wanted to ask around about the Academy, but it'd be a little strange for a Dispatch Team member with no business with the Academy to be poking around for news of it. So he just went straight to his superior and said he wanted to file a complaint against the Academy—the reason being that he'd inexplicably walked into a Class S Contamination Source, all because the Academy's equipment had malfunctioned and sent him down the wrong route.

If the Academy didn't apologize and compensate him, he'd take them to court.

He came in hot and full of righteous fury, and the superior he'd cornered got a splitting headache over it, finally telling Shen Wang that if he really wanted compensation, he should come back in a while.

Because the Academy had run into some trouble and was in internal chaos—and since they were technically allies on the same front, give them some breathing room.

Shen Wang immediately understood that Lan had probably succeeded, and pulled off something big at that.

Truly worthy of him.

Speaking of which, Shen Wang was reminded of his own family situation.

After parting from Lan, he'd looked into news of their Mother. It was a classified file, but if you dug through the Wanted List you could still turn up a few things—she was a wanted criminal, after all, and they'd describe some of her 'crimes.'

On the Wanted List, the No. 1 Mutant was called the Dark Witch.

No photo, no name, no features—just a single description: she was a witch so dangerous that even reading her name aloud could drive you mad.

Her face, her voice, her breath—everything about her was like poison; one glance and the poison would seep into your very organs.

She had once been a famous pop star, the public's darling on screen, the first Class S Mutant to Awaken after the apocalypse. On the very day of her Awakening she'd driven an entire city mad—people fighting over her, going insane at losing her—a whole city driven crazy in a single night.

Afterward the Pollution Control Center forcibly took her into custody and contained her, but her bewitching power still lured the early Pollution Control Center into falling apart.

Unfortunately for them, she was no little rabbit waiting to be slaughtered—she escaped the Pollution Control Center and vanished, never to be seen again.

Later the Pollution Control Center placed her at the very top of the Mutant Wanted List.

Shen Wang let out a faint sigh. 'What a pain.'

A family background this complicated was more terrifying than his own illness.

Once a Mutant reached a certain Contamination Level, Mental Aberration would set in. Mutant Mental Aberrations came in all kinds—even the 'self-destructive' type, like Zhou Xiangzhe. Shen Wang could perfectly well pass off his own urge to Devour Pollutants as a Mental Aberration.

But no one would believe that the brother of the defector Lan, the son of the No. 1 on the Wanted List, the very child of the 3S-Class Pollutant Despot, could be any kind of good person.

Once his identity was exposed, Shen Wang truly wouldn't be able to live among humans anymore.

Shen Wang walked out of the Pollution Control Center's main gate.

Since this trip to the Pollution Control Center wasn't for a mission, he hadn't worn his work uniform. Spring was gradually arriving, flowers blooming in the warm air, sunlight spilling over him. Shen Wang had changed into a thin black jacket, a snug white turtleneck underneath—a simple black-and-white pairing with no other ornament, which, paired with his naturally gentle air, made him look exceptionally clean and easy on the eyes.

People nearby would instinctively glance at him once or twice—after all, someone this good-looking was a rare sight.

The moment he stepped out of the Pollution Control Center's gate, Shen Wang stopped, because he spotted Zhou Xiangzhe standing there.

The young man was looking at the newly bloomed flowers, their vivid color reflected in his eyes—charming, really.

Shen Wang couldn't help smiling. He walked over and wrapped his arms around Zhou Xiangzhe from behind. 'Morning, boyfriend.'

Zhou Xiangzhe's eyes brightened—though it was hard to say whether it was because of Shen Wang's gesture or what he'd called him.

He just looked a little happier than he had a moment ago.

'Morning.' Zhou Xiangzhe turned to face Shen Wang, his tone as earnest as ever. 'I was waiting for you.'

They hadn't seen each other once since returning to Central City.

As the Polaris Team captain, Zhou Xiangzhe had a pile of work, plus the leftover issues from the Class S Contamination Source to deal with, while Shen Wang needed to go home and rest—so this was the first time they'd seen each other since.

It had only been such a short while, yet Zhou Xiangzhe found himself missing him this much.

During the meeting he'd even felt unable to take in a word of what the higher-ups were saying, helplessly turning to look at Shen Wang seated beside him, glance after glance after glance.

Since getting together with him, Zhou Xiangzhe had finally understood what 'a day apart feels like three autumns' meant.

Shen Wang asked with a smile, 'Waiting for me to do what?'

'I found a doctor.'

Missing someone was a one-person affair, but he wanted Shen Wang to be a little better.

Zhou Xiangzhe said, 'So I waited for you. I'll go with you to see about it.'

Only then did Shen Wang remember that, even with the time that had passed, he'd had an episode in front of Zhou Xiangzhe—had even bitten him hard.

After leaving the Gallery, Zhou Xiangzhe had gone into the S-Zone, then immediately into the Orphanage because of the Class S Contamination Source. He'd never had the time to deal with this. Now that things had reached a pause, he finally had time to think about Shen Wang's illness.

He'd grown up watching Shen Wang suffer, and knew how hard it was for him.

As a child there was nothing he could do, but now he had enough power and standing to find the very best doctor.

In truth, there was no good way to treat it.

Setting aside the fact that Shen Wang's illness was a physiological problem—and one that had its solution—even if it weren't, the post-apocalypse Novel Genetic Disease was still incurable; most people didn't live to their prime, and the few who survived carried it their whole lives.

But Shen Wang knew what Zhou Xiangzhe meant—knew he just didn't want him to suffer, and so wanted to try whatever he could.

'I don't like doctors.' Shen Wang said, 'But if you found him, I can give it a try.'

Zhou Xiangzhe gazed at Shen Wang, his golden eyes mirroring Shen Wang's figure.

'But you have to come back home with me first.'

Shen Wang said, 'I've got something at home I need to pick up.'

/

It wasn't Zhou Xiangzhe's first time at Shen Wang's place, but it was the first time he'd stepped through the door.

Last time he'd come, he'd just run into Shen Wang on his way back, and to keep him from slipping away he'd gone so far as to invite him into Polaris—just so he wouldn't lose him again. This time he was being invited in as a boyfriend, and though there wasn't much in the way of charged undertones, it still left Zhou Xiangzhe a little giddy.

Shen Wang's home was tiny—still the room the Pollution Control Center had assigned him at the very start. It was tucked away in an out-of-the-way spot, one bedroom and one living room, the living room barely big enough for a single couch.

There wasn't much sign of life in the place either—at most a few clothes hung on a rack; even the cups on the coffee table were paper, and there wasn't much trash in the bin.

'You could apply to switch residences.'

The size of a place was no problem at all for Zhou Xiangzhe—he was never picky about that. The only thing he was picky about was cleanliness.

This was the edge of Central City. The room wasn't exactly run-down, but it was poorly finished, some corners looking grimy—not actual dust, but it still made Zhou Xiangzhe a little uncomfortable. Shen Wang was a normal person too; the corners he couldn't reach to clean, he just left be—he wasn't a neat freak, after all.

'Forget it.' Shen Wang declined. 'I don't like moving. This place is fine. If there's business, we meet at the Pollution Control Center; if not, having a private space is nice too.'

Besides, Lan came by now and then, and the closer to the Pollution Control Center, the easier it'd be to get caught.

He didn't want him and his brother getting nabbed together just yet.

Thinking it over, Shen Wang smiled and looked at Zhou Xiangzhe. 'Whenever you get around to asking me to move in with you, I'll move then.'

In an instant every word Zhou Xiangzhe had jammed in his throat—now he couldn't get a single one out.

Move in together? Move in... moving in together, huh.

It wasn't like they'd never slept in the same place as kids, and they'd shared a bed back in Team Two too—but none of that was living together in the real sense.

It was right about then that Zhou Xiangzhe started wondering whether his little place was a bit too small—whether it really suited two people sharing it.

Shen Wang didn't want to move. But he was going to have to.

'What are you thinking about?' Shen Wang watched him.

Zhou Xiangzhe blurted out, 'Moving in together...'

Only after the words were out did he realize what he'd said. He shut his mouth, feigning composure, and sat quietly on the couch without speaking again.

Polaris captain Zhou Xiangzhe was a man with a cold face, who never got flustered no matter what he did—not even saying the words 'moving in together' in front of the person he liked. Mm, that was right, exactly so.

'Then take your time thinking it over. You won't get your way anytime soon—my brother won't approve.'

...His brother won't approve, huh.

Zhou Xiangzhe's head snapped up, his golden eyes turning to Shen Wang with surprise in them. 'Brother?'

'Did I not tell you?' Shen Wang said. 'Turns out I might not be an orphan—just lost by my parents. A while back I met up with a relative, and after swapping some information it seemed to line up. Maybe I really do still have family alive in this world.'

Zhou Xiangzhe was silent for a moment, a flicker of hesitation passing through his eyes.

His first reaction wasn't to be happy for Shen Wang—it was to think of another problem entirely.

Shen Wang said he'd met someone who seemed to be his brother—but in Zhou Xiangzhe's memory, there was only one person who'd had any strange contact with Shen Wang during this period.

The defector Lan.

Right. Only that one person.

...Was he overthinking it?

'And there's this.' Shen Wang took a box out from under the table and set it down in front of Zhou Xiangzhe.

'I looked for a long time and couldn't find the exact one you wanted, but I found a shop that does custom orders.'

Zhou Xiangzhe looked at the smile in Shen Wang's eyes, and realized something.

He opened the box in front of him with both hands, and saw the umbrella.

The canopy was pure white with a faint translucence—at a glance, as exquisite as the paper umbrellas you only ever see on TV. There was a very light, faint pattern painted across it, and if you looked closely it seemed to let the light through, like sunlight scattering over the umbrella's surface.

'I used the most special material,' Shen Wang said. 'Now you don't have to worry about it breaking.'

'Do you like it?'

'I do.' Zhou Xiangzhe looked at Shen Wang. 'Anything you give me, I like.'

Because what I like isn't the gift itself—it's you, my Xiaoshiwu.

/

Next door, the Eagle Hound Sect crouched on a chair, staring at the person in front of him. After watching a while, he hopped down off the chair.

Lan was pacing back and forth around the room without stopping, flipping through the book in his hands now and then. As he read, the veins on his forehead would bulge and he'd snap the book shut viciously, only to repeat the whole process again a moment later—like an old witch working out how to poison Snow White.

Tsk, tsk, tsk.

They'd only arrived here that morning. Under questioning, the Eagle Hound Sect had finally learned this was a room Lan had run off to the Pollution Control Center to get assigned to himself—and that the person living next door was, of all people, his little brother.

Never mind that they'd spent the whole night before roughing it out in the open; Lan flat-out refused to go into Central City, until deep in the night he'd found a way to deal with the tracking chip in his head, and only then did he go in.

Turned out he was worried about dragging his little brother into it.

'...You really are a creep,' the Eagle Hound Sect said. 'Eavesdropping on your own brother through the wall.'

'That's not the issue. The issue is that as a guardian, I didn't give my permission.' Lan's face grew darker still. 'You don't get the pain of being a brother. My dear little brother, the one I keep right at the tip of my heart—snatched away by another man. The heavens won't stand for it!'

The Eagle Hound Sect twitched his nose and sniffed, confirming for the fifth time that this room was utterly bare—not a scrap of food in it.

He was so hungry. He hadn't eaten anything since last night.

So the Eagle Hound Sect just shot him a look of disdain. 'They're freely in love and all sweet about it. You opposing it is only going to make your brother hate you.'

'That's exactly the part the heavens won't stand for!'

Heavens, his dear little brother actually liked the other guy too—how infuriating!

The Eagle Hound Sect thought: the part the heavens really won't stand for is that a bastard like you even has a brother. And you're a brother-con on top of it?

'Your place has no food. Does your brother's place have any? I'm hungry.'

'I want to eat eggs.'

Lan: ...

'How impressive. You're a wolf, and all you want to eat is eggs?'

'How impressive. The most famous traitor to the Academy, and you can't even produce a single egg!'

'As a Class S Mutant, you still need to eat?'

'Huh? You're a Class S Mutant, so you don't need to eat?'

Lan nodded earnestly. 'Correct.'

The Eagle Hound Sect: ...?

What model of creep was this? Didn't even need to eat?!

'I shouldn't have brought you back,' Lan said with deep regret. 'Bring you home and I even have to feed you. Such a hassle. Eating is such a pain in the neck—how have you not evolved past it yet?'

The Eagle Hound Sect rolled his eyes and thought: oh, how novel—a person who doesn't need to eat.

With a click, the door next door opened.

The Eagle Hound Sect sensed the two people next door leave together. They went downstairs and soon vanished from in front of the building.

'They're gone.' The Eagle Hound Sect, not the least bit afraid, asked as calmly as if he hadn't heard anything before: 'Can I go find food now?'

Lan pushed open the window to look outside and didn't answer.

Once he'd confirmed Shen Wang and Zhou Xiangzhe were gone, Lan started sending messages, at the same time contacting You Yu, whom he'd 'released from his sentence.' The timetable was moved up—they had to get to Chenmo West City as soon as possible. You Yu's revenge had to be carried out fast; they had to arrive by the day after tomorrow.

And if they didn't make it, the Fish-Killing Blade would be waiting!

You Yu, who by now had already fled who-knew-how-far away: ...damn it.

Meanwhile, the Eagle Hound Sect waited a while and still got no answer from Lan. He shrugged and turned to go grab some food from next door.

And if next door had nothing, then the door past next door.

Luckily, there was still some food in the fridge at Shen Wang's place—just a little stale, left over from before.

The Eagle Hound Sect wasn't picky. As long as there was food.

He was eating the leftovers and getting ready to head back when he sensed something.

The most annoying thing about a Sensory Perception gift was that it set off alarms every now and then. The Academy hadn't given him any suppression for it at all—if anything, they'd amplified this danger sense—so within a fixed range he could swiftly detect the Contamination around him.

The Eagle Hound Sect walked to the bedroom doorway, reached out and pushed the door open. With a creak, the three paintings inside the bedroom stamped themselves into his eyes.

Each of the three paintings was eerie in its own way, marvelous in its own way, a faint breath of Contamination seeping bit by bit from the canvases—something no one but the Eagle Hound Sect could probably have noticed.

'Whoa, these are Pollutants, right? Just hanging in the bedroom?' The Eagle Hound Sect took another bite of the leftovers.

'Just as I thought—a pair of brothers, and not a normal one between them.'

...

Shen Wang and Zhou Xiangzhe went to see the doctor.

This doctor was a leading figure in the study of the Novel Genetic Disease—normally impossible to get an appointment with. But the one asking was Zhou Xiangzhe, and no one in Central City would refuse to give Zhou Xiangzhe face.

So the doctor came. He gave Shen Wang an examination, and afterward he found it very strange.

'This gentleman shouldn't have any illness,' the doctor said. 'At the very least, he doesn't have the Novel Genetic Disease.'

Zhou Xiangzhe was a little taken aback too. 'Not a Genetic Disease?'

'If Captain Zhou is willing to believe me.'

The doctor pulled a book from his shelf, opened it, and pushed it in front of Zhou Xiangzhe.

'In our research, we found there's actually a traceable pattern to Novel Genetic Disease patients: one of the parents has already been Contaminated or suffered Contamination, and a breath of Contamination will be detected in the body of the child they bear. But there is no breath of Contamination in Mr. Shen's body—the one thing that absolutely should be there.'

'And as far as I know, Mr. Shen is a Mutant with Contamination Immunity, which makes it even more impossible for him to be a Novel Genetic Disease patient.'

Zhou Xiangzhe was silent for a moment. 'But he's been ill since childhood—that can't be faked.'

The doctor speculated, 'Perhaps he's already recovered.'

'Recovered?'

'There are cases of recovery from the Novel Genetic Disease, though they're very rare.' The doctor flipped a few more pages and pointed for Zhou Xiangzhe to see. 'Just as a Mutant can't be Contaminated, a very small fraction of patients Awaken their gift partway through the illness, and the gift suppresses the Contamination inside them, so they recover. Did Mr. Shen ever tell you he'd recovered? My Xiaoyi—' the doctor caught himself, then continued, 'I mean, has he ever mentioned it?'

Zhou Xiangzhe: ...

He had, in fact—even on the very first day they'd met, Shen Wang had said he was a Novel Genetic Disease patient, but that he'd already recovered.

'But he still shows symptoms of having episodes.'

The doctor was quiet for a moment, then spoke. 'How about you go see a psychiatrist?'

Zhou Xiangzhe, who'd just been scolded by Shen Wang over Mental Aberration: ...

Shen Wang, who'd just finished the exam, changed his clothes, and walked back in: ...

'That won't be necessary.' Shen Wang walked over, laid a hand on Zhou Xiangzhe's shoulder, and said to the doctor with a smile, 'Thank you for your trouble, doctor. Even if it is a mental symptom, I've already found my own medicine.'

'Is that so?' The doctor was a bit curious. 'Could you tell me what medicine that is, Mr. Shen?'

Shen Wang said calmly, 'Him.'

The doctor was puzzled, and only after a moment realized Shen Wang meant Zhou Xiangzhe.

'That's right. The captain is my medicine. The moment I feel off, I just bite him once and I'm fine.'

Zhou Xiangzhe: ...

True, he had agreed back then that Shen Wang could bite him during an episode—but that was because Shen Wang had been trying to bite a Pollutant.

Compared to a Pollutant, of course biting him was the better option.

But once you took that comparison away, Zhou Xiangzhe still felt that biting people was really unhygienic.

The doctor, on the other hand, took it remarkably in stride. He nodded earnestly. 'A psychological dependence converting into a physiological one. If this eases the symptoms, then carry on—just make sure to confirm the other party's willingness first, and don't bite too hard.'

'The doctor really gets it,' Shen Wang said. 'I understand exactly what you mean, of course.'

And so the examination ended just like that.

The doctor bid them farewell and took down Shen Wang's contact, hoping that if Shen Wang ever had any strange symptoms, he'd be sure to tell him.

While exchanging contact info, Shen Wang found two messages had come in on his phone.

One was from Lan.

[I've posted an away-mission notice to you through the Pollution Control Center. Remember to leave Central City on time, and don't draw Zhou Xiangzhe's attention.]

One was from the Pollution Control Center.

[Mission: assist in eliminating a Pollutant. Location: Chenmo West City. Time: 8 a.m. tomorrow morning.]

Shen Wang switched off his phone and looked at Zhou Xiangzhe standing in front of him.

'In the end nothing turned up wrong, and I even got suspected of a mental illness. Tell me—if my Contamination Level ever went over 50, would he suspect I had a Mental Aberration?'

Zhou Xiangzhe turned his head to look at him. 'Physical illnesses are easy to treat, but mental ones aren't.'

Shen Wang gave a little laugh from his chair. 'Don't forget—you've got a Mental Aberration yourself.'

'Mm.' Zhou Xiangzhe walked over and reached out to embrace Shen Wang. 'It's precisely because I have one that I know how hard a Mental Aberration is to treat.'

An uncontrollable self-destructive state, endlessly repeating the cycle of self-harm, rising Contamination Level, and forced treatment in the S-Zone—how could Zhou Xiangzhe not understand it was a sign of slipping toward ruin? So when he'd heard the doctor say this might be a mental problem for Shen Wang, he'd panicked even more than before.

He couldn't imagine what was behind Shen Wang's affliction, and he didn't want Shen Wang to suffer so much mentally too.

Shen Wang reached out and gently stroked Zhou Xiangzhe's hair, silver strands falling across his fingers.

'I really like your hair.'

'Because you take such good care of yourself, and you're beautiful—so sometimes I want to pluck out your hair and keep it.'

Zhou Xiangzhe didn't know what Shen Wang meant.

'You don't cherish yourself, so you end up making me not want to cherish you either—always wanting to bully you, wanting to make you hurt.' Shen Wang tugged at his hair. 'But I don't like being that way.'

'Don't give me that opening, okay?'

Zhou Xiangzhe looked up into Shen Wang's eyes, and their gazes met.

Shen Wang said, 'Even if I want it, you can't put your hair into my hand—because that is absolutely not the kind of special I want.'

'Just like when I want to bite you, you can't let me bite whenever I please the way you did before.'

Zhou Xiangzhe gazed at him. '...Shen Wang?'

'Yes. Exactly that.'

Shen Wang said, 'You're my medicine, and I can be yours too.'

'We'll cure each other—become each other's doctor.'

'Until you stop sacrificing yourself for other people, and until I no longer feel that hunger for anyone, no longer want to take a couple of bites out of you.'

'Will you promise me that?'

Zhou Xiangzhe thought: how could he not promise?

In this world, everyone said: 'Zhou Xiangzhe is a Class S Mutant, a great hero who sacrifices himself, he possesses every fine quality, his selflessness for others is worthy of praise!' But only Shen Wang would make a pact with him so he'd break that habit.

Shen Wang didn't want special treatment, and he didn't want Zhou Xiangzhe's sacrifice.

What he wanted was for Zhou Xiangzhe to belong to him, completely.