Chapter 61

Chapter 61

Tianlai City, a place where legends say any wish can come true.

Every Observer who's ever been to Tianlai City underwent an Awakening of their talent. They just listened to a piece of music, returned to their own world, and came back with an ability.

Both Shen Wang and Zhou Xiangzhe held a subtle hope for this Tianlai City, but after arriving, they realized it wasn't anything like they'd imagined.

All they saw was a blanket of fog, so thick they couldn't see anyone within a meter. Afraid of losing Shen Wang, Zhou Xiangzhe frowned, then grabbed his hand.

"What's going on?" Shen Wang let Zhou Xiangzhe hold him, turning to look at Lan. "This is Tianlai City? Where she is?"

Lan stood not far away, watching the mist. After a moment, he tilted his head, looked down, and opened his book.

Eagle Hound Sect peeked over his shoulder, seeing nothing but still looking utterly engrossed.

"Tch." Lan frowned, sucking in a sharp breath.

"What's wrong?" Shen Wang asked him.

"Everyone, leave Tianlai City now!" Lan pointed at the mist ahead. "Pass through this layer of fog and you can leave the Lost City!"

Zhou Xiangzhe was surprised. "Why? Didn't you come here to find her?"

"He's here." Lan said seriously. "He's come for her."

Everyone fell silent for a few seconds—not from shock, but from confusion.

In Chinese, 'he' and 'she' sound the same. And even if you could tell them apart, they still didn't know who Lan meant by 'he' and 'she.'

Who came for whom?

"Just go! Now!" Lan strode forward, grabbing Shen Wang's sleeve to pull him away. "Immediately! The Pollution Control Center can't stop him!"

This was the first time Shen Wang had ever seen Lan so frantic.

As the Academy's only certified successful Test Subject, an S-Class Mutant with the Premonition talent, Lan had always been calm and composed—even arrogant. But his arrogance was different from Eagle Hound Sect's. Eagle Hound Sect's madness was outward, a 'don't care if I die, whatever' vibe. Lan's was the arrogance of someone holding all the cards.

He wouldn't even lose his cool facing an S-Class Pollutant.

This was the first time he'd chosen to retreat—and he was dragging Shen Wang with him, evacuating immediately.

Zhou Xiangzhe wanted to follow, but Lan glanced at him. Those silver-purple eyes held a subtle warning.

"Don't follow us anymore. After we leave the Lost City, we're still on opposite sides. You don't want the Pollution Control Center to see us together, do you?"

"From now on, don't come near us."

Zhou Xiangzhe didn't deny it. He just sighed and pointed at Shen Wang. "He's a member of Polaris, and part of the Pollution Control Center."

Meaning: Shen Wang has to come with me.

"Not yet." Lan refused. "We still have things to do. I'll have Shen Wang meet up with you later."

The moment he finished speaking, Lan and Shen Wang vanished into the mist. Zhou Xiangzhe frowned and chased after them, but couldn't find any trace.

Faint voices sounded nearby. Zhou Xiangzhe took two steps toward the sound, and in an instant, the mist around him dissipated. The next moment, he could see his surroundings clearly.

Members of the Security Force in work uniforms stared at him in terror.

"Report! A stranger has appeared in the Lost City!"

"Subject is male, eye and hair color appear inhuman, suspected Pollutant!"

"Warning! Do not approach!"

Zhou Xiangzhe: "…"

I'm not in uniform, and I'm not in Central City, but being mistaken for a Pollutant is a bit much.

"Zhou Xiangzhe of Polaris." He fished his Identification Plaque from his pocket and hung it on. "Supporting Chenmo West City effective immediately."

The Security Force members who'd been yelling 'Pollutant!' froze, rubbing their eyes.

What?! Zhou Xiangzhe of Polaris?!

They scrutinized the Identification Plaque and finally confirmed it really was Zhou Xiangzhe.

"Great! Polaris is here! Zhou Xiangzhe is here!"

They quickly switched from alarm to cheers. "We're saved!"

Zhou Xiangzhe sighed. "Tell me everything you know, right now. Evacuate all nearby residents immediately."

Even if Zhou Xiangzhe didn't trust Lan, he trusted Lan's capabilities.

Whatever could make Lan this tense was definitely not good news.

Meanwhile, after sending Zhou Xiangzhe off, Lan pulled Shen Wang toward the other side of the mist, running until they reached a very high city wall.

It felt like they were still inside the Lost City, yet also like they'd left. They could see the Pollution Control Center and others busy outside the Lost City, but the Pollution Control Center didn't seem to notice them.

From the wall, Shen Wang saw Zhou Xiangzhe standing among the staff, reviewing documents.

Once in work mode, Zhou Xiangzhe's demeanor instantly turned cold and hard. Standing there, even dressed all in soft white, he looked utterly icy—especially when frowning at the files. Everyone around him trembled, afraid to get close.

Shen Wang clicked his tongue mentally.

The contrast was cute. Kind of wanted to tease him. Maybe meet up in Pollutant form before the official reunion?

Before Shen Wang could decide, Lan sighed beside him.

"I knew they wouldn't just let it go."

"What?" Shen Wang looked at Lan. "What did you see in your Premonition?"

"You'll know in a moment." Lan's voice softened, as if teaching a child not to pick up random things to eat. "Premonition is a bad thing. It steals the surprise. My cute little brother shouldn't try to pry future news from his gege."

Shen Wang: "…"

With Zhou Xiangzhe gone, Lan was back to calling him 'little brother' without hesitation.

Eagle Hound Sect leaned on the railing, looking out. "But, we've already left the Lost City, right? We can interact with the outside. Has the Lost City manifested in reality?"

"Of course. She's awake. There's no need to hide the Lost City that centers around her anymore."

Lan flipped through his Premonition Scroll, frowning as he read. "Forget it. Let's wait here."

"Wait for what, wait for…"

Eagle Hound Sect's voice cut off.

He turned to look to the right, deep blue eyes filled with surprise.

Eagle Hound Sect was a Sensory Perception Mutant. He could sense all Contamination within a fixed range, so he could detect Contamination aura faster than anyone. And now, countless points of Contamination were swarming out of the Lost City, spreading in an instant.

"What?"

With a deafening crash, the Lost City's gates burst open.

Tens of thousands of frenzied Distorted Humans charged out. They still looked human, but their eyes had gone mad.

"Where is she? Where is she?!"

"Yiling! I love you!"

"Why won't you see me?! Yiling! No one in this world loves you more than I do!"

"Suyi Ling! Suyi Ling!"

Shen Wang stood up. "These are the Distorted Humans sealed inside the Lost City together?!"

"Correct." Lan said. "The Shinin Project sealing her away was already infuriating enough. Then the Pollution Control Center sealed this massive number of Distorted Humans in with her. She's angry, so she's returning them all."

The staff surrounding the Lost City heard the noise too. They turned to look, and the next moment their eyes widened in horror.

Those tens of thousands of Distorted Humans outnumbered them dozens of times over, a dense swarm like ants.

"Alert!"

Zhou Xiangzhe watched the spreading Distorted Humans, handed his documents to the person beside him, and strode forward.

As he walked, he asked, "Do we have any Spatial Mutants?"

"Yes! But there are too many!" The person beside Zhou Xiangzhe paled. "The Spatial Mutant who came is only Class C. He'd work himself to death and still couldn't hold back this many!"

"How could there be so many Distorted Humans?!"

Zhou Xiangzhe thought: Of course there are this many.

This was the Pollution Control Center's own sin, sealing countless Distorted Humans inside this Lost City. Now, karma was a bitch. After over twenty years, the Pollution Control Center still had to deal with them.

The Pollution Control Center's only Class A Spatial Mutant was Xu Yue, but Xu Yue died in the S-Zone. The other one who'd displayed Spatial abilities was Lan, but Lan was the last person who'd ever help the Pollution Control Center.

For Lan, not even Shen Wang could make him let bygones be bygones with the Pollution Control Center. Clearing out everyone currently in the Academy wouldn't be enough to erase his hatred.

Zhou Xiangzhe took off his black gloves, then slid the Ring from his finger.

'Everyone, put on a Soundproof Communicator. All communication stays on the channel. Don't let yourselves hear any sound from outside.' He gave the order.

The staff on site froze. No one understood what Zhou Xiangzhe meant, but most complied immediately. Only a few, for various reasons, didn't manage it.

The Distorted Humans' voices reached those people's ears.

"Suyi Ling! I love you! Please look at me!"

"I worked so hard to see you. Why won't you come see me?"

"Everyone's a rival! Everyone's trying to steal you from me! Suyi Ling!"

"Yiling! Yiling!"

The people who heard the voices froze, their eyes instantly glazing over.

"Suyi Ling… who is that?"

"That name sounds so nice… Who is she? I want to see her."

"I think I've fallen in love with her, I love her, let me see her!"

People nearby looked at their abnormal colleagues in horror. Some immediately put soundproof communicators on them, but it was already useless. Those who heard her name fell into an extreme obsession with 'her.' They rushed out and joined the ranks of the Distorted Humans, trying to find 'her' in every corner.

Watching those Distorted Humans wandering around searching for Suyi Ling, before any conflict could even erupt, Zhou Xiangzhe issued another order.

"Evacuate all residents immediately. It doesn't matter if they have to leave the High Wall. This place is extremely dangerous."

"Yes!"

The staff evacuating residents increased again. Zhou Xiangzhe stood at the front, watching the Distorted Humans going mad. He once again slid the silver bracelet off his wrist.

The aura of Contamination grew bit by bit, until Eagle Hound Sect couldn't help but look at Zhou Xiangzhe.

"What's wrong with him?" Eagle Hound Sect asked. "Is Zhou Xiangzhe a Pollutant?"

Shen Wang looked at Eagle Hound Sect. "He's not a Pollutant."

"But the aura on him is Contamination," Eagle Hound Sect said. "Even if he's not a Pollutant, isn't his Contamination Level about to exceed the limit?"

Shen Wang frowned slightly, speaking only after a moment. "More or less."

Right. Besides his own Mental Aberration, Zhou Xiangzhe had another difficult-to-control condition: his Contamination Level.

His Contamination Level had long since passed 80%. It was only the many scattered Pollution Inhibitor units on his body that barely held his Pollutant level down to 80%. If he took off a single Pollution Inhibitor, his Contamination Level would shoot straight past 90, just a hair's breadth from turning him into a Pollutant.

Pollutants and humans were completely different categories.

Mutants were people who had been contaminated but hadn't turned into monsters. Pollutants were monsters transformed from humans after contamination. Most Pollutants had no reason, no humanity. Their only instinct was expansion. After becoming Pollutants, they no longer held any feelings for humans.

Shen Wang didn't know what was up with his own father, but he did know that almost all Pollutants in this world were no good.

Zhou Xiangzhe definitely didn't want to become a Pollutant. As humanity's guardian, how could he be willing to turn himself into a monster that harmed people?

Right then, the book in Lan's hands kept flipping open. He stared intently at the blank pages.

When the pages stopped, he suddenly looked up. "He's here."

Before Shen Wang could ask 'what's here,' Eagle Hound Sect suddenly turned to look in a direction far away.

Eagle Hound Sect's eyes widened. His gaze was filled with shock—this time, genuine, real shock. He even rapidly began to feel suffocated.

"My god," Eagle Hound Sect started coughing violently.

He covered his mouth and nose tightly, but it was useless. He kept coughing, even coughing until he retched. Lan glanced at him, frowned, searched through his own belongings, and finding no way to isolate Eagle Hound Sect's sensory perception, he could only say, "Just endure it."

"Cough, is this, cough, something you can just endure?"

"I'd rather die!"

Eagle Hound Sect was in a state of extreme discomfort.

At the Academy, Eagle Hound Sect had been forced to familiarize himself with the scents of all high-level Pollutants, including the Deer God Entity that Zhou Xiangzhe had once killed. He wasn't unfamiliar with the aura of Class S Pollutants, but this aura was simply incomparable to Class S.

Class SS? Or Class SSS?!

Fuck! What the hell is this?!

Shen Wang didn't have anything to block scents on him either, and he realized Eagle Hound Sect's discomfort was related to his talent.

Eagle Hound Sect was a Class S Sensory Perception Mutant. He could sense all Contamination. The stronger the Contamination, the more intense the stimulus for him.

Shen Wang looked up toward the direction Eagle Hound Sect had just seen.

Who was coming?

/

Outside the Lost City, Zhou Xiangzhe keenly sensed something was wrong.

The air became extremely heavy. All the Distorted Humans who had been going mad abruptly stopped all movement. They froze in place like vegetative patients. If you looked closely, you'd notice: they were trembling.

"What's happening?" an insensitive staff member asked in confusion.

"I feel… a bit scared?" said a more sensitive one.

At the same moment, a Mutant with a Sensory Perception talent collapsed softly to the ground—he had instantly fallen unconscious.

Everyone panicked, moving the unconscious Mutant aside. The dread in each person's heart grew deeper.

Zhou Xiangzhe looked at the frozen Distorted Humans before him. He didn't sense anything wrong with them specifically—meaning they hadn't malfunctioned—yet they remained rigid in place.

Low-level Pollutants and fully Distorted Humans only had instincts. Their instinct was to spread Contamination and search for the object of their obsession.

But their instinct also made them fear anything that could bring them destruction.

Like right now…

"Everyone evacuate!" Zhou Xiangzhe ordered. "Find a safe place, leave immediately!"

After the previous incident with the voices, the Pollution Control Center was almost completely obedient to Zhou Xiangzhe. Hearing his order to leave, they retreated immediately, running fast as if something was chasing them.

A sense of fear clung to them like a bone-deep affliction.

Yes, they were afraid.

They didn't know what they were afraid of, or where the fear came from. They were just terrified from the depths of their hearts, so terrified they didn't know where to put their hands and feet.

So terrifying, so dreadful…

Zhou Xiangzhe looked up at the sky. Rain began to drizzle down.

Unlike in Yutang South City, this rain was tinged black. Every drop carried a strong aura of Contamination. Zhou Xiangzhe reached out his hand. Raindrops fell into his palm, staining his white jacket a dull gray-black, making it look dirty and oppressive.

Zhou Xiangzhe felt a rare sense of unease.

He was a Class S Mutant. Aside from Jian Ruofan, who remained in the Shinin Project's Safehouse, he was the first Class S Mutant born later. He'd been promoted to Class S for over ten years. He could even Devour the Deer God Entity without issue so far. Yet now he felt agitated.

"Ah!"

Behind him, Pollution Control Center staff let out screams of terror.

Their fear had accumulated to the limit. They couldn't even run or commit suicide. They could only curl up on the ground, screaming and trembling.

The Distorted Humans were trembling too. They didn't dare move a muscle, as if moving would mean instant death.

There wasn't a single dark cloud in the sky. The sun even hung on white clouds, radiating dazzling light. But this light felt cold on the skin, like a chill.

A man walked step by step from not far away. The black rain avoided his clothes, so he wasn't wet at all.

Zhou Xiangzhe turned to look at him.

The man looked very young. He had long black hair that fell to his waist, appearing quite light. Gold-rimmed glasses rested on the bridge of his nose, giving him a scholarly, frail air. Sharp bone spurs protruded from his shoulders, yet they seemed like ordinary decorations.

His appearance was so refined, yet the first glance at him brought a fear as deep as the Abyss.

The man walked up to Zhou Xiangzhe. He paused, tilting his head slightly to look at him.

His black pupils reflected no one, as if he never regarded anyone.

"A newly ascended Class S Mutant?" the man spoke.

Zhou Xiangzhe extended his right arm. The jacket soaked by the black rain clung wetly to his arm. Zhou Xiangzhe didn't mind. He just stood there, as if spreading one arm could block the man before him and protect the people behind.

The man looked at him. "You can still move after seeing me. You have some ability."

Aside from the sound of falling rain, there was no other noise. Both humans and Distorted Humans were crushed by intense fear. No one dared make a sound. It was as if they'd all gone mute. Yet some still collapsed on the ground, instantly transforming into Pollutants under the intense Contamination aura.

But even after mutating into Pollutants, they still didn't dare move.

Zhou Xiangzhe lowered his eyes slightly. His golden pupils showed no change, yet countless thoughts flashed through his mind.

Such terrifying Contamination, such intense fear. Even he was affected.

In this world, there was one and only one… SSS-Class Contaminant [Despot].

[Despot] was a Pollutant observed in the early days of the apocalypse. He was born in the Zero Pollution Zone, always maintaining a human form. You'd never think he was a Pollutant upon seeing him. But the Contamination he radiated was extremely powerful and dreadful. The moment you saw him, you were already crushed to death by fear.

They couldn't even utter a word, lost even the will to commit suicide, their whole beings becoming puppets drowned in fear.

[Despot] didn't kill people, yet countless people died because of him.

He was like the Abyss, and humans were insects gazing into it, vanishing with a single glance.

The Pollution Control Center designated him as the sole SSS-Class, expressed as: the unsurpassable limit.

[Despot] wasn't interested in Zhou Xiangzhe. He wasn't interested in the Pollution Control Center either. Because he was a Pollutant who didn't kill. He never attacked humans, nor did he deign to. But if humans provoked him and died as a result, that wasn't his problem.

The man continued forward. The Distorted Humans were crushed and deformed as he walked. But not a single Distorted Human made the slightest sound before death. Even crushed into debris, they couldn't emit a whisper—only the dull sound of twisting bones.

He entered the Lost City, and the black rain followed him away.

He led a beautiful woman out from the Lost City. She wore a moon-white long dress, her entire being beautiful like bright moonlight. They walked hand in hand down the street, vanishing moments later. Just before leaving, they both looked back in one direction. After a single glance, they smiled and left again.

No one knew what they were looking at, or what they were smiling about. Even seeing them smile was a nightmare.

Only after the intense Contamination aura completely vanished did Zhou Xiangzhe lower his arm.

Before him were Distorted Humans writhing and twisting in pain. Behind him were staff still immersed in fear, unable to even scream.

Zhou Xiangzhe, the only normal person among them, sighed softly.

He glanced at the distant Lost City, then pulled a Communicator from his pocket. Confirming it still worked, he dialed the Pollution Control Center's higher-ups.

"SSS-Class Contaminant [Despot] has appeared. Wanted List NO.1 has left the Lost City."

Zhou Xiangzhe said, "From now on, all High Walls are to enact the highest level of control."

"Chenmo West City requires reinforcements. All personnel are contaminated. Repeat: all personnel are contaminated."

After hanging up, Zhou Xiangzhe stood silently in place.

He thought: what do I do now?

If the Class S Mutant sealed in the Lost City really was Shen Wang's Mother, then what was the relationship between this [Despot] who took her away and Shen Wang?

Between them… was there still a possibility?