Chapter 65

Chapter 65

Shen Wang wasn't anxious about not seeing Lan. He sent Lan a message, asking about the Contamination Level issue.

Even though he didn't want to meet and wasn't particularly fond of Zhou Xiangzhe, Lan wasn't the type to sulk and deliberately hide things. He replied as soon as he received Shen Wang's message.

【I'll go check.】

Beside him, Zhou Xiangzhe was still looking at the ring on his finger. The silver ring looked incredibly delicate on his ring finger. Though the style was simple, thought had been put into it, allowing it to perfectly complement Zhou Xiangzhe's various small accessories.

But to let this ring show perfectly, Zhou Xiangzhe chose to take off every Pollution Inhibitor on his hand.

Shen Wang put away his phone and looked at Zhou Xiangzhe beside him. “We're going somewhere else.”

Zhou Xiangzhe looked back at him, glanced again at the matching ring on Shen Wang's ring finger, pursed his lips slightly, the corners of his mouth curling up uncontrollably, before finally nodding. “Okay.”

Some barely concealed, rather cute little mannerisms.

Shen Wang smiled, pulling Zhou Xiangzhe's hand as he walked forward. They'd gone a distance before Zhou Xiangzhe seemed to regain his senses and asked, “Where are we going?”

“The Zero Pollution Zone.”

“Zero Pollution…” Zhou Xiangzhe blinked. “To see… that one?”

The uncrowned king of the Zero Pollution Zone had a special code name within the Pollution Control Center: 【Despot】. The world's only SSS-Class Mutant. Zhou Xiangzhe had met him once, but only when he came to pick up the lady from Tianlai City.

Zhou Xiangzhe had some guesses about Shen Wang's relationship with him, so calling him 【Despot】 felt a bit impolite. In the end, he could only refer to him as 'that one'.

“Don't be afraid. He's a good person.” Shen Wang answered calmly. “And we'll meet sooner or later anyway. We need to find a way to control your Contamination Level, and he's the one with the highest Contamination Level in this world… a Pollutant.”

“Also, you still have to meet my elder.”

Zhou Xiangzhe nodded. “I understand.”

He answered very easily, even his tone devoid of anything that could be considered nervous. Shen Wang looked at him curiously.

“You don't seem nervous at all.”

“I am nervous. After all, it's your family. But…” Zhou Xiangzhe sighed softly. “Even if they oppose it, I won't let go. Thinking that way makes it less nerve-wracking.”

They'd signed the papers. They were legally a couple now, and they'd exchanged rings.

Shen Wang chose to stay by his side, so how could he ever let go?

Shen Wang smiled, pulling Zhou Xiangzhe's hand as they continued forward, boarding a plane to another High Wall together.

There were over twenty high-risk areas worldwide rated as S-Class Contamination Areas. Three were within the country: the Zero Pollution Zone, Zone 3 Contamination Area, and the Star River Orphanage Contamination Area. Each was S-Class, with the Zero Pollution Zone even far exceeding S-Class. The Pollution Control Center had upgraded it to S+.

The location of the Zero Pollution Zone fell under the jurisdiction of Cangqing East City.

Back then, Cangqing East City even considered abandoning the entire eastern region precisely because they feared the Zero Pollution Zone. Later, they realized it wasn't feasible—too many survivors in the eastern region. Transporting them all to other High Walls was impossible, and new disasters could even occur on the road.

In the end, the Cangqing East City Wall was still built, located extremely far from the Zero Pollution Zone area.

At least it wasn't like Central City, separated by just one Outer Wall.

After getting off the plane, Shen Wang started checking the route to the Zero Pollution Zone, using the Pollution Control Center's system, of course.

The Zero Pollution Zone was classified as a high-risk level Pollution Source. Ordinary people absolutely could not enter; even Mutants couldn't. Only colleagues from special fields could approach the Pollution Source. Of course, Polar Star's clearance was high enough, and with Shen Wang's promotion to S-Class, basically all information was open to him.

The final investigation showed that to go to the Zero Pollution Zone, aside from being directly dispatched by the Pollution Control Center, one had to apply for a mission.

Before Shen Wang could even try applying, a *ding-dong* sounded, and Shen Wang's phone screen lit up.

“Emergency Assistance Request?”

Zhou Xiangzhe looked at that familiar page, then fished his own phone from his pocket. The moment he opened it, a red page lit up too.

“Multiple-person Emergency Assistance Request?”

As mentioned before, the Emergency Assistance Request was a special assistance method from the Security Force center. When they judged they couldn't handle the current work, they'd issue an Emergency Assistance Request. Mutants who received it had to assist, because these requests usually dealt with special situations, so those requested couldn't refuse.

Usually, an Emergency Assistance Request was only sent to one person. Multiple people receiving it could only mean the situation was quite urgent, requiring saturation-style rescue.

“Inside the Cangqing East City Wall?” Zhou Xiangzhe skillfully tapped into the request page to check the info. After reading, he frowned. “Requires B-Class or higher Mutants?”

Shen Wang clicked his tongue. “Looks like it's a Class B Contaminant.”

Zhou Xiangzhe and Shen Wang looked at each other. “What now?”

“What else can we do? Let's go check it out.” Shen Wang calmly looked at the distress signal. “Perfect timing to grab something to eat.”

Zhou Xiangzhe asked, puzzled, “Go to Cangqing East City to eat? But a Class B Contaminant has appeared now. The city should be under full quarantine, everyone isolated at home. No one would dare open shops. Are we going to eat at the Pollution Control Center? They have a meal point there, but the food isn't great, according to Ming Guang.”

Shen Wang gave Zhou Xiangzhe a subtle look, then said after a moment, “You'll find out when we get there.”

Zhou Xiangzhe still didn't quite understand, but he didn't continue asking. He had a feeling that if he kept asking, he might get a rather… miraculous answer.

They arrived together at the location of the Emergency Assistance Request. Over a dozen Security Force members were already there, pacing anxiously.

Seeing someone arrive, they hurried over. “They're here!”

“There really is a Class B Mutant here?!”

“That's great!”

Mutants who received an Emergency Assistance Request needed to verify their identity—that was also a system rule.

Zhou Xiangzhe and Shen Wang exchanged a glance. In the end, Zhou Xiangzhe sighed and stepped forward first to identify himself.

“【Polar Star】.” Zhou Xiangzhe put on the Polar Star insignia. “I'm Zhou Xiangzhe.”

The people around them froze for a moment. They looked at each other for a few seconds, then gasped in unison, their eyes widening in disbelief.

“It's actually Captain Zhou?!” The person who was clearly their leader quickly spoke up. “Hello, I'm Zhu Hu, captain of the Cangqing East City Security Force, also the issuer of this Emergency Rescue request. I never imagined you'd come to Cangqing East City! Since you're Captain Zhou, then this must be Mr. Shen!”

Zhu Hu kept thanking and apologizing. “I'm so sorry! We've disturbed you! But we really had no other choice.”

From Zhu Hu's words, Shen Wang roughly understood. The news of their marriage had probably spread far and wide, even to other High Walls. But thinking about it, it made sense. To reassure the public, Shen Wang's promotion to the new S-Class was heavily publicized. The public would naturally be curious about who Shen Wang was and where he was now.

Ordinary people might not know, but the Pollution Control Center must have informed those within their system.

Shen Wang and Zhou Xiangzhe got married, and now they were on their wedding leave.

After Shen Wang and Zhou Xiangzhe clearly stated they didn't mind, Zhu Hu immediately told them the details of the Emergency Assistance Request, afraid they might refuse.

“Honestly, it's not like Cangqing East City can't scrape up a single Class B Mutant. But a lot's happened lately—there've been mutations at the Zero Pollution Zone too, so most of the Mutants went to stand guard near the Zero Pollution Zone. Never thought trouble would break out at a time like this.” Zhu Hu talked as they walked.

“The first person to call the police was a woman, young and pretty. She reported that a person who didn't exist appeared in her mirror.”

“The person in the reflection was ugly, even covered in scars, looking at her with hatred in the mirror. She was terrified and immediately smashed the mirror, but didn't expect every shard of the mirror to show that ugly person.”

“After receiving the report, we dispatched immediately. Then the first batch of colleagues who responded disappeared after entering the room.”

“Disappeared?” Zhou Xiangzhe looked at him. “Any clues left behind?”

“No clues or response at all. We tried many times, even the Locator he carried on him showed no reaction.” Zhu Hu said. “Because of Team One's disappearance, we raised the Contamination Level of this incident and dispatched Team Two. Team Two had a C-Class Mutant leading, but unexpectedly, Team Two also disappeared.”

That was terrifying.

The captain of Team Two was a C-Class Mutant. Even if they encountered a Class C Contaminant, the captain should at least be able to run away. But he disappeared without a sound, leaving only a bit of law enforcement footage from right after entering the house.

This scared them badly. Zhu Hu immediately reported to the Pollution Control Center higher-ups, hoping for support from high-level Mutants. But the Pollution Control Center told them that currently, high-level Mutants were almost all guarding against issues from the three high-risk Pollution Sources. Recalling one back might take two days. They suggested trying their luck by issuing Emergency Assistance Requests first.

Zhu Hu thought that made sense, so he issued multiple Emergency Assistance Requests. He never expected to summon Zhou Xiangzhe and Shen Wang.

These were two S-Class Mutants!

They'd hit the jackpot!

After understanding the basic situation, Zhou Xiangzhe obtained the law enforcement footage left behind by that missing C-Class Mutant.

After handing over the footage, Zhu Hu left, leaving the scene entirely to them.

Shen Wang calmly sat on a chair. Seeing Zhou Xiangzhe approach, he motioned for him to play the footage.

The image they saw wasn't very clear, even quite shaky. Since it was a body cam, not a follow-shot, of course it was unstable.

In the recording, they saw a door. Pushing it open revealed a very ordinary residential building. The interior facilities were similar to Shen Wang's home—a bit old and worn, but the decorations were full of life.

“Entered the scene.” The recorder's voice sounded somewhat aged, probably an older Mutant, which was why he stayed in the Security Force even as a C-Class.

“Scene normal, no anomalies. No human presence detected.”

“Contamination Level… 68. Contamination Level is on the high side—confirmed that a Contamination Incident occurred on scene.”

As he spoke, the recorder walked further into the room. Just as he reached the bathroom door, he paused. He looked inside the bathroom and saw the mirror inside had been completely smashed. Bloodstains were smeared on the mirror's edges. Seemingly recalling the caller smashing the mirror, the recorder entered the bathroom.

Mirror shards were scattered on the floor. The broken mirror frame was a dark, empty hole.

After completely documenting the spot, he left the bathroom and continued inward. Right then, he noticed that all reflective surfaces in the living room had been covered with paper. Yes, all of them, including the stainless steel sink in the kitchen.

“Very strange.” The observer said. “No victims found on scene, no Team One members found, not even any Pollutant found.”

Right then, the sound of dripping water caught his attention.

He followed the dripping sound and saw the bathroom faucet he had just observed was dripping drop by drop, the water having even pooled into a puddle in the sink.

He walked over step by step. With a *zzzt* sound, the image cut off directly.

He stepped forward and turned off the image. Xiang Zhe looked at Shen Wang. "What do you think?"

"The contaminated talent is related to mirrors," Shen Wang answered plainly. "It might even be the type that can enter mirrors. Pollutant talents are all sorts of weird; it's really not easy to pin down."

Xiang Zhe nodded. "True. Once it hides inside a mirror, it's very hard to find."

"But, do you believe I can find it?" Shen Wang asked Xiang Zhe with a smile.

Xiang Zhe blinked. "...Ah."

"What kind of reaction is that?"

"Thinking about whether you want me to say I believe or I don't." Xiang Zhe coughed softly. "If I answered 'don't believe,' would you set a condition for me?"

Shen Wang: ...?

"What's going on in your head? You really want me to set conditions for you?"

"Oh."

Xiang Zhe sighed regretfully.

He actually really wanted Shen Wang to set conditions for him, to need him in all sorts of ways. It was a shame Shen Wang was too independent a person—whether it was money or ability, he could handle things himself and didn't need Xiang Zhe to take care of him at all.

"Fine." Shen Wang smiled. "If I succeed, I'll kiss you. Do you agree?"

Xiang Zhe was stunned for a moment, a trace of confusion in his golden eyes, which then transformed into a bright light. He hooked his finger around Shen Wang's. "And if you don't succeed?"

"Then you kiss me."

Xiang Zhe thought: What a wonderfully tiny difference.

/

Dealing with a Class B Contaminant didn't require two Class S Mutants at all. Xiang Zhe had thought Shen Wang might handle it alone, since Xiang Zhe's own contamination level was extremely high right now and not really suited for high-contamination environments. But he hadn't expected Shen Wang not to leave him behind, instead telling him to come along.

Xiang Zhe was a little surprised, but he followed without hesitation.

After arriving at the scene, Shen Wang reached out and turned off his enforcement recorder, and told Xiang Zhe to turn his off too.

Xiang Zhe, being conscientious, told the people on the other end not to worry before shutting it off—they'd be fine, so the Security Force outside wouldn't send more people in.

The moment he stepped into the room, Shen Wang felt a strong aura of contamination. He looked at the room's condition. The Class C Mutant who'd lost contact had gone missing in the morning, so the scene was no different from the enforcement footage he'd uploaded.

Every reflective surface was papered over, the bathroom mirror was smashed, and there was a puddle of water in the sink—not one Light Point of glare left anywhere.

Xiang Zhe walked over. "It's not just here. The whole residential complex has a problem. It's just that the Pollution Control Center staff can't get in, and they can't contact anyone inside either."

"Mm." Shen Wang looked at the water in the sink. "So this is the only place in the room that can still reflect?"

"Actually, you could just tear off the paper covering everything, but it's not really necessary. Stainless steel reflects about the same as water." Xiang Zhe stood with Shen Wang in front of the sink, looking at the puddle. "If we're not mistaken, the Pollutant and the victim should be inside."

Shen Wang stared at the water's surface. He casually dipped his fingers in and stirred it a few times. Ripples spread out in circles, shattering the surface into fragments.

He looked like a kid playing around.

Xiang Zhe didn't stop him, just watched Shen Wang's fingers stirring the water.

Shen Wang was good-looking, and he had good-looking hands too. His fingers were slender, his nail beds narrow and long, his knuckles tinged a faint pink, making you want to look again and again.

Just as Xiang Zhe was admiring them, he suddenly saw something strange in the shattered water surface.

It was hard to tell if it counted as a person. Its whole body was wrapped in bandages, its face completely covered, leaving only a pair of dark, hollow eyes. Those eyes stared at them with hatred. It walked forward step by step, each step staining the bandages with a dark red liquid.

"So ugly." Shen Wang had clearly seen it too. "No wonder the observer said its appearance was hideous."

With that one sentence, the thing seemed to understand. Its gaze grew even more terrifying, as if thoroughly provoked.

Shen Wang didn't care if it was angry or not. He calmly withdrew his hand from the water. With no one disturbing it, the surface calmed, only rippling when the water dripped from Shen Wang's fingers. The thing kept approaching them, each step revealing deeper rage in its eyes.

"Not dealing with it?" Xiang Zhe asked quietly, turning his head. "Shen—"

His voice cut off abruptly. Xiang Zhe's eyes widened slightly, this time with genuine surprise.

Back in Tianlai City, Xiang Zhe had noticed Shen Wang's hair had inexplicably grown a centimeter, but he hadn't made a big deal of it. Maybe Xiang Zhe himself was deliberately avoiding the issue, so he hadn't thought too deeply about it.

But now, Shen Wang's hair had silently grown down to his shoulders. And it wasn't just his hair—a red line was creeping up the side of his neck.

Shen Wang felt his gaze and turned to look at him.

His black pupils were gradually tinged with red. One eye was blood-red, the other a pale white. But this white didn't look like blindness—it was more like... moonlight.

Xiang Zhe's heart skipped a beat, then stopped for two seconds before starting to race wildly.

Because the Shen Wang before him had taken him by surprise.

Although Zhou Xiangzhe had suspected Shen Wang might not be entirely human—that the SSS-Class Contaminant [Despot] was very likely his father—he'd never imagined Shen Wang could carry himself like this.

A completely inhuman appearance, a completely inhuman form. Even his contamination level was spiking, like a true non-human Pollutant.

"Moon Theft's talent is theft, but I studied it a bit. Actually, theft is just its basic ability. Its real talent is [Talent Suppression]. It's just that after being torn apart, it lost control and couldn't even use its talent."

A bloody mark was etched below Shen Wang's left eye. He faced Xiang Zhe calmly with this bizarre appearance.

"Are you scared?"

Xiang Zhe stared at him, unable to look away. After a few seconds, he spoke. "Not scared, just... a little surprised."

"I didn't expect you to also have..."

"A Pollutant form?" Shen Wang smiled. "Seems you don't know me well enough."

Shen Wang lowered his head to look at the Pollutant in the sink again. But before he could put his hand back in the water, Xiang Zhe grabbed it tightly.

Shen Wang turned to look at him.

Xiang Zhe's breathing was a little hurried, but he gripped Shen Wang's hand hard, as if feeling for something. After a long moment, he let out a very soft sigh.

"No, you're alive." Xiang Zhe said. "You have warmth, and breath, and a heartbeat. You're alive."

Shen Wang frowned slightly. What did Xiang Zhe mean by that? Was it okay if he was human, but not if he was a Pollutant?

But before Shen Wang could question him, Xiang Zhe spoke again.

"That's good... You didn't have an accident during the time we were apart..."

Shen Wang: ...

He suddenly didn't know what to say.

What Xiang Zhe cared about wasn't whether he was human or a Pollutant. He was just afraid Shen Wang had met with an accident during those years they were separated. Every Pollutant in this world was someone who had died and then mutated. He was terrified Shen Wang had died at some point without him knowing.

Death—that was a terrifying thing.

Thank goodness, thank goodness Shen Wang had always been like this.

Shen Wang couldn't help but smile. He glanced at Xiang Zhe, his inhuman eyes showing a distinctly human emotion.

He didn't tease Xiang Zhe any further. Instead, he placed his hand on the water's surface. A faint, pale white halo emanated from his palm. The next instant, the water trembled violently. In a flash, the ugly monster was yanked out viciously. It crashed to the floor with a piercing shriek, dark red viscous liquid smearing across the floorboards.

"Talent use prohibited." Shen Wang turned to face this Class B Contaminant.

The Pollutant let out a miserable shriek at him, extending sharp claws toward him. Before Xiang Zhe could even draw his sidearm, there was a wet *thud*—bloody thorns pierced the Pollutant's throat.

The Pollutant instantly lost its voice.

"So noisy." Shen Wang reached out toward it. "I hate sharp sounds the most."

In an instant, countless Blood Thorns erupted from the floor. They greedily wrapped around the entire Class B Contaminant, their spikes driving deep into its body. The Pollutant couldn't make a sound—only dull noises as it was strangled and the Devour ability tore it apart.

The scene instantly reminded Xiang Zhe of the Despot he'd seen in Tianlai City.

Back then, the Despot had killed tens of thousands in just the same casual, quiet way, each Distorted Human dying without a fuss.

Xiang Zhe silently turned to look at Shen Wang, and saw a small, bloody thorn poking out from his shoulder.

The little thorn seemed very wary of him. The moment it noticed him looking, all its spikes bristled.

'Master! That fragrant human!'

'Can we eat him?!'

'Wah, this human is so scary!'

"Not now," Shen Wang answered calmly. "He's emergency rations."

Xiang Zhe: ...

He suddenly remembered Shen Wang telling him earlier that he was going to eat something. He now inexplicably understood what Shen Wang had meant by 'eat'...

"Blood Thorns..." Xiang Zhe spoke. "That was always you?"

"Huh?" Shen Wang looked at Xiang Zhe. "No."

"No?"

Shen Wang refused to acknowledge it as a matter of course.

After all, what did the things Blood Thorns did have to do with him, Shen Wang?