Wang Mu checked out the message that just came through, his brow furrowed, his normally cold face looking even more frosty.
Qingmu Base was having issues. They had sent a report requesting Cleaners to be dispatched for purification. The Department of Pollution took this seriously and immediately sent two experienced Cleaners.
But yesterday's reports from the Cleaners still said they were investigating with no leads. This morning at dawn, both of them suddenly lost contact with headquarters.
Apart from Qingmu Base, there were many other important areas in Suhai City that needed Cleaners for purification and treatment. It was impossible to deploy all personnel to this one place, including himself who couldn't leave.
Wang Mu chewed it over for a bit before speaking to the other Cleaner in the office, "Li Xianghong, take two new recruits to scout around Qingmu Base first. Try to contact Wang Siyuan and Song Bin. They're both Level 3 Cleaners, so even if something happened, they should have left some clues.
"But remember, absolutely do not go in deep. Wait until we can gather enough manpower before taking further action."
"Yes, I'll proceed with caution," Li Xianghong nodded.
Wang Mu patted his shoulder and said, "Watch your back and keep us posted."
This was Rachel's first time in the field - to a place called Qingmu Base. The task wasn't difficult, just scouting the perimeter while avoiding risks as much as possible.
For a newcomer, this was quite a friendly assignment.
After getting off the flying vehicle, she and Zhao Xiaonan followed Li Xianghong to the base entrance. Through the beefy iron gates, they could see everything inside the base looked fine, with no signs of damage or fighting.
Several flying vehicles were parked on the landing pad, including a familiar all-silver one. Rachel narrowed her eyes slightly, thinking: Isn't that the one that burned through her savings?
Li Xianghong did a lap around the base walls, searching intently for clues while instructing the two newcomers behind him: "In this situation, unless we confirm the risks inside the base are controllable, we must not act rashly. Once you step into an out-of-control area, most people will just lose their lives in vain."
After saying this, he paused deliberately, but heard no response from the newcomers behind him. Li Xianghong immediately turned his head, only to see Zhao Xiaonan standing behind him, with Rachel nowhere in sight.
"Where is she? How did she suddenly disappear?" Li Xianghong asked in shock, his mood inevitably growing heavier.
The fact that even he, usually so perceptive, hadn't noticed anything unusual was definitely beyond what a Level 3 Cleaner could handle. They would need to wait for Level 2 Cleaners, or even Level 1 Cleaners, to come before they could possibly uncover the source of pollution.
Zhao Xiaonan shook his head desperately, pointing at the base's main gate with a trembling hand, "She went in, just now she went straight in!"
"What did you say?" Li Xianghong thought he must have misheard, or been affected by the environment causing auditory hallucinations. "Who went in... you mean Rachel? She went into the base??"
"Yes, right after you finished speaking, she leapt over the gate and rushed into the base. I wanted to stop her, but I couldn't react in time."
In fact, by the time Zhao Xiaonan came to his senses, he only remembered seeing a shadow flash by.
"What's going on? Was she bewitched, or did she discover something?" Li Xianghong looked anxiously at the base inside the walls, gritting his teeth, "We can't let a newcomer venture in alone. I have to go in for a bit. You stay here as backup."
Zhao Xiaonan urgently said, "I'll go in to help too!"
"No, someone needs to stay here. If we don't come out, you must report the situation. The department will send higher-level Cleaners," Li Xianghong patted Zhao Xiaonan's shoulder like Director Wang had done, instructing, "Find a place to hide first, be careful."
"Then... please come back safely."
Li Xianghong smiled, with a hint of bitterness, "I'll do my best."
After saying this, he climbed over the wall and entered the silent base.
Li Xianghong thought he was about to face unpredictable anomalies, terrifying Oddities, the corpses and blood of his comrades, and his own desperate struggle for survival.
However...
"Oh, you're here. I was just about to go out. I left in such a hurry I forgot to ask - do we need to capture the Oddities alive?" Rachel was right there near the entrance, her tone casual and natural, as if asking about dinner plans.
Li Xianghong didn't react for a moment. He first sighed in relief, saying, "Thank goodness you're alright. Let's get out of here first, it's too dangerous... Wait, what did you just say about capturing something?"
Li Xianghong blinked slowly, repeating uncertainly, "Capture Oddities alive?"
"Yes, maybe the Testing Department next door needs a few specimens?" She wasn't very familiar with the Purification Department's procedures yet.
"No, they wouldn't dare go near live Oddities!" Li Xianghong refused vehemently. What kind of wild idea, or rather reckless thinking, was this? "Don't overthink it. Only the regional Pollution Headquarters can research Oddities, such dangerous work. They have Other Race guardians and managers there, so it won't get out of control."
He said seriously, "What we Cleaners in Suhai City can do is eliminate Oddities on the spot, purify the pollution. If we can't manage that, we use our lives to hold them back while waiting for headquarters' rescue."
"I see, I understand now," Rachel nodded thoughtfully. "Then let's just kill them all."
"So we should retreat first, guard outside... Wait, kill what?" Li Xianghong's words got stuck halfway through again.
"Kill the Oddities, of course. If we don't need them alive, it's simpler to just kill them all," Rachel also preferred this approach - it saved time and effort.
It's just that sometimes, for the sake of scientists better researching Oddities and creating special items to deal with them, they had to go to the trouble of capturing them alive.Here is the improved translation, incorporating the expert suggestions:
Li Xianghong was starting to panic. He knew this girl had incredible insight and special techniques for sensing anomalies. Perhaps she had already discovered some of the strange occurrences at this base. But not all anomalies were like the brain anomaly with its low offensive power!
He tried to persuade her earnestly: "You can't be sure what kind of anomaly it is yet. There's no way to respond correctly. Plus, two official Purifiers have already been lost here. It must be extremely dangerous."
"I know."
"What?"
"I know what anomaly it is."
Li Xianghong felt helpless. These young rookies were too impulsive nowadays, rushing in based on mere guesses. This would only increase casualties.
But he patiently continued guiding the girl out while asking: "How do you know?"
Typically, rookies' intelligence analysis had many flaws and was easy to refute and persuade against.
"I just went into the base's central area and cleared most of them out. Only a few left. I came back to ask if you needed any captured alive." Rachel said somewhat sheepishly. Fortunately, it wasn't necessary, otherwise a few might not have sufficed.
Li Xianghong stopped in his tracks, completely dumbfounded.
The Qingmu Base was a military stronghold with precise and comprehensive facilities. But along the path from the entrance to the central area, numerous corpses were scattered about. The blood congealed on the ground had begun to smell, and the surrounding walls were pockmarked with bullet holes.
Li Xianghong followed behind Rachel all the way to where the smell of blood was strongest. He looked with a mix of shock and fear at several floating eyeballs the size of human heads in the center of the base. The bloodshot whites and pitch-black pupils looked incredibly lifelike.
Below these floating eyeballs, even more eyeballs lay motionless on the ground, their pupils dilated and lifeless.
"Are these... Anomalous Eyes?!" Li Xianghong recognized this type of anomaly.
Though not yet thirty, he was considered a veteran in the Purification Department. In their line of work, lives were short. Living another year was counted as a blessing. This experience was hard-earned through risking their lives.
"This is an anomaly that can lock onto targets within three seconds through visual location. After making eye contact, the victim suffers severe visual corruption," Li Xianghong recited the knowledge he possessed in his mind. "If visual contact isn't broken in time, the victim's brain begins to malfunction. They slowly start to feel their eyes are a nuisance and will try everything to gouge them out, continuing to dig deeper and deeper!"
Li Xianghong stared at the huge Anomalous Eyes floating in midair. When one of them showed signs of turning towards them, he immediately pulled Rachel behind a nearby corner, avoiding the Anomalous Eye's focusing gaze.
It took Li Xianghong several seconds to find his voice. He asked, "What's the deal with those Anomalous Eyes on the ground?"
Rachel casually twirled the knife in her hand and said nonchalantly, "There were quite a lot, so I got a bit sloppy with the purification."
The corpses of the Anomalous Eyes were haphazardly strewn about on the ground, like pearls scattered across a jade plate. Forgive her for not having time to arrange them neatly for easy counting later.
"Purification... You killed all those anomalies?" Although she had already said it once, Li Xianghong still couldn't quite believe it.
Rachel noticed the astonishment on her senior's face. She asked with slight confusion, "Is there a problem? They're just Anomalous Eyes."
New to this world 500 years in the future, she was actually quite inexperienced. She might have done something wrong without realizing it.
Rachel was quick to take responsibility. She volunteered, "...Was my purification method not up to standard?"
Li Xianghong swallowed hard, unsure what to say.
What did she mean by "just Anomalous Eyes"?
Listen to that, how could any normal person say such a thing?!
He certainly knew the capabilities of Anomalous Eyes, but that's precisely why Li Xianghong was even more bewildered.
However, he didn't waste any crucial time and decisively resolved: "No, you didn't do anything wrong. It's my mistake... These remaining few also need to be dealt with immediately. From now on, I'll follow your lead in dealing with these anomalies. I just can't figure out how you managed to do this?"
Rachel hadn't expected her senior to be so generous, deliberately giving her the opportunity to shine and gain merit.
Just as Zhao Xiaonan had said, the Li siblings were good seniors who liked to look after newcomers. She smiled and gripped her knife, demonstrating: "Just do it like this."
As soon as she finished speaking, Rachel moved at incredible speed to the area below the few Anomalous Eyes, without hesitation, completely fearless.
Li Xianghong was startled. He watched helplessly as those Anomalous Eyes seemed to notice the girl's presence and all began to turn towards her.
Although Level 3 Purifiers like them had strength and speed far superior to ordinary people, and their minds were much more resilient and difficult to shake, the correct purification method for Anomalous Eyes required team cooperation.
Two people would take turns attracting the Anomalous Eyes' attention, two would seize opportunities to attack, and one would provide support just in case. This was the standard five-person processing team.
If they had known beforehand that the source of contamination at Qingmu Base came from Anomalous Eyes, the Purification Department wouldn't have underestimated the situation and sent only two Purifiers. It's worth noting that the weak points of Anomalous Eyes were extremely difficult to find, possibly requiring countless attacks to destroy them, and conventional weapons were ineffective.
Li Xianghong instinctively rushed forward, both trying to attract the attention of those Anomalous Eyes and shouting to the rookie: "Be careful, dodge quickly!"
Rachel did dodge, but not in the way Li Xianghong had imagined.
She leaped towards the nearest Anomalous Eye, actually jumping right on top of the eyeball.
That Anomalous Eye remained floating in midair, not sinking despite bearing the additional weight of a person. However, its eyeball began to roll upwards.
Li Xianghong watched in disbelief. How could anyone dare to stand on an anomaly?!
Wasn't she afraid? One wrong move could cost her life!!!
Rachel calmly plunged her knife into the Anomalous Eye's blind spot, its only weak point.
Then, before the other Anomalous Eyes could react, she swiftly dispatched them one by one to join their fallen comrades on the ground.
Her actions were quick, ruthless, and executed with deadly precision.
Li Xianghong watched in shock as the newcomer wielded what looked like a standard-issue knife picked up from the base, taking out the eyeballs one by one as easily as popping balloons.
The scene was like something out of a fairytale, shocking him to his very core.