"Splash, splash…"
When Lu Xin escaped from the subway station, he saw that the surroundings had descended into chaos.
What had just appeared to be an eerily quiet neighborhood with no one in sight now had countless black jeeps and soldiers in military uniforms seemingly emerging from underground. They were armed with rifles and wearing heavy boots, marching swiftly toward the area, quickly setting up roadblocks, raising weapons, and sealing off every street.
Faintly, Lu Xin could even hear the sounds of chasing, capturing, and gunshots. He was slightly startled and didn't dare to waste any time. He quickly hopped into the corner of a wall, climbed over a broken window of an apartment building, and escaped from a distance.
Luckily, it seemed no one had thought that someone would escape through the wall. Furthermore, his speed was quick, and he didn't draw anyone's attention.
Lu Xin used both hands and feet, moving like a nimble spider. With a single breath, he climbed to the top of a building several hundred meters away, then jumped high and squatted on the edge of the building. Turning his head, he looked toward the subway station and saw that every road was now full of dark shadows. The entire area, including the café and subway station, was surrounded.
This made him feel a little frightened.
"Brother, how are you going to thank me?"
His sister's voice sounded not far from him. She was squatting in the distance, hugging a patchwork teddy bear.
Her messy hair was cascading down, and her eyes were faintly glowing, showing a delighted expression.
"Thank you?"
Lu Xin, still shaken, felt irritated and said, "I should be hitting you…"
But when the words were on his lips, remembering the danger from earlier, he couldn't help but soften and said, "Thank you…"
"You're my brother, and I'm your sister. Why are you thanking me?"
His sister smiled cheerfully, her hair falling down, covering most of her face, giving off a strangely cute vibe.
Lu Xin was about to compliment her when she suddenly looked up with a face full of anticipation. "You're still going to give me a toy, right?"
"Another toy?"
Lu Xin looked at the teddy bear in her arms and said helplessly, "But you already have one."
"Teddy bears are cute!"
His sister hugged the bear tightly and said, "But teddy bears don't talk!"
Her voice became a bit more excited as she described in detail: "I want one that can talk…"
Lu Xin half-heartedly responded, "I'll buy you one that makes electronic sounds later!"
"Electronic sounds aren't fun…"
His sister's smile became somewhat eerie. "Not just making sounds, I want one that screams— the more tragic the better…"
Lu Xin asked, "Have you heard of a screaming chicken?"
His sister seemed disappointed for a moment, but then suddenly said, "So boring. I don't want to play with you anymore!"
"Hey, you…"
Lu Xin was about to speak when he saw his sister suddenly leap up. Her small figure was like an agile little cat, and she jumped straight down from the building. He quickly stretched his neck to look, but saw that she landed on a power line outside the building. The wind blew, and she swayed gently with the wire. She shook her head toward Lu Xin and smiled, "Brother, you should be careful. Someone has their eyes on you…"
Lu Xin became slightly alert. "Who?"
"I won't tell you…"
His sister giggled, climbing along the power line to the opposite side, quickly disappearing through a broken window.
"This girl…"
Lu Xin looked down from the tall building and felt a little dizzy. "Now that you're gone, how am I supposed to get down?"
…
…
Maintaining his alertness, Lu Xin jumped from the opposite side of the apartment building to the neighboring one. Then, following the old corridors, he squeezed down one floor after another. When he was almost at the ground floor, he deliberately took a few extra turns and used a leaning power pole and a collapsing house that had only one wall left, making his way to a street several hundred meters away, where he walked out cautiously.
He purposely adjusted his clothes, stuffed his hands in his pockets, and tried to blend into the crowd naturally.
"Get in the car, I'll buy you coffee!"
But as soon as he took a step, he suddenly heard a voice say.
Lu Xin was startled and quickly turned around to see a woman leaning against a jeep.
She was wearing a casual suit and had short hair. She wore large brown sunglasses and had a slender yet athletic figure, giving off a wild aura. Even her high heels seemed sharper, and her jeep behind her looked like a metal beast, fierce and intimidating.
Coffee?
Lu Xin was startled and immediately thought of what his sister had said earlier. He was twenty-three, and no woman had ever asked him out, especially a woman like this. She definitely wouldn't like someone like him. So, she must have been one of the people surrounding the subway station earlier? Perhaps she had been watching him all along? Asking him out for coffee didn't seem like an act of hostility…
Although it was odd for a woman to invite him for coffee so suddenly, Lu Xin didn't dare refuse.
He whispered, "Can we do something else? I don't feel like drinking coffee right now."
The short-haired woman seemed somewhat surprised by Lu Xin's calmness, but such people were not new to her.
Remembering Lu Xin's earlier experience, she smiled, "Alright, let's go to a bar!"
Saying this, she naturally opened the car door for Lu Xin.
Lu Xin obediently sat in the passenger seat. Although he had rarely ridden in cars before, he didn't act curious. He simply sat still, even avoiding glancing at the woman driving.
The woman also didn't rush to talk, just focusing on driving.
They drove for about twenty minutes. The car entered a sparsely populated street. The woman stopped the car, led Lu Xin through a dark underground passage, and arrived at a bar with a gated door.
The bar hadn't opened yet, and the lighting was dim and quiet.
A sleepy waiter opened the door for them without asking any questions, placing a bottle of alcohol and two glasses on the table before returning to his nap. The large bar was now empty except for Lu Xin and the woman.
"My name is Chen Jing, I mean you no harm, but I admit that today's incident was arranged by me!"
The short-haired woman spoke frankly, placing a greenish document in front of Lu Xin. Lu Xin took a glance, learning that she came from the main city of Qingcheng and was the highest-ranking officer of the Qingcheng Inspection Bureau. He couldn't help but look at her again. People from the main city weren't people from satellite cities, and especially with her high rank, it was odd that she would ask him out for a drink.
Thinking about the mysterious documents the director asked him to deliver, the monsters he encountered at the café, Lu Xin knew something wasn't right. Suddenly being arranged into such a terrifying situation seemed outrageous. But seeing the bulge on the woman's waist, knowing it was a gun, he lowered his head and asked, "Why?"
"I'll explain the routine first."
Chen Jing didn't say much about the question. She opened the bottle and poured two glasses of alcohol.
"I belong to a department that handles abnormal events. Our responsibility is to manage the Pollution inside the walled cities!"
Lu Xin blinked, unable to react to such a statement.
Chen Jing pushed one glass of wine in front of Lu Xin and said, "You can understand us as: the official department."
"After the Red Moon incident, the main cities and satellite cities were restructured. Handling the madness outside the walls, battling the Wild Knights and the Psychic Cults, repairing the walls, and all the regular maintenance— it's all us!"
"Now, what we mainly deal with are the Pollution incidents in the main cities and five major satellite cities!"
"Abnormal events?"
Lu Xin looked up and glanced at her.
"Yes, events that are beyond normal understanding, like the situation you encountered at the café!"
Chen Jing nodded and took out a file, pushing it toward Lu Xin. "You can take a look!"
Lu Xin saw the word "Confidential" on the cover page.
He slowly opened it and saw rows of printed text and lots of data on the first page.
Target Number: D-class Special Pollution Source
Target Level: Level 1
Infection Level: Low (contact transmission/infection rate 90/deep infection rate 70)
Growth Potential: High
Danger Level: Low
Target Characteristics: The target is a Level 1 Psychic Mutant, capable of infecting any living being it comes into close contact with. It does not have airborne transmission ability. The psychic parasite can be eliminated by destroying its host. The parasite remains within the human range and can be physically attacked. Current observations show that the infected source itself lacks higher intelligence and only repeats what it did before infection, engaging in simple communication.
Special Elimination Methods: None
…
…
As Lu Xin read the document, Chen Jing slowly lit a cigarette.
She began speaking: "The Red Moon incident caused more than seventy percent of the people in this world to become crazy. We, the survivors, can only live in the walled main cities and satellite cities, but even among the survivors, not all are normal. Many have undergone psychic mutations, and they affect those around them!"
"We call this situation Pollution!"
"Pollution?"
Lu Xin looked up, hearing this familiar yet suddenly strange term.
After the Red Moon incident, due to the collapse of civilization and broken order, countless chemical factories, power stations, and other structures were destroyed, and the release of waste caused pollution everywhere, especially outside the walled cities. Even after thirty years, many areas hadn't improved. Of course, the residents of the walled cities were familiar with pollution, but what this woman referred to as pollution seemed different.
"Yes, pollution!"
Chen Jing nodded and repeated, "It's like ordinary pollution sources. They radiate outward, affecting the people nearby and causing them to develop the same symptoms. It's similar to a plague, but this kind of pollution is even more mysterious and terrifying!"
"The café you went into today is one of them. Before today, it had already polluted fifty-two people!"
"…"
"If…"
Lu Xin was a bit shocked by this number. He tried to process Chen Jing's words and gestured with his hands:
"What happens if someone gets polluted?"
"They get sick!"
Chen Jing answered simply, as if she had answered this question many times, sounding somewhat mechanical:
"Ordinary pollution makes people physically ill, while psychic pollution makes people mentally ill!"
"The consequences of illness vary. Some will develop severe depression and commit suicide."
"Some will lose their sanity and attack those around them."
"Some will lose the ability to communicate with everything around them…"
"Some will develop a strong desire to hurt themselves…"
"…"
"Simply put, pollution sources will cause a contagious mental illness!"