Pollutant Disguise Plan (POLLUTANT)
Shen Ji stumbled out of the room with the massive, fleshy mushroom caps pressing against the iron door. The holes gnawed by rats last night were now packed with white mycelia, and it took Shen Ji considerable effort to pry the door open.
Standing in the hallway, he exhaled heavily, while inexplicably feeling as though he had narrowly escaped disaster.
He glanced back at the room and saw that the bold mushrooms, huddled together, had eagerly scrambled onto his bed the moment he left, covering it with mycelia in mere seconds.
Shen Ji: "..."
[Look how well-behaved they are. No matter how crowded, they never climb onto your bed—until you leave, then they sneak up there for a nap.]
"You call this sneaking?"
[Don’t expect too much from little mushrooms. They’re just a bunch of tiny fungi.]
Speechless, Shen Ji slammed the door shut and turned to leave.
The hallway still bore the scars of last night’s chaos.
The concrete stairs were covered in claw marks and reeked of corroded metal. The handrail was beyond recognition, and only the old motion-sensor light at the end of the corridor dutifully flickered on.
The rain had stopped outside, but the air remained damp, thick with the scent of wet earth. Not a soul was in sight.
"Huh? Aren’t you the one from last night? Why are you out here?"
Perfect. Someone had appeared.
Shen Ji turned to see the Guard member who had knocked on his door for an inspection the previous night perched on the nearby wall. His outfit had changed, but he still hadn’t buttoned his shirt.
Balancing effortlessly on the ledge, his elbows resting lazily on his knees, he looked like a cat lording over its territory from atop a fence.
Zhou Ye didn’t climb down, merely gazing down at him with an air of, The owner’s away, so this cat shall condescend to observe the foolish human!
He spoke, "During lockdown, it’s best to stay indoors. There might be Pollutants wandering outside."
Shen Ji let him scrutinize him and meet Zhou Ye’s gaze steadily through his glasses without a trace of timidity.
"I didn’t want to, but the Facility called. They want me for a check-up."
"You’re a person of interest?" Zhou Ye finally showed a flicker of surprise. He leaped down from the wall before landing lightly—even more catlike now—and circled Shen Ji while sizing him up. After a few seconds, he nodded. "Alright, I’ll have someone escort you over soon."
"That area’s completely sealed off. You can’t get in right now."
With that, Zhou Ye pulled out his phone and began making a call, utterly absorbed.
[Zhou Ye, Male Supporting Lead No. 1, an A-Class Mutant. Talent: Wild Revival. Renowned throughout the story as a giant cat—loves rolling in the rain, has lost his work badge 33 times, and had it reissued 25 times. A certified home-wrecker.]
"So he’s crouched here to catch mice? Is this just feline instinct?"
[He probably caught quite a few last night. Now he’s just resting.]
No sooner had the words formed than Zhou Ye approached while casually stuffing his phone into his pocket—only halfway, as if it were about to fall out any second.
Thankfully, Shen Ji wasn’t the obsessive type, or he’d have been tempted to tuck it back in properly.
"I’ll take you there," Zhou Ye said. "The lockdown’s been upgraded. Regular staff can’t get through easily."
Shen Ji resisted the urge to pet the cat—because something far more important had caught his attention.
"Then why are they letting me go there?"
You need to understand that his current identity is just an ordinary person who has experienced a contamination incident. Is it really okay to call an ordinary person to a heavily guarded Facility?
Unexpectedly, Zhou Ye seemed even more puzzled than Shen Ji, his expression saying, 'How could you ask such a question?'
"Someone like you is clearly in the Awakening refractory. After a quick checkup, you'll be put to work if everything's fine."
"The Facility is already packed to the brim with Contamination Disease patients and operating way beyond capacity. The Mutants are tied up dealing with Pollutants in the city and can't spare any hands."
"Awakening?" Shen Ji pointed at himself. "You're saying I've awakened a talent? That I'll become a mutant later?"
"What else?" Zhou Ye shifted his posture while eyeing Shen Ji with a peculiar look. "Someone like you—not eating or drinking is one thing, but being unharmed even at such close proximity to Pollutants—you're clearly not normal."
Shen Ji: "..."
[...]
I knew that living the way Hui does would eventually draw the Anti-Contamination Control Center's attention!
[Let's turn the tables and just claim we're mutants.]
Faking death while hiding in the Facility, huh? System, we're really playing it safe.
[Better than being wiped out without a trace.]
"No problem." Shen Ji deliberately adjusted his glasses on the bridge of his nose and nodded seriously at Zhou Ye. "Let's go now."
For a moment, Zhou Ye felt his hackles rise. He looked around in confusion for the source of his unease, but the only person in front of him was a young man named 'Shen Ji'.
The young man wore the same black-framed glasses as last night with his black jacket draped over his shoulders. This time, the shirt underneath was neatly buttoned, giving him an air of prim respectability at first glance—though it was undercut by an unmistakable aura of a refined scoundrel.
As a 'wild animal,' Zhou Ye lacked the keen sensitivity to Pollutants, but he was highly attuned to fellow Mutants among humans. He sensed no trace of a mutant's presence from Shen Ji. Even if Shen Ji were to awaken as a Mutant later, his rank probably wouldn't be high.
Must not be him, then.
Zhou Ye privately reached his conclusion and personally escorted Shen Ji to the Facility.
…….
A deep examination was different from the routine check-up earlier—it required a blood draw.
Shen Ji couldn’t help but wonder: Could he even bleed now?
[Don’t worry. Even if no blood comes out, it’s fine. Pollutants uncontrollably emit contamination to the outside world, even the highest-grade level S ones. Mutants, on the other hand, store contamination within their bodies and are unable to release it. This is the Anti-Contamination Control Center’s basic criterion for distinguishing high-level Pollutants from Mutants.]
[Hui is an exceptionally unique Pollutant. He can transfer contamination to the Fungus he coexists with, preventing any release and perfectly disguising himself as human.]
The nurse inserted the needle into Shen Ji’s forearm.
Blood flowed into the tube—but instead of the bright red of a normal human, it was a pale white. Shen Ji could clearly see white Mycelia stretching and wriggling inside the tube, as if searching for a suitable space to grow.
Upon seeing this inhuman blood, the nurse didn’t react with fear—but with excitement.
She quickly pulled a strange device from a drawer and pressed it against the puncture wound left by the needle. Shen Ji felt a faint sting, and the next second, the machine beeped and spat out numbers.
"Talent threshold: 3. Stable numerical fluctuations. Contamination level: 0. No contamination leakage detected!"
"Talent: Unknown. Judged to be in the Awakening refractory period—definitely a Mutant!"
With a collective gasp, the surrounding nurses, all sporting dark circles under their eyes, swarmed over as their faces alight with excitement.
"What? A Mutant? Hurry, get him to help in the Facility!"
"Wow! White blood—so cute!"
"No, no, this should be called beautiful! So beautiful!"
"He’s the first Mutant discovered in this incident! I need to record this for posterity!"
Shen Ji: "…"
He suddenly felt like a panda—a rare creature being gawked at by an adoring crowd.
Of course, once the data was reported, the Facility immediately sent someone to collect Shen Ji.
They wasted no time painting grand promises and directly hoped he would assist them in exchange for generous rewards and merit recognition. In the future, he’d even have priority evacuation rights in dangerous situations.
Shen Ji noticed that none of them seemed to detect the Mycelia in his white blood. They simply assumed his blood had mutated to that color.
So Hui’s disguise ability even extends to the Fungus itself.
In the end, Shen Ji agreed—not for the privilege, of course, but to avoid exposure.
On the way to collect his uniform with the assigned personnel, Shen Ji glanced out the window.
After the Containment Breach Incident, the entire Facility had been sealed off, with layers of security barriers encircling the perimeter.
“There’s one thing I’m really curious about.”
Shen Ji asked the system, “If Hui has the power to contaminate an entire city, why go through the trouble of orchestrating a ‘Containment Breach Incident’?”
He had a friend who specialized in hosting "relationship mediation shows" and thrived during the era when television was mainstream. This friend once told Shen Ji that before interviews began, they needed thorough research and attention to detail.
For example: No one would go out of their way to do something they could easily accomplish without reason.
In most cases, this question was the very root of the entire matter.
[Because the novel was rushed to an ending!]
The system replied helplessly: [How far would an author desperate to finish go? Ignoring all logic and foreshadowing to forcibly kill off the antagonist for a happy ending—who knows why Hui took such a roundabout approach? The book just says it was his doing.]
Shen Ji: “…You’re right.”
Trash authors who rush endings deserve to be locked in a dark room.
……..
As a newly conscripted temporary worker at the Facility, Shen Ji’s immediate priority was to familiarize himself with the patients in Zone I—their names, ages, and current contamination status.
Patients in Contamination Stage I still retained their sanity, though parts of their bodies had mutated. They were aware something was wrong.
Those in Stage II, even if conscious, were largely controlled by contamination instincts.
Stage III marked the critical threshold.
By Stage IV, the Facility would eliminate the patient before they fully transformed into a Pollutant.
After the apocalypse, conventional medical practices were no longer the focus. Doctors now had to study Contamination Disease alongside standard medicine—it was the deadliest affliction in this new world. Since the progression of contamination was tied to the patient’s emotional state, emotional stability became a rigid requirement for doctors.
The more reassuring a doctor was, the more they could slow the disease’s advance.
Thus, Shen Ji’s composed, rational demeanor—unreadable and detached—made him particularly suited for the Facility.
Following his ‘colleague’ down to the first level, Shen Ji noted the man wore the same white hazmat suit. He could sense the colleague’s unwelcoming attitude, though the hostility didn’t stem from work fatigue.
Shen Ji glanced at his name tag.
Zhang Qingli.
“Even Mutants aren’t completely safe here,” Zhang Qingli suddenly remarked.
Shen Ji looked at him. “Meaning?”
“You know about the recent Containment Breach Incident, right?” Zhang Qingli frowned slightly, his tone inscrutable. “Zone I is understaffed because every member on duty during the breach tested positive for contamination—including several mutants. I heard you were assisting at the Facility then? Instead of getting contaminated, you awakened an ability?”
“You’re really lucky.”
With that, Zhang Qingli turned and pushed the meal cart away.
“I’ll handle meal distribution over there. Familiarize yourself with this area.”
[He suspects you.] the system concluded. [The title of sole survivor is indeed too conspicuous.]
"It doesn’t matter," Shen Ji replied, unconcerned and even eager.
"I’m looking forward to him questioning me in front of a crowd. I’ve already prepared three countermeasures—from sensationalizing the issue to setting the mood, and even questioning his motives. I’ll definitely ruin his reputation and squeeze a hefty compensation for defamation out of him."
He was even considering switching to self-media—no one knew this game better than him.
[...?]
Dismissing Zhang Qingli, Shen Ji began casually observing the patients in the Facility.
In the original story, the Facility was like a crucible—those afflicted with Contamination Disease and entered, rarely left. The doctors there frequently suffered occupational exposure, yet the facility remained, symbolizing humanity’s resolve to fight against pollution and never abandon the infected.
Thus, the place was meticulously organized.
Transparent barriers isolated patients in different zones. Each area is dedicated to finding treatments.
Shen Ji scanned them one by one, while suppressing his professional instincts. Whipping out his phone to snap photos or conduct interviews here would be far too impolite, even though he’d already mentally drafted headlines and lofty conclusions.
Just then, two patients in an isolation room caught his attention.
Their faces were visibly wrinkled and bulging, like aged tree bark or the deep folds of an elderly person’s skin. They huddled together, motionless and stiff, as if already dead.
It was rare for the Facility to house different patients together, as Contamination Disease could cross-infect. There were even cases of patients attacking each other as they fought over territory.
Shen Ji sensed something amiss.
He flipped through the stack of documents he’d received before entering the ward and pulled out their files.
Lin Yujuan and Chen Guo—mother and daughter that were admitted three days prior.
According to the records: Lin Yujuan’s husband had visited the Facility six days ago. Fearful, he concealed the incident, but his terror triggered an outbreak of Contamination Disease. Within days, he mutated into a Pollutant. When the Guards found him, he was crouched in the small garden downstairs, rooting into the soil and drinking water like a plant then growing rapidly to three meters tall. Had the Guards not sawed him down in time, he might have grown even taller.
As his closest relatives, his wife and daughter were both contaminated.
"Chen Guo," Shen Ji murmured while staring at the name. "Why does this sound familiar?"
[Of course it does! It’s Chen Guo! In the original story, this little girl was a perfect Pollutant. Within a short time, she reached Contamination Stage IV and mutated into a level A Pollutant. Using her unique Contamination talent, she discovered you hiding among the crowd and later revealed this to the protagonist during their final confrontation!]
[In other words: she’s the root cause of your exposure!]
[Who’d have thought she’d already be in the Facility at this point—and under your care as a Stage I patient?]
Shen Ji frowned at the little girl, who seemed to be sleeping, a subtle thought forming in his mind.
From a safety standpoint, he should kill her now. After all, he knew the future—and this girl was its worst variable.
But as a human being, Shen Ji found it difficult to harm a little girl.
[Actually, there's another way.]
Shen Ji silently swept away the dark thoughts in his mind, pretending nothing had happened.
If the system found out, it would mock him for being a born villain again.
"What way?" Shen Ji asked.
[You can try consuming the pollution on her body.]
"What do you mean?"
[Literally.]
[Hui's pollution is special—it can absorb and transfer contamination, just like how you ate that rat last night.]
[If you consume the pollution on Chen Guo, she won't turn into a Pollutant, and she won't expose you. Plus, absorbing the pollution will make you stronger, increasing your chances against the protagonist. It's a win-win.]
[Come on, give it a try!]
Shen Ji: "...You sound like a salesperson in a suit."
[...]
[Maybe you should just turn yourself in to the protagonist.]