Pollutant Disguise Plan (POLLUTANT)
When Shen Ji returned to the residential complex, Zhou Ye was already gone. After all, as a powerful mutant, he wouldn't stay stationed in one area indefinitely.
Stepping into the old building's stairwell, Shen Ji immediately noticed rows of tiny mushrooms clinging to the metal handrail. They sprawled stealthily across it, wrapping the railing in fluffy white clusters before sprouting little mushroom caps. Shen Ji gave one a gentle pinch—soft, damp, and squishy.
These mushrooms seemed to be slowly expanding their territory, treating the building as their domain.
"Would the protagonist really have nothing better to do than patrol this rundown complex?" Shen Ji muttered with slight concern.
"In the original novel, the protagonist is extremely sensitive to contaminants. Often, he detects pollution before the instruments even register it. The author refers to him as a 'human contamination detector.'"
[Honestly, he is that idle. Who would’ve thought the protagonist—the leader of the Security Team—would go mushroom-picking to make soup?]
"That just means he has good taste," Shen Ji retorted as he climbed the stairs. "Mushrooms are delicious!"
[...You’re such a fake human.]
[And, it’s highly unlikely. This complex has already been swept by the security team. At most, they’ll send patrols to maintain safety. The protagonist wouldn’t bother with such tedious work.]
[By the way, let’s talk about your fake death plan.]
Shen Ji: "..."
Now it really feels like a novel plot.
Yanking the door open forcefully, a plump white mushroom tumbled from the gap onto the floor. Without even glancing at it, Shen Ji stepped into the white mushroom-filled world inside. The fallen mushroom outside swiftly dissolved into strands of mycelium, slipping through the closing door and rooting itself again in the first available crevice.
The little mushrooms could sense their master’s foul mood, so they obediently cleared a path for him and neatly arranged themselves to leave a generous walkway leading to his bed. Only the mushrooms on the bed lingered reluctantly before eventually forming an arched bridge at the foot of the bed.
Shen Ji flopped onto the bed without even removing his glasses then exhaling deeply before fishing his phone out of his pocket.
"Mm," he replied half-heartedly. "So, how do we fake my death?"
[To be honest, I haven’t figured it out yet. A fake death requires one major precondition: you’ve already been exposed. Right now, you haven’t been.]
[But we should still prepare in advance, just in case the day comes when we need to fake your death.]
Shen Ji rolled onto his stomach and kept scrolling through his phone. The screen’s glow reflected off his glasses. "So?"
[Do you remember the Undertakers?]
"That clan-type Pollutant?"
[The Special-Class Pollutants, Undertakers, currently classified as Level A. "Undertakers" is a collective term—it refers to numerous identical Pollutants of varying levels. The lowest-tier Undertakers are only level E, while the highest observed by the Contamination Control Center are level A, hence the entire group’s classification.]
[Undertakers exhibit dual contamination: the Harbinger Birds and the Undertakers themselves. During an outbreak, the Harbinger Birds or also called Death Messenger Bird, announce the names to mark the spread of contamination, while the Undertakers appear near those named.]
[The Level A Undertaker discovered by the Anti-Contamination Control Center possesses a remarkable trait: the Death Messenger Bird and the Undertaker share a dual-pollutant entity, but upon reaching level A, they completely separate into two distinct Pollutants. Their consciousness remains intertwined and both must be killed simultaneously to end them, as the survival of one will lead to the other's revival.]
[We don’t need the Undertaker’s revival ability. We need its doppelgänger ability.]
Shen Ji raised his head, his dark eyes carrying a hint of something inscrutable.
“You mean separating Shen Ji and Hui’s identities? If exposed, we’d manipulate Hui’s doppelgänger to fake its death?”
[Exactly. The only problem is that level A Undertakers aren’t easy to find.]
[Pollutants can devour each other’s contamination abilities. If you consume it, you’ll gain its power.]
Indeed, Undertakers rarely appeared in human cities. Most lurked in the uncontrolled contaminated zones in the wild, and only low-level ones occasionally ventured into urban areas.
Shen Ji pondered. “If we forcibly elevate its contamination level… would its contamination ability also upgrade?”
[It should work. Hui possesses the purest form of contamination. Leveling it up through sheer contamination would indeed enhance its ability.]
[I’ve detected a level C Undertaker appearing in Q City during this incident. Don’t tell me you’re planning to…]
“Is there even a question?” Shen Ji’s voice held not a shred of hesitation, as casual as if he were remarking on the nice weather.
“Forcefully upgrade the Undertaker’s level, then devour it to destroy the evidence. That Pollutant deserves to die anyway.”
[...]
[Tell me the truth—are you really just a journalist, or do you have some side gig involving murder and arson?]
Shen Ji: “...”
How rude.
He was simply looking for a way to protect himself.
Was it really slander to assume the worst?
………
The next day, Shen Ji meticulously followed the manual, donning protective gear and a respirator.
His task the previous day had been familiarizing himself with the patients and types of contamination diseases in Zone I.
The Facility had no time for slow learning, so today he was assigned to interact with mildly affected patients. From then on, he would be responsible for monitoring their contamination levels.
Unexpectedly, among his assigned patients were Lin Yujuan and her daughter Chen Guo.
Given Lin Yujuan’s contamination levels, a newcomer like him shouldn’t have been assigned to her case.
Carrying the files, he headed toward the ward. Just as he stepped out of the changing room, he spotted a bald old man in a white coat lingering by the entrance, his name and position displayed on his badge.
[Wang Anle, Attending doctor, Zone II]
Noticing Shen Ji, the old man quickly craned his neck forward.
“You must be the new staff member?” The old man chuckled warmly. “Hello, hello! I’m your colleague from Zone II. We might collaborate on patient handovers later, so I thought I’d introduce myself in advance.”
Shen Ji studied him with puzzlement, entirely unsure why the man was striking up a conversation.
“Dr. Wang?” Shen Ji’s tone carried a note of confusion. “I’m only handling mild cases in Zone I. I doubt we’ll be working together anytime soon.”
Besides, he was merely an assistant—observing patients’ conditions, administering medication, and distributing meals. He wasn’t involved in actual treatment.
In other words: he wasn’t a doctor at all. All prescriptions were handled by designated doctors.
"Isn't Lin Yujuan under your care?" Dr. Wang quickly said, "No problem, let's just get acquainted. I'd love to chat with young people like you."
"Alright, I just came to say hello. You must be busy now, so I won't disturb you further."
With that, Dr. Wang cheerfully walked away.
Shen Ji watched his retreating figure for a long moment before speaking to the system.
'What did he mean by that?'
[The book barely mentions the Facility, focusing mostly on the protagonist's battles and power-ups. Maybe this doctor just wants to befriend young people.]
What?
Shen Ji frowned slightly.
Something feels off about this.
Dr. Wang's gaze had been unsettling—not the look one gives a junior, but rather like an ardent fan staring at their idol with barely contained excitement. Despite the doctor's composed demeanor, Shen Ji's years as a journalist had honed his ability to read people.
Did Hui do something extraordinary during the time he and the system were unaware?
Puzzled, Shen Ji headed to Zone I.
This time, he was alone, without any companions, to observe his patients.
Apart from Lin Yujuan and Chen Guo, the Facility had assigned him only three other patients, all with mild symptoms. They were coherent and cooperative, so after a brief conversation and handing them their prescribed medication, Shen Ji proceeded to the isolation room where Lin Yujuan and Chen Guo were kept.
The system's readings showed a decrease of 5 points from yesterday, now stable without fluctuations.
Satisfied, Shen Ji nodded.
‘Should I feed them more mycelium this time?' he asked the system. 'Can we increase the dosage?’
[You can slightly increase it, but not too much. Keep it within a safe range—too much could harm their bodies.]
Shen Ji mixed a fine amount of mycelium into their medication and entered the isolation room.
Even with the 5-point reduction, Lin Yujuan's contamination level remained high. The moment Shen Ji stepped inside, she snapped her eyes open, alert. She shielded Chen Guo behind her and growled threateningly at him.
She wouldn’t allow anyone near her daughter.
"Time for your medicine," Shen Ji said as he stepped forward while ignoring her elongated arms and the branches sprouting from her body. He simply held out the medication.
"Take this, and you'll recover.”
Lin Yujuan clung to her daughter as they inched toward the corner. She was deeply unsettled.
As a contaminated patient, her senses had sharpened drastically. Even in her near-delirious state, she could sense the overwhelming threat radiating from Shen Ji—an instinctual, primal danger.
She was terrified, so much so that she almost wanted to dig a hole and bury herself in the ground.
"Take the medicine," Shen Ji repeated. "You can still understand me, can't you?”
Lin Yujuan locked eyes with him for a solid five seconds. Then, in one swift motion, she snatched the medicine from his hand with her enlarged limb. She hastily swallowed one dose herself and initially tried to take both, but under Shen Ji's cold stare, she hesitated before tremblingly feeding the second dose to her daughter.
Pleased, Shen Ji left the isolation room.
[As expected of you, intimidating a helpless mother and child with high-level contamination.]
"For their own good," Shen Ji said righteously. "Only medication can cure them. Though I might be a bit strict, in the end, they're the ones who benefit."
"What a kind person I am.”
The system responded speechlessly: [Truly, exceptionally kind.]
Satisfied, Shen Ji wrapped up his work and left Zone I. He still needed to write a brief report—as a former journalist, such tasks were effortless for him.
At that very moment, the five anxiously waiting doctors finally received what they had been hoping for.
"Alert: Contamination level decreased by 8."
"Repeat alert: Contamination level in this isolation unit decreased by 8."
The doctors couldn't help but widen their eyes.
"It dropped again! And this time by a full 8 points!"
"My God! At this rate, the patient might fully recover—her contamination is down to single digits now!"
"He must have some special treatment method!"
Watching his excited colleagues, the squint-eyed doctor coughed lightly to interrupt their celebration.
"Don't get carried away," he said. "Beyond this, we can observe something else. We assigned him five patients, yet only Lin Yujuan and her daughter showed reduced contamination levels. What does that mean? It means he has limits—he might only be able to treat two patients at a time."
The doctors nodded repeatedly. "That makes sense. It's only natural for such an ability to have restrictions."
"His choice of this mother-daughter pair might also be due to Lin Yujuan's special circumstances. We all understand!"
"This is wonderful. Maybe this time, everyone can be saved."
"Don't celebrate prematurely," the squint-eyed doctor warned again. "Until the patients fully recover, we mustn't make any moves. Even if a cure is truly possible, we can't let word get out."
"If this person... were to leave for another area after being discovered, it would be a loss for all of us."
The four nodded vigorously, their excitement barely contained. Only Dr. Wang had tears in his eyes and even nearly choked back his sobs.
The other doctors sighed inwardly, pretending not to notice.
Dr. Wang was a mutant himself and also a doctor specializing in contamination treatment. His wife, another doctor at the facility, had been exposed during the recent 'Containment Breach Incident.' Her condition deteriorated too rapidly—she was now in Stage III.
As a contamination treatment doctor, Dr. Wang was unable to cure his own wife, which nearly drove him to the brink of collapse.
These past few days, he had been living like a ghost, barely human and even almost succumbed to contamination alongside his wife. Yet now, against all odds, hope had arrived.
So miracles really do happen.
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