Pollutant Disguise Plan (POLLUTANT)
"Are you okay?" Shen Ji asked calmly but seriously.
Zhang Qingli steadied himself then released his grip on his skin and Shen Ji’s sleeve. He nodded firmly at the syringe Shen Ji had discreetly revealed.
Shen Ji regretfully put away the contamination suppressant.
Zhang Qingli: …
This guy really was about to stab him!
"What’s happening now?"
Shen Ji shook his head, adjusting his glasses.
Zhang Qingli noticed this little habit—always tidying himself up before work without seeming fussy. But honestly, buttoning his coat all the way up before starting… didn’t that just invite more speculation?
Of course, he didn’t know this was also Shen Ji’s professional habit. Reporters had to appear on camera, and on-screen presence demanded neatness.
Only after fastening the last button on his wrist did Shen Ji send a voice message in the group chat.
"Zhang Qingli is with me. He’s fine now. What’s the situation?"
His words set off a storm.
Instantly, voice messages flooded the chat, filling the screen in seconds.
Shen Ji tapped the top messages one by one.
"The main door on the first floor is locked! The back door won’t open, and I can’t reach the dorm supervisor. Messages won’t be sent—it’s like everything outside our floor is cut off from the network!"
"Reverse thinking—maybe it's not that the entire outside network is down, but that our connection here has been severed. This often happens in contaminated zones."
"Holy shit, a contaminated zone?! I thought I'd never set foot in one in my lifetime!"
"So that singing voice... is actually a Pollutant?"
"Everywhere's singing. Where exactly is the singer? Anyone showing signs of contamination?"
"Not yet, but that doesn't mean much. Victims don't realize they're contaminated at the onset. Even as doctors, we can't self-diagnose. Best to stay in groups—easier to spot abnormalities."
[As expected of containment facility doctors. They reacted instantly and correctly when things went wrong.]
Since there weren't many people in the dorm during shift change—just twenty or thirty—they decided to regroup after discussion.
Pairs or trios, no one should stay alone. The containment facility would notice when contact failed.
Most crucial—don't get contaminated while waiting for rescue.
"Zhang Qingli must have a savior complex," Shen Ji muttered behind his back. "Still causing trouble at a time like this."
[Unlike you, he's an actual doctor.]
Indeed, Zhang Qingli had left.
After recovering and injecting another dose of contamination suppressants, he wanted to locate the contamination source using his innate ability.
Fortunately, as a C-class Mutant, he could still manage this. Anyone weaker would be marching to their death.
Just then, a tiny mushroom dropped from the ceiling.
Shen Ji looked up to find the entire ceiling covered in dense mycelium and formed a hand that was poking at him experimentally—just like how Shen Ji used to poke their caps.
Shen Ji: "..."
These little things learned fast.
[They've located an area with higher contamination nearby. Investigate?]
Right when the outbreak began, Shen Ji had sent the mycelium to find the most contaminated spot, since contamination spreads outward from its source. Higher levels meant the core was likely nearby.
"Go."
Shen Ji rose from the couch as the mushrooms dutifully hung from the ceiling to guide him.
They crawled forward but kept darting around uncontrollably and returning noticeably plumper—clearly sneaking snacks to fatten themselves up.
Shen Ji yanked one strand. "Focus on guiding."
Like a stern parent, he threatened, "Stray again, and you're all fired."
The mushrooms burst their caps open with a pop and release a chain of translucent spores that quickly took root, sprouting countless new mushrooms.
[Such a bully, tricking these silly little mushrooms.]
Ignoring the system's commentary, Shen Ji followed the mycelium to the basement—yes, the dorm had one, with storage units for personal belongings.
Deeper inside, he soon spotted a figure curled in the corner.
Wearing a white coat, the person remained motionless. The motion-activated lights stayed off, leaving them dissolved in darkness.
Shen Ji approached and then crouched to check their breathing.
Still alive.
【Xu Nanzhou, Zone II staff member, E-class Mutant, Ability was unknown. Characterized by high resistance to contamination, he is a survivor of three contamination incidents and was recruited by the facility to work there. Currently residing in the 3rd-floor dormitory. Present contamination level detected at 63. Environmental contamination levels are extremely high—he has been contaminated.】
Shen Ji helped the man up, only to realize his eyes were wide open.
The motion-activated lights flickered on, casting dim illumination over the scene. In that faint glow, Xu Nanzhou stared fixedly at Shen Ji, his gaze brimming with something unsettling.
"You…" Shen Ji softened his voice. "Are you alright?"
"She hasn’t finished singing yet. I promised to listen to the end," Xu Nanzhou replied. "The song is so long, but she’s been so lonely. It’s rare for her to find someone who’ll listen."
As he spoke, Xu Nanzhou clamped his hands over his ears. "But I’ve been listening for so, so long… Why won’t it end?"
"I don’t want to hear it anymore!"
He began to thrash violently. The force of his movements caused his sleeves to slide down, revealing arms that were riddled with festering wounds.
The rotting flesh was laced with red streaks, and brownish fluid soaked through his white shirt. Yet he seemed oblivious as he kept screaming in utter hysteria.
"Calm down." Shen Ji pinned him, preventing further movement. Every struggle tore away another layer of skin from his decaying wounds and fresh blood quickly welling up.
Tendrils of fungal filaments extended from Shen Ji’s wrist, burrowing into Xu Nanzhou’s skin. His body was already riddled with holes because it was ravaged by contamination.
"Don’t move."
"What? What do you mean, don’t move?" Xu Nanzhou looked at Shen Ji blankly before turning his head—only to see the gaping, rotting holes in his own arms. The horrific sight wrenched a scream from his throat.
"It hurts! It hurts!" The moment he saw the wounds, his pain receptors reignited. Agony like bones being scraped sent his entire body into convulsions.
Shen Ji held him down. "Stop moving! You’re a doctor—you know exactly what’s happening!"
"Even contaminated, you’re still the facility’s doctor."
Xu Nanzhou shuddered. His futile struggles ceased, but the excruciating pain left his face deathly pale. It took him a full minute before he could slowly open his eyes again.
"Knock me out. I can’t take this," he begged Shen Ji through tears. "Please."
Instead of complying, Shen Ji retrieved a sedative from his pocket—leftover from his last trip to the East District. He then injected the solution into Xu Nanzhou and stayed by his side until the drug finally dragged him under. Even in sleep, his body twitched sporadically from the pain.
【Shen Ji, have you noticed? This contamination feels familiar.】
"Yeah." Shen Ji placed a hand over Xu Nanzhou’s chest. Fungal tendrils spread from his wrist, eventually enveloping the man entirely.
"It matches the contamination signature from occupational exposure at the facility."
【When Level A Pollutant, Chen Guo erupted within the Facility, the sheer number of medical staff and contaminated patients who died rendered any investigation into the "Decaying Organism" unnecessary. Yet even after we prevented Chen Guo from fully transforming into a Pollutant, this predetermined outbreak still occurred.】
【The butterfly effect is inevitable.】
Shen Ji sighed. He removed his coat and draped it over the unconscious Xu Nanzhou.
"I suddenly remembered something. Wasn't the 'Midnight Singer' a victim who died alone, a community doctor?"
[Correct. This was confirmed by the Control Center—extremely accurate information.]
"So this means... is this Pollutant specifically fixated on doctors? Song Yuanchang was also a doctor once."
[A rotting-inducing, doctor-obsessed, singing Pollutant…]
[Got it! I know what Pollutant this is! Do you ever read the author's notes? This writer has a habit of recording his settings there, like sharing inspiration with readers.]
Shen Ji: ...
"Sorry, I always block author's notes."
[In Chapter 18 of Volume 3, the author wrote about a Pollutant called 'The Little Girl in the Sewer'.]
[This Pollutant originated during the initial outbreak. The girl's father was a doctor and her mother a nurse who often sang her lullabies. During the outbreak, her parents hid her in a nearby sewer before being killed by contamination. Unfortunately, the girl in hiding didn't survive either, transforming into a Pollutant after death. Endless loneliness drives her constant search for her parents, but her contamination assimilates everyone within range.]
[That's the story of 'The Little Girl in the Sewer'.]
"A lullaby?" Shen Ji looked up while listening to the hoarse, repetitive singing. "Is this the lullaby her mother sang to her?"
"But if we resolve this Pollutant, does that mean we can say goodbye to the protagonist?"
[How so?]
"First, the protagonist discovered Chen Guo through the containment facility leak incident, then found me through Chen Guo," Shen Ji mused while thoughtfully stroking his chin. "Now Chen Guo isn't a Level S Pollutant, but the containment breach still exists."
"If we handle the containment breach too, then the protagonist has no reason to come to the facility. No facility visit means no further interaction between us.”
"Perfect.”
[You're absolutely right! Binding with you was indeed the right choice! We'll soon be living freely! Go, Shen Ji!]
"Don't pop the champagne early. If things go wrong because of this jinx, it's all on you."
[...]
Spoke too soon.
………
"No!...cough…You can't go!"
Zhang Qingli grabbed a man's arm, stopping him from moving forward while coughing violently.
He could feel the terrible physical reaction—his emotions teetering on the edge of eruption. The effort to suppress them made his arms tremble.
Ahead was the rooftop.
This was the fifth floor, and the man before him was about to jump.
He had come here searching for a way out, only to find his colleague attempting suicide. The man was already deeply contaminated—not just hallucinating but also convinced he needed to join the Pollutant immediately.
Rotting flesh melted against Zhang Qingli's palm and emitted an indescribable stench. Yet he didn’t dare let go. If he did, a colleague would die by his own hand.
"Why stop me?" The decaying man didn’t even realize he was already contaminated, only asking in confusion, "My friend is waiting for me. She says she’s been alone for years. If I don’t go, who will keep her company?"
"She’s so pitiful."
"Let me go. I promise, I’ll just stay with her for a while and come back."
"You won’t come back if you go down there!" Zhang Qingli snarled, gripping him with both hands. "Did she ever pity you?! What about your wife and child?!"
"Damn it! Snap out of it!"
"How could that be?" The colleague only grew more puzzled. "I’m just visiting a friend. How does that hurt anyone? Let me go—you’re being unreasonable."
Who’s the unreasonable one here?!
Seeing Zhang Qingli wouldn’t relent, the man sighed—a horrifying sight with half his face rotted away. Even Zhang Qingli, accustomed to dealing with the contaminated patients, couldn’t help but grimace. Then, the man pulled a syringe from his pocket with a hand bearing an exposed bone.
Zhang Qingli finally let go just before the needle pierced his skin.
Damn it, someone actually carries contamination suppressants like Shen Ji!
"Sorry," the man even apologized. "She’s just too pitiful. I’ll only stay with her briefly."
With that, he sprinted to the rooftop and leaped. Zhang Qingli lunged but caught nothing but air.
A sickening thud followed—the sound of flesh hitting hard ground. Sticky, visceral. Even without looking, Zhang Qingli could picture the grotesque scene.
Rotting flesh and fresh blood smeared across the pavement...
He dry-heaved again.
Staggering up, he leaned against the wall while breathing erratically. The hyperventilation didn’t calm him—only pushed him toward respiratory alkalosis.
"Are you crying?"
Zhang Qingli turned toward the voice.
At the stairway, Shen Ji stood on the steps and looking down at him from above.
Shen Ji remained unchanged—his dark eyes calm as if nothing had happened, as if all disasters were merely trivial difficulties unworthy of mention. His clothes were still immaculately clean and neatly pressed, with the black tie resting at his collar. His scholarly demeanor intact behind black-framed glasses.
It was a sense of security that seeped into one’s bones. Zhang Qingli even felt his own breathing begin to slow.
"Was I crying?" Zhang Qingli touched his cheek but found no tears.
"You just looked like you were about to," Shen Ji said as he descended the steps. "What happened?"
"He jumped. I couldn’t stop him." Zhang Qingli answered tersely.
Even with such a brief explanation, Shen Ji understood. He nodded and asked no further questions, simply standing quietly across from Zhang Qingli as if prepared to accompany him through this wretched moment of self-reproach.
But Zhang Qingli didn’t need regret. He had only tried and failed to save someone—something that had already happened countless times in the containment facility.
[Your outward persona is impeccable. I feel like everyone in the facility sees you as gentle, reliable, and strong.]
‘Aren’t I gentle, reliable, and strong?’
[...Well, you’re not wrong.]
Only when Zhang Qingli’s breathing steadied did Shen Ji continue downward. It wasn’t until Shen Ji was halfway down the steps that Zhang Qingli snapped back to reality.
He quickly gripped the railing and leaned forward. "Where are you going?”
"No—why are you even out here? It’s dangerous outside. Go back to the dorm!"
Shen Ji paused and looked up at Zhang Qingli, their eyes meeting.
Unlike before, it was now Zhang Qingli who stood above and looking down—yet somehow, he still felt like the one being scrutinized. Shen Ji’s gaze was clear, his dark eyes cool and detached, carrying that unique aloofness of his, yet not distant.
Whether here or back in the East District, he was always so composed, as if he had experienced horrors far worse than this, rendering the present situation insufficient to frighten him.
Shen Ji said, "Haven’t you noticed? This contamination shares the same origin as the occupational exposure contamination in the facility. It might even be the very Pollutant causing the leak."
"I’m going to find it."
With that, Shen Ji turned and continued walking. After a moment’s hesitation, Zhang Qingli followed.
"Don’t go! At this level, the Pollutant is at least a Level C. Level C Pollutants aren’t so easy to handle!"
"Shen Ji!"
"Li Zhiyan said my aptitude level is very high," Shen Ji replied without turning back, and even adjusting his glasses calmly. "If my aptitude is high, then I won’t be affected by this contamination. That means there’s a lot I can do."
"Like finding this Pollutant. Like possibly discovering a way out."
Zhang Qingli followed step by step behind him. "Non-aggressive mutants can still die. We’re all flesh and blood. That Pollutant might not contaminate you, but it can kill you."
"I still have to go."
Shen Ji’s voice was soft, almost a murmur, yet it carried an unshakable resolve and gentleness.
"There’s a chance I might find a treatment for occupational exposure."
Zhang Qingli’s eyes widened.
"The treatment for 'Decaying Organism’ has always been directionless—nearly all treatment methods have failed. Now that we've finally found the source of contamination, we might be able to uncover a cure."
"Isn't it our duty as doctors to save those suffering from occupational exposure?"
Zhang Qingli felt his heart racing wildly—not from the alarm triggered by the high-contamination zone, but from sheer admiration and respect for another person.
As a doctor, as a friend and even as a colleague... he couldn't help but be moved by Shen Ji.
How could someone in this world be so kind?
"I'll go with you," Zhang Qingli declared while locking eyes with Shen Ji with a solemn intensity, as if entrusting his entire faith to this man.
"I can't let you go alone."
Shen Ji: "..."
Could he refuse?
[Oh no, this poor kid's been fooled by you again. Look at his eyes—he absolutely worships you now. Shen Ji, you monster!]
'More importantly, I can't process the contaminants in front of him. I need to find a way to ditch him.’
[You're actually thinking of abandoning him? Heartless!]
'Maybe I should just eat him.' Shen Ji pondered seriously with his glasses reflecting an eerie glint of white light, like a villain in a movie about to reveal his true colors and betray the protagonist.
'After all, if he dies in the contamination zone, it’s easy to pin the blame.'
[...Stop suddenly leaning into your villain persona at a time like this!]
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