Pollutant Disguise Plan (POLLUTANT)
On the second day after Chu Ye was discharged, people from the Containment Headquarters arrived.
Shen Ji stood at a distance and held a cup of coffee as he watched several figures in hazmat suits walk in, their ID badges displaying their credentials: Senior Doctors, Containment Headquarters.
"Why is the Containment Headquarters sending people now?"
Zhang Qingli, standing beside him, answered, "Because the Undertaker’s body has been delivered."
"The dissection of Pollutant corpses has always been a contentious issue among Containment Facilities, but our Q City branch has been pushing for it. This time, it was Li Zhiyan who provided the guarantee, so the Headquarters finally relented."
"And don’t forget about the special medicine."
The fact that the Q City branch developed a special treatment for contamination—something the Containment Headquarters had failed to achieve—had long made the Containment Headquarters doctors restless.
The higher-ups had been dragging their feet, but these doctors had fought hard for approval and flew straight to Q City the moment they got it, ignoring the city’s still-active lockdown.
Doctors Wen Jingyu and Wang Anle stepped forward to receive them, ensuring the rest of the medical staff wouldn’t be disturbed.
"It doesn’t concern us much," Zhang Qingli concluded. "However, Mr. Li will be coming this afternoon."
Shen Ji sipped his coffee, puzzled. "Why is he coming again? Doesn’t the head of the security team have anything better to do?"
At this, Zhang Qingli gave him a strange look.
Such blatant skepticism, even with a hint of barely concealed disdain—this was the first time he’d heard anyone speak of Li Zhiyan like that.
Not that everyone in the world liked Li Zhiyan, of course. Most people were indifferent. But Li Zhiyan was, after all, the actual authority of Q City’s Anti-Contamination Control Center, responsible for the entire city and technically the Containment Facility’s superior.
"I thought you two were close."
"Close?" Shen Ji took another sip of coffee, belatedly realizing. "You mean the kind of close on where not many dare to talk to Li Zhiyan, but I do?"
Zhang Qingli:...
Well, that answered that.
"As mentioned earlier, Li Zhiyan is the guarantor for the Undertaker’s body. As the guarantor, he needs to visit the Containment Facility regularly to ensure the corpse remains secure."
"What? Can Pollutant corpses come back to life?"
"It’s possible. There’s precedent." Zhang Qingli nodded seriously. "Last time, a Pollutant corpse in D City woke up mid-dissection—turns out it wasn’t dead, just dormant."
"D City’s reflection afterward: Next time, make sure the corpse is actually dead before cutting it open."
Shen Ji:...
What a bizarre and morbid piece of trivia.
Finishing the last of his coffee, Shen Ji returned the cup to the break room and headed back to Zone I with Zhang Qingli to begin the day’s work.
Although Shen Ji's intervention had slightly improved the cure rate for contaminated patients and some medical staff exposed to occupational hazards had been discharged, these improvements weren't enough to completely lift the burden. At most, overtime work had become less frequent, but staff still needed to work from dawn till dusk.
Among the group from the Containment Headquarters, a bespectacled middle-aged doctor turned his head curiously, catching only the retreating figures of Shen Ji and Zhang Qingli.
"Dr. Qi, what are you looking at?"
Dr. Qi turned his head. "No, I just felt like something passed by earlier."
Dr. Qi, whose full name was Qi Yuanhai, was a Contamination Disease Specialist at the Containment Headquarters. He was also a C-class Sensory-type Mutant. Both the security team and the Anti-Contamination Control Center had tried to recruit him multiple times, but he declined all offers, remaining dedicated to his research at the Containment Headquarters and focusing on Contamination Diseases.
This time, it was also his initiative that prompted the Headquarters to visit the Q City branch for an inspection and discussion.
"Your Containment Facility is really clean," Qi Yuanhai remarked.
Wen Jingyu sighed helplessly. "You must be joking. We’ve been so busy that aside from basic disinfection and contamination isolation, we haven’t had the energy for thorough cleaning."
Qi Yuanhai shook his head. "I’m not talking about cleanliness in terms of hygiene—I mean contamination."
"The contamination levels in your facility are far lower than in other branches."
Especially during such widespread contamination, when Containment Facilities were operating beyond capacity. Qi Yuanhai had visited multiple branches, and at their worst, some could even be considered small, low-level contamination zones.
Qi Yuanhai humbly asked, "Director Wen, how did you manage to keep the contamination levels here so low?"
Wen Jingyu: "..."
Hiss… Had he never actually considered that?
Inside the crevices, the mycelial threads seemed to realize something and quietly retreated further in.
Wuwu, if we get discovered again, Master might fire us!
Not receiving an answer from Wen Jingyu, Qi Yuanhai didn’t press further. Their main purpose for this visit was still the contamination antidote.
When they arrived at the research building where the antidote was being developed, Qi Yuanhai’s eyes widened in surprise the moment he stepped inside.
He could sense an intense contamination aura, yet strangely, it was confined to a specific area without any signs of spreading.
"To be honest, this research violates Anti-Contamination Control Center regulations. We illegally retained a contaminated object," Wen Jingyu admitted, gesturing toward the isolation cabinet containing a doll. "Since we’re all colleagues working for the same cause, I won’t hide it from you."
"Once we confirm the antidote has no severe side effects, we’ll send this item to the Contaminant Disposal Center for disposal."
Qi Yuanhai was shocked. "So you directly studied the remnants of the Pollutant?! With contamination levels this high, you still dared to?"
"We had no choice," Wen Jingyu sighed. "Dr. Qi, you’re a doctor too, and you work in containment. Don’t you understand how it feels to watch colleagues get quarantined due to occupational exposure?"
"We did this to save our comrades."
Qi Yuanhai exhaled. "At least the outcome is good."
He clapped his hands. "Alright, everyone, let’s gather and begin our discussion! Feel free to share your thoughts—maybe we can help Director Wen push this antidote even further!"
Everyone present murmured quick agreements and gathered around, discussing the antidote and the contaminated object.
The morning passed in medical discussions.
Wen Jingyu had prepared a break room for the headquarters team, and even after the formal session, they continued debating there.
"That’s already the optimal state. Increasing the dosage further would cause irreversible harm to the patients," one doctor argued. "I don’t think we should proceed any further."
"What if the contaminated individuals are Mutants? They have higher endurance, so could they withstand stronger doses of medication?"
"That would require actual testing to determine."
As they discussed, their gazes turned to Qi Yuanhai, who had been deep in thought across the room.
"Dr. Qi, what do you think?"
Qi Yuanhai finally looked up and scanned the faces of his fellow doctors before speaking after a few seconds of silence.
"I have a hypothesis, but I'm not sure if I should voice it."
"Why not? We're all discussing methods and dosages here. As Dr. Qi said, what truly matters is the patients' well-being and curing the Contamination Disease."
"Go ahead, Dr. Qi."
Qi Yuanhai glanced toward the door, ensuring no one was entering, then lowered his voice. "I suspect there's a Healing-type Mutant in this branch facility."
"And their ability level isn't low."
His words plunged the room into dead silence.
They stared at Qi Yuanhai, momentarily stunned.
After about five seconds, one doctor finally spoke in disbelief, "Dr. Qi, are you joking?"
"This isn't something to joke about."
"It's just speculation," Qi Yuanhai said helplessly while spreading his hands. "Some things are just too strange to explain, which is why I hesitated to bring it up."
As a Sensory-type Mutant and a seasoned doctor, his words carried significant weight.
"It's already odd that contamination levels inside the Containment Facility are lower than outside. The Pollutants they're researching are rated Level C, yet none of the researchers have been contaminated. The contamination is tightly confined to a single space without spreading. But beyond that, I've noticed that aside from the 'Decaying Organism,' the cure rate at the Q City facility has increased by 10%."
"In other words: where the average cure rate for Contamination Disease is only 8%, they've managed to raise it to 18%."
"We're all doctors here. Tell me, who could achieve that?"
The room fell silent again.
"But that doesn't necessarily mean there's a Healing-type Mutant."
"Of course not, but I recently received some news." Qi Yuanhai's voice dropped even lower. "Chu Ye has recovered. Before his recovery, an insider mentioned he came looking for Li Zhiyan. Then he disappeared for days without a trace—until yesterday, when he was spotted in Li Zhiyan's car as they left the facility."
"I suspect Chu Ye received treatment here."
At that, everyone fell completely silent.
Chu Ye—who didn’t know him?
A high-ranking official at the Anti-Contamination Control Center and a friend of Li Zhiyan's, who had been desperately seeking treatment after contracting the Contamination Disease to no avail. He had even visited their headquarters, which genuinely housed a Healing-type Mutant.
Yet after examination, he was given a death sentence—his contamination deemed incurable.
And now, he had actually recovered? Here, of all places?!
"So?"
A familiar voice sounded from behind them. The startled doctors nearly jumped out of their seats.
"Captain—Captain Li?!"
Li Zhiyan stood at the doorway, cradling a potted plant in his arms. His pale blue eyes reflected their stunned expressions as he stepped inside, unfazed. He placed the plant at the center of the table before speaking.
"What were you just saying? That the Q City Containment Facility has a Healing-type Mutant?"
Qi Yuanhai coughed lightly, "Just speculation, mere speculation."
"So it's just speculation." Li Zhiyan unceremoniously sat on the table before idly flicking the leaves of a potted plant. "Do you think the flowers look nice?"
There weren't any flowers blooming in that pot—just a tiny bud hiding beneath the leaves, looking pitifully thin and small. Li Zhiyan didn't seem to actually want their opinion on the plant.
"Though the municipal containment branches are nominally under your headquarters' jurisdiction, in reality, the central office has no authority over them. Each city governs its own branch separately." Li Zhiyan's tone was casual, as if he were just making small talk with the doctors.
Then, as if suddenly realizing something, he added, "Which means, in practical terms, I'm the one actually in charge of containment operations."
Qi Yuanhai hesitated before speaking, "Mr. Li, if there really is a Healing-type Mutant, protecting them should be—"
"Precious things need protection, but we should also consider whether they want to be protected." Li Zhiyan picked up the flowerpot. "Look at this beautiful flower—pretty and rare, but in reality, it's a contaminated strain. Quite vicious."
"Mr. Li?"
"Don't make me spell it out. I'm not the type to formally announce certain things." Li Zhiyan locked eyes with him. "Whether it's speculation or your genuine belief, your headquarters is here to collaborate on developing the medicine. Don't concern yourselves with anything beyond that."
"Understood?"
Qi Yuanhai and his team understood.
Regardless of whether their suspicions were correct, Li Zhiyan had no intention of letting anyone go, nor would he allow headquarters to poach them. They could only sigh regretfully in their hearts.
In this world, no one dared to compete with Li Zhiyan for personnel.
…….
After recording all the patients' contamination levels and conditions, Shen Ji stretched and checked the time—11:23 AM.
Perfect lunch hour.
Ever since becoming a Pollutant, Shen Ji noticed his appetite had grown significantly. Sometimes he'd catch himself having already eaten two portions of the cafeteria's work meals.
While the little mushrooms would perch on his shoulders and drool over his lunch, even though they'd already consumed plenty of contamination earlier.
The system said this was due to being influenced by the nature of contaminants, but a strong appetite wasn't necessarily bad—it meant the little mushrooms were healthy!
"What's for lunch today?" Shen Ji mused aloud as he walked and pulling out his phone. "Hope it's not chicken breast. That stuff tastes awful."
Ding.
The elevator doors opened.
Shen Ji frowned—he hadn't even pressed the button yet.
Looking up slowly, he found himself locking eyes with someone familiar.
Shen Ji adjusted his glasses with exasperation. "Mr. Li, what a coincidence meeting you again. You're in Zone I too?"
"No coincidence. I came looking for you."
Li Zhiyan was holding a potted plant, just like yesterday. Shen Ji could tell from the leaves that it was the same species, but unlike yesterday's vibrant specimen, this one looked frail—a small, wilted bud drooping pathetically.
Shen Ji stepped into the elevator. "Bringing flowers again?"
"Not this time." Li Zhiyan pressed the elevator button before explaining, "I brought it to help restore its confidence."
Shen Ji: ...
Wait—what? Did he just hear "restore a flower's confidence"?
"What do you mean?"
"This flower is a mildly contaminated variety, considered a pollutant—not highly toxic but carrying some emotional influence." Li Zhiyan held it up for Shen Ji to see. "Because they're so beautiful, when a group of them gather together, they start competing in beauty. But as you can see, this potted one drew the short straw genetically."
Shen Ji looked puzzled. "So it's depressed?"
"No, it's fuming with rage from losing the beauty contest to other flowers."
Sometimes Shen Ji found Li Zhiyan genuinely humorous. Unlike Shen Ji's dry wit, Li Zhiyan had an innate sense of humor that radiated from his bones.
To put it simply: it was so absurd you couldn't help but laugh.
Now thoroughly amused by the ridiculousness, Shen Ji asked, "Then how do we restore its confidence?"
"Take its picture." Li Zhiyan cradled the flower and sighed. "You're the best photographer I've ever seen. Take a beautiful photo of it, and I'll develop the picture to burn as an offering."
Shen Ji had to remind him, "Burning paper offerings is something you do for the dead."
"Hmm?" Li Zhiyan glanced at him. "Is that so?"
"You didn't know?"
"That's an old tradition from before," Li Zhiyan said while holding the flower pot with a sigh. "There used to be funeral customs where people burned paper money for the deceased so they wouldn't be penniless in the afterlife."
"You don't seem old enough to have experienced those funeral customs yourself."
[Funeral customs mostly disappeared after the apocalypse,] the system explained. [Because too many people died during the cataclysm. Even now, the leading cause of human death remains contamination disease. All bodies of contaminated victims must be sent to the Contaminant Disposal Center. There are no ashes, let alone paper burning.]
In some ways, Shen Ji still felt somewhat disconnected from the people here.
"I heard it from a patient's family member," Shen Ji quickly added. "An elderly man who came to sign the disposal notice said he needed to go home and burn paper money for his son."
The Disposal Notice—when a patient's contamination reaches Stage IV with uncontrollable spread, they're immediately sent to the Contaminant Disposal Center to prevent them from mutating into Pollutants.
Family members would sign the notice.
Though Li Zhiyan was eccentric, he wasn't rude. Hearing this, he naturally avoided making the atmosphere more awkward.
In this heavy silence, the elevator dinged open.
Zhang Qingli, who was about to step in, suddenly paused.
He gave Shen Ji a strange look, then glanced at Li Zhiyan beside him.
"I thought you said you weren't close?" Zhang Qingli asked.
Shen Ji: "..."
"We happened to run into each other."
"Not by chance," Li Zhiyan said bluntly. "I came specifically to learn from him.
Zhang Qingli looked surprised. "Learn what?"
"Photography skills."
Zhang Qingli studied them for a moment, neither mocking nor shocked, just mildly puzzled yet respectful.
"I see. Don't let it interfere with work then. Later."
As Zhang Qingli entered the elevator, Shen Ji asked before the doors closed, "Why are you heading to the ward area at this hour?"
"A patient's contamination readings were unusual—the system sent me an alert," Zhang Qingli replied. "Her levels spiked 20 points from a very low number, then dropped the next second. Weird. I'm checking it out."
The elevator doors shut, carrying Zhang Qingli downward. Li Zhiyan lifted the flower pot again.
"So, can you teach me photography?"
[...So he actually came to you for photography lessons?]
"My apologies, Mr. Li, but I'm quite busy," Shen Ji declined politely yet firmly. "Perhaps you could ask the intel officers? Their work involves cameras—they're more professional than me."
Li Zhiyan shook his head. "No good. Her photos look like crime scene stills from detective shows. Every shot resembles a homicide scene."
...So you've already tried asking her!
...And you know about detective shows?!
[He knows about detective shows?!] the system echoed similarly.
[Not all entertainment vanished post-apocalypse. Music and TV dramas still exist—they're just titles like Picked Up a Healing Mutant, The Guard Team's Strongest Gift, Our Love in the Contamination Zone...]
Shen Ji:
What kind of nonsense is this?
[Anyway, no detective dramas emerged during this era because human murders pale next to Pollutant killings.]
Where did Li Zhiyan's crime drama explanation come from?
So Shen Ji turned to Li Zhiyan, "Mr. Li."
Li Zhiyan met his gaze, "What?"
Feigning confusion, Shen Ji asked, "What's a crime drama?"
"It's a TV shows about discovering Pollutants," Li Zhiyan answered seriously. "Like Pollutants disguising themselves as humans and hiding in the security team, or Pollutants eating people then framing the security team, or security officers being falsely accused when they're actually Pollutants."
Shen Ji: ...
What bizarre plots. How is this related to crime investigation at all?
But as someone who appeared to be in his twenties, Shen Ji should have been born after the apocalypse and wouldn't know what crime dramas were. So he could only keep his complaints to himself.
Sighing inwardly, Shen Ji turned to head to the cafeteria for lunch.
He'd barely taken a step when the communicator in his pocket suddenly blared an alarm.
"Warning!" Not just his communicator—the entire Containment Facility's warning lights activated.
"Warning! A contaminated patient from I-B5-35 has escaped isolation!"
"All emergency measures are automatically engaged! Elevators locked down! Fire doors sealed! Staff please respond immediately!"
"Warning! Warning!"
Shen Ji froze momentarily before sprinting toward the elevator bay. Li Zhiyan placed the flowers he was holding on a nearby windowsill and followed.
The Containment Facility was massive—enormous.
To better control contaminated patients and prevent environmental contamination, the medical wards were located underground. Zone I housed the most patients across its five expansive floors.
I-B5 happened to be on the fifth floor.
Watching Shen Ji vault down the stairwell with remarkable agility, Li Zhiyan let out a soft whistle behind him.
"Impressive reflexes, Dr. Shen," he remarked lightly.
Every time Li Zhiyan thought he'd figured Shen Ji out, the man revealed yet another fascinating skill.
What a waste of such skills when not joining the security force.
Just then, Li Zhiyan's phone rang. He paused to check the caller ID.
"Yes, it's me."
"...Any collateral damage?"
"Understood. I'm heading there now."
After hanging up, Li Zhiyan sent Shen Ji a text before turning back from the stairwell.
Meanwhile, Shen Ji had descended five floors in record time and used his ID card to bypass sealed fire doors. The entire level pulsed with crimson warning lights.
Within moments, he spotted the escaped contaminated patient—though "escaped" wasn't quite accurate, since she wasn't actually fleeing.
Emerald vines sprouted from her back as she staggered forward and disheveled hair framing eyes that glowed red under the warning lights.
Ignoring the alarms, she advanced steadily toward the figure before her.
Zhang Qingli sat frozen on the floor and scrambling backward.
"Doctor, I love you so much," she confessed to Zhang.
"You're the only one who cared for me—unlike my family. You showed me such kindness, such tenderness. I've truly fallen for you."
Zhang Qingli shook his head frantically. "I'm just your attending doctor. Hospital regulations prohibit romantic involvement with patients."
"I know, I know about this, so I'm not making things difficult for the doctor!" She reached out and plucked a palm-sized red fruit from the branches extending from her back, her eyes filled with affection as she offered it to Zhang Qingli.
"This is the fruit I bore, the best fruit, my love. Will you eat it?"
"Take it! Eat it!"
Seizing the moment, Zhang Qingli quickly stood up and jabbed an inhibitor into her neck, injecting the medication directly.
She blinked in confusion, then shook the syringe off her neck.
"Doctor, what are you doing? Why won’t you take my fruit?"
Zhang Qingli slammed his fist against the floor, his face twisted in despair.
Who would eat a fruit grown from a contaminated patient after mutation?!
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