Pollutant Disguise Plan (POLLUTANT)
"Right now?" Shen Ji asked Li Zhiyan.
At the same time, he was observing himself in the mirror.
Last night, Shen Ji had collapsed onto the sofa without changing his clothes. When he woke up the next morning, his hair was slightly disheveled.
He still wasn’t wearing his glasses because several strands of fungal growth clung to the edge of his brow—right where his glasses would sit.
Shen Ji tried reasoning with them.
The mycelium whimpered in response: Reasoning isn’t edible. They don’t care about logic!
Shen Ji: "..."
[Where did you go last night?] the system suddenly chimed in.
[Your mycelium opened a passage. They slipped through it into another place and clung to you out of fear they wouldn’t be able to return, maintaining their contamination. That’s why these mushrooms are so noticeable.]
‘So what do I do now? I can’t show up at the Containment Facility like this, can I?’
[Try convincing them to grow in less obvious places—like under your collar, or your stomach. Anywhere that can be covered by fabric.]
Shen Ji clicked his tongue mentally and continued negotiating with the mycelium.
Just then, Li Zhiyan spoke up.
"Not right now. I’m not prepared yet. Jiang Ying told me a confession shouldn’t be this casual, so it’ll have to be this afternoon."
"I’ll come find you at the Containment Facility then."
Shen Ji responded, "Sure, no problem. Bye."
Click.
The call ended abruptly.
Li Zhiyan stared at the disconnected phone in confusion.
"He hung up so fast?"
"Did he just agree to get rid of me?"
Across from him, Jiang Ying struggled to keep a straight face—and failed.
She slumped onto the table with a sigh. "Agreeing to a confession just to hang up… No normal person would do that. It’s worse than being penny-wise and pound-foolish."
Li Zhiyan retorted, "Sesame is more expensive per pound than watermelon. A pound of sesame is clearly worth more."
Jiang Ying: "..."
Someone, please take this guy away! The entire Special Task Force Team will offer generous rewards in return!
"So, what’s the situation?"
Finally, they got down to business.
Last night, after confirming that those who succeeded in their confessions might die, they had arranged for a C-class Dream-walking-type Mutant to investigate. The Mutant had randomly selected a victim and waited until they fell asleep before using their ability to enter the dream.
"He said there was a peach blossom tree in the victim’s dream."
Li Zhiyan nodded. "And then?"
"The victim stood under the tree and faced a faceless figure. It was impossible to tell if it was male or female, but they seemed to be talking. After the conversation, the victim hesitated before taking the figure’s hand. The next moment, the faceless thing changed."
"It pulled an axe from behind and swung it at the victim’s neck. Our teammate couldn’t react in time and to avoid detection, he didn’t intervene further."
Jiang Ying exhaled. "After that, the strange figure dismembered the victim and hung their head alone on the peach blossom tree."
Jiang Ying pulled up a photo on her computer to show Li Zhiyan—it was the victim's corpse.
The victim's expression was serene, as if in deep slumber, yet the blood and dismembered limbs bore silent witness to the brutality.
"Our team member woke from the dream feeling extremely unsettled. After examining the victim's body, he confirmed: the dismemberment marks matched those in the dream exactly."
"Escaping alive is already a victory," Li Zhiyan remarked while studying the photo. "Most Nightmare Pollutants detect intruders the moment they enter the dream. The only way out is to kill the contaminant completely."
Jiang Ying nodded. "So I gave him leave, told him to get out of Q City for a while."
"Good call."
Li Zhiyan fell into thought while staring at the corpse. After a few seconds, he asked, "Any recent crimes of passion?"
"None," Jiang Ying shook her head. "After Q City went on lockdown, the security teams conducted a full sweep—not just a headcount, but contamination screenings for everyone. Any love-triangle murders would've been flagged immediately."
"What about missing persons cases?"
"Plenty of those." Jiang Ying pulled up the data. "The Eastern District has the highest count, especially after the Undertaker contamination incident. The Withered Wood and Black Rat events also left many unaccounted for."
"Filter the missing persons list," Li Zhiyan instructed. "Young couples, both under thirty, vanished together, outside major contamination zones."
Jiang Ying ran the search, and her eyes widened at the results.
"...Got a hit."
"A young couple went missing in the Western District five days ago—their neighborhood is close to the peach blossom tree! Male, 25; female, 21. Neighbors reported hearing them argue and smash things. Possible cause: the man was cheating."
Li Zhiyan nodded. "Take a team to their place and investigate."
"Understood!" Jiang Ying agreed.
As she closed her laptop, she finally asked, "Boss, how did you narrow it down like that?"
"Using peach blossoms for love vows is a young person's game—older folks don’t bother. Also, Pollutants are territorial; they don’t overlap. And finally, it’s called 'Peach Blossom Calamity'—sounds like a lovers' spat. If Nightmare Pollutant is really one of them, then one of them was probably dismembered long ago."
Jiang Ying nodded. "Hence the dual disappearance."
"I never thought..." she murmured, "we’d use homicide investigation methods to track a contamination source."
"Because contamination defies logic." Li Zhiyan propped his chin on one hand, stifling a yawn. "After the apocalypse, everything revolves around Pollutants. Identifying their traits and eliminating them fast is the priority—nothing else matters."
"So we overlook potential clues. A limitation of the times, I guess?"
Jiang Ying sensed deeper meaning in his words.
"You think Dr. Shen isn’t constrained by the times?"
"Don’t know." Li Zhiyan recalled Shen Ji’s demeanor.
"But that’s the impression he gives me."
……..
Shen Ji skipped work all morning. By the time he left his dorm for the facility, it was already afternoon.
As soon as he entered the facility, Zhang Qingli looked at Shen Ji with surprise, only speaking after several seconds of stunned silence.
"What happened to your eyes?"
Shen Ji replied calmly, "Too tired lately—got a stye. I have already applied medicine."
Zhang Qingli circled him and scrutinized him carefully for a full minute.
Shen Ji: "..."
Was the shock really necessary?
In the end, Shen Ji still couldn’t convince the mycelium to retreat from his brow. Under his threats, they whimpered and buried themselves under his eyes but refused to go any deeper, leaving tiny white scales peeking through like scattered stars. Left with no choice, Shen Ji rummaged through his things and found an eyepatch to cover them.
Wearing glasses in this state would only make things weirder, so he went without them.
The result? Every passerby stopped to stare.
A person couldn’t change their appearance, but they could alter their aura. That was why Shen Ji wore black-framed glasses—his features were sharply handsome, and he needed something to soften the edges.
Now, with the glasses off and an eyepatch on, the overwhelming coolness radiating from him made him seem like a completely different person. No matter how neatly he dressed or how properly he buttoned his shirt, nothing could mask the icy intensity he exuded.
Cold and devastatingly handsome—the kind of presence that made it impossible to look away.
"Maybe you should take the afternoon off," Zhang Qingli suggested. "Looking like this, you’ll have patients falling for you at first sight and confessing on the spot."
"According to the records, quite a few already dream about you at night."
Shen Ji: "..."
Just then, Dr. Wang Anle—carrying patient files—and Qi Yuanhai, who was stranded at the Q City Facility, happened to pass by.
Spotting Shen Ji, Wang Anle called out, "Hey, Xiao Ji? Why weren’t you here this morning?"
Shen Ji turned to look at him. The moment Wang Anle saw his new look, he visibly recoiled.
Was… was this some new trend among the youth these days??
"Had a stye. I want to get it treated." Shen Ji instinctively reached to adjust his glasses, only to remember he wasn’t wearing any today.
"Oh, oh." Wang Anle nodded. "Yeah, you should’ve taken time off for that. By the way, someone’s looking for you outside. Want to check it out?"
Shen Ji frowned. "Who?"
[You forgot? You promised Li Zhiyan you’d accept his confession.]
Shen Ji fell silent again.
He’d completely forgotten about it.
The little mushrooms refused to retract, and he’d spent so much time reasoning with them—warning them that if they stayed out, he’d be in serious trouble if anyone noticed—that the matter had slipped his mind entirely.
When had Li Zhian said he’d come again?
This afternoon?
[If you want my advice, just stand him up.]
‘Don’t you think if I don’t show up, he’ll just come in looking for me?’
[Then let’s go all the way—dispose of the evidence!]
‘…’
Shen Ji thanked Wang Anle, handed his patients over to Zhang Qingli, and headed out of the facility to find the person waiting for him.
Qi Yuanhai, who had witnessed everything, remembered seeing Li Zhiyan waiting outside earlier. He’d initially assumed Li Zhiyan was there to oversee the delivery of the Undertaker’s corpse, but the man had said he was waiting for someone.
Was it for him?
"Who was that just now?" Qi Yuanhai asked Wang Anle. "So young—is he some kind of prodigy doctor?"
"Xiao Ji is a medical worker from Zone I, a Mutant, not a doctor," Wang Anle replied with a smile. "But he's a good kid—hardworking and capable—so everyone likes him."
Qi Yuanhai nodded thoughtfully.
Perhaps he could have a friendly discussion with this person about contamination disease research.
Even if he couldn’t poach him, building a good relationship was still necessary.
Qi Yuanhai silently committed the name to memory.
Xiao Ji—probably surnamed Ji. He’d quietly look up the staff list of the Q City branch later.
Meanwhile, Shen Ji left the Containment Facility and arrived at the square in front of the building, where, as expected, Li Zhiyan stood waiting.
"Mr. Li, you’re early."
"Not early," Li Zhiyan replied. "To ensure I can enter the dream tonight, we have to finish this process today."
"However—"
Li Zhiyan gave Shen Ji’s new appearance a once-over. "Did Mr. Shen cried his eyes out from grief over being confessed to by me?"
"...No need to be that self-aware."
"Then it’s not my fault." A faint trace of amusement flickered in Li Zhiyan’s eyes. "That’s a relief."
Shen Ji sighed. "So all I have to do is listen to your confession and agree, right?"
"That’s the plan for now. But since we’re not sure what counts as success, I’ll confess to you multiple times."
Li Zhiyan mused, "This is my first time confessing to someone."
Despite his words, Li Zhiyan’s gaze never left Shen Ji’s face.
Shen Ji without glasses.
Without the barrier of lenses, Shen Ji’s dark pupils reflected his own image. Shen Ji also had a habit of maintaining eye contact during conversations, giving the impression that he was wholly imprinting the other person into his vision—as if his entire being was focused solely on him.
Li Zhiyan’s hand that were tucked in his pocket, unconsciously clenched, masking his nerves with small movements.
"Understood." Shen Ji’s tone was as earnest as ever but was tinged with a hint of resignation—like someone who had agreed to something irreversible.
"I’ll respond properly."
What were those confession lines Jiang Ying had prepared again?
Li Zhiyan averted his gaze, trying to recall.
Once he had them memorized, he spoke again.
"I... I really like you." Unlike his usual speech, these words came out stilted, lending an air of genuine confession jitters.
"Will you be with me? I promise to treat you well, never betray you, and we’ll be happy together."
But damn, it was so cliché.
As a journalist, Shen Ji could think of countless poetic, refined, or even brutally realistic ways to phrase a confession. This was the first time he’d heard something so unpolished and plain.
But a good journalist wouldn’t raise objections at a time like this.
Shen Ji met Li Zhiyan’s eyes, then dutifully lowered his head as if slightly bashful.
The corners of his lips lifted in a faint, fleeting smile—light as a breeze that was gone in an instant, like a naive youth tasting love for the first time.
"I accept," Shen Ji said softly. "I like you too."
...Who the hell could withstand this?
[Ugh, I can’t watch this anymore.]
The system shut off its visual feed. [Wake me up when you’re done.]
Li Zhiyan took a sharp breath in, and a few seconds later, he repeated what he had just said.
So Shen Ji repeated his response as well.
Li Zhiyan fell into deep thought.
"Where's the smile?" Li Zhiyan complained. "You have to smile at me like you did the first time."
Shen Ji: "..."
Once was already enough to test his acting skills—who in their right mind would smile at you again?!
Finally done dealing with Li Zhiyan, Shen Ji returned to the facility, mentally and physically exhausted, ready to start his afternoon work.
Zhang Qingli was helping record patient data for him and moved aside to give him space when he arrived.
"Shen Ji," Zhang Qingli asked, "I heard from others that Li Zhiyan confessed to you—did you say yes?"
"It spread that fast?" Shen Ji sighed regretfully. "I think our facility is a perfectly qualified research environment. Just look at how a single piece of gossip spreads throughout the entire facility in less than an hour. An atmosphere like this breeds rumors easily, and one misstep could lead to eternal regret."
"Besides, I was just cooperating with Mr. Li’s work, helping him break through this contamination incident."
"Everyone should really focus on personal integrity."
Zhang Qingli nodded, then asked again, "So, did you say yes?"
"I did."
"So, the two of you still aren’t close?"
"Nope, not close."
Zhang Qingli turned back to sorting the medication to be distributed that afternoon. "Alright, if you say you're not close, then you're not close."
Not close, yet they exchanged personal numbers.
Not close, yet Li Zhiyan came to Shen Ji to learn how to take photos.
Not close, yet they dreamed about each other—even to the point where Li Zhiyan confessed to Shen Ji just to deal with the contamination.
Hmm. Schrödinger’s closeness.
Schrödinger's closeness, a concept often discussed in the context of relationships, is not a formal term in physics or a direct application of the Schrödinger's cat thought experiment. However, it uses the idea of superposition from the thought experiment to describe a situation where two people are in a state of ambiguous connection, simultaneously close and distant. This can manifest as mixed signals, unclear communication, or a relationship where feelings and intentions are uncertain.
'My reputation is ruined,' Shen Ji lamented to the system, weeping internally. 'I knew nothing good would come from getting involved with the protagonist.'
[That’s why I said we should’ve just stood him up from the start instead of agreeing.]
'But that’s not in line with my character.'
Shen Ji was unusually stubborn. 'Do you remember my character setting? I’m an upright, selfless person who’d do anything to save others—someone with impeccable morals who doesn’t care about himself. How could someone like that refuse Li Zhiyan’s proposed solution just to avoid getting involved with him?'
'It was the only way to resolve the contamination.'
[True. Refusing would’ve made your character seem inconsistent and raised suspicions, so we made the right choice!]
'I’ll go pour boiling water on the flowers tonight,' Shen Ji said expressionlessly, uttering terrifying words.
'Then I’ll ask Li Zhiyan why the flowers he sent died in just a few days—does he look down on me or something?'
[...]
The system decided Shen Ji didn’t need comforting at all.
……….
After work that evening, Shen Ji returned to his dorm.
The moment the door closed behind him, he tore off the eyepatch covering his eye and exhaled heavily.
Humans are creatures who see with both eyes. After a lifetime of binocular vision, forcibly blocking one eye feels unnatural and can even cause spatial disorientation.
Shen Ji had nearly tripped twice on the stairs today because of it.
He walked into the bathroom and sighed at the spots under his eye. "Why are they still here? Am I going to have to wear an eyepatch tomorrow too?"
[Maybe you should ask.]
"Ask what?"
[Ask your mycelium why it insists on staying in that other dimension, even defying your orders to remain there.]
Shen Ji placed his hand on the mycelium beneath his eyes and his pupils gradually turned a pale hue.
The system had indeed raised a valid issue.
It wasn’t unusual for them to chase nightmares into dreams—after all, the mycelium’s gluttonous nature was no secret. Shen Ji was well aware they sneaked into the Containment Facility at night to nibble on snacks while he slept. Since his instincts kept them from harming the patients too much, he usually turned a blind eye.
But this was the first time they had outright ignored his orders and refused to return.
During their communication, the barely sentient mycelium dodged the topic. Despite having less intelligence than a child, they had somehow learned to deceive him.
"Tell me the truth," Shen Ji said sternly, feigning anger.
The mycelium fell for it immediately, whimpering as they finally confessed.
Soon, Shen Ji understood why they had stubbornly stayed hidden.
There was a familiar, spicy, and appetizing contamination in the dreamscape, but it was buried too deep to extract. So they had split into two teams—one working to dig it out, the other stalling their master to keep him from noticing.
[...They actually grasped the concept of diversion just to eat?]
"This isn’t praiseworthy," Shen Ji pressed down on the mycelium. "You should’ve told me about this earlier."
"That ‘spicy’ contamination they mentioned? It’s the seed of an S-class pollutant—the Gardener!"
[Damn! Right!]
[That peach blossom tree is the Gardener’s seed?!]
"According to the original text, the Gardener often plants seeds in humans to cultivate new exotic plants. Before the seeds mature, they might maintain a low contamination level, like Chu Ye’s case, or remain entirely undetected until the contamination erupts and the new plant fully grows."
Shen Ji lowered his hand and turned toward the window. His pale eyes gleamed sharply, lending his otherwise refined features a fierce edge.
"Its other seed has already sprouted."
Realizing this, Shen Ji felt a surge of anger. He wanted to lash out—preferably by digging up the Gardener’s seed and smashing it in its face.
Only after indulging in the fantasy did he catch himself.
No, no. He was an elegant, composed journalist. He couldn’t do anything to tarnish his image—he had to remain flawless on camera.
Screw it! Tomorrow, he’d uproot the Gardener’s plants and plow the land into farmland!
[Pollutants are territorial.]
The system whispered cautiously.
"What?"
[I said, Pollutants are territorial.]
[Pollutant Shen Ji is a very special case. He’s also domineering—his rule is: ‘Everywhere I step becomes my domain.’ He absolutely forbids any high-level Pollutants from invading his territory. Low-level ones are like air to him and easily wiped out, so they don’t matter.]
[When the Gardener’s seed infiltrated your territory, you felt provoked.]
[You will be angry because of this, and your mycelium will try to expel and devour it.]
Shen Ji walked back to his bedroom from the bathroom, sat on the bed, picked up his phone, and scrolled through his contacts until he found the gardener's number.
He dialed the number.
The phone emitted a series of beeps, followed by a prompt tone after a few seconds.
"Sorry, the number you dialed is currently out of service. Please try again later."
Shen Ji: "..."
Just as Shen Ji was fuming, the mycelium wrapped around his fingers in a placating manner. When he raised his hand, they guided him in a certain direction.
In an instant, Shen Ji felt a sense of weightlessness.
Stabilizing himself abruptly, he realized he had once again arrived in that strange place.
The enormous peach blossom tree before him was still in full bloom, with its delicate pink petals dancing in the wind, as if heralding the warmth of spring.
Once again, the mycelium had dragged him into this nightmare.
Shen Ji skirted around the massive peach blossom tree and headed toward the withered little peach tree he had seen earlier. Sure enough, the scenery had changed.
A line of people stood before the small peach tree, with their eyes closed and heads bowed. Their faces were indistinct, yet they stubbornly maintained their formation.
At the front of the line stood a faceless shadow.
In one hand, it clutched a peach blossom branch, while the other held up an axe.
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