Pollutant Disguise Plan (POLLUTANT)
Meanwhile, where was Li Zhiyan?
He was squatting on a rock in a familiar city, lost in thought.
Eastern District—the area where the Pollutant Undertaker had once erupted.
“Ah, I get it now,” Li Zhiyan suddenly realized. “As a public figure, I was working in Eastern District when Female A’s contamination outbreak happened, and I even made it to the front page of the Anti-Contamination Control Center’s website. So, as someone with a concrete identity in her memory, I got dumped here.”
Finally making sense of it, Li Zhiyan sighed. “Fame really is a hassle.”
Shoving his hands into his pockets, he turned and started walking forward—only to pause after two steps.
Beside him, the grass was densely dotted with wild mushrooms. He stared at them for a long time.
“Well, it’s so far away. Being a little later won’t hurt, right?”
“But this is a dream. Anything I eat would be like air—might not even have any flavor.”
With that, Li Zhiyan bent down and plucked a mushroom. He shook the stem, watching the cap wobble precariously.
In the end, he regretfully tossed it back and continued on foot toward the peach blossom tree.
Dreams had no concept of time, nor of spatial distance. Butterflies fluttered ahead, guiding Li Zhiyan, and soon he caught sight of the enormous peach blossom tree. He was certain Female A, the dreamer, was beneath it.
Now, all he had to do was wake her up and dig out the Gardener’s broken seed—then this contamination incident would be over.
Just thinking about finishing his job soon lifted Li Zhiyan’s spirits.
Influenced by his mood, the butterflies flapped their wings harder, clearing a path ahead.
They tore through the dream space and bridged two entirely different directions, allowing Li Zhiyan to step right beside the peach blossom tree. As he lifted his foot to land, however, he suddenly sensed something.
Li Zhiyan stepped back just in time to see a plump little mushroom roll away from under his shoe.
“Huh?” He crouched down to look at it. “A mushroom?”
It was an exceptionally pretty mushroom—translucent pinkish-white with its chubby cap curled into a little ball. Huffing and puffing, it rolled away.
When he turned around, he saw even more mushroom balls behind him.
Some were round, some flat, and others were just clumps of mycelium.
They were all bustling toward some unknown destination, like a grand migration—or like a group of friends rallying to throw hands after one of them got bullied.
Li Zhiyan squatted there and watched them like children playing house, utterly fascinated.
Finally, he sighed. “Did I finally get poisoned from eating toxic mushrooms?”
“But… I didn’t eat any just now, did I?”
So he directed a butterfly to cautiously land on one of the mushroom bundles. The blue butterfly perched atop the cap. The translucent mushroom ball and the glowing blue butterfly layered together, creating an ethereally beautiful sight.
At first, the mushroom didn’t notice and crawled a short distance before finally realizing something was off.
Li Zhiyan watched as it shook its cap, scattering pale pink spores into the air, misty and dreamlike.
Those invisible spores scattered across the butterfly's wings, transforming into fungal filaments that entangled the entire insect before it could even flutter its wings to shake them off. In an instant, the butterfly was completely devoured.
Li Zhiyan's eyes widened slightly in surprise.
"It ate it?" His tone hovered between admiration and astonishment. "Just like that?"
If contamination-based abilities were ranked, Li Zhiyan's would undoubtedly claim the top spot—his butterflies could ignite contamination into flames.
How potent was this?
If not for the fact that these flames were equally harmful to humans, Li Zhiyan could have incinerated all the contamination in the entire city with a single blaze.
Yet such a formidable ability, one that suppressed contamination so effectively, had just been swallowed whole by an unassuming little mushroom.
Watching it happily retract its filaments after devouring the butterfly, and it even seemed to have enjoyed the meal.
"What kind of contamination is this?"
Though eccentric, Li Zhiyan wasn’t a fool.
He might enjoy eating poisonous mushrooms, but that didn’t mean he couldn’t distinguish contamination.
"A new strain from the Gardener? No, that guy’s terrible taste would never cultivate something this pretty."
Li Zhiyan pondered. "Normal mushroom appearance, no detectable contamination, clustered and possibly hive-minded."
"Could it be another Level S Pollutant?"
He reached out to pluck one for examination, but the moment his fingers extended, a terrifying wave of contamination erupted from beneath the peach blossom tree.
Li Zhiyan whipped his head around.
The little mushroom, as if finally noticing him, darted away in a flash.
He sprinted toward the cherry blossom tree without hesitation.
No mistake—this was the unmistakable presence of the Level S Pollutant, the Gardener.
……..
Meanwhile, in the real world.
Jiang Ying was sorting through documents, having pulled several all-nighters with little sleep and no dreams.
Tonight, another anomaly surfaced.
A security team member reported that someone who had accepted a confession couldn’t be woken after falling asleep. Their family had called the police, and despite the team’s efforts—even summoning a support doctor from the Containment Facility—the examination revealed no issues. The person was simply asleep, in the REM phase.
In other words: they were dreaming.
Soon, Jiang Ying received more reports of people who had accepted confessions falling into unwakeable slumber. Without exception, all were dreaming.
Frowning, Jiang Ying sat still before suddenly recalling something. Wait—there was one more person who had accepted a confession: Li Zhiyan.
The Containment Facility operated independently, with no security team stationed there. Moreover, Shen Ji and Li Zhiyan’s interaction had been private, with only the archives noting Shen Ji’s support during the mission.
She immediately called Director Wen, urging him to confirm Shen Ji’s current status.
Director Wen was genuinely startled. He rushed to knock on Shen Ji’s dormitory door and eventually forced it open with the dorm supervisor’s help.
Shen Ji was unconscious too.
His tone turned sharp as he demanded why the security team had allowed Shen Ji to participate without ensuring the risks were mitigated. "Shen Ji is our facility’s doctor—he always prioritizes patients that he even neglects himself. Does that mean the security team can disregard his life too?"
Jiang Ying could only apologize profusely while pleading for Director Wen to trust Li Zhiyan. By now, Li Zhiyan was already handling the Pollutant in the dream realm, and she was certain Dr. Shen would wake up.
At the mention of Li Zhiyan’s name, Director Wen finally sighed softly.
"Right now, I have no choice but to trust Captain Li," Director Wen softened his tone. "I apologize for speaking harshly to you earlier. I'm just too anxious. Xiao Ji has always been such a good kid—he'd do anything to help his patients without regard for himself, and it pains us to see it."
"We're colleagues, and I understand the pressure you're under. I'm sorry for losing my temper."
"It's alright," Jiang Ying smiled. "Director Wen, your words of trust are already a comfort to me."
"And the captain will definitely protect Dr. Shen."
After hanging up, Jiang Ying closed her eyes and exhaled heavily.
"Captain, it's all up to you now."
"If you mess this up, the Dr. Shen you've got your eye on might never be poached."
No sooner had she sighed than the communicator on her desk rang. Since it was her work device, she answered without checking the caller ID.
"Jiang Ying speaking. What's the situation?"
"Captain Jiang..." A strange male voice came through the line. Jiang Ying paused before glancing at the screen to see it was the leader of a security team—someone she had added as a contact but rarely spoke to.
Moreover, this team was off-duty tonight with no assignments
"Hello, Captain Sun. This is Jiang Ying."
The voice on the other end sounded dazed, as if just waking up. After a few seconds, he mumbled, "Captain Jiang... I really like you."
"From the moment I first saw you, I couldn't look away. I'll work hard to transfer to your team—please give me a chance."
Jiang Ying inhaled sharply and hung up immediately.
A confession?!
She quickly dialed the officer on duty, but the line was busy and wouldn't connect.
Frowning, she ended the call. Before she could redial, phone rings suddenly echoed around her.
Reacting swiftly, Jiang Ying grabbed her service weapon and opened the door. Outside the meeting room stood a row of security personnel—colleagues who had stayed behind for the shift.
Each held a ringing phone with their hollow eyes fixed on her with an unfathomable darkness, like wooden puppets.
Jiang Ying met their gaze steadily.
"Don't answer the calls," she said gently.
Jiang Ying, Deputy Captain of Special Task Force Sixth Team and formerly Head of the Contaminant Disposal Center. A B-class Mutant with the innate ability [Gentle Words]. When activated, her voice could influence Pollutants and contaminated civilians to prevent further casualties.
The arms of those about to answer trembled as their faces contorted in struggle.
Yet, ultimately, they failed.
Each person shakily picked up their phone, and a chorus of confessions poured out—countless voices merging into a bizarre, collective speech.
It was profoundly unsettling.
The mingled voices of men, women, young and old created overwhelming mental contamination.
Jiang Ying clutched her temple.
A headache surged as if something were trying to invade her mind and seize control.
When she looked down, she found a peach blossom branch clutched in her right hand.
She quickly threw the peach blossom branch to the ground and began backing away, her vision flickering with static as the thing trying to invade her mind persisted.
At the same moment, everyone present turned in unison toward Jiang Ying, with each holding a peach blossom branch.
They raised the branches toward Jiang Ying.
"I really like you," they said. "Will you accept me?"
Jiang Ying swiftly retreated into the conference room and locked the door from the inside before sealing all the windows.
The contamination had fully erupted.
"It's not just Level B," Jiang Ying muttered as she pressed her back against the door and struck her temple hard. "No—I have to warn the others."
Struggling, she made her way to the computer and sent out an alert. Just then, her phone rang again—the call was from the officer on duty near the peach blossom tree.
Her fingers fumbled several times before she managed to answer. "This is Jiang Ying."
"It's Li Yan! Captain Jiang, something's wrong! The peach tree bloomed overnight—so many petals were falling in the wind! Everyone here is making phone calls to confess their love! Cough... cough..."
"Captain Li?!"
"It's so pungent... so much pollen..."
"...Cough, why am I here?"
"Right, I should confess to her. I can't live without her... I need to be with her right now. No more delays."
With a click, the call ended.
Jiang Ying lowered her head in pain, her phone slipping from her grasp and hitting the floor with a thud. Behind her, the door shuddered under a violent impact.
Through the surveillance feed, Jiang Ying saw people outside battering the door. They whispered declarations of love while wielding weapons and desperately trying to break in. Their eyes were bloodshot, and peach blossom branches pinned to their chests.
She struggled to pull up surveillance links from other areas.
As expected—it wasn’t just here.
Almost everywhere, people had awakened in the dead of night and begun making confession calls.
Their eyes were red as rabbits’ and brimming with affection, yet their contamination levels kept rising.
The contamination detector shrieked an alarm but its piercing wail drowned out by their murmurs of love.
Men and women, young and old, the healthy and the sick, the joyful and the weeping—countless voices tangled together, warping into a grotesque, dissonant chorus.
"...No." Jiang Ying clenched her teeth.
"This sound... it’s wrong."
……..
[Its contamination is spreading!]
The system alerted Shen Ji.
At this moment, in the dreamscape, Shen Ji was confronting the Gardener, who had taken over Lu Kexin’s body.
The dream wasn’t Shen Ji’s domain, but the Gardener wasn’t in its own body either. In fact, the Gardener could only remotely channel a fraction of its contamination, making it no match for Shen Ji.
Realizing this, the Gardener accelerated the growth of its seeds. Once they matured, it could reclaim the plants into its garden.
So the Gardener wasn’t fighting Shen Ji—it was stalling for time.
[The peach blossom tree has bloomed in reality. Everyone within its range is affected, and contamination levels are skyrocketing! This contamination is feeding Lu Kexin.]
[We need to cut off these contamination channels first.]
But Shen Ji wasn’t listening.
His pupils had long since faded into a pale, desolate white, and his gaze turned sharp with hostility.
Mycelium coiled around him and also densely enveloping the area. More and more fungal threads converged, and shedding their soft, endearing mushroom-like appearance as they're now exuding an overwhelming aura of contamination.
A single mushroom might be cute. A cluster of them might still be cute. But would you find them adorable if you opened your eyes to a world overrun by them?
As insatiable devourers, they were hunters that were forever driven by their ravenous nature.
"Dig it out," Shen Ji growled while glaring at the green-eyed Gardener. "If we eat this one, we won’t have to worry about food for a month."
"It’s compressed rations from the uninhabited zone."
The mycelium surged forward, attacking from all directions. They coiled around ‘Lu Kexin’, and tearing into the contamination. The Gardener tried to shake them off, but for every strand ripped away, more took its place.
They tore off a leaf and scrambled to devour it—only for Lu Kexin to vanish entirely.
The mycelium tumbled to the ground and lifted their mushroom heads in confusion, searching for the compressed rations that had just been in their grasp
The next second, Shen Ji turned his head expressionlessly to the side. Mycelium condensed into a mushroom wall before him as the peach blossom branch struck against it.
Lu Kexin tilted her head, staring at the mycelium and Shen Ji before letting out a cold laugh and vanishing once more.
[It's a dream.] The system frantically analyzed. [The dreams of those affected in the real world are connected to Lu Kexin's dream. It's a seed of nightmare and peach blossom contamination—capable of manipulating dreams and hiding within others' dreams.]
[Unless these dream links are severed, we can't capture its true form.]
"Leave this to Li Zhiyan to handle." Shen Ji waved his hand, dispersing the mycelium.
[But we don’t know where Li Zhiyan is right now. He might not even be aware of what’s happening in the real world.]
"Don’t underestimate him just because of his occasional eccentric behavior. He’s still the protagonist of this book, after all." Shen Ji said. "No matter where he is now, he’ll step in to deal with it."
"He’s Li Zhiyan.”
In the real world, Jiang Ying’s headache left her dazed.
She could hear people still pounding on the door outside, with the noise relentlessly drilling into her mind.
In her delirium, she seemed to see a peach blossom tree, and beneath it was a faceless figure beckoning to her. Lowering her gaze, she found herself clutching a peach blossom branch in her hand.
Just as she was about to walk toward the faceless figure, she heard the snap of fingers.
"Wake up." Li Zhiyan’s voice sounded beside her ear. "Get up now."
Jiang Ying’s eyes flew open as the sharp pain instantly vanished. She turned her head abruptly to find a blue butterfly fluttering near her ear.
The butterfly landed on her knee and fluttered its wings as if to show off its beauty.
The pounding and alarms had ceased.
Jiang Ying scrambled up to check the monitors.
Outside, a blue butterfly hovered before each person. After staring for a few seconds, they rubbed their eyes, yawned, and lay down to sleep.
Not just here—butterflies filled nearly every affected area.
They danced through the terrifying night, their glow illuminating each face. Entranced, people stopped making love confessions over the phone or accepting anyone’s advances.
Mesmerized, they soon grew tired and lay down to rest.
The night returned to silence.
And the world is settling back into stillness again.
Though the peach blossoms still bloomed vibrantly, no one remained under their influence.
"Captain." Jiang Ying laughed with her eyes stinging, but she forcefully patted her head and shifted into wartime command mode.
Others like her must still be conscious. Finding them and continuing the fight—that was her job now.
Under the peach blossom tree, Li Zhian withdrew his hand, his pale blue eyes filled with disdain.
"I knew it. That Gardener’s terrible taste wouldn’t produce anything good. Going mad on top of it."
"One day, I’ll tear down its plantation and plant a row of chrysanthemums on its grave."
"Now, let’s see where it’s hiding… Over here, right?"
Meanwhile, the system sounded surprised. [The protagonist actually handled it.]
[Li Zhiyan’s contamination ability directly overpowered the Gardener’s nightmare, cutting off its source of pollution. Everyone affected fell into genuine sleep. Damn, it really went just like you said!]
Shen Ji gave a faint, fleeting smile that disappeared as quickly as it came.
"No matter what, he's still humanity's S-class Mutant, a guardian of mankind."
"He wouldn't stand by and watch real people become the Gardener's contaminated petri dishes, nor would he allow it to freely drain human lives to cultivate its tainted seeds."
Lu Kexin's figure appeared before Shen Ji, seemingly disoriented as it stared at its own palm in confusion.
The next moment, it was engulfed by an overwhelming tide of white mycelium.
The system watched as the fungal threads completely enveloped Lu Kexin.
Though the Gardener could manifest in another area through its tainted seeds, it couldn't wield abilities unrelated to them.
With no way to drag more people into nightmares in the real world, it was powerless—forced to watch as its sprouting seeds were uprooted and devoured by the mycelium.
Those were its budding plants and saplings on the verge of growth.
The system found it strange—the little journalist and the protagonist, who should have been adversaries, had just completed an unseen collaboration.
Shen Ji was certain Li Zhiyan would handle the contamination, and indeed, he did.
One severed the Gardener's source of contamination, while the other disposed of its tainted seeds.
Alone, neither could have achieved such swift and flawless results.
Hiss... So they actually work well together?
The system began questioning its existence.
But soon, a familiar presence snapped it back to reality.
[The protagonist is coming.] The system warned. [Estimated arrival in 2 minutes. Shen Ji, get out of here now!]
Shen Ji controlled the mycelium as it gnawed at the tainted seed. The Gardener struggled as its thick miasma of contamination seeping out.
"Not yet," Shen Ji replied. "If we don't crush this seed completely, the Gardener will just come back."
[98 seconds until the protagonist arrives, Shen Ji!]
[Our original goal was to survive without exposing ourselves! We can’t repeat the original story’s path!]
Shen Ji didn’t respond and the mycelium was too busy feasting.
"Journalist!" The Gardener felt the tainted seed in its neck being torn out and its roots slowly detaching from the body. Powerless, it could only glare at Shen Ji with venom. "I’ll remember you."
"You’ll regret not conceding this step!"
Shen Ji narrowed his eyes slightly. A silver-white light flickering in their depths. The mycelium coiled around him, shimmering like scales or glittering sequins.
"Then let’s see who really ends up regretting it."
The mycelium finally wrenched the seed free. They were ecstatic as they devoured the hard-won feast, and even cheered in Shen Ji’s mind.
Nom! So tasty!
Wow! So much!
Thank you, Master! Eat with us!
Full now, no more hunger!
The system, however, let out a despairing wail—nothing like the little mushrooms’ joy.
[Aaaah! Hurry! The protagonist is right outside! 10 seconds left!]
[No way! There’s no time to hide! Are we really doomed to reveal ourselves, meet the protagonist, and trigger the death-escape route?!]
[Waaah, I don’t want to leave the facility! Shen Ji, let’s change our names and flee to another one!]
Shen Ji turned to look at the road ahead.
The dream was hazy yet fantastical, and within the expanse of white mist, a figure emerged that was enveloped in a blue glow.
Shen Ji knew it was Li Zhiyan—those butterflies were guiding him and leading him here.
Was it time to meet just like this?
At that very moment, accompanied by the system's wailing, Shen Ji suddenly heard his own name.
"...Xiao Ji!"
Someone was calling.
"Wake up quickly, don't sleep anymore!"
"Xiao Ji? How do we get you to wake up?"
"...It's too dangerous, we can't leave him here."
Shen Ji's eyes snapped open, and the system's wailing abruptly ceased, even cutting off mid-note with a drawn-out sound.
A few seconds later, it finally seemed to register and fell silent.
"He's awake?!" Wen Jingyu exclaimed in delight as he looked at Shen Ji. "Everyone, Xiao Ji is awake!"
A crowd instantly gathered around Shen Ji.
Wang Anle, Cheng Gu, Zhang Qingli—even Qi Yuanhai, who had come to discuss the trapped situation—all surrounded him.
Everyone seemed to exhale in relief, though traces of worry still lingered in their eyes.
[...Ah, I forgot. You were just asleep, not trapped in a nightmare. So, you could be woken up.]
[As long as you were roused, you could break free from that nightmare immediately.]
[Wow.] The system remarked in its flat mechanical tone, sounding surprised. [They’ve been calling for you ever since Li Zhiyan started handling the contamination.]
[I have to say… these people really do care about you.]
Shen Ji was helped up while he was still slightly dazed.
He sat on the bed for a while, and during that time, no one spoke—they simply waited quietly for him to gather himself.
After a minute, Shen Ji finally lifted his head.
He smiled at them. "Thank you. I heard your voices calling me."
"That’s why I woke up."
The people around him exchanged glances before finally breaking into relieved laughter.
"You scared us to death! I thought you’d never wake up."
"Don’t say things like that—it’s bad luck!"
"Come on, we’re in the middle of an apocalypse, and you’re still superstitious?"
…….
Li Zhiyan stood in the empty clearing and staring at the fallen woman—Subject A.
A gaping hole marred her neck, as though something had once been lodged there before being violently ripped out. Her death had not been peaceful—hardly surprising, given she had been a host for the Gardener, a Pollutant.
"I definitely saw someone here just now. How’d they disappear in an instant?"
Li Zhian mused, "Something shiny and pretty—definitely not the kind of thing the Gardener’s rotten aesthetic could produce."
"What was it? Those pretty little mushrooms?"
He reached out, and a blue butterfly formed at his fingertips, fluttering down to land near the bloody wound.
Before long, a faintly glowing white mushroom was lured out by the butterfly, with its mycelial tendrils stretching cautiously.
Looking at the tiny mushroom, Li Zhiyan finally smiled.
"Got you."
Translator:
Oh no! Little mushroom is caught!
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