Chapter 15

When Xiao Shengyun arrived at the company, he understood why his superiors had repeatedly asked him to return. Yu Wenliang had also taken leave, leaving him as the only one left in the position.

"Xiaoyun, I'll have to trouble you to stay a little longer these next few days. I don't know why, but Lao Yu had to take leave at this crucial time. The capable should do more, and I'll give you a raise later!"

The head of the human resources department smiled kindly and patted Xiao Shengyun's shoulder warmly.

"It's alright, I've been working here for years, I can't let you down. By the way, Brother Li, I heard there was some strange noise at the factory last night..."

Xiao Shengyun stared intently at Steward Li's face, trying to discern any flaws in his expression.

He clearly arrived at the third workshop last night according to the order, but there was no such information on the attendance record. This means that the person who issued that order was not an internal employee, and that this person also hacked into the factory's internal system and erased all the records.

"What's all this noise? Who are you listening to?" A hint of panic flashed across Manager Li's face.

"I heard it from the people who worked here last night when I came in."

"Those guys are just bored and have nothing better to do all day. Don't believe their lies, or it's just noise they made during construction."

Xiao Shengyun returned to his office with a worried expression. As a human being, hearing that something had happened to a friend should indeed cause concern.

But in reality, his heart was empty.

Tao Zhe took leave last time because of pollution, so what about Yu Wenliang...?

After reporting the matter to the investigation department, Xiao Shengyun returned to the battlefield of the previous night once again.

There were no windows inside; it was pitch black, and a cold, damp atmosphere permeated the air, mixed with the smell of blood.

As expected, he was blocked by the access control system when he tried to enter.

Sure enough, another force was taking advantage of the chaos last night.

From the moment they entered the factory, they were already under the sight of others.

"Yu Wenliang has disappeared. Do you know any other addresses he might have lived in or places he might have frequented?"

Based on the information provided by Xiao Shengyun, the action team immediately went to Yu Wenliang's address, but found nothing.

Based on the marks inside the house, he was still at home two hours earlier. Surveillance footage shows that he dropped his daughter off at school in the morning, then entered an alley and disappeared into its depths.

"Shouldn't you increase the density of surveillance? Why do you always fail at crucial moments?"

A gentle breeze rustled the leaves overhead, and Xiao Shengyun raised his hand to block the sunlight streaming through the gaps in the leaves.

A group of people dressed in casual clothes were half-squatting on a street corner. Fifty meters away was a primary school, from which came the laughter of children.

Are you sure he'll be here?

Ye Ting expressed his doubts, with half of the starch sausage he had just bought dangling from his mouth. According to Captain Ye, this was for better disguise, and definitely not because he wanted to eat it.

"About 80%. According to you, Yu Wenliang might have other identities—a low-level employee of the company, a polluter, a member of an evil organization—but I think there's one identity he absolutely has that will never change."

"Father. You have no idea how much he talks about his daughter every day; we're all sick of it."

Just as Ye Ting was about to say that it might be a disguise, she suddenly remembered the breakfast left on the table and the group photo on the wall when she went to Yu Wenliang's house today. The small details made her feel a wave of warmth as soon as she stepped into the door.

Having spent ten years in the operations department, he was a seasoned veteran and could naturally distinguish between truth and falsehood at a glance.

"But are you so short-handed?" Xiao Shengyun looked at the white figure not far away. "You've dragged out researchers to work on the front lines. Aren't you afraid something might happen to this delicate-skinned guy?"

The research institute and the action department are two different organizations, and as the dean, how could Zhou Zhi be spending all his time here? What exactly is this person trying to do?

Ye Ting remained silent for a few seconds in a strange manner.

"Young man, I've seen you standing here for quite a while. How about buying a plush toy? Five yuan each, or three for ten yuan each."

The old man, squinting under the big tree, pointed to a pile of dolls in front of him. There were many different kinds, including ponies, tigers, lions...

After all, the major customers here are mostly preschool children.

"If you don't like these, I have other things here, they're all in the car,"

No, sir, you can't just start selling things to anyone. Do you think this person looks like they're selling plush toys?

The officer from the operations department had one eye on the school and the other on the toy stall, his lips twitching slightly.

Does this person look like a potential customer?

However, Zhou Zhi stared at a certain corner for a few seconds, as if he had thought of something, and then asked, "I'll take it. How much is it in total?"

Then everyone watched as he carried a sack of dolls to the car not far away, and when they looked at their own captain with a starch sausage in his mouth, they felt inexplicably that their future was bleak.

When a crisp bell rang, a group of little kids lined up and ran towards the crowd gathered at the school gate.

"Captain, the target has been spotted. Should we proceed with the arrest?"

Yu Wenliang was easy to spot; he appeared on the outermost edge of the crowd, wearing long sleeves and trousers, sunglasses, and a mask.

Perhaps because his attire was somewhat strange, and given the recent spate of incidents, people around him deliberately kept their distance.

Xiao Shengyun's anxiety finally subsided. Many of the polluters would experience physical mutations, and they would choose to cover their deformed bodies with heavy clothing.

Considering that this is currently the peak time for pedestrian traffic, and that hastily making arrests could potentially anger the polluters, Ye Ting decided to hold off for the time being.

.

After most of the crowd dispersed, a little girl with a schoolbag came out of the school gate. She looked around first, and then quickly ran over after seeing the crowd waving her arms.

The girl threw herself into Yu Wenliang's arms, but he caught her steadily and quickly put her down.

The father and daughter walked towards their home, and the others quickly followed.

"If Yu Wenliang is contaminated, will that girl also be affected?"

"There are generally two forms of pollution: physical pollution and mental pollution. These two forms of infection are different, and the latter is more difficult to assess than the former."

A question arose in Ye Ting's mind: why would a father who deeply loves his daughter hug her as usual, even though he knew he had been corrupted?

Yu Wenliang's home is located in the northeast corner of an old residential area, which is the worst location in the entire area. There is a highway just a dozen meters behind the building, with constant traffic and noise late at night.

But it's also the cheapest place to live.

This old neighborhood looks quite dated; the entrances to the high-rise buildings are covered with a layer of dark red embroidery, and on it are some colorful, half-torn small advertisements.

Upon entering the building, everyone was immediately greeted by a floral fragrance. The scent was subtle; even though everyone present had a stronger sense of smell than the average person, the fragrance was still barely perceptible.

"What's this smell? It seems to be cloves. Not the spice used for stewing meat, but the aroma of clove flowers."

When he saw the person who came, Yu Wenliang didn't seem surprised. He was still wearing the apron he wore when cooking, and the aroma wafted from inside the house.

"Dad, who's here?" the girl's clear voice rang out.

"My friends, you go ahead and eat. I still have work to discuss."

When each polluter is arrested, they either struggle violently, cry bitterly, or collapse to the ground in fear. Few are as calm or relieved as Yu Wenliang.

"Officer, I can go with you, but my daughter is still young. Could you send someone to take care of her for a while?"

The members of the action team exchanged glances, all seeing confusion in each other's eyes. Was this the first time they were arrested, and they were already making demands?

"Brother Yu, didn't you say your wife was away on a business trip?" Xiao Shengyun asked quietly. As a single man, he had eaten a lot of dog food (a Chinese slang term for witnessing public displays of affection), and it turned out that dog food had additives.

“We got divorced a long time ago, it’s just Wenwen and me at home now, soon she’ll be all alone…”

This person seems out of sorts.

Yu Wenliang no longer had layers of clothing on his body, and the black patterns on his face and body were now visible to everyone. The blackness flowed slowly, carrying a bewitching magic.

He has been completely corrupted.

The moment Yu Wenliang reached out his hand, Xiao Shengyun was already standing at the very front of the line.

Humanity has been back in civilized society for far too long, so long that it has lost some of its instincts to sense danger.

This kind of intuition only exists among wild beasts that live hand to mouth and fight each other for a tiny bit of food.

In fact, before Yu Wenliang could even raise his arm, it was already firmly held down by two hands.

Zhou Zhi?

The scene was somewhat ridiculous: an unofficial staff member, a frail researcher, subdued the prisoner before the action team could.

"What are you standing there for? It's an antagonist." Director Zhou's eyes were calm, but Ye Ting still read something in them: his left eye screamed "useless" and his right eye screamed "idiot."

The rich aroma grew stronger, and it didn't come from the man kneeling on the ground, but rather from afar, carried by the air.

Yu Wenliang let out a painful roar, and then the patterns on his body came to life, like grapevines and tender shoots growing, sprouting, and new life constantly multiplying on the mother plant.

Now, Yu Wenliang is the mother, with countless black threads filling his blood vessels, penetrating his skin, and emerging from his body.

"What the hell is this thing?"

Since entering this industry, Ye Ting has seen all sorts of things that push the boundaries, but at this moment, his stomach still churned.

Sometimes, reality far exceeds human imagination.