Chapter 35

The wind blew silently across the wasteland. There was no sun in the sky; a layer of gray gloom pressed down heavily, shrouding this strange and absurd world.

The little monster squirmed in the man's arms. When it was asleep, it could hear a steady heartbeat, and when it was awake, it could hear the same. This inexplicably stable feeling made it let out a comfortable cry.

He was only a few days old when he was found, tiny and small, and predators ate him as easily as chickens eat worms.

The moment He was caught, He thought He was going to die, but the creature did not eat Him, but instead took Him with it.

In this perilous world, two lives have achieved a wondrous symbiotic relationship.

Zhou Zhi was an excellent caretaker. Under his lavish feeding, the little monster grew rapidly, both physically and intellectually.

So at this moment, looking at the quiet humans, He was somewhat curious about what was behind the protective suits and masks.

He noticed that humans were asleep, so He woke up.

Buzz—

Several bloodsucking insects emerged from the grass, flapping their wings as they flew over. These predators were small and made no sound when they flapped their wings, making them extremely difficult predators to deal with.

However, the moment they got close, long black threads emerged from the little monster's body.

The bloodsucking worm struggled little before its body was pierced, and it fell limply to the ground.

The little monster didn't eat them; these insects didn't taste very good, and its palate had become quite picky these past few days.

This was a small-scale massacre, with no witnesses. After doing all this, He retreated back into the human's embrace, His tiny tentacles wrapped intimately around Zhou Zhi's arm. Zhou Zhi did not wake up; only his eyelashes fluttered.

"Sweetie, wake up! We're going to the amusement park today! Get up!"

Familiar voices chattered in his ears, making Zhou Zhi feel somewhat dazed. The person next to him opened the window, and a cool morning breeze blew into the room, instantly sending a chill through him.

He opened his eyes and saw Tang Rong'an tidying up the messy table for him, with a set of clothes neatly placed at the corner of the bed.

"What day is it today?" He was a little surprised. Usually, his mother would have already gone to work by now, instead of tidying up the room.

"Are you still half asleep? Today is the day to go to the amusement park. You promised yesterday. Your dad has already made breakfast. Hurry up and get dressed and get up."

Tang Rong'an spoke with great interest, and then walked to the living room. Zhou Zhi stared blankly at her back for a long time.

He got dressed and walked out of the living room. Zhou Zhengcheng was still busy in the kitchen. This dignified and powerful man in the army was now skillfully chopping vegetables and cooking porridge, wearing an apron with an orange kitten on it.

This is an extremely rare day.

The family of three were able to enjoy breakfast together, and they even had a whole day together.

Because his parents are busy with work, Zhou Zhi lives alone most of the time, even though he is still in elementary school.

The couple finally managed to find some time together, so they chose to go to the amusement park to spend quality time with their son, completely unaware that their son had lost all childlike innocence.

Oh well, I'll just treat it as a way to appease them.

Seeing how enthusiastic the two were, Zhou Zhi did not raise any further objections.

This was the best day. They played on all the rides in the amusement park together. Zhou Zhengcheng won a large rabbit doll from the balloon popping booth with his perfect shooting skills and stuffed it into Zhou Zhi's arms under his son's resistant gaze.

Tang Rong'an wore a beautiful white dress and light makeup. Holding an ice cream, she followed her husband and son with a smile.

"Are you happy?" She ruffled her son's hair; it was soft and fluffy, and felt wonderful to the touch.

Zhou Zhi nodded.

Tang Rong'an was a little worried, afraid that her son would become as dull as her husband, so she ruffled her hair again.

I hope that teasing her too much won't make her angry.

Zhou Zhi took out a tissue and wiped his face. He was really happy; this was the best day ever, but it would be too embarrassing to cry over this.

This time he didn't dodge; Tang Rong'an's hands were soft and warm.

"The next attraction is the circus performance. Do you still want to go? The show lasts three hours, so we might get back quite late," Zhou Zhengcheng asked, holding up a tourist map.

"Go ahead, you've come all this way, what do you say, darling?"

Zhou Zhi nodded.

After the clown finished his introduction in a comical tone, a cage containing a huge tiger was pushed to the center of the stage, and the shouts of the audience echoed throughout the hall, half in surprise and half in fear.

The tiger's stripes were not black, but bright red, and its eyes were a deep purple, gleaming with a terrifying light.

The clown struck an exaggerated pose, then slowly walked to the cage.

This tiger was a long-time employee of the circus and had performed countless times, so he was completely unaware of the tiger's unusual behavior and simply opened the cage door.

The audience gasped once again.

The clown stroked the tiger's head, his actions touching the hearts of the audience, and his waving hands also fell into the tiger's pupils.

"Are you scared?" Zhou Zhengcheng asked. He had specially bought the most expensive ticket, and his seat was in the second row of the audience.

"It's alright." Zhou Zhi had a vague feeling that something was wrong. He couldn't recall which tiger had red stripes, maybe it wasn't recorded in the book.

The clown was still loudly introducing himself, completely unaware that the tiger had already walked up behind him. Amidst the screams of the audience, the tiger opened its huge mouth and swallowed half of the clown's body whole.

"Ahhh!"

"They're eating people!"

The screams turned from surprise to horror, and the crowd began to flee in panic. Because there were too many people, the two narrow exits at the front and back were crowded with people.

The tiger chewed up the clown's body, its massive form crashing through the stage railing and lunging directly into the audience.

This is a contaminated tiger. It's not considered a contaminant, and in terms of rating, it might only be an E or F level. In the future, Zhou Zhi could easily kill hundreds of tigers of this level. But right now, he could only be led towards the exit by Tang Rong'an in a daze.

"This is a mutant!"

The species that had been lightly polluted did not show much change until Zhou Zhengcheng saw the red stripes writhing on the tiger's body, and then he realized that this was no ordinary, crazed tiger.

The red patterns bulged on the fur, making it look as if a bunch of insects were moving underneath, causing the patterns to change into different shapes.

Zhou Zhengcheng is not an awakened one. Even a well-trained soldier is not strong enough in the face of pollutants. He did not bring a gun today, only a dagger he carried with him.

But he couldn't leave; there were too many people here. If the tiger entered the crowd, there would be heavy casualties.

He ran into the tiger's blind spot, raised his dagger, and aimed it at the tiger's eye. The rows of seats there restricted his movement. The tiger noticed him, dodged, and the dagger missed its mark.

The pain of being stabbed enraged the tiger, and it began to tear at the arrogant human.

Zhou Zhengcheng's bloodstained arm attracted the tiger. He used his other hand to support his body, leaped over rows of seats, and ran towards the stage.

Half of the clown's body remains there.

Zhou Zhi was picked up by Tang Rong'an, and rested his head on his mother's shoulder, looking towards the stage.

Everyone was running towards the exit, but he was the only one enjoying the performance.

This scene appeared in his dreams countless times afterward.

This was a bloody performance; a ring of lights on the stage dome illuminated the area brightly, where tiny humans and enormous tigers swam around.

The tiger's cries of pain became medals for humankind, and the warm blood of humans stained the wooden floor.

The performance seemed to depict the struggle between humanity and pollutants over the past half-century. Zhou Zhengcheng used his intact arm to repeatedly stab the tiger's body until the sword cut through the red stripes on the tiger's body, and tiny red worms fell out.

This is the source of pollution that parasitizes tigers.

Dealing with a swarm of insects might be more difficult than dealing with a tiger, but at least without the insects, the tiger's body moves much slower.

The insects gradually crawled onto Zhou Zhengcheng's feet, calves, and chest. They were everywhere, and all living things were their parasites.

There is nowhere to escape.

Zhou Zhengcheng realized this. He looked up and gazed into the distance, but his wife's white dress had already disappeared into the crowd and could no longer be seen.

At least they are safe.

He suddenly felt relieved. The insects were slowly gnawing at his flesh, which hurt a little, but he felt incredibly good.

At least no one was hurt.

Faced with pollutants, he was just an ordinary person, and this was the best outcome he could achieve.

Zhou Zhengcheng didn't see that, in the vast sea of ​​people, Zhou Zhi's gaze met his from afar.

He seemed determined to memorize everything that happened tonight. His father's face, which had been blurry in the past, suddenly became incredibly clear at this moment. Zhou Zhengcheng was busy with work, and both of them were taciturn, so the father and son rarely communicated. Only in occasional moments could Zhou Zhi sense the man's love.

For example, this morning when Zhou Zhengcheng was cooking porridge while wearing a cat apron, or when he stuffed a rabbit doll into his hands.

A strong sense of powerlessness arose from the young body. Despite being unharmed, his heart ached terribly, and warm tears streamed down his face. Tang Rong'an hugged his son tightly, and this rational and calm researcher finally lost control at this moment.

Zhou Zhi tried every means to find the rabbit doll after a long time, but he couldn't. The thing had been destroyed long ago as a contaminant.

All the memories have turned into fragments, pricking my head.

Countless sources of energy surged and crashed within his body, then overflowed, filling the ward.

The door was roughly opened and then hurriedly closed.

Li Qianfang, He Jingming, and a group of medical staff stood at the door, helpless about the situation inside.

"What the hell are you doing? Is this what you call a stable patient? The pollution levels are so high, he should have been executed long ago!" He Jingming was no longer the impeccably dressed and composed man he once was; he shouted directly at Li Qianfang.

“Do you know who he is? You can report it and see if the General Administration will approve your application.” Li Qianfang retorted subconsciously, while quickly searching for a solution in his mind.

That won't solve anything.