Chapter 81

Fan Huacheng returned here once again.

Just like in his childhood, the place was filled with dilapidated residential buildings, muddy roads, and no greenery on either side, because the first plants to be infected by the pollution were plants. In the distance, huge chimneys pierced the clouds, and billowing smoke dyed the sky gray-blue.

Dark, desolate, and dilapidated—that's the first impression of the purification zone, which has now been transformed into an industrial area.

More and more polluters are trying to infiltrate this area. To them, the industrial zone, which has many ordinary people, is no different from a place to fatten up sheep. In the past, they restrained themselves because of the awakened people in the industrial zone, but in recent years the number of awakened people has been decreasing.

Awakened individuals generally have shorter lifespans than ordinary people, as pollution has been constantly corroding their bodies. In the past twenty years, very few awakened individuals have been born in the city.

Fan Huacheng stayed by Yang Xin's side. After hearing about Yang Xin's past experiences, he felt a sense of awe and familiarity towards this woman.

He single-handedly kept an area free from pollution and erosion for twenty years, like a pillar stabilizing the sea.

Yang Xin did not reject this new young man. There were too few new lives here, and she always loved and tolerated children.

If Xiao Shengyun were here, he would probably be indignant about the old lady's attitude, which was quite different from the way she had twice shot him with a gun.

boom-

Just as the polluters were about to climb the barbed wire fence, a bolt of lightning struck the fence and rapidly spread along the metal mesh, scorching all the intruders to a crisp.

"Ahhh!"

The skin and flesh were roasted until they were charred black, and even emitted a faint aroma.

"Damn, when did they replace this place with an electric grid?" a corrupted creature that had been struck down yelled, clutching its charred arm. It had planned to sneak in under cover of darkness and have a couple of humans as a snack.

The companion remained silent.

"Hey, what's wrong? Got electrocuted?" The polluter turned his head, his companion staring at his arm.

Bro, you smell so good.

"Holy crap!" Realizing the other party's intentions, the polluter scrambled out of the room.

Sizzle—

A few wisps of electricity flashed across the wire mesh.

Yang Xin took in all of this and praised, "Your skills are quite good."

"Hehe, not to brag, but I'm the best in our team."

This kind of protective wall made of electric grid is very common outside, but unfortunately the tools are not complete here. Fan Huacheng copied the design and built a small one, but fortunately the effect was good.

"At your age, why would you want to come to a place like this to carry out a mission?" Since Qian Yunxia's health began to decline, Yang Xin had no one to talk to for a long time, so she asked softly.

"I—" Fan Huacheng didn't know whether he should say it or not.

He didn't come here; he came home.

"The higher-ups said there were signs of life here, and they hoped we could rescue the trapped survivors."

“Saving people, hahaha,” Yang Xin laughed loudly, “Saving people twenty years too late? Those people abandoned us back then, and now they’re pretending to come back. I’m afraid they’re after something else.”

Her eyes were sharp, as if she could pierce through the young man's disguise at any moment.

"No, we're here to save this city. The lighthouse only detected traces of human activity here a year ago. Over the years, history books have always recorded how humans had to sever cities, including Yumekawa, in order to save themselves. We all want to survive the pollution."

"What truly separates us is not a legal ruling, but pollution, which is the common enemy of mankind."

These words sounded familiar. Yang thought for a moment and realized that Mr. Meng Yangzhou had said something similar.

They were filled with hatred then, both for the pollutants and for their own compatriots, since everyone was the one who was abandoned.

Perhaps humanity is not truly beyond redemption.

"Good lad, then prove to me how you're going to save this city," Yang Xin laughed.

...

Bang-

As the contestant fell to the ground, the host excitedly announced the winner's name: "Congratulations to both contestants for winning this match! With your scores, if you win another match tomorrow, you will receive the honor of meeting the gods."

The fallen athlete was dragged away by staff. His vital organs were pierced by a metal knife, and some pale yellow liquid was flowing from the wound. His eyes were wide open, and until the moment before he died, he did not know why he was dying.

The audience below the stage was also completely confused. The ability of mind control was too secretive, so Zhou Zhi had deliberately diverted the audience's attention in other directions during the previous fights. In the eyes of the audience, the opponents' movements were strangely slowed down, and then they were stabbed in vital points by short knives.

Now that the two are working together, Jie Yuan is the main force in the attack. If it weren't for Zhou Zhi's past achievements, most viewers would regard him as a useless coward who relies on others.

However, when the two stepped off the stage, some malicious gazes fell on Zhou Zhi.

Killing a fighter inside the fighting arena would grant them all of the opponent's points, but they abandoned the idea after seeing the gleaming metal blades on the stage.

Zhou Zhi and Xie Yuan boarded the bus. Neither of them were talkative people, and the bus wasn't a place for exchanging information, so the atmosphere was a bit quiet for a moment.

When Zhou Zhi went upstairs and saw the empty room, he felt a strange feeling, just like when he was a child, he would always come home to a dark house with the lights off.

The room was extremely quiet, with no one else making a fuss.

I feel terrible.

He wiped the dagger clean, washed the blood-stained coat from earlier that day, tidied up the room briefly, and then sat by the window, gazing at the dark horizon in the distance.

It will be over soon. After just one more battle, I will be qualified to meet the city lord.

The suffering of everyone in the city can end.

The next day, Zhou Zhi and Xie Yuan stepped onto the stage.

He wasn't worried about losing, but he was still slightly surprised when he saw his opponent on the field.

It's a goat.

His condition was worse than a few days ago; his body had undergone extensive mutations, and his originally dark eyes were now covered with a layer of red. He seemed to have completely transformed from a human into a sheep.

"Now, please welcome contestant 'Goat' to the stage!" the host announced.

Goat is a strange title. When registering at the fighting arena, many polluters use their real names. Since the people here don't know each other, it doesn't matter if they use their real names.

"What is your name?" Zhou Zhi suddenly asked.

“No name.” The goat shook his head. There was no place for him in this world. He had abandoned everything the moment he arrived here.

Family, friends, everything.

The goat is powerful; his speed and strength far surpass those of ordinary polluters. He has also grown two extra legs alongside his forelimbs, which allows him to move at incredible speeds.

He seemed to understand the division of labor between the two people opposite him, so when the metal blade shot towards him, he did not retreat, letting the blade cut his body and blood stain his fur.

His target is Zhou Zhi, who is behind Jie Yuan.

The goat was unsure of this person's talent, but it certainly wasn't physical attack-based.

When the first metal knife sliced ​​through his body, a sharp pain suddenly shot through his brain, followed by waves of dizziness, which slowed him down considerably.

But the arena was only so big, and the goat used several legs to run forward, arriving in front of Zhou Zhi in the blink of an eye.

His consciousness was somewhat blurred; he was fighting purely on instinct.

Zhou Zhi frowned, quickly extending his knife to block the forelimb that was attacking him. The enormous impact forced him to take a few steps back.

The mind control slowed the goat down and blurred his consciousness, but he continued to attack.

Why?

Most of the people who are contaminated have a muddled consciousness, like a thin sheet of paper, which can be easily penetrated.

However, although this person was controlled, there were other things in his consciousness that allowed him to fight even when he lost consciousness.

Goats have a simple yet violent way of attacking.

It possesses immense strength and incredible speed, and its fur blocks most attacks.

There's a kind of aesthetic beauty in numerical superiority.

Zhou Zhi's talent blurred the goat's perception, and he attacked directly in the opposite direction—the direction of Jie Yuan.

The huge hoof kicked Jie Yuan in the chest, and he cried out in pain, his internal organs trembling.

"Where do you expect him to shoot?" Jie Yuan shouted, directly attacking his teammate.

Zhou Zhi controlled the goat to pounce on the edge of the arena, the metal blade spinning and cutting countless wounds on the goat's body.

When the goat opened its eyes, a metal knife was positioned just two centimeters in the center of its eye.

The red in his eyes was particularly striking; on that terrifying face, those two red spots were like two rubies.

The goat stopped resisting.

"Kill me, and I will willingly accept death!"

His voice was extremely loud, so loud that it echoed throughout the entire hall.

What's going on?

A commotion arose from the audience.

This is a scene never before seen.

The instinct of a living being is to survive. On the arena, pollutants fight and devour each other in order to gain greater power.

They became monsters, or rather, they finally shed their human, well-dressed shells.

But at this moment, when the goat stands on the ring and speaks in this manner, he is a human.

A person who is upright and communicates on an equal footing.

"You?" His words shocked not only the audience but also his opponents.

Jie Yuan's knife hovered in mid-air. He could kill a monster, but he couldn't kill one of his own kind with a clear conscience.

"It doesn't matter, just kill me, take my points, and go see the so-called gods of this city. Ask them for me why everyone lives like livestock. Is it because we've been corrupted and are no longer human, or because of this damned world?"

He didn't know what gods looked like; his so-called audience with gods was merely a way to find his own liberation.

"Thank you." Even though life was slipping away, the red in the goat's eyes was exceptionally bright and beautiful.