3 Murlocs

◎Report, there are living pollutants!◎

The helmet is very smart and has a built-in locking function. Sixteen pollutants are circled in the dark sewer, and they no longer look human.

The helmet had a filter, so Zhu Ning couldn't smell the stench, but he could clearly feel that the place must be stinking. Broken pieces of rotten flesh were scattered on the ground, but there was nothing scary about them, as Zhu Ning was already used to seeing the corpses of monsters.

What's scary is what's on the corpse.

Drops of blood precipitated from the corpse and then floated in the air. The blood drops had different shapes, some remained in the shape of water drops, and some had mutated into ferocious bacteria.

The blood droplets were still slowly floating upwards, swimming like jellyfish, flashing red light.

Zhu Ning was in it, thinking he had stepped into some ancient mysterious cave. From a certain aesthetic point of view, it actually had a very strange beauty.

Zhu Ning carefully recalled what was said in the teaching video. Once the pollutants are killed and their vital signs disappear, the contaminated spores will not die. They will want to find a new host.

Hosts can be humans, plants, animals, and even some contaminated spores can attach to things without life signs, such as walls, tiles, and certain robots.

Fang Ying said that the robot short-circuited because of contamination spores, which can contaminate the machine and even invade the network. It seems that these blood drops are contamination spores.

Contaminated spores cannot be eliminated, they can only be contained.

This is why cleaners are needed to clean up. In the teaching video, there was only one contaminated spore, but now it is an entire space. Zhu Ning was shocked.

With two rustling sounds, Xu Meng and Li Nianchuan also landed on the ground.

Xu Meng: "You didn't vomit."

Zhu Ning hasn't vomited yet. A normal person's first reaction when seeing this thing is physical nausea, but she is the first newcomer she has ever taught who hasn't vomited.

Zhu Ning: “…”

Do you want to act out a vomiting scene first? Not vomiting is one thing, but this thing is really disgusting.

"Tsk," Li Nianchuan frowned as he came down, "Water pollutants are troublesome."

"What's wrong with the water system?" Zhu Ning asked.

Xu Meng: "When the water content is too high, the contamination spores are more active."

Now that you mention it, it is indeed true. The blood drops that Zhu Ning saw were floating faster than the obvious speed in the teaching video.

With a loud bang, the hole above was blocked by an iron plate, and all light was instantly lost. They blocked the entrance.

"Don't be afraid," Xu Meng said. "It's just standard procedure. We're afraid of spilling contaminated spores. We'll automatically open it after we're done."

So that's how it is. But being trapped in a closed sewer still feels quite uncomfortable. Zhu Ning moved his neck.

Xu Meng said: "This E-level mission is not difficult and the pollution concentration is not high, so it can be completed quickly."

The floating speed of contaminated spores is limited, and the pollutants have just died and cannot spread quickly.

The contaminated area given by Li Nianchuan just now is 2,500 cubic meters, which is the size of a standard swimming pool.

The pollution area is not accurate, and the data given is much larger than the actual polluted area. Their data is 2,500 cubic meters per unit. In other words, this area is one swimming pool, or two swimming pools, and so on.

Zhu Ning found this job quite interesting. She had only fought monsters before and had never participated in such detailed logistical work.

"Be careful," Xu Meng said, "Don't get contaminated by the spores."

Spores are prone to parasitism when they come into contact with the skin, so their "work clothes" are tightly wrapped. After all, she is a newbie, and if she doesn't do a good job on the first day of containing contaminated spores, she will easily get herself into trouble.

Xu Meng gave a demonstration. She took out a straw-like thing from the cleaning bag and carefully touched the "blood drop" floating in the air with the tip of the straw.

Suddenly there was a slight sound, and the drop of blood was sucked into the transparent straw.

The back end of the straw is connected to a transparent box. After the blood drops fall into it, they lie on the bottom of the box. Every ten blood drops gather together and are automatically organized into a cube the size of a mung bean.

The whole process is extremely comfortable for someone with obsessive-compulsive disorder. Xu Meng moves very slowly, neither fast nor impatient, as this is a meticulous job.

It’s a lot like… picking cotton.

An inappropriate metaphor popped up in Zhu Ning's mind. They were like a three-person cotton picking team.

The workflow is to contain the contaminated spores first, then clean up the bodies, as well as the soil, water sources, stones, etc. that have been touched by the blood. Then wash the contaminated area to ensure that no contaminated spores are missed.

It's really like sweeping garbage.

Zhu Ning joined the cotton-picking team and touched the contaminated spores with a straw. After the contaminated spores were contained, she suddenly felt a buzzing sound in her head.

System: [Primary Pollutant, Purification Value +1]

Purification value? What purification value?

Zhu Ning tried again. Every time he collected a spore, the voice in his head echoed again. Who cares what he does? Everyone knows how to take advantage of others.

Zhu Ning's hands moved faster and faster. Li Nianchuan looked at her in confusion. Generally speaking, newcomers were just here to slack off, but this was the first time he saw such an active newcomer.

So curly?

Zhu Ning's arms felt a little stiff after working for a while. She now had a purification value of 45. Zhu Ning asked, "How long will it take to contain it?"

Li Nianchuan: "About an hour."

Sweeping garbage is a physical job, neither exciting nor thrilling, it relies purely on endurance. Zhu Ning feels that this process is quite healing.

Xu Meng: "If you can't bear it mentally, you can ask for a break."

Zhu Ning: "Can't bear it mentally?"

Xu Meng: "Our work clothes can't completely isolate you from contamination. They can only protect you from being parasitized by contaminated spores, but the mental contamination of spores is difficult to defend against."

Zhu Ning's hand trembled as he sucked in the contaminated spores. He no longer liked the thing. The spores constantly emitted contamination, and even if they were physically blocked, they couldn't be completely blocked mentally.

Zhu Ning: "What does it feel like to be mentally polluted?"

Xu Meng: "Mild symptoms include vomiting, nightmares, and fatigue. Moderate symptoms include mental disorders and hallucinations. We had a colleague with a serious condition who thought he was a two-headed pink lotus."

Zhu Ning: “……?”

Is the sacrifice so great?

Xu Meng: "More serious cases can lead to attacks, or the profound impact can lead to belief in evil gods and monsters. Some may commit suicide, others may even kill. There are countless cases."

Simply put, mental pollution will not achieve the purpose of parasitism, but it can disrupt your brain and make you behave abnormally.

Xu Meng asked: "Do you have any reaction now?"

When they bring in new people, their biggest concern is whether the new people themselves will be contaminated.

Zhu Ning felt it carefully and said cautiously, "I don't feel anything."

She really didn't feel anything. Xu Meng turned her head and glanced at her. Zhu Ning was quite unusual.

"I can't do it anymore." After a while, Li Nianchuan was sweating profusely and said, "I'm going to take a breath."

Zhu Ning heard that his voice sounded a bit painful, so he asked, "Why are you gasping for breath?"

Li Nianchuan: "Just stay away. The closer you are, the more polluted you are. For general pollutants, you can't feel them at a distance of a thousand meters."

That makes some sense.

The pollution is limited by distance, otherwise the spores cannot be eliminated. If the radioactive pollution is continuous and has no distance limit, can't it pollute the whole world?

Xu Meng: "Zhu Ning, come with us."

Zhu Ning wanted to say that she was fine, but Xu Meng made a gesture to her. Was this asking Zhu Ning to keep an eye on Li Nianchuan?

There are not many spores left, only about one-fifth left, so Xu Meng is fine alone.

Zhu Ning put down his tools and followed Li Nianchuan. They were in a sewer in the Federation. Area 103 was originally a garbage dump, and all the garbage in the Federation had to be transported to Area 103.

The sewers were interconnected, and Li Nianchuan led Zhu Ning deeper into the sewers. Without any additional lighting, they relied solely on the night vision capabilities of their helmets to see.

Li Nianchuan walked deeper and deeper. Those who didn't know would think that this man wanted to lure him away and kill him to silence him. Perhaps out of caution, Li Nianchuan didn't stop until he had walked a full two kilometers.

Li Nianchuan took off his helmet and took a deep breath. "I'm suffocating."

Li Nianchuan's face was pale, and his forehead was covered in sweat. He looked sick. Zhu Ning, who hadn't been affected by the contaminated spores, didn't take off his helmet and asked, "Are you okay?"

Li Nianchuan cursed, "Headache."

Zhu Ning knew that Li Nianchuan was impatient when they first met, but he is obviously a little more irritable now. Is this mental pollution?

Zhu Ning looked at Li Nianchuan cautiously and asked, "How about putting on a helmet?"

The work code says not to expose skin, and the teaching video also says not to take off the helmet unless necessary. Li Nianchuan behaved more like a novice than he actually was.

Li Nianchuan: "I can't breathe wearing it."

He wasn't just short of breath; he felt like he was suffocating. Why was it that the more he came out for air, the more short of breath he felt?

Li Nianchuan's eyes began to turn red. His intraocular pressure seemed to be very high, which pressed on the capillaries in his eyeballs, and bloodshot slowly appeared in his eye sockets.

But he seemed to only feel a slight itch in his eyes, and he rubbed them frantically. Zhu Ning took a half step back and calmly reached for the gun at his waist.

She had no way of telling whether Li Nianchuan was infected.

"Should I report to the captain?" Zhu Ning thought of what was written in the work manual. Once suspected symptoms of contamination appear, they must be reported to their superiors immediately, and if necessary, they must exit the mission in time.

Li Nianchuan: "No, I just need to take it easy. I still have work to do later."

Although she sounded mentally sound, Zhu Ning did not remove her hand holding the gun. She discovered that the only source of danger in this job was her teammates!

Workbook Rule 2: Always pay attention to your teammates.

It turns out that the seniors' experience is not deceiving me. Zhu Ning stared at Li Nianchuan while debating whether to report it.

Suddenly, rustling

Zhu Ning frowned. What was that sound?

rustling

From Li Nianchuan? No, Li Nianchuan was rubbing his eyes, so the voice was farther away.

rustle, rustle, rustle

Something seemed to be moving in the distance.

"Did you hear that?" Zhu Ning asked.

"What?" Li Nianchuan rubbed his eyes for a long time, his whole body revealing a confused and stupid look.

Zhu Ning reacted extremely quickly, pulling out his gun and pointing it into the darkness.

Li Nianchuan was originally in a bad mental state, but when he suddenly saw Zhu Ning holding a gun, he became alert.

"What are you doing?" Li Nianchuan was startled by her. "Put down the gun, I'm not contaminated!"

Li Nianchuan immediately reacted and wondered if Zhu Ning felt that he was contaminated and wanted to get rid of him?

The cleaners have to be careful to prevent their teammates from going crazy. Zhu Ning has to be careful to prevent Li Nianchuan, and Li Nianchuan is also careful to prevent Zhu Ning. He now suspects that Zhu Ning has been contaminated.

"Don't get excited," Li Nianchuan said, "We don't have the authority."

In order to prevent the cleaners from killing each other, all guns are set with permissions, and no one can fire unless they receive instructions from their superiors.

Wait, Li Nianchuan frowned suddenly. Zhu Ning's gun holding posture was very standard and very steady, without even a shake.

Zhu Ning knows how to use a gun? What is a 19-year-old girl doing with a gun? Where does she get her experience from? Li Nianchuan is now too clear-headed to even mention being contaminated.

"There's something behind you." Zhu Ning said.

Li Nianchuan was stunned before he realized that Zhu Ning was not pointing at him, but at the person behind him.

Li Nianchuan turned around and saw a dark sewer behind him. Without turning on the lights, the night vision range of the helmet was limited and he could only see darkness.

"What?" Li Nianchuan was more afraid of Zhu Ning than the person behind him. He only looked back and didn't dare to turn his back to Zhu Ning.

"Can you put the gun down and talk?"

Zhu Ning stared into the darkness and said to the public channel, "Captain Xu Meng, requesting weapon access."

Xu Meng didn't reply in the channel. It was unclear whether she hadn't heard or was still weighing the options. Li Nianchuan had heard it too, of course. How could this little girl be so reckless? There was no one else in the sewer except the two of them.

Li Nianchuan didn't want her to get into trouble on her first day at work, "Can you calm down?"

Zhu Ning didn't look at Li Nianchuan and repeated, "Requesting to unlock weapon permissions."

Zhu Ning stared intently into the darkness and turned on the flashlight on his wrist. With a swish, the flashlight instantly illuminated a hundred meters away.

rustle, rustle, rustle

The rustling sound came from far away and got closer. The flashlight caught something and Li Nianchuan's body stiffened. Now even Li Nianchuan saw it.

He was a man, wearing a suit and a red tie, carrying a briefcase. His white shirt was a little dirty and his trouser legs were covered in mud.

Judging from his attire, the man looked like an office worker who had just gotten off work. Zhu Ning moved his flashlight upwards, and a circular spot of light hit the man in the suit's face.

There is no head above the neck, no, to be more precise, there is no head.

The place where the human head originally was was replaced by a huge fish head, even with cold scales.

A fishman wearing a suit and carrying a briefcase?

The fishman's lips turned upwards, his fish mouth moved, and a dead fish eye as big as a fist stared at Zhu Ning. Although he had no face, it made people feel that this fish was very tired.

"Excuse me..." the fishman began, his voice a strange bubbling sound, "Is the last train for Line 1 here?"

"Pollutant!" Li Nianchuan's face changed drastically and he put on his helmet instantly.

Li Nianchuan pressed the distress button, "Report, there is living contaminant, requesting release - damn!"

Before Li Nianchuan finished speaking, he saw the fishman in the distance suddenly waving his arms and running towards them at high speed.

The author has something to say:

Workbook Rule 2: Always pay attention to your teammates.