Chapter 23
"So you remember what happened back then?" Xiao Shengyun didn't expect that the key clue would come from a child.
Annan nodded.
These polluters are interrogated by the operations department before arriving in the island nation, but they are often more lenient with children because many children either cry after the ordeal or are confused about what happened and cannot clearly explain the key information.
But Annan, a child who looks only eight or nine years old, has a maturity in his eyes that is not commensurate with his age. Even when talking about that nightmarish experience, he remains calm.
The day the accident happened seemed like any other day. Anan and Antong were taken to school by their parents in the morning, and their mother would pick them up after class.
Elementary school lets out very early, around 4:30 pm.
The students lined up by age and left the house under the guidance of their teachers. His younger sister was in second grade and Anan was in third grade, so he left a little later than his sister.
He went out the door with his schoolbag on his back, turned right, and passed five trees, which was the place where his mother usually waited for them after school.
When he reached the third tree, he saw his mother and sister. His mother was wearing black clothes and holding something in her hand.
Annan walked in and saw what his mother was holding: a bag of red fruit.
"Brother, this is so delicious!" The little sister ate the fruit, her hands and face covered in juice.
"Yes, it's a new variety from the supermarket. Xiao Nan, you should try it too." Mom took out a fruit, and An Nan reached out to take it, but felt a chill when she saw her mother's eyes.
She smiled, her lips adorned with shimmering lipstick, and fine lines etched on her brows, looking as usual. But for some reason, Anan felt that smile resembled a clown mask he'd seen at an amusement park.
"Mom, I ate a lot of vegetables at noon today, and I'm not hungry yet. I'll eat some more later." Anan took the fruit and put it in her pocket.
Once in the car, An Tong took another piece of fruit to eat, and the only sound in the car was the smacking of her as she ate it.
Today was different. Usually, Mom would drive, and the two of them would chatter in the back about school. Sometimes Mom would buy them a snack like a grilled sausage.
But today, Mom is different, and so is my sister.
The plump, red fruit in his pocket exuded a sweet aroma, but Annan swallowed hard and looked out the window at the scenery.
This doesn't seem to be the way home?
"Mom, you must have come to the wrong place. Our house isn't this way," Annan called out to the woman in the driver's seat.
The woman didn't speak. Annan could only see her long hair and ears.
Shouldn't Mom always have something shiny on her ears?
Annan remembers clearly that his mother often bought all kinds of earrings. When he was little, he was curious and touched them, which hurt his mother and he got a spanking.
This is different.
Annan didn't know what was wrong, but he had experienced this scene countless times, and everything was very familiar. He would notice even the slightest abnormality.
The car stopped.
"Get out!" the woman hissed, her gentle expression turning ferocious in an instant. Before An Nan could react, two men came over and forcibly dragged him and An Tong out of the car.
This wasn't her mother. Annan's struggles were futile; they were locked in a cage.
"Brother, would you like an apple?"
Would you like an apple?
Would you like an apple?
The others in the cage seemed to smell something different and gathered around. Each of them held an apple, which was bright red on the outside but did not have white flesh inside. Instead, it contained a dark green mass.
Some resemble plant seedlings, with roots and stems intertwined, even wriggling inside the apple.
Is this a nightmare?
Green buds gradually appeared on An Tong's face, and she eventually became like everyone else here. She presented the apple to her brother, and An Nan saw the fear in his sister's eyes.
People around him began to touch his body, their fingers like sharp blades. Annan was now a lamb in the claws of a beast, the intense pain of his skin being torn apart reminding him that this was not a dream.
He would be killed. The person in front of Annan had been completely parasitized. A branch extended from the eye socket and waved at Annan, as if to greet him.
With his skin cut open and his hands and feet restrained, Annan was losing a lot of blood and his vision was blurring.
In a daze, a small figure blocked his way.
It's An Tong.
In an instant, she was no longer human; something was gradually emerging from her body as soil.
“Brother.” An Tong’s eyes had lost their luster. One by one, vines grew from her body, turning into a cage that enveloped An Nan, who was lying on the ground.
A real man should protect his sister; how can he let his sister protect him?
Annan picked up the half-eaten apple from the ground with his blood-covered hands. Inside, there were like a bunch of wriggling dark green worms, which was a bit disgusting, but he took a bite.
It was just a nightmare, right?
When he wakes up tomorrow, his mother will call him to get up by his bedside. An Tong will be waiting at the dining table and will shout, "Brother, why are you up so late? I saved an extra egg yolk for you." He will eat the egg yolk that An Tong doesn't like, put on his schoolbag, and walk out of the house as usual.
It was just a nightmare...
It's hard to imagine that a child would talk about such an experience so casually. Seeing that the audience looked a little off, Annan comforted them, "That's all in the past now. We didn't stay there for long before a girl rescued us. She was the one in the red dress on the second floor."
"Wait!" Xiao Shengyun interrupted him. "You mean Yue Ning rescued you after you were arrested?"
"Yes, but that woman only took four people with her. She led us to a safe place, and then I took the others to the police."
The two were later sent to Nanshan Hospital. Due to the short duration of the contamination, An Nan and An Tong recovered well.
Xiao Shengyun reported the information he had gathered to the action department, and at the same time asked Ye Ting about Yue Ning.
Ye Ting quickly sent over the relevant information.
Yue Ning, 28 years old, was the deputy captain of the second squad of the action department. His innate talent is listening to the wind, which allows him to perceive all sounds and pollutant information within a kilometer.
Her parents died early, and she and her younger sister Yue Jing depended on each other for survival. The two grew up together at the Lantian Welfare Home, but when she was seventeen, a fire broke out at the welfare home, killing everyone inside. Yue Ning was admitted to military academy at eighteen and joined the Action Department after graduation.
After discovering the "Rose Church" organization, Yue Ning volunteered for an undercover mission, but two years ago, Yue Ning lost contact with his liaison and his identity was suspected to have been exposed.
A year ago, she was found in the neighboring city of X during the crackdown on a stronghold of the Rose Church. It was discovered that she was exhibiting mental abnormalities, and she was subsequently sent to a treatment center.
“Yue Ning has a lot of information about the Rose Church, and may even have discovered their headquarters, but given her current condition, we can't obtain any useful information. To prevent her condition from deteriorating further, we will no longer mention the mission. She has been exhausted for a long time, let her rest well. As for the red fruit you mentioned, we will immediately begin the search.”
As Ye Ting typed this, he suddenly remembered that the day before Yue Ning went on her mission, that energetic woman brought a lot of gifts to everyone, not like she was going on a mission, but like she had won some big prize.
"Xiao Ye, once I'm gone, you'll be the head of the action department. Do a good job, and don't die easily." She said, tossing a bag of candy over.
After her parents passed away, Yue Ning grew up in an orphanage, where candy was a rare treat.
Speaking of which, that handful of candy from back then is still uneaten; it must have expired by now, Ye Ting thought.
As night fell, Xiao Shengyun heard a heart-wrenching scream as soon as he entered the inpatient department.
"Something terrible has happened! Murder!" Yue Ning crossed her arms, wearing white slippers issued by the hospital, and stepped on a man in a hospital gown.
The man, of medium build, was wailing with a contorted face and blood still dripping from his nose.
A doctor quickly arrived and separated the two.
"What's going on?" Li Qianfang stepped out from the crowd.
"Dean, is this woman out of her mind? Why are your patients hitting people for no reason?"
Dean Li was very troubled. This patient named Zhang Min had just been transferred from the fourth floor to the third floor, and less than a week later he got into a fight.
However, Yue Ning was still quite sensible, only causing minor injuries to the person.
Xiao Shengyun's gaze fell on Zhang Min, who possessed a large amount of source matter, with dense black lines almost completely enveloping him.
This is a human with extremely high levels of pollution!
Yue Ning, who was standing next to him, had been subdued, but through the messy strands of hair on her face, one could still sense that her eyes were still fixed on Zhang Min.
"Dean, Yue Ning's condition has been very unstable recently. Should we transfer her to a ward on the fourth or fifth floor?" a medical staff member asked.
When Yue Ning came here, the Operations Department had already given instructions that they would take good care of this former executor.
Ke Yuening's mental state has been extremely poor recently, and she has even started to harm others.
"What are her vital signs?" Li Qianfang glanced at the two of them and asked the doctor in charge of the floor.
"Everything is normal." The doctor pulled up the data, which showed that Yue Ning's pollution levels had not fluctuated much recently, remaining between 500 and 600.
A doctor knelt down and placed his index finger on Yue Ning's forehead.
Innate Talent—Sleep Inducing. Has a calming effect on polluted individuals and can significantly reduce their pollution levels.
The previously agitated woman instantly quieted down, like a lion finally closing its eyes, and everyone breathed a sigh of relief.
As arranged by Li Qianfang, Yue Ning remained on the second floor, while Zhang Min was kept on the fourth floor.
"Is there something fishy going on at your hospital? This woman has mental problems, why is she on the lower level?"
Zhang Min shouted loudly, but no one paid any attention.
Damn it.
Back in the ward, the vines were almost distorted.
He thought that by pretending to be a patient to get close to the woman, he could be completely foolproof.
However, he underestimated Yue Ning's talent and the strength of the former top special forces member.
Listening to the wind allows one to quickly sense nearby polluters, making him almost the nemesis of vines. At the same time, Yue Ning's excellent close combat ability leaves him virtually defenseless.
I thought dealing with a madman would be a piece of cake, but I ended up getting a beating.
But she must be killed no matter what, otherwise the church's secret...
At night, vines leaped out of the hospital room window, landing lightly on the security window of the next floor, and then clinging tightly to the wall.
If an ordinary person saw this scene, they would be terrified.
A large clump of green plants moved slowly on the wall, their green leaves swaying in the wind.
What a shoddy construction project this hospital is!
The vine entered the house and transformed back into human form. The first thing it did was to brush the wall dust off its clothes.
The room was pitch black, but fortunately, his contaminated body had night vision, so he could see everything inside, including the woman on the hospital bed.
Seemingly sensing someone's arrival, the woman opened her eyes, her clear black and white pupils staring at the intruder.
"Indeed, you too have been corrupted by Him."
For those polluted by plants, nighttime is when they are at their weakest.
As Yue Ning's fist came flying, he could already feel the biting wind before it reached the vine's head.
He caught it directly with both arms, and the soreness instantly traveled along the spot where he was hit to his nerves.
This woman is really strong.
"This morning's incident was just an accident; this time, I won't let you off the hook."
call-
The faint light instantly illuminated the entire room.
It's not a lamp, it's fire.
The appearance of firelight filled Yue Ning with terror.
This is the second weakness of phytochemical contamination.
Darkness and fire are things that almost all plants fear.
The green vines attacked the man, but were instantly repelled.
Smoke billowed from the severed vines, accompanied by a hissing sound—the sound of water being baked and evaporated.
"Ah!" Yue Ning screamed, but the room had already been equipped with a soundproofing device, so the sound could not penetrate the walls.
Countless green vines grew and surged from her body, but before they could reach the man, they were immediately interrupted by burning bullets.
The next second, the black mass of source matter remained still.
The man turned around and, by the dim moonlight, unexpectedly met the eyes pressed against the window.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com