Chapter 59
As if he had just woken from a long dream, Xiao Shengyun felt a dull ache and fatigue throughout his body. He tried to straighten up, but his stiff movements made him feel like he could hear cracking sounds from his joints.
When he came to his senses, he realized there was another person in the room.
The bed appears to be made up of two simple single beds put together; it is quite large and could easily accommodate two men.
Zhou Zhi lay down an arm's length away from Ju Xiaoshengyun, his eyes closed and his breathing steady.
But I didn't fall asleep; I was just forced to close my eyes to rest because I couldn't see.
So when he heard the slightest sound from the side, he opened his eyes.
"Dean Zhou, what are you doing here?" Xiao Shengyun asked somewhat awkwardly.
"Oh, why am I here?" Zhou Zhi asked with a half-smile, raising his hand, the black lines on his hand coming into Xiao Shengyun's view.
It's over.
It's all over!
A bolt of lightning struck directly from the top of his head; the scene before him would likely replay repeatedly in his dreams.
“All the pollutants are dead, and you are in perfect health. Ye Ting and the others are outside handling the aftermath. Before dealing with other matters, please untie this thing first.” Zhou Zhi’s eyes looked at Xiao Shengyun, and his originally deep, pool-like eyes now turned a golden-red.
"Oh, oh." So much information made him a little flustered, and Xiao Shengyun subconsciously put away the black lines.
In that instant, he suddenly thought of the black lines piercing through those wounds, endlessly sucking blood. That feeling was so wonderful that it made his scalp tingle.
"What happened to your eyes?" Xiao Shengyun asked, noticing some small wounds on the other person's arms and body.
"Backlash, I can't see clearly for now." Zhou Zhi sat on the edge of the bed, took off the coat that was stained with blood from the battle, and was now only wearing a thin shirt, his eyes half-closed.
Xiao Shengyun stared at Zhou Zhi's protruding wrist bone and suddenly realized that this man relied entirely on his spirit and energy to support his bones, giving people the illusion that he could handle anything, but in reality, he was far less powerful than he appeared.
He is just a human being.
Xiao Shengyun suddenly realized that the other person's heart had already been replaced, which meant that Zhou Zhi might have died at some point in time, and this candle had long been extinguished.
He didn't know what to say; the room was quiet.
Perhaps Zhou Zhi hadn't guessed his identity, Xiao Shengyun thought with a sliver of hope. He lay there for a few more minutes in the quiet, feeling drowsy.
Zhou Zhi lay down next to him, just like during that time in the Otherworld. This person himself could bring a sense of security.
Until a chill ran through my body.
Xiao Shengyun felt very cold; something seemed amiss.
A sense of unease rose within him. He surveyed his surroundings; it was safe.
But my brain keeps sending out alarms. The surrounding environment is safe. The source of the alarms is... the people around me?
Xiao Shengyun suddenly remembered the source of this chill. When the church members tried to kill him, they set up a trap in the subway, which may have affected his consciousness. He had the same feeling back then.
Some landed silently on the people next to them.
Zhou Zhi didn't react much; his handsome face was deathly pale, making him look a bit like a vampire from a movie.
Xiao Shengyun tightened his fingers, as if he had grabbed something, and the space around him began to distort and blur.
"You noticed?" Zhou Zhi shifted his body slightly, and the redness in his eyes lessened considerably.
"This is your talent. You have influenced my consciousness. This room, and you, are all just projections of my consciousness." Xiao Shengyun looked at the other party coldly, but felt a sense of relief.
Under those eyes, he felt as if he had become the one being judged.
"Dean Zhou," he chuckled, "what would you do? Kill me, or lock me in an incubator?"
The surrounding space gradually faded in color. It was an ordinary room, not much different from before. Xiao Shengyun rolled his eyes, wondering if this was the real world or a dream within a dream.
The door was opened by a hand, and Zhou Zhi walked in, sitting upright opposite Xiao Shengyun, just like when the two were meeting for the first time.
The distance that had been brought closer suddenly vanished, and they were back to square one.
Xiao Shengyun leaned against the bed, not wanting to say anything. He wasn't a talkative person; he only occasionally cracked jokes to appear more cheerful and normal.
The two stared at each other, both looking somewhat disheveled, their injuries still fresh; just hours before, they had been fighting side-by-side on the battlefield.
Zhou Zhi spoke first, his shoulders slumped, his voice weary.
“I didn’t mean to be on the opposite side of you, but I have to be responsible for everyone.”
He didn't say much. There was no solution to this problem. As a human being, he couldn't just sit idly by and ignore the pollutants. But Xiao Shengyun looked no different from a human being.
Saying too much will only sound pretentious, so it's better to say nothing.
"Take this with you." Zhou Zhi took out a black and red bracelet.
"What? A surveillance camera?" Xiao Shengyun took it and found that it was a portable pollution detection device, which was usually worn by executives with excessively high pollution levels.
Why would I give myself this?
Xiao Shengyun glanced at Zhou Zhi with a puzzled look, then suddenly realized that this was a pass.
"Remember, this was just an isolated incident. Your contamination level was too high due to the battle. Nothing else happened."
The trial concluded with his crimes being glossed over, and it was even revealed that he had forged evidence that could be submitted.
The research institute's report is absolutely authoritative; this bracelet can conceal all his abnormal behavior and superhuman powers.
"Aren't you afraid? Aren't you afraid I'll hurt humans?" Xiao Shengyun asked, looking completely bewildered, still in a daze.
"No, I've checked."
As soon as Zhou Zhi finished speaking, the door was hurriedly pushed open by his assistant, and he had new work to do.
Xiao Shengyun stared at Zhou Zhi's retreating figure, utterly bewildered. What had he been checking?
Wait, the other party just used their talent once, so did they read my memories?
The door was pushed open again.
"you-"
Xiao Shengyun looked up abruptly, but his spirits sank again when he saw the person who had arrived.
"Oh, you're awake!" It was Ye Ting who came this time. "Luckily you were there, otherwise the consequences would have been unimaginable."
"You're welcome," Xiao Shengyun said weakly.
"So disappointed to see me?" Ye Ting raised an eyebrow.
"No, my injury hasn't healed yet, so could I apply for a few more days off?"
He needs time to heal his body and mind.
"Holiday..." Ye Ting glanced at the black bracelet. "Alright, I've been too busy lately. You should focus on recovering and come back when you're fully healed."
Because of his outstanding contributions in this incident, Xiao Shengyun not only received various bonuses and medals, but Captain Ye also gave him an extra half-month vacation to make up for the vacation he had missed in the previous period.
When a person has been busy for a long time, they may feel lost and overwhelmed when faced with plenty of time to spare.
After playing games for three days and watching more than a dozen melodramatic TV shows, Xiao Shengyun finally felt a little bored.
He turned on his phone and was surprised to find that the long-dormant forum had new posts again.
Are you suffering from the backlash of pollution? Are you troubled by a lack of power? Do you yearn to transcend your human form and gain greater power? Like a python shedding its old skin, like a butterfly emerging from its cocoon, the feast of evolution will help you become a greater being! Thursday, Hope Hotel.
This looks like some kind of spam ad has been sent in.
The doctor's skills are excellent. I had implants in both eyes, and my vision is much clearer now.
I recently broke my leg, but after the replacement, I can walk again. Plus, there was a buy-one-get-three-free deal – a huge discount!
The comments below are completely baffling.
Pollution again.
Xiao Shengyun reported to Ye Ting and borrowed Chen Buyan and Huang Yu amidst the latter's teasing remark that "he truly deserves to be called a model worker."
Chen Buyan had just woken up in the hospital not long ago. After learning that Shen Yao was a pollutant, he was depressed for a long time, but he seems to have gotten better recently.
"You kid, you're not... you know, are you? Even if she's a contaminant, her human form is only a teenager... at least three years old."
Before Huang Yu could finish speaking, Chen Buyan's fist landed on his forehead. "I'm not as despicable as you think!"
"Then why are you sad? But the fact that humanoid contaminants have appeared makes the situation increasingly difficult."
After saying that, he affectionately put his arm around Xiao Shengyun's shoulder: "I heard that you took action against dozens of pollutants by yourself. That's amazing. It's only been a few days."
After the banter, we got down to business.
The small advertisement on the forum didn't provide any detailed information; judging from the comments, it seems that this organization transplants pollutants into humans.
Is this really possible? Even organ transplants can cause rejection.
Thursday.
Three people got out of the Maybach, and a waiter in a suit and white gloves quickly came to greet them. Xiao Shengyun tossed the car keys to another waiter, who got into the car and drove it to the parking lot.
The Maybach was rented, costing two thousand a day, which was reimbursed by the operations department.
Just as the three of them were about to walk toward the elevator, the waiter's arm blocked their way.
"Dear guests, this is a small gift for you. Of course, whether you use it or not is up to you."
These are three identical suits, each with a small triangular emblem on the chest and a mask. The mask is off-white and only reveals the two eyes.
"Aren't you attending a banquet? Why do you need to wear this?"
"This is for your safety. Of course, you don't have to wear it."
The three changed their clothes, and at the end of the corridor was a detection device and two staff members.
"Sir, could you please show me your forum account?"
The group exchanged glances; the promotional material didn't mention requiring them to show an account.
"This is unnecessary. How do you think we knew about the banquet? We traveled all the way from City C and we're exhausted. If you want to check accounts or other documents, we can do it tomorrow," Xiao Shengyun said loudly.
The two staff members smiled and said, "Sir, please show me your forum account."
Their smiles remained unchanged, as if their mouths were glued to their faces with stickers. Their features were average, neither particularly attractive nor ugly; the light shone on their skin, making it appear fair and flawless.
Xiao Shengyun took out his phone and showed his account.
"So, can we go in now?"
"Sir, only one guest can log in per account."
While the situation remained deadlocked, a chubby, bespectacled man squeezed through and said, "Excuse me, sir, with your account level, you can bring two more guests in."
Account level?
Xiao Shengyun was surprised and doubtful. This forum was really strange. He had only completed the registration process and occasionally browsed the posts. How could he have leveled up?
After passing through the checkpoint, the three were guided to their room by a waiter inside.
"Gentlemen, we have single rooms and double rooms here. A single room costs 38,888 per night, and a double room costs 6,888 per night. Would you like to book three single rooms or one of each type?"
The waiter asked respectfully.
This price truly shocked Huang Yu and Xiao Shengyun, but Chen Buyan, a well-traveled rich second-generation, was not included in this list.
"Do you have any triple rooms?" Huang Yu blurted out.
The waiter gave the three of them a strange look, then put on his standard smile again: "Excuse me, sir, we don't have any triple rooms available."
"Then let's have one single room and one double room," Xiao Shengyun decided. In a place like this, it's naturally better to travel together.
"OK."
However, the room assignments sparked a new round of arguments.
“Then let’s live together and let him go by himself,” Huang Yu said matter-of-factly.
"Why should we? We're all teammates. What if you abandon me and act on your own?" Chen Buyan had no objection to the assignment, but the little blond's words were blatantly forming a clique and excluding him, which made Chen's temper flare up again.
"So what do you want to do? You two live together..."
"Are you sick in the head?"
"Enough!" Xiao Shengyun felt as if a hundred ducks were quacking in his ears, so he said matter-of-factly, "Since you're not satisfied with this arrangement, how about you two live together?"
Chen Buyan and Huang Yu wanted to argue, but there was a rule in the mission rules that said "strictly follow the captain's orders." They could only argue or act on their own if it involved mission investigation or action. Arranging rooms was obviously not an exception.
After packing the two ducks together, Xiao Shengyun finally had some peace and quiet. As he left, he hung a thin thread on Huang Yu's clothes so he could keep an eye on the next room.
The hotel is expensive for a reason; it has all kinds of amenities. He walked around the room but didn't find anything unusual.
After packing his luggage, Xiao Shengyun went to the next room.
It wasn't to hear the ducks quacking, but to formulate the next action plan.
The two people inside had their luggage scattered all over the floor, and it felt like the more they tried to tidy it up, the messier it got.
Huang Yu: "I was terrified, I almost got caught."
Chen Buyan was unusually silent: "Why is your forum so high-level? Isn't this forum a site that gathers polluters?"
"Maybe it's because I'm a veteran that I have special privileges? But this website has already been reported to the captain, I wonder when they'll be able to find the information," Xiao Shengyun said with a smile.
Just as they were talking, there was a knock on the door.
The waiter who had led the way earlier came in, paused for a moment when he saw the three of them together, and then asked, "Gentlemen, dinner time is in an hour. We offer two types of dinner: one is that the food will be delivered to your room, and the other is that there is a buffet downstairs where you can pick up your food yourself. Which option would you like to choose?"
"Then please bring up dinner in a bit." The food provided may not be the same as the buffet; they can take a look at what the hotel offers first before going down to eat at the buffet.
"Okay, sir, please wait half an hour, and we will serve dinner as soon as possible."
Half an hour later, a waiter pushed a food cart into the room, with several silver platters on it.
The first plate contained black meat, which appeared to be the leg of some animal, with small claws pointing upwards.
The second plate contained a bunch of blue spheres, which looked similar to caviar.
The third plate contained a piece of red meat with black streaks on it.
The fourth plate was covered with a lid.
Huang Yu reached out, and tiny tentacles emerged from deep within the cracks of the plate. It felt as if he had been pricked by an invisible needle. The intense pain in his palm caused him to throw the silver lid far away, making a loud "clang".
In the middle of the plate, the small black monster with only one eye was baring its teeth and claws.
Chen Buyan's talent "Amaterasu" sent a white, radiant light piercing through the little monster's body, causing it to let out a scream.
Xiao Shengyun casually picked up the knife, the source energy flowing over the blade. He raised his hand and stabbed, as if stabbing an eyeball. Black liquid splattered, making a mess around the silver plate.
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