The distance between the detention center and the Prevention and Control Center is 13 kilometers.

Shen Qingyang, confined within, has been killing time by reading vocabulary books because his activities are severely restricted. If not for this sudden outbreak of pollution disease, he had intended to take the CET-4 English exam. He wonders if the registration fee is refundable.

The detention center is restless at night. While it provides food, it doesn’t offer what the mutants actually crave. The special medicine slows the rate of mutation, but it cannot soothe the gnawing hunger in their stomachs. Every night, mutants go missing. No one reports it, and naturally, no one investigates.

Shen Qingyang’s new neighbor is a Fish-man in the late stage of the second mutation phase. If things go as expected, he’ll be dragged out for cremation in a few days.

The neighbor lightly rapped on the paper-thin metal wall: “Stop memorizing words. I know you’re too hungry to sleep, too.”

Shen Qingyang put down his book and gave a soft “Hmm.”

“Even though this disease is covered by insurance, I don’t think we’re going to make it. You know the patient in Building 2? The next morning, when the warden did rounds, there was nothing left on the bed but blood, and bits of flesh were stuck to the ceiling. They claimed he died of illness, but he was actually swallowed in the middle of the night.”

“But that mutant who committed cannibalism was dragged out and processed the next day,” Shen Qingyang’s voice was gentle. “Justice may be late, but it never misses.”

“What do you mean ‘that mutant’? As if you aren’t one yourself. Better to live a miserable life than to die. Who wants to die?” The neighbor sounded irritated. “I just transferred from Building 3. This place is basically the intensive care unit, right? How long have you been here?”

Shen Qingyang pondered for a moment: “Late-stage second-phase mutants basically end up here. But I haven’t been here long—maybe a week?”

“Ha, didn’t think the order here would be this good. Buildings 1, 2, and 3 are madness at night; the wardens can’t handle it… By the way, brother, I’m a bit hungry.”

Shen Qingyang replied softly: “There are apples and instant noodles in the room. Every day.”

The neighbor made a heavy clicking sound of annoyance. A moment later, chewing sounds emanated from the adjacent room.

Shen Qingyang’s fingers remained on the cover of his English book. He felt tonight would not be peaceful. Clearly, his new neighbor was a troublemaker; otherwise, the wardens wouldn’t have assigned him next to his room.

As expected, in the small hours of the morning, the sound of fingernails scraping against the thin metal wall echoed through the room. Sharp fingers pierced through, creating a tremendous racket. Logically, mutants have enhanced senses—at night, the buzz of a mosquito could keep the whole building awake. Yet, in the face of such a loud noise, everyone remained indifferent. The mutants of Building 4 scoffed, turned over, and covered their heads with blankets, entirely uninterested.

The wallpaper was sliced open. The bald neighbor tore through the metal, muttering to himself: “Sorry, I know this isn’t good, but I’m really too hungry. I can’t take it. You’ll die whether I eat you or you get sent to be cremated, so you might as well die in my stomach. I’ll be grateful to you for the rest of my life…”

As he spoke, the neighbor felt he had stepped on something. He looked down and saw a long, undulating tentacle. It was covered in fleshy tumors, and eyes hung from those tumors—some looking with pity, others with mockery.

“Is that so?” Shen Qingyang, sitting at his desk, asked gently.

The neighbor stiffly raised his head to look at the person in front of him. Shen Qingyang’s face remained in its original human form, but from the waist down, his legs had vanished, replaced by massed octopus tentacles. These tentacles filled the cramped, oppressive room, clinging to the walls like plant roots.

It wasn’t that Building 4 lacked incidents. On the very first night, there had been one. When the wardens woke up, every mutant in the building except Shen Qingyang was dead. Shen Qingyang claimed it was self-defense, and looking at the surveillance footage, it was indeed so. Although he was a mutant, Shen Qingyang never attacked people unprovoked and even helped maintain order. Added to the fact that he hadn’t yet reached the third stage of mutation, the higher-ups were conflicted about how to handle him.

But by the third day, the wardens no longer had that worry. They concluded that they wouldn’t stand a chance against Shen Qingyang if they all fought him at once… Because of his presence, Building 4—which should have been the most chaotic—was the most orderly ward in the detention center.

Tentacles wrapped around the neighbor’s body, giving him no chance to struggle. A warm, pleasant smile remained on Shen Qingyang’s face: “Since you understand that it’s better to live a miserable life than to die, why come here to seek death?”

…

…

Slurping, sticky sounds came from the small room. Shen Qingyang didn’t eat with his mouth; he used those tentacles. The tentacles bored into the mutant’s brain, and within moments, the nearly two-meter-tall creature was sucked dry, leaving nothing but bones.

When the warden turned on the lights and unlocked the door, his hands were shaking. He pushed the door open to find the ten-square-meter room filled with the smell of blood. Initially, the space allotted for Shen Qingyang was only 2.7 square meters, but as his tentacles grew longer, the wardens had been forced to knock down the walls of adjacent rooms to give him space to rest.

Shen Qingyang pointed to the desiccated corpse on the floor and explained: “He attacked me first.”

The warden nodded frantically: “I understand, I understand.”

He already knew they couldn’t beat him. If he didn’t show some sense, life in the detention center would become very dangerous.

Warden: “Actually, I came to see you tonight because we received instructions from above…”

Shen Qingyang’s expression showed mild surprise, then he said calmly: “I understand. Can you give me two minutes to write a last will and testament?”

“No, no, it’s not the incinerator.” Cold sweat broke out on the warden’s back. “It’s like this: we received notice from the Prevention and Control Center. They want us to find two mutants at different stages to test a new drug. We thought of sending you… although there is some risk in testing new drugs, your current state means the special medicine in the detention center is no longer effective for you… You might as well try it. Of course, it mainly depends on your opinion.”

Shen Qingyang was silent for a moment: “I have no objections.”

The warden hurriedly took out a testing device: “Good. I’ll build a file for you, then we’ll take a vehicle to the Prevention and Control Center.”

According to international standards, once the mutation level exceeds 100, one no longer belongs to the human category; they have completed an evolution.

Shen Qingyang stood up—the first time he had risen from the chair. His head brushed the ceiling, and his jet-black tentacles rolled and surged, gathering into a mass below his waist.

As the device scanned him, it emitted a blaring alarm and flashed red.

Shen Qingyang, Mutation Level: 99.9.

Lu Yan sat at the consultation table. Bai Qiushi was on his left, and Lin Sinan on his right. After all, he was about to face mutants directly here; a single moment of carelessness could mean death for a fragile, non-combatant Healing-type Awakened. Therefore, powerful protection was mandatory.

Lin Sinan handed over a circular piece of metal: “Stick this to your skin. It allows the instrument to monitor mutation values.”

According to Lin Sinan, frequent contact with pollutants and overusing one’s talent would cause mutation levels to rise. This process is usually irreversible. For instance, Bai Qiushi’s four eyes had grown out, and there was no way to pluck them out.

A doctor cannot heal himself. Healing-type Awakened are extremely cautious about using their own talents.

“Can I really still eat?” Lu Yan asked the System. Although he felt he had digested some on the way, his stomach still felt uncomfortably bloated.

[Not a problem. Don’t worry, once you hit the limit, you’ll have a breakthrough. They’ve washed them clean and delivered them to you—isn’t this better than you going house-to-house looking for straggling salt-fish?]

Lu Yan thought that made sense.

The first to be brought in was a first-stage mutant. He looked like he had just been polluted; the danger was low, with only slight facial distortion and incomplete webbing between his fingers. The mutant was tied securely to the chair, expression terror-stricken, like a lamb to the slaughter.

Lu Yan stood up, slowly approached, and extended his hand. A layer of fine, translucent fish scales emerged, and slender white filaments probed out, taking root in the mutant’s crown. The scene was somewhat eerie, but both present were Awakened who had fought pollutants for years; they were long accustomed to strange sights.

Fish eggs were extracted one by one. The King Fish larva, perhaps sensing danger, hid within Lu Yan’s body, quiet as if hibernating. On the display, the mutant’s mutation level dropped significantly. From 57, it kept falling until it hit 0. The mutant’s body would take a few days to recover, but his mind was clearly much clearer.

“A-ba, a-ba, a-ba… thank you, doctor.”

Lu Yan’s own mutation level hardly changed, increasing by only 0.07. The precision of this instrument was far higher than the standard electronic ones. Seeing the results, a flush of joy appeared on Lin Sinan’s face. This proved that Lu Yan could indeed treat pollution disease, and his own data was remarkably stable.

Bai Qiushi filled out the forms and transmitted the data back to headquarters.

Lin Sinan asked: “Dr. Lu, would you like to take a break?”

Lu Yan was feeling too full and wanted to nod, but the System suddenly spoke: [I suggest you keep watching. After all, if you miss this, you won’t get to see it again.]

“See what?”

[From human to pollutant is called “evolution,” but evolution has successes and failures. Everything you’ve seen before, whether mutant or pollutant, was a failed evolution. But the next case belongs to a Perfect Evolution.]

“What’s the difference between a Perfect Evolution and a failed one?”

[If you must ask, it’s about the difference between a phoenix and a chicken.]

Lu Yan admitted the System’s little trick had successfully piqued his interest.

He smiled: “I’m fine, no need. Let’s finish it in one go.”

Lin Sinan spoke into his radio. Moments later, four burly officers carried in an iron cage. This cage had been rushed over from the zoo, reinforced with a net-like electric grid to prevent the prey inside from escaping.

Inside the cage was… an octopus? Jet-black tentacles filled the three-meter-high cage to the brim, the eyes on the surface of the tentacles peering around, full of curiosity and a hint of malice.

Bai Qiushi’s four pupils darted around his orbits like a compass; he frowned: “This is no different from a pollutant. Who sent this?”

As soon as he finished speaking, the tentacles parted to reveal Shen Qingyang hidden behind them. Shen Qingyang gripped the bars, his expression delighted: “Dr. Lu, I didn’t expect to see you here.”

Lu Yan stared at his face, surprised: “Indeed, I didn’t expect it either.” He had thought the property management guy would turn into a frog-man.

“Seeing you’re safe, I’m relieved. I’ve been very worried about you these past few days,” Shen Qingyang said. “Why is Dr. Lu here?”

Lu Yan answered concisely: “Treating patients.”

Shen Qingyang laughed, his eyes curving into soft crescents: “Then it seems I have become your patient once again.”

Although Shen Qingyang appeared docile, Bai Qiushi’s gaze remained full of vigilance.

Lu Yan moved slightly closer to the cage, then stopped and extended his hand. The white filaments spread out again, but hesitated slightly as they approached Shen Qingyang.

Shen Qingyang’s expression was encouraging; he even took the initiative to probe a tentacle out to touch Lu Yan’s white filaments. Of course, his hand was unexpectedly shocked by the electric current. However, Shen Qingyang’s smile didn’t change much, showing that the electric net was merely a formality to him.

The filaments wrapped around the tentacle. Sensing no resistance from the other party, the King Fish became visibly excited. It began to extract the pollution source from Shen Qingyang.

The System provided detailed information.

[Shen Qingyang, Perfect Evolution, Pollutant. Pollution Value: 6100—Look, you both started mutating together, yet he is far stronger than you.]

[Mutation Talents: Mimicry, Life Absorption.]

[Mutation Direction: Gigantism, Tentacles.]

Lu Yan was internally shocked: “He is already a pollutant?”

[Yes, Mimicry allowed him to learn how to disguise himself.]

“But he still seems to retain his way of thinking and social skills.”

[That is why he is called a Perfect Evolution.]

…

…

“The mutation level is dropping.” Lin Sinan stared at the monitor, his expression nervous and serious, “But the speed is quite slow.”

After a full half hour, Shen Qingyang’s mutation level had only dropped to 90. Conversely, Lu Yan’s mutation level had risen by 2. His spiritual threshold surged by 270. It was now at 440—soon to be out of the bottom-tier standard.

“Stop the experiment,” Bai Qiushi decided immediately. “This mutant doesn’t need to be returned to the detention center; keep him at the Prevention Center.”

Lin Sinan and Bai Qiushi were fellow trainees and had once lived in the same dorm—which was why Lin Sinan was always so casual with him. He knew Bai Qiushi very well. Lin Sinan knew that Bai Qiushi had decided to kill him. Although he didn’t know why.

Shen Qingyang didn’t look sad: “Thank you, Mr. Lu. I’m really happy to know you’re okay.”

There is a concept in Traditional Chinese Medicine: “The weak body cannot withstand tonics.” Lu Yan felt this applied perfectly to him right now. He felt lethargic and listless, wanting only to sleep.

Lu Yan nodded: “Okay, see you tomorrow.”

Since he was his patient, he naturally needed to be treated. Even if he was a pollutant, it made no difference.

Shen Qingyang paused, a faint smile blooming on his face, but he didn’t agree.

He was locked into a sealed, pitch-black room within the Prevention Center, cage and all. The walls of the room were crafted from a special material designed to affect the state of pollutants.

The smile finally vanished from Shen Qingyang’s face. The tentacles in the cage surged constantly before finally gathering together, retracting into a bundle. Two legs returned to their place beneath him.

He was more human-like than before, but if anyone were to check him with a detector, they would find that Shen Qingyang’s mutation level had already exceeded the dangerous threshold of 100. By the second day he spent in the detention center, he had already ceased to be human.

Shen Qingyang pulled down the electric net. The high-voltage current made his hair stand on end, but the slight tingling sensation was actually quite comfortable.

He walked to the door of the room. The door required a triple-layer password, impossible for an ordinary person to break. So, Shen Qingyang didn’t use ordinary methods. A tentacle shot out from behind his waist and struck the wall in front of him, creating a thunderous, crashing sound. The wall of special alloy was like tofu, gouged out to reveal a massive hole.

Alarms blared, but Shen Qingyang didn’t care. He even had the composure to stand before the mirror by the bathroom door, adjusting his clothing.

At the end of the corridor, Bai Qiushi entered a clear state of combat readiness, his eyes full of wariness.

[Talent – Barrier]

An invisible wall of air shrouded the area, sealing off all of Shen Qingyang’s escape routes.

Shen Qingyang sighed: “Although I wouldn’t mind a fight with you, I’d rather not have Dr. Lu see me in my current state. Furthermore, Dr. Lu has trouble sleeping; too much noise will wake him up.”

He turned on the faucet, and in an instant, he turned into streams of fleshy tumors, drilling straight into the pipes.