This scene was quite moving.

Zhou Qiming stopped playing his game, and while sobbing, took out his phone to take a picture, remarking that he wanted to add this plotline to the game he was developing.

His company was currently working on two games: one was a predatory “pay-to-win” mobile game, and the other was a 3A masterpiece titled Global Evolution.

Zhou Qiming had originally started Global Evolution out of a sense of dread as pollution became increasingly severe, hoping to do something to make the public aware of “Pollution Disease.” However, because the truth could no longer be contained, the authorities gradually relaxed restrictions on the promotion of information regarding Pollution Disease. Currently, his game was on the verge of being scrapped.

Everyone present was crying, except for Lu Yan and Tang Xun’an.

Lu Yan wondered if he should squeeze out a couple of tears, but when he turned to look, he saw that Tang Xun’an’s expression was even calmer than his own, so he immediately dropped the act.

Tang Xun’an rested his hand on his tangdao (saber), his long middle finger tapping the scabbard rhythmically.

His duty was to eradicate pollution. Countless pollutants had died by his hand, and “Yellow Dust” (his blade) was always thirsty for blood. By all rights, he shouldn’t be hesitating.

Tang Xun’an had encountered and personally killed many high-level pollutants; he knew better than anyone that the higher the level of the monster, the more complete its intellect remained.

It was just that, in his view, the conflict between humans and pollutants was irreconcilable.

It was a battle destined to end in death—a struggle for survival.

But to strike now… he was afraid Zhao Cheng wouldn’t be able to accept it.

The father and daughter wept for a long time before finally calming down.

Zhao Cheng stroked her arm, feeling the mottled scars, his heart aching with every throb. “Good girl, Daddy’s taking you home.”

The Dragon Lady’s half-snake tail was still in the water. When she heard these words, she shook her head slightly, her face filled with sorrow.

The Dragon Lady opened her mouth and let out a series of hissing sounds.

[She cannot leave. There’s no way; there are hundreds of infants here in the lake. If the Dragon Lady leaves, these ‘little dragon girls’ will swim upstream like sturgeon into various water bodies. Although these little ones don’t have high pollution levels, pollutants can evolve.]

[Furthermore, having lived with these little monsters for over a decade, she wasn’t entirely without feelings for them.]

Lu Yan glanced at her and said, “She can’t go back with you… she has children here. Many of them. She can’t leave.”

Zhao Cheng was silent for a moment, then gritted his teeth. “Then I’ll move here!”

Tang Xun’an rejected this proposal almost without a thought: “No.”

Leaving an ordinary person to stay beside a strong pollution source was no different from sending them to their death.

At this moment, the Dragon Lady began to cry out urgently. Her snake tail slapped the water, sending up sprays of water.

[She wants to discuss something with you and hopes to have Zhao Cheng sent away.]

So, Lu Yan gave Chen Shi’er a look and then said to Zhao Cheng in a gentle tone, “Old sir, please don’t worry. Go back to the car and rest for a bit. We need to communicate with your daughter.”

Zhao Cheng didn’t really want to leave, but Chen Shi’er possessed immense strength, and the Dragon Lady patted the back of his hand in a soothing manner. Only then did Zhao Cheng return to the car.

Back in the car, he grabbed Chen Shi’er’s hand and whispered, “I can’t see, so tell me the truth. Has Yuanyuan already become one of those… monsters?”

Zhao Cheng had heard the news; volunteers from the Disease Prevention and Control Center had come to the community nursing home to spread knowledge.

The city he lived in (City X) was still safe, and while he hadn’t seen one personally, he had certainly heard of them.

Chen Shi’er found it difficult to answer, stammering because he wasn’t sure if he should tell him.

Zhao Cheng was a shrewd, worldly man who had traveled north and south for over a decade in search of his daughter. He had seen all kinds of people, and he immediately realized his guess was correct.

Zhao Cheng felt like crying again, but his murky eyes quickly turned resolute. “It doesn’t matter. She will always be my daughter.”

By the lakeside, Tang Xun’an and the Dragon Lady were negotiating, with Lu Yan acting as the translator. Zhou Qiming and the detective recognized Tang Xun’an and didn’t dare to breathe loud, standing obediently to the side.

Dragon Lady: “Ah-ah, uh, ah—ah.”

Lu Yan began to translate: “She says she won’t leave Dragon Lady Lake, but she wants to live with Zhao Cheng. She can suppress her instincts, and she can spare the villagers of Dragon Lady Village.”

Tang Xun’an’s gaze swept across the Dragon Lady’s face before settling on Lu Yan: “I believe her current intentions are genuine, but I don’t believe she can truly follow through.”

High-level pollutants possess a certain ‘bloodline suppression’ over lower-level ones. The Dragon Lady had experienced this firsthand through the trust the little dragon girls placed in her.

But the Dragon Lady had never imagined she would feel such instinctive fear toward a human being.

She possessed a certain level of wisdom and memory; she knew clearly that if she didn’t provide a satisfactory answer, Tang Xun’an would kill her without mercy.

Tang Xun’an was not willing to gamble, so he would rather bear the infamy of the act to nip the risk in the cradle.

The Dragon Lady let out another series of short, sharp chirps.

“She says she can cut off the gills she uses for breathing on land; that way, she can only stay in the water and won’t be able to breathe oxygen from the air. She is also willing to剖 (perform a cesarean) to remove the thing inside her stomach.”

[When Zhao Yuan threw herself into the lake, she was already pregnant. It wasn’t far along, but after being catalyzed by Lu Cheng, the thing inside her stomach was a true ‘Dragon Seed’ and was also the source of more than half of her pollution value.]

This time, Tang Xun’an didn’t think for long: “Fine. But I will have satellites monitor this area at all times. If there is any abnormal activity, the Prevention and Control Center will notify the Special Operations Department immediately.”

There would be no room for a second negotiation when that time came.

Tang Xun’an thought for a moment and added: “The men in the village have already reached the third stage of aberration; there is no possibility of them returning to normal humans. I authorize you to use non-extreme methods to solve the issue gently.”

His statement was imprecise. In the third stage of aberration, as long as they hadn’t turned into full pollutants, they could still be cured.

However, Tang Xun’an felt these people weren’t worth saving.

In his earpiece, the liaison officer went silent.

The liaison’s duty was to transmit information and provide emotional reassurance. Under normal circumstances, they wouldn’t interfere with the choices of an ‘Awakened.’ Unless the Awakened’s mental state had become unstable and their actions were truly absurd.

Although the existence of such a high-level pollutant in the mountain region of Fuling Province made the local city hall uneasy, since it was Tang Xun’an’s judgment, they were willing to trust the choice.

A look of relief appeared on the Dragon Lady’s face.

The gills she used to breathe on land grew on the sides of her ears, looking like fish fins. When she pulled them out, two long lines of blood sprayed out.

It looked painful just watching it.

Afterward, the Dragon Lady dove into the lake. A few muffled roars came from the bottom, and soon, a rich, dark blood color spread through the water.

A moment later, she stretched out a hand and placed the stillborn fetus she had removed from her abdomen onto the shore.

On the detector, the Dragon Lady’s pollution value plummeted, falling from 7,000 all the way down to 3,600.

It was a pale gold, semi-transparent snake.

But on the top of its head were two tiny bumps, like dragon horns.

The little snake wasn’t completely dead; it had hatched quite completely, its scales golden and lustrous. Occasionally, its tail would still flick and struggle.

Almost the moment he saw it, Lu Yan felt an untimely hunger in his stomach. The ‘King Fish’ inside his body was incredibly excited, like someone who had walked in the desert for three days suddenly seeing a water source.

Lu Yan wanted it, but he didn’t move. Because there was a stranger he couldn’t beat standing right beside him.

Zhou Qiming looked from afar and remarked with a clicking tongue: “Is that a ‘Special Item’ stripped from a pollutant? First time I’ve seen one.”

Although their functions were unknown, these Special Items were, without exception, valuable treasures.

In the current natural world, pollutants were undisputed top-tier hunters, but this wasn’t absolute.

[There are indeed things on pollutants that humans can use. Tang Xun’an’s pair of dragon wings were stripped from another pollutant. The King Fish you fused with is actually one, too.]

Tang Xun’an: “By rights, it should be given to the Research Institute. But since this area was discovered and explored by you first, and the pollutant surrendered it voluntarily, the three of you aren’t members of the Special Operations Department—you can handle it yourselves.”

Although he said “you all,” Tang Xun’an was looking at Lu Yan the entire time.

“Don’t come to dangerous places like this in the future, young lady. Even if you must come, report it beforehand.” Tang Xun’an couldn’t help but add that.

In his eyes, Lu Yan was truly too weak. But for some reason, he kept running into powerful pollutants. A normal person would have died a thousand times over; it was extremely dangerous.

As he spoke, Tang Xun’an’s eyes glazed over for a moment, feeling as if he had forgotten something.

But whatever he had forgotten couldn’t be important, otherwise it wouldn’t have been affected by Zhou Qiming’s talent.

Thus, Tang Xun’an spread the wings behind his back: “I’m leaving.”

Lu Yan: “…”

For someone with wings, it was truly convenient to go wherever one pleased.

In just a few seconds, the man had disappeared without a trace, leaving only Lu Yan and the others behind to handle the aftermath.

Lu Yan asked the System: “Why does he wear a muzzle?”

[The sequelae of overusing Tang Xun’an’s talent is uncontrollable rage; he once bit his own comrade to death. Later, headquarters arranged a dog muzzle for him. Actually, this thing is completely useless for him.]

[Compared to physical restraint, it’s more like a spiritual shackle.]

[This muzzle isn’t to make you feel safe; it’s to make Tang Xun’an himself feel safe. It makes him believe he is under constraint and control, preventing him from falling completely into becoming a pollutant.]

[Are you interested in being the master who domesticates him? I can teach you.]

Lu Yan felt that what the System said was strange—and quite perverse.

When Tang Xun’an arrived home, his dog had been waiting for a long time.

He lived in City A, in a secluded courtyard, with no one within a ten-mile radius. A few miles ahead was the First Research Institute.

The dog Tang Xun’an kept was a German Shepherd.

It was a very special animal ‘Awakened,’ and its talent was the ability to speak human language.

It had been a 60th birthday gift from the Prevention and Control Center, and it had been by Tang Xun’an’s side for over forty years.

“Old Tang,” the German Shepherd wagged its tail. “You’re finally back. Spring is almost here; when will you take me to the pet matchmaking market?”

Tang Xun’an lit a cigarette and smoked with precision through the metal bars: “Let someone else take you; I don’t feel like moving.”

The German Shepherd grabbed a blanket and lay down at his feet: “I called Little Wang. Little Wang said you came back and didn’t see me because you went to meet some new teammate. How was it?”

Tang Xun’an thought about it and replied: “Too weak, not suitable to be a teammate yet.”

If he were to take Lu Yan on a mission, he might have to collect Lu Yan’s corpse if he wasn’t careful.

Although he felt his current teammates were a bunch of dead weight, they at least had spiritual power thresholds of several thousand.

“I thought you would refuse.” A very human-like smile appeared in the German Shepherd’s eyes. “But I didn’t expect you to leave room for possibility in your words. Seems like you quite like him.”

Tang Xun’an’s gaze drifted for a moment.

The German Shepherd rested its head on his knee and didn’t continue. Tang Xun’an reached out and scratched the fluff on its neck.

Humans are truly prone to loneliness.

Dogs actually understand.