Lu Yan stood in his place, still unable to process Tang Xun’an’s use of “you girls.”

With a complex expression, he said to Zhou Qiming, “Quickly delete that ‘female’ gender setting for me.”

Zhou Qiming scratched his head. “But we’re still at Dragon Lady Lake. Do we really have to delete it now? What if you get pregnant?”

Lu Yan thought about it and found his logic surprisingly sound, so he let it be.

The group surrounded the little golden snake. Chen Shi’er went to the RV, grabbed a crisper box, and muttered to himself, “I’m not trying to take it away, I’m just getting a box to put it in.”

The dragon-snake was placed in the glass box. Under the sunlight, it looked like a delicious jelly.

Such “Special Items” stripped from pollutants were always valuable treasures.

Zhou Qiming coughed. “I propose we give it to Dr. Lu. After all, he was the one who brought in reinforcements, and we didn’t really do much.”

The other two agreed readily.

For some reason, they couldn’t shake the feeling that Lu Yan and Tang Xun’an had something going on. The fact that Tang Xun’an hadn’t taken the item back to the Research Institute spoke volumes.

Those who lived in this circle might not know what the pollutant nearest to their home looked like, but no one didn’t know Tang Xun’an. Tang Xun’an, however, preferred to work alone. Ever since his last old teammate passed away a dozen years ago, he had appeared in the public eye even less.

Those golden pupils and his iconic dragon wings were simply too conspicuous—it was impossible not to recognize him.

Since they had been through life-and-death together, Lu Yan didn’t refuse. “Alright, then I’ll give you each 2,000 contribution points. Consider it as me buying it from you.”

He wasn’t the type to take advantage of others and act innocent, so he expressed his gratitude sincerely.

On the way back, Lu Yan made dinner again. Four dishes and a soup; the fragrance was mouth-watering and delicious, so good that Chen Shi’er almost wanted to cry out for his “mom.”

As the RV drove away from the mountain village, the area around Dragon Lady Lake was once again engulfed in thick fog. There was no way out, and the path they had come by was no longer visible.

The detective looked back. “Is it really okay to leave old Mr. Zhao back there? He’s the only normal person there…” His tone was laced with concern.

“That was his own choice,” Lu Yan said. “For him, it was already the best choice.”

Zhou Qiming drove Lu Yan back to City K.

Lu Yan didn’t go to the Prevention and Control Center. Instead, he went home, logged onto the Awakened Forum, and transferred the contribution points to the other three.

Just as he was about to log out, a new notification popped up.

【’Tyrant’ has requested to add you as a friend? Accept/Reject】

Lu Yan was stunned, then chose to accept.

A few minutes later, a message appeared in the chat box.

Tyrant: Do you like dressing as a girl?

Due to extreme mental stress, many Awakened had issues with their mindset.

He knew Lu Yan was a man. But as luck would have it, both times he saw him, he was dressed as a high school girl. This left Tang Xun’an very… confused.

Listen: ?

A few days later.

The narrow highway was covered in fog, and two figures—one tall, one short—walked along it.

The shorter one said slowly, “Now, very few people know this. Evolution actually has a direction. Just like many years ago, all living things originated from a common cell. Through millions of years of evolution, different phyla were formed.”

His voice switched between male and female, and his perceived age shifted as well—it was quite strange.

“For you, the final form of evolution is… are you even listening!”

Beside him, a pitch-black tentacle extended from Shen Qingyang’s waist, lifted his white T-shirt, and he yawned. “Teacher, sleepy.”

He was probably truly sleepy. Even the eyeball growing on his tentacle was half-lidded.

Because he was staying up late to study high school textbooks, he hadn’t been getting enough sleep lately. One of Shen Qingyang’s greatest regrets in life was that his education level was only middle school, which made him feel too inferior to hold his head up in front of Lu Yan.

Unfortunately, he couldn’t afford tuition back then, and by the time he earned the money, he had missed the age for school and had no time to study.

It wasn’t until now that he started high school.

The Prophet hadn’t expected that after all his coaxing proved useless, the reason Shen Qingyang finally agreed to join the team was actually because he had scored 705 on the gaokao (college entrance exam).

The Prophet’s own pollution level wasn’t low, but because his mutation was in his brain, his combat power wasn’t very strong.

Shen Qingyang could let him have ten tentacles and still beat him in a fight.

So, the Prophet really had no way to deal with him.

He fell silent for a moment, then said gloomily, “If you keep this attitude, I won’t tell you how to solve that hyperbolic equation.”

Shen Qingyang immediately retracted his tentacles and said seriously, “Teacher, please continue.”

Even a pollutant with a mutation level over 7,000 was studying; what excuse did humans have to not work hard?

The Prophet finally felt a little better.

The only eye on his face narrowed slightly. “I started laying the groundwork thirty years ago. Dragon Lady Lake was our first step. Have the mutated Dragon Lady gestate the King Fish, and after you devour it, you will be one step closer to the God’s throne.”

“Calculating the time, the King Fish should be just about ready.”

Shen Qingyang wasn’t particularly interested in becoming a god, but he really had nothing else to do.

“The evolution of pollutants inevitably requires the devouring of one’s own kind. You need to eat more.”

“Although I don’t know why, that King Fish didn’t parasitize you. But among all the initial forms in this sequence, you are the closest existence to a god.”

A trace of fanaticism appeared in the Prophet’s eyes: “Sooner or later, this world will be ours.”

The two pollutants walked for a long time, and finally, at the end of their line of sight, a small village appeared.

Having been away from water for too long, even with the mist swirling around, Shen Qingyang still felt uncomfortable.

The men with bloated bellies were listless, their eyes hollow; none of them even spared the pair a glance.

Shen Qingyang couldn’t help but frown. “They smell so foul.”

After all, these were humans in the third stage of aberration.

“Don’t worry about them, they’re just the Dragon Lady’s culture medium,” the Prophet said indifferently. “We’re going to Dragon Lady Lake. Although she is also a perfect evolutionary form, she won’t be your match. It’s just as well—you need to train yourself through combat.”

By the shore of Dragon Lady Lake, Zhao Cheng was still rambling to his daughter. The Dragon Lady, who had been listening quietly by the lake, suddenly straightened up.

Her murky pupils had no irises, but they were suddenly filled with vigilance.

She pushed her father gently with her hand. “…Go.”

Zhao Cheng was puzzled. “Go where?”

The Dragon Lady didn’t have many words yet, so she could only point to the nearby forest and repeat: “Go.”

Zhao Cheng didn’t understand, but he walked into the woods.

The Dragon Lady dove into the bottom of the lake.

Inside Dragon Lady Lake, hundreds of little dragon girls circled her side.

A few minutes later, two people arrived on the shore.

The Prophet cleared his throat, and the face on the back of his head actually used Zhao Cheng’s voice to call out: “Yuanyuan—are you there? Dad came to see you.”

But Dragon Lady Lake remained calm, only stirring up dark undercurrents.

“Can’t fool her,” the Prophet said. “Do it.”

Shen Qingyang said “Hm,” and his lower body began to twist, turning into a cluster of octopus-like tentacles.

These tentacles were so long and thick that Shen Qingyang’s entire figure grew much taller.

A pitch-black tentacle extended beneath the surface, splashing a spray of water.

At the bottom of the lake, the little dragon girls shrieked and lunged at it. However, the sharp fangs capable of tearing through Zhou Qiming’s skin couldn’t even leave a scratch on the surface of these tentacles.

A second tentacle followed into the water.

Dragon Lady Lake wasn’t small, but the Dragon Lady’s snake tail was even longer.

Shen Qingyang’s tentacle reached her with ease. Then, like a fishing net, it tightened fiercely.

He hauled the Dragon Lady out of the lake.

The Prophet was somewhat surprised, feeling that the Dragon Lady was much weaker than he had imagined.

One of Shen Qingyang’s tentacles pierced her snake tail, pinning her tightly to the ground.

The Prophet looked at her abdomen, and soon, uncontrollable anger appeared in his tone: “Where is the King Fish fetus you were raising?!”

Blood stained the grass on the shore. The gills the Dragon Lady used to breathe on land had been cut off, and the pain from suffocation and the wound on her tail made her unable to hold back a pained moan.

Zhao Cheng couldn’t see; he didn’t know what was happening, but that didn’t stop him from hearing his daughter’s cry for help.

In that instant, his mind went blank, and he couldn’t care about anything else.

The Dragon Lady heard his angry roar: “What are you doing! Let go of my daughter!”

No… don’t come out…!

The Dragon Lady wanted to shield him behind her, but the current situation didn’t allow it!

Zhao Cheng had never run so fast before; his body erupted with a speed and strength that an old man shouldn’t have possessed.

In that moment, he didn’t even realize that he had awakened as an Awakened.

But a newly awakened Awakened is pathetically weak. Shen Qingyang didn’t even need to make a move; the Prophet grabbed Zhao Cheng by the neck and lifted him high into the air.

“So this is the one? The one for whom you pulled out your nails, shed dragon scales, peeled off your gills, and cut open your belly?” The Prophet’s tone was filled with amusement.

The Dragon Lady ignored her own pain and reached out in fury to strike the Prophet, only to be swatted aside by a third tentacle from Shen Qingyang.

She crawled on the ground, coughing up mouthfuls of blood.

The Prophet said to Shen Qingyang, “You see? This is the consequence of being governed by emotion. Emotion is the most useless thing in this world. All relationships can be divided into ‘usable’ and ‘useless’.”

Shen Qingyang was lost in thought, a smile still hanging on his face. “Is that so?”

The Prophet stepped forward two paces and pressed Zhao Cheng’s face against the Dragon Lady’s side.

“Who did you give the King Fish to?” The Prophet’s tone was cold and ominous. “Tell me.”

The Dragon Lady hissed continuously, struggling to crawl toward her father.

“Oh, I forgot you can’t speak. Then let me change the question.”

The Prophet grabbed Zhao Cheng’s hair and asked: “Who brought you to Dragon Lady Lake?”

Zhao Cheng was in a terrible state. He trembling stretched out his hand and patted the back of the Dragon Lady’s hand. “Yuanyuan, long ago, Dad told you… sooner or later, Dad will leave you first. Birth, aging, sickness, and death are all very normal things. One must have a bottom line and dignity as a human being. Dad is really happy to see you again. Very happy. Just like… the first time I held you, you were so small…”

The Prophet had absolutely no interest in father-daughter affection; it reminded him of some disgusting memories.

“Speak—” he interrupted their conversation.

Zhao Cheng spat a mouthful of saliva onto the Prophet’s face. “I won’t tell you, you dog!”

With that, he used both hands to fiercely snap his own neck.

Talent 273 – Super Strength.