Lu Yan dialed Li Rui’s number.

No answer. Later, the other party’s phone ran out of battery and automatically shut down.

On WeChat, the messages he sent went completely unanswered.

Although Lu Yan and Dr. Li worked at the same hospital, their relationship wasn’t close enough to have exchanged home addresses.

Not long after Lin Sinan left, the compensation fee for the previous surgery was transferred. It hit his card directly in a lump sum, a low six-figure amount after taxes.

Having worked at the hospital for so many years, this was the first time Lu Yan had ever received such a hefty bonus.

Since he didn’t have to go to work for the time being, he didn’t visit the hospital.

Generally speaking, after earning a huge sum of money, people usually reward themselves by going on a shopping spree.

He thought for a moment, then went to the convenience store downstairs and emptied their stock of water and instant noodles.

Inside the convenience store, the old man guarding the door was swaying his head, listening to the radio.

“At 10:00 AM today, our city’s police discovered a wanted fugitive on the run at Qujiang Park. The fugitive attempted to take hostages and was shot dead on the spot.”

Lu Yan recalled the last sentence Li Rui had spoken on the phone today.

At that time, he was in a hurry to open the door and hung up before listening to the whole thing.

The other party said he was at a place starting with the sound “Qu.”

Looking at it now, it was Qujiang Park.

Lu Yan lowered his head and searched for related news. Unfortunately, not a single media outlet could state the suspect’s information. It was likely a boilerplate press release issued from above, as the news articles were all written virtually identical to one another.

In the end, he only managed to find a blurry aerial photo. A person wearing a black windbreaker lay collapsed on the ground.

Lu Yan had seen Li Rui wear that exact windbreaker, who mentioned it was a Canada Goose jacket gifted by his girlfriend.

Dr. Li liked it very much and had flaunted it in the department for several days.

Unease expanded inch by inch in the depths of Lu Yan’s heart.

He drove to a nearby mega mall and engaged in a bout of frantic stockpiling.

The mall seemingly never expected to encounter a customer who browsed a supermarket as if doing wholesale procurement for a warehouse. They directly arranged a truck to deliver the items Lu Yan bought back to his place.

Food, medicine, mineral water, portable gas stoves…

The things he bought packed two entire guest rooms to the brim.

It was a good thing Lu Yan lived alone, otherwise, they really wouldn’t have fit.

“Brother, why are you buying so much stuff? This could last you for years.” The delivery guy helping to move the items was completely baffled.

Lu Yan was not a person who liked to explain himself, replying with a single line: “Doing e-commerce.”

The delivery guy: “…”

Hard to understand.

In the evening, Lu Yan opened the television as usual, listening to the evening news while preparing to cook.

“The source of pollution in H City has been brought under control, and the state of emergency is about to be lifted, restoring traffic…”

As she spoke, the female anchor’s expression abruptly changed: “We now interrupt with a piece of breaking news.”

“An unidentified pollution disease has appeared in our city, and all activities are suspended. All citizens are requested to voluntarily isolate at home and refrain from going outside. K City is temporarily locked down from the outside world!”

Just like Lu Yan, the millions of people residing in K City received the exact same message.

K City plunged into an atmosphere of panic, enveloped by a dark cloud.

Inside the neighborhood property owners’ group, message notification tones rang out continuously.

“What’s the situation? Pollution disease?”

“How is there no sign of it at all? This is too sudden!”

“I’m supposed to go on a business trip tomorrow!”

For the vast majority of people, the pollution disease was merely a plague happening abroad.

In the beginning, everyone was somewhat panicked. After all, nobody wanted to turn into a monster. But in the past two or three years, reports about the pollution disease came out every day, and people gradually realized that this illness wasn’t incurable. Conversely, their fear had lessened.

Only, they never expected that one day, the pollution would happen right by their side.

Within the neighborhood group, the property management came forward to state their stance: “Property owners, please rest assured. We have already received the notice. Although you cannot go out, the property management will still serve the owners. If there are daily necessities that need to be procured, you can also list a manifesto and hand it to me. We will surely pull through these difficult times together!”

Meanwhile, inside Lu Yan’s colleague group, a crowd of doctors was also discussing this pollution disease endlessly.

“The pollution disease is outside the traditional medical system. Will we doctors be requisitioned?”

“Sigh, I have a patient scheduled for a tumor excision surgery right away. Now they can’t leave the house, nor can they go to the hospital. What is to be done?”

“Why do even doctors have to isolate at home?!”

Although the pollution disease was frequently reported, and some doctors felt curious about it.

But… simply due to their profession, they merely knew a bit more than ordinary people, nothing more.

At the very least, the treatment of the pollution disease no longer belonged to the domain of medicine.

This world-upending pollution disease, in the cognition of most people, was still just a somewhat troublesome infectious disease like influenza or AIDS. In the beginning, the research institute thought so too.

Everyone optimistically believed that humanity would conquer the pollution disease just like they conquered smallpox.

Only Lu Yan looked at the message on the screen with a heavy expression. He recalled the fish eggs he saw during yesterday’s surgery.

Lin Sinan said it wouldn’t cause secondary pollution, yet Li Rui had begun to deform.

In the morning, he called Director Hu. The director told him that he was already on a plane back to his hometown.

The director had not shown symptoms of being contaminated.

During the surgery, only Li Rui had come into contact with the punctured fish eggs.

The lockdown this time was exceptionally stringent.

The next morning, Lu Yan stood by the window, looking outdoors as per routine. His bedroom window faced the main gate of the residential complex directly, providing an excellent view.

A military armored vehicle parked at the main gate, after which several armed military officers stepped down.

No one knew how many people had been deployed from various garrisons to K City to handle this sudden incident.

Not only was the main gate of the complex sealed tight, but even the building unit doors were locked. Every day, it would only be opened for a brief moment when vegetables were delivered.

Many residents were in a state of anxiety, yet they were helpless.

On the second night of the city lockdown, Lu Yan was sleeping when he abruptly heard the sound of a gunshot in the distance.

The electric scooters parked in the residential complex let out continuous “wuu wuu wuu” alarms.

Lu Yan got out of bed, carefully pulled open a crack in the curtains, and looked out the window.

After a moment, he saw a familiar rectangular metal block being carried out of the residential complex by a few people.

The patient sent to the hospital back then had used the exact same model of metal capsule.

In the morning, this matter was inevitably brought up within the property owners’ group.

The property management immediately came forward to explain: “I’ve inquired about it. Last night, a thief wanted to break in and commit burglary. Then, the soldiers guarding the door fired a warning shot in a moment of urgency. It’s nothing. The thief has already been sent to the police station.”

Lu Yan took a glance, then put down his phone.

He prepared to wash an apple for breakfast to calm his nerves.

Just as Lu Yan’s hand touched the faucet, the System finally made a squeak.

[I advise you best not to use tap water today.]

[Did you know? In their un-parasitized state, these disgusting parasitic fish eggs are transparent.]

Lu Yan withdrew his hand, feeling that eating the apple directly without washing it didn’t seem impossible either.

He watched the news while eating the apple, the System’s detailed introduction echoing in his ears.

[In the first stage of deformity, the fish eggs will bore into your stomach, hatch, and then perform massive asexual reproduction inside the stomach. This stage can last for 2 weeks.]

[In the second stage, the fish eggs will follow the bloodstream, halting at areas with more fat to absorb nutrients, and gradually surface upon the skin.]

[In the third stage, the fish eggs will pack every single part of your body. At this time, you will become the lowest level of contaminant! Generally, you hatch into a merman.] The System’s voice was inexplicably joyful.

[This is the life of the spurned parasitic fish egg.]

Lu Yan opened his phone and posted a message in all group chats and forums, urging everyone to stockpile more mineral water.

Then, he casually searched for the phone number of K City’s Pollution Disease Prevention and Control Center.

He felt he should at least fulfill a basic duty to warn them.

[If I were you, I wouldn’t dial this number.] The System suddenly spoke.

[Host, an Awakened won’t necessarily be sent to the research institute, but you definitely will, because you are Lu Cheng’s son, and you possess a talent like me. Missing out on Lu Cheng back then made the research institute regret it to this day. Furthermore, the research institute’s study on pollution runs far deeper than you think. I advise you not to worry blindly.]

[Of course, you can choose not to believe me. After all, I am just a system. Though compared to… I am more willing to stay by your side. After all, you look quite handsome.] The System hesitated, stopping mid-sentence.

In the past, no matter how much the System talked to itself, Lu Yan would never respond.

But this time, he broke his silence to inquire: “What happens if one is sent to the research institute?”

The System let out two eerie chuckles: [Perhaps, death is the best outcome. However, as a precious experimental specimen, it’s impossible for you to die easily.]

Lu Yan didn’t particularly want to die, let alone be dissected alive, so he temporarily abandoned the idea of calling the Pollution Disease Prevention and Control Center.

Anxiety caused him to wipe the floor with a cloth over and over again.

Even though his home was already immaculately clean, with barely any dust even under the bed.

Facts proved that the reaction of the relevant departments was still considerably rapid.

In the afternoon, Lu Yan saw the rich second-generation guy next door open his window, letting out a burst of furious cursing on the balcony: “Fck! How is the water cut off?!”

The property management group exploded.

This water shutdown came entirely caught off guard; nobody had received a notice at all. More importantly, the entirety of K City, and even several adjacent surrounding cities, had cut off their tap water together.

Water was something cheap; sometimes people didn’t think much of it when it was there. But when it was gone, it truly claimed lives.

The property management likely didn’t expect a water cut-off either, continuously comforting the owners in the group.

Ever since the city lockdown began, the television in Lu Yan’s home had never been turned off.

On the local news channel, the anchor said: “This afternoon, due to improper operation by workers at the water treatment plant, a large amount of cyanide was added into the clean water reservoir. Cyanide is a highly toxic chemical substance. In order to safeguard the residents’ water safety, our city has urgently shut off the water supply. The City Hall will arrange for the military to regularly deliver purified water. Citizens, please remain calm.”

In order to respond to the City Hall’s lockdown policy, the news anchors were all broadcasting live from their homes.

Ordinary people were still kept in the dark.

Lu Yan thought about it. In truth, this was very simple logic; everyone knew this was a pollution disease, but they were never clear on how terrifying this illness could actually be.

And fearing death was human nature.

If they knew the truth, the superficial peace would be shattered instantly. There would be many people using every means available to flee from K City. As long as just one of them carried the parasitic fish eggs, the disaster would spread to the entire world.

An out-of-control train comes hurtling down; on one side of the tracks is a single person, on the other side is a crowd of people. How would you choose?

The System let out a low laugh.

[Your line of thinking is correct, but not entirely correct. Perhaps you should understand a concept called Pollution Value… or, Sanity Value?]

[The more fear there is, the easier it is to be contaminated. If the media all began to publicize the real world, believe me, within less than a month, the entire world would fall.]

[Of course, that time isn’t far off now anyway.]

“You look as though you’re looking forward to the destruction of the world very much.”

Like some sort of evil villain.

[Evidence indicates that evolution often occurs in sudden, leaping bounds. New species will form rapidly within a short period of time, and maintain relative stability for a long period to come.] *

I am merely impatient… to see you become a god, that’s all.