[That’s how it is. Your chief instructor is indeed very good-looking, so it’s only human nature to have desires toward him.]

[Dream Invasion—you’ve already experienced this kind of thing once before, inside Lu Jiahe’s dreamscape. You know what to do.]

[But stop spacing out. Once you get out of here, you can stare at him all you want.]

“Once we get out, it won’t feel the same anymore,” Lu Yan remarked with a strange hint of regret.

He raised his hand toward Tang Xun’an, and the tattoo on the back of his hand pulsed with a scorching heat.

【Talent 99 — Dream Invasion】.

Lu Yan opened his eyes, feeling a slight wave of dizziness in his head.

He looked down and found himself wearing a white lab coat, holding a document in his hands. Calling it a document wasn’t entirely accurate; it was a medical chart with the words “Project Tinder — Document No. 19” written on it.

“System?” he called out softly.

There was no response. The System had probably dropped offline again.

A slightly plump elderly man walked over, holding his stomach. What struck Lu Yan as eerie was that this man’s face was completely blank, resembling a mannequin.

The nameplate on his chest displayed his name and title: Professor Wu *.

“Little Lu, you graduated from Yenching University too, right? Quite a fine young man indeed,” Professor Wu said, his tone full of praise. “The research institute only recruited you out of this year’s newcomers, so don’t disappoint Director Qiao.”

Director Qiao?

Lu Yan calmly flipped open the file in his hand. Inside was a compilation of surgical records written in a mixture of English, Chinese, and Japanese. Fortunately, Lu Yan could understand all of them.

[February 11, Year **]

Tang Xun’an passed the physical examination; see the appendix for detailed data. Initial confirmation for the modification direction is a combat-type Awakener.

Subject has already come into contact with pollutants, and aberration is evident. The estimated probability of successfully becoming an Awakener is less than 30%.

Tang Xun’an is of legal age and has signed the informed consent form. The surgical schedule is confirmed.

[February 18, Year **]

Performed the first pollutant fusion surgery on Tang Xun’an.

The fusion subject was a Human-Faced Spider. The modification direction is foreign-body transformation. The pre-operative consent form has been signed.

Post-operative rejection is relatively mild; modification may proceed.

(Remark: Unbelievably, the surgery was actually a success. We were all sick with worry before this boy went onto the operating table. His willpower is incredibly resilient, which means he will endure far more agony during the procedures. Yet, he isn’t even an Awakener. Director Qiao has been under so much pressure lately that he hasn’t been able to eat.)

[March 11, Year **]

Performed the second pollutant fusion surgery.

The fusion subject was a Viper’s Fang. The modification direction is toxicity. The pre-operative consent form has been signed.

Post-operative rejection is severe. Abandons toxicity modification.

[May 21, Year **]

Performed the 103rd pollutant fusion surgery.

The fusion subject was the Nidhogg Dragon Wings. Modification direction: Dragonization.

(Remark: I do not know what the outcome will be this time… He is the youngest modified cyborg in our entire experimental group. Perhaps I ought to leave. My psychological state has already broken down; whenever I look at him, I feel endless agony and guilt. Under my design, I have turned a human being into… a weapon.)

Lu Yan glanced at the electronic clock hanging on the wall: June 2nd.

Professor Wu remarked, “Director Qiao Yu is still in surgery. Sigh, we keep advising him to take care of his health. He’s only in his forties but his hair is already turning white, yet he refuses to listen. And as you know, his surgeries frequently bring him into contact with those pollutants, so his mutation degree is already very high…”

Knowing that a slip of the tongue would expose him, Lu Yan merely let out a sigh in response.

“Professor Catherine, who was in charge of Tang Xun’an, chose to withdraw from Project Tinder due to depression. Now the project is severely understaffed. Since you happened to awaken as an Awakener this year, Director Qiao hopes you can take over Tang Xun’an’s daily data recording.”

This role was essentially identical to a nurse’s duties and didn’t require an extensive background in pollution disease knowledge.

“I believe you have already signed the non-disclosure agreement and the liability disclosure form. This job carries immense risks. We truly need your help, but if you are unwilling, you may withdraw at any time.”

Lu Yan didn’t know much about the early days of the research institute. But today, the main forces of the institute had already shifted to a completely different group of people…

After a brief moment of deliberation, Lu Yan asked softly, “I am here voluntarily. Professor, who is currently the researcher with the highest spiritual power threshold in the institute? Are they all Awakeners?”

Professor Wu answered without a second thought, “Director Qiao, of course. I heard he has already surpassed 6,000. You aren’t bad either; having a spiritual power threshold over 400 right after awakening makes your data one of the best among the Awakeners who have joined the institute over the years… Besides, how could we let ordinary civilians handle pollutants? Wouldn’t that just be waiting for an aberration to happen?”

Excellent. It appeared that during the initial stages of the institute’s establishment, both the experimental subjects and the researchers were actually Awakeners.

Professor Wu guided Lu Yan along the way. Every researcher they passed lacked a human face. It was only when they bypassed a silver-haired, middle-aged man that Lu Yan clearly discerned his facial features.

It was a man he had seen in textbooks: Qiao Yu.

He looked younger than he did in the textbooks, but his face was deeply lined with exhaustion, and he was in a great hurry.

As Qiao Yu passed Lu Yan, he halted his steps.

“Are you the new researcher?” he inquired. “Have you reviewed all the files? Tang Xun’an’s mental state is highly unstable. Furthermore, because he has just received the dragon wing transplant, getting close puts you at risk of infection. You must ensure you take proper protective measures.”

With that said, Qiao Yu hesitated for a brief moment.

“If he… displays any suicidal tendencies—I remember your talents are 【Affinity】 and 【Psychological Counseling】. If counseling proves useless, then let him go.”

“Sometimes, death is also a form of release.”

Having spoken his piece, Qiao Yu nodded and turned to leave.

There were no windows inside the research institute, and the elevators only moved downward, as this place was entirely underground. Supposedly, constructing it this way was to contain the impact of any pollution leaks to the greatest extent possible.

Tang Xun’an’s ward was located on the 10th underground floor. Rumor had it that he was the sole occupant of the entire floor.

Accompanied by Professor Wu, Lu Yan learned how to unlock the four security doors leading to Tang Xun’an’s ward. Every single layer of defense was locked down so heavily it resembled a bank vault or a tomb.

“There was no other way, none of us wanted this…” Professor Wu said helplessly. “But before this, he had already crippled three staff members.”

Behind the four heavy doors, the interior layout was surprisingly far less cold, carrying a touch of domestic life.

“This is a 1:1 replica modeled after Tang Xun’an’s actual home.”

Judging by the decor, Tang Xun’an’s family background must have been exceptionally well-off.

Seemingly picking up on Lu Yan’s unvoiced question, Professor Wu smiled. “This boy comes from a very wealthy family. He insisted on pestering Director Qiao to let him join Project Tinder. He already had the idea when he was 16, but they held it off until he came of age to begin the fusion surgeries.”

“Director Qiao frequently asks me if he did something wrong.” Professor Wu stopped his steps right before the final door, lowering his voice. “He has probably already detected my presence, so I won’t go in.”

With that, Professor Wu called out into the room, “Tang Xun’an, do you remember me? It’s Professor Wu. I have things to attend to, so I won’t disturb you today. The person coming to take care of you this time is a newly hired researcher.”

Standing at the threshold of the bedroom, Lu Yan finally flipped to the most recent page of the medical file.

Tang Xun’an.

Age: 19

Spiritual Power Threshold: 7,200.

Mutation Degree: 32.1 – 97.7.

Talents: Dragon Bone (transplanted via fusion surgery), Unknown Talent (preliminarily theorized to be Erosion, specifically manifesting as causing rapid death to biological entities through physical contact).

Remarks:

1. Due to the previous fusion surgeries, there is a slight hearing impairment. An artificial ear bone has been re-implanted.
2. During the dragon wing fusion, he suffered secondary contamination; both eyes are currently in a state of total blindness.
3. Due to pronounced post-operative rejection, he exhibits high levels of aggression. The research team deliberated on euthanizing him, but Tang Xun’an still retains a portion of human rationality. Therefore, it has been decided to conduct a ‘Stranger Contact Experiment’ to verify whether he still possesses sanity and social awareness.

Experimental Target: Lu Yan (informed consent form signed).

Lu Yan took a deep breath and pushed the door open.

The bedroom was quite spacious, decorated in bright orange and gray hues. It was partitioned into a working area and a resting area, complete with an attached private bathroom. There was even a walk-in closet equipped with a full-length mirror, containing many pairs of beautiful sneakers.

On the desk sat an open workbook, 5-Year College Entrance Exam, 3-Year Simulation. Lu Yan stepped closer and glanced at it; they were chemistry questions. The handwriting was elegant, and the accuracy rate wasn’t low either.

The blanket on the bed was somewhat rumpled, indicating that someone had slept in it. The pillow was stained with blood, and upon closer inspection, Lu Yan spotted a few shed scales.

A cursory sweep of the room revealed no immediate sign of Tang Xun’an’s whereabouts.

However, Lu Yan could very clearly hear a sound resembling the heavy breathing of a wild beast. The direction of the sound pointed straight toward the closet.

He called out from a distance, “Tang Xun’an… are you there?”

Lu Yan advanced forward step by step.

The King Fish inside his body blared a frantic warning, struggling wildly in an attempt to make him flee.

Lu Yan pulled open the closet door.

Almost instantaneously, the figure inside lunged forward, pinning him flat to the ground and clamping a hand tightly around his neck.

The entity before him… it was difficult to call it human anymore. He possessed a pair of terrifyingly massive hands that resembled eagle talons, lined with sharp barbs. His fangs were prominent and fierce, pitch-black dragon scales carpeted his torso, and a pair of bloody dragon wings pierced through his shoulder blades, hanging raggedly.

And those trademark golden pupils of his did not light up.

Within his eyes, the color of the pupils was incredibly faint—at a glance, they actually appeared entirely white.

If the files weren’t mistaken, Tang Xun’an was currently blind.

Rather than a human, this resembled a half-man, half-dragon monstrosity. An overly thick dragon tail pressed heavily across Lu Yan’s torso, weighing a ton.

Tang Xun’an didn’t exert maximum force, but with that hand pinning his neck, Lu Yan still felt an illusion of suffocation.

Around his neck, a metallic collar was fastened. Supposedly, it was crafted from the pollutant Thunder Eel, capable of instantly unleashing a high-voltage shock of 100,000 volts. Professor Wu had previously mentioned that if Tang Xun’an lost control, one could find the high-voltage button on his collar; it wouldn’t kill him, but it could temporarily incapacitate him, thereby providing an opportunity to escape.

Lu Yan noticed the surveillance camera on the ceiling, its faint red light blinking to indicate it was actively recording.

“Tang Xun’an,” he forced his tone to remain as calm as possible. “I am Lu Yan.”

From Tang Xun’an’s throat, a couple of guttural growls squeezed out, sounding like the cry of a wild beast.

“Can you hear me speaking?” Lu Yan raised his hand and gently stroked his back. “Don’t be afraid. Don’t be afraid.”

When many of the researchers were attacked by Tang Xun’an, they became far too panicked to make any careful observations.

But Lu Yan noticed it.

The hand Tang Xun’an used to clamp his neck was trembling slightly.

“I am not here to hurt you. Don’t be afraid.”