Chapter 115
Raising my head, I behold the bright moon;
Lowering it, I think of home…
Yan Yang became the pollution source—became the moon?
No way. No way, right?
Lu Liming’s face turned even uglier. His already pale-green complexion shifted to iron gray. The instance mission was to eliminate or purify the pollution source!
If the pollution source ran up into the sky, how were they supposed to eliminate it?!
What, did Brother Yu have to fly to the moon? Execute the moon itself?
Just imagining it made Lu Liming’s head throb. It felt as if an invisible needle had pierced his eyeball, burrowed into his brain, and was stirring it viciously.
In the blink of an eye, the pain spread through his entire skull, racing down into his limbs. The road ahead blurred. His hands on the steering wheel trembled uncontrollably.
Only when his vision dissolved into a single, distinct streak of red did Lu Liming belatedly realize something.
He wasn’t just imagining the headache.
He was really in pain.
He was getting a headache from looking at the “red moon.”
The “red moon” couldn’t be stared at directly—not even through the rearview mirror.
He felt his blood freezing inch by inch, his limbs stiffening, his thoughts sinking into fog.
Only one relatively clear thought remained in his mind—
How was Brother Yu supposed to eliminate the pollution source?
The SUV veered wildly like a runaway horse, swerving left and right, its path zigzagging as it barreled straight toward the wall ahead.
“The sun will still rise tomorrow,
And though flowers fade, they’ll bloom again next year…”
The singing in the sky grew louder. Clearer.
Just as the SUV was about to slam into the wall—
Bang!
A black figure stomped down hard onto the hood, slamming it so violently that the rear of the SUV lifted off the ground.
Lu Liming’s body jolted violently in the driver’s seat. The red glow in the rearview mirror vanished. His stiff, failing body began to regain control.
“Hmm.”
He heard a strange young male voice.
His blurry vision cleared, focusing on the windshield.
A man in a loose black robe and a pitch-black mask pressed himself tightly against the glass, staring straight at him.
Lu Liming looked at the man’s hunched back. For some reason, the posture felt… off.
Ying Mian’s eyes rolled as he scanned the empty interior of the car.
“Where’s brother? Why isn’t he in your car?”
Lu Liming was drenched in cold sweat. He swallowed hard and stammered, “Yu—Brother Yu’s not here. Brother Ming is.”
Ying Mian: “……”
He glanced at Lu Liming’s face, then at the string of eyeballs growing along his arm. His body abruptly dissolved into black mist and vanished.
A second later, the familiar humming sounded behind the car, gradually fading into the distance.
Lu Liming wiped his sweaty palms hard. Lowering his head, he met the row of eyeballs on his arm and trembled even more violently.
He’d been polluted, damn it!
Wait. Brother Yu had said that being polluted might actually be safer.
Thinking of Yu Zhi, Lu Liming forced himself to calm down. Trembling, he restarted the SUV.
Hearing Ying Mian’s singing growing farther away, he pretended to shout toward the nearby buildings:
“Brother Yu! You can get in now!”
“He’s gone!”
The distant singing paused.
Lu Liming slammed the accelerator to the floor, and the SUV shot forward.
…………
[Livestream Room H310000: Now Live]
[Online Viewers: 7304]
[User “Strongest King” kindly reminds you that your boyfriend has met with misfortune.]
[User “momo” hopes you’ll truthfully reveal your plan and tipped you 20 universal coins.]
[User “One Life, One Love” is curious about your plan and tipped you 20 universal coins.]
[User “Salad Pancake” asks about the pollution source’s whereabouts and tipped you 30 universal coins.]
[User “Wooden Fish” looks forward to you eliminating the pollution source and taps a wooden fish for you.]
Yu Zhi ignored the barrage.
He continuously used Ordinary Kick, flashing between residential buildings, eyes locked on the sky, searching for the red moon.
If nothing unexpected had happened, the red moon was Yan Yang—the pollution source.
The entire pollution zone had been Yan Yang’s hint.
The zone revolved around eyeballs—reminding them that Meteorite Biotech was watching them.
Killing polluted creatures was reasonable; becoming polluted was not—hinting at the pollution source’s identity.
The instance title, “Raise Your Head to the Bright Moon,” hinted at the pollution source’s location.
Yan Yang had wanted them to be wary of Meteorite Biotech and to end this pollution instance as quickly as possible, leaving hint after hint.
He hadn’t wanted more companions to die either. That was why he hadn’t let other ability users enter.
Yu Zhi was certain Yan Yang still retained some reason.
But…
Why the moon?
Why go up into the sky?
Was he unable to control where he was? Or was he still trying to tell them something else?
Yu Zhi’s lips pressed into a thin line. He felt as though he had overlooked something.
His lashes trembled. His gaze swept casually across the surrounding buildings—
In the blink of an eye, mottled old wall tiles burst open with clusters of eyeballs.
They grew rapidly, swelling from ordinary human-eye size to fist-sized, then football-sized.
Walls. Tree branches. Pavement.
Every surface within sight sprouted more and more eyes.
The road narrowed as eyeballs packed densely together. The outer walls of the residential buildings became walls of eyes. Countless black pupils swiveled in perfect unison, staring straight at him.
Oppressive. Skin-crawling.
The pollution had intensified.
Yu Zhi clenched his jaw, eyes unblinking as he stared at the sky.
Not there.
Not there.
Still not there.
In the shortest possible time, he traversed half the temporary settlement—
But the streak of red in the sky was gone.
He had to search for Yan Yang while guarding against Ying Mian and Hongtao at any moment. His heart pounded harder and harder. Sweat soaked through his clothes, clinging to his back.
Suddenly—
In the dead silence, a crisp sound of high heels echoed.
Click. Click. Click.
Yu Zhi’s expression changed.
Hongtao.
Without hesitation, he turned and ran in the opposite direction.
One Hongtao wasn’t the real trouble.
The trouble was Fu Suxi—who might already be under her control.
The moment that thought arose, a flash of cold steel cut through the air from his right, slicing with a sharp gust.
Yu Zhi’s body moved faster than his mind—he dodged backward instantly.
Bang!
A long black blade carved a deep arc into the ground, splitting the road in two.
Yu Zhi stared expressionlessly at the man holding the blade.
The last shred of hope in his chest died.
Fu Suxi, you damn mad dog. Of course you’re by Hongtao’s side.
Click. Click. Click.
The heels sounded again.
Yu Zhi turned.
From the narrow lane between two buildings emerged a woman in a tight red dress, swaying gracefully.
She held a black umbrella. Beneath it, her makeup was exquisite and flamboyant. She smiled sweetly at him.
“I knew Ying Mian couldn’t stop you.”
“Allow me to reintroduce myself.”
“My name is Hongtao Q.”
Yu Zhi responded blandly, “I’m Big Joker · Commander-in-Chief.”
Hongtao: “……”
She opened her mouth to speak—
Yu Zhi vanished.
A second later, she heard breathing behind her.
Her pupils shrank. She sidestepped instantly, raising the black umbrella.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
The umbrella—clearly some kind of item—blocked an entire magazine of bullets.
Yu Zhi frowned, widened the distance, swapped magazines, and kept firing.
Bang bang bang—
Bang bang bang—
He adjusted positions as he shot, but Hongtao seemed professionally trained. Without Fu Suxi lifting a finger, she blocked every bullet precisely.
Yu Zhi’s frown deepened. He checked his ammo.
Rifle rounds were gone.
Only a handgun remained.
He lifted his eyes toward Fu Suxi standing behind Hongtao.
His long eyes were lowered, his face expressionless—clearly mentally controlled.
Yu Zhi narrowed his eyes slowly.
Fu Suxi had known clearly that Meteorite Biotech would act inside the safe zone. How had he been controlled so quickly after entering the instance?
Seeing him stop shooting and stare at Fu Suxi, Hongtao blinked curiously.
“Brother, are you angry because of the kid you met for one day?”
“Or because of the pollution source you only just got to know?”
She twirled her umbrella and glanced at Fu Suxi.
“How come you’re so angry you won’t even greet your little brother? Just shooting right away?”
Yu Zhi caught the key phrase—
Pollution source you only knew for one day.
She knew he had only met Yan Yang today.
His heart sank.
Inside this game, there was someone from Meteorite Biotech.
Someone who understood his interpersonal relationships.
Hongtao sighed theatrically.
“What if tomorrow, it’s someone you’re close to who has an accident?”
“Lu Liming? Zuo Feiyang? Shang Yu?”
“Or,” she tilted her head toward Fu Suxi with a grin, “Yu Yi?”
At her words, Fu Suxi lifted his eyes and looked directly at Yu Zhi.
Yu Zhi saw clearly—
His originally black pupils carried a faint red tint.
Hongtao continued softly:
“A child you met once dies before your eyes. An ability user you just met becomes a pollution source. The younger brother you live with every day gets controlled.”
“Brother, do you like the professor’s grand gift?”
“What happened today wasn’t even part of the professor’s plan. Because you reported Meteorite Biotech, we had no choice but to act.”
She stepped closer, gazing at Yu Zhi’s clean, beautiful features.
“The ones who died today,” she said slowly, “all died because of you.”
“It was you, Yu Zhi, who killed them.”
[User “World’s Cutest Girl” admires your self-immolation and tipped you 20 universal coins.]
[User “One Life, One Love” praises you for tasting the bitter fruit and looks forward to another reporting spree.]
[User “Pure Love Warrior” applauds your ruthlessness and tipped you 30 universal coins.]
Yu Zhi: “???”
He killed them?
Gaslighting him?
He let out a cold laugh.
“You did it yourselves and you’re blaming me? Why not blame Yu Yi for not saving them? Why not blame Pangu for splitting heaven and earth?”
“Century egg, what kind of nonsense are you spouting?”
Hongtao’s smile froze. She doubted her own hearing.
“…Who are you calling century egg?”
Yu Zhi replied calmly, “Who else? Hongtao century egg.”
Hongtao: “???”
The hell is Hongtao century egg?!
Her expression twisted slightly as she ground her teeth.
“My name is Hongtao Q. Q as in Queen!”
![The Max-Level Boss Just Wants to Be a Slacker [Apocalypse]](https://i3.wp.com/panda-translations.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/20250902175028_300_420.jpg?resize=151,215 "The Max-Level Boss Just Wants to Be a Slacker [Apocalypse]")
