Chapter 117
Five minutes earlier
“The sun sets and rises again tomorrow…”
A dark figure darted swiftly across the rooftops, crossing half of the temporary settlement in an instant before locating the armored vehicle driving between the buildings.
The humming stopped.
Catching sight of a familiar corner of a black combat uniform through the window, the figure’s body dissolved into a mass of black mist and appeared directly in front of the armored vehicle.
Bang—
A loud crash.
He stepped onto the roof of the vehicle, bent down with a grin, and looked inside.
The smile froze the next second.
Yu Zhi wasn’t there.
Inside the vehicle was only a combat uniform caught in the window—and Qi Yi in the driver’s seat, his face filled with terror.
Ying Mian glanced at Qi Yi. “Why isn’t big brother with you?”
He straightened up, sat crookedly on the roof, stared at the dark buildings for a moment, then suddenly realized.
“Ah… big brother must’ve gone to find the pollution source.”
“Why is he always in such a hurry…”
As his voice fell, Hongtao Q’s faint voice drifted from afar.
Ying Mian jumped down from the armored vehicle and rushed toward her location.
Before long, he saw the three figures—
Fu Suxi and Yu Zhi flanking the middle person.
—Hongtao Q, shot in the head and stabbed in the chest.
Ying Mian halted.
He glanced at Fu Suxi, then greedily swept his eyes over Yu Zhi’s blood-stained profile. His body melted into darkness and retreated several meters.
“Looks like big brother hasn’t gotten tired of Yu Yi yet… He even teamed up with Yu Yi to play Red Peach…”
…………
Fu Suxi sensed the faint disturbance in the distance. After confirming the other party had withdrawn, he lowered his gaze to the barrage.
[User “Lord of the Fire God” congratulates you on learning the other party’s real name and tips 100 Universal Coins.]
[User “Vitamin E Supplement” answers for the other party that it’s not his real name and tips 100 Universal Coins.]
[User “Little Yellow Girl” asks why you pretended to be controlled and tips 50 Universal Coins.]
[User “Green and Lush” praises you for being deceived for so long and tips 100 Universal Coins.]
The livestream chat was the same as always—some insisting Yu Zhi was his real name, others claiming it was fake—watching from the sidelines, eager for the fire to burn even bigger.
Fu Suxi’s gaze returned to Yu Zhi’s face. He slowly narrowed his eyes, not letting a single flicker of emotion escape.
Seeing this, Yu Zhi’s livestream chat scrolled even faster, full of schadenfreude.
[User “World’s No.1 Cutie” congratulates you on slipping up and tips 20 Universal Coins.]
[User “Pure and Abstinent” praises your true form being exposed and looks forward to your harsh punishment.]
[User “Rebirth: Interstellar Eternal Love” praises your perfect killing coordination with your lover.]
[User “One Life One Pair” appreciates your exposure and tips 30 Universal Coins.]
The two locked eyes, falling into a stalemate.
Suddenly, a cough sounded from the ground, breaking the tension.
Yu Zhi looked down.
Hongtao Q lay on the eye-covered ground, mouth open as she coughed up black blood. Her eyes were wide, disbelief written clearly within them.
Not dead yet?
Yu Zhi frowned.
With both head and heart gravely injured, she should be dead—unless…
This body wasn’t her original one.
It was one of her so-called “dolls.”
No wonder she dared to act alone.
Yu Zhi pressed his lips together.
Sensing his gaze, Hongtao Q struggled to roll her eyes toward him.
“You… you’re just like the professor said…”
She coughed again, black blood spilling over her chin. “He said… you would kill me.”
“I’ll… be waiting… for you… in Meteorite.”
Yu Zhi curled his lips into a cold smile. “Waiting for me?”
“Hand over all your Universal Coins first.”
Hongtao Q: “???”
What the hell?
You have to pay to wait for you?
[Item “Null Intent” used successfully.]
The next second, she felt the familiar loss of control.
Her expression changed sharply. She immediately abandoned the body.
When she opened her eyes again, Yu Zhi’s words were still deeply imprinted in her mind.
Even after switching bodies, she involuntarily transferred all her money.
Possession death had consumed most of her mental strength. The lingering pain in her chest and head kept assaulting her sanity.
Seeing her Universal Coin balance drop to zero, Hongtao Q’s eyes rolled back and she fainted on the spot.
Destroying her puppet body wasn’t enough—why take all her money too?!
…………
[The other party has transferred 46,248 Universal Coins to you. Accept?]
[Yes.]
After accepting the transfer, Yu Zhi looked at Hongtao Q, eyes tightly shut. He had still suspected she might be faking death, but when pairs of eyes began growing from her forehead, he finally confirmed she had truly left.
While Hongtao Q was present, this body had shown no signs of pollution.
Yu Zhi’s gaze paused briefly on the blood-soaked corpse before turning to Fu Suxi.
“Could she have survived originally?” he asked bluntly.
Fu Suxi understood he wasn’t asking about Hongtao Q, but about the body’s original owner.
He looked deeply at Yu Zhi and replied, “She was already a corpse, Yu… Zhi.”
Hearing that, Yu Zhi felt a slight relief.
Then something struck him, and a thoughtful expression appeared.
So that’s why, back on the street, Fu Suxi had recognized it was a corpse and chased her to the temporary settlement.
At the gate, he’d instantly seen which people were parasitically polluted.
He’d even directly identified Xiao Ming’s healing ability.
He can see—
Lost in thought, Yu Zhi suddenly heard Fu Suxi’s voice above him, slow and deliberate:
“Yu… Zhi?”
Yu. Zhi.
Only then did Yu Zhi realize Fu Suxi had been calling his real name.
“…”
He blinked and said calmly, “I lied to them.”
[Lie detected.]
Fu Suxi sneered. “Lied to them—or to me?”
Seeing his eyes deepen in red again, Yu Zhi knew he’d used lie detection. With forced confidence, he said, “Whoever I can fool, I fool.”
Fu Suxi: “……”
Yu Zhi added, “A name’s just a code. If you don’t like it, you can call me Brother Yu. Or Dad Yu.”
“If you don’t mind, I can call you Fu Suxi.”
Fu Suxi: “…………”
Yu Zhi changed the subject smoothly. “More important than my name is finishing this instance.”
As his words fell, a cold wind swept through. All the eyeballs rotated in unison.
This time, they weren’t turning to look at people—
They were growing outward.
Yu Zhi could clearly feel the eyeballs beneath his feet expanding, lifting him upward. The eye-walls on both sides were closing in, compressing the entire space.
In the blink of an eye, the female corpse at their feet was devoured by countless eyes, blending into the eye-covered ground and walls beyond recognition.
Yu Zhi’s eyelid twitched. He immediately used Ordinary Kick to flash onto the rooftop.
From the high vantage point, the changes across the temporary settlement were even clearer.
Everything within sight was covered in eyeballs—and they were still growing, as if determined to swallow the world whole.
The heavy clouds overhead slowly dispersed, revealing a faint red glow behind them.
Yu Zhi quickly turned to Fu Suxi. Seeing him standing motionless beside him, he couldn’t help urging, “Aren’t you going to purify Yan Yang?”
Fu Suxi lowered his head and lit a cigarette. “Can’t.”
Yu Zhi: “???”
In disbelief, he said, “You’ve been around Pidan for so long and don’t know how to purify a pollution source?”
Fu Suxi exhaled smoke, looking at the night sky through wisps of pale haze.
“They’re waiting for you. I’m waiting for you.”
Meteorite’s target was Yu Zhi. If Yu Zhi didn’t enter the pollution instance, anything they did would be meaningless.
That’s why when Fu Suxi first saw Hongtao Q, he hadn’t immediately taken Yu Zhi to the temporary settlement. Instead, he later had Shang Yu call Yu Zhi into the instance.
Because Shang Yu couldn’t force him in.
Whether to enter the pollution instance was Yu Zhi’s own choice. That choice proved his stance.
“If you don’t enter, they’ll create new pollution sources.”
Yu Zhi entering at least meant—for now—he wasn’t standing with Meteorite.
“You knew that,” Fu Suxi added casually, the ember at his fingertips flickering. “That’s why you came in.”
Yu Zhi heard the hidden meaning.
Both startled and speechless, he realized—
This mad dog was still suspecting and testing him.
Knowing Hongtao Q had control abilities, Fu Suxi had entered the instance alone first, pretending to be controlled.
He could probe Meteorite—and test Yu Zhi at the same time.
Yu Zhi fell silent for a moment. Then he lifted his gaze and looked straight at Fu Suxi. Fu Suxi tilted his head slightly, scarlet, indifferent pupils meeting his.
“You waited for me. What about Yan Yang?”
Fu Suxi blew out a ring of smoke. Said nothing.
Yu Zhi’s heart sank. “Can’t you purify it—or do you not know how?”
“I can’t,” Fu Suxi said plainly. “And I don’t know how.”
Yu Zhi frowned even deeper.
It was the first time he’d heard this mad dog admit so frankly that he was incapable.
Fu Suxi was definitely hiding something.
The two stood side by side on the rooftop. They didn’t clear the pollution source, didn’t argue or fight—just stood there.
The livestream viewers grew impatient.
[User “momo” urges you to clear the pollution source and tips 20 Universal Coins.]
[User “Cyber Bodhisattva” looks forward to you clearing the pollution source and tips 30 Universal Coins.]
[User “Electronic Wooden Fish” reminds you to clear the pollution source and starts chanting for it.]
Yu Zhi ignored the barrage.
He stared at the faint circular outline behind the thinning clouds, mind racing, piecing together all the scattered clues.
Meteorite’s goal was to pollute humanity.
Pidan had said: “What happened today wasn’t originally in the professor’s plan.”
That likely meant—they hadn’t intended to act at this time.
After all, the safe zone was still under the Special Operations Bureau’s control. Acting here brought far more harm than benefit.
So why strike suddenly?
Because of his report.
Because Fu Suxi had executed nearly all the moles inside the Bureau.
Yu Zhi’s eyelashes trembled.
Fu Suxi had only begun his ruthless purge after overhearing his report about Meteorite.
He had used Yu Zhi’s report—and the lives of those moles—to force Meteorite into attacking the safe zone ahead of schedule.
Which meant—
Fu Suxi was 100% certain Meteorite Biotech would create a pollution source inside the safe zone.
At this point, Yu Zhi’s thoughts became crystal clear. The scattered clues linked themselves together.
The invitation from Meteorite Biotech had said: “Do you want to leave the missions?”
Xiao Hei and Pidan could move freely among pollutants without being affected.
And Yan Yang…
A cold wind swept through as the clouds finally cleared.
Yu Zhi lifted his head and looked up at the night sky.
The red moon gradually revealed itself, looming overhead—like a gigantic eye overlooking the world, observing the entire temporary settlement.
In that instant, Yu Zhi understood Yan Yang’s final hint.
He blinked slowly, fingers stiff, voice dry.
“Fu Suxi… you already knew, didn’t you?”
“Meteorite isn’t just creating pollution sources.”
“They’re creating instances.”
