Chapter 69
[Livestream Room H311111: Live]
[User “Vitamin E Supplement” wonders why you aren’t looking for a temporary lover and tips you 50 universal coins.]
[User “Scarecrow’s Straw” loudly condemns user “Vitamin E Supplement” and hopes you let someone die.]
[User “Pizza Heart” wonders why you’re acting alone and tips you 50 universal coins.]
[User “Big Yellow Girl” wonders whether you heard your temporary lover calling you and tips you 20 universal coins.]
Pale bluish smoke curled upward. Through it, the man’s knife-sharp facial contours appeared and disappeared, and the only thing piercing the haze was a pair of blood-red eyes.
The pitch-black pupils had been replaced by crimson, trembling slightly, continuously expanding and contracting, as if on the verge of erupting.
Fu Suxi kicked open the laboratory door.
The pollution source behind the desk slowly turned around, roaring as it charged forward.
Fu Suxi clicked his tongue, raised his right hand, and hurled the blade straight out.
A flash of cold light—
the long knife carried tremendous force as it pierced straight through the contaminant’s chest, pinning it brutally into the wall. The entire wall trembled slightly from the impact, letting out a dull sound.
The contaminant didn’t die. Blood flowed down the wall in thick streams.
Fu Suxi took a hard drag from his cigarette. The nicotine mixed with the heavy stench of blood in the air, barely suppressing the violent, bloodthirsty urge surging in his chest.
He strode over to the computer desk and reached out to press the power button.
Fish scales had already grown from his right arm to the back of his hand, glinting a glaring green under the flickering lights.
Fu Suxi shifted his gaze to the barrage.
The comments rolled endlessly, almost all of them about Yu Zhi.
He slowly narrowed his crimson eyes and asked casually, “Why would I go look for him?”
“Shouldn’t he be the one coming to find me?”
[User “Patch-and-Mend” reminds you the other party is already on the way and tips you 444 universal coins.]
Fu Suxi’s gaze paused, his lips gradually pressing into a thin line.
Right now, he didn’t want to see Yu Zhi.
The people from Meteorite Biotech were interested in Yu Zhi, and Yu Zhi was keeping the people he’d sent occupied.
Besides, with an ability that erased killing intent, Yu Zhi wouldn’t die—at worst, he’d just suffer a bit.
If he did die…
“Beep—”
The computer’s startup sound interrupted Fu Suxi’s thoughts. Smoking, he quickly clicked into the Laboratory Information Management System and pulled up the experimental reports.
He skimmed through them at high speed. Meteorite Biotech had indeed conducted human contamination experiments.
The reports didn’t involve drugs, parasites, or anything of the sort—just meticulous records of the subjects’ behavioral changes and shifts in subjective sensation.
Compared to drug testing, they looked more like psychological experiment reports.
Not finding the information he wanted only worsened Fu Suxi’s irritation, the urge to kill growing stronger.
Expressionless, he stubbed out his cigarette and walked over to the contaminant still making hoarse “ugh ugh” noises.
His long, well-defined hand gripped the knife pinning the contaminant to the wall. With a single pull, he split both contaminant and wall cleanly in half.
“Crash—”
Blood mixed with grotesquely mutated organs spilled across the floor.
The stench of blood grew thicker, saturating every inch of the air.
Fu Suxi inhaled it, unhurriedly lit another cigarette, stepped over the corpse, and entered the laboratory beyond the shattered wall.
[User “Lord of the Fire God” wonders whether you’re searching for the pollution source and tips you 100 universal coins.]
[User “Smi-Ma-Low” is curious why you aren’t searching for the pollution source and tips you 50 universal coins.]
Fu Suxi glanced at the barrage to divert his attention.
“I am.”
Just not the pollution source of this instance.
……
Underground, Eighth Floor
Yu Zhi crouched half-hidden in a dark corner, grinding his teeth as he viciously cursed Fu Suxi.
The black-robed man had already gone far away. Now and then, faint sounds echoed outside—like walls being split open or heavy objects smashing onto the floor.
Those sounds were growing more distant.
Fu Suxi knew he was here—and still deliberately avoided him.
Fine. Fine. Fu Suxi, just you wait!
Fuming, Yu Zhi pulled out a compressed biscuit and took a savage bite, chewing as if he were tearing into Fu Suxi’s flesh.
“System!”
Having been tricked twice in a short time, the system wasn’t eager to respond. The mechanical childlike voice sounded icy.
“Please take active action to complete the instance task.”
Yu Zhi said, “I’ve discovered a major flaw in your work. Be careful or you’ll get penalized again.”
The system didn’t believe him, suspecting he was deliberately baiting it.
Seeing no reaction, Yu Zhi chewed through the rest of the biscuit in a few bites and continued, “Believe it or not, it doesn’t matter. I’m not the one who’ll be punished.”
[User “momo” is curious about the system’s major mistake.]
[User “Pure Mind, No Desire” hopes you’ll be discovered soon.]
[User “Strongest King” wonders about the system’s work flaw.]
[User “Rich Young Master, Wild and Arrogant” says they’re willing to report the system’s mistake for you and tips 0.1 universal coins.]
The system could see the barrage. Looking at the screen full of curiosity and expectation—and several comments about reporting it—it began to half-believe Yu Zhi.
It believed it could make mistakes, but doubted Yu Zhi’s honesty.
After a moment, it couldn’t help asking, “Then tell me—what mistake?”
Time was tight. Yu Zhi didn’t waste words.
“I found the pollution source before Fu Suxi and the black-robed man and completed the instance task. Doesn’t that mean the two of them get carried to victory?”
“They do nothing and still get the rewards?”
The system was silent for a moment before explaining, “A team has already been automatically formed.”
Yu Zhi caught the implication and pressed further.
“So if I complete the task, the black-robed man won’t get the rewards?”
The system answered vaguely, “More or less.”
Yu Zhi blinked. “You still haven’t noticed your major work mistake.”
System: “???”
“I don’t see the problem.”
Yu Zhi said calmly, “The black-robed man can’t freeload off me. But what about Fu Suxi?”
“Who told you Fu Suxi and I are teammates?”
System: “???”
Yu Zhi sneered.
“He’s not my teammate.”
“After I complete the task, don’t give Fu Suxi the rewards.”
System: “…Please wait. Now scanning…”
The next second, a line appeared on the semi-transparent panel:
[Detected that you request to complete the instance solo. Do you choose not to share this instance’s completion rewards with other Earth residents?]
Yu Zhi: “No.”
System: “???”
“Didn’t you say you don’t want to team up with Fu Suxi?”
Yu Zhi corrected it.
“I decided to find the pollution source alone. That doesn’t mean I refuse to share rewards with Fu Suxi.”
“I don’t consider him my teammate.”
“But it’s different for him. He firmly believes I’m his loyal, steadfast teammate.”
Now the system understood. Yu Zhi could freeload off Fu Suxi, but Fu Suxi couldn’t freeload off Yu Zhi.
“…Why does Fu Suxi think you’re his teammate?”
Yu Zhi asked righteously, “Has he ever denied it like I did?”
System: “…No.”
Yu Zhi said, “No denial means admission.”
System: “……”
Yu Zhi tugged at the corner of his mouth, smiling without warmth.
“After all, in his heart, I’m his real older brother from another father and mother.”
[Detected that you request to complete the instance solo. Do you choose to unilaterally not share your instance results with other Earth residents?]
“Yes.”
Only after confirming that Fu Suxi would receive no rewards did Yu Zhi brace himself against the wall and slowly stand up.
He’d been crouching too long—his legs were numb. He took a step and nearly fell, barely catching himself on the nearby desk.
His arm accidentally hit a button. Beep.
The monitor lit up; the computer turned on.
The startup was fast. Before Yu Zhi could take another step, he saw the Laboratory Information Management System on the screen.
He froze.
Yu Zhi was very familiar with this software. Not only had professors at H University taught it in professional courses, but several competition projects had involved it as well—and Meteorite Biotech.
Lowering his lashes, Yu Zhi rapidly typed, pulling up some of the remaining data.
The computer wasn’t connected to the internet. Most local data had been destroyed, leaving only a small portion of experiment reports.
Almost all of them shared the same theme:
[Marine Pollution Experiment Report]
Yu Zhi’s fingers paused. He remembered Rule Six in the employee handbook:
[The ocean is our homeland.]
He skimmed through the files, confirming that Meteorite Biotech was using human bodies for pollution experiments.
Not only that—they were also researching drugs to kill fish-people. Some fish-people in the Public Welfare Department whose scales had been forcibly exploded died from this drug.
Yu Zhi glanced through the drug-related reports, confirmed it was lethal to humans as well, then searched for information on the experimental subjects to determine who might be the pollution source.
There were hundreds of test subjects, with names, ages, household registrations, company departments, lab numbers—everything.
Most of them were marked dead.
After searching for quite a while, Yu Zhi finally found one subject without a death report.
He quickly read it.
[Name: Jiang Shengnan]
[Age: 29]
[Household Registration: Beiwang Village, Yanqi Town, B City]
[Department: Public Welfare Department]
[Position: Public Welfare Event Planning Specialist]
[Laboratory: S10-356]
Yu Zhi pulled up Jiang Shengnan’s experimental reports.
Clicking into one, he was immediately overwhelmed by unfamiliar physiological indicators. At the same time, the contaminated area of his left arm seemed to hurt even more.
He could clearly feel fish scales spreading from his forearm up to his upper arm. His entire arm felt unbearable—
dry, itchy, painful…
He had an urge to plunge his whole arm into water, like a fish.
Frowning, Yu Zhi pulled out his phone and quickly took photos. After photographing Jiang Shengnan’s reports, he turned to leave.
Seeing him about to go, the barrage refreshed rapidly:
[User “momo” is curious about your plan and tips you 50 universal coins.]
[User “Peace Lover” is curious about the experiment’s results.]
[User “Strongest King” urges you to hurry to the lab and tips you 20 universal coins.]
[User “Pure Mind, No Desire” looks forward to you being caught and forced into some kind of game.]
[User “World’s Cutest Girl” wonders if you’re heading to the pollution source lab and tips you 30 universal coins.]
Probably because this involved Meteorite Biotech’s experiments, more and more users were tipping.
For the sake of the money, Yu Zhi patiently answered a few questions.
“Is Jiang Shengnan the pollution source? Not sure—going to check.”
“What if I run into little brother? Charge straight in and go all out.”
“Why did you run earlier when facing little brother? Go ask earlier—I don’t know him.”
……
Bright fluorescent lights illuminated every inch of the corridor. A pitch-black figure stepped into the hallway, moving silently like a ghost toward the room making noise.
In the blink of an eye, he reached the laboratory door.
His gaze passed over the shattered remains of the contaminant and landed on the back of a man in a black tactical jacket standing by the wall.
There was only one person in the room.
Yu Zhi wasn’t here.
The black-robed man’s eyes lit up, his pale lips slowly curving.
He’d been tricked by big brother.
Big brother still wanted to play hide-and-seek.
Hide-and-seek plus a r*pe game…
He couldn’t help letting out a soft laugh.
The sound echoed abruptly in the silent corridor, sharp and conspicuous. The person in the lab seemed unaware of the movement behind him, slashing open the wall with a knife and entering another laboratory.
The black-robed man stared at him for a few seconds, withdrew his gaze, and turned to leave.
As he walked back, he hummed softly:
“The sun will rise again tomorrow,
Flowers wither, but bloom again next year,
Big brother, big brother, gone without a trace—”
“Oh, I get it!”
“Big brother must’ve gone to find the pollution source.”
