Chapter 96
After a long silence, the system couldn’t help saying to Yu Zhi, “Is there a possibility that without you, his mental state wouldn’t be hanging by a thread?”
Yu Zhi raised an eyebrow and argued confidently, “He chose to use his ability himself. The side effects were the result of his own messing around.”
“I didn’t force him, did I?”
The system fell silent again.
Thinking about it carefully, Yu Zhi indeed hadn’t forced Fu Suxi to use his lie-detection ability. At most… it counted as seduction.
Yu Zhi continued, “Not only that, I even magnanimously let bygones be bygones and followed him here, just in case he goes crazy in the Special Operations Bureau.”
The system thought to itself: You’re not here to stop him from going crazy. You’re clearly here for Fu Suxi’s money.
Yu Zhi went on, “Besides, the mission only requires carrying out one personal ‘Defend the Earth’ action. It doesn’t say the defense has to succeed, and it doesn’t say I can’t harm first and defend later…”
The system found that no matter how he twisted it, Yu Zhi somehow made sense. It said coldly, “Please wait. Detecting…”
The next second, a line of text popped up on the translucent panel before Yu Zhi’s eyes.
[You have completed Main Mission Four. Reward: 50 universal coins.]
[Main Mission Four: Build the Future Together (1/30)]
[Objective: Carry out at least one personal ‘Defend the Earth’ action per day. Mission lasts 30 days. Refreshes at 0:00 daily. Please complete actively!]
[Completion Reward: 50 universal coins.]
[Failure Penalty: Deduct 50 universal coins.]
Yu Zhi shifted his gaze away in satisfaction and looked at the rapidly scrolling bullet comments.
[User “Bronze Player” admires your shameless behavior.]
[User “Rich Young Master Domineering” appreciates your nonsense and tips 0.1 universal coins.]
[User “momo” is curious about your plan and tips 20 universal coins.]
[User “National Special-Grade Humanoid Weapon” looks forward to your actions and tips 10 universal coins.]
Many comments were asking what Yu Zhi planned to do next. He had tricked Meteorite Biotech and Fu Suxi; the audience was eagerly anticipating him making another big move. Some were even asking whether he was preparing to heavily screw over the Special Special Operations Bureau.
Yu Zhi glanced at the comments and slowly walked toward the men’s restroom.
He actually hadn’t thought that far ahead.
At first, he only wanted to mooch off the Bureau’s treatment and purification. Then Fu Suxi suddenly appeared.
Leaving Fu Suxi wasn’t difficult. The main issue was that Meteorite Biotech had surfaced again.
He was in the open; the enemy was in the shadows. If Meteorite Biotech had many lunatics like Xiao Hei, that would be far more troublesome than dealing with Fu Suxi.
Fortunately, Fu Suxi and Meteorite Biotech were at odds. His plan was simple—wait.
Wait until the situation became clearer.
What if the novel’s male protagonist wiped out the company directly in S City? Then Yu Zhi would only need to deal with Fu Suxi.
If, on the contrary, the Special Special Operations Bureau got destroyed by Meteorite Biotech… it wasn’t impossible for him to accept their invitation.
Letting his thoughts run wild for a while, Yu Zhi saw more users tipping coins. He replied perfunctorily, “The plan? Go wash my hands.”
He pretended to use the restroom. When he returned to the lab, a batch of researchers had just finished interrogation and were leaving.
Each of them looked pale, drenched in cold sweat.
Not only those being interrogated—the interrogators like He Hanhai also looked awful. Using their abilities continuously for long periods severely drained mental strength. They appeared even more haggard than the researchers.
Fu Suxi glanced at them and said in a low, slightly hoarse voice, “Ten-minute break.”
He Hanhai and the others responded immediately. Their tense bodies relaxed slightly. Whether they were sick of staying in the interrogation room or simply didn’t want to share space with Fu Suxi, they all stood and walked out.
Seeing Yu Zhi outside, He Hanhai nodded. “Mr. Yu.”
Yu Zhi responded and paused, glancing back at Fu Suxi.
Only Fu Suxi remained inside the interrogation room.
Instead of leaving, he walked further in, pulled out a chair, sat down, removed his sunglasses, and slowly wiped the blood from the lenses.
The light illuminated his sharply sculpted features. His eyes were half-lowered, and beneath his lashes, one could faintly see the scarlet in his pupils.
Yu Zhi suddenly had the feeling that Fu Suxi was very used to being alone.
He looked away and casually asked He Hanhai, “Wasn’t he a team leader before? Where are his team members?”
He Hanhai froze for a moment, realizing he meant Fu Suxi. He answered honestly, “No team members. Minister Fu—Minister Yu’s team—only has him.”
Yu Zhi was curious. “Why? Did his former teammates all die?”
“I’m not sure,” He Hanhai lowered his voice. “Maybe Minister Yu thinks teammates get in the way.”
“When we were in the B City contaminated instance, he didn’t allow us to intervene. He just told us to wait.”
As he spoke, he walked into the adjacent lab.
Shang Yu quickly arranged seats, told Lin Xiangyuan to pour water, asked Zuo Feiyang to bring chairs, and urged Doctor Qi to temporarily stop tending to Minister Lin and help He Hanhai and the others instead.
Yu Zhi watched as Doctor Qi placed his hands on He Hanhai’s temples and used his ability.
Soon, He Hanhai’s complexion visibly improved.
Yu Zhi casually asked Shang Yu, “Can Doctor Qi’s healing ability restore mental strength?”
Before Shang Yu could answer, Doctor Qi explained, “No.”
“I’m helping them treat tense nerves. You can think of it as massaging the nerves to relieve stress.”
“Mental strength recovery isn’t only related to mental state; it’s also tied to physical condition. When the body feels better, the mind naturally improves.”
He smiled at Yu Zhi. “Xiao Ming’s ability is healing. Once he masters it fully, he can achieve this level of precise control too.”
Yu Zhi keenly noticed he had said healing ability, not treatment ability.
He hesitated. “Is there a difference between healing and treatment?”
Doctor Qi paused.
Suddenly, a hoarse female voice sounded from behind Yu Zhi. “You can think of healing abilities as a subset within the treatment sequence.”
“Under the treatment sequence, there are various similar abilities—purification, recovery, and so on.”
Yu Zhi turned toward the speaker. It was Minister Lin.
She had just woken from fainting. Her previously neat ponytail hung loose and messy; her face was unusually pale.
She picked up her glasses from the table and put them on, studying Yu Zhi’s face. “You’re Yu You, right?”
“How do you plan to compensate me?”
Yu Zhi: “?”
Compensate for what?
Before he could ask, Minister Lin said, “Your boyfriend just viciously scared me into fainting.”
Yu Zhi: “…Then I’ll break up with him.”
Minister Lin: “……”
Everyone: “……”
Minister Lin: “Even if you break up, he’s still your brother.”
Yu Zhi thought for a moment. “Then I’ll disown him from the family.”
Minister Lin: “……”
Shang Yu, afraid Fu Suxi might hear that Yu Zhi planned to break up and disown him, hurriedly shoved a thermos into Minister Lin’s hands. “You should rest. Your throat’s so hoarse—stop talking.”
Minister Lin opened her mouth to say more, but at that moment, the lab door opened.
Fu Suxi stood at the entrance. He glanced at Yu Zhi, then shifted his gaze to Minister Lin behind him. “What is your research project?”
“Why did that bald man say your project would never succeed?”
The moment his words fell, everyone in the lab looked at Minister Lin.
Her already pale face lost even more color. Her lips moved, but no sound came out at first.
Fu Suxi simply stared at her.
After a long silence, she said hoarsely, “Purification. We’re trying to purify pollution sources.”
“In recent years, methods for purifying mental contamination abilities have gradually matured. We’ve been trying to extract the key to purifying pollution sources from that research, but there’s been no progress…”
Yu Zhi frowned.
The Bureau’s purification research had stalled. The mole from Meteorite Biotech had said purification would never succeed.
Was it truly impossible to purify pollution sources?
And how did Meteorite Biotech know?
Minister Lin continued, “I remember Li Yuanzhi saying he saw something.”
“If he hadn’t died, maybe we could’ve gotten something out of him.”
She looked faintly at Fu Suxi. Even through the sunglasses, one could feel the pressure of his gaze. She shifted her eyes away and looked at He Hanhai instead.
“Team Leader He, do you know what he was thinking at the time?”
He Hanhai answered honestly, “I don’t. The interrogation had just ended when you barged in.”
Minister Lin said dryly, “I didn’t expect the door to be unlocked.”
He Hanhai: “…It was locked.”
Minister Lin feigned surprise. “Really? Then maybe I accidentally opened it with my key.”
“……”
How very accidental.
He Hanhai felt Fu Suxi’s gaze settle on him and quickly handed Minister Lin a list. “These are the personnel interrogated so far from the Research Department.”
“What exactly they did—you’ll have to investigate yourselves. We can only confirm they had close contact with Meteorite Biotech and were working against Headquarters, either already acting or preparing to act against it.”
Yu Zhi stood close enough to see the red circles and red crosses next to the names.
Out of over a hundred researchers in the group, nearly double digits were moles.
Staring at the alarming red crosses, Minister Lin gritted her teeth. “The red crosses mean…”
He Hanhai said, “Dead.”
Minister Lin closed her eyes, took a deep breath, then shot to her feet and demanded of Fu Suxi, “The list clearly marks core members of our research projects. Without them, progress will be extremely difficult!”
“Regardless of whether they were moles, the experimental data was verified multiple times by other researchers. They might lie with their mouths, but results don’t lie!”
“You killed so many people today. You’ve severely affected the morale of the remaining researchers and drastically slowed experimental progress!”
“I know you ability users fight on the front lines. But don’t forget—you survive and grow stronger because the Research Department has spent years studying abilities, pollutants, and pollution sources—”
Her hoarse voice grew even more ragged, almost breaking.
Many comments were moved.
[User “Oceanographer” believes her argument is reasonable.]
[User “Academic Trash” applauds her speech loudly and decides to leave your livestream to support her.]
[User “I Have Good Manners” looks forward to her fiercely opposing your temporary lover.]
Yu Zhi blinked and looked at the others.
Research Department versus Combat Department. Shang Yu and the rest barely dared to breathe, pretending to be wooden posts.
As for Fu Suxi, his sunglasses hid his eyes, but the downward curve of his lips and the sudden drop in temperature around him showed clear impatience.
Just as he was about to flare up, He Hanhai hurriedly took out a black A4-sized box and rushed forward, stuffing it into Minister Lin’s arms.
She looked down.
He Hanhai said, “Headquarters asked me to deliver this to you—blood from an S-class ability user.”
“The condition at the time of extraction is all clearly recorded.”
The moment those words fell, Minister Lin’s hand, which had been about to push the box away, changed direction and hugged it tightly instead.
Her stern expression transformed into a beaming smile. Even her tone softened. “Minister Yu, I know you mean well.”
“Our branch hasn’t made progress because of those moles!”
“It’s time to reorganize and optimize the research team. Out with the old, in with the new. Fresh blood is the key to successful experiments!”
Yu Zhi: “……”
Fu Suxi: “……”
Everyone else: “……”
Fu Suxi glanced at He Hanhai, who leaned in and whispered, “Minister Ji said Branch Minister Lin is a research fanatic. As long as you give her research benefits, everything’s negotiable.”
Fu Suxi looked away and said coldly, “Ten minutes are up. Continue.”
He was the first to leave the lab.
He Hanhai and the other mental ability users followed. Shang Yu noticed their fatigue and pulled Doctor Qi and the others along.
Soon, only Yu Zhi and Minister Lin remained in the lab.
With the precious blood sample in hand, Minister Lin no longer looked weak. Her face was flushed; her eyes sparkled.
She carefully placed the black box on the table, took out the attached data, and read it with a smile.
Yu Zhi glanced at her. Judging that she was in a good mood and likely easy to talk to, he asked a question he’d long been curious about.
“Minister Lin.”
“Why are all the important laboratories in the Research Department building underground?”
Not the entire building was underground, but the labs, testing rooms, and mental contamination research rooms were all below ground. The upper floors housed rehabilitation and recovery rooms—nonessential areas.
Minister Lin explained cheerfully, “For higher concealment, reduced external interference, environmental stability—lots of technical reasons.”
“But the most important reason is containment.”
“If an experiment goes catastrophically wrong, other departments can immediately seal off the underground exits and destroy everything—people and experiments included.”
“From the outside, dealing with the underground building is simple. A few high-explosive bombs, and it’s cleaned up instantly.”
Yu Zhi hummed softly, lowering his eyes in thought.
For the Special Special Operations Bureau, the underground design was to contain pollution leaks.
But for Meteorite Biotech, that clearly wasn’t the reason.
Jiang Shengnan’s surgery had failed, so they couldn’t develop the fishman-killing drug.
But what if the pollution source experiment had succeeded?
The operating room was at the lowest level. Once a pollution source formed, the ward area above would be contaminated first. Then the labs above that.
After that, the contamination would spread to the company building on the surface—and then throughout S City.
The underground lab was hidden and connected to the sea. Without obstruction, the pollution would be unstoppable.
For Meteorite Biotech, the underground structure was for facilitating the spread of pollution.
Yu Zhi’s lashes trembled violently. He quickly looked at the global instance progress panel.
[Global Pollution Source Elimination Progress:]
[Asia: 153]
[Europe: 85]
[Africa: 80]
[Americas: 63]
[Oceania: 20]
[Global Pollution Source Purification Progress:]
[Asia: 0]
[Europe: 0]
[Africa: 0]
[Americas: 0]
[Oceania: 0]
The number of eliminated pollution sources across the continents was increasing. The number of latent, not-yet-eliminated pollution sources was likely increasing as well.
Pollution sources kept increasing. None had ever been purified.
Yu Zhi’s mind raced, connecting scattered clues.
Meteorite Biotech believed purification of pollution sources would never succeed.
They were conducting experiments to create a specific kind of pollutant, constantly manufacturing pollution sources.
If their experiment succeeded, they intended to spread the pollution.
Yu Zhi’s heart sank.
A shocking thought flashed through his mind like lightning.
—The pollutant Meteorite Biotech wanted to create was related to humans.
If pollution sources could not be completely eradicated, humanity would have only one path left—pollution.
Everything for the future of mankind.
They wanted to pollute all humans.
