Chapter 9-I Clean Up Garbage in a Wasteland World
Chapter 9 S-Rank Sanity
An hour had passed since the Contamination Spores were contained. Zhu Ning's final Purity Points tally was 645; the subsequent "corpse cleanup" was left to the supporting Clean Squad.
The Center notified Zhu Ning that she had to undergo data collection immediately. She had no objections—after all, her performance had been genuinely bizarre. If she were in the Center's shoes, she'd want to toss herself into a lab for study too.
She just wondered if they could figure out that she had a System.
"Don't worry," Xu Meng soothed Zhu Ning's nerves. "During data collection, your pay is counted as regular attendance—usually 15,000 NewCred."
Zhu Ning: "..."
She'd been a little annoyed, but money instantly smoothed it over. Two people were waiting at the door to escort her; they took the contained Contamination Spores and then asked for her helmet.
"Miss Zhu, could we trouble you to hand over the helmet? It's needed for data collection."
The helmet had recording functions and basic biometric monitoring. Even offline, those features worked. They'd already taken Li Nianchuan's helmet; now they needed Zhu Ning's.
It was Center property anyway. Zhu Ning handed it over. Instead of heading to the Sanitation Department on Floor 49, she was taken straight to Floor 66.
Ding—
The elevator doors slid open on both sides. A doctor in a white coat was there to greet her.
"Miss Zhu, this way."
Zhu Ning followed him around a corner and down a hallway until she saw a silver sign: Side A Observation Room. Observation rooms had an A and B side?
The doctor pushed open a door, revealing the interior.
Zhu Ning raised an eyebrow. She'd expected the observation room to be cold and clinical—"pure prison vibes"—but this was downright cozy.
The whole space was bathed in warm, pale yellow. The wall art was comforting and soothing. There was a self-service buffet area and a free-activity zone.
An assistant doctor handed her a black device glowing blue. "Data collector—one sticks to your temple, one on your wrist."
Zhu Ning took the box. The assistant helped her put them on while explaining, "It monitors your physical data. If anything abnormal shows up, it'll alarm so we can intervene quickly."
Inside the wristband was a ring of tiny needles, like mycelium, latching onto her wrist. There was a strange prick at first, but then nothing.
Zhu Ning asked, "That's all it takes?"
She'd thought she'd have to enter some kind of pod for a full-body scan.
Assistant doctor: "Yes. We don't want to disturb your body; we minimize the device's presence as much as possible."
People with high sanity were more sensitive; a strong presence would skew the data.
"Is the data accurate?" Zhu Ning asked.
The assistant smiled. "Very accurate, don't worry. It captures not just your sanity but all your physical functions."
"And it's painless. Just take a nap or relax in the activity area—it'll be done soon."
Zhu Ning had been worried her abnormalities would be detected, but the System had fed her a huge pie in the sky—purify contaminated land, save the world—so there had to be some way to keep her from becoming a lab rat.
That night, Zhu Ning stayed in the District 103 Sanitation Center's observation room. Her assigned bedroom was enormous—bigger than her entire home.
It was fully stocked with daily necessities. Zhu Ning was an expert at "lying flat like a corpse." Forget three days—she could lie here for three months. After a shower, she lay in bed quietly contemplating her future.
The bed was unbelievably soft, surrounded by gentle creamy yellow that relaxed the mind. Zhu Ning opened her Interface and studied it closely.
She exchanged 654 Purity Points. The System immediately notified her:
[Congratulations on exchanging for 5 health points. Current health: 25. Purity Points balance: 154]
At least her health had gone up a bit.
Suddenly, Zhu Ning's eyes snapped open. Her Interface was in her mind—she'd been examining it with her eyes closed.
So if someone were watching right now, it would look like she'd been asleep and then abruptly opened her eyes for no reason.
Something felt off. Zhu Ning frowned and turned toward the door.
The door was pure white. Nothing there. The whole room was designed to be warm and inviting, to lower guards, but Zhu Ning could feel it—someone was "watching" her.
…
Eyes. Countless eyes blinked in unison.
The entire observation room contained 9,635 eyes for immersive monitoring. Contamination Spores couldn't be destroyed, only contained. Some batches were recycled; others were sent to R&D, labs, and tech departments for experimentation.
R&D used contaminant properties to create "tools"—like the Peering Eye before them, which collected full data while the subject was relaxed.
Behind the observation room was the research lab. Zhu Ning's face filled a massive screen. She'd been lying with her eyes closed, then suddenly looked straight this way.
Researcher Fu Ming, analyzing her helmet data, jumped. "Did she notice us?"
"Possible," Qi Yunxiang said. "The higher the sanity, the greater the sensitivity to danger and anomalies."
It was nearly proportional. The Peering Eye itself was a contaminant derivative; if Zhu Ning sensed it, her sanity was extraordinarily high.
Fu Ming: "But that was too fast."
She'd only been lying down for fifteen minutes before detecting the "eyes."
Fang Ying stood behind them. "How are the readings?"
She'd rushed straight from a meeting, putting the whole lab on edge. Everyone knew Fang Ying had Center-level access and assisted with everything, big or small. She was called an assistant, but they all respected her deeply.
Rumor had it the higher-ups had held a meeting—no one knew the outcome.
"Let me check." Qi Yunxiang studied Zhu Ning's data closely. "Sanity readings are extremely stable. Absolutely no contamination."
In contrast, Li Nianchuan's report fluctuated wildly—peaks and valleys. He was in another room, curled in a corner like a mushroom, not sleeping despite treatment.
Qi Yunxiang: "She's something else. Recovered immediately after the mission."
Normal people suffered sanity damage after entering contaminated zones, especially Cleaners. Zhu Ning recovered frighteningly fast.
Fang Ying asked, "What's her sanity value?"
That was why she'd come.
Qi Yunxiang, the specialist, operated the touch controller, adjusting eye angles. All of Zhu Ning's data streamed in.
As she worked, she explained, "Sanity is a broad term; it fluctuates. Different situations yield different values. Our theory is to capture the peak, not the average."
She wanted Fang Ying to understand the research. "Many think combat-state sanity is most stable, but we believe the six hours post-mission are most accurate. In combat, people are tense. Some are unusually calm facing contaminants. After the mission, the brain relaxes, vigilance drops."
That's why immediate post-mission observation was mandatory. This was the most accurate window—miss it, and there was no crying over it.
Qi Yunxiang stopped, tapped the controller, and announced a number: "1200. S-Rank."
"How much?" Fu Ming leaned in, incredulous. "A garbage sweeper with 1200? You must've measured wrong."
Fang Ying wasn't a researcher, but she knew the basics. Average people hovered around 100 sanity.
Cleaners averaged 300. Regular Demon Hunters around 800. Top-tier around 1000. Above 1000 was S-Rank.
1400+ was S+, classified as critical federal "talent assets." Only three S+ existed federation-wide.
District 103 had barely seen anyone over 1000, let alone 1200. Zhu Ning was their sole S-Rank sanity talent. Anyone with that level wouldn't end up in 103—they'd be sent to the military district as a strategic "weapon."
"No," Qi Yunxiang said calmly. "I never make mistakes."
Fu Ming choked. Qi Yunxiang asked, "What did her helmet data show?"
Fu Ming glanced at his screen. "1253."
Qi Yunxiang: "Then it's confirmed. Helmet data usually differs by less than 100 from my sampling. She's definitely S-Rank sanity."
"Is it accurate?" Fang Ying asked.
"I'd say yes." Qi Yunxiang glanced at the screen. "Her true value might even be higher, but the margin is small."
Only higher, never lower.
"Now I know why she recovers so fast. District 103 has only one S-Rank."
Qi Yunxiang: "With these numbers, she could enter A-Rank zones without gear and recover normally. Even S-Rank zones wouldn't cause brain damage."
Meaning Zhu Ning could dominate anything below A-Rank. Enter S-Rank and come out sane.
Qi Yunxiang told Fang Ying, "You might've picked up a treasure."
Not Fang Ying—"it" had selected her.
A camera in the research room stared coldly at everyone. Fang Ying glanced at it, unable to guess "its" intentions. She folded her arms, tapping her upper arm with a finger, pondering how to report this.
Report truthfully? It could bring trouble—not just for Zhu Ning, but for the entire District 103 Sanitation Center.
Fang Ying asked, "What about her full physical metrics?"
Standard procedure. Fang Ying was cautious; she wanted comprehensive data. High sanity required a strong body to support it.
"Wait a moment." Fu Ming and Qi Yunxiang began reviewing.
Physical data was trickier—organs, blood, cells, everything down to the tiniest detail.
About half an hour later, Fang Ying got the report she wanted. As it printed, Fu Ming and Qi Yunxiang waited patiently.
Zhu Ning's sanity was off the charts. If her physicals were equally exceptional, the Center couldn't keep her—she belonged in the First Military District.
Even average physicals would let her crush half the Demon Hunters.
Zee-zee-zee—
A long report spat from the printer. Qi Yunxiang read it first, thought she misread, then read again.
Fu Ming was anxious, snatched it from her, and reacted even stronger. "Data error?"
He remeasured, reprinted—same results.
Fu Ming slumped in his chair, baffled. How could this be? Fang Ying now approached Zhu Ning with an open mind—anything was possible with her level of anomaly.
"What is it?" Fang Ying asked.
Qi Yunxiang rubbed her temples and sighed. "I thought we had a prodigy. What a shame."
"Her physical data is far below average. She's a Defective. Without external intervention, she might not live another year."
In other words, Zhu Ning was dying. Fang Ying frowned, instinctively looking at the screen. Zhu Ning had paced the room, clearly sensing danger.
But she just turned on the TV, watched some boring soap opera, yawned, and went to sleep. She knew she was being watched and analyzed, but her Danger Sense "radar" stayed silent—no real threat.
Zhu Ning pulled the covers over her head. Her life motto: As long as I'm not dead yet, nothing beats sleep.
The three researchers: "..."
This woman has nerves of steel.
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